Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, a photo by ZaraDavinia on Flickr.

...to one & all & a Happy New Year!
x x x

Sew Out of My Head!

Oh good grief! What have I gone & done?!?

I went out & bought....a Sewing Machine!
Do I know how to use one? NO!
Do I know how to make clothes? NO!
Do I know what I am doing in any kind of way, what so ever with this machine? NOOOOO!

I am laying all the blame at John Lewis' feet! He made it into a Hot Pink colour (although it's labelled Fushia) and I am an addict for anything Hot Pink! I have been umm'ing and ahh'ing over getting one for a while and seeing it in the shop, looking all shiny & pretty in pink, I decided what the heck! 

The air will probably be less pink and more of a blue hue though as I try to get the hang of it. I have absolutely no patience what so ever, I am atrocious when it comes to patience! So if I can't crack it in 10 seconds, I'll probably put it in the attic and it won't see light again until next Christmas or longer! I didn't even realise you had to put thread on a bottom bobbin in the bottom bit (see how technical I'm getting!).

On the bonus side, Bramble has already managed to rip a hole in her Birthday Pig toy so I can hopefully master enough of my hot pink machine to sew the hole up to industrial standards to make it Bramble proof! Thankfully my local Red Cross chazza had 2 pillow cases & another 2 pillow cases and a flat single sheet set which I snapped up, not to make anything pretty but just to use for practise as I have nothing around the house I could use. Chuffed to have found a Penguin Clothbound Classic too - these books look gorgeous and I'm collecting some of them in pretty colours for my shelves (I will read them...eventually. I currently have over 130 history books I want to read first! Yes that's alot, but I'm a historian at heart who loves building up a library so it's an investment, learning & a love all at the same time!). Normally cost £10 or more and I snapped up 'Little Women' for £1! Brilliant!

Rather apt that the detailing is a). Hot Pink and b). Scissors! Seems to be a theme in this blog. Still haven't gotten around to washing my vintage dress from Etsy. I am hopeless! Bramble is now making it very plain that I have spent too much time on the computer and I should focus my attention on loftier matters such as tickling her tummy so being an obedient Mummy, I'm off!

Hope you've all have stupendous weekends and may this week bring you all health, wealth and joy xxx

Bramble's 1st Birthday!

Oh my goodie-goodness!

My darling little one, Bramble, is now 1 year old today! I can't quite get my head around it, where has the time gone?!?

We had a wonderful day and she has enjoyed herself thoroughly!!

Cakey-Poos!

There was cake (apple and cranberry - vit. C and urinary goodness lol) and she even had a single candle but I had to blow that out for her!

Yummy!

And there were hats too! Although Papa who visited refused to wear a hat (spoil sport!)

And there were lots of kisses & cuddles! And Bramble even had a little pressie to unwrap lol - some may think I'm bonkers but quite frankly, I don't care! She's my precious and I know I would be lost without her!

A tug of war!

She got a little soft piglet to chew and more hugs & kisses than I could count, we all went out for 'walkies' which was so blustery Baby's ears were blowing everywhere and my eyes were tearing up, my Papa spent a few moments rolling his eyes ha ha and I made a roast chicken and roasted veggies for dinner (Baby just had the chicken) so all in all, I think we all had a great day! Bramble's tired out, flopped out by my feet, gazing up as I blog!

Hope everyone is having as fantastic weekend as me & baby are! What are you up to ??? xxx

Vintage Washing!

Ok, so a few weeks back, on ETSY, I bought a gorgeous white lace mini dress with lace ruff neck and frilly cuffs, it's a delight! Only problem is, it was white at some point and now it's a sort of white with decorations of parts which are not white lol.
Does anyone know what the best way of washing this beauty would be to get it back to it's brilliant self? Answers on vintage postcards please ;-)

Off work tomorrow to do.... Christmas Shopping! Can't wait! Do the crowds of mindless people shambling around like Zombies delight me and fill my soul with joy? lol no, not really, I am not one of those people blessed with endless patience with endless morons! But I do love, love, love getting gifts for people. Is Christmas a time of commerce for me with non-stop buying? Of course not! It does fill my heart with joy, my mischievous side with glee and I do try to be a better person at this time of year. Yes, of course I try to be the best I can be all through the year but give me a break, I am a fatally flawed human being and isn't that why you're supposed to love me and me love you - because we're all fatally flawed! It's just I love Christmas, I love everything it stands for and I'm 32 and haven't lost my childlike grasp of the Festive Season!

So I intend to buy pressies, take my very kind Papa up on his offer to treat me to tea & cake while we're out, I will be going to Ann Summer's to buy a typical naughty Secret Santa (I also intend to buy the person a useful/proper gift as well!) and then I will go back home, full of twinkling lights, festive scents of cinnamon with my tealights and hug my darling Bramble until she's fed up of me and can't wait to scoot off to her bed for a quiet snooze so I can then have the space & time I need to wrap my Pressies up! Do I love wrapping too? Oh good god yes! I have many OCD's, the perfect wrapping of presents being one of them! Usually takes me 15 minutes to wrap 1 present and I personally think that's good going!

Please, please, please tell me there are other people out there like me? Happy it's Christmas and not after diving under the Duvet until the Festive Period is over? Good King Wensclas, Ye Merry Gentleman and all that?

ZaraDavinia's photostream

ZaraDavinia's photostream on Flickr.

Festive Foto's on my Flickr

Movember!

Eugen Gura portrait, a photo by Bergen Public Library on Flickr.

A German Baritone born in Bohemia 1842 (ironically 8th November so already a strong candidate for Movember!) - Eugen Gura.

Look at that moustache! Love it! Why don't men today try one of those?

Cute beyond belief!

Ok, some shameless promotion of my Papa's photography skills! But who cares, it's my blog, I can promote away!...

He recently went to Donna Nook in Lincolnshire to take photos of the seals and while he was there, one of the cow's gave birth to a baby seal - a pup! How adorable is that!! He couldn't believe it! So he took loads of photos! If you want to see the whole group of shots, then go to Berkut54 on Flickr.

Here's a quick sample to make your heart melt....!

Adoration - all rights reserved, C.Bowley

I'm not impressed!

I'm not impressed!, a photo by ZaraDavinia on Flickr.

LOL Bramble isn't impressed with my attempts at portraiture.

ZaraDavinia's photostream

ZaraDavinia's photostream on Flickr.

New piccies!

ZaraDavinia's photostream

ZaraDavinia's photostream on Flickr.