Just a quicky....

I know there will be a few waiting to see how the day went yesterday.  As you can imagine we are well and truly knackered oops sorry I meant tired  :-)  here is a taster of what can only be described as the most perfect day ever  :-) :-) :-) and I promise you more to come later.........

Friday's smile.....

It's been a busy week for me but it's all so exciting.  I have put this post to upload automatically as today will be spent whizzing around doing all the jobs you can't do til the day before a wedding.  I have so many moments in my life that make me smile and I'm determined to share them with you.

We babysat for Amy at the end of last week and here you can see little Steve concentrating hard whilst pushing a chair along on the wooden floor and walking behind!

Here is Phoebe doing a happy dance to some music.  :-)

She is growing up so quickly now and is such a big helper with her little brother and sister.

 Here are two drawings that she did for us that I wanted to record cos they were on an etch a sketch type board that wiped clean. 

 This is her house and stick man [she struggles to say 'st' so that comes out as a 'd' but we knew what she meant!].

And these are some flowers she drew for me.

Not bad for a 3 year old eh?  :-)

Saturday night we babysat for Shell and Brent to have a last chill out evening together before all the excitement of this week.  Lexi likes to pull the cushions off the settee and to lie her head on them on the floor.  Here she is having a special moment when Granddad joined her on the floor....magical memories eh?

Hope you have enjoyed my few 'make you smile' pics this week.  Please send up lots of positive vibes for blue skies for the wedding tomorrow and I hope you all have a great weekend too.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Wednesday again and guess what's on my desk today?

Answer.....Everything wedding related of course.

• 3 flower girl dresses....steamed
• 3 flower girl aprons
• 3 flower girl shrugs [just in case]
• 2 page boy suits...pressed
• 4 pink bridesmaid's dresses....steamed
• 4 pair bridesmaid's silver sandals
• Wedding dress ....steamed
• Netted underskirt....steamed
• Veil....steamed
• 60 favour boxes each filled with pink and white heart shaped jelly beans
• everything ready in waiting to decorate the wedding cake tomorrow
• order of services in their box
• table plan for reception....etc etc etc

Yes as you can imagine my little sewing room is full to overflowing and it's certainly been a hot steamy week for me.

Just as well I have plenty of hanging space eh?

The special ivory dress is just on the right hand edge of the screen but that will be revealed next week...if I can find you a pic or two.  :-)

Jo helped me fill the favour boxes on Monday...I hope you notice our excellent food hygiene  :-)....if we dropped any then we just had to eat them!!

Please help yourselves to a jelly heart or two....we have a few left over  :-)

Just so you know that I have found a few moments to sit and enjoy the sunshine...here's a pic of  4 baby swallows that like to sit on the line right outside our kitchen window waiting to be fed.....and look at that sky!!!!!

Please can we have it like that on Saturday for the wedding.  :-)

That's all from me for today folks...still lots of the last minute jobs to do yet.

• Pick up suits
• Take everything to the hotel ready for the reception....etc etc etc etc

Thanks for calling by.  Please leave me a comment and I will do my best to pay you a return visit.

Hugs,

Annie x

Dare you not to smile...

I have decided to challenge you with this picture today.

Sam has such a wicked sense of humour and his mummy snapped this pic this week for you.  He has found the hair brush so funny that he just can't stop laughing.  Just a shame you can't hear him too cos it's so contagious.

Who can't stop grinning now?  Here's hoping you all have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Good morning to one and all.  Thanks for calling by for a quick update from Sewing by Annie's.  Today sees me catching up with sewing jobs again.  My rail is full and there's more on it's way later.  I'm only working til Friday then I'm shutting up shop for a week to spend my time doing all the last minute bits for the wedding so that means I've got to stay head today down til my work is cleared.  I hope to have it all done and collected by 5 on Friday so I have my room clear to steam a wedding dress, 4 bridesmaid's dresses, 3 little flower girl dresses and two little pageboy suits....exciting times ahead eh?

 I had my little munchkins to play yesterday and they asked me to say hello to all their blogging Aunties from them.  Every day brings about change in them at the mo.  This week Sam has learnt to clap his hands and Lexi has cut her first tooth [Sam already has 3 teeth!].

I want to show you this little work of art I should have shown you last week but forgot.  It is an ATC swap I received from Kate out there in Spain.  Thank you so much Kate, it's just perfect in every way.

This is my table full of our wonderful new order of wool rovings we bought from Sara.  Jo and I share everything but of course this may get a bit of stroking before I can use it  :-)  What yummy colours....I can see hills and heather in the making here.

My latest dumflings are sat here on my table waiting for machine/hand embroidery and maybe a few beads before finishing them off.  The poppies are proving very popular.

Look what the postman brought me from the lovely Di yesterday.  Thank you so much for the promarkers Di...they will be put to good use when I'm dolly making...and that card is really gorgeous.  You card makers out there are such a talented bunch.
You have made me feel really special Di so thank you for your kind thoughts and, always reliable, support.

And last but by no means least....on my kitchen work surface is my latest batch of parmesan and sun dried tomato rolls so please help yourselves to one for lunch time....do be careful though cos they are still hot!

Don't forget to leave me a little comment and I will aim to pop over to say hello when I emerge from under my sewing mountain later.  Here's hoping you all have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

The flash of nature...

Last night the skies opened at about 5pm and it rained like it hadn't rained for months non stop for hours.  At about 8.30pm our neighbour knocked at out door and said she thought we should go out onto the road to see the floods!  We live about 100 yards from a bridge over a brook and the excessive rainfall meant the water could no longer get under the bridge.  I've snapped some pics to record it all...I remember it flooding like this about 50 years ago but never this bad since then.

This one is taken from just across the road from our house.

Yes that is a canoe!

Up the back of the post office was flooded.

We live by the white van on the far left of the picture....it all got a bit too close for comfort!

This was the back side of the bridge and as you can see the water reached to foot path on the right!

Here I'm stood in our dear friend and neighbours garden....the power of the water was amazing.....there were children running down the flooded footpath on the far side of the brook!!...it's not surprising folk get swept away.

By 11 last night the water had dropped about 3 foot and this snap was taken this morning of the same footpath that was flooded last night.

Here I'm looking upstream off the bridge....you can see the grass has been flattened on the right of the picture where the water reached last night.

What a scary couple of hours it was for all.  We were lucky enough to be above the damage but many houses in the village were flooded out, some of which had owners that are away on holiday.  The power of nature is amazing.

A few smiles from a difficult week....and a wonderful ending

It's Friday again.  I try hard to find you all something to make you smile each week.  It's normally easy cos I can dip into a multitude of pics of  my gorgeous, and often funny, little munchkins.  This hasn't been the easiest of weeks for one reason or other and today has started with yet another dark, gloomy, damp morning so I guess we all need a smile more than ever today.  So I've gone hunting through this weeks snaps and you can choose which makes you smile the most....

It could be the snap of Sam with his new soft toy ....yes it's a rat!

His daddy bought it for him from Ikea and as you can see Sam just loves it....his mummy isn't so sure!

It could be one of Lexi stood emptying my toy box....what a clever girl eh?  But I will add she didn't feel so clever 2 minutes later when she reached for a toy at the bottom of the box and ended up with her feet in the air!  She couldn't get in or out and had a moment's panic.....lesson learnt eh?  :-)

It could be the snap of Steve at tea time.....looks like it's been a busy day!

I remember his Uncle Mark doing exactly the same but when he fell asleep he landed face first actually in his tea!

It could be the gorgeous painting our 3 year old Granddaughter Phoebe brought for us with a box full of chocolate cakes she had made herself!....trust me when I say there are no photos cos they didn't last long enough....yummy yummy.  

Thanks Phoebe x

Or finally it could be the bunch of flowers I treated myself to to lift the spirits...My favourites...sweet peas, freesias, carnations and a bit of gypsophila [I added a bit of greenery out of the garden to fill it out.]

Do you know how good it is to actually spend a little time looking at what made you smile in the week?....it's not all been doom and gloom it seems.  :-)  Why not add a few snaps on your blog to share what made you smile this week?  Thanks for calling by.

Hugs,

Annie x

Update.....I'm now grinning from ear to ear.....My daughter in law to be has just let me know she has had her degree results....she got a 2 : 1   :-)  :-) :-)  :-) :-)  :-)  Well done Gina....we are so very proud of you.

WOYWW....

Thought we all needed a bit of cheering up this weather so I snapped this pic in a moment of sun and thought I'd share it this morning to start off my WOYWW post.

On my desk today is...

I made the curtains last week as you know and this week my customer has managed to get the fringed edging he wants me to put down the one edge of each curtain and along the bottom edge of the tie backs so I can now get them finished!

This is the latest bridesmaid's dress one of my customers has brought for me to shorten.  I know it's personal choice but I have to say I don't think I would choose black for a wedding.   There are so many pretty colours to choose from.   It has a very long train that she wants me to reduce and there are 3 layers to the hems so it's a job and a half to do.

Before you pop off to blog hop all the other desks please help yourselves to a strawberry or two.  Even though we have had very little sun to ripen them this is the third dish full I've picked and they are really yummy.

That is all I am sharing with you in pictures today.  It's a quick post cos my fun day with the munchkins for this week had to change from my normal Tuesday to today so I shall aim to drop by your blogs to pay you a visit during nap times...theirs not mine but that sounds like rather a good idea  :-)  Sewing can wait til another day eh?  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

ps If you have time could read the post below we really would appreciate your opinion.  Thanks x

To frame or not to frame?....

Our latest dumflings went into the blog shop yesterday and as you will see we have chosen to not frame them.

Why?

• Do we use small frames or a large mount and a large frame?
• What colour frames set them off best? Dark or light? White or black?
• Does the frame suit the room it is to go in?
• Natural wood frame or a painted one?

and of course

• The postage is so much cheaper without a frame and the frame won't get damaged in transit.

Framing is so very personal and of course you have to remember both Jo and I are Librans so deciding on a frame would be next to impossible [we are so indecisive!]  :-)  We have put a couple on the picture shelf that just suited their frames to perfection....and who would argue that the top poppy picture that Jo did isn't just perfect in that frame?

So?  Please pop over to the shop and then pop back let us know what you think.  We really do appreciate your comments.

Hugs,

Jo and Annie x

Dumfing fun....

Jo and I have been having more Monday fun today.  I've had a steady flow of customers but in between I've beaded up my latest batch of dumflings and Jo has been busy making broiderie anglaise pinnies for my little Granddaughters to cover their flower girl dresses for the up and  coming family wedding.....I'm sure she will do a show and tell when those are finished.

Here are my latest dumflings that you can now buy over in the blog shop.....

WOYWW....

So here we are at another Wednesday and yet another world wide snoop round all the crafty spaces.  What am I going to share with you today?

The post man has brought me two more gorgeous ATCs this week.

24. from Sue

and

 25. from Fiona

Thank you both so much.  I love them.

My handsome son [yes if course I'm biased] and his gorgeous girlfriend have been away on holiday this week and while they were there he took her to the end of a pier looking out over the sea for a picnic and then proposed to her.  :-)

What an old romantic he is eh?  We are so very thrilled with the news and of course now have another wedding to plan.  :-)

Of course you have really come here to see my desk so this week that is what I'm gonna show you in all it's glory....and b****** curtains!

I have 4 pair of curtains to make for a caravan and 8 tie backs to go with them.  Of course they are only small curtains so not such a struggle as the big ones I get but there are 8 of them to make!

The eagle eyed of you might spot Mitzy monkey in the window soaking up the sun.  :-)  She likes to sit and watch me when I sew.

Well thats it from me for today.  I had a wonderful day with the twins yesterday so it's head down today to catch up with the sewing.  Hope you have enjoyed your visit and will leave me a little comment before dashing off over to Julia's.  I will do my best to pay you a return visit in between hems  :-)

Take care and have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

Garden treasures...

Saturday was spent clipping and cutting back the hedge / shrubs from the front of the house down to the road and what a difference it has made.  It seems to have let so much more light in to the front of the house.

Sunday, I spent a little time out in the sunshine in our back garden and thought you might like to share some of the treasure I found there.

It seems to have been a good year for the roses although the rain seems to knock them down and the flowers have certainly taken a battering at times.

At the very bottom of our garden is a wild / back to nature area for the birds, and wild plants.  We have lots of hazel trees down there that make a canopy with bird feeders and nesting boxes and even have a bird hide made from a small garden shed [Jo calls it our 'love shack' but all I can say is how did she know?  :-)  ].  It is getting to the 'I need to be cut back and sorted' stage so before it gets cleared I wondered through the wilderness and snapped all the little hidden treasures amongst the nettles.

If you click on the picture you should be able to enlarge it enough to see just what wonderful treasures you can find in nature if you just look.

Half way down our garden is a love seat that our family bought us for our silver wedding anniversary....the idea being that Hubby and I can sit on the seats and enjoy a cuppa together but our little dogs have other ideas.

The second I sit down on the one side Wispa likes to jump up and sit on the table part and Rocky sits proudly on the other seat!!!

They are such little characters.

I hope you've enjoyed the peep into our garden treasures today.

Hugs,

Annie x