This week's smiles...week 490

 Here we are at another week's catch up of the smiles from the previous week....and there's been lots.

We enjoyed another long weekend away in our caravan.

This time we had 3 night on the Cheddar Bridge campsite near Cheddar Gorge and these are a few snaps I took while driving up and down the Gorge....it's really spectacular and the photos don't really do it justice.

On the Saturday we went to the Wells street market...it was a really lovely market and we also walked through an arch to take a look at the cathedral....stunning.

The passage we went through had such and appropriate name I just had to take a pic :-)

On the Sunday we went to Weston Super Mare and enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach.....Milly made lots of new friends and enjoyed chasing the seagulls.

I popped out into the garden last night and snapped some of the pretty flowers we still have because I know many of you like to see them.

It wouldn't be a Friday without a few funnies.

I hope you all have had a good week and have lots of smiles to share with us by linking below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Hi all it's a quick post from me for this week.  I was away on yet another adventure at the weekend and didn't get back til Monday and yesterday was a full on day because on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we now have the twins before and after school and yesterday was their 11th birthday and also Gina's birthday.  After dropping the twins off at school I made a quick chocolate birthday cake for them for after school and Gina and the boys joined us too so we could sing happy birthday tothe 3 of them.

I do have a photo of the 4 bears I fifnished before we went away to share with you....

These were made in memory of a Grandma who's funeral was on Monday, the same day as the Queen, and these 4 were going to her funeral to be given to her Grandchildren.

I have a wedding dress and bridesmaid's dress to steam today, a handbag strap to repair and a popper fastening to sew on a coat.....never a dull minute here.  I will get my sewing done then pop over to visit all I can later....until then have a great day.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 489

 I'm back to posting my weekly smiles.  I really didn't feel like writing a post last week so I'm sorry.  We had had such a lovely time away in our caravan that I did have photos to share from our trip to Scotland so I am sharing them today.  We travelled North and had our first night on a really lovely campsite near Carlisle to break the journey up...it was the best campsite we have ever stayed on and may well drop in there again.  The following day we travelled up to the campsite by Calzean Castle in Ayr that we have stayed on again to have 5 nights to give us chance to spend some time with Ellie and Alan....our dear blogging friends.  It was 3 years. and before Covid. since we last had time with them and now sadly Alan is unable to drive so we were able to take them out for days and to give them a bit of spoiling....we love them lots xxx

They are in the process of boxing up their home to move nearer to their daughter Juli so it was lovely to enjoy a bit of quality time together....and give them a bit of a break.

We had a dinner out at their local Dobbies garden centre where they like to go.  We took them to see Ellie's younger sister who is wheelchair bound and is in a care home...such a lovely lady and it was so lovely to meet her.

Another of the days we took them for a ride up the coast to Largs and they made me have treated us to lunch and the most amazing icecream sundaes...it did have fresh strawberries in it to I'm sure it was healthy and sugar free ;-)

The views and scenery up there were amazing and enjoying the company of special friends really made it a very well worth while holiday.

We noticed this van while we were away...it made us chuckle.

Finally it couldn't be a Friday without a few funnies.

I hope you will all link up to your smiles at the bottom and have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 I'm back....we have enjoyed a couple of weeks in our caravan.  We had one night near Carlisle then travelled on up to Scotland for a few days and enjoyed some very special time with our blogging friends Elizabeth and Alan.  Sadly when we tried to catch up with Catriona and Norry they were busy. We then travelled south to a site near Hexham for our last couple of nights.  I planned to share a few photos last Friday but with the death of the Queen I felt it would be inappropriate so will share a few on Friday this week.

On my desk today is....

...my next order for 4 Memory bears in the making.  I have been really busy already this week with my first customer coming through my door at 8 o'clock on Monday morning and the next one coming very soon after and another two coming before lunchtime!!.....I think I've been missed :-)

I will do my best to pay you all a visit this week and leave you a little comment.  I did visit many blogs while we were away but the internet was very poor on our campsites and leaving comments was impossible.  Hoping you are all well and happy and that many of you are looking forward to joining us at the crop on 1st October [details can be found over at Julias]...If you haven't already done so can you please put your names down either with Julia, Jo or myself so we know numbers for doing the catering.

Hugs,

Annie x

No Friday smiles today.

 With the sad news of the death of our Queen yesterday I felt that it would be inappropriate to write a Friday smiles post this week.  I will postpone my smiles until next week.

This week's smiles....week 488

 It's a quick automated post from me so that you can all use Mr Linky to share your smiles.  I doubt I will be able to leave you comments this week but I will do my best to pop round you all and read your posts.

My smiles for this week are the wonderful pics I took while we were enjoying a trip on the Sabrina boat on the loops of River Severn around Shrewsbury last Sat night.  The town is very different when looking from the river.  We saw ducks, swans, fish jumping and even little bats flying as the day light faded....it was beautiful...thanks Amy and Dave xxx

Of course it wouldn't be Friday without a few funnies.  

Hope you've all had a good week and I will hopefully be able to write a post for next Friday.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 487

 Here we are at the week's round up of smiles and we have certainly had lots to smile about this week.

It was Louie's Christening on Sunday and a wonderdul time was had by all. As we approached the church Theo ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and said....'Nanny I love you, you look beautiful'. I'm not one to wear a dress often so I'm sure that was what he meant but it really made my day.

All our 7 Grandchildren were there so of course it was a chance not to miss...they are all growing up into special young people that we are very proud of.

Gina and her friend made the Christening cake [which tasted every bit as yummy as it looked] and a team of family and friends all helped with the catering and setting up of the hall for the party afterwards......It was so lovely to see so many young families and children all together.....a very special day was had by all.

I popped out in the garden in the sunshine yesterday and snapped some of the flowers that are blooming at the mo and doesn't it make a pretty collage?

Of course we couldn't have a Friday smiles without a few funnies.

I hope you find something to make you smile this week and will share your smiles by linking them up at the bottom.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all.  Today I'm sharing a photo of what is on my desk at the mo...

I was chatting with a customer I had last week and she told me she was the mother of a beautiful little boy who died sadly of cancer.  Since his death she had set up a charity in his memory and I offered to make an eye spy quilt for her to raise money with.  It's been a long time since I made one of my eye spy quilts but I know how much they are loved and just how much quality time can spent playing with one and am really enjoying going through my fabrics [and some of Jo's...thanks Jo] to find squares each with something to search for and talk about.....they are such a wonderful learning resource if used well.

I have found exactly enough wadding and just have to find some backing fabric so I can finish making it.

Today I have a bride coming and another lady needing a dress altering before the weekend so I will be a busy bee and I will be MIA for a couple of weeks after as we will be catching up with some very special friends ....I will tell you more on our return.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 486

 It's been another really lovely week here at Sewing by Annie's.  I meet so many lovely people during my working day and that makes me smile every day.  I have a few pics to share with you...

A lot of our garden plants have suffered a little with the hot weather but this gorgeous gladioli has been making me smile...it's such a gorgeous bright colour.

This gorgeous little man never fails to make me smile....he seems to grow and change every day.

He is being Christened this weekend and will be surround by a lot of family and friends to help him celebrate...there may be a few photos next week.

For family events I'm usually put in charge of making quiches....I love making them and they are always very popular. 

These are....

• Ham, tomato and feta cheese
• Caramelised onion and cheddar cheese
• Salmon and feta cheese and
• Mushroom and blue cheese

I like to make them a day or two in advance and to cut them up the morning of the event once they are well chilled.

As always I have a few funnies to share with you and this week I have a few different ones that I couldn't fit on a collage so I've uploaded them seperately.

I hope you find something to make you smile and will link to your own smiles at the bottom.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Here we are at our weekly catch up with our creative friends from all round the world....have I mentioned that it's my favourite day of the week?

I'm not sure my feet have touched the ground since we were here last week and last week ended on a high...

I was asked to make a Memory elephant in memory of a life long school friend.  The clothes that came for me to make it from lended themselves to a really special elephant.  The lady it was in memory of loved her costume jewellery and the centre of one of her neclaces fit across the front to perfection.....I think this has to be up there with my favourites.

I've even managed to find a little time to make the 9 squares for my next Fidgety quilt....just got to find time to make them up into a quilt now :-)

Phoebe and Lulu have spent some time sewing this week.

Lulu made herself a Minion pincushion.

Phoebe made herself a new hair scrunchie.

I get such a thrill knowing they choose to spend time using their sewing machine and creating.

That's all from me for today.  I will do my best to pop over to all I can.  I hope you're all well and finding time to be happy creating something special.

Hugs,

Annie x

this week's smiles....week 485

 What an amazing week it's been here at Sewing by Annie's.  I have been head down sewing since we got back from our weekend away and have had more sewing in a week than I had in the whole month previous to that.....I love to be kept busy but, the last time I looked, there is still only 24 hours in a day and even I have have my limits.

Our little Milly has had her hair cut since we got back and she has enjoyed imitating a lizard soaking up the sun this week....it doesn't last long though because it's very hot again here and she soon finds somewhere cool to lie.

Amy sent me this photo of the girls this week.  They were shopping for fabrics in Hobbycraft and the thought of them choosing their own fabrics for their next sewing project just makes my heart sing.

Theo is away for a few days on a campsite with his little brother, mummy and his other Grandparents this week and he's learnt to ride his bike while he's been there...of course he had to send us a vidoe of it in action [we love sharing all their achievements].

Daphne puppy has learnt a new trick too this week....she can dig!!  I hope she quickly unlearns that for them but she does look rather cute lying with soil on her nose.

Our garden is so hot and dry at the mo...we are saving every drop of water we can to give our plants a drink but many of the flowers have suffered.

The sweetpeas keep coming and I am loving all the colours of them this year....only in the garden though as they are too strong in scent for me to have them in the house.

Of course it wouldn't be Friday smiles without a few funnies.  I hope at least some of them make you chuckle.

Please share your own smiles by linking up to them at the bottom of the page.  Everyone is welcome and it's so lovely to see new faces joining in the fun.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all.  I started off last Wednesday with the best of intentions to visit you all but it all went downhill from there lol.  I knew it was going to be a busy week but I had no idea just how busy it was going to be.  I started off with....

...a room filled with factory trousers.  There was 32 pairs needing new zips and one pair needing a patch and darn.

For those wondering why I get so many pairs on a regular basis...they are for workers in a food factory and they have to go through an industrial wash with bleach to clean them so I guess that's why they don't last so long.

My assistant helped with taking the zips out....he's a gem and we make a great team.

All the trousers now have their new zips....thankfully!

If that was all I had to do I would have managed my blog vistiting but since last Wednesday I have...

1.   Made this Memory bear

...He's made in Memory of a much loved Grandad using his pyjamas and pillow case and caused many tears for his family members.

2. Sewed 5 buttons on for one of my customers who's sight is failing them.

3. Made these 2 Memery bears with their personalised labels.

Made in Memory of a Mum/Grandma using her fluffy dressing gown and they are such cosy little bears.

4.Shortened 4 pair of gents trousers.

5. Shortened 2 nurses dresses.

6. Put snap fasteners on a blouse.

7 Made this Memory bear...

This one is for the customer I made three others for a few weeks back.  The others were loved so much that another family member wanted one.....just the sort of order I love.

As you can see it's been a crazily busy week and to be honest I think I've done more work in the last 4 days than I've had over the last 4 weeks....that will teach me for taking a long weekend off wont it?

I have a feeling this week will be no quieter because I already have...

• 2 lady's tops to shorten
• 2 dresses to shorten
• 3 pair of trousers to shorten
• a dress to take in and
• another dress to repair.

On top of that I am expecting another Memory bear and some gents trousers to shorten.

I will do my best to visit all the blogs I can in my free time....hehehe as if I get any.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 484

 Here we are at another wonderful catch up of the smiles from the last week...and there's been many.

We had  wonderful long weekend away with our family even though it rained many of the days.  We had a couple of days on the beach and I even managed a swim in the sea [for the first time in about 17 years].  Very many special memories were made and these are just a few of the photos taken.

I have a new grandpuppy called Daphne.  She is simply gorgeous and has fitted in to her new family really well.

Of course I have to add some Friday funnies.  Hope you enjoy a chuckle on me.

I hope you have all had a great week and will share your smiles with us by linking below....sorry I failed to add Mr Linky last week.  We had no internet while we were away on the Welsh coast so I couldn't add it when I realised.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hi all I'm just back from a long weekend away making memories with many members of my family ...the weather was very mixed and we certainly had our share of rain but it didn't stop us enjoying special times together.....more of that on Friday.

You're here to see my desk today so here goes....

This is what is waiting for me on my desk this morning....another huge bin bag full of factory trousers to replace the zips in....I shall be calling in my hubby to help me remove a few zips and, all being well, they will soon be done.

I also have these special items of clothing to make a Memory bear in memory of a much loved Grandad and I have a dressing gown coming later today to make 2 Memory bears for another customer.

The other thing sitting on my desk this week is a few more squares to make my next Fidgety Quilt....in my favourite colours.

Of course these will wait until I've done all my customer's sewing before I sew for fun.

So that's it from me for this week.  If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to yours ASAP...but work must come first.

Hugs,

Annie x