Adventures in sewing - my first skirt!

So, when I say I'm really into sewing, what I mean is, I'd like to be able to sew things. I have a little dream that one day I'll be able to see a garment online or in a magazine, and recreate it myself.
I know it's possible, my cooking dream was to be able to open a cupboard full of random ingredients and invent dishes from scratch, and that's second nature to me now.
It just takes practice, patience and perseverance - if I was a motivational speaker, I'd probably start calling them the "three P's" right about now...
Anyway, I've done SOME sewing, but being an impatient type, I've never sewn anything reaqlly good. I've made wheat bags and the like, quick easy stuff, but never anything I'm really proud of.
I've just started going to a sewing class, so I'm serious about wanting to learn properly now, and today I decided to have a go at making a skirt.
I made a simple skirt from two pieces of fabric, with an elasticated waistband to eliminate the need for buttons or zips. Plus, you know, with my love of food, elaticated waistbands are always my friend...

Ta DA! Isn't it cute?
I used a cosy corduroy fabric in an autumnal olive colour, now I'm getting all excited about bonfires, hot chocolate and snuggling up on cold evenings. It's making me want to crochet a blanket!
Now that I've sewn something actually wearable from scratch, I feel like there's no stopping me! Stay tuned for more adventures in sewing!

The maiden voyage!

Yay! Two weeks after bring the lovely Doris home, we're off on our first family adventure!
We've done a bit so far, removed the flower stickers (we have something better in mind), removed a few unecessary bits from the inside, painted the interior walls a lovely aqua colour and added a few home comforts - cushions, blankets and kitchen essentials.
Our first family trip was to Haughton Park in Alford, Aberdeenshire, about 30 miles from our house. Because the back seats don't have seatbelts fitted yet, we had to take the car as well. Charlie and Steve did the man thing and took the van, and daisy and I followed behind. You should have seen the delight on my little face, watching our beautiful Doris pottling along the road on front of me!
Daisy was happy as larry when we arrived...

And of course, the most important thing is to get settled in and have a quick refreshment before hitting the woods...

Then it was off into the woods for the good stuff - tree climbing, stick collecting and squealing with delight whenever we saw a bunny! There was even a stone circle in a clearing, which we all got very excited about and just had to release our inner hippies...

 

Loads of fun! It was lovely to see the kids getting so excited about playing outisde. we made up games, we invented new hippy names for ourselves and had a brilliant laugh. See? No need for computer games or telly programmes, just some fresh air, sunshine and jumping off rocks!

 

Spot the bare feet! Oh yeah baby, we're so hardcore, we don't even need shoes!

 

Of course, it wouldn't be a family trip without a drama of some kind, which Daisy willingly provided. She went to jump over a log, tripped and landed face first on the ground, ouch! We all got a bit of a scare when we saw the giant egg that appeared on her head...

She was a little star though, lots of tears but a dose of calpol and many cuddles later, she was right as rain. It was a good opportunity to do a little bit of first aid training with the kids as well, and I taught them about what it means when a bump appears after an injury, and how to check things like ability to answer questions and shining a light at the  pupils to check for dilation after a head injury.

 

We were able to go back out again after a little while, and resumed the fun! I adored cooking dinner on the little two ringed stove and grill, and we all enjoyed listening for the whistling of the stove top kettle! As it's getting colder, we were all grateful for a nice hot drink as the sun went down.

We had fun after dinner collecting sticks for a little campfire, and Steve and Charlie took great pleasure in doing the man thing and lighting the fire. It was really nice to see them doing a bit of male bonding and having a good old campfire chat...

We had a good comfy night's sleep and were up nice and early the next day to continue the fun!

We visited the Grampian Transport Museum (too many photos to post!), which was amazing. Steve and I are both huge fans of anything vintage, and Steve is well into cars, so it was lovely for us to both get excited about looking at everything!

We explored the playparks at the campsite, which was a good excuse for all four of us to act like kids...

And of course, there was more tree climbing, rock jumping and general outdoorsiness. This is what I think is important about childhood, exploring, having fun, using your imagination, getting all grubby and breathless and enjoying yourself so much that you don't even notice the cold!

 

It makes the joy of hot chocolate, a bubby bath and snuggly jammies all the more delicious by bedtime!
All in all, it was an amazing first trip away in our gorgeous camper. Alford was stunning and we all had so much fun, we were born to live the campervan lifestyle. We are already planning our next adventure this weekend. Doris is definitely the best thing we have ever bought, and I can see us being very happy campers for a very long time.

Let's buy a campervan!

I've wanted a campervan as long as I can remember. It was always a dream of mine to be able to just take off whenever I could, and explore this beautiful country we live in.
I was in love with the idea of not just the freedom to drive anywhere and sleep where you park, but also the idea of a simpler life. Not dragging case loads of stuff with us, just a bare necessities, make do and mend, improvising with what you have to hand kind of attitude.
My kids like their home comforts, but I think it's so important to learn to enjoy the outdoors, and develop an appreciation for nature and making a fun day just from woods and rocks and seaside games. Just enjoying each other's company and learning to explore your surroundings. Peace, man!
This is what I love so much about Steve (one of the millions of things) - he shares the same ideas and sense of adventure. He gets the importance of trying new things and spending quality family time together.
Anyway, in the first couple of days of our relationship, we'd been talking about things we always wanted to do, and owning a campervan was high on the list for both of us.
About three weeks into our relationship, he sent me a text saying he had a "cunning plan" to discuss with me. I asked what it was, and he said "We should buy a campervan together, what do you think?"
My reply was "I think I want to marry you"

We started looking straight away, but eBay is full of shoddy sellers, there were a lot of very vague ads and campers with very expensive problems.
Finally, after five months of looking, Steve texted me a picture of a van, and I knew right away it was ours. Within an hour of frantic texting back and forth, the deal was done, train tickets were bought and two days later, we travelled 450 miles to pick up this little beauty...

Isn't she gorgeous! We decided to call her Doris, and we're going to have so much fun getting her fully restored and "ours". Steve knows a good bit about doing up cars, so he can take care of the engine work and cab area, and I'm really into decorating and sewing, so I'm looking forward to getting the inside all pretty!
Here's the story so far on the inside...

Looking pretty good, but we can do better! We've decided to go for a bit of a seaside theme, so there will be blues, greens and yellows, with lots of cosy blankets and snuggly cushions. Can't wait for all the amazing adventures we're going to have. Watch this space!

Three generations under one roof...

My house is a work in progress. Its going to be that way for a really long time, but I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with it, which is really encouraging.
We moved in just before Christmas in 2010, just a few months after my dad passed away. This house has been my parents' since 1990, and we moved in to keep my mum company. We built an extension so that I have my own living room, and my mum has her own living room. We have the whole upstairs area to ourselves, so really the only "shared" part is the kitchen/dining area. It gives us the best of both worlds, a seperate living area for both mum and us, and all the advantages of living together as a family.

Its had it's ups and downs, getting used to living all together again. Mum has her own ways and routines, and so do we, and getting these differences ironed out was a little bit challenging, but it wasn't too bad.
I think the main challenge was feeling properly, permanently settled. When we first lived here, I was a newly single mum, trying to get used to also having just lost my dad, and mum was a new widow, trying to get used to moving forward in life without her companion, while also getting used to having non stop grandchildren and dogs running around her feet once again!

I enjoyed bringing my kids up in the house I grew up in, and it was easy to remember, because large parts of the house hadn't changed since I was a kid.
My dad wasn't keen on change, and was always of the opinion that as long as the house looked "fine", it realy didn't matter about modernising it, so much of the main house is still as it was when we moved in, much to my mum's frustration!
Things were kind of difficult last year, I was getting used to the single life again, and spent most of my child free weekends staying with friends and going on nights out, while mum became increasingly frustrated with the state of the house, and with me for never being around to help change things. Lots of arguments ensued.
To be honest, I found it difficult to imagine settling here permanently. I wanted to, I really did, and I couldnt have done half the things I managed to do if it hadnt been for my mum being here for me, supporting me and helping take care of the kids. The thing was, I couldnt imagine that I'd ever be able to have a proper relationship again. I thought blokes would find it strange, a 32 year old mother of two, living at home with her mum. How would I ever be able to bring a guy home, explaining that my mum would be waiting when I got in?

I met Steve in March 2012, and everything changed. He was the first guy I'd met who I instantly felt at home with. That's another story for another day, but the point is, within a couple of days, he came to the house for dinner and he felt instantly at home in my house.
No worries, no hesitations, we both felt totally comfortable, and he didn't bat an eyelid about the fact that I lived with my mum. It made perfect sense to him.
Being with Steve has made me finally feel like I can settle here. I always saw this living arrangement as something I really wanted, but something that stood in the way of moving forward. Not true at all! Now that I've found the right person, it all makes sense, and we are moving forward as a complete family.

One of the things we are most often asked as a couple, is what we plan to do now about living arrangements, now that we are living together. Will we be buying our own house?
The answer to that is no, we are staying right here. Mum loves having us here, and we love being here. In many countries, its totally normal for several generations to live in the same house, but for some reason, it's less accepted here. It's a shame, because it works so well for us, and I'm sure it would work well for other people too!

Anyway, now that I've stopped working and I'm at home permanently, we are making big plans to finally get this place decorated and renovated. It'll be a long project but its also really exciting. I've already started doing Charlie's room, so I'll get a post up about the progress there shortly.

How do you feel about living with parents/grandparents? I'd love to hear some opinions!

Beautiful Pennan!

Last weekend, we had a lovely family trip to a tiny seaside village called Pennan, which is about 11 miles from Faserburgh in Aberdeenshire.
It's such a beautiful place, just a single row of stunning little houses nestled at the bottom of cliffs, with the most gorgeous dramatic sea views...

We stayed in a fantastic cottage which I think was originally two flats, as both upstairs and downstairs had a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. This made the kids feel really grown up, because they slept upstairs and were really chuffed that they had their own living room and kitchen all to themselves!
My favourtie part of the whole house was something I've always wanted, a wood burning stove!

It was amazing to be able to come in after a long day of exploring and relax in front of a roaring fire, it's one of my favourite things in the world.
Anyway, when we arrived, we settled in, had a cuppa and then set out onto the rocky beach to explore!

The kids had an absolute ball, climbing rocks, paddling around, looking for crabs and squealing with joy at everything they found. it's exactly the kind of summertime experiences all kids should have. We spent ages looking around, then had a delicious dinner at the beautiful Pennan Inn...

It was lovely to just do things at our own pace, the kids definitely appreciated having the opportunity to just wander around, without being told to hurry up! They had loads of fun, and then we headed back to the house, lit the fire and played a few board games. Charlie got up to get something from his room, and suddenly shouted "Whoah! Look out the window!!!"
We all ran to the window to see what he was shouting about, to be greeted by the most stunning sunset we've ever seen...

We really couldn't get a decent photo of it, but it was bright red and so dramatic over the sea, it was amazing to see how ridiculously excited the kids got about it! They even did some impromptu sunset shadow puppets on the wall...

It was one of those perfect moments, when you all look at each other and know you'll remember it forever, it was such a happy evening.

The next day, we went out to Macduff Aquarium, a few miles away, and spent the day learning about fish, the kids loved it! We had a cosy evening in as the weather was awful, really windy and rainy, so we ate steaks from the local butcher and looked out the window at the waves.

We headed home on the sunday, but not before having another long explore on the beach and in the rockpools. We were all pretty sad it was over but will definitely be back!