Life's a beach

It is a very special week in our household

It is Molly's birthday today and Bruce's birthday tomorrow

We bought them some new toys and headed out to the beach for some seaside shenanigans

The pair of them absolutely love the beach and would stay there all day

Here is Molly being just a little bit canny, waiting for Bruce to do all the hard work. Bruce braves the waves, e retrieves the stick, only to be met by  a relentless Molly who snatches the stick from his mouth as he heads back for another throw

And you can see just how fearless my little labrador is, absolutely nothing will stop her, it doesn't matter how big the waves get she will frolic in the surf all day if we let her

So that was the first of many I hope. We all love our beach days, nothing like the sea air to blow away the cobwebs

Love and happy hounds

Tracey

xxx

Still here

Hellooooooooo

We are still here, although you would be forgiven for thinking we had fallen off the planet

FIVE months on from my last post, much has happened and not much has happened if you know what I mean

In a nutshell

*      We have been up country to visit family

*       Friends and family have been here to visit us (Mum and Dad, Tony and Carol, Kev and Jackie)

*      We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary

*      Amy and Robbie finished uni

*      All three 'children' are now working

*      Amy has had a tonsillectomy

*      Robbie is learning to drive and has his first car

Some of these events will be blogged in more detail later. I have just finished editing all the photos from the last five months, 700 photos, two hours and three coffees later I have decided there is far too much to wade through in one blog post

And in other news

We had an unexpected little windfall, so bought ourselves this fab little campervan, we have been away in it a couple of times already and are planning our first trip away with the dogs soon

The dogs have had a wonderful time in the woods, on walks and especially on the beach

We have had some gorgeous days out, exploring our stunning county, sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with friends or family and often with the dogs

I gave up trying to cover the grey and have been gradually adding more and more highlights, I am really happy with the results and my hairdresser is fantastic, Paige has the patience of a saint with my stubborn hair

We have also had some amazing days/nights out, we have enjoyed some fantastic gigs this year, local and further afield, found a couple of new festivals, added a few new bands to our playlists and generally broadened our horizons musically ( much more to come on that in future posts )

And yes, I have still been doing a little crafting, much much less than I used to. I toyed with the idea of giving it up and freeing some space by getting rid of all my craft clutter  stuff, but the feeling didn't last long. 

It may take me a little longer to actually get started, but once I have all my pretties out on the table, I remember just how therapeutic it is to have a craft and play session

This is my most recent creation, a card for my lovely friend Sue

I know this is a bit of a 'mixed bag', but you know what it is like to have so much to catch up on that it is difficult to know where to start

A very sensible person once said "just start", once you get going, the fear of the blank page disappears and the rest is much easier, how true this is. Now I have a million ideas running through my head and rather a lot of photos on my hard drive, no excuses then !

Back soon

I promise

xxx

Sandy paws and salty licks

Yesterday was our first foray onto the beach this year

These gorgeous blue skies tempted us to don our warm clothes and venture onto the sand

It was actually a little breezy and definitely blew away the cobwebs, you can see the surf rolling in behind Bruce as he waits for the ball to be tossed back into the waves

Molly did the usual and buried and then 'discovered' her ball leaving little holes all over the beach

We wandered from one end to the other and back again, Bruce dashing in and out of the water, Molly my little partner in crime searching for flotsam and jetsam

We found this gnarly driftwood, far too big for Molly to play with but texturally beautiful 

And this chunk of Maritime debris, rusty and redundant, all the way from Manchester

Molly loves exploring, just like me - look at that happy little face ( unfortunately she gets so excited by her new finds she often loses her ball !)

Heading back, wind in our faces, two happy pooches and all the cobwebs completely blown away

The nearest I will ever get to a selfie ! This one was an accident, but look at that beautiful sky

Love and salty kisses

Tracey

xxx

7 on Sunday

Our week in photos

1. For the first half of the week the weather was a little damp and dreary but the second half has been fantastic, the sun has shone and warmed the days beautifully, we have enjoyed lots of trips to the beach again this week and have managed to shed a few layers, no need for coats !

2. The dogs favourite part of the day is 'seaside time' but coming home is a little less cheery, these two soggy and glum little faces peep over the backseats of the car, eyes pleading for another five minutes in the surf

3. My first Cornish pasty of the year and bloody good it was too, why on earth did I wait until March ???

4. AJ received happy mail from school this week, he achieved 97% in the first part of his mock exam and his teacher sent this note of encouragement - very proud mum moment

5. Amy's bedroom is coming along nicely, all the magnolia has now disappeared and been replaced with lovely crisp and clean white, there will a little splash of colour added in the form of her accessories, will share photos once Amy has seen it herself 

6. Today saw my first paddle of the year, been dying to dip my toes in but it has been a little too chilly up to now but today was lovely. I kept my wellies off all afternoon, I have so missed the feeling of sand between my toes

7. I stopped going to Slimming World about a month ago, Neil has had loads of appointments lately and we have had plenty going on at home too so I have decided to do it myself at home. I have put a couple of pounds back on since  I stopped going to group but am ready to reign in the snacking and go back on plan. I find it much easier if I menu plan and buy in only what I need. I have lost a total of 1 stone and 2lbs but would ideally like to lose at least one more stone ( I am not sure the Cornish pasty I devoured at the beach today would have been the healthiest choice - but you do have to live a little !)

Love and sandy toes

Tracey 

xxx

Scrapbook Saturday

It has been a very long time since I have completed a scrapbooking page, just for me, just for fun

When I had the shop I had to do one every week for the classes and after a while it become more of a task to cross of my 'to do' list rather than the hobby I used to love and the hobby that led me into all things papercrafting

It felt extremely relaxing creating this page, I didn't have a deadline or a range of papers to try and sell. I didn't have to think what I had taught in the last class and try to incorporate a new technique. I just chose a photo, spent a very enjoyable few minutes rummaging amongst my stash and then 'played' with all my supplies

Of course my first 'subject' had to be Molly, she hasn't featured yet in any of my papercrafting projects so it was only fitting she was the first scrapbook page

I used a sheet of cream cardstock for the base which I stencilled with brown ink

I then drew and cut out a sunburst style design from a sandy coloured sheet of patterned paper, cut out each alternate ray of sunshine, distressed all the edges and then used a stencil and gesso to add texture to the central part of the design before inking all the edges in dark brown and Scattered Straw distress ink over the stencilling

I then delved among my scrap boxes for some smaller pieces of patterned paper to use for the borders and matting. I am desperately trying to use up some of my older pieces before I buy any new ones

Here is a close up of the stencilling and inking I used on the two different sheets

I definitely have the scrapbooking bug back. I have a million ideas running around in my head again and often wake in the middle of the night as a new design pops into my mind

Love and scrapping

Tracey

xxx

7 on Sunday

Our week in photos

1. My lovely friend at work Margaret has been knitting squares to make dog blankets for one of the local vets, we get lots of oddments of wool at the shop so I have joined in and have started making some myself, I am not as quick as Margaret but it keeps my fingers busy while I am watching the telly

2. Our poor little patch of lawn has taken a battering this winter. Before we moved in, it had been allowed to grow too long and we nearly lost it all after the first mow. Add to that, the incessant drizzle and frequent downpours plus two energetic and sometimes rather silly dogs skidding about, the lawn looked more like a quagmire. I took it in hand this week ( between showers of course), mowed it close, raked it and reseeded it, I am hoping with a little TLC we can nurse it back to some kind of health

3. We had some paint left over from decorating our hall - we adore the colour so have decided to use the rest up in our bedroom, it matches our bedding perfectly. I have been prepping the walls and have now got the first coat on, it is already looking much cosier than the magnolia

4. The long evenings have been perfect for catching up on one of my favourite TV shows. I absolutely love Dickensian. The bringing together of Dickens' best loved and iconic characters, all living together in 19th century London has been a triumph. Their lives and stories intertwined, is, in my opinion utterly genius. All the characters have been brought to life with such a talented cast and every episode has been full of drama and intrigue as well as a good dose of humour - love it

5. Our first beach day of the year, a very chilly day but nice and dry. Molly and Bruce ran and ran and ran, in and out of the surf, catching balls and sticks or in Molly's case anything that moved ( as in mouthfuls of ebbing and flowing seaweed)

6. Puppy training. I have been taking Molly to puppy training for a few weeks now and to be honest the distraction of the other dogs usually makes me wonder why I bother. Molly has no attention span at the best of times and just wants to run and play and generally mess about. But ....... we turned a corner this week and it just seemed to click. I think she is getting a little more used to the other dogs and settled down much better, we still have a long way to go and we are never going to be auditioning for Britain's Got Talent, but we are much better with some of the tasks

7. We have been enjoying making a daily smoothie, Neil and I both look out for bargains on the fruit and veg each day as we pop out for the newspaper and whizz up our finds for our daily juice.

Love and all the little things

Tracey

xxx

Spit Beach - February 2016

We had a break in the rain yesterday so decided to make the first visit of the year to our nearest beach - Spit Beach which is a 15 minute walk from our house

It was still pretty chilly so it was no surprise to find the beach deserted

Guess who was especially happy to run around in the sand and surf, Molly actually looked like she was grinning the whole time we were there

It was just after lunch time but the light was extraordinary, the cloud cluttered sky sporadically broke to allow the sun to dazzle the waves

We made the most of the full length of the beach and the dogs explored every nook and cranny, always mindful of where the next tossed ball or stick was coming from

A brave and bedraggled Bruce patiently waiting for the ball to be tossed back into the seaweed strewn surf

Crystal clear rock pools

Gazing out to sea, man and dog, at one with nature, tired, a little cold but completely content on the crisp Cornish coast.

Love and salty kisses

Tracey

xxx