Maxi Dresses

Well it looks like maxi dresses are going to be big again this summer.  They are in every clothes shop you look in!!  I didn't buy any last year but have been looking for a pretty patterned fabric.  I found the perfect one for me in Matalan priced at just £14 and it looks lovely on

Here it is

There are many designs and fabrics available in the shops so I'm sure there is something for everyone!!!  The supermarket clothing departments also have some great ones at reasonable prices.

Here are a few that have caught my eye

Matalan   £30

Matalan £25

Tesco £25

Tesco £25

Tesco £30

Asda £10

Asda £14

So many fabrics and styles to choose from - has anyone else found any nice ones?  Hands up if you have bought a maxi to wear this summer???

Cheddar Gorge and Wells Cathedral

Yesterday it was scorching hot and just the weather for some countryside drives so we decided to go to Cheddar Gorge.

I haven't been to Cheddar for many many years and had forgotten how lovely it is there.  The sky was a deep blue colour and driving through the gorge with the roof down gave some fabulous views.

I forgot to take my camera out with me yesterday so had to rely on the camera on my mobile phone but the photos are not too bad at all!

We saw people climbing the gorge, which must have been an experience though not one I could manage!  There were also goats climbing and sheep loose on the side of the roads that didn't seem to worry about the traffic driving past them!

You can buy a pass to enter the caves but we did bother as it was too nice a day to be inside of a cave!  You can also take an open top bus tour through the gorge.

There are lots of cheese and cider shops which also sell all kinds of locally made chutneys and jams and there is a cheese making factory where you can see the cheese being made.  There were quite a few sweet shops selling handmade sweets and they had the machines on display actually making the sweets as well.

This photo shows one of the few clouds in the sky and it was a spectacular one!!  It poked out over the top of the gorge like a Mr Whippy ice cream and looks soft and fluffy!!

After driving around the gorge for a while we headed across to Wells and were lucky enough to be able to pop into Wells Cathedral before it closed for the day.

The Cathedral is a spectacular building, we were there at around 6pm and the sun gave it a lovely glow.

 The photo below shows the centre part of the West Front and depicts the day of judgement.  Christ is flanked by two six winged seraphim and supported by the twelve apostles, angels and saints to welcome the seeker into New Jerusalem.

The cathedral is very old and building work started in 1175 and it took eighty years to complete the first phase building from east to west resulting in the fantastic 'West Front' shown in the above photos.

There is so much detail on the cathedral front.  It is built from a local limestone which in the afternoon sun seems to glow.

The inside is is also stunning and you can walk though the cathredral and  go all around the walls and reach the other side of the cathedral from where you started.  The roof of the cathedral is very decorative.

If you look towards the Nave there is a scissor like arch which dates back to mediaeval times (1338-48)

Towards the back of the Cathedral there are several smaller chapels and some very worn steps that lead to the Chapter House.  This was competed in 1306  The Chapter House is a stunning octagonal chamber.
At the moment there is an exhibition showing the Turin Shroud here.

I would really recommend a trip to Wells to see the Cathedral as it is a superb building with lots of interesting  things to see inside.  Don't miss the clock which dates back to 1390.  When the clock strikes on the quarter, jousting knights rush around above it and the Quarter Jack bangs the quarter hours with his heels.

There is a market in Wells on a Wednesday and Saturday so those are good days to visit Wells.  The market had closed by the time we got there sadly!

Out and about in Somerset!!!

What a lovely sunny day today, just the weather for going out for a drive with my fab friend and 'that' car!!!

Today, we drove quite close to home to Brean which is in Somerset for those of you not local!!  It's quite a popular place for people to come for holidays as there are several large caravan parks and camping sites there and lots to keep kids occupied!  The beach is not particularily nice and there is alot of mud if you venture out into the sea but it is still quite pleasant with some nice cliffs and you can drive up and down the beach so of course we did!!!!!

On the cliffs there were several goats that seemed to have no fear of the sheer drop under them, it was weird to see them climbing up and down the cliff!
You can just see them on the first pic, little white dots and then clearer on the next 2 photos!

 There are steps that you can climb to get to the top of the cliff but we didn't venture up them today!!

We also went to the amusement park and went on a few rides!!  My friend is trying to get me to go to Thorpe Park with him but I am not sure I could manage the large roller coasters!!  We went on the Log Flume today and got very wet and also on another ride called 'Magic Mouse' which was a kind of roller coaster except that the cars spun round when we went around the corners, sounds tame but it wasn't lol and it made me realise that I couldn't manage the bigger coasters!!!!

These big balls were abit strange - I don't think I'd like to put a child inside of one but I suppose it's good if there isn't a creche facility!!!

The other thing we went on was the Terror House - we were watching people go on it and saw 2 small boys around 7 yrs old in one of the cars.  Now - I don't have kids but I have nieces and I would not allow them to go on this ride!!  We sat in our car and these kids went through the Terror House and came out in their car through a door with their heads in the laps which made us laugh but then they came through the last set of doors crying their eyes out!!  It was awful really but I'm sorry to say we laughed, just at the changes in expression on their faces!  It was one of those 'had to be there' moments and I know you are probably all thinking how mean we are but we couldn't help it!!  When we went through the doors it was quite gruesome and bloodthirsty, very good actually but it would be very frightening for a child.  I'm sure the silly parents will be rewarded though with many sleepless nights.

We finished off by driving along the seafront at Weston Super Mare and then made our way home. 

Another fun day out, hope it's sunny all weekend so we can go out again.

A Day of Devon!

Yesterday I had fab day out with my friend Shayne.  As he has a super dooper car we tend to go out driving around alot, especially if the weather is dry so that we can have the roof down!!

Although it was abit overcast, we decided to go to Devon for the day.  We drove from Bristol to Dartmouth and parked up and had a wander around some gorgeous shops.  They had some lovely little shabby chic style shops and we saw some really nice little bits and bobs.

I've never been to Dartmouth before, there is an estuary with lots of boats moored on it.  It's a very pretty little place.

I loved the brightly painted houses across the estuary, they reminded me of the children's programme called Balamory!!!  Here's a closer up photo of them

We went to a lovely restaurant and had a big dish of fresh mussels in a garlic and white wine sauce.  It was lovely.  The restaurant was an old building and the floors on the way to the toilet were on a slant which was very strange to walk on!!!

We then took the vehicle ferry across to Kingswear, it only took a few minutes but cost a whopping £4.50!!!!!! 

Our next stop was Brixham, another pretty little place.

We had been chatting earlier about not seeing cockles at the seaside nowadays and as we drove down to the waterfront we saw a cart selling them so Shayne jumped out and got a tub!  I tasted a couple as I've not had them for years and they tasted the same as I remember with just a little crunch of sand in them!!!!  I remember when men used to go into pubs with a large basket of seafood snacks including cockles.  They used to walk up and down the road going into the pubs.  The one I remember was called Mr Cockle and I can still remember him in his white coat carrying a large basket!  I wonder if this still happens nowadays???

Our next stop was Paignton where we had a Devonshire Cream Mr Whippy ice cream with a flake!  The tide was in and it was almost covering the beach.  I noticed that there were lots of painted beach huts further along but sadly didn't manage to get any photos!

We then drove through Torquay and Teignmouth before making our way home.  So we did the English Riviera in a day!!

It was a lovely day out with lots of laughs and good food.  I was exhausted by the time I got home and my hair was in so many knots from the wind, I couldn't get a comb through it!!!

We have some lovely coastlines in the UK - it's just a shame we don't get the weather to enjoy them!

Card for a Baby Boy

Here's a card for a baby boy.  I made the shoes from my own template and used foam pads to make them stand out on the card.

I cut the lettering out on my Cuttlebug and the ribbon was from a Crafty Ribbons bargain bag.  Not sure where the papers were from!!!

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges
One Stitch at a Time - New Baby (16 April)

Beach Huts!!!

I bought these lovely beach hut stamps at a craft fair the other day from Little Claire and I absolutely love them!!!!  They stamp beautifully and can be used in lots of ways as they come in a set.  You can find them here.

I decided to go for a vintage look so I used Tea Dye Distress Ink for the background and co-ordinating Promarkers for the image.

The backing paper has starfish all over it and was a freebie that I downloaded.  I tried to use a few different textures on the card, the rik rak is supposed to be the sea and the starfish was made from cork with some distress stickles on it.  I threaded some twine through a button and frayed the twine to give it a more distressed look!

The sentiment was another stamp from the Beach Hut set which I cut with Labels 1 Nesties and edged with a Bronze Star Sakura pen.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges

Truly Scrumptious - Vintage (26 April)
Stamping Vacation - No Black Ink (12 May)
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Distressing (17 April)
Art Impressions Stamps - Anything Goes (20 April)

Four New Sock Kitties!!!!

I recently had abit of spare time and decided to make up a batch of Sock Kitties to put onto my Facebook to sell.

Here they are

If anyone would like to buy one, they are £8.50 each plus £3 postage.  You can find them on my Facebook page, in the album entitled 'Sock Creatures For Sale' just here.  I should add that I only post within the UK!

A Lovely Walk!!

Yesterday, the weather was lovely and sunny but very chilly here in Bristol.  In the afternoon I thought I'd go for a walk with my niece to a local conservation area.  It's lovely place to walk with lots of trees and birds singing and even though it is close to busy roads it is very peaceful there.

It was great to see everything sprouting new buds and trees full of blossom. 

We even spotted some bluebells and a few other meadow flowers.

We took a walk through the wooded area which by summer is usually too overgrown to walk through.  There is a small stream running through the wooded bit as well, it looks clean but we couldn't see any fish in it!!

I'd forgotten how pretty it was and I don't think I have walked there since last summer.  I'll have to make more of an effort as it really is such a short walk to get there from my house!!!