Clover Mill Retreat

A short break with the wonderful Julie during her 'soft opening' this summer. 

Yoga with children is never ideal in such a setting (find me one child whose world is either 'tranquil' or 'elegant') but we somehow managed it due in large part to her patience and excellent cooking!! 

Maybe preschoolers do their own version of zen...

A beautiful stay at the indulgent retreat: www.theclovermill.com 

Autumn Sewing Patterns

The human condition has a wonderful inevitability to it… Feel hot and crave the cold… enjoy summer but crave winter woolies… tire of woolies and crave floating maxi-dresses…

And so it is that I come in from a languishingly gorgeous day in the heat of the barbeque-fuzz, thinking up autumn’s sewing projects and the range of ideas for those gorgeous yards of crepes, tweeds and boucles stashed in my basement…

Vogue 1367 – not the most straightforward pattern method to create this kind of look, but a very elegant result, nonethless. If you’re a newbie stitcher, Simplicity 2147 would create a similar effect with much less head-scratching…

Vogue 8937 shouts ‘Toast’ elegance at me… and would be a great wardrobe staple, particularly if you like snoods and don’t want a pesky collar interfering…

Vogue 8921 might just convince me to foray into knits…

Butterick 5916: Not convinced by the peplum on this one, but the gathered shoulder detail is just stunning…

And for the significant others in your life (not that my crew will get a look-in, mind, but may as well appear to be fair on the internet, at least…)

Vogue 8940 is a rare glimpse of beautiful menswear from Vogue…

And for children there are, as ever, a few gems in the books…

McCalls 6783

McCalls 6781

Butterick 5912

Dinner: Panzanella

Or ... The most expensive way to use up a loaf of bread if your fridge is empty and you don't have the right kind of vinegar in stock ...

Yummy though!! Summer bread salad http://www.womanandhome.com/recipes/534358/summer-bread-salad

Introduction to Quilting Course photos

Lovely ladies, lovely quilts and four lovely weeks of patchworking, basting, quilting and binding to result in six completely different fabulous finished baby quilts!