Adventures in Tuscany Part 1

Now the summer holidays are well-and-truly over and we're back at work (after 6 weeks off - which seemed like only 6 days), I guess I should get on with telling you what we got up to.  In summary, we.....

• Visited Simon's folks in Devon (ate fish & chips, shopped in Exeter - and bought a Cath Kidston cardigan, rode the steam train from Paignton to Dartmouth, read, paddled in the River Otter - and saw a kingfisher, enjoyed the sunshine, and visited the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth)

• Visited my folks in Staffordshire (took lots of photos of the garden, played games, went for a countryside walk - and almost stepped on a snake, ate al fresco almost every night, barbecued, read more, enjoyed more sunshine, visited Hardwick Hall, and went to a wedding)

• Went to Tuscany (stayed on a farm, ate amazing Italian food, swam a lot, got bitten by mozzies, read lots more, caught more rays, drove through some breathtaking scenery, visited some wonderful places, sampled a few glasses of chianti, ate, ate, and ate some more)

I took LOADS of photos while we were in Italy.  Sorting through them all took AGES!  I was strict with myself about deleting, but still have HEAPS.  So I think we'll do this in two separate sittings.

Are you sitting comfortably, dear blog readers?  Then we'll begin.....  'Adventures in Tuscany Part 1':  

Podere San Lorenzo  

Civitella in Val di Chiana

Siena

Monteriggioni

Lucca

Pisa

Well, I think that's enough for today.  I'll have a sort through the rest, and return with 'Adventures in Tuscany Part 2' very soon.....

Carly

x

P.S.  I've enjoyed catching up with your blogs over the past week SO much.  I REALLY miss you all when I don't get around to visiting as often as I'd like to!!!  

My Handmade Wedding Gift

As promised last time, today's post is going to be about the wedding pressie I made for my friend.   

I’ve mentioned in a few older posts that I’ve tried a bit of papercutting before – and that’s what I decided to do for the wedding gift. 

My previous attempts at papercutting had all been from pre-prepared outlines.  But, for this one, I wanted to design something myself.  What a job that was!!!  I’d seen some pretty things online, and got some ideas from here and there.  But I wanted to add some personal touches.

Drawing is definitely NOT one of my strong points, and I think I must have drawn it out at least 25 times before I was reasonably happy with what I had.  I found a picture of the gatehouse of the venue, and tried to incorporate it into the design.  I’d heard that the gardens were a special feature of the place too, so I put in a tree and some grass and flowers.  I also knew that the mother of the bride had been busy making lots of bunting for the occasion – so I put in some of that too! And, of course, I included a bride and groom.

The cutting out took AGES as well – and was extremely fiddly!  But that was the fun bit!!!  Here it is as a work-in progress.

  

And here’s the finished thing.

I have to say that I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. And, luckily, the bride loved it.  PHEW!!!

Now I need to get sorting through photos to show you what else we did in the holidays.....  See you soon!

Carly

x

A Wonderful Wedding

While we were in England, WAY back at the start of the summer holidays, we went to a wedding.  It was a VERY special one, as the bride was a really close family friend (who I’ve known since just a few days after she was born, and who’s my mom’s god-daughter).  And what a WONDERFUL wedding it was!!!  The sun shone all day long, we got to catch up with lots of friends, the venue was spectacular, the bride looked stunning, the food was delicious.....

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery about an half an hour after the ceremony.  So I didn’t get to take that many photos.  But here are a few of the ones I managed to get.

Me & Simon

Hodsock Hall

The grounds - with a Monet-style pond (complete with lilies and a bridge)

Us two with my mom and dad

Here comes the beautiful bride.....

..... and such pretty bridesmaids

Gorgeous, vintage-style flowers everywhere

Lovely music to accompany our champers and canapes

And a BRILLIANT magician

Yes, in case you didn't know, Simon's a magician (you can see his website here if you fancy a look) 

Apart from telling you what a wonderful day we had, I also wanted to show you the wedding pressie I made for the happy couple.  But I think I'll save that for my next post.

Until then.....

Carly

x

Stripy Giveaway Goodies Galore!!!

Well, my dear blogging friends, we're back home after five weeks of fun and sun in England and Italy!  And guess what???  It's raining here in Düsseldorf.  I'd normally be a bit disgruntled about returning to drizzle.  But, after two weeks in Tuscany with temperatures way up in the mid-30°s (and no air conditioning in our room, with windows shut tight to keep the mozzies out), the rain and 20° temperature is very welcome indeed!!!  Now I’m home again, I’m looking forward to visiting you all and seeing what you’ve been up to over the summer.  I hope you’re all having a good one! WAY back at the end of June, just before the school holidays started, I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from the lovely Moo and Mouse blog.  I was VERY excited to receive my prize through the post – stripy goodies galore!!! Would you like a peek???

some colourful, stripy string

some cute, stripy bulldog clips

some pretty, stripy washi tape

and a pincushion (sewn by fairies, I think)

Thank you SO much, Emma!!!  I know I’ll put all of my new stripy bits and bobs to very good (crafty) use!  I’ll be back again soon, to tell you about some of my holiday adventuring..... Carly x 

Flowers, Bumblebees and Butterflies

We spent the first three weeks of the summer holidays in England, visiting both sets of parents, day-tripping, and lazing in the sunshine.

I realised when we got home that I'd taken HEAPS of photos of flowers (and bees and butterflies).  Most of them were taken in my parents' garden (my dad's fingers are a lot greener than mine), and a few were taken in the gardens of Hardwick Hall (a National Trust property in Derbyshire that's well worth a visit if you've never been - click here to have a little look). 

Are you ready for a bit of scrolling?  There are a fair few photos coming up.....

Do you think that the flower in the last photo looks like it has a cute little face?  I definitely see a long nose, two beady eyes, and a pair of specs!  

My two favourite snaps from this lot are the top one (although I have no idea what the plant is), and the hairy bumblebee.

I'm sure I'll be photographing LOTS more flowers before the summer holidays are over.....

Hope you're all having a super summer so far!

Carly

x