I would like to introduce you to.....

...the new addition to our house hold!

'Dauphinois' the antique Parisian dress makers dummy!

Now I would like too just point out that the name Dauphinois was Chris's idea, And I thought it was very fitting for a curvy Parisian lady, I wanted to call her Spud for short, but Chris surprisingly has put his foot down and said that's disrespectful!!!! So its Pomme de terre for short then......

I have been looking for one of these for over ten years, well certainly remember being on the hunt when I lived in Haywards Heath, and then one turns up at my lovely antique shop just down the hill. Perfect and she is adjustable too.

Now the first reason I wanted an old one was that originally I wanted to display what remains of my mothers wedding dress bodice after she dyed it sea green (the dye caused most of the lace and silk to rot) and it now resembles some thing Miss Haversham would have liked.  As do I.

But my Mum was a slight lady and not tall, and so when I tried it on Dauphinois it didn't fit. Sod, Mum was two inches smaller round the waist at 21 years old.

Now why didn't I get those genes?

To make it near enough the right size for dress making for me, 

I have had to expand her to max, and I am not sharing those pictures!!!!

Oh and Mum was a good 7 inches smaller than me, I looked like an Amazon standing next to her!

Chris thinks she is also perfect for storing his top hat, now that may look very smart, but was brought for fancy dress when he was Slash from Guns and Roses!

Welcome to the house hold Dauphinois 

Celebrating a great summer

Was pottering through Town about a month a go, and past the gorgeous shop window of Evie and Me down by the Market building.  Now this window is always a joy, and my wish list is getting longer and longer, especially as they also do upholstery fabric and ribbons......but that's another story!

They have commissioned a range of locally inspired pieces which are only available in this shop, and this cushion caught my eye (image it just with the printed section in the middle, sorry forgot to take a before photo).  

Its my friend Claire (who I did the '30 Bays' in the summer with) birthday coming up and it seemed an absolutely perfect present, just needed a bit of tweeking...

 needed to top up the list of beaches, so out came the needle and thread

so it now has a date, a title,

extra bays and the sea temperature

 very please with it, and I think I can safely say Claire was too!

Only problem, I want one too!

Sea swimming and courgette cake

We are in the throes of a beautiful Indian summer, 

but being the end of September alot of tourist businesses are wrapping up for the season.  

One of those is the cafe at Moulin Huet, which is closed after today, 

So a beautiful morning encouraged us up and out for a swim, they were doing a cake and music party at 3, but that was also low tide, and the pull of a high was too great!

Down through the cool, green,, dappled tunnel,

 Till you started getting a glimpse of the Pea Stacks through the trees. 

and out we popped over this rocky, rugged cove, 

that in the past has inspired the greats such as Renoir

Very helpful and actually rather beautiful steps let you easily get down on to the beach.

Had a brilliant swim, it is still so warm, about 18 degrees, 

we pottered around the rocks, rode the swells, chatted with other bathers, tried to swim up on a cormorant and generally just enjoyed a good 20 min swim.  

Sea swimming pushes you so much more than any pool can, the wave, swells and tides challenge you, one moment you seem to be swimming and not moving, then suddenly you surge forward, 

you need to be aware of your surrounding, of the tides, of the weather. 

and boy it makes you feel alive and buzzing.

Thrift clinging on in the most inhospitable places

rats, forgot to bring a blackberrying bag.....

Exercise done, now cake!

How about that for a view from a tea room?

Now don't you agree, chocolate and courgette cake must be good for you?  

Maybe even one of my 5 fruit and veg for the day?  

And boy it was good, not sickly sweet, just moist and chocolaty with a nutty crunch, yum!

There's a lovely tea garden surrounded by a hydrangea hedge, which just encourages you to chill out and relax, like these French girls playing cards in the sunshine, loved their hats.

Though this little chap wasn't relaxing at all, very busy, hopping around, he obviously knew exactly the best places for cake crumbs!

Thank you Moulin Huet tea rooms for all the gorgeous cake this summer, and hope to see you in the Spring!

One of my most satisfying commissions so far ;-)

I had a lovely commission earlier this summer, for a wedding present for my clients niece.  We worked together on the design trying to get in as many subtle clues abut their life and loves

 Emily and Phil are very out doorsy people, so fleeces were the order of the day,

 and his red plane had to be doing a fly by!

They are also from Yorkshire and Lancashire, so we have red and white roses in the undergrowth 

And they love spending time with her Aunt in Sark, so the island features on the horizon

So very pleased with how it turned out, you know what it is like when things just click, well this was one of those.  And from what I understand, they are pleased with it too!

A spread of blood red poppies

One of the reasons for heading on down the Queens Walk was to the view across the 

Thames to the Tower of London, to the most amazing art installation,

'Blood swept lands and seas of red'

(you can see it sweeping up over the wall.)

Crossed Tower Bridge, and there were hundreds of people being drawn to this amazing piece.

Its been created by Paul Cummins,
 and is a brilliant and poinient memorial to commemorate 100th anniversary of WWI,
each poppy,
 and there will be 888,246 by November 11th,
 represents a fallen British Commonwealth soldier

Each ceramic flower head is for sale for £25, profits going to 6 service charities.

I came looking for the Poppies and I wasn't disappointed. 

But what I wasnt expected as well were these amazing chicken wire sculptures by Kendra Heste, which will be at the Tower for 10 years (2011-2021)

Quite beautiful

Either of these fantastic installations is worth a trip to the Tower

(all visible from the road)