Swinging along

One of the best things about having small children is being able to have a go on the swings without getting any funny looks.

Photo from my Flickr favourites - by Mario Bellavite

Folksy Friday - On yer bike

To celebrate yesterday's bike-riding achievement and also the launch today of the London Bike Hire scheme - this weeks Folksy Friday finds are bike related!

Bicycle Print from Lynsey Hunter

'Cycling in the Park' from Mini Memory Worlds

'I heart bicycle' screenprinted poster from Nell

'Red Bicycle' print from Falcon

Woohoo!

Five year old Moody learnt to ride his bike without stabilisers today - those little legs go really fast... I don't stand a chance of keeping up with him now:) Doyou remember that feeling when you first rode your bike - the freedom and the wind in your hair!

Ooh Paris!

Ice cream van near the Eiffel Tower - from the Moody family archives :)

A three year old perspective..

Sailor Dog in colour

Lauren Van Helmond

I love Lauren Van Helmond's work - her wire and steel sculptures are really playful - I especially love the box framed pictures - check out her website for more

Fun in the forest

We went to the woods and found a bear's den...

Sailor Dog

Happy Monday everyone!

Buzzzzzz

I went to visit my parents' bees today - there are a lot of them and they're REALLY LOUD.

Some interesting bee facts:

1 Bees travel up to three miles from their hive to collect pollen

2 The queen bee lives for up to four years laying eggs constantly (poor queen..)

2 To keep the hive cool in the summer some bees have the job of fanning their wings really fast to create a breeze

(Thanks for the bee facts dad:)

Courgette cake

Yum - we've just hoovered up this courgette cake - made from the recipe on the UK Handmade blog here. It was yummy, and yes, it's made from courgettes...

Think I need to work on my food photography - it was a miracle that I got any photos before it was devoured :)

Gnarly..

Gnarly Grom Marley is one of our current favourite books - we bought it in Australia for the boys and they love the story of Marley who wants to surf, but first has to learn to swim.
The website's pretty cool with lots of activities which I might be resorting to during these long summer weeks.....

Today's Boat

This boat's in the post today - order your own personalised boat here!

Smile - it's Monday!

This made me smile this morning - our primary school doing 'Wake and Shake' to the sounds of Grace Kelly by Mika. Very surreal but also a great start to a Monday!






http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid20364244001?bctid=3312627001

Ideal Bookshelves

I've just got back from visiting a very (very..) tidy friend. I always have the urge to hoover as soon as I get home from her house, and today I also tidied our bookshelves, which reminded me of these lovely paintings by Jane Mount -

They are called 'Ideal Bookshelves' and include her friends' favourite books. I think it's a great idea- you can tell so much about a person by their book collection.
I thought I might do a painting of our favourite books this summer -it would have to include some Harry Potter, the Usborne Ocean Life Encyclopaedia and a few issues of Surfer's Path...
Which books would be in your painting?

Calshot

This beach hut is in the post today!

An old-fashioned summer day

We took the boys for a paddle today in a stream me and my sister used to go to when we were little - I think they enjoyed it as much as we used to!

(No fish though :)

Some lovely people

I had a really nice day at Broadway Art and Craft Market - and here are some of my lovely fellow sellers!

Kaynara Jewellery




Amos Denton Designs


Bodkin and Bead

In the garden today...

Lavender...

Apples getting bigger...

Poppy seedheads..

And our first raspberries (all scoffed now)

Broadway Arts and Crafts Market tomorrow!

Tomorrow I will be at the Broadway Arts and Crafts Market - at the Lifford Hall in Broadway, Worcestershire, from 11am - 4pm - do pop in if you're in the area!

Lin Pattullo

I love Lin Pattullo's paintings, her little children are so real!


Her website is here and you can buy giclee prints of Lin's work here

Scissors and glue

I had a sudden urge to cut up bits of paper and stick them together - I like the result but I don't know what to do with them - any ideas?

Green

Enjoying all the greenery in our garden today, although the grass is pretty yellow...

Lavender and Marigold

I'm loving these colours together in our front garden. Thinking of taking a drive up the hill to Snowshill Lavender tomorrow, bet their fields look gorgeous at the moment.