Aunty Social

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Blackpool as I was invited by Linzi Cason to take part in a press event in The Old Rock Factory on behalf of Redeye - The Photography Network. More about that later in the week but as Linzi showed us around the building she took us to the meeting place of Aunty Social, a community group that creates opportunities through craft, art, music and plenty of other cultural activities. 

I didn't think I would ever say this, having had a dubious experience living in Blackpool for six months about 10 years ago but I would quite like to be there right now and be part of Aunty Social. One of their groups Knittas with Attitude look like a bunch of fabulous crafts people, meeting in a fabulous place and look at the things they produce!

Girls to my own heart really, pompons and bunting, how much better does a studio interior get? 

I absolutely love this bike. That is yarn bombing at it's best! I heard the bike had been "exhibited" in the town centre and the reactions from people where truly fabulous with one woman remarking to her daughter that it was covered in yarns so that drunk people wouldn't hurt themselves! Classic! 

An awful lot has changed in Blackpool in the last 10 years. The Old Rock Factory is fabulous, the town centre is unrecognisable with many newly paved streets, street lighting and some sort of of music/light/arches installation. But one of the most memorable things is the comedy carpet but as I mentioned more about the day later. Just couldn't resist to post these shots of this wonderful group.

Some places in the Lakes

Some time ago I went to stay in the Lake District where I came across a couple of lovely places to eat. I intended to put them online as soon as I got back but the business cards got lost in the mountain of paperwork in my bedroom. Every year I get more and more on top of this rather time consuming task but now that I would like to have an all white bedroom asap I have started a cleaning frenzy and just came across these cards again. In case some of you are in need of some tips for places to go I can recommend The Log House in Ambleside. Here I had one of the most enjoyable nights and most delicious meals I can remember. 

The staff were lovely, fires burning and I'm hoping to spend a night there some time. 

For lunch I'd gone to Lazy Daisy's Lakeland Kitchen in Windermere where they served the most gorgeous sandwiches, soups and cakes. I loved the decor and the wall paper in the ladies toilets (go check it out when you are there). Again lovely staff but perhaps this is the way everyone is in Cumbria? There were some lovely shops in Windermere as well and I could have bought all the stock at Detail. They have some fabulous stationary and quirky gifts and thankfully an online gift shop!

I bought some of the local produce and obviously had to try a Kendal Mint Cake (this reminded me of the sugar animals I used to get for St Nicholas day when I was little) and the most delicious freshly baked gingerbread, which sadly can only be bought at The Gingerbread Shop in Grasmere. 

Hoping to go back to this lovely part of the country and try out some more lovely places, I am now going to sort out a chimney sweep as whilst I'm writing this a nice soot drop caused my floor to look like a black sandpit. 

My Inner Martha

This weekend I unleashed my inner Martha again. I know I'll never be like her but sometimes it is nice to try. 

For some time I had some slate samples on my kitchen table; the tiles didn't make the grade for the bathroom but as with everything I couldn't bear to throw them out. Thank goodness I found a small piece of turquoise felt as I was tidying up my fabric stashes last week. With the help of a bit of PVA I now have some lovely coasters for my new look lounge. 

After making a few bracelets for the updated Busy Betsy shop I made a yummy coffee and walnut cake from the lovely Sainsbury's Cook Britain cookbook. It was my first attempt and I was rather pleased with the recipe; it looked and tasted exactly the same as the one in my favourite deli for a fraction of the price. The down side was that I ate a third of a cake over the weekend. With Mini Betsy complaining that I do not do enough exercise I felt rather guilty and only had salads for lunch. However I do feel that soon enough there will be plenty of times that I will be working up a sweat as this morning I received a rather unexpected call: 

After having been on a waiting list for nearly three years I am finally the proud landlady of an allotment!! I made Mini Betsy very happy today, she can't wait to take our tools and plant seeds. Unfortunately that is a long way off. The lovely ladies at the allotment gave me some magazines to study and on the first page I read that potatoes need to be in by or around 1 March. With all the weeding and clearing rubbish to do I think I might miss that deadline this year! I will need a lot of advice (and help!) so if anyone can point me to some good blogs I would be most obliged. 

Now to finish of the day, feeling rather pleased with myself I just made a feta and mushroom parcel, ready to go in the oven and to be enjoyed whilst watching the fabulous Mr Selfridge. After that I shall delve into some gardening books.

This was one very pleasant and surprising weekend!

Bunting & banter

I am not sure if it was the wet winter months that caused a flurry of bunting making parties or whether people are still in the party mood following the Royal Wedding and the Diamond Jubilee but there is definitely a need for jolly flags around. 

With a suitcase full of red and purple I went to a lovely 10 year old who was very keen to do a sewing party for her birthday. The "Little Miss Sew & So" package can be tailored to any age (even to those who cannot handle a needle) and a popular activity is bunting making. 

The girls at this party were fortunate enough to have a sewing circle at their primary school. Not many schools have that luxury and I believe it is crucial to keep these skills alive, I have come across too many girls in their 20's and 30's who literally cannot sew on a button.

There are of course many ways to make bunting but this jolly troupe went for the traditional triangular flags.

     


Some of them had not done any sewing before but got the hang of it really quickly and decorated their flags beautifully with hearts and flowers. I did bring some felt stickers, so I suppose I made them cheat a little but we are pretended they were put on using Bondaweb and I promised not to tell anyone!

Afterwards the party girl's mum sent me a lovely letter:


"Thank you for a lovely party on Saturday. Some of the girls who had very limited experience of sewing were really inspired by the party and their parents have come up to me in the playground and said how they haven’t stopped talking about it and they have been sewing and finishing their bunting at home. So it inspired some girls and my daughter loved it, showing her friends her talents."

Thank you, this cheered up my day! 

Something old, something new...

.... something borrowed, something blue.

That is exactly what I packed in my suitcase to take to a hen party in Manchester city centre this weekend. The hens had decided on a crafty afternoon and I was asked to bring green and blue fabrics to make bunting. The bride did not know anything about me coming or what the girls were going to do, which was very exciting.

When it comes to bunting making for a wedding I always like to bring vintage fabrics along, I think it adds a romantic touch and of course it is the "something old". The new were the other fabrics, the blue well that was one of the colours and for the borrowed we had some scissors that were in the hotel apartment.

The bride was very excited and after some deliberating as to whether they were going to make individual bunting to take home or something together, the girls decided to make a long line of bunting for the wedding and made a lovely design, each decorating two flags with some plain ones at the ends.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished result in the wedding pictures and will post them when they come in. Unless of course they appear on the Busy Betsy Facebook page. Please 'Like' if you haven't already. 

And if you'd like to do some bunting making, do get in touch info@busybetsy.co.uk. 

A super seasonal box of goodies

It's that time of year when the postman leaves notes through the letterbox to pick up a parcel at the local sorting office. With waiting times of up to two hours this is never fun. I knew I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon or Ebay or any other website so it had to be a present. 

The timing of said box could not have been better. We are currently a family of three sniffing and coughing people and a box of lovely scented Olbas tissues, Olbas bubble bath to relax & open the airways and a selection of cough mints and soothers arrived just at the right time. 

In all fairness we were asked to test these goodies but the timing was perfect. Although I usually choose products quite carefully when it comes to tissues we tend to go for a nice looking box or failing that whichever box or packet of 12 is at the front of the shelf. Having tried Olbas tissues I will be looking out for these. They come with a handy instruction that tells you to crush the tissue to release the vapour but I don't think there is any need. My whole box had been crushed by the postie anyway so the whole bathroom just smells gorgeous. 

If these products had arrived at another time my experience may have been slightly different but I have to say I am presently raving about the bath bubbles. I thought this product was ever so relaxing and really helped unblocking noses. 

Between my little girl monkey and me, we've managed to finish all the Jakemans' soothing menthol sweets in no time. My little one loved the honey and lemon and I really liked the Throat and Chest variety. I love liquorice (it's those Dutch roots!) and find that I couldn't really find aniseed or liquorice cough sweets. Well I know what to choose now. 

The Olbas lozenges have nearly all finished as well. Perhaps not as soothing I felt as the Jakemans' I liked the honey and lemon ones but have to say I am not a fan of blackcurrant unless they are fresh so that flavour is a bit wasted on me but that is not a reflection on the product. 

I shall now pop out the last lozenge and enjoy this whilst curling up on the sofa under one of my quilts. 

UK's weird and wonderful customs in photos

United Kingdom by James O. Jenkins is a brilliant collection of portraits of people (and effigies in some cases) taking part in traditional customs. 

Photographed against a white backdrop James Jenkins said: “Each one of my subjects was deliberately photographed outside their natural environment. I wanted to take them away from the ceremony they were performing in, to shoot the portrait on the spot, and equipped with a ring flash, a portable white canvas background or a colorama gaffer-taped to an available wall.”

Having researched the book over two years, James shows just a fraction of the traditional customs that take place up and down the country every year. He said: "I’ve included the ones that I found to be most visually attractive to me as a photographer. My aim has been to capture the culture of annual UK traditions by portraying the main individuals involved.”

These age old customs still bind communities and it is amazing to read about those that have been going for centuries and ones that take place on a daily basis such as the Ripon Horn-Blower in North Yorkshire. I loved reading about this diversity of customs, many I had never heard of. The amount of organisation that must go into some of them is astonishing and I cannot help but wonder what goes on behind the personas in the portraits, how much time do those taking part spend on their act? Is this the highlight of their year?

This book is not just a visual feast but also a great read for anyone interested in local history and social anthropology. 

The book is available here.