Beach life

We had a fantastic few days the week before last on holiday in the Gower, South Wales. Matilda had her first taste of beach life - the first time she has felt the sand between her little toes and dipped them into the sea. Found a lovely friendly campsite at Oxwich - we practically had the place to ourselves - swimming pool and all!

New name for the blog because...

Matilda took her first steps yesterday evening! She stood up and took a few steps towards the sofa, to the intense pride and amazement of Mummy, Daddy, Nanny and Grandad. She then took several more steps (while Daddy frantically tried to capture the moment on his iphone) and has even repeated it this morning.

It's a funny one - I wasn't in any rush for her to walk and was happy for her to get there in her own time - but I still felt this weird mix of pride, happiness (for Matilda) and a twinge of sadness (not sure if that is the right word) that this lovely time is just flying by!!

Photo to follow when those little steps have been captured on camera!

Little drummer girl

We spent a lovely sunny afternoon on Sunday at Croome Park's All Nations Picnic Day. We ate our lunch in our favourite spot under a leafy old tree, looking out across the sweeping grassland to Croome Court, then Matilda and Sam joined in with a world drumming group in the stone greenhouse and we listened to some live Irish music in the lakeside gardens. A barefoot stroll through the parkland and an icecream completed a perfect afternoon.

Bunting!

Really pleased with my first bunting! I made it out of fabric remnants from a curtain shop. It was pretty quick to make and will be perfect for decorating the house for a certain birthday next month!

Curbing my inner consumer

I used to love clothes shopping. Despite my green tendancies which have existed ever since I can remember, I just loved spending the day shopping for clothes. At some point that has changed and now even when I really think I "need" something, I often can't bring myself to spend the money. Fat Face sales are a different matter entirely, but even then I know I will wear the things I buy over and over again. I hate the throwaway fashion industry - a whole generation of young people thinking clothes are so cheap they can just chuck them away when they lose their shape or shrink in the wash (which they invariably do), with scant regard for the implications for the environment and for working conditions in the developing world.

Still, I can't get away from the fact that I still do love new clothes. Step forward the car boot sale and the sewing machine! On Sunday we went with some new friends to a car boot sale. On my shopping list was fabric to make bunting and clothes to customise/adapt. I couldn't believe how cheap things were - 50p for children's clothes, £1 for adult's clothes in some cases. Although I didn't find the secret stash of cute vintage fabrics I hoped I might, I did find some lovely bargains that will hopefully enable me to make some lovely things without buying too much new fabric.

One thing that did strike me as we walked around was how much children's stuff there was for sale. So many clothes and toys, most of it going unsold despite the giveaway prices - there was just too much - piles and piles of little pink outfits! It just shows how much we are programmed these days to buy so much stuff for our own and for other people's babies, with the result that you often can't even give your good quality second hand children's items away. Seeing this excess induces a niggling feeling of uneasiness which definately helps to curb my inner consumer! Now if only I could find some time to get the creativity going...