Finding joy in the everyday

By Kathryn Fincher A popular holiday destination for many families in the past was a trip to the seaside. As I am currently on holidays I thought I would selected paintings that are all about the " seaside ". It you are wondering where I am, no, not near the seaside!! Enjoy splashing about without getting wet!! Whenever I went to the seaside I would search for shells - I still do! A basket of clams by Winslow Homer No trip would be complete without making a sand castle. by Jessie Wilcox Smith Not one for sailing - suffer from seasickness! Slightly more covered than modern day attire! by Charle Peterson by Tom Sierak - Love the light on the water with this one Beachside stroll by Daeni Pino - one of my favourites. Beach party by Arthur Sarnoff The picnic party by Jack Vettriano 1920 Vintage postcard "Bathing beauty" - no wonder everyone was flocking to the beach. Vintage beach pin-up by Howard Connolly (19...

To my dear blogging friends This is like sending you a postcard as I am currently away on holidays and thought I would drop you a line to say "hi".  Unlike many postcards, this one will arrive before I return home!! I am visiting my mum and dad and spending time with my family. I am having a lovely time, but I do hope my DH is coping without me, I know he doesn't eat well in my absence.  Hope you are all well.  xxx PS do check out Art Friday as its very appropriate for those on holidays as its all about the "seaside".

Dear blogging friends,  I decided to make my husband some biscuits (cookies or crackers for those who are American) using oatmeal/bran. But I didn't want to buy oat bran (to be truthful, I was too lazy to walk to the shops), so I made my own using rolled oats (the stuff I eat for breakfast). Out came my trusty food processor and zap - I had  bran.  It it much courser that what you buy in the shops, but to be honest I like the texture. It "feels" healthier - more fibre!!! Oatmeal and cheddar biscuits These were simple to make and quite healthy when you look at the amount of butter in the recipe.  Mine don't look anything like the photo in the recipe as I didn't roll them out as thin and the oat bran is not as fine. It doesn't matter as they taste yummy and hubby loved them, and really that is all that matters!! 100g (3/4 cup) natural oat bran 150g (1 cup) plain flour 55g (1 cup) finely shredded cheddar 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp...

A little child shall lead them by Ken Helser  I think some of you might have thought I had lost my mind with last week's painting - I didn't like the painting either and know a few others didn't. However, it is good to give you variety even if it isn't always to your taste!! To make up for "that" very expensive painting, this week I have gone for  " all things sugary and sweet "!! However I know not everyone will like these - I can't please you all, all the time!!! And the good thing about these sugary sweet choices is they don't add any calories to your waist line!!  Enjoy! by Sue Lynn Cotton by Ken Helser Free by Mark Keightley by Jessie Wilcox Smith This is one of my favourites - this is very sweet.  This one is Japanese - don't know the artist Brunette girl (from Etsy page) Did you think we could have "cute and sweet" without a cat appearing!! It really isn't hard to find sw...

What do you think of this idea? New mothers in Britain are to be offered up to £200 in shopping vouchers to encourage them to breastfeed their babies. . . . T o qualify for the full £200 of rewards, the women will have to breastfeed until six months. ( source ) Britain has one of the worse breastfeeding rates in the world and w hilst the British National Health Service recommends breastfeeding (exclusively) for the first six months, only 34% of women in Britain do so . Breastfeeding is more likely to occur in more affluent families whilst lower socio-economic areas are less to breastfeed.  As a result the British government is attempting to improve rates in poorer areas by offer shopping vouchers to mothers who breastfeed. I am not sure how success it will be. I think finding out the root cause and working from that level might be more productive. In Australia (2011-12), 92% of mothers initially breastfee d , by  4 months 74 % of ba...

Dear blogging friends, I have finally finished my very first little girls dress. No, I have never made one before and for that reason I decided to set myself the challenge and make one.  I perhaps could have selected an easier pattern, but life isn't mean't to be easy!! and nor are my challenges. It isn't perfect (far from it) and I have lots to improve but I am quite pleased with the end result nevertheless.  It might have been better if the machine I started making this dress on didn't play up so badly. But with my new baby it did make sewing so much less stressful. Each time I sew something I like to learn something new, this time it was all about add lace to the hemline and creating a neat finish.  I found a very useful tutorial that I followed and now I feel quite confident in doing this again, perhaps on one of my outfits, just need to find some gorgeous vintage lace. Link:  Did you make that blog: lace hem tutorial Simplicity pattern: 2...

Where has my week gone?  It has slipped away so quickly and I have hardly had time to breath!! As a result I haven't prepared anything for Art Friday and now I am feeling guilty!!  Not really.  I am sure I can throw together something for you!! I thought I would gather your opinions on this - would you pay $142.4 million (US) ($153 million AUS) on the painting below? You do get three paintings, so it could be considered a bargain!!  Would you hang it on your wall?  I have a  feeling I know the answer to this question. source It is the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.  The painting is called " Three Studies of Lucian Freud " painted by Francis Bacon in 1969.  It surpassed " The Scream " by Edvard Munch which was sold for $120 million (US) in 2012. *** To something completely different - what about these in Scotland. These horses are 30 metres tall (99 feet) and constructed in steel with stainless steel cladding. It t...