If you were reading my blog way back in February, I was waxing lyrical about the great selection of crafty magazines available from supermarkets in France, such as these two...

  

On Monday, I was in W.H. Smith looking at the plethora of sewing- and craft-orientated magazines available.  My goodness - how they have multiplied in recent months!  'Making', 'Sew Hip', 'Sew', 'Mollie Makes', 'Craft Seller', 'Simply Homemade' and 'Handmade Living' have all, on occasions, found their way into my shopping basket.  But when I picked up this glossy magazine, it instantly felt different...

And then I looked at the projects and had my suspicions confirmed - it is indeed French in origin!

The magazine has lots of lovely sewing related projects, as well as others.  I love the Russian Dolls and the Beach Hut on this one...

Matching the motifs below is a really lovely one of a sewing machine.  I can't show it as it is not pictured (there's just the chart) and there are dire warnings beside the charts about not infringing copyright!

Most of the charts are gloriously large and clear - squinting not required!

Some of the materials shown in the magazine are available from the linked website 

'Les Brodeuses Parisiennes'.

www.lesbrodeusesparisiennes.com

www.lesbrodeusesparisiennes.com

http://www.lesbrodeusesparisiennes.com/

I have done one very small project from the magazine already, which I will share soon!

Travels of a Fickle Woman (Part Two)

So where were we?

I left you at Ham, where we felt the chocolate-box villages must surely end - we'd seen so much loveliness we felt convinced we'd be returned to the more humdrum very soon.

But next we came to the tiny hamlet of Fosbury.  There was a little cottage for sale, which Mr U-t-B declared would suit him down to the ground - the garage cum workshop being the key feature I think.  We're not really thinking of moving - indeed we are in no position to do so! - but it was interesting (haha) to see that this little two-bedroom cottage (albeit in beautiful countryside and with a bigger garden than ours) is on the market (actually sold, subject to conditions) for more than we'd probably get for ours...

Dream on!

Fosbury had a very nice postbox - something I have a 'thing' for...

...like I have a 'thing' for nice gates, entrances and doorways...

Next we crossed from Wiltshire back into Hampshire and into Vernham Dean.

Mr U-t-B (for he is fickle too) decided that THIS cottage was just the place for him...

There was something very sweet about it - it was on a smaller scale than everything around it, completely surrounded by its own plot and you just wanted to walk in and set up home there!

There is a bed-and-breakfast in Vernham Dean, which I'm including a photo of in case we decide to go back some time for a longer stay.  That's 'Upton Cottage' if you're interested!

The prettily roofed village pub was alive with a beer festival and some cool music...

A wander beyond the pub included more cottage-, gateway- and Georgian-splendour snapping...

This scene made me think of old Ordnance Survey maps - the pub, the flag, the cyclists and the motor cars...

Next on the route was another tiny place - Ibthorpe.

This is Ibthorpe House. 

I later found out that Jane Austen visited here.  It was the home of her sister-in-law's family. There is a very similar but larger house, Ibthorpe Manor Farm which is a luxury bed-and-breakfast and venue for weddings and events. Looks like a super place to stay!

We then passed back through Hurstbourne Tarrant, where our jaws had first dropped earlier in the day and then drove on through Stoke and on, to St Mary Bourne.  

Love this one, but any cottage with a chevron in front of it makes me think I'd be waiting for a car to drive in as I was sitting peacefully with a game of Patience or some such...

Three real doves were in residence in the dovecot!

And this is where our little jaunt ended (well, apart from the getting home bit, which was not very snap-worthy!)  It may only have been a day out, but I felt we'd been away AGES and almost to a foreign land!  

Make do and mend Monday

I thought I'd have a brief interlude in the middle of 
'Travels of a Fickle Woman' because 

a) I am fickle   

and 

b) All that cottage eye-candy was beginning to make me feel mildly dissatisfied with my perfectly-nice-end-of-terrace bit of Victoriana so I need to get back in touch with my reality (which is a very good reality anyway!)

So I thought I'd do a 'Make do and Mend Monday' post instead.

A while back, my Mum gave me two pairs of old, bag handles (now there's an interesting phrase - I have inserted a comma to make my meaning clear!), plus a green velvet knitting bag to add to my stash of 'will-come-in-handy-one-day' things.

Finally, last week (having re-discovered my love of knitting) I decided to create a knitting bag to replace the carrier bag that is currently serving as a home for the latest project beside the sofa.  I mean, a white plastic bag does not look very chic lying around in the sitting room, how ever lovely the knitting within is!

My first attempt was made from a width of fabric from a pretty, never used piece of barkcloth.  It took a while to work out how to create it, but I managed in the end!  

Some of it was a bit fiddly, so I thought I'd try a different method next time round.

For the second attempt, I used an old linen anti-macassar for the outside, and an olive-green and cream gingham for the inside.  The anti-macassar had pretty cutwork and hemstitching which I wanted to make a feature of.  

I changed the method slightly, but this was still fiddly, so I came up with another plan for a third bag.  I'm hoping to make that one today and if I come up with the perfect method third time round I might even do a little tutorial soon!

Travels of a Fickle Woman (Part One)

Might I suggest you fetch yourself a nice cup of tea (or something similar) and sit down somewhere nice and comfortable, for today's post is quite a long one!  

You may remember last week I showed you this house...

..and told you that I was in love with it and looking forward to moving in (when I've saved up my pennies - at which time the current owners will of course decide to move out) and sorting out the shutters...

Well today, Mr U-t-B and I went on a little jaunt.  And, although I have been in love with Ayling House (that's the one up there) for several years, it turns out that I'm not a very faithful sort of gal, for today my head was turned again, and again, and again...

Our jaunt took us from our corner of Hampshire (north-east, close to the Surrey border) over to the north-western reaches of our home county, close to the Berkshire and Wiltshire borders.  I'd more or less stuck a pin in the map and decided that we were going to Hurstbourne Tarrant for our first stop of the day.  It sounded kind of pretty and I was not disappointed...

Interesting gateways abounded...

...and the houses that lay behind were dreamy!  I was half expecting Elizabeth Bennett to appear...

There were so many pretty cottages it was impossible not to snap away at them like some fevered tourist...

This one is for sale!  Evans &Partridge or RightMove have the details!
Hey, Mr U-t-B - it's my birthday on Wednesday!

This one is also for sale, and a little more affordable.  The back garden was beautiful (you could see it from the side of the property) but the location wasn't quite right for me.

Even the workshops and garages of Hurstbourne Tarrrant look like desirable residences...

From this chocolate box village, we travelled on to Netherton and Coombe, through some spectacular rolling countryside, eventually ending up near the top of Walbury Hill, which is the highest point in south-east England.

My photos failed to do justice to the fabulous views, so here's one from Wikipedia...

We then headed downhill, to the lovely village of Inkpen, where we found 'The Swan Inn' and decided to stop for lunch.  We both chose to have braised beef in a giant Yorkshire pudding and it was truly delicious - organic beef produced right there in Inkpen!  Neither of us are likely to need to eat again this evening!

Next stop was Ham, where we took another stroll to ease the weight of the food we'd just taken on board!

If I ever get to move to the countryside, one of my wishes is that it is to the sort of place that has proper finger post road signs.  Ham is fitting the bill nicely on that front. 

Centred round the village green, Ham did not have a single unattractive building!

Everything was beautifully maintained...

Here's the churchyard, with the manor house beyond...

More enticing entrances (I'm developing a bit of a thing for gates and gateways!)...

Yet more cottages...

And beyond this gate...

...and a most imposing rectory...

Well, I think that's enough of my version of 'Escape to the Country' for today - hope you enjoyed it!