Take 5

1) Ho, ho, ho and on we soap!

I've missed the last couple of months of 'Ho, ho, ho and on we sew', this is not good for my Christmas organisation, but I'm hoping to get back on track this month! So far in August, present making has taken the form of soaps and bath bombs though rather than sewing. Perfect activity with children on a rainy day (of which we have had many!)

It's also a great way to get them wanting to have a bath, too often mine don't see the need!

There are masses of DIY recipes available online and if you're looking for supplies to give it a go, we recently put together a bath bomb making present with goodies from The Soap Kitchen. They're a local company for us but with internet ordering, and I was really impressed with their customer service (I'm not in any way being paid to say so!). They do Bath Bomb Kits too if you're looking for a ready made present.

2) Hat Boxes

Latest charity shop buy - not one, not two but three hat boxes, of reducing size so they fit inside one another. 

Hat boxes are another weakness of mine at charity shops, they make handy storage containers, they're good for putting presents into and, depending on their appearance, they can be great to decorate too. We have couple in the house which I 'covered' in wools and are used to store toys.

A green flowery one with wool toadstools, which is home to some fairies and their fairy doors and accessories.

And an under the sea one...

Which houses some mermaids and other wooden sea creatures, as well as lots of shells...

Not sure to what use these latest three will be put. I think I've seen a lovely dolls' house created in one before, and a collection of hat boxes hung very effectively on the wall for storage. Or Maria might claim them, she seems to like them just as they are!

3) Daily fish
Since I just had an underwater theme going on there, I'll show you the one addition to my fish over the past couple of weeks, a crab...

He is in celebration of the many crabs which have been caught rock pooling so far in these holidays. Most of them caught by Theo, who is our expert rock pooler, though he does have a couple of crab claw wounds from some of the larger specimens!

4) ATC Swap - 'My Favourite'
The current ATC Swap (hosted by Very Berry Handmade, who also has a lovely Liberty fabric giveaway going on until Wednesday evening, so go have a look!) is nearing its end. Cards are due to be posted this week, and I have been frantically trying to get mine finished today. The theme for this one is 'My favourite'. And I bet you thought mine would have a sea or swimming related theme?! Well, no, not this time! Perhaps in an effort to not be too predictable, or perhaps because I was all sea/swimming ATC-ed out with recent wild swimming cards, I have gone down a different route. And here's a sneak peek at the closest I got to a 'mood board' for it...

5) And lastly, a photo catch up!

I've got lots of photos from the past couple of weeks that I could have picked out to include here, mainly very predictably swimming related, but we've had one particular day that stood out more than any other for all of us. One day when there was a wonderful combination of gorgeous weather, amazing surroundings and lovely friends. We went to an old quarry on Bodmin Moor which is fed by an underground spring and is now a beautiful swimming spot, with incredibly clear, deep water and loads of perfect jumping in spots.

Spot the 2 little heads straight in there!

The clear water made it easy to take underwater selfies!

If you look carefully you can see some of the many fish which swam alongside us, plus a duck! The girls enjoyed feeding them all.

A rare moment when all 4 of mine appeared in view at the same time!

This was probably the highest jump we all did, there was another one which I reckon was easily over twice as high as this one, but I was a mean Mum and wouldn't let the boys do it - I think they'd have chickened out anyway though, it was pretty scary looking down from there!

This one is actually me! I did my fair share of jumps too, it was lots of fun, but the only photographic evidence is this one which Venetia took from quite a distance, I'd just jumped from up where you can see those feet!

Lots of spectacular walking to be done all around too.

It was a very special day and definitely a place we'll visit again.

Sally.