Well HELLO, big boy!

Meet Carl 'Big Boy' Carrot, fresh from my veg patch, and complete with carefully maintained punk hairdo. When not entertaining Mrs Carrot, he loves nothing better than reclining on a bed of kitchen paper in the warm autumn sun. He remains blissfully unaware that a pan of boiling water will be his ultimate doom, and that his large appendage will almost certainly drop off as he softens.

So enjoy it while you can, my orange friend. We're rooting for you.

Peeing by torchlight... and other stuff...

Well, the bathroom ceiling was repaired and plastered just over a week ago, and the cheque has arrived from the insurance company. Hooray!

The ceiling's dried out nicely, and we're looking forward to getting some lighting at last. (The novelty of peeing by torchlight has long since worn off!)

Having decided exactly where the new suite will be positioned, we've booked an electrician to install downlighters and extractor fan on Saturday. (Have also booked him to do some other overdue electrical work elsewhere in the house.)

Now need to make final decisions on loo, basin and tiles so that our builder can provide an accurate quote. (Unfortunately, OH has been tied up with other things this week and has another physio appointment tomorrow, so we've been struggling to find time.)

However, while he's been otherwise occupied, I have managed to get some sewing done - more party gift bags, and two gorgeous business card wallets. (See pics.) All now available at BaggieAggietoo.

Am hoping to get some more items made before the sewing-machine's put out of action by Saturday's electrical work!

Storm-damaged bathroom + eco-friendly party bags

This is the first chance I've had to blog for over a week, but at least we've managed to get quotes for our storm-damaged ceiling. Unfortunately, water also got behind the wall tiles, causing a bit of a dilemma, the details of which I won't bore you with as they'll only interest builders and tilers! To cut a long story short, we've decided to bring forward the bathroom replacement (originally planned for 2012). Can't say I'm sorry, as the current one, though only just over 5 years old and fitted just before we moved in, is ghastly - black wall tiles, cheap fittings (we've already had the loo repaired three times), poor workmanship, and badly planned (the door when only partly-opened bashes against the front of the basin). So, bathroom stores, here we come!

Miraculously, I did manage to get some sewing done last week - the fabric party or gift bags above. As I wanted them to be washable, reusable and durable, I decided on French (enclosed) seams and a double-hemmed opening (so no raw edges). I've set the satin ribbon in the back seam and triple-stitched for extra strength.

These bags are attractive gifts in their own right, I think - not only will children have reminders of wonderful parties long after they're over, but they'll be able to use them to keep their little treasures safe. I've found that adults too like these eco-friendly and green alternatives to plastic - I know of someone who filled one with lavender to scent the bedroom. Fab idea!

So if you're planning a party and eco-friendly is important to you, you can find 4-packs of these in my Folksy shop. I'll be adding more designs very shortly - unless, that is, we have any more natural disasters to cope with!