'The Lanes' in Brighton

After our visit to the Pier and Pavilion in Brighton a few weeks ago we wandered through the interesting back lanes in the old part of town. This pretty vintage style dress caught my eye in the window of a lovely little shop called 'Dolly Dagger'.

There were pretty hanging baskets and colourful bunting everywhere,

lots of small coffee shops and restaurants,

a replica of the Imperial Crown in the window of a jewellers shop

and shelves lined with pretty jars of traditional sweets.

Lots of scrumptious homemade cakes in the 'Angel Food Bakery' where we stopped for coffee.

pretty strawberry topped cupcakes,

a contemporary wedding cake and the biggest chocolate cake ever!

Blue skies and sunshine...

and traditional fish and chips on the seafront.

Beautiful timbered buildings,

imposing doorways

and plenty of interesting shops to browse.

'England At Home' had some pretty floral items.

Traditional pubs

and small cottages.

A beautiful reclaimed funfair sign above an art gallery which looks like it may have come from the pier originally.

I was a little disappointed as I didn't come across any antique and collectors shops. It wasn't until I was chatting on the coach home that I found out that these are located in the North Lanes which we didn't get to. Never mind....a good excuse for a return visit!

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Here are a few pictures of the Royal Pavilion I visited in Brighton a couple of weeks ago. A really beautiful building and well worth a visit.

I love the combination of domes, minarets, pinnacles and chimneystacks.

The gardens surrounding the palace were really pretty too with lots of places to sit and admire the building.

The Pavilion was built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in stages between 1787 and 1823. A farmhouse originally stood on the land, then a modest marine pavilion which was then transformed into an oriental, Indian style palace by John Nash in 1815.  

Well I've just finished my first week of Radiotherapy and I'm really glad the weekend's here so I can have a break from travelling up to London in the heat. The trains have been really busy which I hate but I'll just have to grin and bare it for a few weeks more!
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Palace Pier, Brighton

I spent a day at the seaside town of Brighton on Monday with my daughter Emma. Although I've had many beach visits there when the children were younger, I've always wanted to explore 'The Lanes' where all the shops are and visit the Royal Palace (Pavilion) which I've only ever driven past.

As the sun was shining we decided to visit the pier first .

An old chain pier was originally built at Brighton in 1823 primarily used as a landing stage for passenger ships that sailed from Dieppe in France. 

After being destroyed in a storm in December 1889 Palace Pier (originally named The Brighton Marine Palace) was built and opened on 20 May 1899.

 The Pier is 1722 ft long and acknowledged as one of the finest piers ever built. 

I love its beautiful painted metalwork some of which still survives.

At night time it looks really pretty when all the lights are switched on.

There was a fortune teller in a pretty painted gypsy caravan  

as well as the traditional seaside shops selling rock, sweets and candy floss, 

  traditional carousel rides 

and a Helter-Skelter. 

Although you pay for the rides, entrance is free and deck chairs are provided free of charge if you just want to relax and look out to sea. The wind was blustery so we decided to visit the Pavilion which has got to be one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. I'll post some photos in the next few days...

Vintage Doily Bunting

I've been collecting doilies for a while with a plan to making some bunting and last weekend made my first one.

 
I decided to use some of my off-white doilies to give it a vintage look.

Some of the doilies were small enough to use whole, 

some I cut in half and some are made from the corners of a rectangular doily that I cut at an angle.

I used linen look fabric tape folded in half to prevent the cut edges of the doilies from fraying. 

It was a little fiddly in places (I could have done with a slightly wider tape), especially with some of the thicker doilies which also caused a few problems with the tension on my sewing machine.

I'm pleased with the result though and more so by the fact that I actually got it done at last!

I'm planning two more; a nice crisp white one and one using doilies on traditional flag/pendant fabric shapes.

 Summer has eventually arrived here in the UK (well for a few days anyway) so I'm going to make the most of it. 
Have a lovely weekend everyone!

A Trip to London

I visited London on Wednesday and chanced upon this 'Shot-Put' sculpture as part of the Olympic celebrations.

The news reports the previous evening were saying how quiet London was but that wasn't my experience walking along the embankment near Westminster.

There were carousel rides,

candy floss sellers,

popcorn sellers

and the lion on Westminster Bridge was surveying all the crowds.

Long queues for the London Eye (which I still haven't been on),

and lots of people photographing and admiring our beautiful 'Big Ben'

  

and of course it wouldn't have been London without the festive bunting!

Unfortunately my visit to London was to attend an appointment to plan my Radiotherapy treatment which starts in 2 weeks time. I'm pleased to say that the results from my last op show that my breast cancer hasn't spread to my lymph nodes but I now have to undergo 5 weeks of Radiotherapy travelling up to London everyday (weekends off for good behaviour). I'm planning to make the most of the next few weeks before it starts and then if I feel okay use my visits to London to plan some days out with my children while they are still on their summer holidays.

This weekend I'm planning to do some sewing as they are away for a few days camping (nice quiet house)!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and manage to fit in some time to relax.

x