We are back on the Isle of Wight for today's post. It's Sunday, day 9, and we were hit with the first bad weather day of our holiday ...
Day 9 Sunday
The forecast was grim ... rain ... all day ... and it looked like it wasn't far off the mark ...
We decided it was time for a 'cottage day'. We'd been out and about every day so far so were looking forward to just generally chilling out in Bramble with a bit of reading, a bit of crochet and maybe a film ...
Early afternoon the rain seemed to ease up and we decided that we'd take a bit of a ride out. It was the Isle of Wight weekend and there was a Cider & Cheese Festival on at the Haven Street steam railway station. It was a place that we'd never been to and was on the list for a visit so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.
We were soon parked up and in just in time to see an engine in and getting ready for the off ...
We found a good spot to hang around to watch whilst she finished taking on water and loading up ...
... and we just about had time to walk to the cider and cheese marquee before the rain came back with a vengeance. Well ... there was only one thing for it ...
... cider and cheese it was ...
It was then time to take a wander through the gift shop and the heart of the engineers' yard ...
We had absolutely no idea what to expect inside but before heading in we explored the old railway carriage which had been converted into a small holiday hut, which was very reminiscent of Martin's childhood holiday accommodation which had been very similar ...
Inside was a real throwback to a bygone age ...
Moving inside of the main building we found it was most definitely more than just a storage shed, aiming to tell the story of the historic Island Railway through the years, with four interactive display areas.
There is so much to see ...
... and it is very interactive with access available to all of the carriages, which gave a real reminder of just how beautiful they used to be ... even in third class ...
There is also a good display of the restoration work that has taken place on the site with a very good example of 'before and after' ...
It was time to retrace our steps back through the engineers' yard ...
... and head back to Bramble Cottage ...
All in all we really enjoyed our visit to the station and were so glad that we'd decided to head out. It was perfect for an afternoon wander and great there is plenty to see inside if the weather is not so brilliant and we loved The Train Story.
We would definitely recommend that you make a visit if you get the chance.
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Inspired by my first attempt it wasn't long before I had another go ... this time it was more of a recycling project, using old tiles ...
There were also a couple of sewing days, making up plenty of reusable facewipes and peg bags for stock, another session making up beeswax wraps and a gorgeous snuggly baby blanket for a customer who had bought a sensory blanket from me in 2018 ...
As well as the popular old favourites I got to have a go a few new bits and pieces too ... some 'men's shirt' bunting, some little house key rings, where I had the chance to try out free motion machine embroidery and another two mosaic hearts ...
April saw our first of a number of craft fairs that we attended across the course of the year ...
Exciting news from my good friends, who became grandparents in the spring was another good cause for getting the sewing machine out ... and in May we were all delighted to welcome Emma Holly to the World ...
There was a bit of button art ...
... and time to have a go at something new for me, which didn't end up working out that well. It looked fine, but the soap bag just wouldn't dry out after use and using soap in the shower just left such a mess that it was abandoned as soon as it was started ... definitely a bit of a zero waste fail for us there ...
There was a totally unexpected and random order that I picked up from someone putting a call out on our local 'Spotted ...' Facebook page ...
Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee I thought I'd have a go at making something to wear ... I think the least said about this project the better ...
As seems to becoming the theme there were plenty more beeswax wraps and reusable face wipes made up ...
I tried a few new bits ... including fabric bookmarks ...
and ... after having fallen in love with all thing William Morris following a visit to 
There was time for me to finally make up some home made dish cloths for the kitchen ...
And ... though it seemed early ... it was time to start getting ready with a few Christmas makes ...
It was then time to start making for Christmas craft fairs in earnest ...
There were a couple of short notice Scrabble frame gifts made up which I don't seem to have photographed, along with a Christmas gift for Baby Emma ...
There were lots more beeswax wraps and reusable face wipes, including some larger sized ones, which continued to sell really well and are still doing so into 2020 ...
There were the regular Christmas gift tags, which are always popular ...
... and I added matching bookmarks to my William Morris cards ...
There was a bit of a last minute rush on Scrabble name tags ...
For me there was the 2020 calendar ...
... and my first ever Christmas wreath, made at the last craft group of the year ...
My very last crafty make of the year came in that quiet period between Christmas and New year when we finally decided to have a go at doing something with the candle ends we'd been saving across the year. We built up the courage to make some new candles and, whilst not perfect, we were both pretty pleased with how they turned out ...