Woolacombe and Mortehoe (North Devon coast)

We had booked a week with the holiday park Woolacombe Bay (part of Golden Coast Holiday Complex) Woolacombe Bay was one of four holiday parks scattered on the top of the hills above the village of Woolacombe (North Devon Coast).

Woolacombe beach

The village itself is situated in a charming and picturesque setting at the bay facing long stretch of golden sand beaches and calm and shallow sea. Very well organized parking in the village with huge overspill parking just off the centre of the village.  You can also park on the sea front road with pay and display ticket machine in operation.

Vilage of Woolacombe 

The place is very popular with families, surfing adventurers and seems to be a place where owners of vintage and refurbished VW campervans get together often. They seem to love to park their vans on the sea front road and this would create a lovely funky view. I saw at least 5 or 6, all different finishes and painted in bright, bold colours. This seemed to somehow greatly compliment the setting of the village.

All the usual was present in the village centre – the Post Office where one can withdraw cash with no charge (unlike pretty much the rest of the village and the complex where all of the cash machines were charging a fee), news agents and shops, cafés and restaurants, estate agents and more restaurants. Have to say, food price in the local shops were the average for the rest of Britain, I didn’t see any tourist overcharge. Also one could hire or buy swim suits for all ages, hire or buy surf board and take lessons surfing or kayaking.

Woolacombe Bay. Image taken from the Woolaombe Bay holiday park, above the village.

Buzzing and happy place, if the weather’s good everyone is walking with their beach outfits and this contributes to the overall holiday atmosphere.  Just above the village of Woolacombe  another village is hidden in the mountain hills – Mortehoe. Tiny little thing with narrow streets, English cottages painted white, traditional stonewalls dividing the properties and huge floral displays (perfect setting for a postcard), three restaurants and a fish and chips takeaway in the tiny village square.  Very picturesque, a little away from the hustle and bustle, quite high in the mountains (beach was not quite accessible) but with the most stunning sea views one can possibly imagine. Beautiful setting and views, couldn’t have asked for more. Would recommend to anyone, especially if you are looking for quiet surroundings with the opportunity for spectacular views, typical English countryside environment and spectacular walk ways.

Myself and my little girl on the beach of Woolacombe.

Both Woolacombe and Mortehoe are part of the North Devon Coast and are utterly popular with tourists.  

The Bay. Image taken from the grounds of Woolacombe Bay holiday park.

Alpine Strawberries chains and new exciting projects on the go.

Just back from a week's holiday at the Devon area with the family. Amazing time, visited exciting places, which I am going to write about very soon. The weather was so good, felt like being in South of France again.  Discovered rural England and the English Riviera, so many beautiful spots. 

It’s good to be back home though for some normality after packing so much into one week.

And now I have started on a project for my young daughter’s room. It’s going to be featured in a post where I will explain how it was made, the materials I used and how much it costs, some tips on the making and the final result. I am very excited and happy for the way it is turning out. Can’t wait to share here!

Meanwhile I will be posting about my travel experience and inspirations I came across.

And to start it off, here’s a little happy memory from my early childhood. 

After coming back home yesterday we found large amount of ripe wild Alpine strawberries in our back garden. I showed my little girl this little tip and she kept herself occupied for a long time collecting strawberries and making Strawberries chains/ kebabs (however you want to call them)

Thea Caldwell - Creating a better place every day©
Wild Alpine Strawberries Chains

When I was the age of my younger daughter, I used to go our in the mountains during the summer days with my grandparents. They would cut grass and collect straw for the farm animals and I would explore the surroundings with my two cousins. We knew where the natural water sources were and we knew about plants and wild fruit trees. One of our favourite activity back then was searching for Alpine strawberries and competing who was going to collect more. And this is how we were carrying and eating them.

       You need any small fruit to make this chain, very useful when going for a walk in the Nature and finding wild raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or wild strawberries. Although it can also be done with fruit you would buy from the local stores. 

         All you will need is:

• Long grass with strong, thin stem and slightly big flowering tip (to hold the fruit on the stem)
• Excited children and/or adults (never too late to feel like a child again)
• Start by taking off all sticking out grass leaves from the main stem until left with clean, strong grass stem.
•  Place the fruit on the grass one by one.
• Take pictures.
•  Let children eat the fruit off the grass stems. Fruit will taste twice as nice when eaten this way. Children love it and will eat fruit they probably wouldn’t try other wise. Enjoy!
• Make sure children do not eat the grass! It is not part of the project, leave this to the animals.  

  

  Thea Caldwell - Creating a better place every day©
  Grass stem used as carrier for the soft fruit.

  
  

  

  Thea Caldwell - Creating a better place every day©
  Take pictures. Let children eat the fruit off the stem, it's a great fun.

IKEA hack - SKURAR candle holder used as a lamp shade.

I used IKEA SKURAR candle holder as wall lamp shade for the garden shed.

IKEA SKURAR candle holder used as a lamp shade for LED battery operated light.

This was a very cute little project for my garden shed. I wanted simple and safe lighting for the wooden outdoor shed but to still look nice and to add touch of homeliness to it. 

What you need is:

• IKEA SKURAR candle holder - £ 6.00  ( I bought two for both walls, to add some symmetry and more light)
• Round LED Magnetic Utility Light with hook. - £3.99 from ScrewFix (nearly a pound cheaper than B&Q, however adding the postage you might go and buy it from the nearest B&Q)
• Screw cup hooks from B&Q 20 mm long - a packet for £ 3.58  
• Total cost for two lights - £27.58

SKURAR can be use both facing down and upwards. The hooks were quite closed circle, so I had to cut the ends of it with pliers so I can hook the shade easily. Using two for each as this way the shade wouldn’t twist left or right. After marking the height I wanted the lights, I screwed two of the hooks at about approx. inch and a half distance from one another. Simply put the LED light at the bottom of the candle holder and mount the lams shade on the hooks. The LED light is battery operated, so every time you want the light on you would need to put your hand in and press the button on the side of the light (good thing is SKURAR is wider than the light, so you can press on and off the button with no problem) The light coming from the shade is lovely, the LED light is quite strong, but the lace pattern of the candle holder is ideal as it breaks and softens the light. The LED light was ideal for this project as it is safe to use in this small, made of wood space.

Create outside colourful bunting out of plastic drinking straws

Great garden or indoor decoration project, made of plastic straws. 

Needed:

1. Packet of Plastic drinking straws
2. Garden twine
3. Scissors

We bought the materials from the Pound Shop and it cost us £3.00 (£2 for 2 packs of mulitcoloured plastic straws, £1 for the garden twine) 
Love a bargain!
This little project will be great for decorating your garden as it's water proof, children's rooms, birthday parties and so on. Get your children involved, they'll love it as my daughter did. Working on it will improve their eye-hand coordination. I made this one double flagged, but you can start by making single flag bunting. Also you can make sections of only one or two colours you may want for special occasions.
(not suitable for children under 3 years of age)

Outdoor bunting made with plastic straws. TheaCaldwell.blogspot.co.uk©

Follow these easy steps to create the bunting:

Outdoor bunting from straws . TheaCaldwell.blogspot.co.uk

Just follow the above steps. Make bunting sections of about 2 m in order to be more manageable. You can tie the sections together after they are ready. If you want to make single flag bunting, please use step 1 and 2 only (using two twine strings).  When cutting the size of the twine when starting, please cut one and a half longer that the bunting length for the first twine string, two and a half the length of the send string and for the third row please cut three and the half times the length of the bunting required. Example: If you intend to make 1 m bunting, your first twine string should be at least 1.5 m; the second twine string should be at least 2.5 m and the third one should be at last 3.5 m. As for the length of the straws please note it is only a guide, you can cut them they way you want them, give it a go and try.

£3 for materials from the Pound Shop

Great Garden wind catcher and decoration

Tie a knot and repeat steps 1 to 3 again.

You can see the three twine strings and the length of the straws.

How to fix matted doll's hair

Thea Caldwell.Blogspot.co.uk ©

All you need is warm water, any fabric conditioner, hairbrush with mixed soft and hard bristles.

1. Mix warm water (not hot) with 2-3 caps of fabric conditioner.
2. Soak doll's hair for few minutes.
3. Start brushing the hair while in the water.
4. Keep brushing inside water while all untangled and hair feels soft and smooth.
5. Take out of water, brush more making sure no knots are left.
6. Style and leave to dry naturally.
7. Not every single matted doll's hair can be fixed this way, but the majority will look much better and will be softer and more manageable .