summertime fun !

A good blogger friend and some of her buddies are having a 'hot fun in the summertime' every Friday in July party.
Well, there's a bit of sun, a lot of rain and loads of strong winds here on the South Coast of England this summer - it doesn't really feel like one could have some 'hot fun' !
I AM having a different sort of fun however, in my mini guest room and on the windy beach !

Two weeks ago I was walking my dog past Coast Cafe and started chatting to a friend who works from one of the artists studios nearby. I told him I really needed a job and he said I should ask next door.

I told him I really didn't want to work in a cafe again, having run our own for four years and knowing how hard the work is (btw, this pic was taken in April when we had some sun!).

About 5 hours later the same day, the cafe owner phoned - the sous chef had quit that day and they needed someone immediately.

Well, I needed a job, so I said yes ! I went and learnt part of the menu the next day, a Friday, then cooked on the Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on my own because the head chef had four days off and the owner had to take his daughter to France !

Obviously I survived (so did the customers, luckily), the weekend was really busy and on the Monday and Tuesday I started cooking the whole menu.

I've been there two weeks and really enjoy it - the owner is so laid back he's almost horizontal. When I'm there it feels like it's my cafe, I cook, serve, clear up, clean, chat and at the end of the day I have none of the worries about staff, wages, accounts etc.

I like being busy and have a (small) weekly wage. I don't miss working on other peoples homes, driving miles every day and not knowing when the next job is going to come !

I love having three days a week to do my own stuff. Like this chair, (my summer fun)

which turned out like this after some AS Off White, some distressing with a wet cloth and my largest fabric remnant.

I'm so lucky that I had a large enough piece so that I could centralise the pattern.

I bought two chairs in a charity shop before Christmas, and thought I would keep the other one because it had barley twist legs, but actually I prefer this one, I love the wavy spindles.

Then I played with a cushion I had. I added eyelets to the sides ( I have eyelet love, since doing this) and some ribbon, and then I can't decide about the extra piece of applique. I printed it using a design I got here, some special paper I got here and our inkjet printer, and added some stain from a tea bag.

The eyelets have actually pulled out, so I need to work on that, but I like the idea - so is it yay or nay to the extra piece ?

I do hope you're all having fun too, whatever the weather, that's what summer is all about. 

And if I don't stop by your place for a couple of days, I apologise.

If I arrive late at the party, I apologise for that too.

I'm never going to be a big blogger (though you could call me a big something else !)

I love to get inspirations, but I don't have aspirations for my blog, sometimes I just wanna sit

and watch the telly, and after working in the cafe all day, that's gonna happen more than usual !

sharing my not-so-hot-summer-fun with