I,m no Picasso

Today I have started to paint a rocking chair that a bought at a charity shop two weeks ago

Not an easy task. ! Although I rubbed it down with fine sandpaper and cleaned it with meths the varnish is so ingrained that the undercoat frothed and looked like water but I,m persevering .

I shall make a quilt to hang on the back of it . It will look vintage when I have finished .

I have been trying to be more careful about what I eat . I,m now at the end of my second week . I am not weighing myself because the scale needs a new battery so I have no idea if cutting down is having any effect . I can only say about 2 hrs,. after lunch I start to get hungry and really look forward to 6 o/clock when I prepare my evening meal .

I seem to have a surplus of energy today , I have been spring cleaning and didn,t flag at all . Furniture moved into different places, fresh air blowing through and a smug feeling of satisfaction .
It doesn,t trake much to please me .

Two pics, taken the day we went to see the bluebells . Jill could not resist taking this one of me climbing the stile but I,m a sort of not bothered person . I don,t mind you seeing me in all my glory . When I lose the extra weight I,ll perhaps be able to leap frog over the stile instead of climbing .

This is madam bluebell . As you can see she is much more ladylike . A real poser . She is posing in bed this last few days . She has an attack of the vapours . Ah well !! get well soon .

we have had 2 really cold days but the sun is shining again now .

The balmy Days

This morning the call came !! The bluebells are in flower , garden centre first for the red geraniums , bluebells next . Yes , maam .

Off we go and the bluebells were indeed a sight to see . We duly took photo,s that are identical to last year .

On the way back home we passed a lilac bush that grows by the wayside . Each time we pass it I long to bring some home . Today was the day . Bluebell stopped so I could have some . This is just 3 stems .My hall smells wonderful . This bush is just growing wild . How did it get there on the edge of a field . was it thrown away with garden rubbish . It is the most magnifecent specimen .

At the garden centre last week we saw lilac bushes £24 . I have never seen one in a cultivated garden as handsome as this .

Sitting with a purpose

I cut the 4 1/2 " sqares for this quilt about this time last week . It is now quilted and this evening I shall add the binding and sit sewing it down .

A 9 patch is very quick to do . The fabric was all from my stash so a very economical quilt to make . I intend to make another one for my daughter in law . I shall be more selective with the colours because she wants to give it as a birthday present . This was really a dummy run to see how long it would take to make.

I did say I had been sitting around a great deal but at least I have something to show .

This is an article from our Hospice magazine . 3 cheers for the patchwork /quilters .

Browsing in my garden yesterday I noticed 1 lily from last year coming through ,it is about 8 " high and already had lily beetles chomping at the leaves . I drop more than I pick off because I dislike them so .

Woe is me

Bluebell has decided I must lose weight . The mere thought makes my rolls of fat tremble . When people talk about smaller portions I immediately feel desperately hungry . I love a good breakfast , elevenses , lunch, tea and cake in the afternoon , and to round off the day , my dinner. I won,t even know where to start cutting down. She says no fat but I like butter , I cannot compomise by eating margarine , Is there anything that will work quickly apart from breathing in .

Spring ,spring ,and more spring

Such a busy time of the year , but I,m busy doing nothing ,just staring at the garden . I have seven treees in blossom in varying degrees , some are just going over others are in full bloom .

The bramley apple is just taking on its glory ,the pear is full of wonderment . The sparrows flutter in and out among it,s branches causing the petals on the blossom to fall . It,s like being at a wedding and confetti being thrown . A new tree planted , a flowering Almond even gave a good show of what it will be like next year . A sweet cherry ,not very big but always gives lovely juicy fruit . We bought it as a cordon but my husband used to say it wasn,t natural to use a tree that wayso it grows as an upright. The two crab apple trees are just smothered in frothy blossom , one in my back garden the other at the front of my home where other people can admire it . a newly planted victoria plun is just coming into leaf but no blossom as yet and an ornamental tree that I cannot remember the name of has now shed its finery . Besides all this the rest of the garden is like a painting with spring bulbs and flowers in abundance .I seem to spend many hours looking out on this glorious sight .

Not only the flowers , the birds are so busy . I don,t get all the wonderful birds that others around me do but ,sparrows, starlings ,blackbirds and a couple of resident robins seem to hang around .,wouldn,t it be fascinating if we knew what they were on about . they are so noisy in their conversation .

This time of the year passes so quickly , I don,t feel guilty sitting around . I sit sewing, reading and just enjoying this special time of the year .

Every minute counted

Making every minute count was the order of the day yesterday . I woke at 6,30 , tea to get my brain into gear,and a bowl of cereal . I sat in the sunshine and did a little red work embroidery on my Raggedy Anne quilt. I felt guilty sewing so early in the morning , so jeaned and booted out into the garden I went . I did some more on the reclaimed path and some general tyding of the borders . Myself and bluebell had an appointment at 1,40 so a clean up, sit down to draw breath and lunch . 1,o,clock we set off . After the app,was over we decided a call at our fave, garden centre . A few £s lighter we decided a call at another of our garden centres to look for plants the 1st garden centre didn,t have . Namely Fox gloves and phlox . Duly purchased by this time energy was flagging so into the tea room for tea and carrot cake , very nice it was too . More income disposed of . Well the saying is " you can,t take it with you" . Homeward bound , plants unloaded , watered and placed in the shade until planted .. By this time exhaustion was setting in . It was a beautiful day , 20 deg !! it was like a midsummer day. We were going out in the evening to our monthly quilters meeting . Not to be missed . Jennie Rayment was the speaker , definately not to be missed I decided to retire to my bedroom , by this time it was 4.30 and bluebell was calling for me at 6.30 . Bluebell said she also had done the same thing . No good going to a quilt meeting tired . Our speaker was on top form , she was very good , laughter all the way . Meeting ended , home after a very intensive day .

Keeping Busy

Such a busy 2 days but so rewarding . I needed a change of tea cosy , I changed my kitchen curtains from blue to red so I made a red teacosy to co ,ordinate the look . The piece of fabric was about a £1 . I cannot remember exactly , I had other fabric too . Strawberry season coming along so a few to trim . Yesterday I was blog browsing and found a blog I hadn,t seen before . Bumble beans , it,s lovely . The blog owner is Victoria , she makes beautiful quilts from scraps . Ah !! I have lots of scraps ,! so I set too and produced 9 blocks over a period of about 9 hours on and off . These are they laid out on my bed waiting for sashing . It will make a fair size lap quilt . The scrap box doesn,t seem to have gone down at all .

If you decide to have a go this will be the mess you surround yourself with .

A Little Knowledge

Believe me this title doesn,t mean a thing . I have been fishing around on my laptop , pressed a few things here and there and lo and behold I changed my blog !!! I have no idea what I did but it looks o,k and I didn,t lose anything . I was really looking to add buttons of blogs I love to read , blogs that let me take their patterns and B,O,M . I did not achieve doing that and dare not go back and have another go in case everything changes again , so , how do I add a button? Beautiful day yesterday , Bluebell and I just sat in the sunshine gossiping , she came for coffee and we sat and ate delicious brownies . A new recipe that bluebell had cooked. We sat and admired each others sewing , looking over scraps of fabric and really doing nothing at all . I showed bluebell the blog of Bumble Beans . She makes lovely colourful quilts out of scraps . She has a very extensive blog and for me is an absolute delight . Such a clever girl , pop over there and admire the view . No plans for today , it,s cold . Yesterday March really did go out like a Lion .