A smiley day today. I was up early as usual , sent an email . put fresh water in the flowers ,pottered about a bit , still not showered or dressed . Then decided to have my breakfast , took it back o bed . Knock , knock !! let me in !!
There on the doorstep was bluebell !! not staying in my house she said , the man has come to do the radiators , it's freezing .
So we sat on my bed looking at Kaffe Fassett books , all cosy and warm .
I showered then off to the garden centre for elevenses , I also wanted to buy a Bowles mauve erysium . It was buy one get one free , so far so good .
We then went to the Mountain shop where we both bought stuff for the grandchildren. Then into Cotton Trader where we bought stuff for ourselves .
Back to my place for a cuppa and biscuit before setting off to our weekly sewing afternoon . All in all a full day .
I know tomorrow we are off to the hairdressers to have our locks shorn off .

The days of sunshine as in this picture are very rare at present .

Today I took salmon from the freezer to cook for my tea . When shopping today I bought Jersey royal potatoes to have with my salmon . Everyone knows you need fresh mint in the water for flavour . I had to don my raincoat and take an umbrella to go six yards in the garden to pick the mint !!

 

The end of May and we are still cosying on the settee with a crochet blanket to read or sew . Still the central heating going .Never mind , they say the rain is good for the complexion .

postcard

This is the postcard for the June swap . The theme is embroidery .

Oh dear! it does look a bit tatty round the edges .

I wonder should I take it from the envelope and sort it or pretend it's vintage . I'll have to think about it overnight. They ,whoever they are advise sleeping on a problem . Perhaps I'll have a solution tomorrow .

All is well

Yesterday I was feeling the effects of a full day of gardening on Sunday but today I have recovered  .

I have been sitting in my conservatory watching four male Blackbirds sorting out their territory ,chasing around , to me they are a joy to watch . I love their antics , no females around ,they must be sitting on the nest .

 

I also think it's lovely when you find plants in the garden growing from seed the birds must have dropped .

 

The Sparrows always seem too busy at the bird table and swinging on the feeders just flitting back and forth .

 

I'm going to have a lazy day after I have done a little ironing , when I say lazy I mean indulging in sewing . I have my June postcard to sew . The theme for the month is embroidery .

I'm doing a big bed quilt with intensive quilting on that I sit at in between other things . I'm wanting to make a Kim Mclean quilt featured in a Kaffe Fassett book called Quilt Romance . Lot's of people show their Kim quilts , the patterns are expensive . I have left enquires on blogs asking do the patterns come through the post or are they PDF . Sadly I never get an answer to my question .

Spring is springing

This beautiful blossom is one of my crab apple trees , My other tree is also loaded with blossom so all being well I shall be well stocked with crab apple jelly this year . Last year , nothing the weather was so bad .

stuff is looking good considering the weather is still dodgy

It was such a good day yesterday for being in the garden . I got lots sorted .

This is one of the troughs planted . It has trailing plants in so when established it is what I will look out onto from my kitchen window .

The front is looking good . I will soon be able to show you as I do every year my magnificent rock roses and a little later my lavender hedge that is usually a show stopper . passing people actually stop to look .

Off for a cuppa .Bye .

My Week

This table runner I made out of scraps earlier in the week . I'm fond of this duck egg blue in my furnishings . I fits just right on a white table just inside the sitting room door .

Bluebell and myself made our trip to the Malvern Quilt Show last Thursday . This quilt is made of tiny hexes about the same size that we like to use . It really is stunning.

This is a close up . Truly a quilt to treasure.

This quilt also took my eye . I think it's beautiful.

This is my purchases. A 12 1/2 inch 60deg,. ruler.

Several packs of hand dyed batiks .

3 small jelly rolls.

2 packs or 6 fat quarters .

10 Bernina bobbins .

I also picked up a B,O,M leaflet that I'm still mulling over . It's for a row by row Christmas quilt in prim shades .

This is another quilt from the show that I liked .

We had a wonderful day as usual

Yesterday Silver Sewer came for lunch with me . Lot's of gossiping . lovely .

Then bluebell rang to say she was off to the garden centre , and how many bags of potting soil did I need . 4 please and a stake for a new apple tree .

Today I have been planting up containers and moving stuff around . Another friend popped in this afternoon , we had magnum  ice cream lollies with our catch up .

Now off for a shower then my evening meal , after that perhaps a bit of sewing.    Ah! bliss .

postcard swap

This is my postcard swap for May. the theme was Fungi .

When I told bluebell she said

You could have done Fun guy . such sharp wit , clever girl .

This week I made rhubarb and ginger jam . I added strawberries to give it extra sweetness and colour . The useful thing about this jam is it is also o,k to have with cold meet . I shall make strawberry jam when the fruit is a bit cheaper . I don't care for commercial strawberry jam .

I just could not resist the flowers at my local shop this week , Stargazer lilies and stocks . This is the ones I bought for my sitting room .

This is the bunch for the hall , the colour orange is much deeper than in the picture .They are such large flowers and stunning to look at. I don't grow lilies in my garden anymore ,lily beatles are a nuisance ,I don't like picking them off the plants

It's a very unsettled day weather wise so my scrap box has come out again . The scraps of fabric never seem to get less no matter how often this box gets rifled . I cannot bear to throw the stuff away.

Missing photo

This is the photo that is missing from the previous blog just published.

Playmats

Out of my scrap stash I have made 2 play mats for the twins . They are 8 months old now .These will be fine to put on the floor . I finished he blue one yesterday and also finished sewing the binding on the second one.

This is the reverse of the blue one . Perhaps wine bottles not entirely suitable but the fabric was £2 a yard so the price suited even if the design didn't . It was good quality fabric .

This is the second quilt .and the backing . A bit more subdued .

When using Picasa it used t come up with browse I could then open the file and choose my photo,s . Browse has disappeared so I don't always get what I'm looking for . If I go back looking I shall lose the blog ,so . after pressing publish I shall go back to Picasa and show you the complete second quilt .

Angela from Tracing Rainbows popped into our sewing group yesterday . Nice to catch up with you again Angela .

Lots to do today but I will make time for sewing , life cannot be all work and no play .

playstation

This is my new playstation . My son sent it to me . It's German made and it is brilliant .

I previously had a Russell Hobbs steamglide that was absolutely useless . I used it about 6 times no more than that , it now sits redundant in the garage .

I love this iron , it has been a joy to use , thankyou Peter .

My friend Silver Sewer came to see me last Saturday . She came bearing gifts . It was so nice to catch up , lots to talk about .

She has moved back to Leicestershire to be near family and seems to be settling in well . She is too far for regular visiting but I know I shall see her more often than when in Scotland . Welcome back Anne and E,.

A Wake up Call

Yesterday the sun shone brilliantly , The trees and plants started to respond by shaking off their winter sleep . It is now 6 a,m and I have been a walk in my garden .The sunshine has made such a difference ,I now have plants with leaves on .

 

This is a picture of the granny shawl I crocheted last week .It measures 63inches across the widest part and 32 down the back . It was made using Sirdar  Crofter yarn , not a shade I would have chosen myself but I was given 3 balls ,I bought 2 more to have enough to make the shawl . It is lovely and soft .

 

Lots to do today . I have been looking through files and patterns trying to reduce my paperwork . I seem to have a lot of stuff to thin out.

 

Today places to go and people to see , it's sewing day.  Our host has been on holiday so there will be lots to talk about .

 

My laptop keeps putting red error lines here and there , I don't know why ! yesterday it was yellow lines . Must be something I'm doing .