Seagull

My friend asked me if I could recover her bar stools and make some cushion covers too.  She provided the fabric, there was loads left and knowing she liked Seagulls I asked her if she would like a cushion with a Seagull.  

The pattern for the seagull is from Bustle & Sew magazine.  You can also get to Bustle & Sew by clicking on the picture on my sidebar too.

Our reclaimed Garden

From this at the beginning of January

To this!

Just got to keep the weeds down and hope the plants spread!  At least we are not plagued by the Welsh Leek in the back like we are in the front.  I have more plants in pots which are dotted about the garden to put in.....

TODAY..........................

Is Midsummer Day

Is the Longest Day

Fathers Day

My 35th Wedding Anniversary

To celebrate I made some shortbread

Easy recipe to make, I make in ounces, because that is the way I was taught to remember it and make it, and besides it really doesn't sound right in grams!

2, 4, 6 Shortbread

2 ozs Sugar  (50grms)

4 ozs Butter  (110gms)

6 ozs Flour  (170grms)

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with finger tips, work well and as the butter melts the ingredients all gather together and the bowl becomes clean.

Place onto a floured surface and roll out about 1/4" thick and using a biscuit cutter cut out shapes and place onto greased baking sheet.  Keep doing this until all the mixture has been used up.

Prick the shapes with a fork and cook on 180 degrees, Gas 4 for about 15 minutes.  

When cooked take out of the oven, sprinkle with sugar and leave on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes to cool a little.

Deforestation of the Garden!

Back in March we had our Sumach tree pollarded.

now it is growing leaves, and the trunk is  looking like giant lollipops, except the one which is smothered in Ivy.  It needed cutting because it was beginning to look like a giant canopy and not letting the sun into the garden, even cutting the grass late afternoon when the surrounding area was dry where the tree was the grass still had morning dew!  

the mini Sumach forest

But.......the tree got its own back, and sent up thousands of suckers,  This type of tree does send up suckers, but after having the tree cut it has got its own back and has sent up four times as many than normal.  

Our front grass all it has going for it, it is GREEN!

Because of the recent downpours, yesterday we thought we had better tackle the "mini forest"

We had a profound Buttercup patch, looked like a Buttercup field

A small Daisy patch as well

The Dandelions I keep for my friend who has them for her tortoise

The before........

Twenty minutes later!

Princess Charlotte's Bonnet

I have just knitted this sweet little bonnet the new little Princess Charlotte wore the day she was born.

The pattern(s) can be found here
I chose this one.
It was very easy to knit even the cable pattern was simple you didn't need a cable needle, you just knitted two stitches and slip a stitch across.  It was knitted in one piece, the only stitching was to stitch in the ends and stitch up the hem for the casing for the ties

Growing up side down..............

Growing upside down

Correct way up

Boot Fair

The boot fair yesterday at Blue Anchor.  The field was full with sellers and loads of people looked.  Although after the pitch fee we made exactly £32, not sure how though because people picked up what they liked, asked the price, I said £1, most things we were selling were a £1 they put it down again and walked  away.  What do they want these days FREEBIES?

London Pride

London Pride

Someone said to me once what do you want that for its a WEED!  

Weed or not I like London Pride.  It is of the Saxifraga family.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride is forever will be.
Whoa, Liza,
See the coster barrows,
The vegetable marrows and the fruit piled high,
Oh, Liza,
Little London sparrows,
Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.

Cockney feet 
Mark the beat of history.
Every street pins a memory down.
Nothing ever can quite replace
The grace of London Town.

There's a little city flower,
Ever spring unveiling,
Growing in the crevices,
By some London railing.
Though it has a Latin name
In town and countryside,
We in England call it
London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it forever will be.
Hey, lady,
When the day is dawning,
See the policeman yawning
On his lonely beat.
Gay lady,
Mayfair in the morning,
Hear your footsteps echo 
In the empty street.

Early rain,
And the pavement's glistening,
All Park Lane 
In a shimmering gown.
Nothing ever could break or harm
The charm
Of London Town.

In our city, darkened now,
Street and square and crescent,
We can feel our living past
In our shadowed present.
Ghosts beside our starlit Thames
Who lived and loved and died
Keep throughout the ages
London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it forever will be.
Grey city,
Stubbornly implanted,
Taken so for granted
For a thousand years.
Stay, city,
Smokily enchanted,
Cradle of our memories,
Of our hopes and fears.

Every Blitz,
Your resistance toughening.
From the Ritz
To the Anchor and Crown,
Nothing ever could override
The pride
Of London Town.

                     Noel Coward                               

                              

E is for..........................

EKCO

I live with a vintage wireless enthusiast.  Wireless is completely the wrong word, because you have to plug it in!  So Radio enthusiast!  I thought I would have a guest writer - my husband!

Hi from the Husband. I have had a lifelong fondness for Ekco radios as my first job when leaving school in 1962 was on the assembly lines at their Southend-on-Sea factory. Rumours that this ultimately led to the closure of said factory in 1966, remain unsubstantiated! You can imagine however how good for quality control it was to have a line of workers comprised mostly of 15 year olds straight from School!

Ekco in its heyday of the 1930's was one of the major players in the manufacture and sale of Radio Sets and now commands some of the highest prices in the collecting field for its "round " or circular sets, the perennial favourite being the A22 of 1946 costing you around £700 for a nice example.

Read more about EKCO here

Linking with alphabet blogging with 

Today

Woke up to find a large spider in the bath, the first of the season.  

Just what I needed when I first got up!

To remove spiders from the bath have a look here

The first slug after this afternoon's rain

The wasps are still building their nest.  I see there isn't much room inside now, but they still come and go.  I am not pleased as this box which was put up for the robins that visit the garden, are opposite my backdoor.

When the shed wall gets accidentally banged the wasps fly around checking they are not being invaded.  As long as they leave me alone, I will leave them alone.

I have Triffids growing in my garden II

Yucca Filamentosa

What a difference a week has made, my Yucca has shot up a lot since last Wednesday!  

Problem with Blogger.......................

Is anyone else having a problem with blogger.  

My reading list only displays one post, and when I click on view more it doesn't!

F is for....................

Fair, Fest and Fun

Saturday afternoon a week ago, we sold at a boot fair.  We made ourselves £67 in a couple of hours.  This boot fair at Blue Anchor Somerset, is great.  The lady who runs it is very strict.  We arrived at about 12.30pm and joined the queue of cars to go onto the field.  The gates do not open until 1 o'clock on the dot, when you are then directed down the field.  We were lucky we were on an end.  We were not worried by dealers sorting through our stuff before we were able to set up properly because everyone more-or-less had the same time to set up, obviously the ones who were positioned first were able to start setting up before the last car was parked on the field, although a man from about three cars up saw Alex had records and he came to look.  The gates open for the buyers at 2pm.  When the gates opened there was a bit of a rush, some people rushed through to start at the far end of the field and work their way back to the beginning, and some people start at the beginning eventually they met on our row.  It was a hot tiring enjoyable afternoon.  We didn't go home with more than we came with either, as we stood by our car the whole time, we were not tempted to even look at the surrounding cars close to us.  I took a little picnic and when we came home via the fish and chip shop, we were surprised just how much we took as it just didn't seem that amount at the time.

Yesterday, we went to Taunton to see the Taunton Fest.  Lots of things were going on around the town.  Kayaking on the river, music, crafts and the market.  The town was hot and very crowded.  It was a nice morning though.  We had lunch out with some of the money we earned at the boot fair last week.  We decided when we got back from the boot fair we would spend the money on us this week.  

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, and on Monday is Alex' birthday so we will do something later in the week for that too.  

I have Triffids growing in my garden!

Actually its a 
Yucca filamentosa

which only seems to flower every three years in my garden!

My parents gave me a piece years ago, I didn't have time to plant it, so I just placed it on the ground to plant, but as many things at that time it never happened, but seems to to have made it own way because it has spread and now it really needs splitting.

I will try to take a photo each week on a Wednesday and blog its progress this year

G is for.........................

Green

We wouldn't say our front garden was green, but these are the only flowers we have in our front garden a rather prickly Briar Rose. 

Our front garden has been neglected for far too long, so this year we have decided to do something about it.

There is actually a path all round the square of grass.  Well its green, wouldn't say it is grass though as there are more Dandelions than grass.  Think we would like to return it to a fifties style garden which will fit in with the house. 

Its like a jungle.  Even the snails come large !

And this wood louse was about half inch long!

The snails like living in the trees

Give me a pair of tree loppers and...........

all the trees are gone.  Well down to wall level and we can see daylight and the otherside of the road!

Can't believe all that lot went into three bags, well five actually!  We can only get three in the car!  The rest of the branches are rolled into two tarpaulins awaiting to be taken to the tip.

Since lopping the jungle down, the Elizabeth of Glamis roses have found the light and have decided to bloom in less than a week.

We have two of these Thistles, one in the back garden which I know came from a mixed out of date childs packet of seeds (it said so on the packet), and this in the front garden appeared out of nowhere!

This is the one in the back garden.  

I am hoping they are Sea Thistles/Sea Holly, can anyone identify?

Linking with Alphabet blogging 

H is for...........................

HAPPY

Hope every one is HAPPY!

Linking with Alphabet Blogging

This is my garden!

I just couldn't resist to photoshop these pictures.  

When I put bread on the bird-table for the garden birds, this pigeon sit in the middle and chucks it onto the ground and the Seagulls flock in.  

I had the camera ready today!

Now class............

Class dismissed..................

Drawing a line and starting over.........

me drawing a line

I have drawn a line under the last two blog post and I am starting again!  I'm not starting a new blog or anything just a new page.  

Today I have been working on our family tree.  It is a maze just like the ones you follow with a finger or pencil, or the ones to walk around, you turn a corner and it is a dead end, you have turn right around  and go the other way.

sourced from the internet

But we are getting there slowly.  They say if you have someone famous in your family that is good.  My husband has!  He was a Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighter in Norfolk, but cannot find whereabouts he goes in this maze/jigsaw family tree.  If any lovely readers live in or come from Norfolk and you heard of him please tell us?  Thank you in anticipation

Thank you so much.......I Do Craft!

I have gone the same colour of this rose all pink and white.  Pink with embarrassment caused by the lovely comments which were left for me.  I would like to thank each and everyone of you who sent me these wonderful comments on this post.   Because I got it off my chest, I now chant 'I Do Craft', to try and drown out the other words.

I made this, just to prove to myself I Do Craft..........

Go here to see it in its full glory!

YES I DO CRAFT!

Craft, crafting...........APPARENTLY I Don't!

I am beginning to wonder about what I do do?
I have been questioning myself for about six months now and haven't really been able to make anything purposeful because of an email I received at the end of last year.
 
The email read -  “You are not a crafter”
I can still see these words on the screen and now they are still spinning round in my head I cannot get rid of them - help me..........

Crafter, crafting.
What is a crafter?
What is crafting?
Does a crafter make one one-off item or does a  crafter makes lots of the same item?
If so how many items before it becomes a mass production?

I can KNIT!

I make jumpers

Tea Cozies

Photo courtesy of Helen at Bustle and Sew

Even Seagulls!

I SEW and EMBROIDER

I was chucked out of school needlework classes many times between the ages of eleven and sixteen because I was suppose to be making a dress, I sneaked my embroidery into class.  I got my own back and bought a dress pattern with an embroidered detail, and guess what I was persuaded not to do the embroidery because I wouldn't finish the dress before the end of term and the marks were counted for the exams.  I managed to get rid of these horrible memories a long time ago, but they came flooding with other horrible memories of school when I was told I didn't Craft.

I make small items

I make large items.
Its a double quilt with cross-stitch panels in case you were wondering, goes on our bed every winter!  (It was too big to hang on the line the other way so I turned the photo round!)

So please SOMEONE, please tell me if I craft or not.  Make these words go away.  I am getting quite distraught about it.

I use to actually get paid for cross stitching not so long ago.  I worked for a few private people to test their patterns like http://www.countyneedlecraft.com I stitched most of the cottages and quite a few of the celtic designs

I even stitched this for Jan Eaton

This sampler is now free to download now.

So please tell me do I craft?
Yes or No?