One potato, two potato...

three potato, four lovely little potato tops poking their heads up in the veg patch - hooray - I feel almost like a proper gardener now!

Weather - come on, make your mind up - to be Spring or not to be? Everything is looking rather lush, mind you, after yesterday's downpour and the water butt is full again.

Having deliberated and cogitated over what to do about my quilt I have finally decided to undo the previous quilting and start over - eek! Now that a new piece of wadding has arrived from the Cotton Patch I think I should do it properly and attach the border and then quilt. More haste, less speed, Jules - patience is not one of my virtues and I always pay in the end. When will I ever learn?

but there's always time for a little crochet

29 edged

just a basket full to go ....

but bed beckons me now.

To garden or to craft - what a dilemma

It looks like the weather is returning to it's dismal normal self so I won't be torn between the garden and the craft stash. I made the most of the nice weather whilst it was here and the garden is nice and tidy, the hostas are valiantly poking through the rather hard ground and the borders are starting to burgeon. The helibores are nearly over but are just the prettiest of plants, shy but gorgeous with their heads turned modestly to the ground. My two alpina helsingborg clematis have a mass of flowers this year - must have liked the harsh pruning afterall! I almost can't wait for the astrantia and geraniums to start flowering! Oh happy days ahead....

Adele bought me this lovely hydrangea for my birthday on Sunday:

Clematis alpina helsingborg - abundant with blooms on both front and back plants

a freebie plant swap from my neighbour, Shelia Margaret (real name Sheila whom I have mistakenly called Margaret for the past three years so she shall forever be known as Sheila Margaret)!

Pretty little helibore - daintily bouncing in the breeze (which seems to be revving up to more of a gale to be honest):

Well, that's Wednesday almost done with - over the hump and all down hill to the weekend and who knows what delights might be found at the car boot sale .... and then on to Anne's sewing room (and who knows what we might discover in there!) If I'm lucky I'll also be able to squeeze in a bit of time using another of my birthday gifts from Charlotte - one of our younger sisterhood members . Charlotte works at Reed's on Saturdays - amongst what seems like a million other places and was guided by my sister to buy this from there

but who's going to make me a cup of tea and bring me a biscuit?

The Sisterhood Springs into action

...well, we had a leisurely start as there was so much food and wine to eat and drink - but we did look at books and do the teensiest bit of knitting/crochet.

We managed to sit outside for a short spell while the rain held off - it's amazing how fast you can move when the cakes are under threat of a drenching!

and yes, I really, really must finish this quilt!!!

I may be getting old but I am a very lucky 'girl'!

Yes, clearly I am old - but my sister thought I was only 46 today so I think I'll go with that - after all, older sisters always know best! It's been a lovely day even if it did start rather disappointingly with cold, rain and not so hot car boot sales - yes, not just one but two today but all I managed to buy were yet more plants for the garden .... will it ever end? ... and a few bits of lace.

My lovely sister arranged for the sisterhood to meet for my birthday this afternoon and also catered it so all I had to do was tidy the house and get ready. We had the best egg mayo sandwiches courtesy of some of Anne's customer's pet hens - so, so yellow.... yum, crisps and dip courtesy of Jan and also some sparkling rose and deliciously ripe strawberries and clotted cream. Adele made the most fabulous carrot cakes - almost too pretty to eat but we overcame that without much resistance! Of course, no tea party would be complete without strawberry tarts and chocolate cake but I think the chocolate cake may have been a calorie too far and nearly tipped us over the edge! Thank goodness for leggings is all I can say.

Anne, big sis of superb taste and Made and Found fame, not to mention the publisher of a very pretty blog; gave me some gorgeous gifts:

this beautiful Jan Constantine Love cushion to add to the one she bought me for Christmas and the one I had to treat myself too - couldn't have one being lonely and now the little one completes the family!

and these fab books - can't wait to have a go at some of the projects

One lucky sister may just end up getting a quilt like this for Christmas (not sure which year though as my last one remains

unfinished again ..

.... maybe next weekend, depending on the weather and how the 'sorting Anne's sewing room' project fares).

This gorgeous towel from the new Pip Studio range that's just arrived in the shop - really too pretty to use but I shall enjoy looking at it and giving it the occasional stroke .... soooo soft and soooo pretty.

I've spoken to all my boys, the sun eventually came out and now I have my feet up with a cup of peppermint tea... hmm, I must really be old then but after an afternoon of such indulgence I suppose it's not surprising!

Ta-daaaa

In the spirit of thrift and recycling my sister kindly donated an old, faded deck chair to me. Three coats of paint and a rummage through my stash of fabric later and I now have a new addition to the garden. Now I can relax in style (despite the fact that my sister says I never do). I have had this piece of Designer's Guild fabric since the 90s when I had another life as a stay at home mum and could gad off to London for the fabric sales... My hoarding gene has served me well and I think the end result is rather stylish and goes so well with the little daffs that are just hanging in there with a last gasp.

.

and a close up of the fabric

And the patchwork quilt? Well, it's really hard to stay inside and sew when the sun is shining!

A few of my earlier creations

From way back when ... my nephew was a very little boy (he's 21 this year) .... I made him this cushion for Christmas

but back to the more recent past here are the cushions I made for my sister as part of her Christmas present:

and a little something I made for myself to cheer the room up for the Winter

Spring fever inspired me to whip up some bunting for the garden - I'll wait for a sunny day to photograph it but I really, must finish my quilt this weekend!

For Alchamillamolly

like I said - an amazing little plant, just emerging from the sodden ground with a crown of morning dew....

or is this my current passion?

all that crochet and still nowhere near ready to be a blanket!

I'm spoilt for choice at the moment - crochet to finish, patchwork quilt to finish, cushions and blinds just waiting to be made and not enough hours in the day.....

17th April

It's growing .....

And so it begins....

After spending a lot of time helping my sister with her blog and reading numerous others, and after being ridiculed by my sons for a) stalking them on Facebook and b) claiming I didn't know how to create a blog I decided I'd show them so here I am! That about sums up my personality, determined, stubborn and tenacious but on the good side I do like to help others and enjoy my life in it's own quiet little way. I travel a lot with my proper job so being at home means indulging my domestic and creative side - sewing, crochet, knitting, beading, gardening and generally enjoying being a home bod, pottering around the house and garden and bimbling into town for a cuppa with my sister and mother and a rummage in the local charity shops and antique centre. Being a single Mum with three now grown up sons means there's been a distinct lack of frills and fru-fru in my life so now the last one will soon be leaving the nest it's time to explore the more girly aspects of life.

My sister has been diligently enticing me into the world of car boot sales, charity shops and 'old lady stuff' as my nephew likes to call it. I'll never reach the heights of my sister's hoarding and collecting passion. I keep telling her she has an illness - which has recently turned it's attention from old china, tablecloths and mirrors to all things Queeny. I am an enabler so she was shocked to find me encouraging her to bid for a box of queeny memorabilia at the local sale room yesterday. She is now the proud owner of said box for the princely sum of £2. She swears most of it will be going in the skip but I have my doubts! Check out her stash at http://made-and-found.blogspot.com/

The blog name is a little deceptive as I tend to do more crochet and knitting than sewing but I am a bit fickle in my crafting commitments - once the initial obsession has worn off, of course. Over the years I have been passionate about crochet, knitting, cross stitch, gardening, reading, beading, embroidery, sewing, stencilling, to name but a few. Latterly the cross stitch and stencilling have taken a back seat with tentative returns to stencilling for my sister's shop and the home and a request from my Mum for a cross stitch sampler means I have 8 months to create her Christmas present.

So, if any of you do drop by my blogspot I hope you enjoy my ramblings. If nothing else this could save me a fortune on therapy.