Flower Therapy❤❤

Having a rubbish week at work this week so felt I needed cheering up.


I went and found my 'best Cornishware' vase....

I 'picked' some late blooming roses......

Aaah that's better

And look - still lovely and fresh and not a dropped petal in sight!

So feeling the L♥VE  that flowers and crochet-therapy can bring.......

I  just had go and 'pick' some more flowers

Not quite there, but definitely feeling less rubbish - just might have to make a few dozen more!❤

 L♥VE

Things making me smile ♡♡

Despite the fact the weather seems to have let itself go and I've got to go to work in a bit - my heart is all skippity-happy♡♡ at the things I've been doing.....

I've had the delightful terrible chore of having to go through my wools to get a couple of orders ready. The urge to caress each hank is wonderful awful......

Isn't the green gorgeous, it is so so so soft. I must admit I adore the silky sheen on the heather - hope their new owners love them as much as I do!! I'm loving having the hawthorn tree wool  - it's like having a sweet shop with out the calories :)


Also on the enjoyment Richter scale ♡is some crochet dalliances.

I've been attempting to crochet a mesh style shopping bag.  The first one was met with some interesting comments -------

Is that a lobster net?
Looks like a scratchy string vest!
Can I have that for my husband to wear?
Is that Marge Simpson's hair net?.............................................

Gee guys - glad to be of some amusement :)
Any way (sorry no photos yet coz the battery is on charge) I soldiered on and finished my mesh/net/vest/bag, even attempting a flowery embellishment (which only served to increase its similarity to a vest, so I removed it sharpish)
Even I have to admit that it looked a bit...wonky.

But anyhoo all in the spirit of creating useful things that I can use, I filled my mesh bag with goodies and it stretched downwards and downwards and downwards until clunk it reached the floor. Hmmmmmmm - photos will follow I promise if only to serve to amuse you lot too!

So, undaunted, I used it to carry my bag and lunch to work yesterday - to trial it you see- that too only caused mirth and merriment from my work colleagues.

Now.... after a search on the net and searching in my heart - I have ditched (but not frogged) the first attempt and am now trying attempt part two. I found a cone of a yummy lilac in Jonathon Jo and it called out to me

***I am the mesh bag of your dreams***** 

well, we'll see.

The house is smelling gorgeous with the end of season sweet peas, they have done so well this year, filling our days with their wonderful scent. It is such a gentle but deep smell, makes me really happy - I shall miss them when the first frosts finish them off.

Also making me feel rather happy is all our garnering and harvesting, I mentioned it a couple of posts ago so I thought I'd finish off with a montage of our apple processing and ultimate sampling of scrumptiousness with lashings of custard - ooooh hmmmmmmmmmmm nom nom nom....

Looking back at the montages I realise I have just revealed a serious dose of inner girliness - just look at the colours - lilacs, pinks and purples...........

Will finish here, need to post off some wools and tidy up before leaving the house, boo - got so so much more playing to do.

♡Hope you all have a lovely day :)xxxxxxxxxxxx

Garden festival

Last weekend was an exhausting culmination of a frantic couple of weeks. I had promised Himself that I would not enter the garden festival again, but more fool me, I did. The boys were more than happy to join in and threw themselves into their own competition entries.

The weather was glorious! The boys did well, both getting second in their division and considering they were competing alongside adults we thought that was brilliant!




Eldest's edible container had parsley, chives, radish, a sunflower, a french been, strawberries, Chinese mustard and origanum.


My photo doesn't really do it justice as I had to step back a fair way to get the sunflower in.

Youngest's little Dogmatix was a hit with the younger generation and again did very well against an adult competitor.

He was however driven to distraction by adults who insisted calling his scarecrow - Dog Matrix - his whole little body bristled with indignation at their apparent ignorance of one of his favourite book characters!



His best moment was when a lady from Australia wanted to take lots of pictures of his little dog and chatted for ages about it to him.


Our knit and (k)natter group at the last minute decided to put in a flower display in the Church.  So I was given free range of gardens and flowers, props and crafted items from the ladies. ON Friday, my Mom and I (and my long suffering Dad) with legs buckling under the weight of all the goodies set off to do our arrangement.

We had to be as quick as we could as we only had just over 2 hours before I had to get ready for work.

We worked like demons. There was such a flurry of flower arranging, teddy positioning and quilt and blanket fluffing.  Everything that was potentially easy to steal, we stitched down, just in case, I would have hated to have lost something one of my friends had made with love, only to find some light fingered soul decided that they wanted it. As it was, the teddies, which had been firmly stitched to their basket, had been pulled out and put back once it was obvious they were not that easy to walk away with!

The mess, the mess  - oh what a veritable compost heap of flowers, leaves and snippings we made along the pews and isle, fortunately the Church steward was incredibly kind and swept up as we went along, supplying us with much needed tea and encouraging  comments. Any way, our arrangement - which was a cheerful, colourful, higglety-pigglety  juxtaposition of craft and flowers - went down incredibly well and we were delighted at the positive response from the visitors.

So thank you ladies for letting me denude your gardens of your flowers and empty your houses of quilts, pillows and blankets!! It was great fun to do :)


I have more photos to share - including one that made us laugh out loud, but I will save that for another day.

Thank you for popping by and have yourselves a lovely Tuesday - I have loved sharing our weekend with you.

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Holiday musings

It is nearly three weeks since our brief holiday romance with the Scottish Borders. My heart is still aching for the sense of liberation a coastal break can imbue. I know I am suffering from the usual PHD, but this time it seems to be lingering........ 

In a fit of longing I trawled through the photos this morning while I sipped a mug of tea and felt the need to share a few more holiday glimpses. 

One very hot day we wandered through the grounds of The Hirsel, where rhododendrons shuddered under the weight of their blooms. The gardens were filled with vibrant shades of vermilion, magenta, fuchsia, maroon, lilac, lavender as well as cheery splashes of yellow and elegant purple-flecked whites.  A heat haze shimmered on the sun baked ground and birds half heartedly chirped up in the lofty Scots pines.

We followed the grassy paths as they wound their way through the huge vegetation until we reached the welcome relief of the woodland. Cooler and damper where moss garlands languished on branches. The tactile  texture of the bark had me stroking each tree as I walked by. The deep strength and almost timeless quality of these huge plants was incredible.

On another, cooler day, we marooned ourselves on the island of Lindisfarne, where we walked around the coast, stopping to picnic or shelter against the rain. We watched seals as they watched us. We inhaled the salty air and collected smooth palm sized pebbles.  I fell in love with  the sea-scented lobster traps and the sturdy rough-touch ropes lying in wait for the next fishing trip.

The whole island seemed edged with a shimmering breeze-induced, dancing pink haze as the bobbing heads of Armeria maritima (sea thrift) nodded back and forth. I don't know how the bees managed to alight on their moving lunch, but they seemed to succeed.

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I am concerned.....I had hoped that reminiscing and sharing would sort out the dreaded post holiday depression but oh no! It has only made me worse!! I shall just have to go and put the kettle on, sooth my jangled heart and plan our next seaside sojourn!

That's all for now my dears, I will recover - do not fret :) Besides it's nearly FRIDAY! Woo hoo!

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Thank you every one who showed concern about my rose vs skull action, just to let you know that I am happily getting all scabby (urgh!) and brushing and washing my hair has been, well, an interesting side effect to the bashed head!  

Yes I have forgiven the rose, yes I have forgiven Himself and yes he can sit on his favourite bench again.......just need it to stop raining.

*sigh*

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Put your sunnies on!

I feel absolutely brain dead today -  due to an accumulation of nearly two weeks of double shifts, dancing till dawn last weekend and then when I do eventually crash on the pillow finding that I can't switch off but am too tired to use that wakefulness productively! Never mind, nearly the weekend coz today is Friday eve!! (that's Thursday to everyone out there in blog-land) and tonight is knit and natter here which I am looking forward to.

I have been wanting to share with you some gorgeous zingy-full-of-colour photos with you for a little while but for reasons already mentioned I haven't had the brain power to do anything, but today I am in need of some bright colour therapy and want some sunshine even if only in digital format.


While we were away Himself spotted an open garden being advertised in the local paper. He knows I love visiting other gardens and he is right.  I can find inspiration, feel envy, notice weeds, admire planting schemes, dream and aspire or just simply escape and enjoy.

On a squint-making sunny day we rambled around a huge garden with only the flowers and insects for company. We had the entire place to ourselves. There was no pressure to move on, we I could stare at the long border and sigh in Victorian style rapture, we I could inhale the scent of this rose, which I have to say was so heady and so all encompassing in the heat of the day that afterwards when we climbed into the car, I could still smell a hint of it's perfume. 

The old moss roses, although not as scented were just as wonderful to see.

The long border, not yet at it's full splendour was still wonderful. Filled with lupins, iris, geraniums, alstroemeria, aquilegia, hemerocallis, peonies and sweet peas. There were many more plants just waiting to burst into bud, but I won't bore you with the list as there were a lot of them! We chatted with the head gardener and he said that they hadn't started putting out the summer bedding yet. So imagine how glorious it will look at it's peak. I loved the way fagus sylvatica (purple or copper beech) had been used as an alternative to yew as a formal back drop. Delicious!

Another intoxicating old rose.

The beauty of this place was the freedom to wander around a garden filled only with plants and history and us.  This garden** is open all summer and we just happened to arrive on the second day and only had to share it with the sun in the sky. We did go on to another gorgeous place but I will save that for another day when I am in need of some more exhilarating colour therapy!

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**Garden -  Bughtrig

Knit and natter hearts and flowers

Such a dreich day.....overcast, grey, sullen.... miserable really.

But, I'm not going to let that get in my way - it's Friday!

With that in mind.......... 

today's hearts

 are brought to you

 by 

this lovely lady 

who yet again has brightened my day with her beautiful sewing. 

My Youngest grabbed my camera and took all these photos -

so, please... sit back and enjoy her work and his pictures

And, to top if off..... she wore these wonderful hearty slippers!

Talk about getting into the spirit of things (: 

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Still on the quest to brighten your (and definitely my) day, I want to share with you this little spot of colour and promise............ remember this photo? 

Well, every couple of days I have taken a snap of the Amaryllis as it has quietly opened. 

It's cheerful happy face makes me all smiley smiley  (:   Well, must stop now, the weather is still dull but my day has cheered up - I hope yours has too, I would just like to say hello to all my new followers, it is lovely to make friends along my way, welcome to my little slice of life (:  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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 Final bit of waffle - follow this link to see what crafty things I got up to this time last year (:

Hearts from Nature and a bit of random Friday-itus

Today's heart is brought to you by nature -

Sitting in front of me is an 

Anthurium andreanum

 from the appropriately named  'Love Collection'

A suitable candidate for this month's theme - would you not agree?

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And before I forget again!

***I found the skull pattern on Ravelry as a free download,  if you are not a member I don't think you can access it however, the skull's creator also has it on her blog - here , on the left side of her page a little way down is a picture of the skull, follow that link. It was a lovely quick project.

Instant gratification :)

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The weather here is foul today, nothing on the scale of the States or Australia, just wet, windy and plain horrible. A good day to curl up in front of the fire and craft except I have to get the washing done (bit of a problem with this chore)**, the house needs cleaning, the last module of my work based college course needs starting (la la la la last one!!) and ergo finishing. 

I am itching to show you my next crochet project but it is stuck in the washing machine** which has gone on strike! I can't get it to either work or be able to open the door and rescue the contents. Not sure why??! 

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And it's raining again still. 

*sigh*

Follow here to see what hearty happenings were going on in 2010

Happy Hearts and Bags of Bones

Today's heart(s) are brought to you 

by me

created whilst sitting in that lovely crafting zone 

we share each week at

our knit and natter group

Each tiny heart is no more than 2cm across. 

So quick to make, they flew off my hook 

and soon I had 18 little hearts all needing their ends weaving in, 

usually a painstaking chore, 

I found that even this went quickly.

Each little heart was then attached with a crocheted chain of tatting thread

and now hangs in our sitting room....

Now just need the Amaryllis to flower and my little corner will be filled with colour and love!

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On a completely different (but still a crochet) note,

I have made something else, 

originally for the boys but I, erhem,

decided that I rather fancied it and stitched onto a bag..............

The boys think that it is cool and were cross with me for adopting 'skelly-bones' 

but on promising them their own, they have forgiven me!

Well, been lovely chatting to you but I see that the sun is actually shining so I am off out to 'play' in the garden, have yourselves a happy Thursday! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Follow here to see what hearty happenings were going on this day in 2010

Hearts in nature

Today's heart, 

on the 2nd day of February,

 is brought to you by 

my Mom 

and a beautiful heart shaped tulip petal.

Thank you 

Last year's post can be found here.

On Saturday night fever and Sunday perambulations

It's lashing it down out there, I can barely see through the rain laced windows. The wind is howling around the house making whining sounds down the chimney.

Fortunately the fire is happily crackling away and I have my mug of Assam tea and my computer, as well as grumpy cat and soggy dog for company - lovely.

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It took until lunch time on Sunday before the house returned to some semblance of normality. I succumbed easily to persuasion from the boys as they pleaded that we leave our home still wearing it's brightly coloured decorations. 

A  shockingly cerise pink covered table  jostles for attention with a vivid red, yellow and black elephant throw. Both are adorned with purple and orange flowers all announcing their presence.

 The small table in the lounge looks resplendent in shades of gold and fuchsia while highly reflective charger plates of royal reds and purples sit in silent splendour.

All the little white lights Himself hung (and there were hundreds of them) are still there and seeing how dull and dark today is turning out to be, I think I just might go and switch them on to jolly up my morning!.......... Do you know, it has, it definitely has :)








The children at our party looked so cute, all dressed up and sparkly, either in turbans with 'rubies' and feathers or in saris and sequins. I know that they love dressing up, and it seems so do their parents!

Now, in the silence our my home with all my boys at work or school, I look back and think that Saturday went very very well.

And the winner of the adult cosplay? 

Himself! and as with tradition, the winner gets to select the theme for next year's party.........

 The theme? 

Drum roll please....................

The swinging 60's!

Just think of the flares, the hot pants, the midi skirts, the maxi dresses, the beards and the  sideburns and oh yes - the music!!

Ooohh bring it on! 

(well, may be NOT the hot pants :)  )

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On Sunday, once we'd rediscovered our house and put the vacuum cleaner and the dishes away, we donned our boots and coats and headed for the hills to our favourite woods up in the Dales. We felt refreshed after we yomped up the hill in record time and at the top we stopped for lunch and to get our heart rate back down to normal and our breathing less ragged. 

With all the rain we've been having lately, the rivers although not at their fullest were still swollen and the fields were quagmires pitted with deep hoof holes made by horses and cows.  We stopped at the river for a last mug of tea before returning to the car is almost complete darkness. 

While we were sitting there, watching the water surge by, marvelling at the strength of it, I noticed a tree filled with detritus and on closer inspection it proved to be debris washed down during the last flooding. That tree is in the mid distance to the left of Himself......notice how high it is. We left quietly and in awe of the natural power of water and that only a few days ago, where we are sitting would have been 3 meters under water.....

Time to go............

A lovely weekend, and as usual it whizzzzzzed by but never mind, got another weekend coming up again in about...erm...5 days time!

Woo Hoo!!

A final colourful glimpse of our Bollywood night.

05.07.10 - wow, what a weekend!

It's Monday and I am still on a high!

Why? well I will let the pictures do the talking......

A 9 year old Youngest's Mini garden gains a first and in his extremely blasé joy  says to his Dad - Told you that I would win...................

 Aaaah to have such strong self belief!

12 year old Eldest is equally pleased and surprised at gaining a 2nd place in his 'Child's Creative Container', particularly as this is the first time he has entered.

My garden (complete with missed  weeds and next door's dying rats**) came a very  unanticipated 2nd in the large garden category - wow - didn't see that one coming..... (Stands back in amazement with furrowed brow at the unexpected turn of events - but still delighted)

In the Adult 'Creative Container' I came away with a 1st for our 'plantified' up 2CV. I think what appealed was the retro-feel. Picnic basket, bunting,  crocheted picnic blankets, beads, guitar and flowers all helped.

The car also went down very well with all our visitors that came during the weekend. So many photographs were taken, toddlers posed, families lined up and grinned as cameras clicked away. The boot never failed to raise a smile at the 'nest' filled with our hen's eggs and the carefully collected weeds!

Even the local paper sent a photographer around and I had to pose with my car - she (the car) grinned happily and fluttered her eyelashes,  while I grinned uncomfortably because I was definitely on the wrong side of the camera lens!

But best of all - best of all - at the end of the presentation ceremony, our little car won 'Best in Show'........

Ooh err!!

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So much happened over the weekend. Later on in the week, I will post photos from the scarecrow trail, other beautiful gardens, owls and other suchlike delights, but until then!...........

**dying rats - (shiver up and back down spine) another story to be revealed! Urgh......