finally did it!

well its not that exciting but.. i finally managed to sit in the garden on sunday afternoon for a whole hour - peace and quiet, sunshine - well when i say peace and quiet the birds were tweeting, bees were humming and trees rustling - sorry to wax lyrical, but it was great. all the family were out, daughter to sandbanks beach, hubby and son to some sort of charity football match. the only thing i did not do was any stitching - it was sooooo hot i thought my needle might melt but, hey, you can't have everything!

nb; i have to confess that i did not make the above quilt - it was bought for me!

when it was cooler, i did a quick tour of the garden - raspberries just getting going

toms are just starting to go red and i found the first runner bean!

wow! well i know its not that exciting really!

HOWEVER - last night i went out (nothing extraordinary in that you might think) and finally saw Mama Mia - well i absolutely cried with laughter - Julie Walters is fantastic! i've never been an Abba fan particularly but found myself singing along with my friend - lots of others were doing the same, although some were a bit coy! apparently on saturday night some people were dancing in the aisles - i would have needed quite a few units of alcohol to do that! i would thoroughly recommend anyone to go see it - you come out feeling very smiley, and my sides ached! it certainly cheers you up.

on the sewing front i was sat thinking about what to get a very special friend for her birthday and i thought why not make her a quilt! great idea, lovely present, but only one little problem, her birthday is next week! nothing like working under pressure! anyway i have cut it out and pieced the front together, cut out the wadding, and now just have to decide on the backing fabric. here is where we are so far

its not that good a pic, but here's a close up

i decided to keep it simple and just do blocks and then hand quilt it - probably in my sleep!

whilst i was occupied with this, Molly was doing this:

chewing my sandal!

that'll teach me!

x

confessions!

well, actually one confession to make - i started off the week with all good intentions to get some of my projects completed -laid out my fabrics i had finally decided on

checked the pattern i was to use (pic above)

cut out my strips, put them in the order i wanted to use them and put them on my sewing table ready to go

and that was on sunday - and thats all i have achieved!

i did get sidetracked by finishing off a little handquilted baby quilt

it was lovely just to sit and quilt- however the confession is that the last two nights i have been so hot and tired i have just vegged out in front of the tv watching old movies! how bad is that, in the middle of summer, when i should be outside doing stuff - i did feel guilty! i would add that i had been outside nearly all day, what with trying to do the garden (weed alert!) and the animals (who by the way hate hot weather as the flies drive them nuts!). but all the same, its summer!

why is it that in the middle of winter when i'm soaked to the skin and freezing i have this image of sitting in the garden quietly stitching, time standing still. the reality never quite seems to match up! the minute i sit down someone either wants me, or i get besieged by flies!

hey ho, never mind, i'm not really whingeing (oh no, i hear you say!) just wondering why things never turn out as one plans!

the only two who are quite happy to chill out on hot days are the dogs - they have no guilty qualms at all!

off outside now to poo pick - gosh i have such fun!!!

xx

by popular demand

well actually, to tell the truth, by one demand really - that of lottie and me! here are the rest of our menagerie!

this is my daughter's horse 'Mr Pye'

this is her pony 'mitch' who she can't bear to part with (mind you he is such a little toad, bucks and leaps, i'm not sure anyone else would want him!) aaah i hear you say - looks can be deceiving!

here are Tops and Bubs - who are very happily retired, one having dodgy breathing and the other arthritis

and last, but by no means least, is Iona a lovely little new forest mare, who is mine
this is not a very good pic of her, but i was in a bit of rush at the time! never actually intended to end up with five, but , hey ho, that's what we've got!

might as well meet the rest of the 'family'!

we only have three sheep left now, they are all old ladies, Nancy, Jade and Dotty!

well lottie and me, there you are, you did ask!

bye for now

x

the good, the bad, and there is no ugly!

having looked at everybody's delicious cakes and strawbs, i thought i ought to get baking - have not done so for a while as hubby (who has no willpower!) is looking a bit rounder in the middle!have found a recipe for a victoria sponge that is the best i' ve ever made (being modest and all!)

anyway - here is the cake

and also here

the recipe is this - you take 4 eggs and weigh them and whatever they weigh, you then weigh out your sugar, butter and flour to the same weight - easy! then i just put it all in a mixing bowl at the same time, mixed it and put into two cake tins - 25-30 mins at 180!

then being on a role i made this :-

not quite as big as barbara's (the good life!). however i do have a confession to make, and feel i must be totally honest, i made it in my bread maker! however i did have to measure out all the ingredients!

and finally, i went strawb picking this morning. there is a brilliant pick your own place near us and they have great fruit as well as lots of other things - here's what their strawbs look like-

they are huge and even better they are table top ones so you don't have to get backache!

well this was all the good - there was a bit of bad too - my daughter and i went out for a ride on sunday afternoon, it was a lovely day, and we were just riding back towards home along the road when some cars came towards us, the front two slowed down and we smiled and waved our thanks as we always do, then the third car - with a lady (and i use the term loosely) driver - came past - well i have never heard such horrible language - she was hurling abuse at us saying that .......horses shouldn't be on the road, should be in a ......field, etc. etc. . I was gobsmacked as we had done absolutely nothing wrong - it just left me feeling a bit sad really - i can't understand why someone would just be so horrible - people are strange. well that's off my chest, sorry if i banged on!

anyway, enough of that, i just went onto the blogoverse later that evening and had my spirits lifted by all the lovely people and the amazing things they make.

on a lighter note - here's molly caught in the act

who, me?!

addicted to blogging!

oooh, i had such fun last night - actually had time to look at lots of blogs and felt really inspired! it seems to me (a novice) that bloggers are all such lovely people and amazingly creative! i looked on lynette andersons site and there it was, a swap! i could feel the adrenalin rush and could not wait to sign up - only thing is i'm not sure they got my email! i do hope so, i love the idea of making something special for someone, who knows how much love and work goes into what you've made. i think more and more people these days like to get a hand made gift, whereas a few years ago people thought you were just being cheap and not buying them something! goodness, that was a prattle on! well i got that off my chest, but i know you all know that anyway!

finished doing all the necessary with the horses, so thought i'd have a go at the garden - oh my god, all that rain we've had this week is great for the plants, but the weeds have gone mad:-

well the upside is the beans are going well

and the courgette is getting a move on at last, though not as good as Lucy's!

so it's not all bad!

my sweet peas are nearing their end tho, but i have, hopefully got some more coming on

if i have enough time, i might get round to some baking this afternoon - looking at everybody's culinary delights, makes me hungry!

mind you i have got loads of sewing to do - oh well, it will all get done eventually - here's some i made earlier - bye for now.

x

pps

this is just a quick note (short of time today!)

Orlando seems to have caused a stir - i must say that he is not my number one choice - that would probably have to be Ewan McGregor, in his leathers! woowee!

thanks for your comments on the quilt fabric dilemma - i have decided to go for the first lot of fabric - as it seems to be the popular choice and helped me make my mind up! i will let you know how it all goes (mind you, the speed i seem to get things done at the moment, i think it might be a while).

be back soon - told you it was a quick note!

x

Orlando

this is just a ps to my blog of the other day ( or was it yesterday?!)

firstly, he is sideways as i cannot find the right key, button, or whatever to put him the right way round (not being very computer literate as you have probably gathered)

secondly i was looking for a different pic and was browsing , as you do, through some of our old files and came across a whole load (well 7 or 8) of pics i had forgotten about.

they were taken by my daughter who absolutely loves him, started with Legolas and went from there - she's seen all his movies - anyway, to cut a long story short, for her 18th birthday her dad and i wanted to do something different, so i came up with 'a plan'. i had seen him on Parkinson and he said he was doing a play in the west end called 'celebration '. Aha, i thought, or words to that effect, lets see if we can get tickets - so we did - we got two front row tickets for her and a friend to see the play, but we did not tell her! on the day in question, we went up by train to London, still not telling her, and stayed at a lovely hotel - we then told her and her friend to dress semi smart as they were going out! we were not far from the theatre, so just walked there - it was only as we got close to the theatre and she saw the play advertised that she twigged what we had done - oh my, there were tears, from her and me and lots of hugs, and in they went. when she came out, with loads of other star struck Orlando fans, she took as many pics of him as she could - unfortunately she could not get close enough for an autograph. boy what a day!

anyway, thats the story!
x

summer - ha!

what's happened to summer? yesterday it was blowing a gale and chucking it down with rain nearly all day - nearly lit the woodburner but decided i couldn't possibly as it was july!

so decided to cheer myself up and sort out my fabrics for my quilt, having at last decided what quilt pattern i am going to do - this is it -

and here are the two lots of fabric that i have narrowed it down to, i think!

so, am not sure which to go for at the moment so am leaving them lying around and keep looking at them for inspiration!

have been good with my list of things to do - finished some more bunting

and had a go at making some bags for the lovely little shop i mentioned in previous blogs (little red hen) - they are made from oilskin - so keep the rain out!

i quite like the coffee cup design, but thought i might do some more with a flower motif.

Thought i had better do some other jobs today so went out to the garden to do a bit of weeding but got distracted by the broad beans which seem to have suddenly appeared, so they are on the menu for dins tonight!

went to see Prince Caspian with my daughter - who spent the entire time sighing every time caspian was on screen - mind you he is rather gorgeous! i thought it was excellent, but it is not like the first narnia movie, if you have little ones it is a bit more violent.

well thats all for now, ooo saw a bit on our local news last night about the walk Vicious Chicken was going to do- was looking for the blue bra but did not see her - if you are reading this VC hope it all went well.

thats all folks!xx

ups and downs

just thought i would start by sending some positive vibes to viscious chicken on her walk and wish her the best of luck and hope that the weather is not too awful!





have just been catching up on my favourite blogs - i just dont know where the time goes, i think i've only managed to get on the computer twice this week - mind you i have to share it with a teenage daughter whose usually on msn or whatever its called! and you can imagine she's had a lot to talk about this week! but its lovely to have her home, safe and sound!





seem to have had one of those weeks where i've been busy but not actually achieved a lot! done a fair bit of sewing, if i never see any bunting again it will be too soon! (not sure that actually makes sense but you know what i mean). done a bit of weeding, and it always looks good but you know that in about four or five days time, it will look the same again!





Still have not started quilt - not even cut out yet!





what i wanted to ask you all is that i need some advice about etsy - i do make a few things and i sell them (sometimes!) in a lovely little shop called 'the little red hen' - but i was wondering about etsy and if it was worthwhile - would love to have your comments and any advice is more than welcome.

have just taken the dogs out for a walk and this is the state they are in now -i think its called 'pooped out'!

new projects!

Bargain!

just could not resist this very good bargain - there's a yarn sale in John Lewis - just happened to be passing (not!) and this was half price - great i thought a jumper for £18.50 - so here is yet another project i just have to start!

along with this one which i started 3 months ago!

which is a scarf/wrap made in rowan kidsilk haze

such a lush yarn - have to admit its one of my favourites!

so there we have it! only a few projects - lets see, a quilt, a jumper to finish when find yarn to finish it with as have run out (previously mentioned post) with only the neck and sewing up to do, a stitchery commission, some bunting, again a commission, one for a shop and one for a friend, finish wrap and start new jumper (which comes from a lovely book called Hollywood Knits which has some great funky patterns)! i am sure there is something else, which escapes me at the mo!

of course there's still the housework (uugh) washing, etc,. plus walk the dogs, do the horses etc.!

but i'd hate a quiet life!

Daughter back from Glastonbury - went to pick her and friend up monday lunchtime - they looked absolutely shattered, had not had a lot of sleep, but had a 'slamming' time!

i took a pic before they left, so that is the before, here is the after!

not that brilliant - can't seem to make it right way up and dinner is gonna be ruined - will have to try again !

thats all for now!