Boo

No you are not imagining it, I am back.

Thank you for all your kind messages .  Life certainly did get in the way and the break I envisaged has been much longer than I planned, but I'm back and that is all that matters.

I thought I would start by giving a little update as to what's going on and what we've been up too.
Little Miss, is not so little any more, she has passed me height wise and I can't believe she will very soon be a teenager.  Her anxiety issues remain and I guess we have just learnt to cope with them as best we can.  Little man too has had a growth spurt and remains the comedian of the house , we are soon going to be making his application for him to attend his sister's unit at high school...time is whizzing by.  DH has been suffering periods of chronic back pain and his arthritis (in many areas) has worsened too.  Walking is limited and he is trying new medication until hopefully he gets the right dosage and some "normality" returns and he is not so housebound.  Last week he managed a tiny walk into Carmarthen to choose some paint with me , but then returned to wait in the car whilst the children and I did the rest of the shop circuit we needed.  Oh and not forgetting Dexter of course.
Dexter has had a birthday , as has little man, since I last posted.  As always he is my shadow , & although only 6 now he seems to be sleeping a little more I've noticed.

Apart from some English paper piecing, sewing amongst other things has been put on the back burner.  My basket of works in progress has not shrunk at all.  At the end of November we have one Christmas fair...this is the only one I have planned this year.  In my little break I found time to really step back and use the time to realise that I needed to step back and "downsize" on the amount of other stuff I kept taking on .  So only one Christmas fair and a break from swapping for a while this year.

My new flower beds have matured beautifully and one will be extended .  Some of the shrubs planted have grown massively so they will be repositioned into the new space when our handyman digs it.  The patio kitchen garden served us really well all summer but is now looking a bit neglected although I still have some cabbage, chard , leeks and herbs going.

My attendance at WI has suffered over the last few months.  We had a long summer break, then a heavy cold , DH being ill and hospital appointments meant I couldn't go.  We do however have a meeting this Wednesday so fingers crossed.

Dexter in the garden 

It has been such a mild Autumn so far, still so

many flowers still blooming 

Until next time ..

When you hit a glitch or two!

I'm sorry that I haven't grabbed the time to drop a quick post and let you know I am still here. I am sure you have realised my posts have been a bit hit and miss ..and they have and it has not been intentional.

Life here has been very hit and miss , DH not well for a few months which have coincided with our sweet girl again suffering prolonged periods of anxiety,mental exhaustion,  all of which have diverted my attention and caused many sleepless nights.

So please bear with me , I am not planning to any time soon to leave this spot.  I plan to return with renewed vigour as soon as I  have a few nights of 6 plus hours sleep.  I am reading your posts dear friends and though I am not commenting as I hope , I am here enjoying your posts , sharing your news and thoughts and hopefully too will return with my news.  Bear with me   Maria xx

Skipping along

hi everyone, where have I been ? I looked at the last post and realised it has been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted!

Well I had a birthday, and that seemed to last a week, lots of treats, lunches and a dinner out . I still haven't got around to putting the "love seat" the children bought me together , but now the holidays are here next week looks like I will be able to do that.

Along with other mum's at the end of the school year I was chasing my tail.  Sports day and days out at school kept being postponed because of the weather and then there was a made rush to fit everything in during the last week!  On top of that there were meetings to do with the children and education due to their disabilities and also routine check ups at hospital for them too.  Little Miss is officially taller than me now standing a whopping 5'9 and she is only 12!!! Her feet are bigger than mine too so on Friday new summer sandals and flips flops were purchased for the summer.

The weather here has been WET.  The kitchen garden has gone "bonkers" and my new flower beds
Well, a friend popped round for a cuppa.  She didn't know about the beds and when she saw them she was amazed ....she is a avid gardener and said she could not believe they were only a couple of
months old as it looked so well established!  I was chuffed to bits....praise indeed.
I have been busy making too during these wet days...and yesterday did a fair that went oh so well.
Thank you for your lovely comments on the last post about Little Miss and her sewing....she has started again and yesterday the praise she got from customers, well I think and hope she is back on track.  She asked me last night "mummy could I make a quilt?" Which as you can imagine made a lovely day even lovelier.

Little man won his age group fancy dress

at the fair yesterday

My stall

These little Zakka style fabric trays I made proved very popular and addictive to make too.  I have lots of ideas around this theme that I am going to try this summer and also for  future fairs, I refuse to say the "C" word just yet though I know lots of fellow crafters are beginning already to make stuff ,  but far too early just yet for me'

Some ever popular mini cushions and lavender satchets 

I am also going to have a great declutter this summer too, well that's the plan in between trips out and the odd visitor or too.

I am so behind with blog reading but hope to catch up soon with all your news

Half way through

Well July and half way through the year already, where has the time gone.  The only day we have missed the rain was Tuesday over a week ago when I finally managed to empty the two large wooden troughs, reposition them, add new compost and plant up the roses and again yesterday Sunday. Unfortunately we had other plans away from home for most of the day.

We bought four new roses in total...these are two of them and the other two, well one was missing a label and the other is call Darcey Bussell, she is the deep Crimson one

they all smell lovely and have taken well to being put in the planters.

! A new love seat a early present from husband and the children has arrived too, but it is too wet to put it together outside!!!

Cucumbers are being picked every couple of days or so...they are thriving in the front porch

The quilt blocks are still awaiting to be finished still...no mojo to do it at the moment....usual ups and downs in life putting a spanner in the works... Looking forward to the school holidays.....the kids are tired too and asking how many days until the holidays begin.

A lady at craft group has suggested I start a ETSY shop.....not sure if it is easy/straight forward enough....????if anyone has started a shop I would appreciate hearing about it and any advice you have.... I have loads I could de stash for sure!!!!

I have picked up a couple of vintage handmade quilts too..... One is very heavy and I am not sure what it is filled with...so before I clean it I need to unpick it a bit and see if it needs dry cleaning rather than washing... Will show next time.


Well extremely unhelpful advice and criticism by mother in law to little miss during her Easter visit has totally demoralised my sweetheart on the sewing machine front.  Little miss has lost all her confidence and I am patiently trying to coax her back to sewing again.  I wouldn't mind but my mother in law hasn't used a sewing machine for over 60 years and makes nothing.......

On a happier note some little finds .....

a strawberry mini dish 

I have stuck magnets under this dish now and it makes a cute pin dish 

could not resist this cheeky chap 

I have a few blue glass dishes 

that belonged to my nan and this 

caught my eye so...

They are repairing the lane outside the house tonight  so 

we may have to play "musical beds " 

later and retire to the back of the house

as I imagine it will be noisey and lots

lights too. 

We are told the work starts at 6pm and is expected to 

Carry on until the early hours!!!

on that cheerful note ..until next time

So far so good....

it was a soggy old week and I despairing I would get the border done but yesterday the forecast was warm and cloudy so I put on my old gardening stuff and got started

My faithful shadow supervised me

This bed was much harder than the last one ...so stoney and lots of old China and some glass.  I remember my mum telling me years ago old broken China etc  used to be buried in gardens as in
those days rubbish collection was not what it is today and there weren't rubbish tips like today.

I spent hours pottering, pondering  and deciding.  This border has geraniums of all kinds, different fushcia, shrubs, penstrom, iris, bleeding heart, carnations and plants where the labels are long gone. "Colin" my little Cornish gnome is in residence and a,bird table that I drilled holes in and will pin down and add some bedding to.


I am so pleased...DH well he congratulated me with a glass of wine and a "well done sweetheart , you were right, the borders look really good" praise indeed bless him.  We sat  in the late sunshine, I looked a picture for sure in my muddy clothes, wind swept hair, filthy nails but looking over the
garden I was happy but too tired to even take a picture or put away the now empty pots.  The pictures I took this morning were after a night of rain and no slug or snail damage anywhere so Fred must be
in residence too.

The kitchen garden has enjoyed this rainy week and everything is doing well, but I am so far not impressed with the runner beans variety I chose.  They don't seem to be bushing out and are slow to climb..time will tell I suppose.

Inside my cucumber plants in the front porch are doing really well, I have two plants and have 12
cucumbers ... Now I am starting to feed them.  The chilli pepper are doing well on the kitchen window sill but need potting on..a job during the week.  The cougettes need planting out to and another batch of cabbage and chard too.    Onions are in and I am growing some garlic ... The bees are plentiful, not seen any butterflies or ladybirds yet.

I have been putting some log cabin blocks together using my favourite Lakehouse fabric and a few others.  This will be a large lap quilt which my sweet girl is "eyeing" up.  I am not sure if I will hand quilt, machine it or tie it...... This is it so far

Patiently waiting.....

Goodness it is cold here in Weat Wales and pouring down that the front garden is again like a bog.

The new flower bed has been prepared and the plants layed out but nothing more I can do until it stops raining so I can get out there

before it was dug out

but it should look nice when 

it does get planted up.

The roses have been purchased too 

But it's too wet to venture 

out to show the names  of

what we have chosen.

We have also 

purchased two new rhubarbs

and these we 

did manage  to plant  

first thing Sunday 

before the rain returned.

A bit of sewing

My first attempt at a fabric bowl.

May be a few more if this weather continues.

Oh nearly forgot

Fred the frog in residence

On a scale......

For anyone interested 2 new swaps have been posted this week.  Kimberley at Creative Chaos and Tracy at Mad about bags are both doing one so if you fancy some fun pop over and join in the fun!

Back to my week.......
on a scale of one to ten I am at about 9..... Post gardening pain that is !!! is entirely my own fault but once I started I just had to go for it and did it all in a few hours.  So the pain is well worth it ..

Here are the before and after pics.  Late Wednesday I decided I just couldn't bare the heather (inherited when we moved here) and the sheer volume of "elephant ears" so I decided Thursday I would "go for it".

This is what the front 

of the border looked like 

before it was extended around the

pear tree to the right of the picture

First

elephants ears cut severely back,

well the heather 

took ages to cut back to get to the roots, 

which then I dug out,

then new compost dug in

and the fun of planting began

Found this little chap 

and "relocated him under the miniature

bamboo..

he was quite large 

and finding him ...

well it  gave me an idea...

ready to go 

and ta da 

Complete with 

a frog paddling pool...

and frog was,placed,in it 

and I must say looked 

rather surprised...

but I have seen him in it again since

The new border now has hardy fuschia,

(2 varieties) , phlox, geraniums, sweet William, 

snap dragons, astilbe ,  lupin, carnation ,

to name a few

over the months some evergreens 

will be added 

Chris dug the opposite border yesterday for me .

Again it is quite long

but I have the plants for it

and they haven't cost much.

Most will be repotted from planters 

and pots dotted around the garden.

I can use those pots then for 

Annuals and plants that can't tolerate

the heavy soil here.

It's pouring here at the moment 

so more planting may have to wait.

The funny thing is DH is rather impressed

and gardens are not "his thing" 

impressed,so much that is

he wants to go shopping

next week to get some

roses!!

Wonders will never cease!

Just pottering

well June has been marvellous so far.  Daily bright, beautiful long days filled with sunshine, though yesterday evening rain and thunder storms arrived and this morning all around us is covered in mist but it is still very humid.

As it was half term last week little sewing has been done , but lots of gardening, days out here and there to the beaches, and just sitting in the sunshine in the garden,  long cool drinks, lollies and ice creams ....happy days.

Outside our kitchen and dining room we have a small patio area and it was here I decided to
locate our little "kitchen garden".  The patio is less likely to be hit by the winds we get here and of course it is ideal to nip out of the kitchen and grab what herbs and veg you need when cooking.  This little space is still a work in progress but it is coming along.  We have lots of 70 and 50 litre tubs which are getting planted up as I go along.  Pots of flowers too of course  to attract the bees needed for the beans, cougettes etc.

I have taken lots of cuttings

as my flower border

plans have begun.

My little stand alone greenhouses, 

also in the kitchen garden 

are getting rather full.

&

From this 

To this 

This border will have plants

added as I go along as 

I want to have colour through the

seasons. 

I imagine it will take several years to 

"Grow" this border,

shrubs, bulbs and plants

will be added as I go along.

Back in Kent our lovely old neighbour gave 

me this advice which is how I 

planted my old garden and will do so

with this one.

He told me every month visit car boot

 sales, garden centres and see what is for sale in shops.

Look at neighbour and local gardens,

See what grows well,

what plants are grown in tubs

He told me this way I would get 

borders to enjoy all

year round. 

So that will be my plan 

again. 

The opposite plot to this is going to have a border cut out this week.

Chris is going to dig it for me 

and I shall do the planting.

A friend sells plants from outside his 

house nearby and he is going to 

bring me some shrubs and hardies.

I am very excitied about this.  

Like doing patchwork with plants.

I still miss the colour and mature garden I 

left when we moved ....

but little by little 

the gardens here are becoming 

"Ours"

All the apple trees 

and our single pear tree

have tiny fruit..

the gnomes are 

back in residence

I found this at a boot fair this weekend.

Now freshly washed it 

is so summery 

and 

will be used on

the garden bench when the

sunshine returns.

Until next time

Catching up

Goodness me the last two weeks have been busy and I have been quite productive.

Today in the UK it is a Monday Bank Holiday .  Yesterday was a hot lovely day and upon rising this morning it looks like today too is looking that way.  Me and my girl are out later this morning there is a garden fair in Aberaeron and I so need some plants!   I feel very excitied.   Chris has begun digging out a new border and I have been planting a kitchen garden .  We have a small patio/courtyard outside the kitchen and dining room and it there I have decided to plant my veg etc.  In just a week it is well, taking shape.  I have purchased a few more 70 litre tubs and am now in the process of planting out.  More of that for next time.

In the meantime I have been it seems forever been on the computer , doing loads of paper work and attending appointments and meetings.  All boring stuff to do with school, hospital and dentists and also sorting out job descriptions and contracts for our girls who do respite for the children.  So it is important stuff and more importantly it all have to be accurate and legal!  The gardening has been a escape and a chance in between everything else , a chance to just loose myself .  DH even seems a little impressed.  He even likes the extending flower bed and gardening does not impress him at all!   He does however adore roses ..... And I might see if a few can "appear" in time for Father's Day later in the month.  


I have decluttered the dining room and sewing stuff has been put back into the annex.  I have though spent time sewing too and a few goodies too have been purchased....

More handmade labels

A mountain of small hexies,

A teapot sewing pin, (more beads and charms are on their way

to make more of these lovelies.)

Some patchwork squares cut out for another 

tiny project,

and the scrappy, quilted fabric I made

has been used to make 

scissor keeps, brooches and keyrings.

A bunny cushion

Yummy colour buttons

and matching 

dolly pegs

I could not resist these !! 

More yummy buttons

flowers ,stars, hexie

shapes 

This fabric is 

of smaller panels

of these cute little girls

This reminds me so much of my

little girl but 

sadly the times of tying ribbons in 

ponytails in her hair 

have now passed me by.

A new doe and her fawn 

joined our little collection 

A old iron

These two were 50p each

and perfect! 

And I have even given 

the sewing machines a clean

And new needles.

I am ashamed to say 

this 

came out of mine!!!!!

How often do you clean out your 

machine? 

Sadly the calfs and their mothers have been 

moved to fields

that I can't access due to hedges...

this is the best I could get before they were moved

I'll leave you with this