Everything in the Garden is Lovely!

The weather is still holding up, but last weekend it was absolutely amazing and (dare I say it?) a little too hot at times! I'm not averse to a nice bit of sunshine but when the temperature rises by 20 degrees overnight there's no time to acclimatise. I made the most of the gorgeous light to take a few pics around the garden.
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A newly planted bed next to the shed. There are even a few beetroot beginning to pop up in here too.

Potatoes and onions. Strawberries

Carrots, spring onions and other veg that I've forgotten (OH planted it all - not me!)

and rhubarb (lots and lots of rhubarb).

OH picked some for my mother (down the road), my auntie (up the road) and gave some to the Avon lady because she happened to pop by at the same time.

He also picked some for us which is now cooked and frozen.

It was perfect weather for drying the washing. The sky was a fabulous dark shade of blue with not a single cloud all day.

On Sunday afternoon OH and I went for a bike ride with another couple along the shady river path to Symonds Yat.

25 minutes there, 25 minutes pit-stop, 25 minutes back.

I also managed to finish this chef's hat that I showed cut out in my last post. It's for my nephews birthday next week. I'm giving it to him along with a packet of muffin mix and some cake cases to see if he takes an interest in cooking like my DS who is very kindly modelling it for me here.

And last but definitely not least I must mention this lovely Sweet Blog award that was given to me by Marivel from Cristali Designs. If you haven't come across her blog before do pop over for a gander. She makes such beautiful things. I think I'm supposed to pass it on to 3 people but it would be unfair to single out anyone when I don't have many followers and you are all so sweet. Therefore, anyone reading this can consider themselves a Sweet Blogger and you are welcome to pass it on if you so wish.

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Still going after all these years!

Just a quick post today to say 'Hi' and show you this photo which was is over 30 years old!

It's my church choir when it was made up of children (as opposed to the women it consists of now). We're singing at a Mother's Union Deanery service tonight so I thought I'd take it along to show the current members. Sadly, all of the gentlemen pictured are passed away, as is one of the children (my brother, Peter, first row far right). He died in a motorcycle accident at 18, 25 years ago and exactly one week before my wedding. I was quite protective of my younger siblings and when I saw this photo again recently I wanted to take my brother into the vestry and get him a longer cassock! We were always the last to arrive for church and had to take what was left whether it fitted or not. I should point out the rest of the family to you - I am in the 2nd row, far left with long hair, youngest sister is 2nd from right front row next to Peter, middle sister is in front of me and big brother is 2nd from right back row.
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I've got photos from the lovely sunny, hot, clear blue weekend but I'm afraid I haven't loaded them yet but I'll catch up with you soon.
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Bye for now
Teresa x

I could See for Miles and Miles and Miles and.............

Two friends and I took part in the Big Black Mountains Challenge on Saturday. We were rewarded with fantastic views (and sore leg muscles!). We followed Route B which was 29km long and took in 4 peaks. Unfortunately, I had to stop after 3 peaks (due to a weakening left leg - the result of an underlying medical condition and nothing to do with my fitness, which was really annoying) as I thought it would be unsafe to continue. My friends refused to leave me and gave up the chance to finish the course! We then walked up the road (instead of the mountain) until we got a mobile signal and phoned my OH who came to pick us up and take my friends back to their vehicle.
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Mistake No 1 - My friends had taken part last year so when they walked out of the car park at the start and up the road, I followed them...............until we realised we were going in the wrong direction and had to turn back to follow the correct path (while acting as we passed the course marshalls as if we'd meant to do that all the time!! Why they didn't tell us we were going the wrong way in the first place, I don't know!).
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Mistake No 2 - When I decided to give up, my friend (who had done the course before, remember) said that the 4th mountain was only added last year and that, if we walked up the road we would eventually get to the finish......................After a couple of miles we WE CONSULTED THE MAP, decided we were on the right road and continued to the nearest village which is where we got the phone signal. We found the village on the map and it was the opposite side of the mountain to where we thought we were and when we rang my OH he was an hour along the course, in reverse, to meet us!! However, he was lucky enough to know one of the marshalls and got a lift back in the ambulance before picking us up.

Quite an eventful day all-in-all but well worth it for the views!! I'm sure we could see for 10's of miles (if not hundreds!) from this view. The weather was dry and mostly sunny with a strong wind in places which was cold.

I'm afraid I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked. After a while, taking photos was the last thing on my mind! My lovely OH cooked me some tea when we got home and I sat in front of the TV and, for a couple of hours, did nothing else (which is unheard of for me) except watch, Dr Who, Over the Rainbow and Britain's Got Talent (until I recovered a little and finished knitting the dishcloth I started the other day).

I've photographed it on the bathroom sink because it could also be used as a flannel. The pattern I used is from Homespun Living and I'm looking forward to trying the new one she's promised soon.

Here are a couple of bits I've got on the go. Above is my second Dresden Plate block for my quilt-as-you-go quilt (no, I haven't finished the first one yet) and below is a birthday present cut out ready to sew. It looks quite grey here but it's actually blue check.

I really wanted to take part in the Great Giveaway being hosed by SewMamaSew today but time ran out on me and I've missed the deadline. I had great fun taking part last December so I hope they run another one this December. I can still enter them though :-) and there are some great prizes on offer. Hope you win something if you enter (hope I win something!!).

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Bye for now

Teresa x

The Finished Article!

As promised in the last post, here's the little zipped bag I made recently as a gift. I surprised myself by making it, from start to finish, in one session (well, almost - I did pick out the materials and start cutting strips a couple of days before). Perhaps I only work well under pressure seeing as the birthday lunch was the following day!

All the materials, apart from the checked fabric with little strawberries, are thrifted. The lining is from a charity shop skirt and the zip from ebay. Can you see the non-deliberate mistake (there had to be one!!). This is the first time I've used one of my labels and, yes, I sewed it in upsidedown. OH said I should do it all the time as a quirk of my work but I don't think I could bear to do it on purpose, and I'd probably end up getting them the right way up anyway!!

Here is the pin cushion I showed in progress a little while ago. As I said, I originally started making it for myself but ended up giving it to my mother as part of her birthday gift. She appreciates home made gifts and will make good use of it. Now I have to make myself one, but I don't think I'll use the same pattern - it was a bit fiddly and time-consuming for something I'm just going to stick pins into!

Here it is the other way up. All the fabric and buttons are thrifted. I should have photographed it next to something to give a better idea of the size. It's quite big - probably about 5" from point to point.

I've been fancying doing a bit of single-colour embroidery recently to, maybe, use as a centre-piece for a project so, with this in mind, I dug out the stash of transfers I've hoarded for ages. I chose a couple of designs that I thought complimented each other and they are now cut out ready to use.

Many of the transfers I have are free gifts that were included with women's magazines and on closer inspection of the design sheet I spotted the date this one was printed. OCTOBER 16th 1965!!! I know I've been hoarding craft materials for a long time but I don't think I started when I was 2! These must have come from my mother or grandmother but I've had them so long I can't remember exactly (I hope they're still useable).

I'm looking forward to doing something with these but it'll be a slow, relaxing project for when I'm sat in front of the TV. And I'll have to finish the dishcloths I've started knitting first.

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Happy stitching

Teresa x

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(P.S. Reading through for typos, I've just realised I've contradicted myself, as I have before, i.e. the pin-cushion is too fiddly to make to stick pins into but I'm knitting cloths to wash dishes with!)

Tanks for the Memories!

I arrived home after work last Friday loaded up with the weeks grocery shopping to find this in my kitchen. My lovely DS making dinner for us - fresh pasta no less!! Being a chef (although he's studying Forestry in college now instead) he sometimes get the urge to cook.

It was lovely to sit down after putting away the shopping to a dinner cooked for us. Although, I did have a bit of clearing up to do in the kitchen (there was flour Everywhere!). I'm not complaining though. It would have been at least another hour until we had dinner if I'd had to make it.

Pasta with mushrooms and sweetcorn in a creamy sauce - yummy!! OH and DS had bacon and chicken in theirs too.

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Saturday was (at last) the day of DS's Tank Driving Experience. I bought it for him for his 21st birthday last year and it's his birthday next week, so that's how long it's taken for him to have a free Saturday when the course was running.

In the photo above he's in the middle of the people sitting on the top.

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You can't see him in this next photo because he's actually inside driving it!!

He also got to drive an armoured communication vehicle. Since we went to watch him set off in OH's Landrover, we were able to follow them across the fields and watch the whole thing. That was, after we'd been provided with bacon sarnies and coffee/tea/biscuits (and we weren't even paying to take part!). They were very accommodating to us spectators, explaining what was happening, answering all our questions and posing for photos. It was a memorable experience all in all (and it was very, very cold so I'm glad we had the Landrover to sit in).

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The next day after I'd been to church we all went out for a meal with the same friends from the Shed Party. There were 14 of us altogether and we were celebrating Jill's birthday which is actually today. For a gift we clubbed together and bought a voucher card and I made a little something the night before to put it in.

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Yes you did read that correctly! I actually made something from start to finish. I'll post about that next time.

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Later in the evening I took a fruit cake I'd made and a couple of magazines and went to visit a friend who had just come out of hospital after a brain operation to try and cure her epilepsy. She's not had an easy life with one thing and the other but she's always pleased to see me, and she was looking very well, considering. I stayed for an hour and chatted then had to get back home to tackle a little of the ironing mountain. The lady who normally does it has been away for 10 days and is now stuck in Spain due to the little matter of an ash cloud!

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Oh What a Circus!

The Shed Warming Party was a great success. Although the weather wasn't quite as bad as forecast, it was quite cold and cloudy with the odd shower of rain. However, we were prepared for all eventualities! The local hotel gave us this HUGE umbrella because they no longer sell the drink it advertises so we used it to bridge the gap between the shed and the gazebo. Therefore, we all kept dry and those who wanted a warm went into the shed where welcome heat was being generated by the woodburner. One night-out, having a drink, a friend and I decided to have a loosely-based Circus theme for the party. I asked everyone to wear or bring one circus related item.

We had various circus-type equipment scattered around: A unicycle, 2 diablos, 2 sets of juggling balls and a hoola-hoop. The party theme idea was really generated from the fact that one of our friends was keen to try out my son's unicycle.

This is the view from the shed into the gazebo where we located the 'bar'.

And the view from the gazebo into the shed where I put the food. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the food which I am quite disappointed about because I spent a lot of time preparing it! But I can still tell you what I made......... First we had leek and potato soup in mugs with mini bread rolls. Then everyone helped themselves from the table to the following: bowl of salad (with dressing made by DS), bowl of olives and feta, broccoli and mushroom frittata, ciabatta with goats cheese and red onion jam (made by DS), crackers with morrocon chick pea pate, plate of cold meats, more rolls and pretzels. Finally, we had scones with jam and cream or/and choc chip muffins with cream. There wasn't much left especially as a couple of DS's friends popped by later.

We all had great fun trying out the equipment (toys!) but none of us was able to master them. DS was the best at the diablo and juggling, but they were his own so he had an unfair advantage.

My attempt at the diablo. You can see I managed to get it spinning but throwing it was a complete disaster.

When I said to the guests to wear or bring one circus item, it was, to some of them, like a red rag to a bull. I had a few funny bow ties but one lion tamer (complete with 3" lion), one ringmaster and one elephant!! I couldn't resist this photo of my sister as she bent down to pick something up. In case you're wondering this is the back view and she has the 'head' of the elephant on her back like a hood.-

Later on we had a couple of party games including a circus themed game of charades followed by a prize-giving for the best costume, mastery of the equipment and best at the games (the prizes were Curly Wurlys!!)

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If it all sounds a bit like a children's party, I have to tell you that it wasn't - it was much more disorganised - and much more fun!!

My lovely friend, Jill, brought this for me. A gorgeous hook rail for the shed (in cast-iron
I think because it's quite heavy) which will come in very useful. She bought it when the party was origingally organised a month or so ago as it was my birthday. As it's Jill's birthday next week we are all meeting up again for Sunday lunch at a nearby pub for a more civilised gathering. :-)

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The only cloud over the party was that my OH hurt his back getting the garden ready! He's had a lot of trouble with his back in the past but it's been better recently. His trouble is he doesn't know when to stop or to ask for help! DS and I did help taking everything down the next day.

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(I should be able to show you the diamond patch pincushion next time. The camera battery ran out yesterday when I went to photograph it.)

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Bye for now

Teresa x

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P.S. Vintage Girl - Please let me have your postal address so I can send your goodies. Apologies if you've already let me know somehow and I didn't get it. Let me know if you need my email address.