It's a beautiful Spring day as I sit here typing this post. I've just had a very quick scan of my regular favourite blogs and will be back to read properly when I've finished this - it seems as though many of you are experiencing "challenges" at the moment, so well done you for managing even one post, let alone the several that I must catch up with. I'm late again, it scarcely seems worthwhile even mentioning it, as it happens so regularly these days.
However, some nice garden photos have galvanised me into action so here we are! I have actually sown my Square Foot Garden and can see the seedlings pushing through, also have a load of other seedlings in the greenhouse. I know this is very small beer to those gardeners among you, but to me it is a tremendous step forward, and I'm immensely proud of myself! No photos yet, though, as there isn't much to see.
I probably take the same photos every year, the garden is looking so fresh and pretty at the moment I can't resist.
This "Mystic Moonlit Hare" cushion was bought at the Fakenham Makers' Market last month by my lovely blogging friend Kathy Black, from Norwich, and having seen it on my face book page, someone has commissioned me to make a similar one for them.
Still got the detailing to stitch, and the two woollen disks at the right side are the hand-made buttons for the back. I'm also working on this one:
And completed this one last week :
Sorry not the best of photos. Here's the reverse, showing the hand-made buttons :
Also, in a burst of activity over the weekend I bought some chalk paint and wax and painted our kitchen stool. It is duck-egg blue, which is not the shade I'd wanted, looking for a soft, pale green, but I quite like it.
I bought the pale blue and a soft pink, and I have two dining room chairs I need to get my hands on - I've been gradually painting the four of them over .....erm....... two years!
I didn't do the craft fair this month, but I am about to apply to do another couple soon. Oh! And I can't finish without thanking my kind-hearted blogging friend Dc from frugal in norfolk blog, I know many of you follow her avidly. She has been to see me a couple of times now, and made her way, DH in tow, to bring me a bag full of lino boards and lino cutting tools, having had the conversation with me about lino-prints many months ago - you'll have to search back for those posts! Thanks so much Dc- whose name I shall never now forget but which I wouldn't dream of publicising here!
So a very Happy Spring to you all, and those of you who need it, I hope you receive kindness and support in your lives.
Looking forward to seeing how the square foot garden goes. Don't be put off if things seem to go wrong, it takes a while to find things which don't mind sharing space.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dc, I have to say Jim was 'encouraging' me to spread things out a bit more, but I sowed them according to the SFG Book I read; the whole point is close planting and heavy cropping, I believe. I shall wait and see - I'm sure nothing drastic can happen, and if it does - it's only a small plot!
DeleteBeautiful garden, as always Lynne, I'm not sure about you but my garden is my saving grace...it really is what keeps me going! Your wool cushions are super, you have been a busy bee. I think duck egg blue is a lovely colour, I've got 4 stools in the shed waiting to be painted...they've been there rather a long time! ;) xxx
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I have to say the garden is all down to Jim- apart from my herbs, and the grape hyacinths! But I do enjoy going out there though I am NOT a weeder, I'm afraid! I've got craft fair deadlines - always cures me of my chronic procrastination! And I should get on with those chairs, they have been waiting a LONG time to be completed! Lx
Deletehow lovely your spring garden looks - we are bathed in sunshine as well today - how long will it last for i wonder!!!! i'm not complaining - it could be like this forever - it's the extreme heat i don't like or days of heavy rain!!! i love the blues and yellows in the gardens we have a lovely patch of wild violets in our lawn for the second year running - i get so excited when they first come up - i'm a townie and didn't see wild primroses growing until my honeymoon!!!! what can i say? must have led a very sheltered life!!!! grape hyacinths are my favouritesin my pots - why do i like yellow flowers in the spring but not the summer? strange..... i am impressed with your handmade buttons - you clever thing you!!! sounds like you have plenty of sewing projects on the go - good luck with your next fair - how strange that you should mention lino cutting because i found a course being offered in bristol last week (i was actually looking for a course on free motion machine embroidery!!!) but i really don't know a lot about it and i sometimes wonder whether some people go on these courses just to show how good they are!!!! i've already commented on facebook about your lovely painted stool - what a lovely soft image of pinks and blues coming out of your kitchen!!! don't worry about not doing too many blog entries - you are busy doing other things and they are well worth the wait for a catch up on your news - enjoy the sunshine and have a good week xxx
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne! Yes, it could carry on like this for me, for a looooong time! Actually, I would like it a bit warmer for summer, I can take the heat, as long as I have a cool bedroom and fresh air blowing through. The buttons are SO easy - much easier and cheaper than trying to find buttons the exact size you want! Cardboard circles, 2 holes punched in the, 2 larger woollen circles, blanket stitch round and then sew on in the usual way! Easy peasy!
DeleteOh! Lino printing - DO IT!!!! I love it, and intend to get back to it ..... should the muse hit me up again sometime! (You know my problems with continuity!) It is quite addictive. And you can make cards and stuff ...... do it if you can! Have a good week in this lovely weather, and catch up on Facebook! Lxxx
Lovely photos and it looks like the weather has been good where you are.
ReplyDeleteLove the stool, prefer the blue outcome. Timeless colour.
I'm loving most of the pastel shades these days, Jane, though I never ever thought of myself as a 'pastel person' ! I do like the duck-egg blue, but I mostly have soft greens in the cottage, but the blue will fit in, we don't have hard and fast decorating rules!! Hope this sunshine finds it's way over to you! Lxx
DeleteI really like the grape hyacinths with the white tulips....and the hare pillows are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, thanks, I'm enjoying making the cushions! Yes, I love the combination - and those grape hyacinths have a powerful fragrance, I brought some in doors and couldn't believe the lovely scent they give off. Lxx
DeleteDo you ever do sweet peas? I have tried them here and never have much luck nor do I have any luck with poppy's.
DeleteFunny you should say that, Linda, I LOVE sweet peas, himself is not so keen for some reason, and whenever we plant them they shrivel up after a short while, even if I pick the flowers we don't get the long lasting shows that some people have. Ah well, can't have everything I suppose! Lx
DeletePS But POPPIES! Yes, they get everywhere! The ordinaire type, the ginat pale pink/lilac ones and sometimes I have some Iceland poppies but they come and go. I scatter seed everywhere!
DeleteThe garden is looking lovely Lynne, the colour just flows across it. I had a square foot garden at Tydd and found it very productive. I hope to have similar here but it will not be this year, I need to see how the garden grows, to coin a phrase. I have some very shady bits, so far, that could well be home to some tall pots.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam - mostly NOT down to me I must confess! Yes. looking forward to proving to JIm that you CAN plant close and crop well with this method! And of course you need to see what grows where, down't you? Lx
DeleteLovely to see you posting again - I don't know if it's just our garden or if yours is the same (although only a few miles from you) but this year the muscari in particular have done exceptionally well - I know we didn't plant that many years ago and this year they seem to have multiplied greatly.I noticed some in the photos of your pretty patch so thought I'd mention them.
ReplyDeleteLoving the LOVE cushion... might have to pinch that idea, change it a bit as you do.
Have you been ransom picking yet?
Absolutely, Edwina, the muscari have gone ape this year - and tall and strong too! I love them, and don't mind that they self-seed all over the place. They are smelling divine indoors too. As for wild garlic - not this year, the season came and went, and to be honest I had too much on my mind/plate so decided to give it a miss this year. But still have some frozen WG pesto in the freezer! Lx
DeleteLovely bit of gardening! There are some advantages to a tight space I have a big garden now but all the lovely bits seem a long way apart! I would like some my intense spots. I missed my bus this morning and had to wait 20 mins - not to worry I watched a hare running round the fields instead! I am inspired by your stool I have a chair to do but I use it to stand on to paint so it will have to wait to get its own paint!
ReplyDeleteHi Trish, thanks for popping over to see us, I hope you'll come back often. Love to know where you are, I like to know there are quite a few of us Norfolk Bloggers out there! Your garden seems HUUUUUGE! What an undertaking!
DeleteI love the idea of the chalk paint as you don't have to do much prep. BUT it isn;t cheap, and the wax is expensive and you use a lot so..... maybe stick to the usual satinwood finish I think maybe next time! (Or when I've used this lot up. I may have to use ordinary furniture wax, as I have nearly used a tin on this stool!) Lx
Hello Lynne, and happy spring to you too :o)
ReplyDeleteI love the hare!
Hello Annie - trying hard to keep up with all the posts - including yours ! Lxxx
DeleteYour garden looks wonderful Lynne. Good luck with the seedlings. I've just read an article on square inch gardening for microgreens! Very nutritious and only a small space needed.
ReplyDeleteLove the applique too.I like the attention to detail with the handmade buttons.Fliss x.
Felicity - it was lovely to see you back in Bloggsville! Yes, the SIG is fascinating - the theory behind it, I mean. My Other Half isn't convinced - he is a Man who likes to Dig! We shall see! Lxx
DeleteHello Lynne. Lovely photos and I really enjoyed reading what you've been up to. I want to paint some pine kitchen chairs but never used chalk paint before. Did you have to sand the stool first and how many coats did you apply? Thank you for your lovely comment on my recent post. P x
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia! Well, my first foray into chalk paint. I can advise you to take a look on youtube - los of advice and how-to's on there. I love the fact you DO NOT NEED TO SAND/ STRIP or anything other than wipe clean and degrease! Made for me, who cannot hang about in prepping pieces, I'm afraid! You can thin it a little and I did and it went on more easily. Number of coats depends, but I have done both sinlge and double coats with success.You can also mix colours, and as I wanted a green and couldn't find one, I added a few squirts from a cheap tube of watercolour (big fat tube, not a paint box kind) of green into my duck-egg blue chalk paint and got a lovely soft green. Good luck!! Lxx
Delete