The Lighter Side of Life

Some characterful salt and pepper pots sit on my kitchen shelf. They really do help to lighten my mood.  I know some people would think they are tat but they are jolly tat and they make me smile!  There is a Mimi Kirchner fabric postcard in the background that I bought quite a few years ago. It is still in its cellophane wrap!

Edited 16/4/2014 To remove my negative ponderings!

Now from kitchen paraphernalia to food. As an alternative to chocolate rice krispy cakes I have been making these very tasty peanut butter chewy squares.  They would be great to make with children over the Easter holidays or just make them for yourself as I have!  All you need is 3 or four ingredients:

Peanut butter
Nutella (not essential)
Marshmallows
Rice Krispies

Melt half a jar of peanut butter in a pan with a a couple of tablespoons of Nutella.  Add a bag of marshmallows and keep stirring.  The mixture will get very sticky.  When the marshmallows have melted, remove pan from heat and add enough rice krispies so that the mixture binds together.  It starts to set fairly quickly so pour the mixture into a rectangular dish (pyrex is good) and press down with the back of a wet spoon.  Mark into squares, decorate as you wish and leave to set for about half an hour.

Gizmo's Patch

Gizmo likes to sit in this rather unsightly area known as the perennial patch.  Close to untamed grass and to the catmint, he is happy to sit and watch the World go by (well, the birds, bees and butterflies anyhow.)

A Garden View No.4

Not such a sunny garden view today although the weather forecasters assure us that the sun will come out later and burn the cloud away.  To the left of the photo are mounds of hardy geraniums.  I have spent so many years trying to dig them out but when you cut through the roots they tend to spread.  I keep them now but just make sure I trim them back after flowering.  I think the little mounds are quite pleasing to look at and give a little height and structure around the lawn.

Behind the wooden washing line pole is a whole line of washing!  There is almost no breeze at all today so thankfully all my 'smalls' are out of sight!

Have a lovely weekend. x

A Garden View No.3

This is one of my garden views this morning.  I still need to find an out of sight place for the blue eglu and I am considering using the redundant hen house to store pots and small gardening tools.  A lick of paint may be nice too!

I treated myself to a rhubarb plant yesterday.  It is in the black pot just to the left of the paving.  I think I will put it in a larger pot rather than plant it in the garden just yet.

Today looks like a day for being outside and sowing some seeds and that is what I intend to do!

Magazine Inspiration

Last year I cut right back on buying magazines and just bought the bi-monthly Land Love.  I had become so bored of wasting money on magazines that whetted my appetite for no more than half an hour.  So many magazines have little content and are just full of adverts.  Today I succumbed to a new magazine called Daphne's Diary.  It wasn't cheap at £4.99 but I am sure that it will inspire me for longer than a day.

Published in the Netherlands, it's strap line says that it is about Interior, Garden, Vintage, Workshops, Outings and Trips and Shopping.  I think it has most things covered then!

There are some lovely projects in the book such as making a rucksack from a rug, a natural room spray using essential oils and gorgeous paper roses that really do look like the real thing.

I am sure that so many of you would enjoy this magazine or bookazine?  I haven't been so inspired since Magic Patch's Born to Quilt magazine!

Logo

I have been asked if I could draw a logo for the vineyard.  This is what I have come up with thus far (who says thus?) in my sketchbook.  They need a simple design that can be easily reproduced on certificates and merchandise perhaps?

I sketched the design in pencil and have gone over the lines with a fine liner pen.  It probably needs tweaking but I don't want to overwork it.  It may be a good idea to leave it a day or so before making any modifications. 

It felt good to be sketching again.  This was sketched from my imagination so it is just a representation of a grape vine.  I really DO need to sketch more.  It felt so liberating!

Progress

I know it looks a little pathetic just now but in a couple of months time I have visions of this being a highly productive space.   I had already purchased 3 early fruiting strawberry plants last week and a couple of thyme's.  They are said to be good planting companions so it made sense to plant them together.

Other plants that do well in companion planting with strawberries are spinach, lettuce, sage, borage, onions, peas, beans and marigolds.  I have a plan to sow a row of lettuce one side of the strawberries and sow spinach or peas on the other side.  I covered the area with the eglu mesh to prevent it being dug over by animals.

Shortly after digging over the plot yesterday, I noticed the surrounding paving was covered in earth and stones.  I blamed the resident fox or the neighbour's cat Minky but was informed by my husband that a flock of birds (sparrows?) were going crazy in and out and under the mesh and making a whole lot of noise as they did so.  I suspect that they were looking for worms or such like as there aren't any fruits on the strawberries as yet!

So, one job down and many more to go as I work my way around the garden bringing it back to its former glory.