Photo Scavenger Hunt March

I didn't get around to meeting all the criteria for this months scavenger hunt but I'll share with you the ones I did manage to get!  The ring above has sentimental value for me as I have had it since 1967.  

 The little doll pops out of the ring and is made by Mattel.

 I have many collections including the hat one above.

Something green.  This gorgeous soft and delicate scarf that I bought from Vivienne of Green Rabbit Designs.

 A fancy gate.  This was about as fancy as I could find locally.

 Peeling paint.  There is plenty of this around and about my garden and house!

I know I have used a shadow bunny photo before but this one has me attached to it!
He looks rather surprised!

A lion.  Not many of them to be found around here but Gizmo is trying his best to look lion-like with his cold eyes!  I will try to do better next month!

Baking Back to Happiness

The daffodils in a jug on my dining room table remind me that it is spring.  Outside the window the weather is telling me a different story.  The last two days have been cold and grey and I have sought refuge in the kitchen.

Yesterday I made treacle bread for the first time.  It is an Irish recipe that uses soda as a raising agent and not yeast.  Served warm and spread thickly with butter, it is delicious.

 I think this bread will be featuring regularly in my week from now on.

Today I made some yogurt.  I won't know until tomorrow if it has been a success or not as at the moment it is 'incubating' in a sealed container!  I also made the sticky date cake in the photo above. I am just waiting for the cake to cool down so I can have a slice.  I would quite happily share it with all of you, although I might need to make more than one if I did that!

A Knit and a Natter

I am not a knitter (bit of a tongue twister saying that!) but managed to knit some rows to make myself a nice new cotton dishcloth.  I prefer to use these rather than have the blue disposable type sitting next to the sink.

Other than knitting, I have been out in the garden again.  The plum tree has more blossom opening and the pear tree is not far behind.

I have been buying up some smaller plants for the garden from my local Morrison's Supermarket to grow on.  The carnation above was £1.50 and it looks bigger already since I planted it up.

I also bought this variegated thyme plant above and the primrose below.  I wouldn't normally advocate supermarket shopping too much but think that plants offer real value for money compared to some of  garden centres and gardening catalogues.

Today I have sown my first lot of cherry tomato seeds.  I am not going to be growing lots of vegetables this year however, I have decided on a year of flowers instead and hope to share lots of lovely blooms with you as the year progresses.

Pottering Around the Garden

Thank you for all the lovely birthday messages yesterday.  I felt like Queen for the day!  Today was another glorious day so I took some time out to spend in the garden.  I potted up some Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

 I am looking forward to using the herbs using Karon's book for guidance.

 I saw this unusual ladybird on the blueberry bush.  Not often that you see a black ladybird with red spots!

 I then noticed the more usual red ladybird with black spots nestling in last years hanging basket.

 The Victoria plum tree is in blossom. I look forward to many plums!

I finally potted up some Primulas that I had neglected in their tiny shop bought containers.  Hopefully they will thrive in their new containers until I decide where to put them in the garden.

 The Pieris is blooming beautifully.  The bees love it so much.

 Here is a close up of the delicate flowers.

After all that pottering I need a slice of home made birthday cake, filled with butter cream and home made lemon curd, topped with a crunchy lemon drizzle icing.  I think I need to get digging in the garden tomorrow to work off all those extra calories.  I hope the sun shines for you all this weekend. 

The Best Birthday Present

The best Birthday present I received today is the gift of blue sky, sunshine and flowers, and it waits for me in my back garden.  I am very lucky indeed.

Elegant Ladies

I have been busy making hand cut and paper pieced ladies.  From left to right  they are Matilda, Caroline and Elizabeth.

 I really enjoy cutting out the paper pieces and putting it all  together like a jigsaw.

I decided to make a sitting room scene too, complete with comfy armchair, standard lamp and picture on the wall.

Here you can see a close up of the detail complete with shadow in bottom right corner that happens whenever I use the macro lens!  The elements of this are still to be glued down but I like to play around with the scene first to get it just right.

I bought my weekly bunch of daffodils that were tight in bud.  As the flowers have opened I realised that they are a fancy two toned variety.  I think I prefer my regular daffodil, bright yellow with a trumpet centre, but I guess variety is the spice of life as is often quoted.

Childhood Memories

I inherited this child's dresser a while back.  I believe it was made during the Second World War and that it is made out of an old drawer.

I  used to play with the dresser on visits to my Nan.  I could play with it for hours.  There was so much stored inside the cupboard doors.  Want to have a peek?
 

 There was heaps of tin plates, cups and teapots.  Many of the items Disney themed.

I used to love all of this tin ware and would spend ages playing with it and measuring out dried rice and pouring out imaginary cups of tea.

 I used to spend time to get the arrangement on the shelves just right.

There was even some tiny glassware and ceramics which I will share with you at another time.  At the end of the visit I would pack up all the items and place them carefully back into the cupboard to play with another day.

A Non-Event

Today is a bit of a non-event.  The sky is grey, the air is still.  My duties are piling up but I just want to sit and stare and do nothing.  I have been quite productive over the last few weeks and my energy is running  low.  I went out for a short walk to look for inspiration and to lift the cloud that is sitting gloomily over my head.  The only inspiring thing I could find was the cherry blossom in my next-door neighbours garden.

My 'blogger'-versary came and went without me even realising it.  My first blog post was March 1st 2008 - 3 years ago.  Since this time many people have entered my somewhat reclusive World and added another dimension to my life.  Some visitors are fleeting, some drop by from time to time and others stay for the long haul.

I do worry that I am going to run out of things to say..................I guess that when that happens it will be the time to stop.

Soothing Stitching

With the hexagons put to one side (for now) I decided to embark on another project.  I had some little cross-stiched pieces that I did a while back so I decided to make them up into keyrings.  They are filled with stuffing, very squishy and tactile.  It was nice to sit down with a relatively simple sewing project.

 I think this little house with the poppies in the field is my favourite one.  It looks like a mini tapestry.

This gives you an idea of the size of one of the larger keyrings.  Now, you wouldn't lose that in your bag now would you?!

After all that stitching yesterday, I thought I would take it easy today and indulge in a bar of lavender chocolate, close my eyes and drift away to a lavender field on a hot sunny day.................bliss. x

Feeling Flaky

 I am feeling particularly flaky today.  A beautiful, majestic pear tree a few gardens away from my house is being chopped down.  Not only was it lovely to look at but it provided shelter and a food source to various birds and wildlife.  Now there is a gaping hole where it once stood and I now lack the privacy and interest the tree provided.  I will never know why the tree was chopped down.  Maybe it was unsafe or diseased or maybe the owners just don't like trees.  Blogger seems to have changed and I can't find a way of aligning my writing to the left.  I had to choose the caption option.

I treated the kitchen to a lovely shiny planter today.  My herbs snuggle up very nicely together inside it. 

The picture above is still to go up on my dining room wall.  It is a huge picture 50 x 100cm and only a portion of it is displayed above.  It is a print by Sam Toft and full of lots of lovely vivid colours.  My orchid is still thriving and can be seen in front of the picture to the left.  Despite feeling slightly unhinged today - dropping all my credit cards and change on a shop floor and scrabbling around trying to pick it all up, despite going to bed on an argument and not resolving it this morning, despite having tears burst from my eyes for no apparent reason on my way back from the shops, despite it starting to rain even though sun was forecast - I feel surprisingly optimistic.  Today has been a bit of a downer but I have plans to make tomorrow better!!!

A Most Beautiful Day

I woke to the most beautiful blue sky.

I hung out my spring quilt to air on the washing line and made a shadow bunny.

The garden is greening up now - not so much brown to be seen.

A vase of cheery daffodils adorn the dining room table.

 

As the sun goes down I will spend my time sewing together hexagons and reflect on the beautiful day.