Apron Swap

Well I have finally posted my apron to Tracey,



it took me longer than I thought. I have taken a photo of the finished apron which I will post when I know that she has received it.

I'm now sorting out some things for a green swap that I'm taking part in which is being organized by Rachel and Emma at that little bit greener, my partner is Alex Daisie Days, hopefully I can find some interesting things.

Take care,

Sue x

Gardening

I spent the weekend in the garden, it was beautiful. I turned these,


into this,




it doesn't look much at the moment, too much bare soil but hopefully in a few weeks it will be filling out nicely. I'll keep you posted.

Hope you all had lovely weekends.

Sue x

Not so Secret Squirrel

Took these photos the other day





The pesky thing, I do object to feeding the squirrels but you have to admire his acrobatics.

I've probably shown my age by the title, I don't suppose many of you remember Secret Squirrel, the original one anyway.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend,

Sue x

Jelly Bean

I spent yesterday evening watching my daughter exercise her horse,




I know very little about horses, we are not a horsey family or weren't until S started riding.
I just go along to offer a bit of moral support and for her to bounce ideas off but I think my main function is to do this...


Poo pick, well someone has to do it.

After she has been worked and as it was so warm last night Jelly Bean gets a hose down

she tolerates this very well, although as you can see from her ears ( they are pointing backwards) she would rather not be doing this.

After this she usually gets a treat and she has learnt to do this

she says please, her previous owner must have taught her.
After she has had her treats ( polos ), she gets a quick rub down and then she is put in her pyjamas for the night ( a rug obviously ).

I really enjoy my evenings at the yard especially now that the evenings are light and it's getting warmer, I don't even mind it that much in the winter! S is so lucky to have something that she really enjoys doing and that she is good at, I'm glad that I'm able to be part of it.


Sue x

P.S. Did you spot the deliberate mistake? S should be wearing a helmet, she is very bad at not wearing it when she exercises JB, despite constant nagging from me.

Gardening

It's been such a lovely day today that I decided it was time I spent some time in the garden.

Nothing too strenuous as you can see by my tools of choice. Some gentle hoeing and dead heading.As usual I have had a bumper crop of these..

After a few hours work I had a weed free gravel path and one tidy border

just another four to go. They will have to wait for today as I have to go and straighten out my back!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Sue x

Spring Flowers

There are a lot of beautiful photos of spring flowers in blog land at the moment so I thought I would add a few more. These were all seen on my walk to town.

This tree is just by my front door, it smells wonderful.

This is honesty I think, it was just growing in a hedge.



The lily of the valley are in the same front garden, they look really good together I think.

A solitary tulip, it looks a bit sad but the colour is beautiful.


Two types of lilac, I wish you could smell them!


Unfortunately all this beauty won't last long and it will all end up like this

So enjoy it while you can.

I've also included some photos of these...




I know they are weeds but I love buttercups and daisies they always make me smile.

And one last thing

I know it's a dandelion and I know they are a pain in the garden but the seed heads really are very beautiful when you look at them closely.

I have been doing some sewing but I can't show you at the moment as the apron I am making is for the apron swap. I will have some photos once my partner Tracey has received it.

Have a good weekend.

Sue x

Vintage Book

Thought I'd show you the latest addition to my vintage book collection,


No publishing date but I think it must be mid to late 40's.
It is full of useful information,cooking,decorating-check out the ideas for rooms


It has chapters on knitting, crochet


including this collar ( love the hair ), embroidery and dressmaking.
A great chapter on household management


we look like this all the time in our house!
It also has chapters on laundering, first aid, renovations and maintenance but my favourite is this one...


Helpful tips on making all sorts of things including



Forties women seem to have been keen to have a go at most things,although I expect they were like us and bought books full of good intentions to try some of the things in them but then rarely got round to doing them. Or is that just me?

Sue x

Ferns

I love ferns, especially when they are just beginning to unfurl, I think they look alien but in a good way.

Still Here!

The past few weeks have been very busy giving youngest daughter practical and moral support while she got ready to take part in this.....

She qualified last year and we spent last Thursday and Friday at Badminton while she competed in Dressage, Show Jumping and Cross Country. The cross country course ran along side the professionals course though thankfully it was MUCH smaller.
She did really well and came 21st out of 97 starters. We are all very proud of her.

So not much crafting has been done, sorry Fi. I did manage to make this

from a pattern in Sew Hip magazine.
I also cut out the pieces to make this

from Sew magazine ( a copy from last year ). I'm making the green version.
I have also signed up for the apron swap being organized by Sarah, my swap partner is Tracey. Thank you for the kind comments about the jar pin cushion, it's not my own idea I got it from here.

Hopefully things will be back to normal now after the excitement of Badminton, it really was a fantastic 2 days.

Bye for now.

String Bags and Pin Cushions

Well the string-a-long has finished. Here is my last bag,

This one actually stretches so I should be able to use it.
This is the pin cushion I made for Apryl my pin cushion swap partner.

Which she has received and likes. This is the one she made for me,

it says "A clean house is the sign of a broken sewing machine". This made me laugh when I read it. The pins have cherry quartz beads on them, they made me think of raspberries when I first saw them.

This is the pin cushion I started weeks ago, finally finished. I'm quite pleased with it although the pattern says to cut eight segments and I could only make seven fit the cylinder in the middle. I think the pattern may be wrong as i used the pattern pieces which came with the book. If I made it again I'd have two openings, one on each side for stuffing as it was hard to get the stuffing all the way round.

My daughter's one day event went ok. She went up a level at this one, more difficult dressage test, higher show jumps and higher and wider cross country jumps. She did really well in the dressage and show jumping but had a refusal in the cross country so she wasn't placed this time. She was really pleased though as it was only her second try at this level. So another good weekend despite the mud!

Have a good week.