Keeping Busy

I have been keeping busy indoors during this cold spell, apart from sowing my onion seeds a couple of days ago and placing them on windowsills around the house, I've done nothing else in the way of gardening. There was still ice on the bird bath this morning and the ground is so hard. It looks like everything will be sown later this year, but I'm sure it will catch up eventually.

Below is a selection of things I have been doing these past couple of weeks.

I've made Lot's of cards, a small selection here.

My crochet skills are coming on, but I'm not sure if I could ever make a garment from a pattern.

I did design the little crochet flower myself. The photo isn't to good as the light was bad (taken in the evening under a lamp) these are just sample squares.

I've made some beads from 'Fimo' oven baked clay. The have an Indian/Rustic influence and I like them to look aged, hopefully I have succeeded.

And finally I have been busy making fabric hearts. I collect hearts of all kinds, wire, wooden, tin, metal, fabric etc, and they are in various places around the house & garden. I saw some fabric ones in a craft shop and thought 'I can make those' and so I did ! and thoroughly enjoyed making them. I just have to sell them now as I can't keep them all, and I have more cut out ready to sew, it's addictive and I love choosing the fabrics , the ribbons and buttons.

So you see I really have been busy !!!

An Orchid to brighten the day

I thought I would post some photo's of my Orchid that is flowering again. It's so beautiful I just had to share these with you. I think that orchids are amazing value. I know that the price is high to start with, but they flower for such a long time and certainly last a lot longer than cut flowers, and if you are lucky ( I seem to be so) they flower over and over again for years.

What a work of art, nature never ceases to amaze me with it's colours and patterns.

It snowed again last night and just as the snow had been slowly melting it's now thicker than ever, and this is what the garden looked like this morning. When will it end ? I was a tad bored staying in so we managed to clear the snow from the car, and drove very slowly to the Garden Centre. I looked at the seed potatoes, but didn't buy any yet as the bags were to big for me, so I will share some with my daughter.

Last year being sentimental I grew some 'Nicola' potatoes as that's my daughters name, and I am glad I did as they were so tasty and stored well, so I will definitely grow those again this year. I did buy some 'mangetout' seeds and also some 'Sutton's' 'Bedford' brussel sprout seeds.

I got fed up with runner beans last year so I am only going to grow French climbing beans and 'mangetout' . I still have pea seeds over from last year so may grow a few, but I have to say I HATE podding them.

I have also been teaching myself to crochet, it's all the rage don't you know ? The woman in the newsagents couldn't believe the demand for the new weekly magazine that's now in the shops, 'The Art of Crochet' it's actually good value, well the first issue is anyway. You get 2 balls of yarn, a crochet hook (although I already had 3 from edging knitting in the past) a beginners guide to basic stitches, some patterns Oh and a DVD. I haven't watched that yet, so can't comment on it. Anyway all that for 99p, Bargain !!! I haven't found out how much future issues will be.


Below is some photo's of my first attempts, and I am quite pleased with them.

The weather forecast mentioned rain, so hopefully they are right and then we can get rid of the snow, it's getting a bit boring now and I am worried about my wallflowers that I planted on the allotment. I really must get up there to have a look at whats survived.

An Irish pub session, I dare you to keep your feet still !!

I think it's time I paid a visit to Ireland, I miss it so much especially the music. This rowdy pub session is of some of the very best musicians from Ireland especially 'The Chieftains'. I have seen them in concert many times and they are amazing. I hope you enjoy this music.

I haven't anything to report on the allotment, I haven't been up there for weeks due to the weather, and I think that maybe the cabbage plants growing in the greenhouse are more than likely dead. The snow is still very much around, and it's still very cold.

Snow Art- I met these chaps on my walk to town

I am very pleased with myself today, as I walked into town and back again instead of sitting indoors feeling glum. It was lovely and bright here but bitterly cold . The snow is still thick and shows no signs of disappearing just yet. There were a few places where it has melted and has become very sludgy, so we had to take care where we trod, otherwise apart from that it was lovely and crisp to walk on. I saw these great snowmen on my walk yesterday and vowed to take the camera next time, which I did and here they are. I'm sure there must be many more around the town and it's great to see an old tradition still going.

This chappie must be Hawaiian, he looks 'armless' enough !

I love this one he has a hat and hands made from dried Hydrangea flowers.

This is a very jaunty chap, waving to passers by.



This Snow bust looks like Pooh Bear






Doesn't the snow make everything look beautiful ?

Well that about all for today, and I can't believe it's Friday again. We've nothing planned for the week-end because of the weather. Maybe I will take the time to sort out all my seeds into sowing months, and hopefully get up to the lottie to pick some kale and sprouts well that's if they have survived !

HAVE A GREAT WEEK-END.

Always look on the bright side of life, da dum, de da, de da de dum !

The song from Monty Pythons 'Life of Brian' always makes me smile, I have even got it as a ring-tone on my mobile. So what better a title for my post to day as this was the scene in my garden this morning when I opened the curtains. Oh I will be the first to say it's a beautiful sight, but not very inspiring when all I want to do is get out of the house, but it's sooo cold.

It has been snowing all day and doesn't look like it will be stopping anytime soon.

Ah well at least I had the Thompson & Morgan seed catalogue to browse through, it came this morning and was a very welcome post. I must now order my asparagus from them.

The signs of Spring, buds on the Blueberry bushes, taken a couple of days ago.

A couple of photo's from last Summer, just to remind myself of the delights to come.

A Post to welcome in 2010

I intended to do a post on the 1st day of the new year but never got around to it, so this is to wish you all a very Happy New Year.

I just visited 'A brush with color' her blog is lovely and she has added a brilliant version of Auld Lang Syne to her post from YouTube. I don't know how to add it to a post so I have put it on my side bar, top right, please click on it to hear it as it's really nice.

I have nothing to report from the allotment or garden as it's all frozen and too flippin cold to venture out. I don't usually feel the cold and I'm well known for not wearing a coat in the winter, a thick cardigan is usually enough for me, but this year I'm not sure what's going on as I'm wearing, scarf, hat & gloves and still freezing.

I have been looking back over my old posts and it's hard to believe that the allotment and garden will be productive and look beautiful again, this winter has seemed so long. I did have a quick look around the garden on my way to put some bread out for the birds today and I saw little buds on my two blueberry bushes, it was a lovely sight, I hope to have a real bumper harvest this year.

I am going to try and do a post every couple of days and really look for the positive aspects of this weather, I need to get out there with the camera.