Mostly About.....

 Gardens ...

We ventured out for the first time, and went to Barnsdale Gardens, to meet up with my sister for a surprise Birthday picnic. 

The weather had broken and the rains came down, but between showers we did explore these lovely gardens, created by the lovely Geoff Hamilton - late of BBC Gardeners World.

 Maybe it was good that it was wet, as there was only one other couple there, so we really had the place to ourselves.


Which broke us in nicely for a visit to a local garden that was open at the weekend with the National Open Gardens scheme. 

I pass this house every time I visit DD, but i would never have guessed at what was hidden behind the house.

 It was a wonderful plot, full of little secret gardens and tiny foot paths only suitable for fairy steps,

 and lots of little nooks that needed exploring.

 And then there's our garden, and thank goodness that we have one.  It has pretty much been stripped back to the bones, after being left to it's own devices for decades before we moved in.

It really is taking shape, and I have managed to get most of it planted up with things brought from our old house.

 Though we have invested in some new plants, including this beautiful rose.  Named Olivia Rose - well, we had to have this one as that is the name of our first grand daughter.

 It is such a pretty pink, and the fragrance is divine

 The Delphiniums have been happy to be out of their pots and in the garden

and the bees welcomed them

 My hanging baskets seem to like it here

 This one was a housewarming gift last year and has been hanging there all through the winter. I just tidied it up a bit and it was away growing again!

 I have also had time to tend my (ever growing😳) collection of succulents

gifted from a friend

 and because we had a wet day last week, Mr T hunkered down in his nice new shed and made me a shelf to house them all 😁

 

I have been doing a little bit of sewing - a reading cushion birthday gift

I needed(wanted) a new little storage bag, so I went back 10 years and used this tutorial from Pink Penguin. it really is a simple but pretty little bag

and as I had broken open a fat 1/4 bundle, i made one or two more !!!!

 

I have had to dive into my stash, to make a little rug as SOMEONE (it's not me and there is only two of us here) keeps coming in in his their gardening shoes 

just a bit of quilting to go

Mr T and I had a bit of a Celebration for our 40th Wedding anniversary - we were invited to DD for our lunch  and No1 son and family were there too. 😊

It was lovely to see the cousins together again

Love Struck Uncle

How quickly they grow

Just HOW did this happen ?

Little Mr L trying on his new school uniform!!

Young Mr C is such a happy little chap 😊

11 weeks!

This morning I needed stem ginger in syrup for a recipe, but had none in the cupboard, so I made some myself 👌

Should keep me going for a while, and so much cheaper than buying a jar!!!!

Not Switched on....

 my computer for 10 weeks!!!

Just couldn't get my head around all the doom and gloom that is appearing, so we went into our own little bubble, keeping in touch with the children via face-time  and mostly ignoring the outside world.

The weather has been exceptional, so lots of gardening has been done, including digging up so many of these tree and shrub roots 😖

 

 These had been cut down some time ago and just left.  They were the easy ones!

 Only one more to go and then we can replant what was a very overgrown and neglected garden that we inherited when we moved here a year ago.  Yes! One year since we moved in !!!


 There are still many plants in the garden that have been cut back and have now got a new lease of life

 and some that we brought with us

 This hanging basket was a New House gift last year.  It has been hanging there all winter and after a little trim and feed is just as fabulous

 I did indulge myself with two new Hosta plats from Sienna Hosta - Empress Wu and Dinner jacket added to my collection 😊

 I haven't done much sewing really, it has been too nice outside. But i have stitched a few blocks for my Isewlation quilt

 I have now got a 7 x7 block quilt top and am going to finish at that.  I have worked out my borders and will add them over the next week or so.  I am piecing my backing so need to rummage in my stash and sort the fabrics for that .


 Mr T has been busy in his nice new shed and has made me a new cold Frame

  and because I complained that I couldn't reach my tea whilst lazing in the deck chair , he made a little table just for that. 

 We have had the V E Day celebrations and I found a panel of "Jack" fabric that I made into bunting

 I found this bundle that I bought many years ago,

 so much more bunting to decorate the garden for the celebrations

 I had made this quilt for a friend who was expecting a new Great Nephew.  Baby was born at the beginning of May so the label was added and the quilt posted off.

 Not much knitting being done, thought at last, I have managed to finish this pair of socks.

 Too much of this has been consumed

 Whilst we have been sitting in the garden completing a Birthday gift Jigsaw

 or two .....

 at the end of April we had this....

 turn into this.......

 Welcome to our family Charlie Theo - 8lbs 8oz - and he is a little darling.

We are so lucky💖

Stay Safe

x


Just noticed that this is my 150th Blog Post !!