Feltabulous

Happiness is...

2012-02-13T16:58:00.001Z

...lots of things, but making jewellery is definitely one of them. I have been experimenting with some chunkier designs and am gradually starting to use my 'stash' to make into necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The one above was made using labradorite, lapis lazuli, fluorite, shell, turquoise, blue/green jasper and a wooden flower as the centre bead. Due to the labradorite and fluorite, it does sparkle in the right light and it certainly adds interest to a t-shirt and cardigan combination!

...buying new gemstones and designing new jewellery. Above are some purple dyed agate circles which are going to become pendants, with only a few other gemstones (amethyst mainly) around them and the beading wire plaited. They have the most beautiful patterns on them and it seems a shame to detract from the patterns, so I shall only add details to the plain coloured ones. I'm really looking forward to getting started.
I am pleased to say that the snow here has finally melted and the temperatures have finally gone up into the positives by day. The poor garden is looking very bedraggled and sorry for itself, but hopefully, if we don't get any more snow, things will soon start to improve.

Latest reading - Draykon

2012-02-06T16:08:00.000Z

I have just finished reading this book, written by my friend Charlotte who has moved to the Netherlands. It is the first of a series of fantasy novels and she is already working on number three in the series, as well as a new series and writing as part of an author group. She is e-publishing the books and this is one of the reasons I felt I should get a kindle (as well as all the free classic books available, of course.) Although this is not a genre that I have much experience of, I found it to be a pacy, well written and engrossing story. There are two heroines, both of whom I really liked and their stories are told in parallel, following one, then the other. Charlotte has followed in the great tradition of classic writers by moving between the stories and leaving the characters so that the reader is desperate to know what happens next. She has created an amazing other-world with various regions and layers to it, peopled by various groups, which she describes with clarity and conjures up the sense of actually being there. I am just going to have to read the next books in the series to find out what happens next. (I have also read a preview of the first book in the new series and that is really interesting too.) Thank you Charlotte, for encouraging me to move tentatively and painlessly into a different genre of reading!
The image above is from Charlotte's blog site: http://www.charlotteenglish.com/2012/02/03/why-im-tired-of-advice/ which is well worth a visit if you are the least bit interested in writing or reading.

The First Snow of Winter

2012-02-05T16:21:00.000Z

As with many parts of the UK today, here is evidence of the snow that fell on us yesterday afternoon and last night. Luckily, not as much as we had last winter which is a good thing.

The cats had bravely ventured out as can be seen by their paw prints. The snow was a very good texture for snowmen or snowballs (as our next door neighbours demonstrated on the street this morning at 08.00!).

I liked the pattern on the chair - it looked a bit like the face of a cartoon dog.

The world does become quieter and muffled when there is snow and there is no doubt that it is beautiful to look at, but if it freezes over the next few days and nights, it won't be quite so much fun.
I have been busy spending on the internet to cheer myself up - plants for the Spring, gemstones for now and a couple of books (one on felt, one on gardening). Their arrival will give me something to look forward to over the next couple of weeks and months.

Comfort Food

2012-02-04T17:49:00.000Z

The winter has finally arrived with a vengeance. We have had cold nights and cold days (not on a Canada scale of coldness), but certainly cold enough for me. Now the snow is falling and I feel the need for comfort food. The fire is lit, the cats are curled up and snoring or purring happily and I just have to have a bowl of porridge. It really is perfect for making me feel all warm and comfortable. I have to admit, I like my porridge made with milk and then swirled with golden syrup - I am not sure how people manage it made with water and salt (ugh!). I haven't made any plans to go anywhere tomorrow, so am settling down with comfort food, books and films. In my opinion, snow is best when it can be admired from inside a cosy house.

Amethyst

2012-01-30T15:59:00.001Z

As my first love in gemstones is, and always will be, amethyst, I decided that I needed an amethyst necklace but with lots of sparkle and reasonably delicate in design. Here it is. Very simple, symmetrical pattern, two faceted rectangle creating a pendant and the beading wire as part of the design, plaited up with two amethyst beads near the clasp. There is also a small amount of silver (in beads) and two fluorite squares to add a different texture. I have already worn it at work and I am very pleased with it. I think I shall make more like this, possibly using jasper or botswana agate and definitely amazonite.

Chris has sorted the comments issue for me - thanks, Chris - and it turned out to be a compatibility problem. Hopefully all is now well.

Winter Blues

2012-01-28T21:31:00.000Z

I bought these hyacinths at a cut price supermarket for very little money, convinced that they would become the deep, rich, lapis blue that hyacinths seem to be. So, waiting for them to flower and watching them develop every day became a ritual. Imagine my surprise when they opened and revealed the delicate china blue of wintry skies, with the hint of pale lilac, like the lightest amethyst.

They really are quite beautiful.

The colours seem to be reflected in a necklace I made from blue fire agate, with the blues and whites in a random pattern throughout the stone.

This kind of winter blues is one I can really enjoy.

Jewellery (and problems with comments)

2012-01-23T14:16:00.000Z

Although I haven't been doing much felt making at the moment, I am making jewellery. I love the way you can create a piece of jewellery and wear it the next day. Above is a bracelet I made for my friend from Canada who has just been visiting England for the first time for three years. I used amazonite, mother of pearl, labradorite, botswana agate, shell and zebra jasper, all in neutral shades.

The necklace is for me and is completely different from anything I have made before. Usually, I have much more delicate designs, but I was trying to make a chunkier piece. Initially, I tried to make an assymmetric design, but it just wasn't me at all, so I had to revert back to symmetry. This design has a lot of different gems in it; lapis lazuli, keishi pearl, jade, blue-green jasper, shell, fluorite, labradorite, turquoise and kyanite. I hope it will complement a lovely blue-green cardigan that I wear for work. I am going to make an amethyst necklace next, leaving the wire showing at the back and maybe even plaited.

Incidentally, just to let my lovely followers know, I am having trouble with the comments on my blog. For some reason, they seem to disappear and just show a white screen when you click on them. I am hoping to find out what is happening and get it sorted as soon as I can. (Technology, eh? Brilliant when it works and a complete pain when it doesn't!)

Winter images

2012-01-22T13:06:00.000Z

The above photo was taken when I was visiting my friend at her Granny's house. This was once a beautifully espaliered pear tree (I think) and the training of the branches was easy to make out. However, it hadn't been pruned in quite a while and had developed this fantastic tracery of branches, making their wayward growth towards the sky. There was a lovely bright blue sky behind them, but I think it would have been even more effective against a dark stormy sky, or with a full moon. I think this would make a great book cover - something like Wuthering Heights or perhaps a gothic horror. Very atmospheric.

This morning, I was out in the garden, battling with the strong wind, and there I saw these brave little snowdrops, looking so delicate, but able to withstand the winter weather.

They are one of my favourite flowers and seeing them immediately puts me into a more positive frame of mind - Spring isn't all that far away.

And finally, the picture of contentment has to be this one of Scruffy, taken last night. We had the fire on, the curtains drawn and had settled down to watch a film. Does life get any better?

The Artist - What a film!

2012-01-18T21:38:00.000Z

I had been wanting to see this film since I caught a tiny snippet of it on the BBC 'Culture Show' before Christmas. As it was a 'niche' film, I didn't think it would be shown by the big cinema companies. However, owing to the influence of winning a few Golden Globes recently, it seems to be getting a wider screening, and so it should. I'll try not to be too gushing, but it was one of the best films I have seen in a long time. It has elements of A Star is Born and Singin' in the Rain, is filmed in black and white, is almost silent all the way through, and is by turns funny, moving, poignant and thought provoking.

There is a really good review from the Guardian newspaper which says everything I want to and more, so here is the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/dec/22/the-artist-film-review

It is an affectionate homage to silent films and the stars of the time and is a must if you enjoy film history. The acting is absolutely pitch perfect throughout with a great ensemble cast too. I thought it was incredibly brave to make something this different and put it up against the blockbusters we are all used to now. I hope the Golden Globe awards are the first of many.

As for a star rating - it HAS to be 5 out of 5!

(Photos from www.dailymail.co.uk)

Churches and decorations that make me smile

2012-01-16T12:27:00.000Z

We visited the local church to my friend's Granny's house on Saturday too. It is a beautiful little church made from the local mellow brown stone. Inside, there are some lovely pieces of stained glass, apparently made in the ' Low Countries' and probably medieval. I thought this Nativity scene above was particularly beautiful, especially with the sun lighting up the colours.

Looking round the church, I noticed two small faces which made me smile. The first was this little cherub, at the base of an eighteenth century memorial on the wall. I liked his pudgy cheeks and the way his wide open eyes have been carved to give them a lot of life. He looks a little unsure in his expression, but I thought he was a real character.

The other face I noticed was above the pulpit, at the base of an arch. He looks very happy, but also somewhat enigmatic as we'll never know what he was smiling about. He gazes out at visitors, as he has done since he was carved, with a big welcoming smile and long may he continue to do so.
Unfortunately, the church has suffered the fate of many small village churches and is in the process of being closed due to falling numbers and the costs to keep it going. I don't know when I shall be able to visit it again, so am pleased that I had the opportunity on Saturday.

Winter frost and Winter inspiration

2012-01-15T19:00:00.000Z

Outside, yesterday morning, I was drawn to the sprinkling of frost around the garden. It was glittering and sparkling in the sun and looked beautiful. The hydrangea flowers and rose leaves were particularly impressive.

Later, we visited a friend who was staying at her Granny's house, and in the dining room, there was a basket of fabulous blue hyacinths with their shadows being cast on the wall behind. I particularly noticed the contrast between the cold, frosty garden with the predominance of green, brown and grey and the exuberance of the indoor hyacinths with their pungent fragrance and brilliant colour.

While visiting, we went into the local church and I found some lovely things to photograph. More to come tomorrow...

Garden Thoughts

2012-01-09T15:51:00.002Z

I thought I would have a bit of a garden review for this post - how last year went, what were the highlights? and what I need to do this year. Pictured above is Hydrangea AvantGarde, still in flower, and with the flowers looking as though they are made from icing - at least, that's the thought that came to me when I looked at them this morning. So, how did last year go? A mixture of highs and lows, as always. Highs were the gorgeous tulips, the magnolia, the clematis and roses. Lows were the unpredictable weather (not that any of us can do anything about that, of course) and the lowest low was the battle with the fungus in the soil (this fungus is normally present in all soil and helps to break down debris, but has decided to run amok through the border for some reason.) (Incidentally, I think I have lost that particular battle and am going to have to retire gracefully - or not so gracefully). I think I am going to dig up all my asters and the perennial sunflower and transfer them into large pots. It is not practical to keep replacing the soil and anyway, the fungus will go where it wants to. I think deep rooted plants will survive, but the more shallow rooted perennials will need saving.

On a more positive note, here are the first signs of snowdrops, which is always cheering. I applaud their tenacity to grow no matter whether covered by snow or ice, or blasted by freezing temperatures or Arctic winds. Spring isn't too far away, although I have the feeling the winter will still throw a few surprises at us yet.

Two brave little violas, adding a splash of colour to the rather bedraggled and sad looking garden.

So, I shall try to remain positive and save my asters. Then I shall have a long think and do some research about tough plants. I wonder what 2012 will bring for the gardeners amongst us?

A Triptych of Cats

2012-01-07T22:19:00.000Z

Although we had some fantastic presents for Christmas, my favourite one just had to be this triptych of our cats; Scruffy, Ginny and Gonga. The portraits were painted by Rachael, my colleague at work, who is an amazing artist as well as being an excellent singer and an all-round good egg!

Scruffy was the most difficult to paint, Rachael said, because he is all black. The portraits are done in watercolour and ink.

Ginny looks very serene and peaceful, as she does when she's just had a plate of liver or some leftover chicken or turkey.

Of all the portraits, I think this one is my favourite because Rachael has managed to capture Gonga when he is feeling rather fed up (to say the least). He really does look this grumpy on occasions!
The only thing is, now that we have these portraits, I rather think we need portraits of the cats we used to have too - Sammy and Mrs Cat. I think I feel a commission for Rachael coming on...

New Year thoughts for 2012

2012-01-02T12:37:00.000Z

Hydrangea Fireworks flowering away happily today to welcome the New Year

Firstly, may I wish you a rather belated Happy New Year! It seems as though the years speed up as I get older. It doesn't seem very long ago that I was writing my thoughts (not resolutions, because I don't seem able to keep them) for 2011.

So, a review of last year's thoughts.
To try and be a bit tidier - well, this really hasn't worked at all. In some ways, I am very organised and have efficient filing systems, but general tidiness seems to elude me. This is one that I need to work at.
To sort out my website - again, this hasn't been done yet. I have worked out the way I would like to pages to be, but that is as far as it has got. So, another target for this year.
To continue felt making - this is something I have managed to do and would like to continue with this year.
To continue reading interesting books - Hoorah! This is something I have succeeded with and is something I shall definitely continue this year.
To exercise more - well, I have exercised more than I did last year, but it is something I need to do this year too.
To buy a dressing gown - this is one thing I achieved in the sales last January. (It is good to have a real positive in this list).
To complete at least some of my on-going craft projects - not a great success really, although I added a new hobby to the list (jewellery making). This is something that I can carry on through this year too.

Hmm, not a great deal achieved here. Perhaps I can do a bit better this year...

Granny's Christmas part 3

2011-12-28T12:44:00.002Z

Interior of Crayke Church

The third and final instalment of Granny's memoirs follows below.

Mother and Father went to church at 8.00 am and we children got up then and were dressed and ready for breakfast at a quarter to 9.00 am. There was church once again at 10.30 am and Christmas Dinner at a quarter to 1.00 pm. The dinner table always looked very gay. We had a brown basket with holly and a robin on it in the middle filled with fruit. There were silver dishes with almonds and raisins and crystallised fruits and sweets. At a party we went to we had each been given a little figure with a nodding head, a man with a wire pigtail, a fluffy dog and a black cat, a plaster puppy with a blue shoe in his mouth and a little fellow called “Billiken”. We liked to see whose figure would keep its head nodding the longest. I think “Billiken” usually won. The same kind friends had also given us a set of huntsmen complete with jumps and hounds and a fox. We used to take care that the fox was well hidden from the hounds. Father carved the turkey and Mother served the plum pudding which was always brought in alight with the brandy. Mother put the little silver charms in at the table. She liked to give Foss the sixpence, Mary often had the thimble and Brooke the bachelor’s button. Margie and I perhaps a 3d piece or a little donkey. Father usually had to go without.
At 2.00 pm we had a carol service and then home for an early tea. Mrs M and E from the Hall always came to tea. We waited for Foss to ring the bells when everything was ready in the drawing room and then we all rushed in for the great event of the day. There was always a bright fire of logs, the standard lamp stood by the piano, the tree with its shining tinsel and coloured glass ornaments was lit up with its little candles and round the room stood the tables with our presents on them. First we had to sing a carol. We always sang, “Come to the manger in Bethlehem”, which was Mother’s favourite. One year, Father told me to be the page in “Good King Wenceslas” and he was the King. I managed to sing my part quite creditably because I knew it so well. Sometimes the choir boys came round singing carols and were invited in to see the tree. They were given an orange each and pennies. Father kept a bag of pennies to give to the carol singers. Some came on Christmas Eve and some very early on Christmas morning. “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and please will you give us a Christmas Box”, was a familiar cry on Christmas morning.
The celebrations do sound lovely, don't they? Wouldn't it have been nice to have been there?

Granny's Christmas part 2

2011-12-26T11:16:00.002Z

Granny looking very smart

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day. Here is a little more from Granny about her Christmas celebrations.

Foss and Mary decorated the Christmas Tree and we little ones were not allowed into the drawing room till after tea on Christmas Day when we had our presents. We went to bed early on Christmas Eve with our empty stockings at the foot of the bed. We each had one of Father’s golf stockings which could hold a lot. We often woke during the night and felt at the bottom of the bed to know if our stockings were filled. Yes, there it was bulging with odd shaped parcels. It was too early too look at it yet so we got under the clothes again and went back to sleep. When Mother heard us talking in the morning she came in with a lamp and then the joyous excitement began. There was always a cracker at the top, an orange in the toe and an apple in the heel with nuts in between. We generally had a small book, perhaps a Beatrix Potter for the young ones, something for our dolls’ house, a fireplace, a little piano or a bird cage. Often we had a game or a pack of cards, crayons and always some sweets or chocolate. Our stocking presents kept us happy till the evening when we had our big presents.
Mother always chose our presents for us. The Aunts and Uncles must have sent money. We girls usually had something for our dolls, a high chair, a cot or a tea set. We were always surprised and delighted with our presents. Mother seemed to know just what would please us most and we never wanted anything that the others had. As a rule, we each had a book, Fairy Tales or an E. Nesbit, or a children’s classic like “The Water Babies”, “Peter Pan” or “Treasure Island” and usually, there was a box of chocolates for each of us. Then perhaps we had hoops or skipping ropes. The boys had trains and soldiers, tools and puzzles. Brooke generally had a wooden box of tangerines. We took our pile of gifts up to bed with us so that we could gloat over them again in the morning.

Some things don't seem to change that much.

Granny's Memoirs - Christmas

2011-12-23T12:22:00.006Z

Granny and Margie

Granny wrote a lovely description of a typical Christmas for her and the family, so, over the next few blog posts, I'll add her Christmas celebrations to my blog.

The few days before Christmas were a very exciting time for us. We children never sent cards or presents to friends and relations as children do now, but we were very busy decorating the house, fetching the Christmas tree and making chains of holly leaves for the church. We threaded the separate holly leaves on to a fine string which was threaded through a needle with a very big eye. It was painful work and damaging to the fingers but there was a great satisfaction in seeing the prickly snake grow and it looked very handsome twined round one of the pillars in church.
The morning of Christmas Eve was taken up with decorating the church, some of the children from the village used to come and help. We collected baskets of moss and trails of ivy, fetched cans of water, handed up scissors and wire and put little bunches of red flowers amongst the holly and blobs of cotton wool to look like snow. There were two big placards hung on the wall at Christmas and Easter. The Christmas one, “Christ is born” on a red ground and the Easter one, “Christ is risen” on a blue ground. We made a good deal of mess with the moss and the evergreens and tried to tidy up when all was finished, but the Church cleaner must still have spent a busy afternoon in the church. All the decorators came over to the Rectory for a cup of coffee and a mince pie. The children had cocoa and biscuits. We were always very tired and dirty and were glad to get clean and tidy for dinner.
I am sure that everyone is busy with all the things that need to be done and that in some ways, things haven't changed very much since Granny wrote this. However, the over-dependence on materialism that we seem to suffer from these days has left its mark on current Christmas preparations.

Christmas Baking (part two)

2011-12-20T15:46:00.000Z

I shall redeem myself a bit with this post as the baking really is Christmassy! These are iced star biscuits, made for a vegan friend, and they are yumptious. It is a very simple recipe where all the ingredients go into the bowl and are kneaded together (even the golden syrup), rolled out like squishy pastry and cut into whatever shapes you would like (or have the cutters for). The recipe is reasonably economical too as you can get lots of biscuits (depending how big the cutter is) out one one batch.

The end result is crunchy on the edges and chewy-ish in the middle, with a flavour of ginger, so perfect for this time of year. I added an icing outline on the top but how you decorate them is up to you. When I worked in schools, this recipe was a great one for the children to make and the toppings they put on the biscuits were quite a sight to see. More was quite definitely more! The only limit to decorating them is your imagination and possibly your budget.
Here is the recipe:
4 oz butter (or vegan margarine - this gives a much stickier end mixture)
4 oz light brown sugar
4 level tablespoons golden syrup
8oz plain flour (you will need more than this if using margarine - add at kneading and rolling out stages as necessary)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Gas 5, 190 degrees C, 375 degrees F

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and knead.
2. Roll out mixture onto well floured surface and cut into shapes. (The thicker you have the dough, the chewier the biscuits will be)
3. Place on greased baking sheets/trays and bake for 10-15 mins max, or until golden brown. They are really easy to overcook.
4. Take them off the tray while still hot - they will be very floppy but will harden as they cool.
5. Decorate if required when cold.
6. Enjoy!

Christmas baking (part one)

2011-12-19T15:59:00.000Z

Having called this post 'Christmas baking', I know these little butterfly cakes don't look particularly Christmassy. However, they were baked as a Christmas thank you for the Porters, Maintenance and Gardeners team at work, to let them know that what they do is appreciated. I was going to give them a box of chocolates, but Chris suggested that they would like these cakes much more, so I undertook a baking session yesterday. They are a simple sponge recipe and the icing is butter cream (in my book, it has to be butter - margarine just doesn't taste anywhere near as nice).

They do look quite appetising but I didn't even taste one - usually I have to test everything I bake to ensure that they are up to standard, but I forgot. No doubt Chris will let me know!

Christmas Holiday (and into 2012) reading and my thoughts on Kindles

2011-12-17T14:28:00.000Z

Here is a lovely pile of books, just waiting for me to dive into them. This is the plan over the next two weeks! There's an interesting mixture of fiction (mainly Elizabeth von Arnim, but also including Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel) and non fiction, such as The Lady's Maid (servant to Lady Astor), A History of English Food (which looks fascinating) and Roy Strong's Visions of England (which will hopefully be a positive view of things to be proud of). I am hoping that Chris is going to buy me a Kindle for Christmas, as there are lots of free classics which I haven't got, but are downloadable, and e-books which aren't available any other way. My friend in the Netherlands has just epublished her second novel so I am looking forward to getting hold of that too.
I would just like to add that there is no way at all that the Kindle will usurp my precious real books. I love the feeling of a real book and being able to dive into it and escape totally. There is also the physical-ness of books (not sure that is actually a word, but I like it - it probably should be physicality) with the feeling of being able to turn proper pages and hold the book. These books are like old friends who it is a joy to meet again, no matter how long it is since you last saw them. Then there is the art, craft, children's books etc. issue - a Kindle would be absolutely useless for any of these, not to mention the large glossy books filled with good quality photos, and... you get the picture? My Kindle will just be an additional tool to help me enjoy reading even more. For that reason, I am really looking forward to receiving it.

Jewellery design

2011-12-12T08:23:00.000Z

This is my latest jewellery design, made as a commission for the friend of a friend. I tried several different versions before arriving at this one. It has an amethyst pendant and the necklace itself is made from fluorite, amethyst and labradorite. The greens and purples of the fluorite complement the amethyst very well and I have used various sizes of stones to add some interest. I also used a weave technique as the necklace was too heavy with the beads threaded on singly. I think it is quite eye-catching and am going to make myself some fluorite jewellery next. ( Incidentally, I do like the way that the fluorite reacts to the light - I have only seen this effect in photos so far.)

I was on TV (and a lovely cat picture)

2011-12-06T17:45:00.000Z

Well, what a surprise! I was watching a regional news programme last night, called 'Look North', as I usually do and they were showing a film about the Christmas Market and saying how it was one of the best years ever. There were shots of the Cathedral, the Castle, some stalls and then the Carousel/Roundabout/Gallopers. Who was there, on the horse, smiling away merrily...me! Now I think about it, I did spot a large camera but hadn't really taken much notice of it really. What are the chances of it being focused on me at the very time I was there, on the roundabout? It was a 'blink and you miss it' appearance, but it was great fun!
On the way back from the market, we stopped at a gallery on Steep Hill called Harding House, http://www.hardinghousegallery.co.uk/ which is an artists' co-operative and always has a wide selection of art and craft work for sale. We were looking at various prints when one in particular made us both say, "Scruffy!"

It is a print by Alison Read, who creates very quirky printed animals. Scruffy really isn't that thin, but there is just something about the image that reminded us of him. She doesn't appear to have her own website, but here are a couple of links to other galleries if you'd like to see more of her work.

http://www.julianjardine.co.uk/alisonread.html
http://www.starkgallery.co.uk/c113-4825-4825/Alison+Read/0

Lincoln Christmas Market

2011-12-04T19:06:00.000Z

Chris and I have just got back having been to the Christmas Market here. It is the last day today and we usually go on the last day as the crowds have eased and things are a little quieter. However, not so today! We were jostled, joggled and squashed. I think this was because we went a little earlier than we normally do, so the crowds were still there. Last year, the Market was cancelled due to being up to the knees in snow, so people have definitely made the most of this year's event.

I was happy as I had a ride on the Gallopers which took me back to my childhood. This was my very favourite fairground ride - and still is! I sat on the middle one of these three horses. It really made the visit for me.

The Cathedral looked lovely in the floodlights, despite the building and conservation work currently going on.

The Bishop's Palace had a Medieval Market in the grounds, but there was a massive queue to get in, so we gave that a miss. We enjoyed the changing lights projected on the building though.

Looking back towards the Cathedral...

...and over to the Castle. Busy, busy, busy! I bought a present for my friend in Canada and a little Scandinavian fretwork snowflake for our Christmas tree.

The best thing about getting home - a lovely milky hot chocolate (in a very appropriate mug!) with some chocolate finger biscuits. Mmm!

Latest reading - Vera

2011-11-30T21:23:00.000Z

I have just finished Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim, which I really enjoyed. It was the second book I have read by the author (the first was The Enchanted April) and it was almost the complete opposite. Elizabeth von Arnim was the cousin of Katherine Mansfield, moved in similar literary circles as her cousin and was married unsatisfactorily twice, to a Count and then an Earl. Her first marriage provided the inspiration for Elizabeth and her German Garden while the second was the inspiration for Vera. I wonder whether Daphne du Maurier knew this book, because there are some similarities to this story in Rebecca. However, this book concerns the relationship between a young and innocent twenty-two year old heroine who has just lost her father and the older man who befriends, looks after and then wants to control her. The reader is drawn in very quietly but can see all the signs that Lucy misses. In the introduction, it says that the author thought that this was her best book and it certainly kept me totally engrossed.

A Bargain

2011-11-28T12:25:00.004Z

Above is a lovely arrangement from my bargain book of the weekend - Vintage Flowers by Vic Brotherson. I thought that this book would be lovely and having read about it on amazon and on several blogs, I put it on my wish list. It was one of those, "One day, when I feel like treating myself..." things. I went into the town on Saturday (and spent an absolute fortune in the process) and saw the very same book in a cut price book shop for the bargain price of £5.99. Well, I couldn't just leave it there, could I? The book is all about colour and texture, and about using pots, jugs, vases and containers in an interesting way. I don't think I'm suddenly going to be able to create wonderful arrangements, but it is really inspiring to look at the lovely pictures (taken by Catherine Gratwicke). There are one or two storage ideas that I really like too, such as open shelves and a vast storage cabinet.

I would love one of the above cupboards - all the lovely craft things I could keep in there. Of course, I would need, at the very least, a whole room devoted to my craft endeavours. I'll just have to keep dreaming...

300th Blog Post - 'Russian Roulette' Revels Cake

2011-11-22T19:07:00.001Z

This is my 300th blog post (hooray!) so thank you very much to my loyal blog readers who help to keep me going.

To celebrate, this blog is all about cake.
It was Chris' birthday last Sunday and it is an unspoken rule amongst his colleagues that the birthday person has to take a cake or cakes for them all to share and celebrate. Some colleagues were away yesterday and today, so he has a cake to take in tomorrow. It is a 'Russian Roulette' Revels cake. I would just like to point out that eating it is not really dicing with death and there are no guns involved. However, there are Revels all over the top as you can see. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this confectionery, let me explain. Inside a layer of chocolate, there are hidden different fillings; orange, coconut, toffee, malteser, raisin, peanut, chocolate and worst of all, by far (in my opinion), coffee. I would not want to have to eat a coffee one! (In fact, there has recently been an advert for Revels which featured this very conundrum in an 'eat-off' competition and the loser was the one who got the coffee!) So, all Chris' colleagues are going to have to face this problem, which should make it quite entertaining.

The cake is a really simple chocolate one, which stays really moist and is delicious. I have made a squidgy chocolate fudge icing for the topping and then added the dreaded Revels.
So, would you take on the challenge of the 'Russian Roulette' Revels Cake?

Apple crumble bars

2011-11-21T16:01:00.002Z

I recently found a recipe for apple crumble bars which tempted me to make them. The apple is coated with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, then placed over half the crumble mixture and topped with the other half. The addition of the spices gives a very autumnal flavour to the bar. My first attempt was, ahem, rather a disaster, due to me thinking that I knew best on the quantities and ending up with a very soggy cake-type creation (although it did taste nice). I had only said to Chris a few days previously that baking is the one thing where you have to stick to the recipe, so I have no-one to blame but myself. However, not to be discouraged, I decided to have another go, this time following the recipe exactly. It has turned out with more crunch to it, but I still feel that it will go soggy. Perhaps this is something that needs to be eaten quickly - never a problem in our house!

"Soup of the evening, beautiful soup..."

2011-11-14T14:46:00.000Z

Autumn is the perfect time for a delicious soup - in this instance, tomato, pepper, carrot, onion, garlic and herbs. This one was made by Chris and was one of the tastiest he's ever made. Accompanied by crostini with garlic and herb soft cheese, it was the highlight of the day.

Perhaps not something I would usually post about, but occasionally, food does get a look in, when it can elbow gardening, reading, felt making or jewellery making out of the way. The soup was the perfect meal to enjoy on a slightly grey, dull November day.

Tulip planting

2011-11-12T15:34:00.001Z

I have finally got round to planting my tulip bulbs which have been waiting patiently for about one and a half months, sitting quietly in the cupboard. I hope they will provide as much enjoyment as this year's tulips did. I have bought 'Carnaval de Nice' again becuase I loved the striped petals, ' Peach Blossom', a fluffy, frilly pink and a mixture called 'Triumph'. I have planted them in containers, one type to each pot and have planted some cheerful violas in different colours on the top to give me something to look at while the tulips are growing.
I had a lovely time planting the tulips and thought what a positive activity gardening is, as there is always next year to look forward to. No matter if your gardening year was awful, there is always the hope that next year will be so much better!

More thoughts on Katherine Mansfield

2011-11-11T15:49:00.000Z

Having nearly finished the book I borrowed from the Library, I have become a real fan of these short stories. Most are incredibly bittersweet, many are poignant, only a few are happy. I decided to find out more about the author and have discovered that she is regarded as one of the first Modernist writers. Why had I not heard of her before? I think this is because she wrote short stories - there was never a major novel that earned her fame or fortune. Her short stories are superbly constructed and the characterisations are masterly. I felt as though I knew these people, even though they only have a few pages in which to tell their story. A couple of them were particularly moving; "Life of Ma Parker", which describes the life of a char lady, with all the disappointments and tragedy that life has thrown her way and "Miss Brill", who goes every Sunday in her fur collar to listen to the band and indulge in some people watching. She happens to overhear a conversation and I really felt her pain as she returns home with her life utterly destroyed.
Katherine Mansfield was only thirty five when she died of tuberculosis. I have bought her complete works so that I can read more of her fascinating stories and continue to find out more about her and her work.

Bonfire Night 2011

2011-11-07T15:58:00.002Z

Pictures of fireworks seem to be an annual part of my blog, due to the proximity of our house to the local football ground where the council-run 'extravaganza' (their description, not mine) takes place around this time each year.

This year, the show seemed to be shorter than ever, probably due to all the council cuts and the exorbitant cost of putting on a display. However, I can't grumble because I got a free show.

Unfortunately, the art of taking photos of fireworks is one that eludes me somewhat - just after I pressed the button, there always seemed to be much more beautiful colours and shapes. However, the photos above give some idea - my favourite is the second one.

More about Scruffy

2011-11-05T20:38:00.001Z

Scruffy has decided that he likes sleeping on the stairs. There is nothing wrong with that when he has his head up so that you can see his white bib.

However, if he has his head down, it is quite a different matter, especially if the light isn't on! I can foresee a "Winnie the Witch" moment (see picture below from the book by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul with Wilbur on the stairs. I love Korky Paul's fantastic illustrations - my favourite is where Winnie doesn't see Wilbur on the chair and sits on him.)

As neither Chris or myself want to end up in the hospital nursing broken bones, we have come to the conclusion that when he is on the stairs, we must switch the light on.
In such a short space of time, it is amazing that one small cat has managed to cause us so much trouble! (But we still love him!)

Latest Reading - Katherine Mansfield

2011-11-01T20:28:00.003Z

(My original photo for this post was deemed to be 'boring' by Chris, so I have put a different one in, which I hope is a little more interesting.)
Above is a photo of my latest reading, 'The Garden Party and other stories' by Katherine Mansfield. This copy is from the library at college and hasn't been taken out since 1995. However, while browsing through the blogs that I follow, I was intrigued by this book. It is, as the title suggests, a collection of short stories and was first published in 1922. Having read the first five stories, I can say that they are very well written, with excellent characterisations but are somewhat unsatisfactory as I have been left wondering "what happened next?" with each one. There is a great attention to detail and description and some of the vernacular language the author uses really conjures up an image of the speaker. Below is my favourite example of this so far from The Daughters of the Late Colonel:
"When I was with Lady Tukes," said Nurse Andrews, "she had such a dainty little contrayvance for the buttah. It was a silvah Cupid balanced on the - bordah of a glass dish, holding a tayny fork. And when you wanted some buttah you simply pressed his foot and he bent down and speared you a piece. It was quite a gayme."
Josephine could hardly bear that. But "I think those things are very extravagant" was all she said.
"But whey?" asked Nurse Andrews, beaming through her eyeglasses. "No one, surely, would take more buttah than one wanted - would one?"

Katherine Mansfield

The stories are a little dated, but they do give a real feeling of the time they were written and I am enjoying becoming acquainted with each of the characters.
Photo of Katherine Mansfield from http://www.katherinemansfield.net/life/briefbio1.html

An uneasy truce

2011-10-30T16:12:00.000Z

Scruffy has very quickly inveigled himself into our family - finding all the best places to sleep, being first to be fed, demanding to be played with, and trying to be friends with Ginny and Gonga.

Gonga tolerates him but isn't above swiping him with a paw if he gets too close.

Occasionally, it seems as though they quite like being together.

Things I like about Autumn

2011-10-24T14:28:00.001+01:00

A few things I like about Autumn... The last flowers making the most of precious sunny days (aster novae-angliae, Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink and Clematis Rebecca), giving me colour in the garden.

A beautiful blue Autumn sky with wispy white clouds.

The right time of year to read Persuasion, accompanied by a cup of tea and a bar of my current favourite chocolate (Lindt Extra Creamy is my top all-time favourite, but Galaxy Bubbles comes a close second). I indulged myself last week and watched the dramatisation of Persuasion with Amanda Root as Anne Elliot - a perfect treat for this time of year.

More jewellery

2011-10-23T17:33:00.000+01:00

I have finally started to use some of my 'stash' of gemstones and have been enjoying being creative. Above is a set of amazonite jewellery, using different cuts of stone and a bit of silver. I have been looking for some blouses/tops to match the colour and have found several, but none of them was quite right - too tight, too baggy - you know how it is! Anyway, I can always wear white until I find the style and type that actually fits.
I love the different shades in the amazonite, from a milky green/white to a deep almost turquoise blue/green, to teal. There are lots of other colours in the stones too, from reds and browns through to black and grey. It never ceases to amaze me how all these colours come from one particular stone.

Latest jewellery for me

2011-10-20T20:18:00.000+01:00

The set above is a present for myself and is something I have been meaning to make ever since I bought the gemstones in the summer. I used kyanite, fluorite, jade, two silver beads and an agate circle and I am very happy with the set. I love the blues and greens in the pieces. The bracelet is made using a weave technique and I made the pendant for the necklace separately and used a wrap loop to secure it to the main body. Now I just have to wear them!

Latest jewellery creations

2011-10-19T20:27:00.000+01:00

Here is one of my latest creations - made for Rachael, my work colleague. She is kindly being a guinea pig for me by trying out the jewellery to see whether I have finally managed to sort my jump ring issue. (The jump rings kept working open, despite my best efforts, so I bought some split rings (like key rings) in the hope they would prove to be more secure.) We shall see. The above necklace and bracelet are made from fancy agate, kyanite and Patikan wood flower beads. Rachael asked me to use those particular blues and chocolate browns so that the jewellery would complement an outfit she has. It took me a couple of tries to get the design right, but I am happy with the end result.

Our latest inhabitant

2011-10-17T12:05:00.000+01:00

Let me introduce our latest guest who decided to make his presence known last week (a really busy week due to us having a new boiler fitted with all the mess and disruption these things cause). We know that he had been coming in at night, finishing off Ginny and Gonga's food and sleeping on the table and that this had been going on for quite some time. However, he had always run away from us. Last week, he ventured up to the back step and then came in for some food. Since then, he has been in most of the time!

He has a skin problem and suffers from constant itching, so is licking his fur a lot and consequently has not all that much fur on the lower half of his body. We took him to the vet and were told it was probably a reaction to fleas (nice) and he was given a jab to hopefully counteract the itching. Even the vet was impressed with him, saying he was a 'nice little cat', about two years old, he had obviously belonged to someone as he had been neutered, and that we have been judged by the cat as 'coming up to the mark' for providing food, warmth, affection and general care. We have called him Scruffy, because he is, and it seems to suit him. The vet said that cats must talk amongst themselves when they are outside, word has got around about our house and that this is why we seem to keep attracting them!

Autumnal Image (and result of the Bishop Competition)

2011-10-12T17:02:00.001+01:00

This image really epitomises the feeling of autumn to me. My colleague Rachael and I were just going for a well deserved cuppa (well, black coffee in her case and hot chocolate in mine) after setting up Bishop Bob's display, when I was stopped in my tracks by this beautiful cobweb covered in raindrops, hanging over a cotoneaster bush (I think). Luckily, I had my camera with me, and here is the result.

(Unfortunately, Bishop Bob didn't win the Bishop competition, but he has become our office mascot, so has a life after the competition. The winning entry was Bishop Desmond Tutu. Apparently, ours would have won the award for "Pure Artistry", had there been such an award!)

PeaceFelt 2011

2011-10-10T10:55:00.000+01:00

Here is the Peace Felt gift I received from Mary in the USA. She said it was a wet felted background with everything else needle felted. I think the autumnal colours she has used are lovely.

A close up of the pumpkin patch - textures and perspective.

More textures and autumnal colours from the trees at the back.

More texture from the woolly sheep.

Peace Felt is a very interesting project to be involved with as you never know what is going to be sent. It is also good to make contacts in other parts of the world - all with an interest in felting and craft. I hope my recipient will like her gift of the Saltfleetby picture.

Bishop Bob in situ

2011-10-08T21:26:00.000+01:00

Well, here is Bishop Bob in situ in the college Theatre bar. It was quite tricky to find a place without too much natural light and with enough floor space to experiment with the distances for the light. We really wanted a halogen bulb so that the shadow would be really sharp, but the old fashioned one worked pretty well and gave us the shadow that we imagined. We were very pleased with the end result. There is also an element of interaction for the people judging/looking at it, as we made a sign inviting them to switch the light on (and remember to switch it off again, of course) and we hope that this will give a surprise element, when the shadow appears on the wall. All in all, we are pretty pleased with our achievement!

A view with all the various cards/explanations/ descriptions and the Tate Modern-inspired information on the back wall.

Hello to Bishop Bob

2011-10-07T18:18:00.001+01:00

At the University College where I work, the Chaplaincy challenged all the departments to make a Bishop (in the style of a scarecrow) and place them in various locations around college to be viewed on Tuesday. My colleague, Rachael and I decided to make a small scarecrow Bishop and shine a light on him to project a shadow, as our entry. Other departments have gone for Bishop Desmond Tutu (in a tutu, naturally) or Harold Bishop (from 'Neighbours') or St Nicholas, who was also a Bishop. We have devised a Tate Modern inspired description for our installation and have had help from the Maintenance Department who kindly provided the lighting.

Our Bishop is based on a real person, and we have tried to make him using a medieval image as the inspiration. Part of the brief was to be frugal and spend no more than ten pounds, but we spent nothing as (due to the fact that Chris and I are hoarders), we had all the materials we needed at home. Bishop Bob may not look much like a scarecrow, but is in fact made around two pieces of wood, as a traditional scarecrow is. Rachael made his hat, head and hands and I made his clothes and crozier (shepherd's crook-like staff). I'll let you know how we get on!

Final images for Late Summer/Early Autumn

2011-10-03T16:32:00.000+01:00

Try as we might, there is no denying that Autumn, if not here, is just around the corner, and according to the weather men, will descend in earnest from this coming Wednesday. However, to celebrate the glorious weather we have been enjoying for the last five days, more like July than September/October, here are a few images from plants in the garden. Above is Salvia 'Icing Sugar' which I bought at Gardeners' World Live and which has been flowering since June, despite the difficult conditions. It still has lots of buds, but is not hardy so I don't think it will survive over the winter. I'll just enjoy the bright cerise flowers for as long as I can.

Aster Ericoides, which has become one of my favourite asters. It is smothered in tiny lilac flowers which the bees love. There is also a scent, but I haven't yet identified it - there is a honey perfume, but something else too and I'm not sure whether it is pleasant or not!

A lovely combination of an aster with the ever reliable Helianthus Lemon Queen, which has been featured on my blog several times. I just can't resist the happy yellow flowers.

A new plant, bought yesterday at the last garden visit of the season for us. It is Spiraea 'Gold Fountain', although I'm not sure it is, because that is supposed to have white flowers. Still, whatever it is, it is very pretty and the golden/green leaves give a real splash of colour.

I couldn't leave out the roses, so here is Blush Noisette, with a self seeded verbena bonariensis (and the washing line ...oops!) Blush Noisette is a pretty rose with a lovely fragrance and I think this is the penultimate cluster of flowers, to celebrate the very last of the summer.

Jewel colours

2011-10-01T17:29:00.000+01:00

Owing to my recent felt making, I had to check my stock of lovely merino wool and ordered some more to replace some I'd run out of. When I opened the box, I was greeted with this selection: turquoise, aqua, sky blue, purple and royal blue. In gemstone colours they would be: turquoise, amazonite, chalcedony, amethyst and lapis lazuli. What a gorgeous treasure chest of colours!

Latest felts - finished!

2011-09-27T21:14:00.001+01:00

As the title of this blog post may suggest, here are the finished pieces with the addition of hand embroidered french knots to give a little more texture. The photo above shows the first piece I did, which worked well, although I decided the second piece would need to have more depth of colour. When I laid the design out, the sea line (or horizon line, depending how it looks to you) was straight, but as always, the wool decided to exert its influence and gave me a wavy line instead.

The second piece has worked well too, and I feel the added depth of colour is very effective. This piece is now winging its way to my Peace Felt receiver in Ohio, USA and I really hope she likes it. The purple colour represents the sea lavender which was all across the marshes, interspersed with grasses. The shiny areas at the front are made using silk thread and silk fibres.
I now need to create another piece, using the stronger colours, as an example piece so that I can remember how I made it, just in case anyone wants to commission one!

Marvellous clouds

2011-09-26T17:05:00.002+01:00

We were on the way home from visiting Mum and Dad yesterday evening and I couldn't help but notice this amazing cloud formation. To me, it looked a bit like a tornado, but luckily it was only cloud.

I am sure that a meterologist could tell you why it was formed and how, but to me it was yet another amazing spectacle provided by Mother Nature.

As the sun began to set, it started to disperse and change shape.

Eventually, it turned pink and flattened out over the countryside. It was a wonderful thing to watch.

Which Jane Austen Heroine are you?

2011-09-24T18:52:00.001+01:00

I came across this quiz whilst browsing through favourite blogs/sites on other blogs. Intrigued, I gave the quiz a go and found out I am most like Elinor Dashwood. I am quite pleased with this as Elinor is sensible, practical, caring, intelligent, loyal and I would like to imagine we share some of these characteristics. However, I am not sure I could hide my feelings as well as she does, nor keep a secret that undoes all her happiness from those around her. A colleague at work tried the quiz and found out she is most like Marianne Dashwood, so hopefully we should continue to work together well.

I tried some of the other myriad of quizzes on the same subject and the results of a couple of them were very disheartening. I was more than a little dismayed to find that I was most like Fanny Price (Mansfield Park). Fanny Price!! She is a snob, a wimp and allows other people to treat her badly and is a wallflower who can be easily ignored. She does have some good qualities, but I would much rather be like Elinor Dashwood than Fanny Price. Yes, she gets her man in the end, but it is more through luck than anything else. I was not impressed! Mansfield Park is my least favourite Jane Austen novel, so that was another reason not to be like Fanny Price. (Re-reading that, it does sound like a bit of a rant, but I hope that I don't share many qualities with her.)

If you'd like to try the quiz, the link is below:
http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php

above picture from:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://knightleyemma.files.wordpress.com/

A new felt piece (at long last!)

2011-09-20T21:58:00.000+01:00

Having not made a new piece of felt since (gulp) April/May, I finally got on with it! It is based on a view out to sea at Saltfleetby, on the Lincolnshire coast, looking over the mud which was covered with purple sea lavender. I added some silk thread at the front to emphasise the clumps of plants. This photo shows the piece in all its soft fluffiness, before being felted.

After felting, it loses the fluffiness but becomes more defined. I think it has a bit of an Impressionist feel to it. The horizon went a bit more wobbly than I would have liked, but that's the joy of felt making - the wool decides what it is going to do, despite the maker's best efforts to coax it into position. I think it needs a bit of embroidery although I haven't decided quite what yet. I shall make another one and then choose the one to go to America as part of the Peace Felt project.
Having started making felt again, I need to continue as I have missed it over the last few months.

The last hoorah of summer

2011-09-18T13:26:00.001+01:00

The garden is beginning its slow and elegant descent into autumn but still has a few highlights for these last days of late summer. Above is my latest buy - a Hibiscus 'Red Heart' - which is patiently waiting for me to decide where to plant it.

There have been a few insect visitors recently, particularly Red Admiral butterflies, though not in any great numbers. This one is enjoying the white Aster novae-angliae (not sure which variety).

The ivy on the wall between us and our neighbours is literally buzzing with insect activity; wasps, hoverflies, bees and butterflies. Although ivy can be a menace, it does redeem itself by providing food for so many species.

Two beautiful yellow roses from Rose 'Molineux' (David Austin). A lovely buttery colour and a fragrant perfume.

A bee happily enjoying the pollen and nectar to be found in Helianthus 'Lemon Queen', a perennial sunflower. It is a reliable, tough plant which is always cheering.

My huge Hydrangea Avant Garde, which is stunning and which has two more flower heads developing. It has been a very good buy, although the coming winter will no doubt prove how hardy it is.

Hardy Geranium 'Crystal Lake' with beautiful veining on the petals. Yet another plant waiting to find a permanent home.

And finally, a burst of lilac/pink from Brachycome which has been one of the most reliable plants in my rather disastrous hanging baskets this year, and still flowering away.

My garden has been giving me a few headaches just recently as I am fighting against a rampant fungi in the soil which is sucking out all the moisture in the raised beds and gradually turning the soil to grey, ashy stuff which no moisture can get through. Unfortunately, it seems to go around plant roots too, which kills the plants. When I come across it, I am digging it out and replacing it with top soil and adding water retaining granules. I am valiantly fighting to keep my plants in good health and am contemplating sinking drainage tubes into the soil to aid moisture retention. Despite this situation, my plants are doing their best to continue flowering just a little bit longer, for which I am really grateful.

Accessories

2011-09-14T18:33:00.000+01:00

More from Mum's hoard of goodies, now we move onto some accessories. If you wished to buy a parasol, where better to go than Swan and Edgar's Parasol Department (Piccadilly and Regent Street). How wonderful to have a whole department devoted to parasols!

Here is the parasol which came in the box - a lovely lace cover over black and white material inside.

Of course, a lady should never go anywhere without her white gloves. (I tried these on and could only get my hand to the base of the glove - nowhere near the fingers.) The owner of the gloves must have had very small and elegant hands.

Something for the discerning gentleman now - how about some stripy socks, probably silk?

Or a dress stocking? We thought this may have been for a woman until we saw the size of the foot. Perhaps it was worn to attend an assembly or ball?
It is fascinating to be able to look at these items and wonder about their owners. If they could talk, I expect these accessories would tell some very interesting tales.

The Regency Dress

2011-09-11T19:12:00.003+01:00

Here is the piece de resistance of Mum's costume hoard - a Regency dress dating from around 1803ish. Strictly speaking, this is before the true Regency period which was 1811-1820, but for me, 1795 - 1820 is the time scale I think of to be the 'Regency'. The dress is made from a nude/beige coloured silk and has long sleeves with a gathered bodice piece over the bust. Unfortunately, the photo of it hung on the door doesn't do justice to its lovely shape and it is difficult to imagine how it would look on a woman. Twenty years ago, I actually managed to fit in it, but I tried again last time I visited Mum and I have expanded way too much! The moment of defeat came when the under bodice pieces that tie up over the bust ended up somewhere under my chin! Oh well, at least I fitted in it once.

Here is a close up of the front of the dress, showing the lovely bodice detail. I wonder whether it was made for a special occasion, or a local assembly dance, or who actually wore it? Unfortunately, these questions will probably never be answered.

This is the back of the dress, showing the high waist and a very pretty ribbon sash.

A close up of the gathers at the back and the ribbon sash.

A close up of the front of the bodice, showing the gathers. This bodice piece hooks up at each side and goes over the two tied under bodice pieces. Once on, the ribbon is pulled which tightens the front of the bodice.

The back of the sleeve, showing the beautiful hand stitching and the interesting way the sleeves have been set in.

Inside the bodice, again you can see the careful hand stitching of the cotton lining.

This shows a part of the under bodice with the main front folded down. you can just see a ribbon tie on the right of the photo.
I am really privileged to be able to look at the dress in such detail and I think Mum is going to give it to a museum as it needs conserving for the future. Perhaps it will be able to provide textile experts with the opportunity to look at the construction of a dress from this time and hopefully, it will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Embroidered silk

2011-09-10T09:46:00.000+01:00

Another piece of material from Mum's amazing hoard and I think this could possibly be Spitalfields-type silk with machine embroidery. The top picture shows that this was once a dress as there are pieces cut to form a curve - probably a bodice with a curved front and sleeve. The silk is decorated with flowers and fruit.

A close up of the pink embroidered flower.

Another of the blue.

The back of the embroidery is as interesting as the front.

Peaches, apricots, plums, cherries? I'm not sure, but it is still beautiful!

A close up of the curved piece shows the cuts to allow the material to curve smoothly. You can also see the needle holes where it was once sewn together.

The back of the peaches/plums/ apricots/cherries. What is really amazing is how well the embroidery has kept its colour - it could have been made yesterday.

More textiles

2011-09-07T18:53:00.000+01:00

This richly decorated and coloured material has an intriguing label (written in a beautiful script) pinned to it. The label reads "Miss Vipan's wedding gown married to Mr Jennings of St Ives about 1750". Although Mum has several family trees written down, we haven't yet identified the Miss Vipan married in 1750, so that is a mystery that remains to be solved. We also don't know who wrote the label. (This photo reminds me of the 'Tailor of Gloucester' by Beatrix Potter, with her illustration of 'No more twist.'See below.)

(picture from VAM.co.uk)

This is the longest length of the material and shows the pattern going down what we think is the skirt panel. The style would have been similar to the dresses worn by Marie Antoinette with full, wide skirts that meant you had to go through the door sideways. The dress must have looked spectacular as the pattern is certainly eye-catching.

One of the inside seams of the panel, showing the very neat hand stitching.

This is also on the inside of the panel and shows the strengthening material around the slit for a pocket. This would probably have been one of a pair of detachable bags, attached by strings around the waist, used for keeping valuables or precious items. It is these pockets that are mentioned in the nursery rhyme, "Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it. There was not a penny in it, but a ribbon round it".

More interesting discoveries to come.

Textiles from ages past

2011-09-05T16:42:00.002+01:00

I am feeling very guilty just at the moment, as I haven't been devoting much blog space to textiles (whether my felt pieces or other textile-based interests). We went to visit Mum and Dad yesterday and Mum has a wonderful collection of pieces of old material as well as a Regency dress and various other pieces of clothing and accessories such as socks, gloves, parasols and bonnets from various times, probably mainly Victorian. So, we had a very happy afternoon rummaging through these wonderful things and I foresee a few blog posts about them.
Above is a really pretty silk (I think it is silk, but it could be a silk/taffeta) with machine embroidery on it. I'm not at all sure on date, but my gut feeling is 1800 onwards.

The back of the material is nearly as pretty as the front!

A close up of the flowers shows the delicate shading of pink and yellow/orange. The materials have all been shut away in an ottoman chest, so have retained their beautiful colours.
This is a great advertisement for hoarding - if Mum (and previous members of her family) hadn't been such hoarders, we wouldn't have these lovely things to look at and enjoy now.
(I have a feeling that my friend Charlotte, who has recently moved to Holland, will particularly like the Regency dress post..coming soon!)

"The Time Traveller's Wife" - 1 star from me

2011-09-02T23:14:00.000+01:00

Usually, when I read a book that I like, I write a few words on here to say why, picking out interesting characters and giving my view of it. I was encouraged to read this one from the masses of excellent reviews on amazon. I got the book from my local library (fantastic things, libraries, so why are they being closed in such huge numbers? They provide a wonderful service and a chance for some people to socialise, which is so important. Keep our Libraries Open!) After that slight rant, back to this book.
So, I collected it and settled down for a nice read - a love story with the unusual twist that the hero keeps jumping about in time so sometimes he jumps into his wife's life at a point where she is a lot younger than him. Hmm, interesting premise, I thought. As I read on, I decided that I didn't much care for either of the main characters (never a good sign).
Having finished the book, there were several things I didn't like. There was a fair bit of swearing and bad language. I know that contemporary novels have to reflect life and it would be ridiculous to have everyone saying "Oh, Gosh!" or some other archaic phrase. However, I hear language like that most times I go into the city centre, so I don't want it throughout a supposedly escapist novel. The other main problem was that I just didn't care about any of the characters at all. There was nothing for me to empathise with and so I was left feeling very indifferent. (Another minor and rather pedantic issue was the title spelt with one l not two when being sold over here).
So, would I recommend it? Well, I know that many people love it and that is great. However, I didn't like it and actually wish I hadn't read it at all, because having read it has not enhanced my life at all. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading it, because that is one of the great joys of reading - to be able to make up your own mind about what you have read. I would give it one star if I had to rate it, and that is quite generous. So, I shall now read other books, which hopefully I shall enjoy a lot more. In fact, Miss Buncle's Book isn't due back until 17th September, so I shall start with re-reading that one.

August Bank Holiday - garden visiting part 2

2011-09-01T19:14:00.000+01:00

The second garden we visited was one of my favourite local gardens, Hall Farm, which has appeared on my blog several times. The gardens are less carefully manicured than at The Garden House, but were filled with exuberant planting as above.

There were also plenty of interesting views to various parts of the garden. The centrepiece of the large pot was a pink hydrangea, in a smaller pot.

Looking back at the house through a purple sea of verbena bonariensis. This reminded me that I need to grow lots of verbena next year.

A view from a shaded pergola through to the hydrangea pot again. I really like the contrast of light and shade. Hall Farm has a plant nursery attached, but the nursery is closing at the end of this year. The gardens will stay open and the nursery area is going to be developed into a new garden. Exciting as this is, it is also sad because the nursery had a fantastic range of perennials, most grown by the owners, and their knowledge of their plants was encyclopaedic. I shall just have to grow more perennials myself!

August Bank Holiday - Garden visiting part 1

2011-08-29T23:01:00.004+01:00

August Bank Holiday Monday, and the last bank holiday before Christmas, so we decided to make the most of the fact that it wasn't actually raining and go out visiting two of our favourite local gardens. These photos are from The Garden House, Saxby, which I last visited back in April/May. The house and garden are in a small village, off the beaten path and the setting is quiet which immediately gives a feeling of relaxation. In April/May, the owner was very apologetic on that occasion as he had lost a lot of plants over the winter and was concerned that things weren't looking as good as usual. No such issues this visit! There was a riot of planting, with lots of cosmos, nicotiana and petunias.

The hard landscaping gives the garden wonderful 'bones', with interesting vistas wherever you look. The formal layout of some of the areas really appeals to me, with the 'floofy' planting inside.

The Cathedral garden had the addition of an organic flowing sculpture that turned out to be a gate, set with slabs of agate - a little play on words from the artist there - this gate complemented the formality of the pleached trees beyond.

This quiet and contemplative space is one of my favourite parts of this garden, surprisingly, as it is devoid of any other planting. The sun obligingly shone for me, giving an added dimension of shadows.
Perhaps one day, I'll be able to have a garden like this...I can dream.

Jekyll (revisited)

2011-08-25T12:38:00.000+01:00

Chris and I recently revisited this series thanks to a friend lending us her DVD. We had both watched the series when it was originally broadcast back in 2007, and had enjoyed it (although bits made me jump and there were plenty of gory bits too). I remember thinking at the time that there should be a sequel as the ending was left suitably open for some kind of continuation, but there has been nothing so far.
Anyway, we both settled down to watch it again and I had forgotten just how good it was. The writing was clever and darkly humorous with an absolutely amazing tour-de-force performance from James Nesbitt in the lead role. His Hyde was unpredictable, menacing, funny, child-like and much as I tried not to, I couldn't help but be drawn to the character - the writer's interview showed that he did that on purpose so that the audience would care about both parts of the character. I had also forgotten that the writer was Steven Moffatt who has taken over the lead writing for Doctor Who and who wrote my three all-time favourite Doctor Who episodes. These are the "Are you my Mummy?" one with the gas mask people, the Madame de Pompadour one with the clockwork robots and "Blink", with the first appearance of the Weeping Angels. In fact, at one point in Jekyll, Hyde asks "Are you my Daddy?", which made the link to Doctor Who very effectively for us.
I'm not going to give the story away, but it is a clever re-imagining of the Jekyll and Hyde idea, set in a contemporary world and is well worth a watch. In fact, having seen it again, Chris has ordered our own copy!

And another latest book read

2011-08-23T11:39:00.000+01:00

I was given this book by a colleague at work who said, rather worryingly, "I've read it once, it was good but I won't want to read it again". When I asked why she told me that it was like watching "Schindler's List", because although you are glad you have seen it, you don't want to put yourself through the ordeal of watching it again. With some trepidation, I began reading. Another colleague noticed me reading and asked what the book was. On seeing the cover, she said "Oh, it's really good but it is so harrowing." As I had only just got started, this didn't fill me with confidence. Having now finished it, I can see what they meant, but that is to do with the subject matter. Any book dealing with the Second World War and the persecution of the Jews is, by its nature, going to be upsetting and harrowing. However, this book views Germany through the eyes of a child who initially hasn't quite grasped the significance of events unfolding around her. The most unusual aspect of the book is the narrator - not the girl, but Death. It is an interesting slant on the war and the author has cleverly given Death a sympathetic voice. Death is not the grisly phantom so often depicted, as he tells the reader, (and I have assumed he is a he). The story doesn't shy away from the concentration camps, nor from the forced marches nor from the allied bombing over Germany. At the end, it is an uplifting story, in spite of the subject matter, which concentrates on the survival of the human spirit.

Latest reading

2011-08-22T19:28:00.001+01:00

Miss Buncle's Book - somehow it doesn't sound all that fascinating, does it? Of course, the less than inspiring cover picture doesn't really help either. However, bear with it, because this book is a great fun read which made me laugh out loud while I was reading it. Written in the 1930s, it is the story of a spinster living in a quintessential English village who has no money coming in and has decided to write a book about something she knows - the inhabitants of the village. Of course, this causes outrage once the villagers read the book and they cannot work out who wrote it. Needless to say, everything works out most satisfactorily.
While I was devouring the story, which I read on Saturday afternoon having collected the book from the local library that morning, time and again I was thinking what a great film this would make, with a plethora of fantastic roles for English actors/actresses in it. The likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie and perhaps Emma Thompson as the eponymous Miss Buncle would bring this to life on the screen - I could almost see it as I read. It would make a wonderfully escapist film, one with a seemingly gentle story but actually, Miss Buncle is a very shrewd, clever, witty, observant woman (I imagine her as a kind of Jane Austen of her community) and it is her perceptive words that cause the villagers such embarrassment. I need to find out about the author too because she shares a lot with her creation in that her writing is clever, witty and funny. I do think it is a film that could be made so well... If only I had the contacts!

Hydrangea Avant Garde - in flower

2011-08-20T21:57:00.000+01:00

Here it is, as promised in a previous blog post, my Hydrangea Avant Garde in flower. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't give any idea of scale. This flower is 30 cm/12 inches wide and is huge! It also looks as though it is going to be pink, rather than blue, but it is still gorgeous, so I don't mind. There are two more flower buds developing so hopefully I shall have flowers for some time to come. However, it does need to be re-potted sooner rather than later, so I shall get on with that. I have lots to do in the garden at the moment - potting on, weeding the paths, planting, tidying the pots, and watering of course, so that should keep me busy for quite some time.

More about the garden - Spring...again?

2011-08-15T20:09:00.001+01:00

I know that the weather this year has been all over the place, with freezing Winter, boiling hot Spring and now damp and cool Summer, but I think my plants have been totally confused too. Above is a Spring flowering clematis, happily putting out new flowers ( I took the photo this morning) and below shows my Magnolia liliflora Susan flowering again as well. I know this can happen with some plants, but it has come as a bit of a surprise. Still, if it means enjoying more flowers, I am very happy to see out of season blooms.

Below, just to reassure me that it is still Summer, my hardy annual Morning Glory put out this gorgeous flower this morning. The flowers only last one day, but when the colour is so astonishingly beautiful, I'm not going to complain. Moreover, these plants were a gift from Mum who grew them from seed, so are doubly welcome. They are a member of the bindweed family, but a very well behaved one which will never become a weed or a nuisance.

My garden (though very small) is always a source of endless fascination for me and I enjoy photographing the plants and sharing the photos with you. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

Wildlife in the garden

2011-08-13T17:55:00.001+01:00

Apart from our cats, the occasional hedgehog and one year a toad, the wildlife we tend to see in the garden is from the insect world. This year, there haven't been many butterflies, probably due to the very cold temperatures last winter. I have noticed lots of hoverflies and the occasional bee, busily searching for food. The above photo shows a spider in the centre of the web, but what really attracted me to the image was the way the web appeared as though decorated with glistening raindrops, like pearls.

I bought the perennial lobelia above from a market stall this morning, as the colour appealed to me, being a lovely shade of blue/red. I put it in the garden, still in its pot, to allow it to become acclimatised and to allow me to decide where it should go. As I was looking at it, I noticed a bee and was lucky enough to have my camera with me at the time.

Finally, a Clematis Jackmanii Superba (and it has really been superb this year - probably the best I have ever seen it) with a hoverfly right in the centre. I love the richness of the colour with the purple/crimson bar in the centre of each petal and the way the petals look as though they have been made out of velvet.

I enjoy seeing wildlife in the garden and am pleased that I can do my bit to help the insects survive.

A successful plant (and thoughts about the weather)

2011-08-10T20:08:00.000+01:00

Excuse me for feeling a little pleased with myself due to my successful growing of the above plant, Cerinthe Major Purpurescens. I didn't plant the seeds until the beginning of June and they were saved from last year's flowers. However, they have been steadily growing too big and were desperate to be in the border, or a larger container at the least. I kept seeing them and thinking, "I must get round to planting them", but never quite managing to do it. Finally, on Monday, I decided enough was enough and planted them (rather unceremoniously, it has to be said). They are quite sprawly in their habit but I like the combination of the glaucous green leaves with white ridges and the deep purple bell-like flowers. Another benefit is that they are very attractive to bees - I think their common name is honey wort, which may explain why bees like them. They are hardy annuals and hopefully I'll be able to save seeds for next year too. They are also filling some gaps in the borders and help to keep the colour going for a while yet.
Incidentally, so far this summer has been 'typically English' with baking temperatures one day then downpours the next... Still, what would we talk about if we didn't have the weather?

More Trials and Tribulations of Jewellery Making ( and my thoughts on creativity)

2011-08-08T14:21:00.001+01:00

Here are my latest attempts at jewellery making from yesterday. I had gone up to a colleague's house (the colleague who I do felting with occasionally) and as she has recently started jewellery making, we thought it would be nice to sit and chat while we made jewellery. She got on really well, dismantling a pearl necklace to create two more and then creating an amethyst nuggets and pearls necklace. My afternoon was less productive! Initially I started by taking a blue lace agate necklace apart to create a simpler design, but my wrap loops went wrong and somehow, whatever I did wasn't quite right. So, I tried a Botswana Agate bracelet instead. The design was fine but I kept making it far too big. In the end, I brought it home and tried again. (I realised when trying to make it that I didn't have my glasses - this could have been the reason things wouldn't go right for me!) Eventually, I was happy with it and I made some earrings to go with it (see above). I think that the markings on the stones are absolutely beautiful and I shall enjoy wearing them.

Deciding that I had better continue while things seemed to be going better (and I did have my glasses!), I made this amazonite bracelet which has rounds and one large chunky piece at the front. It also has two smaller fluorite beads near the clasp. This is a calming colour I find and it is rapidly becoming one of my favourite stones. I just need some clothes to go with it...
I decided that I wasn't in the right mood to be creative yesterday afternoon, and that is why things didn't go right for me (the fact that I couldn't see that well probably didn't help either). Note to self: go with the creative urge when it hits you and give up and do something else when the muse isn't there!

Nature's Bounty (albeit three weeks early!)

2011-08-01T15:40:00.000+01:00

We went for a walk today along a path by a stream and found a large number of blackberry bushes just waiting for us to pick the fruit. Judging from the scratches they gave us, perhaps they weren't so happy that we took the fruit, but that seems to be the pay off. However, we left plenty for other people and wildlife and there were lots more berries ripening up too. As we have had a blackberry and apple crumble last week, and the weather here is now incredibly warm and humid (ugh!), I feel we should make blackberry sauce to have with ice cream. To that end, Chris is looking into the costs of ice cream makers too, just in case we want to start making our own ice cream, sorbets or frozen yogurts.

While I was taking a photo of our haul, Ginny showed a keen interest in the bowl, but soon decided it was not something she could eat. I think the blackberries are about three weeks earlier than last year and it must be due to the mad weather we have had this year. I hope that I shall soon be tucking into ice cream and blackberry sauce...mmm!

Latest book purchases

2011-07-31T13:52:00.000+01:00

My latest additions to the ever-expanding library of books that Chris and I possess are the above - from Renaissance to 19th Century art in two steps! However, I am really drawn to both, for the serenity and beauty of Fra Angelico to the colour and brush strokes of the Impressionists.

Summer's Day by Berthe Morisot c. 1879

I really like the blues and greens used in this painting although it is a shame the centre of the book cuts the figure in half. The obvious brush strokes also work well to describe the surface of the water.

A close up of the water reveals the zig-zag brush strokes the artist used.

Bar at the Folies-Bergere by Jean-Louis Forain 1878

The brilliance of the colours used appeals to me and again, the close up shows the overlaying of lines in the background.

The close up of the marks shows how the artist overlaid many different colours to give this effect.

Fra Angelico's work seems much more serene but uses the same colours as the picture above albeit four hundred years before. I love the deep lapis blues in this work "The Coronation of the Virgin" (around C15th) and the brilliance of the colours really shines out, even after several centuries. It is tempera on panel.

A close up of the bottom right hand corner shows the perspective as well as the amazingly bright colours.
The Impressionist book ties in very well to the current series on BBC2 on Saturday nights, "The Impressionists - Painting and Revolution" presented by the very enthusiastic Waldemar Januzczak. It is a rather gimmicky programme using lots of extraneous visuals, but the commentary is intelligent and I am enjoying it despite the gimmicks.
link to iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012rvkl

Latest jewellery creations

2011-07-25T19:33:00.000+01:00

Here are some of my latest jewellery designs - really, it is a matter of having a play with all the gemstones I have amassed (in a very short time, it has to be said!) Above is a lapis lazuli bracelet, with a gold heart that Chris found in one of the boxes of beads we have.

This bracelet has amethyst (my favourite) with labradorite and black jasper. The patterns on the black jasper are incredible and I am going to make a bracelet just using them.

Finally, a bracelet made with amazonite, turquoise chips and labradorite, and earrings with amazonite and aquamarine. The loop earrings were a result of me having some beading thread left over from a bracelet and trying a weaving technique. I am still practising with crimping and have found that the crimping pliers I have are not very effective unless there are a lot of strands to crimp. For less than about four strands, I use my normal pliers which seem to be working. I am really enjoying making my own jewellery.

Granny's garden at Crayke (part two)

2011-07-24T17:17:00.000+01:00

"At the top of the hill outside the greenhouse was a small rose garden. The roses were mostly pink and dark red. Father liked a dark red rose best. He pruned them himself and I used to enjoy watching him.

The square was the sunniest and most sheltered part. Nurse used sometimes to send us to walk round the square on a winter's morning if there was no time for a walk. The centre of the square was occupied by an asparagus bed with peas, beans and carrots in season and a border of flowers round, sweet peas, gypsophila, shirley poppies and love-in-a-mist. There were also some frames for early lettuces and seedlings. Below the square was a bed for spring greens and radishes and parsley and a large blackcurrant bush. Then came the main potato patch. All down beside the potatoes were steps with logs of wood for treads. Below the potatoes were cabbages, onions, leeks, celery and marrows. A small gate led from here into the field. The field ran steeply downhill but at the bottom was a level lawn where we played bowls, croquet or tennis.
Two fine oak trees grew near the lawn. One was easy to climb and provided good seats. The other oak was very old and had a stout trunk. The roller stood up against it and by climbing onto the handle, Margie and I could be hoisted up to the first intersection where the branches spread out. Room could be made for all five of us to sit at the top of the trunk.

We each had a garden of our own near the house, where we grew pansies, mignonette, forget-me-nots, candytuft and such easy growing flowers. Father had a special place for primroses and was very fond of his blue primroses. Every year he would arrange his plants to form the initials of one of the family. How proud I was when it came to my turn and I saw E.M.W in primroses!
We had a swing and a see-saw under the chestnut trees. I was afraid of the see-saw as I once got my leg pinched when I sat in the middle. Sometimes all five of us climbed on the swing together and pretended we were Huguenots escaping from our enemies, or Cavaliers being chased by Roundheads. The swing went up and up and faster and faster until at last we reached safety."

The garden and field were sold off some time around the 1960s and I believe houses were built there. The garden obviously had a huge impact on Granny as she could remember it all so vividly. She was extremely knowledgeable about plants and flowers, particularly wild flowers, and sometimes would collect us from the bus stop after school and point out all the different flowers we walked past on the way home. I am sure she would be very pleased that I love gardening so much.

Granny's garden at Crayke

2011-07-23T14:54:00.002+01:00

I haven't posted any of Granny's memoirs for quite some time, so, to fit in with the garden theme of my blog at the moment, here is an exerpt about the garden at Crayke.
" The garden at Crayke was a perpetual delight to us. We had a good gardener called Taylor, who, with the help of his son Tom, kept the lawns, the greenhouse, the vegetable garden, the flowers and the fruit trees all in good order. We grew enough vegetables and potatoes to keep us all the year round, and usually had plenty of apples and pears. Taylor must have worked very hard. He pumped all the water for the house as well. We had a WC but no bathroom. There was an earth closet in the garden and another for the maids, in the yard.
There were window boxes at the front windows filled with double pink creeping geraniums and lobelias. By the drawing room steps there was a jasmine plant and the scent of white jasmine always takes me back to Crayke. Lilacs and laburnums grew round the side lawn where we often played croquet. There were plenty of trees in the garden which we could climb and others, like the big elm trees, which had no low branches.

The garden was laid out in terraces down the hillside. The top terrace was wide enough to skip along and bowl our hoops. There were hyacinths growing in the border and one year Mother hid my Easter egg amongst the hyacinths. Berberis grew on the bank above... Along the lower terrace were the gooseberry bushes and on the bottom one, the strawberries, but they never did very well. Beyond the strawberries were rhubarb and horseradish, and two lovely lilac bushes."

It does sound an idyllic garden to grow up with and there will be more about this garden in my next post.

Iris - final photos

2011-07-18T10:22:00.000+01:00

What a difference one day makes, and here is the proof. The iris buds have opened to reveal the most beautiful deep purple flowers with splashes of yellow at the base of the outer petals.

The other amazing thing about these bulbs was that they were an absolute bargain at a pound shop - only £1.00 for 25 bulbs. Not all of them will flower, but most have produced leaves and several have produced flower stems, so I am very happy.
I also have more courgettes on the way and a few more beans too (although the slugs and snails are turning the leaves into stumps), so all in all, my vegetable growing hasn't been a total disaster.

Iris and Gladioli progress

2011-07-17T13:26:00.000+01:00

I know my blog posts have become rather gardening-heavy just at the moment, possibly because things are growing quickly and the garden is changing every day. You can just see a purple petal starting to emerge in the photo I took yesterday.

The gladioli flowers have opened and there is a pink pattern inside, although the outer petals are more of a salmon/apricot than white.

Here is the iris as it was this morning - showing more of the deep purple/blue flower that is going to bloom in the next day or so. It goes well with the geranium that is sprawling all over the top of the pot.

The gladioli this morning, with another flower open, and a few more still to come.

Modest garden success

2011-07-14T21:02:00.001+01:00

I have been experimenting with some new plants this year and am finally seeing some results, albeit in a modest way. However, even modest success is really exciting for me! Above is a lovely bud from some Dutch iris bulbs I planted a month or so ago. I thought all that I had managed to grow were some very lovely green strap-like leaves and was ready to chalk it up to experience about impulse buying, but a little more patience and I have been rewarded with the promise of flowers. Once they come out, I'll post a photo.

More impulse buys, this time dwarf gladioli (not a plant I was particularly enamoured with), but I was prepared to give them a try. I do have a couple of stems almost in flower, but most of the bulbs/corms/rhizomes have just produced leaves. I think the flower has a pink strip on the inside of the petals, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Here is evidence of my second attempt at growing something to eat in the garden. Chris has mentioned (just the odd once or twice!) that he likes things you can eat, so I do grow chives and mint, but not a lot else in that line. So, this year, I thought I would try again. My previous attempts with carrots and shallots convinced me that I did not have what it took to grow veg. This year, I bought seeds of Courgette 'Midnight' and Runner Bean 'Hestia', both developed for container growing. The seeds grew really well and I planted them into large pots. I watered and fed them, but nothing much seemed to be happening. Then, flowers appeared on the beans and then on the courgettes. You can imagine my delight! Unfortunately, the courgette flowers just kept falling off. I then discovered that these were the male flowers and the female ones take a little longer to grow. I fed the plants again and found an actual courgette, much to my surprise. So, I am feeling encouraged, especially as the beans are also starting to develop. If nothing else, at least I can say I have grown some veg this year!

Hydrangea 'Avant Garde' progress report

2011-07-11T15:26:00.000+01:00

Here is my Hydrangea 'Avant Garde', looking as though it has settled in to my garden (although it is still in a pot.) It has put on quite a bit of growth and has developed a flower bud, so it looks as though the guarantee of flowers in September is going to work.

The leaves are huge and a beautiful glossy green. It is on the shady side of the path, so gets a bit of morning sun, but is then in shade for the rest of the day. So far, so good. Once it is in flower, I'll post another photo.

Ken Dodd - a national treasure!

2011-07-09T13:21:00.001+01:00

Chris and I went to see Ken Dodd at the local theatre last week. It was absolutely packed with not a spare seat to be seen. We knew that his shows tend to last quite a long time, so were prepared to be there until the early hours of the morning. In the event, this show started at 7.15pm and he let us go at 12.00 midnight! We certainly got our money's worth.
He is an amazing entertainer and told us that he was celebrating 55 years in show business. He sang, told many, many jokes which had the audience hooting with laughter, and even included some ventriloquism with a 'Diddy Man' character called 'Dicky Mint'. I think he could have quite happily continued entertaining us for longer as he had incredible energy and enthusiasm and showed no sign of flagging (we did, towards the end of the second half).
It seemed that a large percent of the audience were mature, because they are the ones who know him best, but I did spot a few people younger than me, which was encouraging. It really was a masterclass in joke telling and in entertainment generally and I am very pleased that we had the opportunity to see him in action.
(photo from Daily Mail)

Plant combinations

2011-07-04T14:51:00.000+01:00

I just thought I would share a couple of lovely plant combinations I noticed on my daily wander round the garden. Above is a lovely trio of climbing rose 'New Dawn', Clematis 'Perle D'Azur' (flowering really well this year, not sure why, but very nice anyway) and Jasmine 'Clotted Cream'. The jasmine and rose also have the added benefit of fragrance too.

Here is Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' with Clematis 'Arabella' to the left and Clematis 'Etoile Violette' on the trellis at the back. The Hydrangea has gone completely mad this year and has a huge number of flowers and is in danger of taking over the garden. It is a beautiful plant though, so I just let it grow where it wants to.

Mrs Gaskell - finished!

2011-07-02T21:37:00.001+01:00

I have finally finished this biography of Mrs Gaskell and as I had been less than enthusiastic about it in a previous post, I thought it warranted another post. Yes, it was extremely detailed and written in a scholarly way, as I said before. There was a wealth of source material, used effectively and intelligently, and the author obviously liked her subject immensely. There was plenty of analysis about each of Mrs Gaskell's novels which was very interesting, and as one of my favourite novels is Wives and Daughters, the analysis made me want to immediately re-read it. However, initially, I found it hard going but was determined to finish it. Having made it to the photographs in the middle of the book, things started to become much more interesting for me. Charlotte Bronte entered Mrs Gaskell's life and also various Pre-Raphaelite artists and eminent poets and writers of the day. This made me much more interested and indeed, I started to really enjoy the book from that point onward. My favourite part is a description of a meeting with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite artist and poet, who they "got to know pretty well".

"...always excepting the times when ladies with beautiful hair came in, when he was like the cat that turned into a lady, who jumped out of bed and ran after a mouse. It did not signify what we were talking about or how agreeable I was; if a particular kind of reddish brown, crepe wavy hair came in, he was away in a moment, struggling for an introduction to the owner of the said head of hair. He is not as mad as a March hare, but hair-mad."

There is also a lovely description of the possible origin of the word 'scrattling' by one of Mrs Gaskell's daughters (maybe Stella Gibbons knew about this and so included it in Cold Comfort Farm).
"Some cousins of Mama's very often had an old lady staying with them who was most inquisitive and if the cousins had been out of the room or were away from her for some time, on their return this old lady would make a point of saying "Well Mary and what have you been doing?" Mary told her, but in time this grew very tiresome, so they determined to invent a word which was to mean anything they chose. So the next time the old lady asked her Everlasting question of "Well Mary and what have you been doing?" "Oh," said Mary, "I have been scrattling". The old lady never liked to betray her ignorance of this word so she said, "Oh, scrattling have you and a very nice employment it is for you."
The second half of the book definitely redeemed it in my view and I am glad I decided to stick with it and finish it.

My first jewellery making project

2011-06-27T19:51:00.000+01:00

Above you can see my first attempt at jewellery making, using some of the gemstones I have been buying recently. The stones are amethyst, fluorite, black shell and labradorite and I used the weaving technique to create the pattern. I am really pleased with the result and have worn the bracelet and earrings at work. I need a clasp for the necklace and then I shall wear that too. It took me a few goes to get the bracelet the right length as I am not keen on bracelets that drape all over my hand and which have to be shaken back to the correct place. I really enjoyed putting the gems together and making the pieces as the weaving was very therapeutic to do, although the threading required me to wear my glasses!
I have also ordered some blue chalcedony, more (darker) labradorite, botswana agate and larger amethyst stones and I am considering a final order (for now) of the aforementioned clasps, more botswana agate, some jade, some aquamarine and maybe even some tanzanite. Then I need to make lots of pieces. Somehow, I think this may become a bit of an obsession!

Gardeners' World Live 2011 (part three)

2011-06-26T18:06:00.001+01:00

This was a stunning display of floristry, vegetable growing and artistry by the National Farmers' Union, Waitrose and UK Horticulture where the colours seamlessly blended into the next. All the flowers, fruit and vegetables were produced by British Growers.

A close up view of part of the white display.

White gradually merging with yellow.

Fruit and vegetables were also included, arranged in beautiful patterns to complement the flowers.

The red area, which included tomatoes, peppers and lettuces. This whole display made a huge impact and won a very well-deserved gold medal.

And finally, another garden design, but this one has plants made from paper. It looked very convincing from a distance, and it was only as you got closer to it that the truth dawned. It was a great example of the versatility of paper and was by Suzie McLoughlin, the paper artist whose work we saw at the hub at Sleaford in the Spring.
All in all, this was a great day out!

Gardeners' World Live 2011 (part two)

2011-06-21T16:24:00.001+01:00

Inside the Floral Marquee was a mass of colour. The diascias above were a beautiful shape and a good example of what can be achieved when you know what you are doing!

The pelagoniums (or geraniums as they are commonly called) were really bright and vivid. I bought a small plant of one of the cerise pink ones at the centre right (Penny Dixon) as I couldn't resist the colour.

The rocket-like spires of lupins were amazing and elegant and the colours were blended together with an expert eye.

Of course, I had to include clematis as it is one of my favourite plants. The above display won a gold medal and it was well deserved. If only my clematis looked as good as these.

And finally for this post, more elegant spires of colour, this time, delphiniums. I do admire these in other people's gardens, but have had no luck with them in my own due to slugs and snails. As they take a good deal of time and effort to look this good, I'm probably better to continue admiring them from afar.

Gardeners' World Live 2011 (part one)

2011-06-20T16:31:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely time at Gardeners' World Live at the NEC, Birmingham on Saturday, with my sister, my sister-in-law and a friend I used to work with at school. We are all keen gardeners and all had a wonderful time, looking at the displays, show gardens and all the retail therapy opportunities. The garden above was a riot of colour, called "Remember the Dream" and designed by Yvonne Matthews for Macmillan Cancer Support. The vibrant colours really appealed to me, even though I wouldn't necessarily include all of them in my own garden. I would probably have painted the obelisks a paler shade or left them natural, but giving them such a bright colour made them prominent.

More beautiful colours.

This display made me smile - beds and borders indeed!

"The Bodgery" was a wonderfully evocative garden, showing the English woodland and the planting therein. It was designed by Chris Myers and inspired when he met a Bodger in his local wood. A Bodger was someone who used a pole lathe (seen here on the left) to create wooden pieces which were then turned into elements for use by the local chairmakers. The Bodger didn't make a finished chair himself, so gradually, any unfinished job became known as a 'bodged job'. Unfortunately, this term nowadays means an unfinished job which has been done in a slapdash or wrong way, so is not very complimentary.

For such a small garden, this really had an air of tranquility and peacefulness, in the middle of a very busy show.

This was more of a concept garden, not really designed to sit in, more to look at. It was called "Simple Elements" and included Fire, Earth, Air and Water (suggested by the mirrors, grasses and blue mulch). I wanted to sit on the cube seats as they looked so inviting, but sadly, all we could do was look.
The next installment will follow tomorrow - amazing colours and textures.

Latest reading

2011-06-14T16:31:00.000+01:00

I realised yesterday that I haven't shared my latest books with you, so this post will hopefully rectify that. As ever, I have several books on the go, depending on whether I am at work or home and how much time I have available to read in. I must admit that the biography of Elizabeth Gaskell is one that is taking me a long time to read, probably due to the immense amount of detailed information included in it and the slightly more 'academic' form of writing. I am determined to finish it though, so will keep going. I have just started The Remains of the Day and The Big House both of which are intriguing in their own way, and both of which I am enjoying very much. Behind Closed Doors was a treat to myself as I had seen Professor Vickery's series and wanted to know more. The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins is a book I have read but this copy was a total bargain at WHSmith yesterday - only 50 pence! I couldn't leave it there, could I?

I am also awaiting One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes which should be with me next week, so have plenty to be getting on with in any spare moments when I am not gardening, felt making or jewellery making!

Open Gardens

2011-06-13T20:07:00.001+01:00

Yes, dear readers, more garden photos. However, these are not from my garden but from various gardens I saw yesterday on an extremely wet Open Gardens day at my Mum's village. I did get absolutely soaked, but it was worth it. Looking round gardens is always interesting to me as I enjoy seeing how other people use plants. The garden above was beautifully cared for, with not a weed in sight. The owner told me that they had lost a lot of plants over the winter so had been re-planting through this season so far. I liked all the trees the owner had planted - birches are so elegant and don't cast too much shade.

This combination of orange red hot pokers and deep blue delphiniums managed to sing out despite the downpour.

I don't know the name of the tree in the photo above, but I was immediately attracted to the rosettes of needles and the brilliance of the colour.

Geranium Magnificum appeared in most of the gardens and was flowering happily under this tree.

This raised bed using railway sleepers gave a splash of bright colour to this garden, again, beautifully cared for.

A lovely herbaceous bed, with roses, aquilegia, cosmos, nepeta, hemerocallis and a ceanothus - very English Country Garden planting.

The owners of this garden had given it a taste of Japan and had trained this conifer's branches to hang down like a lovely living curtain, giving glimpses of the planting behind.
Having visited all the gardens, we then enjoyed a well-earned cup of tea and piece of cake at the church. If it had been a sunny day, the village would have been heaving with visitors, but as it was, we did see a few other brave souls venturing out which was encouraging. The gardens were open to raise funds for the church, so however much money was raised, it was for a very good cause.
The only problem with looking at other gardens is that once home, all the problems in your own garden become very obvious. I am lucky that I have lots of lovely plants, and also lucky that I don't have the pressure of opening my garden for charity!

Mystery Poppy - solved!

2011-06-11T21:41:00.000+01:00

The mystery of the poppy is now solved as you can see. I had hoped it might have been 'Black Peony' but that was not to be, as the poppies have turned out to be the common or garden purple variety.

They are still beautiful in their own way, with the crinkled, ruffled silky petals and the dark purple patterns at the centre. One other benefit is that being single flowers, they will be more attractive to bees. I can't really complain as they were totally free!

Roses and Clematis

2011-06-07T16:50:00.000+01:00

More highlights from the garden and despite the lack of decent rain, the roses and clematis are doing well. Another of my favourite roses, Rosa Mundi, looking fantastic with a few drops of rain on the petals. The raspberry ripple swirls on the petals make each flower an original as no two are the same. It is also one of the oldest roses still in existence.

A relatively new Clematis - Filigree - which I bought last year from QVC and a Raymond Evison introduction. The two small plants survived the awful winter and I planted them together in a terracotta pot earlier this year. They only grow about 12 inches in height and are happily growing through an upturned wire hanging basket as a support and are starting to trail slightly over the pot which is very attractive. The flowers are an unusual silvery grey/lilac and open out with darker stamens as you can see from the older flower below.

Mystery Colour Poppies

2011-06-06T19:02:00.001+01:00

These self seeded poppies have suddenly sprung up in the garden - the ones in the photo above are growing in between the bricks in the path, and the others are in a pot of mint. I grew some gorgeous 'Black Peony' annual poppies last year, but I don't know whether these are that variety, or a different interloper.

I like the glaucous grey/green foliage of the plants and the delicate stems with their nodding buds. I shall watch with interest to find out what colour they are.

On a less happy note, my poor clematis macropetala which flowered very well earlier in the year has had a nasty outbreak of brown scale insect all up the stems. It was my fault for not noticing sooner, but the insects were well camouflaged on the stems and it was only the browning of some of the leaves that made me notice. I have tried to remove as many insects as I can (yuck!), pruned out the worst affected stems and have sprayed with a washing up solution in the vain hope it might help. I shall give it a good feed and keep an eye on it (and on my many other clematis plants). What Mother Nature gives with one hand, she takes away with the other!

A new hobby - Warning, it is addictive!

2011-06-04T13:42:00.001+01:00

This is where my new hobby (Chris says it is on its way to becoming an obsession) of jewellery making all began. I have always loved jewellery, especially earrings and am usually on the lookout for new ones to add to my ever expanding collection wherever we go. I saw some faceted amethyst and silver ones on a local craft stall, and bought them because I hadn't seen faceted amethyst before, and because they were gorgeous! A couple of weeks ago, I was idly channel flicking and came across jewellery maker (also a website http://www.jewellerymaker.com/) which is a shopping channel for gemstones and jewellery making supplies. I have quite quickly become au fait with beading thread, crimp beads, toggle clasps, jump rings, shepherd hooks and all the other vocabulary required. Gemstones, shopping, beautiful colours and textures - I was hooked! So, my first purchase was faceted amethyst beads and silver grey pearls (see above).

My most recent purchase was a mix of stones including labradorite which is the grey stone above, but which in certain lights has a flash of blue or cream or pink shades inside the stone (called a schiller, in case you are interested).

The whole of my latest purchase, from left, labradorite, black shell squares, lapis lazuli puffy coins, two strand of green fluorite, three strands of picasso jasper. The presenter said the fluorite is known for its fluorescent qualities in certain lights and I must admit, I wasn't convinced, but looking at the photo above, perhaps it does have this quality after all!

I love the fact that I can make my own bracelets and earrings (well, once I get to grips with the techniques). Lapis Lazuli sounds so exotic and I think it is amazing that I can wear jewellery made from a stone that was precious in Egyptian times and was ground down to create the vibrant blue used in medieval books of hours or renaissance paintings.

The picasso jasper reminds me of stones on a beach, especially at Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast, where I spent many happy holidays. I'll probably use the grey/blue stones for myself and perhaps some of the chocolate brown colours. It is odd how I have become so interested in such a short space of time - if I feel any of my creations are worthy of being put on future blog posts, I'll include them. Now I just need to go and have a bit of a practice...

SMILE exhibition

2011-06-02T10:16:00.000+01:00

On Monday, a rainy bank holiday, Chris and I ventured out to The Harley Gallery, where we saw the exhibition, SMILE, which had lots of quirky craft pieces on show http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/ - quirky really appeals to Chris. I loved the clever automata by Robert Race, constructed from driftwood and using stones as the balance weights. Of course, like most people, I couldn't resist turning the handle and watching the figures move.

I was delighted to see some lovely textile pieces by makers I am aware of; Janet Bolton (above) and Linda Miller (below). I like the handmade quality of Janet Bolton's work and the lovely machine embroidery pictures of Linda Miller's with the gorgeous shades of blue.

Lucy Casson's mini upholsterers were busy at work on a rather dilapidated chair, and other creatures were making good use of 1950s furniture. These pieces repaid close inspection and certainly did make us smile.

I also found a vision of myself in a few years, possibly having come into some money and living in a larger house in the country. This was 'Flo' by Craig Mitchell, designed as a vase, but without the flowers in the exhibition, which I felt was unfortunate, because the flowers demonstrated why she had the slightly odd hugging posture. There is something typically British about the stoicism on Flo's face, with her headscarf, her apron over her coat and her green wellies. On second thoughts, I'm not sure I'll be embracing a headscarf any time soon!

The gallery is in the Welbeck estate, with Welbeck Abbey at its heart, and it once had twenty two acres of kitchen garden. There is a large garden centre next to the gallery and a cafe and various craft studios too. The house and estate once belonged to the Duke of Portland and there are some items of silver, ceramic and furniture on show in the little museum. I really enjoyed reading some of the old recipes and looking at various accounts on show, including a bill for a stay by King William in 1695. It was a really fascinating trip which we both enjoyed very much, and surprisingly, I managed not to buy any plants at the garden centre!

Ginny on the pot

2011-05-30T17:22:00.000+01:00

I was out in the garden yesterday, busily potting on a buddleia and a couple of box bushes, and within two minutes of me being out there, Ginny came strolling down the garden, jumped onto her favourite pot and surveyed my activity with a knowing stare. She then posed very obligingly and even looked at the camera for me. Both cats enjoy watching me gardening, and really love to be in the garden when we are out there. However, I do have to protect some of my lovely plants from Ginny's claws ( I am sure she purposely chooses my best plants) as you can see from the chicken wire wrapped around the trunk of the magnolia in the photo above. This pot is one of Ginny's favourite places as it is high enough to give her that feeling of superiority which she loves, and also big enough for her to sun herself on.

My favourite Chelsea Garden 2011

2011-05-28T17:20:00.000+01:00

The above photo shows my favourite Chelsea garden from this year's show, "The Skyshade Garden", which won a silver flora medal for the designer, Marney Hall. Actually, it was the gorgeous Hares sculpture that I loved, with the naturalistic planting around it. I only caught a glimpse of the sculpture twice through all the coverage, but looked on the BBC website and there was the photo.
This is how the garden is described:
"This is an eco-friendly office and garden for a lover of plants and wildlife. The office, made out of sustainable materials and powered by photovoltaic panels on the roof sits in the corner enjoying the view out into the garden and its variety of habitats.
A stream runs through the garden and is planted with water-loving plants which are also good for insect nectar sources. The movement of the water through the stream also creates sound in the garden to make the space and office feel tranquil and cut out external noise such as roads.
A meadow, created from year-old turf with extras sown in (like ox-eye daisy, salad burnet, meadow saxifrage, horse-shoe vetch and bird's foot trefoil) sits in the centre of the garden with a wildlife border to one side and a woodland to the other. The wildlife border contains plants, which from Marney's own observations, are great for wildlife. The woodland is planted with Swedish Whitebeam, Rowan and Silver Birches and underplanted with shrubs and native forest floor plants.
A herb area is dressed with gravel designed to soak up heat and attract butterflies who prefer to lay eggs on plants in warmer areas (so the larvae develop quickly and have better chances at survival). The herbs spill from the garden onto the path waiting to be crushed under foot, filling the air with scent attractive to wildlife and humans alike."

I did like areas of planting from lots of the gardens, but no one garden really grabbed my interest.

The RBC New Wild Garden by Nigel Dunnett (awarded a silver-gilt flora medal) also had some lovely planting and a very clever use for a storage container. I particularly liked the trees and the insect habitats created in the stone walls - artistic and useful. One day, I shall actually visit the show, just once, to say I have been. In the meantime, I shall continue to watch the coverage and dream about my bigger garden and how beautiful it will be...(probably with a Hares sculpture in it too.)

A (small) bouquet of roses

2011-05-23T14:03:00.000+01:00

I know, more roses, but I had to cut these yesterday because they kept trying to attack me when I walked down the path. I was on a mission to re-pot my large Magnolia 'Susan', which I had been meaning to do for about three years at least. I have had to massively root prune the poor thing and I'm not sure I haven't overdone it. It may be a fatal re-pot, but I am trying to remain positive and am anxiously checking it. I did give it three watering cans full of feed and water once it was in a bigger pot, so I am hoping it will survive. Anyway, I digress.

The roses are (left) 'Jacques Cartier' and (right) 'Geoff Hamilton'. Rose 'Geoff Hamilton' has ball shaped blooms which don't hold up well to being rained on, but that hasn't been a problem this year. It does have a lovely scent, which is wafting around the kitchen. I have about twelve roses in my very small garden - when I get my larger garden (one day, hopefully when I am still physically able to look after it), I shall have lots and lots of roses. 'Gertrude Jekyll', 'Molineux', 'Margaret Merrill', 'William Lobb', 'New Dawn', 'Constance Spry', 'Rosa Mundi', 'Mary Rose', 'Geoff Hamilton', 'Tuscany Superb', 'Crocus', 'The Generous Gardener', etc., ... one day...

My new Hydrangea 'Avant Garde'

2011-05-22T20:58:00.000+01:00

My new Hydrangea has arrived as you can see from the photos. It looks a healthy plant, with big glossy green leaves and a substantial stem, all of which bodes well. I was going to put it into a tub, but decided to pot it on into a larger plant pot first, to give it a chance to get used to the conditions for a week or two, and to start rooting into the new compost.

The size of the leaves indicates it will grow into a big plant, but I'll worry about that as and when it happens. I shall keep a photographic record of its progress and post the photos now and again so that you can see how it develops (and whether it flowers, probably not before September). I really enjoy getting new plants for the garden.

The Shadow Line

2011-05-21T17:05:00.000+01:00

The Shadow Line is a fantastic piece of drama on at the moment on BBC2 (Thursdays at 9.00pm and we are up to part 3/7). It is a story of a gangland murder and all the people involved, both police and criminals and has an amazing cast. The really great thing is that you question all the characters and they are all ambiguous to a degree. There are no easily defined 'goodies versus baddies' here. It is such a tense programme that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The stand out portrayal amongst many for me is Rafe Spall's unhinged and unpredictable 'Jay Stratton' who unnerves, threatens and makes me jump every time! It does have disturbing scenes, but that is to be expected with a story of this kind. If it doesn't win a huge number of awards, there is no justice in the world!
Link to iplayer and more info - see it for yourself, if you haven't managed to yet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0111dqc
Chris and I will be glued to it in the coming weeks...

Garden Highlights

2011-05-17T13:40:00.001+01:00

Having just had a wander round the garden, I thought I would share some of my favourite things flowering at the moment (about three weeks early, due to the odd weather). First is Clematis 'Rebecca' whose bright petals make a great contrast with the foliage colour. It is using the post from the bird table to climb up and seems to quite like it there, despite the odd splashing of the petals from the birds.

Next we have one of my very favourite roses, 'Gertrude Jekyll', who has appeared on this blog more than once, but every time I see a flower, I think it deserves another mention. I had to hold the flower up due to its weight after a shower of rain. (And it has the most delicious scent too).

A rather less than beautiful shrub, and a new purchase of a Blueberry 'Goldtraube', as I lost one of my two very straggly plants over the winter. This plant is a much better shape than mine, and has lots of flowers. About five minutes after putting it in the garden, I saw a bee happily visiting the flowers. It would be nice to actually grow a berry - so far that has eluded me!

Geranium 'Magnificum' and very well named. It has been moved twice and hadn't flowered in the two years since I bought it. This year, it is obviously feeling happier and has put out these lovely purple flowers with darker veining.

Finally, a lime and white flower from Hydrangea Endless Summer 'The Bride'. I bought three plants, this one, a blue and a pink, this time last year from a very well known shopping channel (QVC, just in case you are wondering) and just left them in the shelter of a brick wall over winter, so thought they might not do terribly well. They were only very small plants, but did look very healthy. I gave my sister the blue one and kept the others. Well, a year on and this is the result and I am thrilled with them. They are bursting with health and both have lovely flower buds and flowers. I have recently ordered a new variety called 'Avant Garde' which has one massive flower and am waiting for that to be delivered. I'll take photos of it as it grows and see if it does what was promised. If it is anything like these two, I won't be disappointed.

Latest tulip felt piece

2011-05-16T14:24:00.000+01:00

This cropped image of a Black Parrot tulip was the inspiration for the latest piece of felt. I knew it would be an abstract version of the image, as I didn't want an exact copy. I was more interested in the colour blending and the swirling shapes.

The piece almost ready for felting - I added in some more dark colours to try to give a feeling of depth and also added silk threads in various colours to add interest and shine.

The finished piece, with the added threads and more definition given to the swirls. I am pleased with the colour blends and the swirling pattern. I am considering a bit of embellishment to the surface, perhaps with some beads or sequins, or embroidery, or both. I really enjoy exploring just what I can do and what effects I can create, especially as I am never sure exactly what the finished piece will look like.

A Success!

2011-05-14T15:44:00.001+01:00

I have been so excited over the last couple of weeks to see my lovely Oriental Poppy 'Checkers' in bud. You may feel that this is a slightly odd thing, but I have had a long relationship with this plant. I have grown it from seed and nurtured it, first on the windowsill, then potting it on and worrying about whether it would survive the winters. Once it was big enough, I planted it out in the border and then worried about whether it was in the right place, then whether it would survive last winter (which it obviously did!). Then, this Spring, I worried about whether it was too dry and whether it was growing and whether it would produce any buds. Now, perhaps, you can understand my excitement. (Looking at the buds, it bears a strong resemblance to 'Audrey 2' in the film "Little Shop of Horrors", but I won't be feeding it what Seymour had to!)
This morning, I went out in the garden, as I do, to have a good look at things and check on pests and diseases, and whether my pots need watering and was literally stopped in my tracks by an open flower.

It is absolutely beautiful, with dark purple blotches at the base of the petals and silky folded petals in a pure white. I know the flower won't last long, but I am so proud of my achievement, I had to immortalise it in a photo. (There are still another five buds on the plant, so hopefully I'll be enjoying it for a little while longer.) What a fantastic start to the weekend.

Great Gardens of Italy

2011-05-10T17:23:00.000+01:00

The garden at Ninfa (from the Great Gardens of Italy book to accompany the series)

I have really enjoyed the BBC2 series "Monty Don's Italian Gardens". As this series followed straight on from Gardeners' World on a Friday night, I was in my element with an hour and a half of gardening. Prior to this series, I had always thought of Italian gardens as beautifully formal and green, green, green, with masses of topiary and the containment of nature as a huge advertisement of power. A lot of the gardens were an extension of the enormous houses and created by incredibly wealthy cardinals trying to become Pope. However, I now find that originally, the formal lines contained a riot of colour with planting which has not been continued down the years, so our view today is of only part of the gardens. I must admit to being very relieved about that. I do like the formal lines, but I need the floofy planting to go with it.
There were many gorgeous gardens featured in the series, but my absolute favourite was the garden at Ninfa. This is about 30Km south of Rome and was created around the ruins of a Medieval town. Monty himself described it as "the most romantic garden in the world" and even though I haven't seen it in the flesh, it looked magical on the programme. If I ever get the chance to go to Italy (I have been once but it was a school trip and didn't include any garden visits), I would love to visit Ninfa and some of the other inspiring places.
The last programme is available on iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b010y067/Monty_Dons_Italian_Gardens_The_Veneto_Lucca_and_The_Lakes/

Clematis and Geranium

2011-05-09T12:34:00.000+01:00

The above photo shows Clematis 'Crystal Fountain' which, although having been eaten (probably by a slug or snail) while in bud, has still managed to flower and look amazing. This is a clematis I have struggled with for a year or so as it looked really pathetic when I planted it, but it has finally repaid my patience.

This is Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower' which I bought from the fantastic nursery at Hall Farm last week. It is described as having 'violet blue' flowers which they are, but there is an almost luminous quality about the colour. It 'zings' out, especially in bright sunshine or even in shade. I think this is a woodland variety, but it will get some shade in my garden which it will like. I think hardy geraniums are one of my favourite plants as there are so many beautiful varieties and they are all pretty undemanding but look lovely in the border.
On a sadder note, I have finally sent my hardy fuchsias off to the great nursery in the sky. I had left them in the hope that they would grow, but no such luck. They had come through the previous winter, but the extreme temperatures for such a long time finally defeated them. I have also lost a grass (used to be called Stipa Arundinacea but is now Amenathele lessoniana or something like that!) and several other plants too. Still, that is the nature of gardening and it does gives me more planting opportunities. However, I think that any replacements will have to be tough, hardy and easy to look after!

Granny's childhood home at Crayke, Yorkshire

2011-05-08T13:56:00.000+01:00

"We went to Crayke (a small village in Yorkshire) in 1901 when I was three months old and stayed there until I was nineteen, so that all my formative years were spent there and it is nearly always to Crayke that I go back in my dreams.Crayke was a Crown living and Father was lucky to be offered it. Crayke stood on a hill overlooking the Vale of York. The road ran up steeply between two grassy slopes. Halfway up on the right was the well from which most of the village drew water. It had an arched stone roof but the side was open and the water must have been full of impurities. There was one epidemic of diphtheria while we were in the village."

"The Post Office and general stores was run by the B's. Mr B made and mended boots and shoes and Mrs B kept the shop. The H family were the carpenters and undertakers. Mr J H was the verger for many years and rarely missed a service...He rang the three bells, one rope in either hand and his foot in a loop for the third." Doesn't that conjure up a wonderful image?
"St Cuthbert's church stood on the top of the hill. It had a square tower and we used occasionally to climb up the worn stone steps which corkscrewed up to the first floor, where the three bells hung. Next there was a ladder to climb to the second floor and the ladder had then to be pulled up in order to reach the trap door at the top of the tower. On one occasion, the boys sent semaphore messages from the top of the tower to the foot of the hill.
" The Butcher, Mr K was a very prosperous farmer. He also kept the Durham Ox..he was a church warden.
A second small shop in Crayke was kept by Miss S and her two brothers H and C. They were the carriers of the village. The shop sold corn and meal, flour, dog biscuits and chicken food as well as sweets. One could get a half penny square of Fry's chocolate or a Fry's cream bar there. Miss S was a small, stout person with a round, pale face and her hair was done up in a bun on top of her head.
We saw very little of Mr G, the blacksmith, but could hear the clank of his hammer on the anvil from the Rectory garden.

Crayke Rectory

"Another outstanding family in the village were the G's. The eldest brother, A, had the farm at the foot of the hill and kept a herd of milking cows. His old mother lived at the farm and was the backbone of the family for many years. She came to church regularly with her grand-daughters as long as she was able. I remember going to see her at the farm when she was quite old. She sat by the fire in a rocking chair with a shawl round her shoulders and a cat or two beside her. The hearth-rug was made of pieces of coloured cloth.

Mr G was the village tailor. He made some Robin Hood costumes for the boys for a fancy dress party and a Puritan dress, cap and apron for Hilda Mary.

Our most remote parishioners was the M's. They lived nearly two miles away on the road to Orlston. Mr M...was a short, round man just like a kind dwarf in a fairy story. He has white whiskers all round his face and he wore a frock coat and a tall felt hat when he came to church. He was usually accompanied by several small brown-eyed boys and a little girl called Emily."

I was surprised to read about the number of amenities this small village had. Over the years, many small communities have lost these businesses, so now are left with just a pub and possibly shop/post office if you are lucky. Life then was much more self-contained, unlike today, where it is a necessity to have a car to travel to the local town or city for work and shops. The above photographs are all taken from Granny's album, but there is no clue as to the photographer.