How To Cure A Grump!

I'm not normally prone to grumps.  I actually have a reputation at work for being cheery and positive but this afternoon I had a bad case of the grumps.  Caused by the bad parking of a man outside my house as I arrived home from town.  By the time I had called said man back from down the road, explained the error of his ways to him and demanded asked politely that he re-park taking up the space of just one car instead of the 2 and 1/2  he was currently using, I was in grump zone.

After having tea and chocolate (Green and Blacks of course) I tackled my grump.  Here are the instructions should you have a grump that needs tackling too.

1.  Take some cheery fabric and a plain wooden bangle.

2.  Cut cheery fabric into strips and wrap round bangle.

3.  Take some variegated viscose thread and some pretty ribbon

4.  Wrap ribbon and thread over fabric

5.  Banish 'helpful' cat from the room and ignore the protests from the other side of the door (please note this step can be omitted if you don't have a similar helper!)

6.  Rummage through bead stash and stitch beads over joins on bangle (avoiding sticking blunt end of needle into your finger if at all possible - ouch).

7.  Sit back and admire the finished bangle.

Quite a productive way to cure a grump I think!  (I wonder if I could sell these and make money from a grump - now there's a thought!)

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Still Going Strong

It's not exactly peaceful in my house at the moment (I live in a terrace and next door is being re-roofed), and the garden isn't exactly private at the moment either due to men on the roof but it's still looking good.

Hydrangea Annabelle has thrived this year

Echinacea White Swan would really prefer a sunnier spot but is still flowering

and the Passion Flower is just getting into full swing.

But it's not all white in the garden, there is rather bright Cosmos

and a very pretty Potentilla

and some very delicate Thalictrum (Hewitt's Double)

and even though the Monarda (Prairie Night)  is a bit scruffy now, the bees are still loving it.

Echinops provides a contrast of structure

and there's still a lot to come as this Dahlia bud shows.

I'm hoping the roofers will finish soon as I really want my peaceful house and garden back!

A Weekend of Coracles and Vintage.

Have you ever seen a coracle?  I hadn't but on Saturday my parents came for lunch (they live in North Norfolk) and I wanted to find something for us to do in the afternoon.  Having dismissed the Sudbury Regatta (too far for my 80 year old Dad to walk to) I found out that there was a Coracle Regatta in the next village with close parking.  So off we set.

A coracle is a small, round boat found across both the UK and the world (click here for more information).  There were lots of different ones, all made from different materials, wood, willow, hide and plastic.

The professionals made steering and manoevering them look very easy, and when it came to racing them their competitive streaks came out big time!

They also showed us how they could harness the wind power by using a brolly as a sail!

It was a really enjoyable afternoon, the start of a lovely weekend, which concluded today with me heading over to Snape with a friend as there was a vintage market on.

Snape is a lovely place to visit on any day and the market just added a nice little extra something.  I love nothing better than a good rummage through second hand bric-a-brac and came home with this little lot for the grand total of £9.00 - a bargain I thought.

I also a  large enamel bowl that I plan to plant salad in on the patio.

I came home and picked MORE beans - I've never had so many beans before, I'm picking this amount most days!

I've been planting by the moon this year and I'm sure it's had a huge impact.  More about that another time though.