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!)

If you want to follow Follow my blog with Bloglovin you can now

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.

How Do You Like Yours?

Hemerocallis that is.

Demure and lemon fresh?

With a bit of interest in the centre?

Pale pink with a zesty lemon middle?

Or maybe you'd prefer a more vibrant purple?

Or perhaps a smaller russety purple form?

Darker orange maybe with a bright centre?

Or how about my favourite? An 'in your face, look at me', bright orange double form?

Love it or hate it you can't ignore it can you?

And the centre detail is quite exquisite.

I wonder which you prefer?

Sun Printing

Sun printing is something that I wanted to try last year but it wasn't very sunny and I never got round to it. This year I'd forgotten all about it until Fran mentioned it last week.  I planned to do it yesterday but there was a slight technical hitch - no sun!

This afternoon the sun came out and very soon I had 4 experimental pieces laying in the sun to 'print'.

I have to admit I don't understand how it works (I failed both chemistry and physics o levels!) but the theory is that when objects are placed on top of heat sensitive paints/dyes (I used setacolor transparent fabric paint - it has to be the transparent one) then where the objects are makes an undyed silhouette when they're removed.

I had mixed success - the poppies (far right) didn't work at all.  I think because it was all on a towel which retained the dye.

The albums (which everything I read said would work really well) sort of worked, although the texture from the plastic mat came through rather more than I would have liked.

The lavender worked well

but the one that surprised me most was the feverfew as I didn't really expect it to work (I thought it would wilt before it printed).  

I'm not too keen on how the colours of the paint on this one have dried, they look sort of muddy, but the definition is really good.  Where it's a bit blurry is where the shadows were.

It definitely has potential and I will do some more when I'm next at home on a sunny day.

A Meander Down the Garden

My garden is very long and very narrow but it is not as it would first seem; it is full of twists and turns, of dark and light, of colour and texture.  Come with me on a journey, a journey from one end of my garden to the other and you'll see what I mean.

Our journey starts with roses (as you might expect). Around the first sitting area are roses planted by me

Rosa The Generous Gardener

and a rose planted over 20 years ago, with tiny and delicate sprays of flowers.

Rosa Dorothy Perkins

Clematis also abound, again some planted by me and some planted by previous owners.

Clematis Venosa Violacea and Clematis Betty Corning

It's a nice area to sit, to eat, to think.

But that's not all, it might look as though the garden ends here, but it doesn't.  There's a little gap in the 'hedge' under the naturally formed rose arch, can you see it?

Come with me and explore further.

The path winds round and there's a change of feel now. It's darker and shadier now and the shrubs reach skywards trying to find light. The Deutzia and Cornus meet overhead as though they're holding hands above the path.

The verbascum

and newly planted silene fimbriata are thriving here in the shade.

Silene Fimbriata

Another twist, another turn and the path goes through the semi shade under the snake bark maple where more roses, delphiniums and grasses are flowering.

It opens up here, you can stop here for a sit by the pond if you wish (you'll just have to ignore weeds in the patio!).  There's sun or shade here depending on the time of day.  There are more clematis, roses and lilies.

There's a frog wearing a water forget-me-not flower over there!

Another arch of roses and we're through to the veg garden where roses and foxgloves grow through the runner beans and squash.

We're nearly at the end - welcome to my favourite bench under the paper bark cherry.

Prunus Serrula

If you sit quietly no-one knows you're here.

I hope you've enjoyed your meander down my garden, but before you go just sit for a while and smell the roses.

Rosa Chinensis Mutabilis