The Secret Sewing Project (part 1)

Over the summer I received an email from Celia with an offer she knew I wouldn't be able to resist - would I like some free fabric from her new fabric collection to do what I liked with and blog about?  I didn't take long to reply and very soon a lovely parcel arrived

which contained three pieces of the most gorgeous printed linen cotton canvas in beautiful designs and colours.

I decided to use the 'stone' hearts design to make a very simple cushion as I knew it would be perfect in my lounge.

Just some rounded corners and on the back a co-ordininating plain fabric with some beautiful matching buttons I found to set off Celia's lovely design

and it looks perfect on my sofa.

Next I decided to make myself a case for my work iPad using the two designs in the 'sea' colourway.

It's padded and I used a co-ordinating fabric to line it

I used a different heart on the back 

and the elastic pops round the button to secure it.

I'm going to enjoy using this case in all the schools that I visit this year.

You can buy all of Celia's fabrics here from her Spoonflower shop

Now some of you may be wondering why this post is titled 'part 1' - it's because, due to a supply failure  (ie I've run out of something I need to finish it and, due to manic work commitments, haven't been able to get anywhere to get some more!) the other item I'm making is still a work in progress - but here's a little taster of it

It will be revealed asap, I promise.

Thank you Celia letting me have some of these lovely fabrics to play with - do pop over to her blog and those of the other secret sewers, Tracy and Gina, to see what they made too - there are some amazing things :-).

Edited - 'unfinished project' is now finished and blogged about here (there's a give-away too!)

Lunar Planting - Truth or Tosh?

As some of you may know, this year I've tried the 'planting by the moon' method for my veg garden. I've always been fascinated by the old folklores of gardening as I'm sure that our ancestors were much more in tune with the rhythms and logic of the natural world than we, in our digital modern age, are. I have to admit I've tried it once before, when I had my allotment, but the logistics of following it whilst trying to work and travel to the allotment were just too difficult.

First of all I bought myself this calendar that was recommended to me on twitter.  This was invaluable and was really easy to follow.  

I sowed all my veg seeds according to whether they were fruit, leaf, root or flowers on the appropriate days.  It was a bit phaffy at times as I couldn't just sow everything on a Sunday afternoon like I wanted to, so what I did was make a note on my phone reminder app when I could next sow things. 

I didn't go as far as digging and transplanting according to the moon calendar too although I did make sure I transplanted within the northern hemisphere weeks.

If you're still with me, and haven't decided that I've lost the plot, you'll be wanting to know if it worked.

Yes is the answer!  I have never had such healthy and productive plants.  The beans set better than they usually do, I started cropping them on 17th July and they are still going.  

Also there's no sign of disease on the leaves which I've had in previous years and I've been harvesting this amount of beans practically daily!

The courgettes, cucumbers and tomatoes have all cropped well and stayed very healthy too - this was today's haul.

Interestingly the two tomato plants given to me by a friend have cropped less heavily than the ones that I grew from seed by the lunar calendar, but of course this might be due to the different varieties rather than anything to do with the moon!

Although this isn’t a like for like comparison (as one was in open ground and one in a container), this is some salad that I sowed by mistake on the wrong moon calendar day 

and this was sown on the correct day but a week later. 

Both pictures were taken on the same day and you can see that the later one has not only caught up, it's over taken and remained healthy despite almost being drowned in the monsoons we had which meant it sat under an inch of water for a while!  

Do I understand how or why it works?  Basically it's to do with the water levels in the soil and the moon’s pull on the tides, but beyond that I don't really understand it. 

Interesting there was a discussion about it on Gardeners’ Question Time last week - (scroll to 14.08) and they seem to have had initial success with this method too, although the full results won’t be known for a few more weeks. 

Would I do it again?  Yes definitely. It is a bit restricting at times, but it made me more organised and was do-able because I was gardening at home and not on an allotment a few miles away.

Anyone like a borlotti bean - I have quite a few!

Hydrangeas - a marmite plant?

Love them or hate them?  I never used to like them at all, they reminded me of municipal car-parks and my mother's never ending quest to make her pink ones turn blue, but a few years ago I discovered some that I do like, very much.

Hydrangea Paniculata Vanille Fraise opens a delicate creamy white

and gradually turns pink.

The flower heads have a lovely openness and a 'conical' shape.

My other favourite is Hydrangea Annabelle.

She opens white too but gradually turns a lime green. 

Her flower heads are enormous ball shapes!

I wonder if you love them or hate them? Or maybe, like me now, you love some but not others.

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.