Finished

Long strap shoulder bag,

change of plan this is for a friend who asked for one of my bags. I will purchase more fabric for DIL

 Another shoulder strap bag, 

this one for daughter who is cat mad,

made from two expensive tea towels

 Reversible child's bag, for a little boy

 I love the animal print 

 Bag made from flags from the royal wedding

 I love the back

 Close up of the front,

this is a much bigger bag, the design on the front decided the size. The material with their photo on was not woven as dense as I normally use for bags, so I lined this bag fully with white cotton material, this will give it an extra strength, plus I could put a pocket inside. This is for my sign tutor, she loved my home made bags and asked me to make her this one. 

I had already cut these bags out, so they took less than an afternoon to make, I am really quite quick at sewing them, BUT, I have no plans to make any more for a while, unless I get a request. I have in my craft room a bag for everything, sewing , knitting, Crochet, even a bag with my sign class books in.
I would love to sew other things, I have made my own clothes before, but I have a wardrobe full of clothes and really should not make anything new for a while.
I hope to use my sewing machine for Christmas gifts this year, as I do enjoy any time at my machine. What are you sewing?
Thank you for your wishes for my sign exam, it was not too bad, some things I did not know, but I joined the class later than the other ladies. We get our results next Tuesday, when we meet for afternoon tea.
Wednesday I caught the bus into town, met daughter and Will at 10am, we went for a coffee together, Will has his swimming lesson at 9.30, which he loves and is always hungry after. We then met an old work friend of mine, a quick chat, daughter took Will home for a nap and I spend a lovely 4 hours with Ann, we had lunch together, and a wonder around town, I spent nothing, not a bean, there was nothing I required, we popped into a couple clothes shop, looked at the sale rail but I passed on everything.  Both Ann and daughter loved their new shopping bags, another wonderful day.

Stash, start and prickly

Colours for Will's ripple blanket. 

I have done the first level with each colour,

 I wanted it to look softer than just shades of blue

I have done some of my 2nd sock

I am truly excited by these buds, 

this cactus has never flowered in all the years I have had it. 

Sunday, we had a lazy day at home, I did some housework whilst hubby did the ironing, after a brunch, poached eggs on toast, we spent time together in the garden. Hubby is not a gardener, but he is good following instructions, firstly he cut back all the ivy coming over the fence from next door, neither of us like the plants over the top of the fence. He then had a huge tidy of his garage, I pottered, planting a big pot and adding a few plants to gaps in the garden. I also took away all the protection, the plants are now big enough to survive the cats and pigeons. My shed was almost empty so I swept the floor, and did a tidy around, I also pulled my tulips bulbs out of the dried compost and stored them with two amaryllis bulbs, I normally do not store bulbs, but the tulips were so beautiful I would love them to grow again next year. I also pottered in the greenhouse for an hour.

I did start Wills ripple blanket, I like the colours and I'm pleased my daughter loves them as well. I have not done much to my socks, but I do plan to do more later in the week.
Monday morning Will arrived for the day, we walked to the park, he now knows the way, he played lovely with a little girl, they ran around together. Will is now saying words, hubby was over joyed when he called him Grancha (Welsh for grand dad), but Will's favorite word is tractor!
Today is sign class, it's the last class and we have exam's which is going to be interesting. Next week is our last meeting this term and we are all going out for afternoon tea, where we will get our results.

Local fun

Our castle grounds were busy

 Something for everyone

 My friend with me on a walk around

 Outside the walls

 The Gala was all around the castle grounds

 Loads of people came out to watch the parade

 Loads of houses decorated

 7 dwarfs with their waistcoats. 

It was a fun afternoon, we waited in the street for the parade, which was mainly of local school children and groups, scouts, brownies ect. It was fun to see everyone dressed up, the school children did 'once upon a time' and did loads of different stories. There were some old cars, and two fire engines, which Will loved. We then followed them to the castle grounds.
Lots of things going on inside the grounds of the castle, a main ring for performers and loads of charity stalls, selling cakes, plants ect.
The fun fair outside was in two half's, the children's ride on a different side to the main fair.
The local church inside the grounds set up a BBQ, they were very busy, most of us preferred to buy food from them, rather than the commercial vans.
We stayed a couple of hours, Will was getting fed up being in his pushchair, it was too busy to let him run about, but as we walked home, there were still loads of people making their way to the grounds.
It been years since we went to such a family event, it was much bigger than I expected, and brought back memories of my village fete and the numerous school fete we attended when our girls were growing up. 
Daughter and Will stayed the afternoon, I put The Wiggles on TV for Will to dance along with, another grand son loving this great DVD, which we purchased for Josh.
Later we found a film, had a take away and enjoyed a lovely glass of red wine.
Today I have a bit of housework, followed by an hour in the garden and no plans for this afternoon, sounds perfect.

Fruity post

Fruit bushes all in a row

Blackcurrants, Blueberries and gooseberries, all full of fruit

Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries

Outside tomato

Pepper and tomato in greenhouse

Growing nicely Cucumbers

Salad bed

Cut flower bed

The last two days I have been able to work in my garden, what ever my neighbour did to cause the stench of the last 14 days is gone, it was cat related and horrible, we could not open our windows, knowing the woman, she will have something else to do, she is not the sort to make our lives easy.
Friday I put the blackcurrant bush and the two blueberry bushes into newer bigger pots, in each case the plant came out of the old pot with all the soil compact, they were not quiet pot bound, I added loads of new compost in both pots (the two blueberry plants are now in one pot), without knocking off any berries and after a good watering all three plants look good. I did the same for my rhubarb at the bottom of the garden, it's a new plant so we are not cutting any stalks, but it has plenty of room to grow, I also added loads of manure.
I hope to be able to harvest my first cucumber this coming week, the lower one is almost ready. Tomatoes are forming on both plants, the hanging bush in the greenhouse is full of tiny fruits.
I have already had some cut flowers from my cutting bed, just a small bunch, but enough to bring a smile. My flowers given to me last week are still blooming.
Today is our Gala, there will be a parade through our streets, everyone ending up at the castle for a fun family day. Mummy is bringing Will to spend the day together, I hope to have photo's next time. Later hubby and I will have a takeaway, with a glass of wine, we had planned a BBQ, but cancelled it because of the smell in our garden.