Mothering Sunday

I'm doing the boring middle bit, 

I have to take care as any stitch done scruffy will stand out.

 Hubby finished the furniture and then painted the decking last night, so breakfast this morning was Alfresco, I spent another couple hours outside today, just pottering, most of the big stuff was done yesterday. All my seedling are growing well, I have sown herb seeds today.

 It's Mothering Sunday here, so we had both daughters, Sammy and Josh over, so after cake, cards and gifts, they have all gone home, my daughters were wonderful and got me this huge candle, plus a card from Logan, who was with his mummy all day, it's a shame they are so far away.

I have just packed our vacuum cleaner away,
I should not be amazed where cake crumbs can end up.
It has been a perfect weekend, two warm and sunny days, and a nice warm evening, not going out on the bike tonight, just sat at home watching the wild life in our garden.
So now I am off to stitch.
If you are in UK, I hope your special day was good as well.

Garden post

Our fence has been replaced, so the garden is private again

 Looking back towards the house, hubby is treating the garden furniture, 

he has the decking to do as well.

 1st greenhouse,  full of flower seedlings, and my twisted willow.

 2nd greenhouse, with salad and veg seedling, and a few plants.

 My tubs, two planted the others waiting, should be in use within 4 weeks, 

the tubs in front will have flowers in.

 Strawberries with a Jasmine growing up the fence.

 My Acer, with my mint garden in the sink

 All the pots are off the decking until hubby has done all the cleaning and protecting.

 My herb garden, almost everything survived the mild winter, 

I have a hosta in the chimney by the tree.

 Going green, these are ready for my carrots

 It was all to much for Grace

I have had a perfect 4 hours in the garden this morning, I feel I am up-to-date with every thing.
I walked to the shops and wore my sandals, so it's been a nice warm day.
Tonight I will cook for hubby, a stir fry with bean shoots, veg and noodles, with salmon wrapped in smoked ham and a sweet chilli sauce.
Tomorrow, Su and David will be with us for lunch, and Fliss and the boys will pop in later after their mothers day lunch.

Perfect Weekend

WOW

This is stunning, really good.

 I have just a few navy swirls to stitch, then just the centre to complete, I am really thinking it should be White and keep it simple, or may be Navy, Laura it's your call. I hope to finish this within the week.

 Daffodils, I love them, these are on my kitchen window sill, 

I sprayed them with water for effect. 

 The light through the flowers are beautiful, a true feeling of spring.

 In the spare room/ green house, my seedling are doing well, These are my cumelons, I am excited to be growing these. I have loads of plants to pass on.

I have had a good week, work has been busy, but fun, it's nice to come home in a good mood and early enough to have time to do things. Tonight I am meeting with Su and her partner, Kev is coming with me, Fliss can't make tonight.
It has been cold today with loads of sun shine, and hail storms, each time we have a storm it gets really cold, a strange day.
Tomorrow we are having the fence mended, should be finished by the time I get home from work, it will be nice to see are tidy garden again. We also purchased a garden shed, we managed to get the perfect size for us, it should be delivered in a couple of weeks. I have plans for my retreat.
Just waiting for the real warmer spring days to arrive, so much to do in the garden, and just a couple of weeks away.

Green shoots

Nothing says spring more then daffodils, 

these came from our local shop, 

I don't like to cut them from the garden. 

 Another Orchid, B&Q were selling these for £5, a bargain, so one came home with me. I was tempted to get a couple, but hubby would go mad, my house plant numbers are rising.

 In my little green house I have loads of seedlings coming through, top two shelves are flowers, my french Marigolds being the best at this time. On third shelf is salad items, lettuce, radish, spring onions, carrots and beetroot. In the front Strawberry plants. This year I spent more and got a better quality compost, and almost every thing is growing, I think a lesson learnt here.

 My temporary green house on my spare bed, I did put these back in my green house, but it has got a bit cooler so they are back in the warm. On the right is  7 x Cumelons, a very small cucumber, with two chili plants. At the back 4 pots of normal cucumbers. Front left, three types of tomatoes, I think I will have loads of plants to pass on. The cumelons have doubled in size in just a few days. Almost every seed I have planted has come up, this year is starting well.

 Our garden is half open for summer, hubby cleaned all the decking, he now has to seal it before we can place the furniture, but we are getting there. I have had this hard wood furniture set for about 20 years.

My Magnolia tree lost loads of it's flowers in the blustery  rain yesterday.

Every where is so full of promise

 Finally sewing, I have almost finished the large outer pattern, I have the navy to do and then all the white infill.  I cannot decide how to stitch the center, I did say stripes, but I am thinking it might be too much, so Laura please let me know what you think.

 How quickly Monday comes around, our weekend was great, time at home doing a few jobs. We did not see Josh or Sam, Sam was very tired after his first full week at Preschool and childminders.
Yesterday a friend came over for a stitchy chatty afternoon, so whilst the hail was pouring down on us we were inside in the warm.
I am having to be good for the second week I have put back on a pound in weight, so I have started going the wrong way, note to myself, must be try harder, I purchased a new skirt in size 12 on Saturday, it was a double plus, a size smaller for me and it was in the sale.

Just a quick update

It's Friday again, how quickly the week passes.

 I have been out two evenings this week, so not as much stitching as I wanted, but this is coming along, I will stitch all the design and do the infill around the edge, it's easy stitching and I am still loving it.

 I had a lovely day with eldest daughter yesterday, we went shopping and had lunch out. I have twice this week ate a Waggamama, in two different locations, and had great meals, I love rice and noodles, and with Fliss being gluten free, they had loads to choose from.
No plans for this weekend, we are fore caste rain, we have had a couple of dry weeks, so I really don't mind, but it has got cold again, so we will stay inside and keep warm.

Going Blue

I am having a break from my sampler and stitching a rug for a 1-12 scale dolls house, this was my 1st nights stitching, it's not for me, I was told blue would be nice, and I don't normally stitch much in blue.

 After two nights stitching, it's another easy design, but very impressive design, it will be just a bit bigger than asked for, I have been infilling in white, I tried pale blue and silver grey, but they did not match.

 I would like to stitch this design again, the border is really special. We were thinking the centre should be stripes like a barcode, but I will wait until all the outside is done to see what will go.

 Another sunny day here, bit colder, but no rain. Purdey wanted to help in my garden, just checking I have been doing things right.

 We have had a breeze today, so my lawn was covered in leaves, I pick them up each evening, so these are from today. The tree gives me loads of petals in the spring, seeds in the Summer, and leaves later in the year. Each one is large and needs to be removed from the lawn, but any work I do is worth it, because this tree is stunning.

We are happy in our corner of Hampshire, Summer is on it's way, everywhere there are signs of the promise to come. I am enjoying pottering in my garden and greenhouse, all the hard work has been done.

This week last year I was so very stressed, my job was impacting on my family life and my health, and on the Friday, I quit and walked out. Very scary thing to do, but now, my life is so great, work and home life is balanced, your job makes such an impact on all your life.

Sunny weekend

It's been a near perfect weekend in our part of Hampshire

 I have finished another square, just 5 to go, this is so pretty, I have no idea what to do with it once finished, I would like to use it, the colours are lovely.

 I decided to go to the local shop this morning to purchase the silks I required, I was very good, I got the two required to finish the project above, and these two for European cushion, I am using DMC silks, so I have to work out which colours I like, I have used the brown before, but the blue caught my eye, I had two other things on my list, and did not buy any other extra items.

Yesterday morning, we popped to town to do a bit of shopping, then home for a couple hours in the garden. I have re potted my seedlings, they are now in my greenhouse, our nights are still cool but no frost.

 I also planted some flower seeds, top shelf, and some salad stuff, bottom shelf. If these grow well, I will have loads spare, but the joy of growing them all from seed. The plants in the second greenhouse are almost ready to go out, but I will wait a couple more weeks to ensure the frost is gone. The garden is looking good, every where is tidy, we were going to bring out the furniture, but decided at the last moment, to leave it all covered for another week.

 Fliss and Josh, visited, Josh had fun with the football in the garden, Fliss has just purchased her 1st car, she is loving the Independence  it gives her.
Today Fliss came shopping with me, but before that, I spent an hour with Sam playing in their garden, he loves to be outside in the sun shine. This afternoon we have been out on the bike, 1st time this year for me, we went to two bikers spots, the first was busy and the second was full, so it was a day for biking.
This evening I will stitch again, I am trying a new design for Laura, another small rug, I can do one corner to see if the colours and design will work.
Last Friday I went to a St Patrick's day lunch, we had coddle and soda bread, it was good fun, I wore green to work, as did loads of other people, and with Ireland winning the Grand Slam in rugby, I do wish every one a happy St Patricks day tomorrow.

All over the place

I have been busy this week, so not so much stitching done.

 I have started filling 3 boxes, 

 I normally do these one box at a time, but I just floated, 

and enjoyed stitching each little bit. 

 I have these 3 boxes to finish and 3 more to complete, so I am on the final stretch, I have run out of the outside box light purple silks, so I have to decide should I top up my stash and order on line, or pop to a more expensive local shop and just buy the one thing (not sure I can do that).

I have already added to my linen stash, can't decide which to use for European cushion, both would work well, I think once I have chosen my DMC colours,
it will become clearer. 

 

This is The Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth, I have been up to the top of the viewing platforms twice, on a clear day it is a beautiful trip with stunning views. I will be here again on Monday 26th May, a bank holiday in UK, but the difference is this time I am going to abseil down the outside, it's 170 meters above sea level, and I am scare of heights. I have a very good reason to do this, I will be raising money for cancer charities and our local hospital, I have always promised I would repay the care they gave me in 2010.
Tonight I am meeting both my daughters for a weekly late night, shop, coffee and chatter. It's great fun to get together and we enjoy each others company, I am a lucky mum to have two beautiful thoughtful and lovely daughters. Last night we went to listen to our local Naval Volunteer band, playing film scores, it was great. Tomorrow I am going for an early St Patrick's Day lunch, not sure what we will have to eat, except there is always potatoes, that's another jolly through the office.
I have parcels in the post, look out for your postman, Beauty Bonnett, can you please send me your address.

Two Little boys

Saturday we went to Milestones, 

they had their Lego Zoo Trail, 

so a great trip for my three lads

 Logan came to stay with us for the weekend, Sam spend all Saturday with us, both 3 years old and loads of giggles and fun. Most of the morning was playing with Lego and finding the wonderful Lego animals.

 This Sabre Tooth Tiger was huge

 In the rest of the museum, there were loads of things to touch and try out, when I was at school my friends parents had a sofa like this, but in brown. We spent the morning inside but with so much to see and do, and it's so safe for the lads to be themselves. Milestones is a huge site.

 Back at home in our garden, our magnolia tree is putting on another great show this year, 

I love the way the tree has it's flowers before the leaves. 

This is a great sign of spring.

 Our pots outside the back door, looking down through the garden, we played football Saturday afternoon. There were also loads of games with cars, mostly 'nee nar' ones, the red fire engines being the best.

 Still on my garden, loads of seeds, I have two types of cucumbers, two types of tomato's, but my peppers at this point are a no show. I have planted 5 of each,this seed tray is sat in my spare sunny room, it's warmer in here than my green house. I have loads more seed to sow, but I will wait for a couple of weeks, I never trust March weather, it's nice now but 'March, in like a lamb, out like a LION' so I don't want my seedlings ready before 2nd week in April.

I did manage some stitching, I chose to do the easier boxes, less chance of a miss count.

I am planning to stitch tonight, I think I will do box 8, om the bottom row, no reason other than it's furthest to the left, and I like to stitch the left side of the design first. 

We had a perfect morning at Portchester Castle, yesterday, walking through the small grounds, watching loads of family fun. We stopped at the small church's tea room and had wonderful home made cakes, it was another sunny warm day. Hubby took Logan home yesterday afternoon, it's almost a 3 hour drive, Logan sleeps most of the way, hubby is working in Somerset for a couple of days, he should be home later tomorrow.
I am getting over a horrible cold, not had a bad cold in years, this stopped me sleeping so I have been grumpy for a few days. I still have not got back my sense of smell, but my sense of humour has returned.
Tomorrow I will pop to the post office and post my give away parcels, bit later than expected, I'll blame it on my cold.
Not alot planned for this week, out with both daughters for a catch up evening on Thursday. Su will be popping in tomorrow, she is collecting her new car, and will want to show it off.