Nanna's pot

Apparently this pot is for Nana, that's what Will said when he saw it in the shop, it goes with my others, he is called Neil, better than the name Will quoted, 4year old boy humour, Neil Armstrong, 1st man to step on the moon, we had a lovely conversation about space travel. 

Gardening, Science and General Knowledge all in one pot. 

We have had this resin rabbit a few years, he was a dark brown and looking very tatty, this was the best colour paint we had, hubby has done a great job, I love he still has his features. He's now back in the herb bed along with a few other rabbits. 

I have beautiful flowers in the greenhouse, and now with the hedge gone we can see them from our outside table, the white flower is a 1st time flower, the tiny pink ones flower a couple times a year. 

We have loads of late summer flowers, the begonia's and coleus are stunning.  

I am so lucky to have this fuchsia, it's a cutting I grew last year, the parent plant died over the winter, the colours are stunning and another chimney with Begonia's. 

Our wedding anniversary was a quiet one, daughter came over with Will and Molly, George was in nursery, we had lunch together, sat outside in the shade and watched and played with Will, loads of baby cuddles. Later we had fish and chips for tea, we stopped going out for a meal on our anniversary years ago, at the same time we stopped giving each other gifts, a card is all we give. 

Tuesday another bright sunny day, I had sign class in the morning, and the rest of the day at home, hubby was out most of afternoon, I can't say I did much, garden is tidy, house is tidy, I have knitting and a book to read, what more should I require. I had loads of nice comments, I decided to wear a summer dress, I have a few, and I decided it was wrong not to wear them, I want to wear everything I own, even my posh dresses. 

Today I'm off to school at lunchtime, it's Wills 1st day and I will go with mummy to collect him, I have everything crossed he will enjoy himself, he is happy with the visits he has had 🤞🤞

My black bin has arrived, I had to change the bottom of the garden outside the greenhouse to fit it in, hubby drilled holes along the side at the bottom of the bin, I have a wire rack inside, I now have to wait until the Magnolia tree leaves start to fall, we will shred the leaves and leave them in the bin for a year. I am not sure what they will become, I hope leaf mulch, but I would be happy with any sort of mulch, which can be used next September around my beds. 

I've not yet tried my sisters sewing machine, I have had a look at the manual, I think it should do what I want, best thing is to find some time, a couple of days, set it up on dining room table and have a go. There is no rush I have plenty of time to make this project, or if I can't, time to order what I need, it's not needed until early December. 

Things to do

I have my sisters bigger sewing machine, it does embroidery, my machine is far more basic, I normally do not embellish my sewing, but I have a Christmas project and I am hoping I can do it using this machine and save money, so for now I'm going to practice. 

Our local community centre had a charity book sale on Saturday, there were loads of books, I got 3, all hard backs, one new author for me, each at 50p, Bargains all around. 

 These lovely pots were purchased for herb pots, but our kitchen window sill is not warm enough, so I put these Christmas cactus cuttings in, they should thrive here. My African violet has been here for years, it flowers often, so pretty. 

My 37th book read this year, another good story, it was a slow start, but a delightful warm read, memories of enjoyable times, most of the story set in 1988. I now need to chose my next book, I have a good selection here. 

I still have had no idea what day it is, my brother arrived on Wednesday, hubby's birthday family get together on Thursday, so in my mind they were weekend days. We ate leftover cake on Friday and on Saturday we had the scones, jam and cream, with all the rich food gone, time for some simple meals. 

Friday we had a BBQ, just the 3 of us, a lovely sunny warm day, we also went for a walk to our local castle, my brother now walks most days, rest of the time outside in the garden. I did get an early night, I was very tired, I took my book to bed, but didn't read at all. 

Saturday was a lazy day, my brother left mid morning, he was going to stay with his daughter, hubby was out in the morning, I did manage to get some housework done, then I finished my book and did some knitting, I focused on Molly's  dress, I am now working on the bodice, still in the round until I get to the armholes, I have passed the point I had difficulties with, photo next time.

Sunday started with a lovely blue sky, I had a bit of a lay in, I'm still tired, we had nothing planned, just a day at home, I managed to empty the soil from the cucumber and tomato plant pots, I dug it in around the raspberries with some chicken poo pellets, the pots are cleaned and packed away. I separated my large agapanthus and popped a clump in another section of the garden, I also dug up a young red Robin which was not thriving, planted in the wrong spot. After a general tidy round, I rested in the warm sunshine, later I gave everywhere a good soak. 

Today is our wedding anniversary, 35 years, we lived together for 2 years prior, so 37 years in total, how brilliant it is to meet and love someone for so many years, hopefully with many years to come.

Creative and cake

I am revisiting some patterns, I started this baby dress earlier in the year, I got myself totally confused with the bodice pattern and ended unpicking everything. Daughter was given some knitted garments for Molly which she loved, so I asked if she liked this dress design, so here I am trying again. 

This is being knitted in the round, so no sewing together, the pattern is standard and should be knitted in 2 pieces, front and back. This time I have gone through all the details, and I'm sure it won't cause me any issues. 

I have restarted this, again I tried last year and had issues, I'm doing the fronts and back in one piece, again no seams. It's for George so I am making to fit him, he is tall and thin, most tops are far to wide for him. I have far to much of this yarn as I purchased it to make for both Will and George, but I won't make Will one as he does not feel the cold and won't wear it. 

It was hubby's birthday on Thursday so I ordered in afternoon tea for 3, we had extra family here, so with a few added savoury treats and his birthday cake, we had a lovely lunch. We kept the cream and jam scones for today, and still had too much food. 

This cake was purchased from Lidl's and was lovely, Will had 2 slices, every little boy likes chocolate cake, I should have taken a photo of George, he loved the cake but got it everywhere, all good fun. 

We did go out shopping on Tuesday afternoon after my sign language class, we should not need to leave our village again for a couple of weeks. As I said before we had 2 huge local festivals over the bank Holiday weekend and neither of us want to risk going far. 

Wednesday my brother arrived for another few days, he like us is not having a holiday again this year and decided to visit us again.  Will had a sleepover, he was really excited he loves his uncle Martin and waking up on Grancha (Welsh for grandad) birthday, it's lovely to have family here, in a couple of weeks Will starts school and we won't see him as much, that thought saddens me.

Thursday was just cake and more cake, a few friends popped in, loads of family messages, I forgot to take photos of our afternoon tea packs, they are made by a local lady and are a real treat. Later we had a Chinese takeaway, just the 3 of us, I don't think I need to eat much today. 

Doing nothing in the garden, it's still looking good, sadly it's so cloudy and dull, no plans for a BBQ, just having a relaxing few days. Having hubby's birthday midweek, I kept thinking it was Saturday, so I have no idea what day it is, today I'm starting a new book. 

Bank holiday weekend

Hubby did a wonderful job of cleaning out the birdbath, it was full of muck and the stones covered in green stuff, the only way to keep it clear is to clean it regularly. I have a copper ring in the middle to help with algae, I would like a couple of small plants, but not sure what to get. 

I manage to pot up all the pansies and violas, I have my folding table out in the greenhouse, I've discarded the cucumber and tomato plants, I'm not going to get many more from either, all the green tomatoes are in a brown paper bag, they should all ripen. 

 Daughter wanted some of my peony plant, so I dug up my roots, it was huge, I will keep it in this pot until next spring, when I will plant it in a pot daughter has purchased. This plant is amazing, so long lived, the original plant was in mum's garden when I was a child. 

I was given this gooseberry bush, it was tiny at the beginning of the year, I've now potted it into its final place. I don't like them but hubby loves them, such a spiky plant needs to placed out of the way of grand children. 

Hubby is always helpful in the garden, he moved pots around in this area, the begonias now can be fully seen. The big black pots has some chrysanthemum and pansies in, the sticks are to keep the cats away. 

My sister gave me this pink blueberry Bush a few years ago, it's a lovely size, but in truth I don't need 3 blueberries, so I popped this on our local Facebook page and it was collected. The pot I reused for the gooseberry. 

Sunday was sunny and warm, so brilliant to be outside, hubby went for a bike ride, later he helped me move things, there is very few things better than a day outside, it always amazes me how much I can find to do outside. I trimmed everything in our herb garden, the scent was so good. I did clean my shed, soon I will have loads of stuff to over winter, so knowing its clean in there is pleasing. We did have another mid afternoon BBQ, just the 2 of us, making the most of the warm weather. Later after a wonderful shower, another quiet night in, patio doors open until late, hubby sprayed everywhere on our decking with Pinesol, which helps keep the flies away and it smells great. 

Monday started and stayed a cloudy day, we went for a walk along the shoreline, we are so lucky to have this walk so close, no need to drive, no photos, I've done loads of post before. Most of the garden task were finished, so it was a crafting day, I have done more knitting, and I am looking at my cross stitch designs, we have loads of time to fill, and I am truly fed up with looking at my phone. I have been working on another blog book, the last one I published was 2018, I normally work 1 year behind, but last year, whilst I had plenty of time, I was not in the mindset, and with the new layouts, I found it all too much. It is simpler in the systems, but much harder work, so much of the automatic things have gone, so every photo and word has to be manually imported and edited. I have decided to print 2019, 2020 and 2021, the events of these years have been huge.