Another finish

I have a finish, finally I have decided on my summer top bands, I followed the design but only did 6 rows of moss stitch instead of 8, I had a tiny bit of yarn left over. It fits well and looks good, I love the bright colour. The back neck is a bit lower than the front. 

The only thing left to do is the button on the back, I have sewn the top half of the flap together and will sew buttons on, this will ensure it does not pull when I am wearing it. I have to get some buttons, not easy to do online, I still have not put buttons on my recent cardigan finish, I will try to get some in the village next week. 

The best bit of this project is I have had no sewing together, it was knitted on the round, the shoulder seams were knitted together before casting off. The neck and arm bands were knitted on the round, so all I have had to do is sew in ends. 

On Wednesday I had George whilst Will went swimming, hubby was out so some 1 to 1 time, later we all had lunch at Darcy's with the government 50% off, a quick walk around the market and then back to ours to play, and more coffee, both boys are lovely and gives us so much joy. 

I treated myself to a couple of magazines, something I have not purchased in ages, in each pack there was another free magazine, which made it slightly better value, I am looking for another knitting project and I do want to do more with my crochet. The free book from crochet was 100 granny squares and motifs, plus Burda knitting patterns. I was disappointing with the knitting patterns as most are DK, I prefer to use 4ply from my stash. 

I have finished reading Older and Wider, I found it funny, it was an improvement on just another murder story. I am now piling through loads of patterns, trying to decide what to make next, I do have a desire to knit pink baby clothes, which I will give in to, and donate the items once made to local charities. 

I am staying at home for a few days, yesterday I had a sore throat and cough, runny nose, so I've a summer cold, probably caught from George, who has had a runny nose for a week. I feel better this morning, but I am still coughing, you know the annoying lingering cough, so I have decided not to go anywhere until the cough is better., can you imagine me walking in the village coughing, I would start a panic wave. Again I found myself double checking everything, no temperature, the cough is not constance, I can still taste my food, so a few days at home without visitors. I did cancel friends popping over yesterday, we can get together next week, life is just so strange, and it's not going to improve much anytime soon. 

Meet Bette

I have loved this plant pot for months, but at £39.99 it was too expensive, I'm just tight, I looked at other heads, but always came back to this one, so imagine my pleasure when I saw it on sale for £19.99, half price, still expensive, but I just wanted her to be mine, hubby said get it, so I did.

I have named her Bette, I already have Kirt, and I always loved Bette Davis movies, she was a brilliant actress and oh so dramatic. 

Nice sized planting area

I always knew what I would grow in her head, I love string of pearls, these won't take long to start to grow, I want loads of thick green hair. . 

I had added more soil and food to this pot, 

but the pearls were looking very pale. 

Now with a trim,

they will grow back

For now sat in the greenhouse.

I broke a strand of peals off about a week ago, and popped them into this pot, they are already turning a darker green and tiny shoots are forming. 

I am always happy to wait for things to reduce in price and I buy loads second hand, I am lucky it's not a need to watch my spending, I just see so much overpriced things, often I wait and decide I don't want or need it. She is a pottery head, so no plastic, but I will have to be careful I don't chip or crack her, she has a drainage hole so I will have to becareful once I bring her inside.  

Babies and new life

Walking around the garden, I noticed another passion fruit plant growing, I have already dug one out, and on closer inspection I have another growing here as well. I already have 3 growing in my greenhouse, I will be passing plants on next spring. These have been dug out and potted on, they were all growing from one long root. 

Don't you just love babies,

 I hope for 2 new strawberry plants.

I have babies everywhere

These look interesting,

 one on a clematis and the other on a honeysuckle. 

I got a pack of 3, these are small, but hopefully just what I need, I am not doing well on my cuttings, Monty and Carol on Gardeners World make it look so easy, I have in both cases cut the outer 'bark' on the plant stems, the ball is filled with farmyard manure (better than compost as it stays moist longer) and tied these over the open bark. Now I wait to see if the roots grow, if they do I cut just below the ball and I have a new plant.

My Orchids inside are also showings nice signs of new growth, on the left should yield flowers, probably in September, on the right loads of new growth from the base, I have never regrown this plant, so it's a case of wait and see what I get. 

The weather has always improves my mood, it been a great few days, doors open, pottering early in the mornings, I even enjoy watering the garden in the evenings, outside is such a healing place. Watching things burst into life and grow is the best medicine, grubby fingernails is always a sign of enjoyment. 

We did visit Will, George mummy and daddy at home on Saturday afternoon, another lovely play afternoon, simple pleasures. 

We decided to pop to an out of town shopping center, it's not far from home and is not undercover, they had a one way, keep left system, the outside space is huge as are the shops. Back in March we decided we needed to change our hand towels in the downstairs bathroom, just as lock down started, I don't like buying towels online, so finally we headed to the huge M&S, hubby needed a pair of black trousers, which he got. I decided to treat myself, as you know I do not buy much clothes, as I am trying to wear the contents of my wardrobe, but with my weight loss and the fact most of my shorts are tatty, I choose a couple pair of 3/4 longer shorts, not cheap, but they will last for years. We got what we needed and no extra, we did pop in the £1 shop and got a few things and then home, no coffee stops and we drove past a couple garden centers.

I have done a tiny bit of reading and almost no craft, my grey socks are growing, but I can't focus on anything. My orange knitted top still needs the bands done, but I can't decide on which way to finish it, I don't want to unpick to get more of the same yarn, because the body of the top looks good on me, the orange contrast works, I just need to choose the design and get it done. I still have no idea on what to make next. 

July round up

Another expensive month, the shelves in the greenhouse were an extravagance shown 1st on the list above, and then purchasing the slate and a few other things for the garden. Purchasing locally is more expensive, I have also purchased seeds, which is much earlier than normal, but I do feel this virus is going to come back all through the coming months, and my garden has been such a help to both of us, so I am ensuring I have most of what I want. This has been the most expensive garden month since I started my stash list, oops!!

Not spent anything on yarn or fabric, and no clothes, I was in conversation with the company who sent me sunglasses instead of shoes, they have offered me a part refund, and then stopped talking to me. Sadly I have been reading online of the scam on Clark's shoes, loads of people have been sent scarfs and other things instead of their order. They stole all Clark's marketing to ensure the sites looked correct, Oh well expensive lesson learn't. 

We again have spent more this month on food, we are still keeping stocks high, which now gives us the added task of checking dates and ensuring we use the items in the correct rotation, it's so easy to lose focus and then find things out of date. We do not stick to the dates on fresh food, using our nose to check items, as most things will last past their use by/good before dates, but we are managing with fluid menus. We are now harvesting fruit and salad items for us, not huge amounts but enough for us to enjoy. 

We did fill the car twice with fuel, having had a trip back home to Somerset, but the cost of petrol remains low, we should not require another fill up for weeks. 

Hubby has finally managed to cancel our Virgin Internet package, we had wanted to change in February, but found we were in a contract, unknown to us, when they sent us a replacement router last August, they started a new year's contract, it's their standard practice when replacing items, even like ours when the equipment was faulty, they did not need to tell us, it was in the contract we signed years ago. We have halved our monthly bill to £25, which is a great saving, but more importantly we are not part of their contract, where everything is loaded towards them.