Oops I done it again

We went to Lidl for shopping so we don't have to go out over the coming bank holiday weekend, and this acer fell into our trolly. I did not know I needed another one, it is beautiful, the leaves are different to my others, I lied to hubby stating I had just the spot for it, at £9.80 it did not break the bank.

Here by the steps to the greenhouse is my trio of acers, there are three different colours here, I trim it all the time to keep the steps clear. These are my favourite,  I love the different shades of green.

This acer is the star in our garden, purchased in 2008 for just 99p, it looked like a dead twig, but I knew it would grow back, I  gave it some acer feed this month, I will need to cut the front back later this year, so I'm hoping it thrives through the summer.

 George is not wanting to wear his school uniform, the school is very understanding, on the last day before half term, he decided to wear his top from his pj's, school shorts, mummy's hat and tassels from curtains, his teacher said he looked cool. Molly also has her own individual style as shown before.

This is our westher forecast for the coming week.

It's half term, so we are expecting little people to visit, we have stocked up on their favourite snacks and ice pops, probably have a BBQ or two as the weather is playing nicely. 

Hubby has to finish sorting his area of the garage, like me he does not like things just shoved into spaces. I have veg beds to sort, digging out the final cabbages, making the bed ready for two tomato plants, I have soaked my peas and they are now on wet kitchen towel, those which sprout will go straight into the ground, my runner beans are sown, a bit late which is OK. I am picking lettuce leaves, the cucumbers are getting to a nice size and I have tiny fruit on the tomatoes.  My flower beds are all looking good, I have a few gaps to fill on the side bed, and room for home grown bedding plants in the square bed. I do need to purchase some french marigolds, my seeds all failed.

Making designs

 I am steaming ahead with this, it helps I do love the design so far, geometric designs around the edge of my work appeals to my tidy mind. I have done a bit more on the other side, for now I want to finish this so I can ensure it's balanced. 

The pink flowers are the imposter in this design, in the original there is a bigger design using the same lines as the knots, I think this is nicer, and much simpler to sew, once I had worked out the positions of everything. 

I have finished my three stars, I did try and find a bigger design for this middle spot, but nothing felt right, in this photo it does not look right, but once I have stitched the other side it will balance. . 

This is important, I love this bowl next to my chair, a friend turned it for me years ago, when I am sewing it becomes my storage pot for the colours I am working with, handy for me, it does look messy but no tangles. 

We very rarely watch TV in the evenings and never in the day, I have a very good daylight lamp, so sewing in the evenings is relaxing for me, hubby often reads, we always have a playlist on Alexa, we have a big speaker for her so the sound is good. I'm not reading much I want to get ahead with this border, I plan to stitch the whole outside before starting the fun middle bit. 

Daytime is garden, greenhouse and garage, we are nearing the finish line with the latter, regarding the garden I am waiting for the temperature to rise to normal levels for this time of year, I have plants to go out, but I'm not going to risk them. I do like to always have something to do, I can't sit and stare into space, I fidget and have to do something, I have a pile of books waiting to be read, which is OK, reading is my second love after stitching. My knitted blanket is in a basket by my chair, I've not touched it in a couple of weeks, which again is OK, I will finish it a some point.

I wished for rain and I have got it, we have had heavy storms for days, the ground is truly wet, my pots look good, it still bloody cold, which should change later this week and into the second bank holiday weekend. We both are missing sitting outside with a coffee and slice of homemade cake, just chatting, watching the wildlife and Lilly, noting which plants have blooms, a perfect scenario for a couple of oldies looking for peace and relaxation at home.

Outside

 Garden looks great, loads of new growth everywhere, there was enough rain to keep garden going, now I am asking for sunshine and warmer days, I want to start planting my veg gardens.

 Roses, both bloomed when we were away, the pink one exploded with blooms, the white for now only one bloom, with loads of new growth I am expecting loads more.

This pot outside the patio door is simple, and beautiful, the third bloom will be white.

I've started netting my strawberries, looking as if we are going to have another great year, the raspberries and blackberries has grown in height.

Inside the greenhouse I have cucumbers growing and flowers on my tomato plants, everything is still doing well except my french marigolds seeds which again failed to germinate. 

I watered the garden on Friday and Saturday of last week, we did not get much rain when we were away, it did pour down late afternoon on Friday as we arrived home. In the greenhouse everything is good, I left most of the plants standing in water, which should have lasted a few days, I left the door partially open, we did not have any frost. Saturday we were expecting showers all day, it stayed dry and sunny (no heat), until late afternoon when it became much wetter.

George and Will spent time with us on Saturday, Mummy and Molly went to a birthday BBQ, George only wanted me, so I played with him most of the time, he had missed me, I had loads of cuddles. Sunday was another day at home, we both did a final sort of the garage, places were found for the last few bits, we sat in the front section for a while, it was cool and breezy outside, so a perfect spot to rest.

I still need to dead head around the plot and pick up after Lilly, neither job is hard, just needs doing often. Hubby has finished painting inside the garage, we have popped the outside rug on the floor for now and set out both our recliners, it's looking and feeling how we imagined, we still have to decide how to clad the two divining panels, I would have liked a fake living wall, hubby not liking that, so we are looking at other ideas, we did get some bamboo but neither of us liked it once it arrived, so it has been sent back. 

Back home

I love the shades of green and brown in this yarn, a mixture of cotton, wool and acrylic, at £3, very cheap, it will make a perfect pair of socks for me. I did not need anymore yarn, but it's never a need is it.

I got myself a new quilted jacket, very much my style and reduced from £50 to £20, from Edinburgh Woollen Mill so a great brand, perfect for summer evenings. They had loads of lovely 100% cotton T shirts, I resisted I really do not need any more.

 I missed posting this on Thursday, which was the day this year when UK has used all the annual renewables our earth has to give, again a couple days earlier than last year. These details have been recorded for years and still very few countries improve their status, all we can do is try harder ourselves. 

This was another good read, what would you do, a few strange happenings on following Wednesdays, you have a stalker, is he/she escalating, why pick on you and only on a Wednesday? Book 34 read this year.

Lilly was waiting by the door when we arrived home, she must have heard our car pull on the drive, very happy to see us, ate some food and went back outside to stalk things in the garden, later we had loads of cuddles and she lay on our bed with us this morning, very happy to see us back.

We had a lovely break, missed most of the rain storms, only got wet when we unpacked the car on our drive Friday late afternoon. Our apartment was well equipped and comfortable, on the edge of the main shopping street close to the beach. We found nice places to eat out, including a great fish and chips. The only downside was I was so cold, my own fault I packed long sleeved T shirts rather than jumpers, I wore my fleece every day, I've had my hair cut short and my neck was vulnerable to the cold.  

It's sunny here, storms should happen throughout the day, so I'm off out into the garden, some dead heading to do, hubby is already looking at his list of things to finish, the little ones are coming to visit, George has missed me, I did have my evening video calls and a couple in the mornings before school. 

Where am I ?

 This space behind the sofa is mine, I don't use it much at this time of year, the tunnel I'm very unsure of, it makes a strange noise when I go near it. I do like the rug to rest on better than the cold floors in the winter.

I do love a box, this is a good size and very strong, the last box broke quickly, I still hide in here later in the evenings.

I have two beds, the round one near the patio doors, the square one in their bedrooms, I don't use either.

I loved thus spot when I was a kitten, I can still fit in there, but I don't, I think she is hoping to reclaim it.

 

I spend more time outside, I love the garden and beyond, I visit loads of other places which they don't know, she wants me to wear a camera, he does not, so for now I am free, as I have said before, I'm wild, I have shady and sunny spots around the garden, recently I am in their garage, I'm very noisy, they are up to something, and I need to know what, is it for me. 

I still watch the birds, I don't bother chasing them, I have learnt I can't catch them, I do chase the bugs around the garden, and I love to watch something scurrying under the red acer, I also go into the garden next door, she is very unhappy with me, but she can't stop me, it is scary there and often I have to leap at the fence to escape things.  

They have left me home alone, a lovely friend of theirs comes in everyday to feed me, I say hello and check they don't forget my food, I am much happier here than in a cage at the cattery, I know she checks the security cameras in the garden and sitting room throughout the days, hopefully they will be back soon. 

Love Lilly x

Llandudno and Conway

 Just a few photos along the seafront after the rain.

Later in Conway, beautiful sunny day.

The expected arty shot.

We are having fun, doing a few different things, staying dry, we are eating out all the time, our apartment has a full kitchen which we are not using. A lovely birthday meal was enjoyed but hubbies older sister, who was completely surprised on us being here.

Crafting

 I was extremely pleased to see an email from the publisher I use with a great discount, so I checked 2024 blog for the last time, uploaded it and paid for it to be made into the book, the saving was over £40, so waiting for the right discount is always worth while. November is always a good discount month, Black Friday is best, I am doing well with 2025 and will send it for printing then, which I have said would be my last printed blog book. I am happy with 2024, so far I can't find any mistakes, there are normally one or two, which is OK, I'm not perfect.

I decided to stitch the whole of the top line to enable me to gage the size of my work, the line should be straight, but the frame has pulled it wonky, I am enjoying this part, it's an easy design to stitch, this is called counted cross stitch, the linen is blank, I have a printed pattern to follow, I have to count the stitches to ensure they are placed in the correct position, sewing one stitch in the wrong place can cause huge issues, with a smaller repeat pattern it so simple. 

This is the first of three stars in the middle, they will tumble down, it helps ensure there is no clash in the designs, often when putting patterns together they can cause issues where there are not enough space for the whole design, so if I pop a 'star' in the way it hides any issues. 

Look what I found in B&M, at £5 each these smaller plastic pots were not such great value and slightly a different shade, still perfect for my tulip display next spring, I will order from Farmer Gracy, I got bulbs from them last time and they all grew, I will NOT purchase anymore pots. I need to cut holes in the bottom for drainage.

I did get my sewing machine out, I had a bit of mending to do, I prefer to do it and not let it mount up, plus Molly unicorn rucksack's strap required mending, she does love it, so I wanted to get it back to her. Most evenings now I have a video call from George and then sometimes another from Molly, Friday night she wanted to tell me she made a giraffe for the man's 100 birthday, I said oh Sir David Attenborough,  bless her she said 'do you know him'.

We are staying in an apartment with hubby's younger sister and her husband, his older sister is on a trip with her daughter, staying in a local hotel, older sister is 80 this week, so we decided to join in the fun and ensure she has a good birthday. We have visited Llandudno a few times, it's a lovely town and beach, we have been to the top of the Great Orm, sharing a space with his younger sister is very different, she does love to read, and shop. Plus we get time away from the work in the garage, which is coming along nicely. 

Our local councils have not changed much, most people know when something is working its best not to change, the area is a mixture of Tory and Lib dems, most of them had less votes this time, hopefully we should not see many changes. The cities of Portsmouth and Southampton have had the biggest changes.

Growing up

My pyracanths is spreading along the fence, this plant should grow to the end, it soon will have blossom which the bee's love and in the winter months red berries for the birds. I have two Jasmines, one is my winter jasmine, we see tiny yellow flowers when everywhere else is bare, the other which is still tiny I can't remember it's name.

 My honeysuckle is as always top heavy, I do get flowers, I took a cutting which rooted and I planted, so hopefully I should have another plant further along. 

I potted up my mock orange, for now it is placed here, I was thinking of moving further down the fence to fill out the bare section, this gives lovely white flowers, it's better in a pot as it can get huge. 

 This back fence is slowly filling out, the white rose in the corner has loads of stems, I am trying to fan them out, in hope I can block out the garden behind, with a bonus of being able to have cut roses in the garden.

I am not a fan of plants growing up fences, I know garden designers will always suggest to grow things up to blur your boundaries, I do love to see a tidy fence, we painted ours grey so they become a feature. Along this back section our fence is low, years ago we added the wire top to stop the neighbours cats getting into our garden and fighting with our cats. Now my mission is to have a wall of greenery, with flowers when I can, I can only see a small part from the house, but I am often working in this area, so it pleases me to have the extra good looking space. Our neighbours have a huge shed and do not use their back section.

Our soil level is higher than the garden behind, and they have 3 trees close to our boundary, so it is necessary to have most things in pots, along with a couple potato bags and my leaf mulch bins, it's a full area, wide enough for my water but and compost bins on the other side, my centre path is not huge but it works for me.

Hubby is still working in the garage, he does not require my help, which is OK, I can always find things to do in the garden, I have cut back the daffodil leaves, they were turning yellow, I have also cut back the bluebells, they had gone over, I can see what's growing in my side bed, I am hopeful things will return. My peony is not doing well, plenty of leaves, just two buds, one has opened, the other is distorted and won't grow. I have loads of buds on my climbing rose, the three bushes are still just leaves.

We voted yesterday,  local elections are important, our council has done well, not full of debt, now we wait the results.

1st bank holiday weekend

I have finished the top line of this design, it is a a straight line, the frame has pulled it wonky (I love that word), I am stitching a trio of stars in the centre, it stops any issues with different patterns meeting in the middle, and the corners will match up. I'm busy outside so this is the only crafting/reading I am doing.

The garage is coming along well, the wooden unit on the left is going, it's not suitable to pass on, so hubby will cut down some of the better longer bits for shelves, he has started to re-do the electrics, he has lights to move, so he is doing it all. I love my shelves in my garden storage section, hubby prefers to use the metal cabinets along the back wall.

Whilst hubby was sorting the garage, I foolishly decided to tidy the greenhouse, I got very hot and bothered, it was 30° inside and sunny, a shower afterwards sorted me out. I'm really pleased, plenty of space for seedlings, cuttings and more seeds sown. I do love my two shopping trollies a store manager gave me one on his last day of trading, I very cheekily asked if I could have one, they second one found its way here, they are perfect for a bag of compost.

 These are camassias, white blooms, the bulbs was planted back in 2023 along with the blue blooms, the blue flowers have gone over, and looked good, they have bloomed each year. These white blooms have not flowered before, I had given up on them, so a lovely surprise to see them final after almost 3 years in the ground.

We have ordered the supplies for our part of the garage work, we sat together working out how we wanted it to look, rustic comes to mind, so later this week, we (I do mean hubby) can start the final bit. It seams as if hubby is enjoying this project more than me, he has said he was fed up with reading so much. I am back in the greenhouse, my seedlings are all doing well, I have also taken cuttings from around the plot, I have 12 small fleabane daisies for daughters new raised bed, she loves our display and is recreating it in her back garden. 

The weather is changing, Saturday was cloudy from the start and cooler, it rained mid-afternoon and in the evening, lots of wonderful rain (sorry to those on days off). Sunday was another dull start, a bit cooler, it did brighten up later. Today, Monday we have nothing to do, best day to have, roads will be busy so a lazy day at home.

I popped to daughters to sit with the boys, Molly has swimming on Friday after school and a party on Sunday, George read to me both times, he is slowly picking up words, rest of the time home with hubby.

Grow, listen and read

 I have my tiny net bags ready for the coming weeks, my strawberry tower is bursting into life, I kept a few more babies which are now good plants in more pots. These are the first two berries forming, the plants have loads of flowers, I find it very peaceful placing these bags over the tiny green fruits, they stay on until harvest, it worked very well last year, I had hardly any nibbled, I will leave some uncovered for the bugs and mice.

I have put my cucumber plant into a bigger pot using my own compost, which is not so dry as the commercial ones. Two of my tomato plants have flowers forming, the other two are still quite small, my lettuce are coming along. I am about to start my runner beans and peas, much later than previous years, I am hoping the later start will help against the slugs and snails. 

I think we may have issues with mice (wishful thinking) or rats (we had them before), Lilly has taken to this spot under the Acer, I have pots underneath which has been dug in, she sits here and watches for ages, I will check along the back for holes where they could be entering. Not the greatest of photo's, I took it from inside.

We had a perfect evening out on Tuesday, locally at Fareham Live, we sat for just over two hours listening to Adam Frost garden designer and TV presenter, I have a couple of his books and followed lots of his tips. Hubby was unsure but came with me, he enjoyed the show, it was Adam's last show of the tour, he is very easy to listen to and very knowledgeable, in the most friendly of ways.

I finished this book on Wednesday so it was added to last months reading list, another good plot read on my Kindle. Your new bride ask if her parents can move in for a couple of weeks on their return from living in France, they are strange from the start, but that's families for you. They don't want to leave, your wife is scared of them, what have they done. The plot builds to a brilliant ending, just a few chapters before the end of the book, what next, you will have to read to find out. Book 33 read this year.

Wednesday I met daughter in town, we had an early lunch together, it was a nice peaceful time, later I did more sorting in the garage, my bits are less than a third of the space and I've only been in there a couple of years, so not too much to sort, I ordered a storage unit from IKEA which should arrive on Saturday, my bits will be finished on Sunday. Hubby moved his bench and our fridge/freezer, everything has been sorted, loads of stuff has gone.

Thursday we had a couple of quotes to change the garage, one we accepted, the guy was lovely, local and well recomended, so we have until the end of the month to do our bit, we are both excited to make the change. We are able to make changes because we no longer store our garden furniture inside over the winter months, our new set stores quiet small and is great under a cover outside, so we are redefining some of the inside space.

Another couple of days at home sunny warm with that biting cold wind, I really hope the wind dies back and is not a feature for the summer. We are still very dry, one water butt is empty and the other two larges ones are going down quickly, we need rain, there is rain due in the coming days, but its not promised in our area. We have just realised it's a long weekend here, May bank holiday on Monday, makes no difference to us, other than we will stay at home on the Monday, local roads will be busy, we did a shop at Lidl and have everything we need for the coming days. 

April round up

 A bigger spend this month, I am using my stash for my cross stitch and knitting, but I required a bigger sewing frame, just a few plants and two pots for the garden, I also got the small water butt, my garden spend this year is way down, which is very pleasing. I also added the £20 for the plant hubby paid for.

6 Books read this month

I got my state pension increase same as everyone else this month, half of it was taken in tax, my tiny private pension puts me over the threshold. 

We had a mobile mechanic out to check our car, the gears were a bit stiff, he came well recomended, we did not want to take the car to main dealer, they would just swap out the gearbox, it's now much better, he did suggest we would require a new clutch at some point, we have decisions to make. No other big household spend, hubby was looking to renew our toaster, the top was marked, I rubbed it with a ball of cooking foil, now it looks like new, nice saving, saw the tip on TV. Our London trip was paid for last month, we did not spend much on the day.

I did sell a few of my spare ceramic pots, made £24, and reclaimed loads of storage space, the few left, I can keep.

No waste here, we plan to put our food bin out every other week, it will never be full, just getting into a routine before the hot weather comes.

My weight is no change, I am becoming more active, which should help, nothing more to say, I have been suffering with more bloating, so I am trying to avoid too many carbs, maybe I might have a better comment next month..

Spending

 My cross stitch is pure enjoyment, I recently purchased this larger wooden frame, it holds the fabric firmer, plus I can stitch the whole width, which should be around 20" and square, so it will be one of my biggest pieces. For now I am focusing on the edging, this time I will do this design all round, I think I have a clever plan to ensure all the designs line up.

I saw this book and thought it might be helpful for me, my two veg beds are 1 metre by 2 metres, so I have 4 square yards to grow things in, it should help with companion planting, which I'm not so great at, got it second hand so saved money.

Another thing I have purchased this month is this small 50ltrs water butt, hubby will drill a hole in the top to help capture rain, I have placed at the back of the garden, it's not attached to anything. Once a month I feed my plants, often with a seaweed liquid, it's a pain to keep measuring for the many watering cans, so now I can fill this add the seaweed in one go and feed my plants, the liquid seaweed does not settle.

I got these two 3ltr planters from Lidl, they cost £4.99 each and will be perfect for tulips displays next spring, these are plastic and light weight, they look like the expensive ceramic pots. It's been a couple of years since I had new pots, I will mix them with existing pots to make the display. It's a shame they only had one size.

Sunday was tremendous fun, the children ate well, played outside and behaved nicely, its not always I can say that as they get older, they were very happy to be with us, we did not come inside until much later. Monday was housework day, we have spent most of the past week outside, just inside in the evenings, so how does the place get so dusty, its all clean now. Again I sat outside enjoying the sunshine, I've been reading, done some stitching, sadly no knitting. 

Yesterday and today hubby has been sorting his stuff in the garage, he is clearing some space and 2 shelves so I can move all my gardening bits. He put bits on marketplace and some sold, the rest with a load of junk went to the tip, I'm keepingan eye on him, I've already pulled out 2 items of mine he was about to throw out. I have gardening stuff I can take to local schools, I does feel good to be sorting this space, it's a first stage of an ongoing project.