Another finish

My Little rug is done, and I love it, hope you do as well Laura.

 I will seal the edges this weekend 

and have it in the post to you later this week, 

it was a pleasure to sew. 

 Now back to my 12 square sampler, this is number 10

 I now have 7, 8,11 and 12 to stitch, I am working on 11 at this point. so very soon another finish, I adore the colours in this and love the balance. I think this has to be used, maybe as a cushion cover, it would look nice in my chair.

 My fruit garden, can you see the twig in the corner, it's a blackcurrant bush, I don't like them, but hubby does, there are nice buds forming already. My blueberry bush in the pot has been inside my greenhouse and does not show signs of growth, so I have put it here, fingers crossed. I have 45 french Marigolds in my green house for the front of this garden, hubby loves them, and they will add colour to this spot.

Another pot sown, it has spring onions in the middle and radishes around the outside, I thought it would look interesting, I have added more seeds to keep it going longer.

 I love this little pot, but I can't get much to grow in it, so this year I have sown cress inside, it should be interesting in a couple of weeks. I love the rustic look.

My brother has been here, he spent last night and most of the day, I love having him to stay, we have loads of fun, this morning I took him to see the huge boats in a local marina, most of them cost more than our house. Now he is with his daughter and grand son.
We have had drizzle all day, the type that gets you wet when you are out, but not enough to call it rain, so my garden has been out of bounds. I love watching the birds and squirrels from our sitting room, but I am itching to get outside. The fore caste for tomorrow is more rain, so a day inside, I will have to do some house work, fingers crossed I get a break in the weather.

Feeling good

First my mini rug, I have finished the centre, and I am pleased it looks neat, I have just four swirls to complete and I am aiming for them to be done by the weekend.

 Out in the garden, just as my yellow daffodils are going over, I have these beautiful cream ones, with cream tulips behind,
I did purchase a pack of cream coloured bulbs. 

My tulips are not very good this year, not many flowers.

 It's Peony time, 

I already have five huge buds, last year I had 14 flowers, fingers crossed it does as well this year. It was in my mothers garden when I was a child.

At 50 years old, it is my favourite plant in my garden.

 The Magnolia tree has leaves forming, 

an interesting photo, 

with the flower centres after the petals have dropped, flowers, buds and leaves.
I love the shades of pink.

 In my greenhouse, my seedlings are growing, 

I think I have too many tomato plants.

 2nd greenhouse, 

my mixed salad is doing well and next to them is spring onions, 

I hope to plant them on this weekend.

 My Lavender was looking very woody, I have it in a pot at the back of the garden and in a mad moment I cut it all back, and now the new growth showing. I have the promise of another good year.

Hubby has been away since the weekend, so I have had fun, with the clocks going forward, we lost an hours sleep but gained an hour of evening sun shine.

Monday evening I went with Su and David for our 1st Sushi, we tried loads of different dishes, and we liked most of them, Su even ate raw fish which she had said she would not try.

Last night my friend Angela came for tea, I cooked her Chicken and Prawn Paella, it was a good one, we sat outside for a while.

Tonight I am in with hubby and lazy night together and an early night.
Tomorrow is Thursday, so Su and Fliss will meet me for an evening with a bit of shopping and loads of coffee and chatter.

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.

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.