Its raining.

Such sad times our beloved Queen has passed, she was such an inspirational head of state, she never once did anything to anger her people who she served with dignity, unlike so many other prominent people it was never about her, always the good of this country. We have lost our Queen, others their mother, grandmother and great grandmother, we will all miss the space she shared in our world. I sincerely hope our new King and his consort reign with as much dignity as his mother.

Loads of stitching going on, I have done most of the corner section  I just can't decide on the colours for the centre pattern, originally it should be brown, but I'm not feeling it yet, so I stitch around the design to see if any colour pops at me. I also need to finish the dark green, but again undecided if I should use a pale green. I have started a colourful band, which brings some of the colours used together. I'm happy so far, this is just a tiny section and it's balanced.

The garden is looking good after all the rain storms, not alot of colour, but loads of shades of green, most of the bedding plants are past their best and will need replacing. The ground is too wet to sort the red rose bed, but I hope to clear the greenhouse, making space for my pots with tender plants.

I want to move some more pots into this area, I no longer need to keep second gate clear, I can spread them out, I do love this space, it will be nice to add colour here, the herbs are thriving.

I've changed one pot on this table, the summer plants are going over, in a few weeks this begonia will be in the greenhouse, I have loads of small pots which I change around to keep it looking interesting. 

It's been a big week for hubby, he sold his motorbike, and has no plans to purchase another, at 73 he has decided to stop riding, it's totally his decision, but in truth he used it less and less, his last trip was not such a joy and he returned home really tired. Its a sad time, but the road trips are no longer a joy, some motorists are so bad at watching for bikes of any size. He is sorting through his gear and listing things to be sold, so no changing his mind.

My sister stayed for 2 nights, we did not do much, a walk to the village, a long visit to our haberdashery shop, she got ribbons to make a door wreath in autumnal colours. We also popped to our favourite garden centre, and a visit to daughters house, play time with Will, George  and Molly. I did see some fabric I liked  but passed at this point, I may get some next month and make a Christmas advent calendar,  which will be reused each year. My sister purchased a lovely green offcut, and gave me half, which would look good as backing once I have finished my cross stitch. 

We have had days of heavy rain, everywhere has bounced back after our hot and dry August, the garden is shutting down autumn is on its way, which for us here in the south east is a few weeks early. I am itching to work outside  but I will wait until next week to allow the ground to process all the water, just a general go through, I don't cut back bedding plants I allow them to die back, giving the birds and bugs their final meals. With such huge sadness we continue with our lives, with a sad heart, today I am wearing my pearls in her honour, I've not worn them for years, daughter sent me the photo's of her children on our jubilee celebrations, I did a post here, happy days.

 

Nothing exciting

 New colour in the garden, these cyclamen are for pots, the flowers last for ages, these look a bit sad, I will cut the flowers back, the plant is healthy. They cost £2.20 each from our local shop, much cheaper than garden centre. I do need pansies and violas, they will add colour for the rest of the year.

Book 76 read this year, a daughter is kidnapped, a ransom is paid, what happens next, how lives fall apart and the strength needed to carry on, guilt is a strange emotion, an interesting read, not the best book, but a different story.

I don't think I can put into words the joy for me of every tiny x stitch, each pattern growing. I went wrong on the new dark green design, so I'm winging it, the pink box design is from my chemo cushion, stitched in 2010, I'm mixing patterns differently. I am looking at all my old finishes to see what I can add to this design, I am braver the second time around.

Today is our wedding anniversary 36 years, we decided not to do much, no gifts, nothing we want, we are reusing cards purchased last year, just added a message for this year. Just a fun photo, have we changed much.

My weekend was quiet, spent loads of time with Will, George and Molly, playing inside, watching TV, they do love their programmes, often playing with no one watching. I did not sleep well, but caught up on Sunday night.

Two brilliant thunder storms in the past 24 hours, the water buts are full, the garden has had a good soak, no water issues here any more. Everywhere is looking good, all the summer dust has been washed away.

Daughter picked me up on Monday morning, all 3 children were at school or nursery, so we had a few hours together. She drove to Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays, an outlet centre on the harbour, it's a lovely setting, I needed nothing and spent nothing, it was a lovely time together.  My sister is arriving today for a visit, on her own, it's a cheer her up visit, she has been struggling recently should be fun, no plans made, just see what we want to do.

First 6 days of no spend-low spend September,  we had 3 days with no spend, and other than food just the plants above, so a good start, we have got a few extra things for my sisters visit. September is a month of birthdays and our anniversary, a hard time do this challenge, but I cheated and popped money into birthday cards last month, this challenge is about our everyday spending.

Autumn, not yet

I have plenty of stitching time, I'm not in the mood to read at this moment, so sewing is filling the gap. I can only stitch in natural daylight, these holes are just too small to see in any other light. Plans are forming for what to stitch next, it's almost as much fun planning as stitching.

This geranium I dug out of the raised bed by the back door is doing well, it's a beautiful plant, I quite like it in this 'pot', it's a square washing up bowl with handles. I purchased 3 last year, much cheaper than garden pots. They look good, are light and really easy to move about.

I'm not a huge lover of grasses, but I do like these smaller ones, the blood grass in the back right hand corner is a very slow grower, I have another small clump in the big pot by the green house. I am trying to have more texture and form in the garden, coming away from loads of bedding plants.

The Olive tree is looking good, I have been watering it, I would be devastated if I lost it, earlier in the year it was full of blossom, but sadly there are only a few olives growing. I've never had a harvest, whatever grows are left for the birds.

So it's September already, the evenings are darker, I've started using the light on the stairs again, the solar lights in the garden are now on by 8pm, it's still warm, our patio doors are open until after 8pm, we mainly shut them to stop the bugs coming in once the inside lights are on. 

Hubby had another birthday on Friday, 73, how did that happen, I got him a small simple gift, which he wanted, we did not go out, I was babysitting that evening. We had a day together, no birthday cake as requested. Mummy popped over with George and Molly, Will was back to school, he enjoyed his first day in a new class, with a new teacher and different friends, he was very chatty all evening.

I have started watching TV again, lots of new series back on again, I am loving Chateau DIY, I love watching these beautiful old buildings coming back to life, I don't always agree with all the choices, but it's always interesting to see buildings saved. All that glitters is another favourite and of course bake off and strictly will be back soon.

Plans for the next week is get the red rose bed sorted, and move pots, it will soon be time to cut back the raspberries, they started well, but the heat killed off loads of fruits. The blackberry bush which I cut back last year, has given rich huge swollen berries, we have had loads more then expected.

I've had another blood test, I'm still not feeling well, the anti biotics are all finished, should speak to the doctor once all the results are back, hopefully something can be done to raise my energy levels and get me back to normal. 

On the move

The strawberry plants are now in their new tower, I have 6 levels, 18 planting spots, I have put 6 plants in, plus 2 babies. I am hoping to have more babies, if not I will purchase plants to fill gaps, I discarded 3 plants as I've had them years. These pots are much bigger and stronger than the other set, we should get a great harvest next year. I have to put grit on the planted cups, our local squirrel is very good at digging in pots, lucky  for me he doesn't like the gravel.

I love this raised bed by our back door, but the centre plant was being swamped by the fushias. The peony was planted under the acer and not thriving, it should work well here, it's a spring plant and will be over by the time the fushias flower. The geranium I removed I have popped into a big pot, I can use it for filling in any gaps, it is a beautiful plant.

This red rose bed has been a success, plenty of colour, but I planted the rose bush to far back, so an easy task of moving it forward. I will also take the gladiola out of the pots and dig them along the back fence, it's OK to plant now as the leaves start to die back. There will be still some room for bedding plants, hubby loves french marigolds, so I try and have them every year.

We did a garden tidy yesterday, everywhere is looking good, the sunshine helps. After having a few wet days plants are returning, the ground is still dry, and we are still in a drought, but it's not so desperate now. This photo has our morning shadows, our neighbours over grown plants are so high, they tower over our 6 foot fence and give us more shade.

Will did help on Monday morning, we only did a few things, he was so pleased with helping, he had already found raspberries and blackberries ready to eat, none made it into the kitchen. I can only do one small task at a time, I then have to sit and rest, it's a pain, I'm just glad I can do something,  it's very healing to be out in the garden. The rose garden will be done next week, then all I need to do is start swapping summer pots with winter pots and add pansies and violas for winter colour.