A wet start to Autumn

I'm hoping for a few dry days as the garden is in need of some TLC, the lawn needs a good cut and hopefully doing that will pick up most of the fallen leaves that we have an abundance of after the wind and rain. We also have another problem with the wasps nest in the garden as the wasps have become very active and every time we walk outside they are on the attack. They have become a real nuisance this year are they are so close to the house but with any luck the queen will be on her way soon to find a new spot for next year.

September has been a bad month, I haven't felt well and I had another fall and landed on the knee that I hurt last year which has been so painful that I've struggled walking so I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself. I've hardly been out of the house and all I want to do is sleep but things are improving and I'm doing gentle exercises as the doctor suggested last year.

I have managed to put a few stitches in and finished Brambleberry Bunting by Brenda Gervais.

I also stitched Christmas Cactus  from the Deck the Halls booklet by Blackbird designs.

I just need to finish them off when I can get round to it.

This is the skirt I started earlier this year, It's been hanging around in the wardrobe waiting for the hem to be finished. It didn't hang right and the panels were curved so it didn't make a straight hem but it looks alright now when it's on.

We filled some pots at the beginning of September and they are beginning to fill out now.

And a few more pictures of the garden also taken earlier this month. We've had such a lovely show from the flower seeds that we grew this year that it has made up for the vegetables getting eaten even though they were covered

Not a lot else has been happening other than a bit of knitting and I'm not the fastest knitter so not a lot to show for now and as I've been nowhere and done nothing there's not much more to say.

Have a good weekend everyone,

love Sue xx

Catching up again

 

We had an unexpected visitor last week, this young falcon made a flying visit into the kitchen. Tony had watched him fly up the garden to the fish pond but instead of flying away he managed to fly into the kitchen. After a little coaxing we manage to get it to go out through the roof window. It was nice to see one so close up.

Glancing through blogs I see that lots of people have hedgehogs and birds visiting their garden but at the moment all we seem to have is a little mouse eating all the bird food stored in the out house and a huge wasps nest snuggled down in the climbing hydrangea. There are loads of them so I'm having to make a detour so that I don't have to walk past them when I go down the garden. The other path is through the trees which are covered in cobwebs but I'd rather face the spiders than the wasps.

The weeks seem to be flying by at the moment, rushing around trying to get everything gathered in from the garden before it all goes to seed. After a slow start everything seemed to grow at once so I've been freezing as much as I can so life gets a bit busy.

A couple of weeks ago I had a tumble, I don't know how it happened, one minute I was walking down the drive, the next thing was I could see the ground coming up to meet me. I've felt battered and bruised for the last week  but the worst part was that my ribs hurt so much I found it hard to breathe. Thankfully, though I'm still sore, everything seems to be on the mend. It certainly knocked my confidence and I'm still wary of watching where I step, I'm just thankful that I didn't do any more damage.

On a happier note Tony is doing well after his heart attack, lots of blood tests and doctors and hospital appointments that he's never had before but thankfully he is on the mend as long as he looks after himself and takes life a bit easier. It's been hard on him as he's always on the go but taking more rest breaks seem to be working.

It will be our wedding anniversary on Monday, 46 years and my how those years have flown, it doesn't seem five minutes since we were getting ready for our honeymoon in Wales and so excited to be starting out on our new life's journey. Three lovely daughters and five grandchildren later and we're still happy.

I started a new stitch a week ago "Brambleberry Bunting" by Brenda Gervais. I've only done a little and didn't realise that it was 36 count fabric which was a gift along with the chart and threads and my eyesight not being what it used to be makes seeing the fabric a bit of a strain. I might pull it out and go back to my usual 28 count it might be easier on the eyes. I must admit my stitching bug has gone for a wander lately, I just can't settle to do anything but lots of other things have been going on so maybe it will come back soon.

This is Gizmo, he's about 19 now but loves to spend his day out in the garden watching the birds go by. A few years back he'd have been chasing them but old age has finally caught up with him and as the vet has said, as long as he can eat and drink and he's happy then there might be a few more years left in him yet. I do hope so.

A few pictures of the garden and that's all my news for now.

Take care everyone,

love Sue xx

Exchange time and a little gardening

        Once again the Summer exchange has come round again, this was a lovely exchange from Jen,          lots of goodies to use. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of what I sent but my partner was pleased with her exchange.

I've been trying to do a little stitching but I can't seem to concentrate at the moment, too many doctors and hospital appointments to remember for DH and making sure he takes his medication. Thankfully he's doing well and now he's got the all clear to drive again he seems a bit brighter.

Not a lot of stitching going on but this time of year is when I like to be out in the garden my safe haven, if ever I have one of my anxiety attacks an hour in the garden always calms me down.

This is my progress on Follow your Dreams, not much but there has been a lot of frogging going on where I kept making mistakes but I'll carry on and hopefully the frog will go away.

We've spent a lot of time either in the garden or going for walks when the weather has been kind which hasn't happened over the past week, so much rain again but the garden needs it. However since I started writing this blog post we seem to be in a mini heatwave which is way too hot for me. The clouds are out today so it feels a little fresher thankfully.

This lovely rose has been full of flower for the past few weeks though when I went to open the greenhouse this morning it was looking a bit battered after the rain but it will soon bounce back.

The passion flower is full of buds this year, it's a bit of a thug but I do like them.

Our first broccoli, and the cauliflowers are coming too but we seem to have a lot of white fly this year even though they've been well covered

The tomatoes are growing, as are the peppers and cucumbers

And finally we have some apples on the tree, we lost such a lot with the wind that I didn't think there would be any left but I'm sure there will be enough for a few crumbles or pies.

I've been doing a lot of reading this year and I'm enjoying reading The Wrong Daughter,

I'm about half way through and it's a good read.

Well, that's about it for now, not a lot happening other than the usual housework and baking, sewing and a bit of knitting. I've got so many things that I want to do I should never be bored but some days I just want to sit in the garden and do nothing, not very productive but good for the soul.

Take care all,

love Sue xx

Stitching, Gardening and an impatient patient.

Well, the weather has changed today and it's raining which has cooled it down outside and indoors which has been most welcome after the few hot days we've had. I shouldn't grumble as it's what I'd been wanting.

I've been trying to get the garden sorted but have decided that it's not going to happen this year, it doesn't look bad but I can see the weeds and the patches where the summer bedding should have been planted but I haven't had the time.

Tony had a heart attack a few weeks back and it's knocked us both for six, he had no warning so it was a bit frightening when he walked in from the garden and said he had pains in his arms. Kim called for an ambulance which was here in about 15 minutes so the waiting wasn't too long but when the paramedic said yes you're definitely having a heart attack we both just looked at each other in disbelief.

We followed the ambulance in the car and by the time we'd parked up and found where he was he'd already had the procedure and was talking about coming home. He was still there five days later which didn't go down well with him. He's always been busy making things or gardening so it's been hard for him to sit and do almost nothing for a few weeks but thankfully this week he's beginning to look for things that he can do and not think about what he can't do for a while, so fingers crossed he keeps making good progress.

I finished Gentle Stitches by Shakespeare's Peddler and made it into a needle roll and decided to send it off to my partner for the cross stitch exchange as I hadn't got round to finishing anything else off. I forgot to take a photo of the gifts that I sent with it so hopefully my partner will take one for me.

I made a start on this dreamcatcher cross stitch but I haven't managed to put many stitches into it but it looked so pretty in the magazine. It's from an old world of cross stitch magazine which must be about 10 years old and I hope the colours will look as bright as they do in the photo. It's called Follow your dreams by Amanda Gregory.

We decided to do something with this bit of the garden which is just out of the kitchen door. The pond used to be there but when we moved the pond this was a little bit of what was left. We took it all apart and dug out all the rubbish underneath and made a flower garden so it will be nice to see it grow.

This is what it looks like now, most of the plants were in pots before and we bought a new little tree to replace the tree fern that was killed off by the frost last year.

The alstromeria are doing really well this year, it must be the sunshine that has made them grow,

and the alium is doing ok too.

 

The beans are beginning to grow up the canes so hopefully we'll get a good harvest like we did last year.

We've been picking raspberries, strawberries and we've had a couple of cucumbers though the tomatoes aren't ripe yet but it won't be long until they are ready.

I was bought this book a few weeks ago but I do wish I'd read the others in the series first as things are a little muddled if you don't know who's who from the start but I shall carry on reading it and see who the murderer is.

Well that's all for now, it's exchange opening day tomorrow so I'll put some photos of what I've received soon and hopefully another photo of some more stitching. Daughter Kim is back from her holiday in Corfu tomorrow so it will be nice to have her back home again.

Take care, love Sue xx

Stitching, gardening, and computer problems.

Well it's been lovely here for a few days and we've managed to get some gardening done at last, at one point I didn't think we'd ever catch up with it as there have been a few changes happening over the past few weeks.

Firstly my computer has been out of action for over four weeks, it's been for a repair but I don't hold out much hope that it will last much longer so I can see me having to buy something new to replace it. My kindle is driving me mad, it loads up but then gets stuck in a loop where it shows the book I'm reading but then keeps going to the home page to start all over again so I think I shall have to go back to having a real book in my hands for the time being. 

One good thing to start the month off was that I actually finished Sunflower Susan by Lesley Teare. It

 was a lovely stitch but the backstitching was a bit of a pain but it always makes things look better so it has to be done. It has just got to be framed now and can go on the wall with my other stitching.

Changes at home have been happening, I knew I should never have made myself a craft room again as every time I do something happens and the space is needed for something else. This time it's because my middle daughter has come home to live for a while until she can sort out somewhere to live as she and her partner have decided to part, very sad for both of them but it's no good when they aren't getting on any more. Anyway, it's been a bit of an upheaval as she has brought so much stuff with her that we are running out of space to store it all and DH's shed won't take much more. She also works from home so the craft room has had to go for now, mostly relocated to the attic where I will probably never find anything again.

We've been moving furniture about so we've not had much time to do anything else other than keep on top of things in the home. It was probably a blessing that I didn't have my computer and the rain has been falling so we could concentrate on moving her in.

After all the rain we've had the garden is finally beginning to show what is still there, we thought we'd lost a few plants but although they are a bit behind this year they are still coming through.

The tree peony has been lovely until the rain knocked all the petals off,

        

but the other peonies have made a lovely show. We thought we'd lost them all last year as they looked as though they had some sort of fungus so we cut them all back and hoped for the best and this year they are fine. I'm so pleased because they were from my Mum and Dad's garden over forty years ago.

The view from the vegetable garden.

This was the greenhouse a few weeks ago, I've not had chance to take any recent photos and there was no way I could upload them on the pc even if I had.

Isn't this clematis gorgeous,

and the wisteria has made a good show this year.

We've been doing the vegetable garden and with any luck the beans will go in this week.

We are making another little flower bed up by the back door but hopefully I'll show you them next time.

I've also started on some new cross stitch so I'll show that next time too.

I started this over four weeks ago so I hope it still makes sense, I need to get a new pc soon unless a miracle happens and someone can sort my old one out.

Take care all,

Sue x

April

Another month beginning and like most of last month it has started with April showers, we've had a few sunny days but not enough to get out in the garden and tackle the big things that need doing but there's always something indoors to keep me busy and it's meant more time for stitching.

I've had this chart for ages and each time April comes round I think that I will stitch it, well finally I made the effort and it was such a quick stitch I wish that I'd have done it sooner, I've just got to decide what I'm going to do with it next.

April Showers by Shepherd's Bush.

This is another chart that I've had for years but never got around to doing, I've never made a needle roll so I shall see how it turns out once I've got a cardboard tube to wrap it round. 

Gentle Stitches by Shakespeare's Peddler.

I nearly have a finish with Sunflower Susan, just a bit of backstitching to do but I'll save that until next time and hopefully a nice new start.

As I said the weather hasn't been to good and the tubs of polyanthus, pansies and forget me nots are suffering from so much rain even though they are quite sheltered from most of it but they still add a splash of colour when you walk out of the back door.

The Amelanchier tree never fails to put a smile on my face with its lovely blossoms, always there at the beginning of Spring making a lovely show.

The lupins are growing......

the pear and the blackberries are making growth, and the raised beds are getting dug over

and we have seeds germinating in the greenhouse. There are still more to sow as we usually do extra for the girls to take home.

The only problem we have now is that the garden is still too wet in the borders to actually do any digging and the weeds are taking over but there's still time and I can't get stressed about the garden as that is my happy place where I spend most of my time in the Summer.

We've had a lovely Easter weekend with the girls and grandchildren popping round. I've only had one Easter egg and that's hardly been touched as I'm trying to be good. The weight has been creeping back on over winter so it's time I did something about it before it gets too bad so it's back to counting calories and saturated fat until I lose a few pounds and my cholesterol levels go down too.

I hope April is a good month to you all, Take care,

Sue xx

Spring

Oh how I wish the weather would cheer up, we seem to have constant rain though I have managed to get out in the garden over the weekend even though it was so damp, but it was an enjoyable couple of hours and hopefully the weather will improve soon. There's not a lot of stitching been going on though I have sorted through some patterns and have decided what I want to stitch next as well as finding something to stitch for my next exchange so that should keep me busy for a few weeks.

I finished this stitching, Spring by carolxstitch, into a little pillow. I really enjoyed putting it all together. It's a really dull day here so the photos are terrible.

It was Mother's Day on Sunday here in the UK  and I'd asked for Spring flowers and Jelly babies from my daughters. It's hard to think of anything these days, I have everything I need and I don't like them spending their money . I did also get vouchers for M&S, a book, a mug and some chocolates which have already been started. I love daffodils and as I've hardly any growing this year they've made a welcome presence in the house. I don't know why they haven't grown unless they've been eaten but we shall plant more this Autumn and hope that they will grow.

I decided that I'd try and make this cushion cover, I'd seen someone making squares on Instagram and it looked so simple which it turned out to be. I only used some odd scraps of fabric to see what it would turn out like but I think I may have another go one day.

I have some knitting on the go, my daughter bought me some wool for Christmas and so far all I've knitted is the rib and now I'm not sure if I want to knit the cardigan or the jumper that I originally thought of. Luckily the rib is the same for both of them so I could knit either once I've made up my mind. 

The socks I showed in my last post are finished and ready to be given away so that's another job ticked off the to do list.

I've also done a lot of reading this year, I seem to be getting through quite a few. I only read in bed so perhaps the books I've been reading are not as long as usual.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more stitching updates and some photos of the garden if we ever get some sunshine.

Love Sue xx