A little birthday gift

This year is just flying past in an absolute flash..  I do wonder if that is a sign of getting older?

Already it seems to be birthday season in our family and in the last 2 weeks the birthdays have been;-

My brother

My Brother in Law's 50th birthday

My Nephew's 7th birthday

My Aunties birthday and 50th Wedding Anniversary

My Cousins 50th Birthday

Quite a few memorable and big events.  Some home made goodies have come in handy for little gifts along the way and my most favourite one of all was the lovely bag for my Auntie. 

Mr Milly spotted the fabric in our local haberdashery shop and after some debate about me really not needing another bag (I think I do need more bags - but Mr Milly had other ideas) I decided that it would be lovely for a gift.   

The completed bag

Isn't that lovely girlie vintagey fabric

I think my Auntie was pleased with her gift and as she was off on holiday to celebrate her Golden wedding Anniversary I am hoping she would find it useful too.    I don't think I am going to be able to resist making one of these for me though............

Alison x

Crafting

The Lottie is keeping me busy at the moment as we start to gear up for the busy summer growing season.   I think I have pretty much completed all of the hard tasks for now and it is just maintenance - which is lovely to be at that point.

I have been crafting too,  some knitting,  some sewing and some crochet.

The Peg Bag love continues and I have 3 more to add to the ever growing collection.  I have added some flower embellishments to a couple of them and I think I quite like this - what do you think?

A blue Peg bag

Yellow Peg Bag

Jubilee Peg Bag

I found some new and slightly cheaper scarf wool when I was in Wales and one has been knitted up,  this one will either be kept for a Christmas present or could be put up for sale.  I like the colours of this one,  slightly different from the colours I usually work with.

Knitted Scarf

I also have a new quilt on the go,  I do like quilting and would probably do more of it,  but currently the sewing machine lives in the living room and it is not fair on Mr Milly to be sewing when he is trying to relax,  so I grab a few minutes here and there and slowly slowly the little stash of pin wheel squares are growing.  It will take a fair few to make the quilt, so I expect this one will be a few months in the making.

Pin Wheel squares

Crocheting of course is my preferred craft of choice,  I like to sit, relax and watch the TV keep my hands busy. I am positively twitchy if I don't have something to be working on.   Mr Milly likes this craft too - it is quiet,  unlike sewing and the rattling of the machine and me backwards and forwards to the sewing machine - it positively drives him nuts!  Then there is knitting - it is OK and the first craft I learnt as a child.  I am OK at it,  but not great and the click clicking of the knitting needles really does irritate my poor long suffering husband!  But with crochet the single hook makes no noise and I sit still to work.

The downside of crochet - what do I make.   There is only so many hats we can all wear and during the summer months, no one wants them.  I have tried my hand at baby cardigans and hats,  but I'm not keen on all of the little bits and pieces needed for a baby cardigan, so I dabble occasionally with with little enthusiasm.

Baby Cardie

 My latest little projects have been tea cozies - we now have a little collection and I use the one which suits my mood.   I do get to choose which one we are using as Mr Milly would probably choose not to have one at all!!

An elaborate Tea Cosy

Stripy cup matching Tea Cosy

Patriotic Tea Cosy

Pink Tea Cosy

This weekend I  decided that I need a longer project to sit and work quietly on for a while,  a blanket for our bed seems in order - it will fill the gap until the blue quilt is finished.

The start of the double bed size blanket

That should keep my twitchy hands busy for a while!

Alison x

Celebration Week

We have had a lovely Silver Anniversary week Me and Mr Milly.  We have been totally spoilt with lots of cards,  loads of Facebook messages and lovely gifts.

My beautiful flowers from Mr Milly

Yesterday  we had a lovely meal arranged by my Sister-in-Law,  7 of us went to a special little restaurant near to us for a celebratory meal,  far too much champagne and some wine  really good food and then  afterwards we popped to our friends house  as they were unable to join us for the meal due to work - more champagne and and memorable evening to end our celebratory week.    I suffered this morning though with a stinking headache but it was worth it!!

Next weekend we have a lovely weekend away to look forward to,  a gift from Mr Milly's family and My boy - we are excited and planning what we will do with our time away.

The hotel for our Weekend away!

To all of our family and friends - thank you for all the kind words and lovely gifts, we have felt very very spoilt.  x x x x x 

Today we have spent a quiet day at home,  recovering from our hectic weekend and enjoying a little craft time.  I am so completely fed up with digging at the Lottie that I gave myself the day off. 

I found an adorable little pattern on the Internet and decided we needed a new peg bag,  I think it is really cute!  

My Peg Bag

And of course as usual, the peg bag was spotted by my sister-in-law and very conveniently I was told that her boys had accidently broken her plastic peg bucket with a football, so she was in dire need of a new one - how is that for timing!!!!!

Sister-in-law's Peg Bag

A pair of very cute little peg bags with matching covered hangers,  put together this afternoon.  

Peg Bags

Funky Pharoah

I was given a project just over a week ago,  due to the doldrums having set in for a while I haven't been crafting,  however this one had a deadline and was fairly quick and easy to do.

My oldest nephew has been studying Egypt at school and this week - tomorrow in fact!  Is dress up day.   Everyone has to dress in an Egyptian theme - so that was the project for Auntie!

Google supplied the idea and given the seal of approval by the nephew,  bits and pieces were purchased on the internet and then his mum was given a little list too to complete the outfit.   It didn't take very long to put together with lots of hand sewing  - which I find gentle and quite soothing.

Anyway the outfit was completed and has been hanging up for a few days for the grand try on - unfortunately there is no prize for the best outfit as I have been saying all week that he had better win!!!!  LOL!

Little Funky Pharaoh

I couldn't leave the little nephew out and as he loves to draw and colour I made him a little crayon caddy for carrying around.   A few bits and pieces of fabric from my stash and an hour or so alternating between the sewing machine and the iron - a quick visit to the local supermarket for a pack of pens and some stickers and he seemed pleased with his gift  - he immediately got the bits and pieces out of the caddy and made a card for his friend.  I guess that means a success for him too!

Individual pen pockets

One pocket for paper, another for stickers

A little carry around caddy

Just in the Nick of Time

This morning I had a text "The littlest nephew has a tooth about to fall out".  Fortunately I had bought stuffing so the little monster tooth pillow was nearly finished.  I grabbed the needle and thread and sewed up the pillow so that it was ready.     A few hours later a phone call - this time it was the littlest nephew himself "My tooth has fallen out".  Whew - the pillow finished just in the nick of time.

Monster Tooth Pillow

The pillow has now been examined, discussed and collected with  a promise that I would get a phone call tomorrow to let me know if it worked and a little something was left for him.  I love that!!

I decided to play with some fabric last night,  I had another cushion in mind and something I have wanted to try for a while.   I couldn't find a good pattern or tutorial online, so I made one up!   Not difficult really as it a well know subject!  My precious Cath Kidston fabric was put to good use and another cushion finished and ready to join the others.

Union Flag cushion

Today I have been sent a photo from my Youngest Niece it is her new bedding,  I think there is a hint in there somewhere and looks like I will be making another Union Flag cushion!  I might attempt a tutorial this time hopefully someone might find it useful.

Union Flag Bedding

Anyway its Friday,  thank goodness and my thoughts are now turning to the lottie......  the list of jobs is as long as my arm.  Tonight I am sitting working out the priorities and trying to be realistic about what I actually will be able finish.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.  Alison x

A bit of Prettiness

After the not pretty picture of Mr Milly's hand yesterday I thought a little bit of something pretty was needed.

Do you remember this Little Helpers and in particular the Cathedral Window cushion?  I really liked the look of the Cathedral windows and also found the hand sewing really relaxing and enjoyable.   I started another one shortly after finishing the first.   Different fabrics a different shape and no button embellishment this time,  the same principles of ironing and folding squares and then hours and hours of hand sewing.  I am pleased with the result, but I do think a pair would be better!

I fancied doing something a little quicker - and found a tutorial for a gathered ruffle cushion.  This one took a couple of hours to complete,  once finished I felt it needed something to pull the 2 colours together, a bit of folding, glueing and rolling and the fabric flowers were born.  The result is more pleasing with everything seeming to work more 'together'.

Finally - something for the boys!    This a tooth pillow, the smiley bit of the face is a pocket and somewhere for a milk tooth to be left in the hope a little reward might appear - I hope the tooth fairy approves!   I ran out of stuffing today so this is still unfinished.  I better hurry up though as I understand from my little nephews that there are 3 wobbly teeth at the minute!

A happy trio of cushions  - well they make me happy!!

A Busy Sunday

This was my day today;-

• Let the chickens out and topped up their food and water
• Tea and Toast for me and Mr Milly this morning
• Tidied the kitchen and put a load of washing on
• Put chicken in the slow cooker for dinner (not one of mine!)
• Popped to the local shops for a few bits and pieces
• Went to my friends and carried bricks from her garden and loaded into my car
• Went to the Lottie,  unloaded one lot of bricks from the car,  wheeled the bricks to the plot (too muddy to drive the car)
• Unloaded the 2nd lot of bricks and wheeled them to the plot
• Roughly laid out the base for the Greenhouse
• Hammered in the last post for the Bean Frame
• Attached and tied in the canes for the Bean Frame
• Came home,  made lunch for Mr Milly
• Made the bed
• Had a shower
• Cooked dinner and lemon cake for dessert
• Washed up and tidied the Kitchen
• Emptied all the Bins
• Made 2 Owl Hotties and a Chick-sicle
• Turned up a pair of Jeans
• Helped Mr Milly with a shower 
• Sat and watched the telly.....

Bean Frame - No climbing strings yet,  the frame is in place to start bean trench. 

Rough outline of the base of the greenhouse on Plot 96 and a spare pile of bricks. 

3 Owl Hotties - pop them in the Microwave for a bit of a warm cuddle.
The little one is a Chick-sicle,  keep him in the freezer  for when a bit of cold is needed - better than a bag of peas!

In summary,  some shopping, gardening, brick carrying, housework, cooking, nursing, and sewing.   What a day of complete extremes!


Did you have a good day?

Alison x

De-construction

I have been working on a quilt since Christmas.   This is a first for me and something I have wanted to try for sometime.

The initial pattern came from this book

As it was being put together we decided that it was a little too plain for us so the patchwork lines were added to break up the plainness and add a little more interest.  This theme was carried through to the binding which is a kind of patchwork stripe.

It has been fun to do,  although a mammoth task.  When it was time to add the batting and the backing I had to virtually move all of the furniture in the living room to lay the whole lot on the floor to baste and pin it.   It took hours to complete this step,  fortunately I had Mr Milly on hand as a spare pair of hands and voice of reason to keep me sane as I struggled with the three layers and metres and metres of fabric.

Once this step was completed it was then a struggle to quilt all the layers - it took a couple of evenings to do this as it is really tiring feeding it all through the sewing machine, folding, tucking, squishing and balancing the weight all at the same time.

Quilt in Progress

The final step was the binding.   One side is sewn using the machine,  the binding is then tucked and folded and  hand sewn to finish.    Eventually the quilt was put on the bed,  we stood back to admire our handiwork and it was immediately obvious that it was too small!!  How very frustrating and disappointing is that!

This Sunday was a perfect day to de-construct and work again on the quilt - too much snow to want to venture out of the house.  One side and part of the top and bottom  of the binding was unpicked,  a new line of pattern strips sewn and joined together and the whole thing put back together again.   The next evening I spent hand sewing the binding back onto the quilt and it is done.

Finished!

This time (it is the final time as I have now run out of backing fabric and batting) the quilt is a much better size.   The quilt is a fairly basic pattern and I would like to tackle something more complex - but not for a while.   I think that will be a job for next winter, which gives me plenty of time to gather the fabric and decide the type of pattern to attempt.

We have been busy

I thought I had finished the quilt and have now decided a little more work is needed on it  :(.  Pictures to follow.

Yesterday the Portuguese Housekeeper  came to the Lottie with me - I had a definite mission in mind for this weekend - to clear as much as possible of the front on the plot.  Between us we soon got into a rhythm,  using my Azada I would take some grass off,  the Portuguese Housekeeper would load the grass into wheelbarrow and deposit it on the heap behind the plot, by the time she returned the next lot of grass and debris was ready for loading into the wheelbarrow.  A good couple of hours of this went on, we did have a  couple of tea breaks though as it is very hard work!  We didn't quite get the whole lot cleared,  however we were both really pleased with the progress and I am so relieved to finally be getting this eyesore bothersome bit of the plot tackled.   I want to get it sorted as soon as possible so that I can compost and manure it before the growing season gets properly under-way.

It does all look a bit grim!  I have been trying to find a before photo without success.
This has made me realise how carefully I have avoided photographing the front of the plot.

The shed looking as good as before following a little paint touch up this weekend, I even cleaned the window and now I am thinking how cute it would look with little curtains - I am sure I have some fabric that I could use!  

I am still debating on whether to take on another small plot - I do think I am going to rapidly run out of  space for all the things I want to grow.  Another plan and probably the more reasonable one is to extend my plot backwards.  There are no plots behind me  and unlikely to be - it is very tempting to go in this direction,  and I think with a bit of moving around I could get in another 1 reasonable size bed or possibly a couple of smaller ones and have a good size plot.  Brambles are growing here though - more roots to be dug out YUK!  I'm going to have a think about this and hopefully if the weather is good this weekend Mr Milly will be able to get to the plot and between us we can make a decision on what we are going to do.

Today I have acquired a table - Mr Milly is pleased as I was after him building me a potting bench,  the table will do the job nicely and of course somewhere for the camping stove and a cup of tea.    My Boy collected the table for me today and took this picture for me too - his photography skills leave a little to be desired!

 A lovely Freecycle freebie for me and with a coat of paint I am sure it will look as good as new.  There is a brilliant choice of colours on the market,  I think I have narrowed it down to 2 - guess which is my favourite?????

That's My Milly's job for the weekend - rub down and paint the table,  a lot easier than building one from scratch and how brilliant is Freecycle!

I have had a few lovely comments recently,  Blogger is frustration though as I will have comments left by Anonymous - I would really love to know who you are, please please leave your name if leaving me a comment!!  

Some comments for your comments!:

Nearly There Claire - Thank you for all of your comments, it is good to hear from a kindred spirit and your blog is great,  I'm looking forward to watching your allotment progress!  The flagstones for the shed were laid directly on the soil,  we did our best to level it all out and just plonked them on!  The shed is still standing with no wobbling so all is good!  The foot did heal OK!  And the cider Boat is fab - although I am always the oldest to visit I still love it!!

Anonymous - from this post Re-use and Re-cycle.  I am glad you have enjoyed reading my Blog witterings and hope you continue to do so!  The chickens are all doing great at the moment with feathers reappearing after the recent moult.   Egg production is definately down though and during the very cold spell we had recently, no eggs at all.   I think with the dark short days the poor chicks are confused and can often be found in bed at 3.30 in the afternoon - This really affects egg production!

Colin - How lovely to hear from you and thank you for your comment - I definately WON'T let them beat me!

Anonymous - from this post How annoying.  Your comment did make me laugh! A finally touch up with paint this week and the shed is now looking as good as new!

Quilting

Tonight I am trying to finish the quilt,  there has been a choice made tonight - keep on with the quilt or stop and blog for a while.   The quilting has won........  back to the needle and thread  with a Blog update tomorrow.

Alison x

Re-use and Re-cycle

The first of this years seeds have been potted up woohoo!!

Lots of little paper pots have been made with the freebie papers that drop through the letterbox,   old margarine tubs have been cut up to make the plant labels and the seed trays and propagators are from my freecycle collection last year.  Pretty good going I think and a really good use of bits and pieces around the house.

Potted up today were;-

Gardeners Delight Tomatoes
Geraniums
Candy Cane Sweet Peas
Aubergines

All are now residing on a window sill in the spare bedroom, fingers crossed they sprout and grow.

The weather as expected was not great today  - we debated all morning whether we should venture to the Lottie,  in the end though it was a no-go,  how disappointing :(.   I consoled myself with planting up the seeds and re-checking my planting list!

I spent a little time this afternoon at the lovely sewing machine tackling the quilt I have been working on since Christmas  - it is huge.   The end is in sight as all the blocks have been cut, ironed, sewn together, ironed some more, batting and backing applied and pinned and the hardest bit of quilting all the layers together is now under way.  This is really tough to do as there is just so much of it and it is a wrestle with all the fabric and the sewing machine.   I can only work on the actual quilting for short periods of time as it is exhausting!  Tonight I am cutting the strips to make the binding - I'm looking forward to this as then it will be done.

A very little sneak peak of the quilt.

Finally today my latest ornament - I have seen these types of things in a few places and decided I wanted one,  I had forgotten about the twisted willow growing in the garden, which is now getting huge.  Mr Milly thought I had lost the plot when I stood for ages in the garden looking at the willow tree - I wasn't mindlessly looking though I was deciding which bits would be the best to cut for my ornament.   Finally the decision was made and a few snips later, a bit of arranging in a vase and bingo - I had exactly what I wanted.   My oldest nephew had helped me last weekend collect some acorn cups when we were at the Lottie - another one in the family who thought I was losing the plot LOL!!

Anyway - it was a good excuse to do some needle felting - the result an acorn tree!   The plan is to change the decorations throughout the year  - hearts during February,  Eggs at Easter,  Pumpkins at Halloween,  baubles at Christmas and whatever else takes my fancy for the rest of the time.

Not a great photo - I'll try to take one in the daylight tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting today.
Alison x

Little Helpers

A difficult day yesterday and today as always life moves on.

To lighten my day yesterday I had two willing little helpers at the Lottie,  My oldest and littlest nephews came for a visit at the Lottie and it was fun to do 'little jobs' with little people.   We dug over the flower bed and pulled up the weeds,  a little tutorial to begin with on weeds and flowers just so that the right things were pulled up.  That bed was soon tidied,  I had some tulip and allium bulbs which should really have been planted by December,  I had forgotten about them and figured better late than never!  I used my dibber to make holes in the bed and left the boys to randomly plant the bulbs.

Next onto the onion bed - I have been meaning to weed this bed for ages and a perfect job to do with the littlies - the little one did get bored after a while and spent ages playing with the water pump, not the best day really to be playing with water - the ice on the top was about and inch thick,  but he managed to have a great time!  My oldest nephew helped pull up the weeds,  he did advise though that some planks of wood between the onions might be a good idea - it would stop the weeds and we wouldn't have to walk on the ground - how did this 9 year old get so sensible and how come I'm listening to his advice!!    It was great fun having the boys around and lovely to have some help - this week I am going to look out for some boy size gardening gloves for them to keep in the Lottie shed for the next time they visit.

Mr Milly and I finished the wire frame for the raspberries and that was about it for the day.   I forgot the camera yesterday so no Lottie pics today.

Finally I have finished the Cathedral window cushion - I am really really pleased with it and have now decided that it would be good to make some more to match my living room - just need to find the right fabric and I can make a start on them.   I really hope the recipient of this cushion will be pleased with it!

Cathedral Window Cushion