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

Home at last

I've been away nearly all week...I am really glad to finally be home!   Nothing to report today though...... 3 days in the office and 2 nights in a hotel with my lovely Kindle for company means no pictures, no crafting and no lottie  :(.

I have been looking forward to spending time at the Lottie this weekend, but the weather has been so very awful this week I am doubtful I will be able to get much done as I anticipate it will be a mud bath,  I do have some offers of help this weekend though  - so fingers and toes crossed for a few productive Lottie hours this weekend and a bit of time out in the fresh air.

Time to begin this year's sowing at last! - Mr Milly has been collecting the free newspapers for me and my Paper Potter is going to be put to good use over the next couple of days

http://lieandloveofthemillys.blogspot.com/search/label/Paper%20Potter.    

This years seeds have been catalogued - how organised that sounds!  Really it is just my month by month list of what to sow and when to plant!

That feels like a plan for the weekend;- make some pots, plant some seeds,  clear some window sills - the pots have to go somewhere (best not mention that bit to Mr Milly!) and clear some more of the Lottie.

I hope you have a good weekend!

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

A day to remember

It is 10 years today since my dad passed away.   Today my thoughts are of my lovely, kind, caring and funny dad and the very many happy times we all spent as a family.  My brother and I were very lucky as we had parents who were devoted to us and each other and the result of this is that we grew up in a secure loving home full of happy childhood memories.

I love this song,  it reminds me of my dad - take a minute or two to have a listen.

For my dad - Mervyn Jenkins 1936 -2002.  

Love and miss you always x x Alison

All Fixed

Mr Milly and the Portuguese Housekeeper came to the Lottie with me today,  this is the first proper visit to the Lottie this year.    Mr Milly went armed with nails and hammers and he has fixed the shed door - a little touch up with paint required and then it will be as good as new.

Near as good as new.

The Portuguese Housekeeper (she isn't really our housekeeper - it is just a teasing name we have for her! She house sits for us  and looks after the animals when we are away - she is also Portuguese,  hence the nick name!)  she helped me weed and cleared the soon-to-be flower bed.  

The bed which housed the Brussels sprouts was finished - I'm not sure what I did wrong with the Brussels this year as they looked so promising and then came to nothing - has been cleared today.   I dug the bed over and with the help of the Portuguese Housekeeper we cleared it and then planted the raspberry canes.   We did laugh a lot today,  mostly as my expense....  I am rubbish with a hammer and the stakes for the raspberry canes were tough to hammer into the ground,  I am not sure what I was doing with my face - possibly it was the lovely blue colour as I hold by breath when hammering,  but both Mr Milly and The Portuguese Housekeeper sat and laughed at me for ages....  it did get too much for The Portuguese Housekeeper in the end and she took over!

The New Raspberry bed - I know they look like dead twigs,
but trust me they are raspberry canes

We finished the day by tidying the shed and a few other little tidy ups around the plot.

Nice tidy shed

Anyway today it felt like some progress was made and has given me the push I needed to start getting the Lottie ready for the growing season this year.   And what a beautiful day it was today,  yes it was very cold,  but the air was clear,  the birds were chirping and there was a lovely bright winter sun,  a perfect day for being out in the open and  really welcome at the end of a long week stuck in the house. Fingers crossed it is the same tomorrow as I'm champing at the bit to get back to the Lottie and tackle a few more jobs!

Mr Milly and The Portuguese Housekeeper surveying their handiwork!