Lovely Lavender

 When we were away last week we made a special trip one day to see the lavender here, which someone had told us about - even though it was tucked away in the countryside miles away from where we were staying....It was a gorgeous day and well worth the driving to see soooo much delicious lavender.....

Lots of different shades and types, surrounded by white gravel to really show off the pretty colours, and there were David Austin roses planted there too - a gorgeous combination....the tea room served delicious lavender scones with lavender and strawberry conserve, the shop sold all kinds of lavender aromatherapy products and the nursery sold lavender and roses ....it was bliss!

 The sky looks washed out for some reason in my photo - it was blue really.....

 ....there were also hens at the farm, and their newly laid big brown eggs were for sale...they came in a lavender coloured egg box....

 I bought some dried lavender and some lavender oil...this picture shows some of the lavender bags I've made in the past for book and magazine projects...I like to keep lavender sachets in among the linen shelves...(the linen cupboard in this house was one of the things I really wanted it for when I first saw it)..

 I also bought a couple of lavender plants to add to our collection...it would be nice to sit in this seat looking out over the field of lavender to the rolling Devon countryside beyond...very relaxing....

Since we came back it has mostly been raining here and also blowing a gale and feeling autumnal....what strange unsettled weather we have here, no wonder we're always talking about it! It's perfect weather to stay in and sew anyway which is what I'm doing...thank you for visiting me here...I hope you are having a very happy week. I'll be back soon with some sewing pictures xxxxx

A Lovely Day

 First I want to say a big thank you for all your wonderful birthday wishes on my last post, I was so happy to receive them all! I did have a lovely day, spending much of it in some beautiful gardens with my elder daughter Sarah and her two chickadees.....

 ...this was the potager, filled with wonderful vegetables and scented with masses of lavender and sweetpeas.

 And there were ponds filled with water lilies and tadpoles (Charlie's favourite bit) and lots of sparkly blue dragonflies skimming the surface and landing among the leaves....

 The wildflower meadow was just beautiful, I've never seen one looking so perfect and took rather a lot of photos....Daisy was magnetised to the daisies....

 After a lovely long afternoon among the flowers we had delicious afternoon tea.... and in the evening, when Mr P and my son in law got home from work they cooked a barbecue for us all and the children stayed up late..

I am very lucky and had some lovely presents, many of the decorative kind which will be popping up in my blog post photos....and I also received a beautiful hand knitted gift from one of my friends which I will write about in a special knitting post soon....

Back to work today, and lots designing to get on with...Thank you for dropping in to see me and for your delightful comments...Also thank you to those who have emailed me, I will try and reply to you all very soon. I hope you are having a wonderful week whatever you are doing and that the sun keeps shining (despite the weather forecast) Back soon xxxxx

Little Foxglove Tin

 A long time ago, when I used to paint flowers all day, I produced a repeating foxglove design. I drew the flowers in ink, then painted them in watercolour, and then painted a flat black gouache background around it. The design was sold by my agent to a company who printed  designs on to sheets of metal and then made decorative tins with it...you can see the little tin in the picture above...I've had it with me for many years now ...the way the tin was constructed meant the foxgloves are actually growing upside down on it but not everyone would notice :) and I am fond of it after all this time....

 So you can imagine what a surprise I got when looking through the May issue of Country Homes and Interiors  (one of my favourite magazines) when there was my little foxglove tin in a beautiful styled shot against some gorgeous wallpaper....it is now a vintage find (like me perhaps)...

                   And can you guess what I keep in my little vintage foxglove tin?...vintage buttons....

 Here are some photos of the real foxgloves which I told you about a few posts ago, the self seeded free gifts to my garden, which I moved from the front to the back.....

                                   they are just beginning to flower and are looking lovely....

 ...fortunately they are in a sheltered part of the garden, so are safe from the blustery sea breezes and gales we've had  lately...and are still having today...I hope it improves for the weekend...

Thank you for dropping by to visit here, and for the lovely comments which I so enjoy - lots of new blogs to discover too as new bloggers visit me and the regular ones who after my almost year of blogging are like old friends...wishing you a wonderful (nearly) weekend with garden days, perfect weather and whatever you enjoy the most....back soon xxxxx

Vintage Roses

This is the Vintage Rose bag, stitched and embroidered a few years ago for my book, Cross Stitch Keepsakes.... 

I love roses, as you probably know (doesn't everyone?!) and at this time of year I just love picking posies of them to have around the house so everyone can enjoy the sweet scent and perfect shape and colour....

Does anyone else carry roses round in a colander? It always seems the first thing to come to hand when I go out flower cutting....also the little spiders and insects hiding in the flowers can make their escape more easily before I take them inside... 

       A deep magenta rose in a Pip Studio mug...I do love putting pretty flowers in pretty containers....

.... three different kinds of rose in it this time....the white ones are suffering from a lack of rain and going over too quickly this year...they are all old fashioned and highly scented varieties....

    Here is the pale pink one which I also showed in my previous (pink) post, growing in the garden...

 Here's a close up....

Gathering roses...what could be nicer on a May day? I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and your days are full of roses...thank you so much for visiting me here in my little bit of blogland, and for your sweet comments which i love to read.... back again soon. xxxx

First of May

My favourite month has arrived! Although I love all the seasons for their different qualities and atmospheres, the month of May is the one I love the best...The joyous celebrations of the royal wedding were such a great start to this beautiful time of year, and the sunshine and flowers everywhere makes it all seem perfect...

We had an outing to a lovely garden....Erdigg in North Wales...where you can picnic in the orchard, wander round beautiful grounds and gardens and have afternoon tea surrounded by wisteria outside the little tea room....the old beehive here is one of  several surrounded by buzzing bees....

           .....the garden is a mixture of formal and informal, and charming pastoral views...

 I love the bluebells still flowering - not for much longer though...and the pots and watering cans and lovely old greenhouses always fascinate me...

My project in the May issue of Crafts Beautiful is this bright felt bag, decorated with  a stitched beehive..

Off to do a bit of gardening now - the ground elder is also loving the month of May and needs to be weeded right now...I hope you have had a lovely weekend so far and are enjoying the new month. Thank you for visiting me and for the sweet comments. Back soon xxxxx

In and Out of the Garden

Hello! I hope you've had a very happy  Easter weekend! We've been enjoying the sunshine and the garden, as I hoped...though on Saturday it turned grey and chilly so we thought our Easter tea party scheduled for Sunday might end up being indoors....but no, it was sunny again next day! We had lots of the family here, all different ages, and lovely to see everyone.....

We put the gazebo up so there was shade for those who needed it, and if they felt chilly they could move into the sun...We had tea and cake, with especially lovely cupcakes made by Sarah, she learnt early how make her cupcakes rise in their cases just the right amount, unlike my more unpredictable ones which can be anything from just to the top of the case to a pointy witch's hat.... I took the picture below before the cakes arrived with Sarah, Gareth and family (Daisy wearing bunny ears, Charlie wearing bunny mask), so the cake stand is ready and waiting...

During the afternoon everyone had to walk down the bluebell path to see the newly painted potting shed..

It's a real little hideaway, and somehow feels very peaceful even though it's not really far from the house....

The flowery bunting was still up to celebrate the spring and Easter weekend (next weekend it will have to be the Union Jack bunting, I think)....

....and today I did a bit of sewing....this is the very beginning of the quilt I'm making for Daisy's first birthday at the end of May...daisy flowers appliqued to the central panel, to be surrounded by patchwork....

I love the idea of making a quilt for a child's first birthday because by then they have 'become themselves' - their little personality has begun to show and you can make something  to suit them...Daisy already loves flowers, and had to be stopped from eating daisies on the lawn yesterday....

I hope you are still enjoying lovely weather, spring flowers and Easter eggs... Thanks for popping in here - have a lovely week! xxxxx

Garden Days

Such a sunny and beautiful weekend we've had! Lots of time spent in the garden.... a little sewing of a new project while chatting and drinking tea.... a little pottering in and around the potting shed while listening to the birdsong and the bumble bees buzzing in and out of the blossom - so blissful....

and yes, a little painting of the potting shed went on too...it's not finished yet though so only a peek...several coats of undercoat, then one coat of farrow and ball in slipper satin so far.....a little trim to be added soon. Very kind Mr P made me a special edging which I drew onto a piece of wood and he cut it out and attached it......

                             And here is some of the apple blossom looking impossibly beautiful...

I often used to draw and paint blossom for spring greetings cards, and every time I see it I almost pick a sprig to take up to the studio and try and recapture it's delicate beauty with washy watercolours...

This week it's a garden theme workwise in my studio, so very appropriate this time...and my two new quilts are vey flowery ones as well....(I know I shouldn't really work on two at once but you know how it is when you get an idea and just can't wait to try it...) I hope you have a wonderful flowery week, thanks for popping in to see me! Back soon xxxx

Knitting and Tulips

Hello! Thank you everyone for your understanding comments this week about my roof being done, and the stress of having 'the men' around all the time !! I've now survived one whole week and am really looking forward to the weekend...we moved on from the crashing of the tile removal to the hammering and banging of the new roof batons today, but still a long way to go...anyhow, here is a little mosaic of the making of my lovely blue mohair cardi - from the beautiful balls of wool, to taking it away ( almost finished) to the Lakes in my new CK craft bag (an xmas pressy) - and then bringing it home sewn up but not pressed...and then finally finished, pressed and ready to wear....perfect for chilly spring days and nights.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'm planning to paint the potting shed at last...and to go out into the garden and enjoy the tulips without bumping into any workmen! The pink tulips above were some of my autumn plantings, and so are those little yellow ones (either they are dwarf ones or there's something wrong with them, does anyone know?) The pink tulips below were some I photographed a couple of weeks ago - all the flowers are almost over now...

The red and yellow tulips are my very own tulips from Amsterdam, brought back from a holiday there by my daughter Sarah.... The red ones are really big flowers that open right up in the sun.....I have some more special tulips I wanted to photograph too, but they were in a container right by the workmen and I didn't want to appear too weird going out there among them with my camera, so will have to show them next week!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend, with sunny days and  flowering blossoms, birdsong and blue skies...lots of happy plans and crafty times...Thanks for visiting me in my little spot...back soon. xxxx