Sunshine after the Rain

We have had such a cold and wet few weeks resulting in the garden and gardener suffering! It is so frustrating not being able to get outside.

Here are the tall tubs at the front with the aliums coming out. I wish I had planted them in different pots from the spring flowers as the foliage of the spring bulbs are dying down in front. 

It was dry today so I tackled an area needing tidied for a while. It's underneath one of the kitchen windows so I had to leave access to clean the window. It's also almost in permanent shade so not good for plants. 

Here's the before:-

One hour later:-

Two hours later and it's finished.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Where did April go?  It was my turn to have supper for three knitting friends so I knitted these wee strawberries for table gifts, had strawberry napkins and made a strawberry Pavlova. Not quite all strawberry themed but table looked nice.

On the last day of April I attended a workshop on Free arm machine quilting. It was lovely to have a day away and if nothing else I learned a lot about my sewing machine and how to lower the feed dogs. I made several samples of free arm quilting but think I would need lots of practice before attempting to do a quilt!!!!

We had a wet and wild April so I wasn't in the garden much but things were starting to grow.

Here is a bit of the garden in early May. Weather still very cold but we have had some brighter days.

The wee apple tree is covered with blossom so hopefully we will get a good crop of apples. Two years ago we had thirty two but last year we only had eight.

Daffodils have now made way for tulips. 

Just finished knitting a pom pom elephant. He is tiny and can sit in your hand.

First 'Quilt as you go' double bed quilt

 Last August I joined a class to learn how to 'Quilt as you go'. The project was to make sample 12" squares, join them into panels then make into a quilt with the QAYG method. We met every fortnight to learn a new technique or get instructions for a new square. I am not a very experienced quilter so I found this very challenging.

Yesterday I finally finished my quilt. If anyone looks at it closely you can see the mistakes. Initially I was so frustrated if the points in the stars etc were not right as I am a bit of a perfectionist. However family, friends and my quilting teacher were so encouraging so I persevered.

I love red and tend to include it a lot in my projects. For this quilt I decided I wanted  Mediterranean  type colours but some were going to be too strong  for my bedroom which has a light blue carpet and cream walls. I bought blue for the background and four contrasting fabrics of blue floral, green floral, cream and terracotta floral and used stash for the rest.

Here it is on my bed :-

It's Officially Spring

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Scotland - the second this week. Really looked forward to getting into the garden. 

Some photos of the work so far this week:-

     Put some new log roll in the border at the back to stop the soil rolling onto the grass.

 Spring flowers in the tub at the front driveway

 Crocuses in the wee border we kept at the front when we got a new driveway last autumn

Last but not least I managed to give the grass in the back garden its first cut. Most of grass looks ok but there is some moss and some bare bits so needs more attention than just cutting it. However a happy bunny today.

Hopefully my next post will be posting a photograph of my first quilt as you go quilt. I have been making it since last August. I have found it quite challenging.

NEW PATH

Lovely sunny spring day this morning so I decided to widen the wee path from the main path up the garden This will allow my husband to use his disabled walker to get to the table and chairs in the middle of the garden. The sun is not quite high enough in the sky yet to use the seating near the back door. 

I managed to tidy the herb garden and the two rose beds seen in the photo. By this time it was cloudy and getting cold so tidied up and went in to have a hot bath.  Really pleased with the work I got done today. 

The crocus and daffodils are finally coming out in the front garden and the pots at the back. Hopefully spring is here at last!!!!

The leeks I planted last week have sprouted. I am using a warm spare bedroom window sill to bring them on. Should have enough transplants eventually to share with my daughter for her allotment. Going to get some shallots and plant them in little pots to root this week.. 

Has Spring Sprung?

I am usually a very 'up' person but will be so glad to see the back of winter. Really, really looking forward to spring.
There are some signs around - some crocus and daffodils showing but very late I think. On a positive note I was on the train coming home from London at the weekend and saw some lambs in a field near Preston. It fairly lifted my heart.

I have now decided spring is on the way. I managed to prune my roses this week. I also planted some leek seeds. The pots are now on my window sill.

There was a Mystery KAL on www.ravelry.com in February. I decided to take part as it was by one of my favourite designers Phoeny. It was over 4 weeks and each week a few bits of the pattern were released. I really couldn't work out what project I was knitting until the sew it up instructions were released on the last week.

Here is Sophie the sheep. I love her. Another sign of spring :-)

So watch this space!

Christmas Gingerbread House

Just finished this knit-a-long (KAL) Gingerbread House from Frankies Knitted Stuff at www.ravelry.com  A bit of the pattern was released every day.
I really enjoyed knitting it and am delighted with the result. Usually I knit for other people but I am keeping this for myself.

Will try to update my blog more often.