Make, Bake, Sew, Grow

Thank you so much for your suggestions on how we can continue to improve and add character to our garden without spending a fortune. You are all so full of imagination and creativity, it always astounds me and you gave me lots of good ideas on how we can garden on a tight budget. Will there ever be a time when we are not "on a budget" I wonder...? And thanks for all your comments lately, I do appreciate them and am sorry that I have so little time to read your blogs. At the moment it seems there is time to either post or read, but I still love blogging as much as ever and am very much enjoying my Make, Bake, Sew Grow posts, the planning and the writing. The second week at work went well and I wasn't quite so exhausted at the end of each day as I had been the week before. Slowly, as a family, we are getting used to our new routines. 

{ Make }

I made an addition to The Green Wall in the porch with a beautiful framed watercolour print of a rose, an ebay score at just a few pounds.

It's starting to come together. The framed fabric hoops are just a cheap and fun way to add interest and they are actually really annoying as they fly off the wall whenever a gust of wind blows through the open front door, but eventually this wall will be full of white-framed floral prints, like a green house!

{ Bake }

No cakes lately, and I've missed baking them. The kitchen activity is firmly based around meals. We ate salmon baked with lime, ginger and garlic the other night, with vegetables, rice noodles and some delicious supermarket sauce. I could eat food like this every night.

John made a spectacular vegetarian lasagne, prettied up by the addition of tomatoes and basil. As well as looking colourful they were a delicious addition to the topping when the cheese went all melty and crispy.

{ Sew }

I made a cushion cover. 

This is always happy news because I'd hate to think our house is under-cushioned (unlikely) but I'm extra pleased with this one for two reasons. First, the fabric. I found two napkins in the bargain bin at John Lewis after just Christmas and bought them purely because I liked the pattern on the fabric so much. They are by a brand called MissPrint and they are very much my sort of thing, with their stylised natural patterns and slightly retro, Scandinavian feel. Apparently these are trees but I thought they were feathers.

But the other reason I'm happy is because it has a zip. My first zip! A few weeks ago, a family friend very kindly spent an afternoon showing me how to put one in properly - with basting and everything, no slap dash half measures - and now there's no stopping me.

I'm still working on Bella's blanket here and there, but it's getting so big and so warm, that work has inevitably slowed down for now. I'm half way through and it's already huge. But  I was -still am, actually - so disappointed that my blanket is not quite big enough for our bed (it perches there, rather than drapes) so I'm making this more than big enough.

I had to stand on a chest to get it all in one photo.

{ Grow }

Discovered in the front garden, in a tangle of bushes - roses. Three, to be exact. I've no idea what kind but the pink and yellow colour is enchanting and the smell is, of course, amazing. 

And it's always extra-gratifying to have flowers from the garden in the house, even if you didn't plant them yourself.

Wishing you all a very happy week ahead. 

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{ Make } Something for my home.

 { Bake } Something from the kitchen.

{ Sew } Something crafty.

{ Grow } Something in my garden

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