Making me happy on this chilly April Friday night:
:: A return to routine, to school, work, exercise and even - I never thought I'd say this - after school activities like swimming lessons. Our Easter holidays were a mixed bag and the normalising of our life is a good thing. My work is very busy, but I do really like my colleagues, and it has been lovely to catch up with friends and meet for coffee and things like that. A bit of everyday normal.
:: 50p bunches of eucalyptus from the florist that are still going strong a week later.
:: Handmade curtain tie backs for the dining room. Such a small change but what a difference. Instead of curtains hanging either side of the patio doors - always right in the way when I've got my hands full with a basket of washing, always covered in the kids muddy footprints as they kick their shoes off on the mat there - I moved them all over to one side and gathered them up with this tie back made from string and wooden beads. It lets much more light into the room too. Little things.
:: Free courgette plants from a colleague. Can I just plant it in a pot or should it go in the ground? It's been hardened off.
:: Unbelievably beautiful biscuits from my friend Abigail. Almost too good to eat.
:: Crocheting vegetables. Seriously, I cannot remember when I last enjoyed a crochet project so much. Lots of variety and changes in colour, nothing takes more than a couple of evenings to make - it's so much fun, and a welcome change after the long term more repetitive projects like the cardigan and blanket I recently finished.
:: Styling and arranging these crochet vegetables into little scenes for no good reason other than it makes me smile.
:: An unexpected and utterly delightful gift which came all the way from Australia, from my blogging friend Susan, who is a very skilled and accomplished quilter, as you can tell from this table runner.
I dream of one day being able to sew something as perfect as this. The colours and pattern are lovely, and I especially love the batik-style fabric the piece is backed with. Thank you Susan.
:: This sloe gin and tonic, which I've just finished. Also, it's a bank holiday weekend! I keep forgetting, it seems so soon after the Easter holidays. We don't have anything special planned.
How about you, what are you doing for this three day weekend?
One last thing that has made me very happy - your lovely comments about my cardigan. Thank you. As always you are much too kind. Happy weekend folks.
The crocheted veg are such fun and I love the way you have displayed them with the real thing. I spied the table runner on Instagram and it is lovely to see the whole piece - such beautiful and accomplished quilting. I've grown courgettes in a large pot before although I don't think they crop as well in a pot compared with garden grown. Have a great long weekend.
ReplyDeleteLove the table runner. The crochet veg are really fun!
ReplyDeleteThose crochet vegetables are brilliant, especially the potato and the radish, love them! Amazing biscuit, as you say, too good to eat. I have a friend who makes decorated cakes, they are similarly too good to cut into. So much talent around isn't there. Your courgette will be happier in the ground if possible, but you might want to hold off for a bit, it's still quite chilly out there at the moment. The table runner is excellent, beautifully done. Yet more talent. It's all very inspirational. No real plans for the weekend here yet. It will unfold gently. Hope you have a lovely three days. CJ xx
ReplyDeletethose crochet vegetables are adorable x
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love your crocheted veggies.
ReplyDeleteSo many lovely things in this post. Your crocheted veggies are so cute - I think my favourite has to be the potato! You have some very talented friends - both the biscuit and the table runner are beautiful and I love your bead tieback. Have a wonderful Bank Holiday. I shall be painting the kitchen ceiling - I certainly know how to have a good time! xx
ReplyDeleteOh, those crochet vegetable are darling & so life-like. Well done. I thought the decorated biscuit was actually a ceramic painted bird. Silly me. A holiday after another holiday weekend makes all the days get mixed up. We had our Anzac Day holiday(25th April) the week after Easter, and it all seemed so weird. Enjoy the long weekend & oh, BTW, I think your courgette(zucchini) would probably be better off in the garden as the plant can get rather large & the fruit may also flop off over the edge of the pot. Also be careful of the undersides of the leaves, as some people can get a nasty rash on exposed skin if they touch by the sort of prickly hairs. Take care.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice post. You do seem very happy. Your crocheted vegetables are so cute! You've styled them perfectly, how fun. I hope you all have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe crocheted vegetables are great!! I just haven't quite understood yet what they are meant for. Deco? Toys?
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the welcome return to normal after a holiday. Easter wasn't long enough off work for me to feel that way, but the Christmas/New Year period did.
Now, for the 1st of May weekend, I'll be at O.K.'s again. 1st of May is a big thing in the village, with putting up the maypole and a village fĂȘte where the brass band will play (O.K. and his Dad are both in the band) and O.K. and I will work the last 4-hour-shift from 8 pm to midnight behind the food and drinks counter.
We'll still have time to go for a run and/or a walk, I hope; the weather looks promising, too, so it should be a Very Good Weekend.
i'm loving your crochet vegetables, I'm in the process of something similar, just for fun for in the kitchen :) have a lovely bank holiday weekend x
ReplyDeleteThe table runner is beautiful and those crocheted vegetables are so cute.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite reassuring to get back into a routine. Before we know it the Summer break will be here and it will be all change once again.
Have a lovely weekend Gillian.x
You totally had me at the crocheted radish... Love it!
ReplyDeleteOnce again you clever girl, the vegetables are brilliant. Not to sound awful but apart from lemon and ice in your drink, what is that thing that looks like a spider!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it cannot be but I had to ask. Love Andie xxx
ReplyDeleteIt's a bee on the side of the glass. :-)
DeleteYour crochet vegetables are so much fun! The comment above made me look at your sloe gin and tonic glass. It looks very much like one of those lovely glasses my mum bought in France, with bees around the top. I am getting a tad sentimental now :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have no big plans for the long weekend other than a friend's 50th birthday party tomorrow evening. I like this kind of weekend. Enjoy yours xx
They are by La Rochere - I bought them years ago in a little cookery shop in Chichester and often use them for ice cream or deserts too. I think John Lewis stock them. x
DeleteThose crochet vegetables look fantastic! I've like getting back into a usual routine this week; after such a busy Easter hol, this week back at school has been calmer and quieter than the 'holidays'! I'm not doing much this weekend... had a walk to the bluebell wood this morning, volunteering at a wildlife trust event tomorrow and so far no plans for Monday :)
ReplyDeleteThe crochet potato is brilliant! And oh, that biscuit. I've only grown courgettes in the veg patch, they are roomy...
ReplyDeleteI especially love the radish!
ReplyDeleteLove the crocheted vegetables. They look brilliant in with the genuine veg. Enjoy your weekend. Cathy
ReplyDeleteLove the crochet vegetables! Another thing to add to my list of things to try. ;-)
ReplyDeleteFab Veggies! I made a set and hung them from a keyring for my bestie who worked as a health co-ordinator for the NHS visiting schools doing assemblies on healthy eating. She had hers hung from her work trolley of props. Happy memories of making them for her. Jo x
ReplyDeleteI love your crocheted veg and I also like Jo's idea for using them as key ring fobs. ( I saw crocheted carrots and pineapples made into key rings in Jigsaw recently and I think they were for sale for about £25!) In the ground courgettes get very large (up to a metre in each direction in my rich allotment soil) so you may prefer to keep yours contained in a pot. As it has been hardened off and I'm reliably informed there will be no more frost in the south you could pot yours on into the next size pot and leave it in a sunny spot. I would continue to move it on into larger pots (it will probably need to end up in at least a 10 litre pot and a black plastic one from an abandoned pot sanctuary will be fine as the leaves will disguise the pot) until it is fruiting which should be around midsummer. Keep it well-watered and fed (home made nettle or comfrey tea is best, Alys Fowler has a recipe on the Guardian website) and it will decorate your deck all summer long. Don't forget to eat the flowers - dipped in a light batter and fried they make a delicious appetiser. Sorry if this is TMI Gillian!
ReplyDeletevery beautifully
ReplyDeleteLove your photos, esp. those veg, which are fun, but I really don't know what they're actually for? Just for fun, I suppose, doing them because you can do them ... I'd rather bake or write or read as I can't sew or crochet, totally useless at such things! Love that piece of quilting your friend has sent you. I do admire things which are so beautifully made like that when the pinnacle of my sewing achievements is replacing a button on a shirt. I tell a lie, years ago I made curtains (lined of course) and they were well made but I didn't enjoy the experience, they were done simply to save money.
ReplyDeleteBut you ask what we have bene doing? Well, not a lot here. As it's a Bank Holiday weekend and we live in a holiday hot spot we tend not to go out, leaving the crowds to the roads. Thankfully, we are retired and therefore don't feel the need to venture out when it's busy, but we've been enjoying a quiet weekend, reading and watching Snooker on TV (I'm not mad on Snooker but at least it's live and not a repeat!) and tonight there is the final episode of Line of Duty to watch which is so very good. I meant to go housework and gardening, but as the weather is rainy or cold or both, gardening has been put on hold, and the housework isn't essential, so we've both been taking it easy. Now to heat up some home-made leek & potato soup for our supper to have by the fireside - it might be the last day of April but here in Torbay it's still chilly! Enjoy your Bank Holiday, Gillian, whatever you do.
Oh, one thing I've done is write a new blog post!
Margaret P
www.margaretpowling.com
Love your crocheted veggies! The children will enjoy them I am sure. Hope you are having a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteI love the little details of daily routine. Love your veggies as well.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
I have adored your crochet vegetables popping up on my IG feed, such great fun, and the little scenes are brilliant! That biscuit is absolutely beautiful x
ReplyDeleteThose vegetables đ. I think the radish is my favourite. What a joyous project.
ReplyDeleteI think the courgette should go in the ground, they get quite big and are thirsty plants.
Followed a link from Gracie's blog and discovered these crochet vegetables!!! They are absolutely adorable, as is the pink jacket/cardigan...that I might try to make...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing. I will post link to this site on my blog so I can come back again.