Granny duties ....! Part 2 continued

So onto the remainder of my busy time last week and this saw me down in Kent looking after my two little granddaughters, P and L.

This had been booked for months as my daughter-in-law was flying to Bermuda to spend a few days (well five sleeps) with an old school friend.  Lucky person as it looked lovely when we had a Skype with her.

P is in her second year at primary school and though L goes to nursery, Thursday is a non-nursery day so I took her for a walk round Tenterden whilst Mummy went to the airport driven by Daddy. My job was to keep her occupied!!

There are some lovely buildings on the High Street, though L was not particularly interested and wondered why I was taking photos!!

But she did enjoy herself when we got to the playground and immediately rushed up to this -

and I have since been told by P, that they are not allowed on these adult exercise machines!!  First Granny hurdle failed.

However I did redeem myself by sweeping the patio on Friday.  In the gales earlier in the week the flower petals from the Chestnut trees that line the recreation ground had blown into my son's garden in heaps.  They looked unsightly so I swept them up.

He loves gardening and his is looking particularly good at the moment after all his hard work -

They have two small kittens, only twelve weeks old, which are being introduced to the garden.  Coco, the tabby female loves it, but Kiki the black male brother is a complete wuss venturing just out of the door and then racing back in at the slightest noise.

Both kittens playing under a dolls pram!!

I think that they were both fairly traumatised when we had a thunder storm on Friday morning, but by the evening we were able to have my first barbecue of the summer and sit outside in the evening.  Very relaxing, though there were a few tearful sessions from the girls asking when 'Mummy was coming home'!

Saturday lunchtime I had to leave as my nephew and his wife were holding an afternoon family party, so back from Kent.  They have a pizza oven built in their garden and these were gobbled up by everyone as soon as they were cooked.  I didn't get home until Saturday evening and had to get ready for the following day, but that is another blog!!

I wonder if anyone can identify this shrub that I saw in Tenterden -

- I don't think I have seen one before.

More to follow in a few days  .....

I am back again .....!! Part One

So much has happened since my last blog that I am going to spread it over a few days because otherwise you will all 'switch off' with overload!!

Sunday a week ago saw me on a Street Rally in St Neots with the 50+ Adventure Club.  This is one of the club's gentler activities and we were in teams of four people searching out clues about the town  ..

Is this the right church...?

.. No, it is this one!

The photo above shows J, with a very bad knee, really motoring down the street for clues to James Toller the giant of St Neots.

This was one of the clues:-

Isn't it a wonderful picture of the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland but used for advertising purposes!

After crossing the River Great Ouse it was down onto the water meadows for the final clue

Nearly finished!

and back to the Ambiance Café where we all met for a de-brief, coffee and a sandwich (not necessarily in that order), an escape from the rain that suddenly poured down and the gales that were blowing.  The organiser had been very politically correct and awarded a prize of a chocolate bar to all, so no-one was disappointed.

While I was there I got talking to a volunteer with Sustrans and as a result I seem to have signed myself up for a 29+ mile long bike ride next Sunday - HELP!!  I do have an ulterior motive for later in the year.

Monday morning was a Nordic walk and then I went straight over to Cambridge to work on the vegetable patch.  I realised that the Runner and French Beans needed planting out as soon as possible -

Photo taken on 20 May

so with the help of Ellie (there was a training day at school so both grandchildren were being looked after by Grandma) we made wigwams from bamboo canes and planted them out.  The French Beans are climbers which makes picking them so much easier.  Hope the Muntjac deer does not make a meal of them.

Tuesday was 'looking after great-nephew Will' day but I helped my other niece in Bedford plant out her garden.  It was grey and overcast with a strong wind blowing still, and though Will wore his wellies, they kept falling off and so his socks were soaked and rather muddy!!

Home in the evening and straight out to go to a HIFARS talk on 'Richard 111 and the Greyfriars Dig' given by Sally Henshaw of the Richard 111 Society.  It was very good and maybe I am changing my mind about him as I always thought he murdered the 'Princes in the Tower'!  I think that a trip to Leicester Cathedral is needed soon.

That is all for the moment but suffice to say that I have not touched a sewing machine, a sewing needle, crochet hook or knitting needle in the last week - just glad to sit down in the evening!!

At last something crafty

Before I write something 'crafty' I must just mention gardening, which may be boring to some, but at this time of the year, I love.

One of my nieces has just had her garden tidied up ( I was going to call it landscaping but that is too grand!) and has a long border that needed planting.  She asked me to go with her to the nursery to buy some plants and I am always up for spending other people's money!!  Off we went here and I picked up a basket - soon full.  I picked up another basket - soon full!!  Finally we had a trolley which soon became full.  When we came to plant out they didn't take up much room but over the years I hope everything will grow well.

A lovely brick wall to grow plants over - how lucky!!

Shrubs and perennials  ...

.... and more

There is plenty of room to add other plants over the years.  My other niece who lives nearby has asked me to go the same nursery and we are going to buy bedding plants for two large planters she has.  Great - I love it!!

 

My neighbour and I went to our local garden centre to spend some vouchers we each had and it was a fun morning, rounded off with coffee and a chat.  Plenty of plants as well!!

 

In between tidying my garden I have also had classes.

 

My embroidery class finishes at the end of June for the summer so I suddenly realised that I needed to get my sampler finished before then.  If you have been following me you may remember that I was given it at our Christmas 2014 meeting and by April I had done this much -

 

I only go twice a month and don't always do any homework but now the end is in sight -

Only the leaf on the left to finish - long and short stitch

I am not very good at 'long and short stitch' and because of that I have left it until last which is probably wrong, but I will finish it within the next two weeks as I want to start something new, though I don't know what.  I rather fancy goldwork!

 

Friday was smocking and I have so many ideas and projects that I want to do.  I had pleated some cotton voile as I want to make a large Christmas bauble but before then I must finish this -

 

 

I always seem to pick hard projects and this is proving very slow as I am using three different threads in one needle - silver, red glittery and ordinary red cotton.  They tend to tangle, knot and shred so it takes me a long time but I am pleased with the almost finished result.

 

When finished the bauble will be inserted and finally finished top and bottom.  I need help with this one but it will be completed at the next lesson  ..... 

The colour not too good - it should be dark green and gold stitching

I will show the finished result for both baubles later in the summer as teacher is going on holiday for a month.

 

I have a very busy week coming up and so this will be my last post for about 10 days, but if I get time I will update.

 

I SHALL RETURN!!!!



A mixed bag

I am calling this a mixed bag because it covers a bit of everything that I have been up to in the last few days and what a busy time it has been.  I had lunch out every day last week, even if it was only a sandwich!!

Friday saw me Nordic walking round the villages where I was brought up so a great deal of reminiscing.  When I lived there the village was slightly tatty round the edges, but now is very gentrified but looked wonderful in spring sunshine.  We walked under the windmills  ...

Across the fields

Solar panels in rows

and I was amazed that all the land under the windmills was covered in solar panels.  The windmills were very quiet and all we could hear were skylarks singing.

We finished with a pub lunch here

Saturday saw me on 50+ Adventure Club outing to Tamworth where I had organised a session on Landpaddling, but I was NOT taking part.  It did look fun though.

The boards and poles on the right

Tuition - how to do it

Going well!

On Saturday I finished off these two little cuties:-

 

I got the idea from crochet group as teacher, J, had made one.  She got the pattern from here and though there was an English translation it was difficult to understand.  However kind teacher that she is, she typed it up for me.  Now who shall I give them to - hhem??

Now that the snails are finished I have been able to get on with my Attic24 cosy stripe blanket.

Finally my back garden needed tidying up and I had bought some plants here that needed planting.  Whilst planting I took some photos of plants that are special to me.

Note the small wood lump in the middle

The photo above was a disaster from last year when I came home one morning to find that my next door neighbours had employed some 'cowboys' to put up a fence and they had trampled my lace cap hydrangea to death.  It had always struggled a bit so imagine my surprise the other day when I saw this -

- sprouting all over the place

Chusan palm flowering

Many years ago this palm was given to me by my son, who had it growing on his roof terrace in a pot.  It was pot bound and needed a new home, so he thought of me  and it has never stopped growing in my garden with no TLC at all!!!  It has survived very hard winters and is now enormous.

I often talk to my plants (no I am not a crazy woman, they do seem to understand) and warn them that if they don't grow I will dig them up, but this bush has a different meaning to me.

Viburnum opulus

Planted in memory of my late husband I bought it because it is supposed to flower in June which was his birthday.  It always flowers in May - so contrary!!

My 'Cambridge' Allotment

I have had a busy week and it is some days since I posted so here goes.  You will be getting another post in a couple of days as so much is happening at the moment.

My sister and I were supposed to go out together in Cambridge on Wednesday but she had to cancel at the last moment, so I decided to go anyway as I had some shopping to do.  My son lives very close to the centre of the city so free parking was on hand and with my bus pass the retail therapy cost me nothing.  This was topped off by a voucher for free cake and coffee at this store and look at its address - 10 Downing Street!!!!  Not the one everyone knows though.

After the shopping I decided to catch up on the 'allotment' at my son's garden.  If you have been following this blog you will know that we battle against the usual garden pests including a Muntjac, which eats everything in sight.  However I also have to contend with these ....

Bushes growing in the middle of the plot and a mound of spent pot compost. Spinach under the cover

I do have a small corner in the greenhouse ...

Hanging baskets waiting for fine weather

Sweet corn, pumpkins, courgettes and various beans all growing in toilet roll insides!!

that is proceeding nicely and I don't need to worry about watering as they are done when everything else is.  Toilet roll cardboard insides are saved through the year and will go straight into the ground when planted out - a great money saving tip I was given years ago.

I did some weeding as this is one of the penalties of not getting there often ....

Beetroot to be covered

Carrots - to be covered

Nibbled radishes - uncovered!!

checked the grapevine that has been tamed and trained at last ....

Tiny bunches of grapes - hooray!!

I also checked the lilies ...

'Dad's lilies' in bud

My husband died in July 10 years ago, and the lilies on my patio were in full flower and smelt heavenly so I gave each son some to remember him by.  I nurtured mine and they died, these are neglected and look how good they are and not a Red Lily Beetle in sight - it's not fair!!

By this time I was keeping an eye on the clock because rush hour in Cambridge (which starts about 3.30pm) is H*** and I didn't want to sit in a traffic jam.  However as I was driving along the Fen Causeway it was looking lovely with a mass of Cow Parsley and it warranted a photo.  I know a small free car park and luckily found a space and took the following:-

Looking toward Fen Causeway

The River Cam winding through the water meadows to Grantchester

Can you see the sheep in the trees?  Those are not swans but geese



One standing on one leg and the other drinking!!

 ... and finally I walked along the path and no sounds except for the birds; it was lovely and so close to the city centre.

What a tranquil spot.

TLC

No, not that sort!  This is the ongoing saga of the Twisted Log Cabin that I wrote about here in April.

This is how I left it at the end and it was put to one side as I was rather busy, but last weekend I completed it.

I inserted a zip in the back and quilted the front:-

No wadding just calico on the back

I decided not to put wadding on the front as the seams are quite thick from the TLC; I sewed round the edges, remembering to leave the zip open, trimmed the edges, especially at the corners and hey presto, it is nearly finished.

I turned it through and pressed the seam so that I would have a neater finish -

and finally finished the edges off with some fancy stitches.  I chose the herringbone stitch for speed but I could have chosen any of the 50 stitches on my machine!!

By the way I sashed the edges with two strips on each side.  The first strip was using up the strips that I had left over from the TLC and then I had to think carefully what the second should be as by this time I was running out of the royal blue.  In the end I used two strips of each of the two colours.

At last it is finished and I am quite pleased with the finished result.

 

This is my contribution to the Higham Piecemakers cushion raffle at the exhibition of work in September! 

Now to get on with the next one - lime green and brown - not my favourite colours; but in the meantime the sun is out, gardening beckons and The Archers Omnibus is nearly finished on the radio!!