Come Into The Garden

Afternoon my Lovelies!! Phew, it has been a bit erratic in Dotty Land recently and I'm afraid the blog has suffered a bit. Still, we are slowly making a leisurely comeback with some fresh-out-the-oven, gooey flapjack made by The Sister and some cute little inchie creations.

I started these inchies last week some time and have been carrying them around in my bag to whip them out whenever I have a spare five minutes. The fabric bases were patch-worked on the machine and then divided up and embellished. I have been mounting them onto card to make them a bit stronger and still have lOtS to do!

 

Loving the garden at the moment, would you like to join me in a stroll round? Grab a cuppa (and some flapjack if you have it, or another form of cake if you prefer) and come wander round with me, I will show you my favourite flowers.

 



This kiwi plant greets us whenever we get home and I love it! We haven't trained it into this arch, it just decided to do it itself although we will probably have to direct it into some sort of order over the winter. It appears to be making friends with the bushes in the opposite flower beds and has latched onto them. No flowers this year though, I think it is sulking (we had two flowers- its first ever- last year during that incredibly windy spring, and the poor things blew off!!), maybe next year though. Currently it is a shelter for little insects and baby snails.

It is almost like the flowers know that summer is drawing reluctantly to a close and they are giving out one last burst of loveliness to last us through the winter. Long may the summer continue!!!

Sheffield Park

Good Afternoon Everyone!!! I didn't realise that I hadn't written a blog post for an entire week so I do apologise- I have been very busy with shopping days for birthdays, the birthdays and parties themselves, evenings spent playing stoolball, family occasions, just getting Sims3 (fabulous game!! Although I admit I cheat a lot with the money and just build extravagant houses instead), family days out and pirate themed craft days (more on that later).
Aren't these flower photos gorgeous?! They are hydrangeas at Sheffield Park where we went on a family walk with my Grandad yesterday. He has one of these in his garden and has offered to pot on one for me so I am very excited! I love the blend of colours and tones combined with the different textures in just one flower head!!

Today I was very creative and messy as I had to make examples for our carnival activity day on Thursday with the Rainbows/Brownies/Guides/Senior Section. I can't remember if I have mentioned our being in the carnival this year before but we have a pirate theme and I have had several meetings about what the girls can make and do to decorate our float. The Internet and Pinterest have been an invaluable resource as I discovered paper plate pirates!!!

What do you think of the parrot??! Not my own design, I saw a very similar one on the web and loved it instantly so made my own!! I really like this little activity, great to do with the kids.
Our float is being turned into a pirate ship, so of course we wanted it to sail and I have designed some fishes to swim around in the waves and sparkle. I am quite pleased with them!!

Oh and I must just tell you, the little sleepy ewe won by Christine (Krishenka's Vintage Treasures) has arrived at it's destination- France!! And she has written a lovely blog post about it and me, which is here if you would like to go and check it out!!

A Busy Long Weekend

Good evening everybody!!! I have been quite busy in the last few days with various bits and bobs, mainly my university summer work, for which I am being inspired by the countryside! Dad has still been feeling in a slight holiday mood and unwilling to be dragged down by work so we have been on a few picnics up on the forest which were nice. On Sunday we tried somewhere new to us and although it did rain for most of it, it was very pleasant! Especially when you can combine sausage sandwiches with a bit of work.

How cute are those little curled ferns?!?! They look like caterpillars. After finishing our picnic, The Mother wasn't ready to go home so we ended up in a bird hide watching the water birds.

A very quiet, mellow end to the day.

Monday was a bit more hectic as I went up to London with two good friends and a gaggle of hamsters!! Our destination was the London Eye.



I have been on the Eye before but many years ago now when it was first built so it was nice to go up there again and see London spread out before you. I was frantically taking photos in case they were needed for a future project and it wasn't until I got home and looked through them all that I realised Big Ben was squiffy!!

We all had a fabulous day out and I think the hamsters enjoyed themselves too!! (From left to right: Chloe, Harriet, Elvis & Hamilton)

Back home now and working on a little stitchy project, some 'Hot, Hot, Hot' ATCs for my MixedMediaGroup_UK. I have gone abstract for mine and have just used hot colours, although I have a feeling that I will be the only fabric entrant and that other clever people will have thrown together a fantastic paper collage (I'm not so good at paper collages, sticking to what I know!!)- looking forwards to seeing the returns!!

And just before I sneak into the kitchen for a hot chocolate, my brother came home today from holidaying with friends and randomly started taking photos on my camera. I have deleted the more obscure ones of hairy legs and gadget buttons but this one of Kit was quite sweet.

Night All!! xx