crochet addiction...

I am kind of at that point with crochet when I know I should stop. You can have too many cushion covers and blankets. (Really, in a house as small as mine, you can...) There's even a bit of me that is, dare I say it, a little bit bored with it. I seem to have a never ending stock of the same colours, that I never quite use up and no imagination or money to go and splurge on anything new.

So, I've had a little branch out and revisited dressmaking - spurred on, in part at least, by the Sewing Bee on the television recently. I hadn't done any sewing, other than curtains, for ages so have enjoyed fiddling around with that. Will save the results of my efforts for another day - have the finishing touches to do and haven't taken any pics yet! But the trouble with sewing is that it sort of takes over - I don't have anywhere I can leave the sewing machine set up so it has to sit on the only table we have. Which means I either have to pack it away (fatal! the sewing in question disappears into the cupboard never to see the light of day again!) or we have to eat off our knees until I'm done. (which is exactly what has happened this time!) 

Which brings me back to crochet. Easy to pick up and put down. Easy to do in front of the radio/TV. Doesn't involve rearranging our dining table. But more granny squares or blankets without good cause...? And then I  picked up a magazine in a little newsagents in Cromer whilst trying to kill time a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember the name of the magazine (and I'm writing this in bed and too lazy to go and look just now) but it is full of ideas. Lots of vintage-esque stuff - granny blankets etc but a few other things that made me want to get the hook out again!

Like this...

I hadn't seen a pattern like this before and thought it looked interesting. Once you get going its quite a pleasing rhythm of treble clusters and double crochet on one row, double crochet and a stitch called 'cluster stitch' on the next row, which make these little wheels.

I think the bag is really cute, especially lined with a pretty fabric print, but in all honesty I'm not sure its something I'd use. I guess it would make a good yarn/WIP bag but don't really need that either. So at the moment I can't decide whether to make it into a bag. I didn't have enough of two colours so it was back to the usual stash and a rainbow of colours.

Its making quite a thick fabric with a nice bit of a texture. 

Might end up being another cushion cover... Or should I go with the bag idea...? Can't decide for the moment. Going to go with the flow and see what comes out.

One last photo. Nothing to do with crochet. Blossom...

Well... you have to don't you. Because its May... and its pretty... and because this is on a very special little tree that is in the garden that won't belong to me at all soon. And because I wanted to add this photo to my memories on here. No other reason needed.

Sx

beautiful things...

Each May Norwich holds a festival of arts and cultural events. It runs for a couple of weeks and is an eclectic mix of the beautiful and bizarre, interesting, clever and sometimes just plain fun. There are always a fair few free events on and the city seems to come alive with people enjoying the atmosphere.

The festival kicked off on Friday evening with a show in the grounds of the cathedral which definitely came into the bizarrely beautiful category. Called Reve D'Herbert (Herbert's Dream) it had an eerie, haunting quality and although I think it got mixed reactions, I loved it. I forgot my camera so only had my phone but you can read more about it and see some better pics here if you are interested.

The cathedral setting as darkness descended is so atmospheric in any case...

Looking forward to the events of the next couple of weeks!

Yesterday was beautiful in a different way - I went up to the coast with a group of ladies and we walked 17 miles of the North Norfolk Coastal Path. They are all heading to Yorkshire at the end of the month for the Yorkshire 3 peaks which I can't make thanks to work, but this was a bit of a training walk (minus the ascent/descent element! This is Norfolk after all!).

I can't say much more about it - this particular bit of coast holds a lot of memories for me and I was glad to be able to walk on my own for a bit, complex emotions but beautiful open skies and sandy beaches. 

One wistful dog, wishing he was sitting in the front seat...

This is how far behind you end up when you keep stopping to take photos...!

I love the ripple patterns in the sand...

Welcome coffee stop...

This has to be the most well-behaved dog I have ever met. She was rescued 3 years ago as a pup from the streets of Athens and lived in Corfu for 2 1/2 years with the people she owns (believe me, she does - English girl, Greek partner) before moving here 6 months or so ago. She ran off the lead for almost all of the walk (I think she must have done nearer 50 miles!), came absolutely every time she was called (even with the distractions of other dogs, rabbits, children and a couple of alpacas!!) and sat quietly on the bus when we were heading back to our starting point. And she only speaks Greek! If anything ever tempted me to get a dog...

Onwards and upwards, more gardening, house tidying to do today...

Til next time

Sxx

garden rescue part 2...

Thanks for the encouraging messages after my last post. It has been a bit of a despondent time and I appreciated the support and encouragement.

I spent another day there last week while the weather was so lovely and although it was back-breaking by the end of the day things were looking much better.

This corner gets the sun first thing in the morning and used to be a lovely place to sit with an early cup of tea...

This long flower bed honestly took me the whole day - I have never seen so much couch grass. I must have dug up about two barrows full of horrible spaghetti-like roots. To say nothing of the stinging nettles (note to self...get a pair of nettle proof gloves!) and dandelions. But in amongst that lot, I did find a few old favourites - aquilegias, a beautiful peony that has just so many buds on it this year, delphiniums, hollyhocks... It felt as though I was giving them all room to breathe and I'm certain they will come on quickly now.

Its not perfect (but who wants perfect apart from bowling greens?) - the weeds eviction has left a lot of gaps, I gave up in despair at the invasive periwinkle (lord help me, I actually chose to plant that! What was I thinking?!) and the grass is a bit rough and ready but in a funny sort of way I enjoyed being out in the sunshine and the satisfaction of getting things back in some kind of shape.

The weather stayed beautiful here for the bank holiday weekend and all three sons (plus two girlfriends) were home for the weekend so we had the first barbeque of the year in the garden. Middle son had arrived home from Derbyshire and cracked on and given the grass a really good cut - that makes such a difference doesn't it? So, we sat out, ate too much, drank a bit and felt generally very relaxed. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this space. Funny, I had thought I would be fine with a flat - more affordable, less trouble etc etc but actually I think I might struggle a bit without some outdoor space.

Now, we just have to negotiate how we can cooperate to keep the house and garden in order - I just know some of that couch grass is just lurking under the surface waiting to rear its wretched shoots again!

Fingers crossed for progress on the communication front!

Sx

Gardening - paradise or purgatory...

Today has been something of a challenge.

I have this week off work and a list of things as long as your arm to catch up with, not least being facing the reality of the fact that we have to decide what we are going to do with our home of the past 20 years. 

I don't want to go into the details on here - suffice to say that almost 18 months ago I moved out of my family home into the little terraced house I've been renting ever since. That was an enormous wrench for all sorts of reasons and going back there has been difficult and infrequent to say the least. Each time I have had reason to go there its like walking back into a different bit of my life, only I don't quite belong there anymore. I feel simultaneously completely familiar and at home with every nook and cranny and absolutely like a stranger trespassing on someone else's turf. Its disquieting and uncomfortable to say the least and invariably turns me into a blubbering wreck for a while. Not something I'm good with - I'm the sort of person that copes with things by compartmentalising and 'doing' and I just don't know how to deal with some of the feelings that get thrown up.

Anyway, at some point, in the not too distant future we have to put the house on the market and move on with our lives. So, I/we have to start preparing for that... Unfortunately, pretty much nothing has been kept 'on top of' for the last 18 months - so today, with the sun trying to put a brave face on, I set off to try to tidy the garden up. Oh my word. How quickly does everything disappear under a mass of weeds? 

I started the day with a cup of tea in my tiny patch at the rented house...

This feels like a peaceful treat and I am really loving the daffs that have finally burst into flower and smell amazing. They went up and up while the weather was so grim so their tiny heads are nodding on such very long stalks! The blue hyacinths are doing well too, albeit rather late in the day - this bowl was planted with three white hyacinths which were all meant flower indoors. The white ones did exactly what they were supposed to - the blue ones? Nothing! I assumed they were duds and stuck the bowl outside, then lo and behold...!

The flowers almost look as though they are made of wax and this morning there were little drops of morning dew...

Its such a pleasure to see a bit of colour in the gardens again - everything has been so late but suddenly, within a week, the trees have leaves and the flower beds are painted with bright splashes...

The daffodils looked almost translucent with the sun shining on them...

Bold pansies seem to shout for attention...

I think this one is the most gorgeous colour...

Gardening stuff gathered (wasn't sure if I'd still be able to get in the shed at our/my/his house - never know what to call it now) I drove the 15 miles across there fully expecting it to be a bit of a challenge. But, boy, was that an understatement...

Everything is so overgrown, with weeds and the last couple of years dead growth choking all the plants. Only the fittest and strongest have survived as far as I can see and it felt a bit of a mammoth task. I tackled the bed in the front garden first...

And after about 2 hours or so of cutting back, digging and hoeing had regained a degree of order, allbeit with an awful lot of bare ground where things were swamped by weeds...

Then round to the back garden, slightly with heart in mouth... 

It all just looks so sad and neglected. Even the patio pots and troughs are all empty and falling apart...

When we moved to this house 20 years ago, there was nothing but a concrete path, a couple of tree stumps and a few daffodils in the garden. We put hours of work and a lot of love into making it a place that was nice to be in. My sons grew up here and that piece of grass has seen babies playing on it, pirate parties, first tentative goes without stabilisers on bikes, crowds of German exchange students partying with their 'hosts' and tents full of teenagers. We have had more family meals than I can count out on a big picnic table, endless barbecues - not always in the best weather! - and Easter Egg hunts, when you never quite managed to find every single egg. It is a big garden and it has always taken a fair bit of work - you can never just leave a garden to get on with it can you - but we used to pretty much keep on top of it and it always looked nice, especially in the Spring. 

This is what it looked like 2 years ago - for some reason, I can't make this picture bigger without it going all pixillated - I guess not masses of colour mid-April 2011 from a distance, but up close there were aquilegias and tulips, daffodils and bluebells, and all of the borders just about to burst into early summer glorious showing off.

Now...

Just a handful of tulips trying to survive through the nettles and dandelions. Some things have gone mad, others have just disappeared. It just made me feel very sad. Sad that we got to this position, sad that we have not been able to help each other out over the last 18 months after almost 30 years together and sad that we have to do so much work now, just to get this place ready to sell. Which I'm sure will be a wrench again. At the moment, I just can't think how on earth I'm going to manage to spend enough time there (when no-one's home, I'm not very welcome there generally) to get the house and garden looking nice again. It all feels a bit overwhelming.

I spent about 6 hours there today and just made a dent on the back garden. Central flower bed weeded, pruned and mulched...

Just the long bed on the right and (oh god!) the grass to go, oh and the patio...

There were odd bright patches though - this hardy little plant was vying for space bravely with the nettles...

Oh well, in the grand scheme of things, it is only a 'space' and its time to move on to a different space now. The memories and happy times will live in my head and my heart and the less than happy times will fade, I know. I'm sure it will all be ok eventually.

Fingers crossed for another dry day this week so I can get out there and tackle the 'big bed'!

Sx