Just the one

That's it - just the one.

This has not been a very good season here for runner bean production!

xx

By the estuary

Sun shines above clouds.

Reflections colour the sea.

Walking, friend and me.

I stood one way and

then I turned around to see

a whole new landscape.

xx

Kitchen Window - September 2012

Pressie from DD.

Pressie from the garden plus pastry brush, which brushed the scones with beaten egg. No flowers today - I'm waiting for the chrysanthemums.

xx

Pour moi?

Oui! Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Smells good!

A beautiful re-purposed (was a vintage towelling curtain) hand towel from angleseyallsorts. (Very neat stitching.)

with an added bonus of sweet smelling lavender.

Thank you so much for this giveaway.

xx

Close, very close

Layout patches, batting and backing. Just a practice table runner, not a bed quilt just yet.

Practise quilting a little sample piece - to zig zag or not to zig zag was my question.

I decided on zig zag because quite a few of my squares didn't line up!

Put edge strips on - not quite got into corners yet.

Pin in place.

Can you see the stitches on the back?

All will be revealed soon. I've already started making blocks out of the scraps of scraps and ordered a mat, cutter and ruler from Amazon. I think I'm hooked. Oh dear!

Nails

My nails get quite a hammering with day to day activities so it's quite difficult to keep a full set going. Apart from being on the ends of active fingers and hands they do quite a few jobs themselves. If you are particularly squeamish avoid reading the following list.

Nail activity list

Scraping bottoms of pans

Picking and flicking!

Scratching back and cats

Picking up very small objects such as pins and needles

Squeezing spots!

Picking bits out of the corners of eyes

Drumming out tunes on surfaces when bored

Picking scabs off wounds

Screwing screws

Flossing

Cleaning out other nails

Pushing back cuticles

I'm sure you can think of more uses.

When I can I like to dress them up. Black dress for dancing this week - so black nails to match. So that I'm not too funereal DD put a daisy motif on one finger nail.

'Diamonds' of course!

The batting has arrived - I'm busy practising quilting.

PS Bets, I totally approve of your daughter's colours. What a gal!

xx

Rate this

Goal - make a quilt using the material samples from the CS.

Drawing round squares - 3/10 - very boring. Need a proper cutting board.

Cutting out squares - 3/10 - extremely boring. I know what I want for Christmas (rotary cutter plus cutting board).

Putting strips into piles - 6/10 - I like sorting and thinking smaller squares for more quilting and edging.

Making a pile of squares - 8/10 - quite satisfying - I'm beginning to think colour and pattern at this stage, even thinking jelly rolls, log cabin, pinwheels and spiders' webs.

Laying out of squares - 9/10 - I'm beginning to think 'progress'.

I just need to keep the momentum going now. If I had a 101 list I could start crossing this one off!

Welcome new follower. Thank you for popping by.

Update

... on CS finds. Not all bought at once! First a few dresses. I'll not show you all of this dress as it will cause you to develop a migraine but I like it.

This skirt is similar but not as headachy. I like its floatiness - perfect for dancing and swirling.

This one fits a treat. You may notice a colour (or lack of) theme here. I like black - it disguises all sorts of figure issues.

Not all black though. Here's another dance dress.

All these dresses cost less than £6 at the CS.

Not all dresses  - I couldn't pass up this basket (£4.50) could I? Even though I've got a few!!!!! already. This one is perfect for storing my WIP.

Finally today I procured these bits of material from the pound rail.

The velvet and sateen are a yard each at least.

The others are small rectangular samples from a sample book as they've got holes in. 

Pusscat approves of the purchases (which I've sneaked upstairs)!

xx

The Edge is complete!

2012 Blanket number 2 is finished. This one is 10x10 of 4 round grannies joined with UK doubles (US singles) and edged with UK trebles with a Bunnymummy border.

It now joins the other Christmas present blanket - one for the pink girl and one for the red girl.

Should I do mine next or a Christmas blanket - decisions, decisions!

From garden to freezer

15 minutes

xx

Oh no!

They've finally done it - changed my blogger layout to the new one. I'd been hanging on to the old one as long as possible and now it's gone. Oh woe! I'm going to have to navigate my way round slowly as nothing is where it should be and I have to keep clicking Close to get back to where I want to be. At least it saves posts quickly. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Change happens. It must mean progress! Blogger has told me that it is ...

A clean, sleek interface designed for a streamlined blogging experience. Not only does the new interface load faster, but we’ve also added shortcuts to your most important blogging actions. (Haven't found them yet.)

 ... so it must be good.

We'll see - roll on the streamlined blogging experience!

Hi Op Shop Mama, thanks for helping at the Tea Party. It's a good excuse to seek out 'new' frocks for you and Iris. Hi, Iris, see you in October.

Busybusybeejay, have you decided on the sandwich fillings yet?

Yeah!

We have take off!

Thank you to 

MummyHen - bring whatever takes your fancy anytime on the 28th October. Whatever you bring will be a delight.

Crafty in the Med High Tea, Low Tea any Tea you wish and the more guests the merrier!

Anglesey Allsorts Thank you for the pressie. I'll be contacting you. PS You are invited to the Tea Party as well if you wish to come. I'll do the drying if you do the washing up!

Bonsaimum You will be very welcome.

Penny Wise Thank you for joining us and welcome. On reading your blog anything you bake will be scrumptious.

Liz Yeah! Yeah! Year! Let's hear it for the teapots! We'll certainly need them.

Jane and Chris The party would not be complete without you. You'll look lovely in a frock - not too sure about Chris though! Hey - he can wear whatever he wants.

Thanks everyone for a great response. The offer is still open to all. I shall look forward to your company at

Mum's Virtual Tea Party Number Two!!!!

1. 
   
   

Number 2

It was around this time last year that we had our Virtual Tea Party and it turned out a great success so perhaps it's time for Number 2. 

Who is invited?

Anyone who wants to be invited. All who read this blog are invited if they wish to come.

When shall we have it?

The end of October will give participants plenty of time to prepare a post.

What do I have to do?

Anything or nothing at all. If you want to join in please leave a comment and I can make a list of guests.

All you have to do is create a post on something to do with a tea party on the day (and I shall link to your blog). For example -

*different kinds of sandwiches

*cakes

*tablecloths

*what to wear

*teacups or teasets

*entertainment

*table decorations

*cake stands

*recipes

*ideal guests!

*conversation

If you look here you can read about last year's party and if you look here you can read about last year's preparations. You can also click on the Virtual Tea Party label to see how it all started. I would now like to formally invite you to Virtual Tea Party Number 2.

Dear friends,

I shall be very pleased if you can come and have tea with me on Sunday 28th October at anytime o'clock. I do hope I shall have the pleasure of your company.


Yours sincerely,
Mum
xx

PS Claire, I left you a reply on the previous post.

Colour coordinating

DD did my nails to match my dress for the wedding. Guess which shoes I chose.

'Diamonds' were added for extra sparkle.

I didn't take my blanket with me!

This second 2012 blanket is nearly finished.

xx

Buy or make?

Perhaps I should have gone out and just bought a wedding card. Such a lot of mess and such a lot of time spent in researching, cutting, snipping, arranging and glueing.

I made a little card pocket to contain a gift of money using the idea from this site.

I thought I'd make a larger card aswell - as you do!

The wedding is later on this week. Hope the weather stays fine.

Do you buy cards or make them?

An unusual hobby

Off out on our expedition, hoping to spot a really good example of a smiley stone to bring home.

Many were picked up and inspected.

Some were too heavy.

Some - not the real thing.

Others not inspirational enough so we ended up stoneless.

We did, however, spot other stone spotters' creations.

Ah ha! There's a smiley face at the bottom of this tower - pity it's too large to carry home. He seemed to be enjoying his job so we left him to it.

After stone spotting we did a bit of butterfly spotting.

These bushes are covered with tortoiseshell butterflies.

We did spot some more stones before we headed back. These led to a very special place.

It's a good job I collected a few flowers for Samboo.

(Click on the Sunderland Point label to read more about this area.)

And these stones ...

... led us to a little lane which ended up where our walk began.