Growing

Hello and thank you for visiting me here. I hope you had a good week wherever you are.

In this small corner, I have been noticing how much has been growing both in the garden and with my crochet blanket.

With the mix of warm sunshine and showers, everything in the garden and greenhouse has been growing and growing. I now have a ritual, every morning putting plantlets and seedlings out to enjoy the Spring air and every evening putting them back in the greenhouse so that the slugs and snails don't enjoy a tasty gourmet treat.

Here are two of my loofah plants which are starting to twine themselves around their canes to reach for the skies, and I have another three plants all at various stages of growth. It remains to be seen how much they will grow but I have hope for them.

This weigela in the back garden has made a phenomenal amount of growth in the last few weeks and as you can see is covered with beautiful pink flowers. I don't think this plant has ever been so weighed down with blooms!!

There has also been more growth in the front garden with a mini project. On one side of the driveway there is a low wall which we painted a while ago (although I see that needs a little paint touching up) and the car is parked on block pavers.

In my efforts to green up our front garden some of those pavers have been removed and...

they have been replaced by some ferns and dicentra (Bleeding heart). It has made a real difference to the space. Little by little the plants are taking over the driveway and anywhere else I can put them to make things less of a car park and more of a garden that I want to spend time in.

Back inside the house, there has been progress with my blanket which is also growing quickly now. I am trying really hard to keep up with the daily squares but I do fall behind now and again , especially when you factor in the time it takes to join ends and long rows together.

Here is the current pile of crochet squares and with the warmer weather the colours have been much brighter. This next week will not be so warm so a small change in the colours will be coming. I am so enjoying this project and it will be wonderful to see how it turns out by the end of the year 😊

I hope that you find something to make you smile this week x .

Thirty three

Hello and welcome to my small corner.

What is the significance of the number 33? Perhaps it doesn't mean anything special to you. 

I can remember saving pocket money as a teenager to buy LP vinyl discs which played at 33.3, but the number 33 became more important for me on Friday.

Friday was our 33rd Wedding Anniversary  💕.

 

 

Such pretty red flowers.

We had Moussaka for dinner ...

 

 

followed by a very creamy and jammy Victoria sponge  which I made to celebrate the occasion. All of which disappeared very quickly!! 

This afternoon we went out for a quiet cuppa and a piece of cake at a favourite garden centre and of course I also bought a few plants. They are for the front garden project but are waiting to be planted . There are ferns to go along a wall, a clematis and a climbing rose. 

While I am writing this, it is pouring with rain but I am hoping it will be dry enough to plant tomorrow.

However, with a combination of rain and sunshine lately, just look what has happened to this plant in my garden!! Each leaf is at least 2ft wide. A lovely cool and sheltered spot for wildlife and it has a mini watering hole hidden under the leaves.

The bluebells are still beautiful and visited by the bees.

The blackcurrants are dripping with the promise of berries.

 

And the geraniums are already flowering well outside on the patio. 

I hope you all have something good to look forward to this week.

Love and best wishes from this small corner x

Scones Anyone?

Hello everyone!

On Bank Holiday Monday, we visited Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire. There was an art, craft and design fayre that was being held in the grounds and was a chance to catch up with my art friend from university days. It was so lovely to see her again and this time D got to meet her too. D also bought a small piece of her artwork. 

It's a small hand mirror, and very useful to keep in a handbag.

There were so many talented crafts people and so much I could have bought. The hall was closed to the public while the fayre was on but it seems a lovely place to go visit on another day. 

This last week has been 'Scones Week' in this small corner. We were gifted a lovely National Trust receipe book by a friend and obviously we had to make a few batches. 

I made some plain ones first, which D enjoyed. Her official verdict: "Please may I have another one?"

Then I tried NT's famous fruit scones and just added a little baking powder to the mix. Oh my goodness; they were amazing and probably the best scones I have ever made. Hubby agrees. I had to be really quick taking a picture as they were almost leaping off the plate in to somebody's tummy.

I also made some cheese scones, which also went down well. I suspect these recipes will be a family favourite for years to come.

There has been another crafty project completed in the kitchen this week. We have collected many mugs over the years, each with its own set of memories. We had so many of them and it seemed a shame to hide them in a cupboard.

I suggested to hubby that we build a rack above the sink to display those mugs. 

They are a reminder of past holidays, other places we have visited and favourite characters from our childhood (apart from the 'yeast extract' mug for which there is a love-hate relationship, even in this household).

 

If the weather continues to be good this week I shall be outside in the garden enjoying the sunshine!

Have a good week everyone x

The Great Outdoors

Hello and welcome to my small corner.

These pretty little pansies have been flowering their hearts out for months now. I cut them back a while ago when the freshness of the flowers had gone over and then wondered if I would regret doing it. 

But no! Back they came to give even more colour. 

 

This inspired me to do a little more cross stitch and make another bookmark. These cross stiches are so quick and easy to do that even I can manage them. The pattern was published in the Craft Creations magazine and the designer was Joanne Sanderson.

 

It has been good weather again this week to get outside so we have been doing some more work on our front garden. Although it has been hubby doing all the hard work and me choosing plants.

The section we completed this weekend runs underneath where the main body of the car would be. The car parking space is only for occasional use and plants need to be able to deal with this. Normally the front garden is in full sun for most of the day. Hopefully the plants will be happy where we have put them.

 

The other two plants we have added in the corner are a perennial Iberis 'pink ice' and a Verbena bonariensis. A couple of other plants have been moved from other parts of the garden too.

I thought this would be the last of the planting this weekend.

However, hubby and I visited another garden centre this afternoon and returned with a new tree.

It is an Amelanchier and several people have said what a lovely tree it is and how much the birds appreciate the berries. It also has pretty blossom in Spring and beautiful foliage in Autumn. We will plant it in the garden tomorrow.

In other news, D went on off an adventure today to the West Midlands Safari Park with some friends. They all returned safely after their animal encounters.

 

 

(... So where is lunch...? Is it Coach 1 or Coach 2?)

Have a great week whatever you plans are, and I look forward to seeing you again soon xx

The fox and the rabbit (but not in the garden)!!

Hello and welcome to 'My Small Corner', thank you for joining me here.

Trees here are in full blossom now, and my little apple tree is no exception. It is so full of blossom and when the sun shines it hums with the sound of bees.

 

This is D's little plot of garden that we created for her. She has never gardened before so it a new experience for her. She has planted some onions and the canes are ready for her sweet peas to grow up.

She also has some red sunflowers in my greenhouse. Some years, I have had trouble with slugs and snails munching plants and, not wanting to use pellets I had a look for alternative solutions. I don't want D's first attempts to be dampened by these molluscs. It seems that lavender and cranesbill (hardy geranium) are not a favourite dish on a slug's menu so she has planted these in her garden around where the sunflowers will be. There will also be a good spread of grit as a further deterrent.

 

Meanwhile I have been busy in other parts of the garden. The broad beans and first peas have been planted out.

The woodland garden has had a few new additions and a bit of a tidy up. 

I love the way the grasses are popping up between the hardy geraniums and seedlings of a variety of other woodland plants make their home where they will.

D and I have both had our own crafty projects to keep us busy during this last week.

D did some cross stitching and made this very cute little fox. She had not really tried this craft before but found it very enjoyable and completed it in a few days. I think she will want to do more of these and I can see a request being put on her birthday list!

 

She also jazzed up the pull cord in our bathroom.

My little craft project was one of those that took much longer than I expected to complete. This knitted baby bunny was meant to be ready for Easter but ... it is now a Spring bunny ☺ I found the pattern here on lovecrafts.com  by Dot Pebbles. She used two strands of yarn together to get the effect of baby bunny fur. I had some Aran yarn with some alpaca in it and used that instead. We have decided that bunny is a 'she' and her name is Juniper.

 

I am sure there will be more crafting and gardening this week here. Whatever you are going to be doing, enjoy x