May...ing

 May is my most favourite month. Everything is so Greeeeeeeen and alive. My blog post this month however is light on news. I have mostly been working with short interludes outside for dog walking and animal feeding.

Having - a haircut, back to the bob for a while.

Sewing - the Friday Pattern Company Wildergown blouse; the Atelier Jupe Liv blouse; the Juliette blouse and the Brumby Skirt. The Liv blouse is already a gonner because bloke put the silk blouse on a machine wash that was too hot! Whoops. 

Collecting - eggs in my new big pockets.

Catching - rainbows in the May showers and cooler sunshine.

Weaning - this little fella. Only two feeds a day now and less next week because he is eating grass and lamb feed.

Moping - about the miserable experience my big girl had on her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition. They got lost a lot, they were three hours over schedule on both days, it rained on the night they had to put up the tent and cook pasta, the rucksack was 18kg, the leaders gave them a different route to the one they had planned... it goes on. She hurt in so many places because they walked so much longer than all the other groups - 8am - 6:15pm non stop! She still has blisters in between her toes and two of her toe nails are going to drop off. She is over it now and so am I but it wasn't the famous five expedition she thought it would be. Shame.

Stunning - sunsets of late.

Knitting - a tank top. I still have a problem with my arm so it is a few rows a night on this one. I am not even on the interesting bit to show you.

Picking - my first crop of radish and spinach with loads more pickings from the rhubarb.

Photographing - in the lighter evenings. It is great to have a longer day. Here are a couple of my favourite photos of late.

Waving - goodbye to the bluebells and saying hello to the foxgloves.

Feeling - disappointed with the weather. Normally May has some prolonged sunshine and I start to live my life outdoors. This May I have mostly been working and banking up my tutorials while the days are chillier hence the terrific amounts of clothes I am making.

Looking - forward to June. There are some lovely things to come.

Thinking - I'm lucky that I'm happy to be living this life. 💙

Jo xxxxxxxxx

Something a bit Special

Have you ever had the generation gap feeling? I remember a few choice moments. In a local China Museum I asked why my then six year old had not flushed the toilet and she said there wasn't a flush - I walked into the cubicle and pulled the chain. He jaw dropped and I realised she had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I also remember her asking me when she was seven what the black thing was in the dining room. It was my grandparents old bakelite telephone and I had to show her how to use it. Why such ramblings?...

Because we have been invited to a black tie 21st Birthday party. Not as the crowd that will be dancing on the tables, camping in the field and throwing up in the porta loos but the parent generation of the birthday boy. I know I am the last in my friendship group to have children but jeez when did that happen?

Anyway, I got my sew on and made myself a special dress. I have never sewn with guipure lace before and I can safely say it requires a lot of tacking/basting. The background fabric and the lace need to be tacked together so that each panel works as a single piece of fabric. I used the lace on its own on the sleeve to take advantage of the border edge.

I chose a crepe as the skirt and decided I would think about whether to put my 1950's petticoat underneath at the end. I did, and it gives it a nice shape.

What present do you get for a young man who you don't really know very well? You sew something of course. I made Ben a cummerbund, bow tie and hankie for his future black tie events and parties. I am really pleased with the duchess satin and the vibrant colour. His mum, my great friend from my Young Farmer Club days, said he would love it. 

 

I found an areosol spray in the shed, sprayed a box from The Works then added his name. It has turned out to be a kind of men's jewellery box for ties, cuff links and suchlike as well as the perfect wrapping.

Tonight's the night. Party on!

Let's Get Started

I am kicking off again with my 2022 three word gardening posts. There has been a bit of a break over the winter when the veg plot has been wrapped up but slowly, the vegetable garden is being revealed. The newly made borders a year ago have been great through Autumn and even in deep winter. It is lovely to see my chosen plants popping up again.

The front border has a warm, orange and yellow palette. I love it and am so glad I selected a colour hue for it. The Broome, Heuchera, Tulips, early Daffodils and that amazing tangerine Geum are the best parts about it. 

At the back of the house the softer blue, pink and purple tones blend with the blossom of the fruit trees, pink tinged shrubs, purple Pulmonaria, pink Tulips and blue Brunnera. Granny bonnets and Iris will be next.

In the house I am cutting flowers, some of which are from Pheasant Field Flowers, these anemones are from my friend who grows cut flowers for weddings in my field.

This crab apple tree is simply stunning and huge. It fills the frame of the kitchen window when you look from inside to outside. Everyone comments on it and it was my dad's favourite tree.

There are obviously flowers in the wild too. Bluebells are putting on a fabulous show on the edges of our fields which we pick for a table vase. They don't last long in a jar but the fragrance is beautiful for a day or so.

We are now going to get started on growing our vegetables. I have tried in the past to beat mother nature by starting things off in the greenhouse quite early on in the year but have learnt over the years that it never really works. Seeds grow when they are supposed to grow: when the light is right and the soil is warm. Not just because it was a sunny day in March!

Sown this weekend were courgettes, runner beans, french beans and lettuce. I have been given lots of beetroot seedlings from a neighbour so they will be ready when there are absolutely no risks of frosts. I have six tomato plants I have grown from seed too which are in deep buckets - I didn't get along with grow bags last year, they wouldn't hold enough water.

I also had a complete overhaul of our house plants. I didn't realise I had quite so many then the house looked quite empty after I put them outside. Some I split, some I potted on and some I took cuttings from.

This weekend Bloke and I built a fruit cage because we had 4 strawberries last year thanks to the blackbirds! They look so promising this year it feels like a worthwhile investment. We have already picked 4lb of rhubarb which has either been frozen for winter crumbles or used to make Sticky Rhubarb Cake.

Leaving you with my favourite variety of daffodil. The later flowering 'Pheasants eye'.

Right, let's get started. Growing season here we come.

Thanks for stopping by. Jo xx