June...ing

 Have you all been having a joyous June? Things have been good over here on the hill - hot but good. In no particular order and possibly things I have already mentioned, here goes!

Buying - Four Orla Kiely glasses, it was a treat but they were seconds meaning they were discounted.

Picking - more radishes. I have been sowing every four weeks but as the weather has got drier I seem to have a gap now before the next ones are ready.

Shearing - our sheep at the beginning of June. They were relieved before the very hot weather came along.

Visiting - Barmouth for a few days in the June Break. Good for big girl who was doing GCSE's and just needed to cool off in the sea for a few days; mentally and physically.

Using - up a little fridge haul from our neighbours who were going away on holiday and gave us a bag of veggies. I made a Mediterranean tart and a couple of salads.

Experimenting - with my new toy. A circular knitting machine. Mmmm, more practise needed I think!!!

Refashioning - a size 10 linen dress which was too small for me into a top for the Big 'un.

Knitting - the start of six different jumpers to try and get something started with my pink yarn. None of them were the right gauge or texture then some were just too hard to concentrate on or I didn't understand the stitches. I have settled on the simplest sweater from ravelry. Seems apt for my brain capacity at the moment!

Crocheting - a version of the Aster top. The pattern is actually for much finer yarn but I wanted a break from the knitting fails of late. Might do something better with the sleeves??

Going - strawberry picking. You may think this strange if you have seen my massive fruit cage full of strawberries but I made a gardening error and fed the plants at Easter then they put on colossal amounts of leaf growth and there are no strawberries. Whoops!

Making - some jam from my bought strawberries. I love homemade jam and have become such a snob about jam; bought jam just tastes of sugar not fruit.

Loving - my current table vase in my vase challenge to have flowers from the garden continuously on the kitchen table. The sweet williams seem never ending and have such a long vase life. I have paired them with a zingy euphorbia. 

Cleaning - up my treadle sewing machine. I used to use it at my nan's farm when I was about 10 or 12 to mend my grandads work overalls. My nan hated me using it incase I caught my fingers but I never did. I have had it all apart, cleaned the components and then put it all back together. After watching a very useful Youtube video of someone setting up a similar one I have got it going. I am just getting a bit of tangling after a run of about 8 inches because the spring on the tension discs has bent out of shape so it catches the threads when I get a bit of speed going. I am going to get a new one. After looking up the serial number, it is from 1858.

There is thunder in the distance so I had better pop out and bring some things inside. Toodle oo!

Jo xxxx