April...ing

 April has brought with it a lot of sewing. As the saying goes 'Make hay while the sun shines' mine is more like 'Keep sewing while the rain pours'. I work freelance so I have been banking up work while it is too wet, windy or both to get out in the garden. Some projects are for work and I have also ticked a few home makes off my list too. 

Re covering - my footstool which was starting to look a bit grubby. Now it matches my armchair.

Delving - back into my fabric stash to use up some more of my Orla Kiely kitchen blind fabric. A rainy day yielded 8 napkins and a doorstop.

Chitting - my potatoes which would normally be in by now but my veg patch still feels like a chocolate mousse!

Mixing - some gifted flowers with some from the garden which had been battered by the winds.

Loving - that my girls still like walking. We enjoyed a Friday night walk up Brown Clee before it got dark. It was colder at the top and my ears were ringing so I fell back on a belly dance head wrap - the girls laughed at me so much but we didn't see another soul. The second picture is of Clee Hill on a dog walk later that week but the I had to get a lick on because there was another shower on the way.

Catching - up on some of my family tree scrapbooking at the weekends. The documents and artefacts are as much of interest to me as the photographs.

Baking - traybakes. Superb for lunchboxes and walks. Big Girl has perfected a recipe and is now trying one out every week with a different flavouring. This week we have cherry and almond traybake. All those years balancing a toddler on a chair while baking once took twice as long. It has definitely paid off now she is 16.

Solving - the welly problem - it was driving me crazy.  This now means we can mop the floor easily, open the door easily and get through the door and past the coats easily as well as not tripping over them when carrying stuff in and out.

Looking - out for little signs of a changing season. I absolutely love cowslips and have tried so many times to grow them for my garden but I haven't been successful so it is best to just get out for a walk.

Watching - the front garden take shape. It really comes into its own from April to September and this year the star of the show so far is the orange broom paired with yellow tulips.

Spending - a fabulous weekend visiting my aunt and uncle then heading off to a sewing retreat in Sheffield. This is my favourite thing I made on the weekend. A samford set shirt in viscose challis from Minerva.

Leaving - you today with a peek of sunshine from my kitchen table view.

Kindest. Jo xxxx