Thursday 29 August 2013

I dream of dahlias


I have been out and about gathering gardening ideas for next year.
With the roses gradually dwindling
I'm looking for something to fill their boots.
So I took a trip with my parents yesterday to Gilberts Dahlias in Romsey Hampshire.
I have been  with them once before
but nothing prepares you for the awesome view that awaits.
This is not your usual dahlia buying experience.
These dahlias are huge and stunning.
Much fun is had marching up and down the aisle trying to choose
falling in love at every turn.
My Dad has begun showing dahlias at a local village show
so he was looking for show stoppers.
I likened his choosing to crufts.
 Marys Jomanda, Kate Mountjoy
Something Ballerina, Edinburgh

I was looking for something more me!
These are my choices.....I know kinda purpley again.
I don't yet own these beauties,
the service Gilberts offer is a £2.50 rooted cutting in spring.
So I have a year to wait (argghhhh)
and a year to work out just where I can squeeze them into my garden!!
If you love dahlias and just want to be awed
get yourself down to Gilberts
they do have dahlias to purchase 
and a tea room to ponder in..
just don't leave it too late
orders must be in before December.

Thursday 22 August 2013

patchwork 'n' love

 With my new pace of sewing when the mood takes me
I will hopefully return to writing about what I'm loving.
   In the crazy world of quilting it's all too easy to lose sight of 
the whats and the whys;
and get caught up in the sewing of patchwork
and forget the passion.
Just because you say I could make that 
shouldn't stop you from buying.
If like me you REALLY love patchwork
then appreciating each others work is not a chore.
I sit next to this vintage patchwork cushion everyday
 I didn't make it but I do LOVE it.


 **

I know what you're thinking right?
Whats that fabulous cuff on her wrist and where did she get it?
Actually it was a surprise* gift from Susan aka Patchwork n Play
who is equally if not more passionate about patchwork.
And yes if I had seen this for sell in a shop
it would have been mine.
Thank you Suz
you know me so well!
*more to follow!
**pardon the shameful display of legs!

Tuesday 20 August 2013

in an English country garden..

clematis comtesse de bouchard
achillea wild eve
I have an uncanny knack of choosing plants of a similar colour
and then planting them next to each other.
It's not something I'm proud of!
On my return from anywhere away
my first port of call is always the garden...
even at 11pm like this year.
Well I discovered a shrubby green welcome
something which had to be fixed.
With birthday money in hand
I set about buying mainly lilac things,
which wasn't my intention...but hey ho!

 delphinium 
As you know I lost all my lupins during the hard winter,
so I thought I would try delphiniums.
And I have to say I'm a convert.
The problem with lupins lovely though they are,
when the flowering is over you are left with a large mound of 
uninspiring leaves; not so with delphiniums.
This plant was eaten by slugs in spring
but look at her now!
I think I shall go for some darker blue ones next year
now that I know they grow so lovely.
 cosmos
If you grow anything from seed
grow cosmos.
They produce lovely strong seedlings and flower all summer.
I am in love with this one
which came from a mixed packet.
discovery
There are a lot of fallers this year,
which I leave some out for the birds.
It is one of the first things we planted 
I just wish we had done some research however
as the apples do not keep.
Not the best discovery!
 buddleia royal red
The joy of  a largish garden
means I get to create largish amounts of mess!
It does also mean I can move things about,
something that I get a lot of stick about.
(especially from my Mum)
I tell people that the plants outgrow each other,
but truth be told 
I don't know what I'm doing
and I'm always changing my mind!
 larkspur
Shopping for plants is an addiction
so I get to know a plants worth.
The buddleia for example in the last picture
was £4.99 from the range
I had previously seen it selling for £10 and upwards!
The larkspur was an even better bargain
Four packets of seeds for 99p!!
This is my first time growing it.
Its the same family as the delphinium
but grown as an annual.
Not bad for 25p!
 lavandula alba
From new to old.
This lavender which is white and not purple
is festooned every year with bumble bees.
I'm not sure why they love this particular one
but it is quite pungent.
I may not have a showy garden
but I do have a buzzy one
which is what I was aiming for.....
....just dont let me buy any more lilac plants please!!

Thursday 15 August 2013

eternal sunshine of a spotless mind

Now I know I have said my favourite hangout is in an art gallery..
but who doesn't love a beach?
For me a beach is a natural art gallery
where the artwork is free.
Whether it be the salty sea air or the wide expansive horizon
philosophical thinking always creeps into my mind.
Lately I have been much more interested in the person behind the blog
and not what the latest fabric must have is.
My most recent encounter is a lovely uplifting lady called Connie.
Who blogs from the heart and signs her name your blogging sister Connie,
which somehow makes her human and not just another blogger.
Connie is a big fan of France 
so I was dismayed to read that although she loves France
she will probably never get to visit....
and here we were about to embark on a 3 week trip.
So this is for you Connie.
You may never get to walk on a beach in France
but your spirit will always wander.
Give a creatively starved girl a stick and a blank canvas....


 *just noticed the doggy paw prints!




 * Ile D'Oleron
This morning my winter robin has made an appearance
which means that autumn must be round the corner.
The older I get the faster the years roll by...
the coast has a way of slowing life down,
moments last for minutes
which is good.
I am therefore taking a new approach to my sewing
Hence-forth I am now on a go slow sew.

Your blogging sister

Saturday 10 August 2013

lost in translation..





There is a story here somewhere....
I just wish I knew how to put it together?

1. Lady playing Amelie tunes outside the Sacre Coeur
2. Love locks on a bridge in Paris
3. Me before I lost it*
4. Moi
5. Drawing in the sand is much like epp
once you start you cannot stop!

* if you find it can you please send it back to me?
ps. Secretly wishing I was the lady in pic 1.
pps. sand drawing is highly under rated
express yourself!