52 Weeks of Happy (6/52)

I'm being a very bad blogger just lately. Even deciding to join in with '52 Weeks of Happy' doesn't seem to be helping as I seem to have skipped a week. Naughty!

At the moment my happiness is all about spending time with my boys and my garden. I inspect it every morning and evening (not to mention numerous times inbetween!) to see how things are doing. So here are this weeks picture descriptions - 

:: Pretty clouds in a gorgeous blue sky 

:: My hostas and alchemilla  - don't look too closely  as the slugs and snails are having a feast most nights.

:: More blue sky, this time viewed while lying with my little munchkin in the half tent. 

:: one of my four new David Austin roses. My in-laws bought us four bare-rooted David Austins for Christmas last year. They arrived in November about a week before I gave birth to Little H so my poor Mum and Dad braved the cold and wet to plant them for us. They're all doing wonderfully and this is one of the first blooms. It's Princess Alexandra of Kent and looks and smells gorgeous. 

One of the main reasons for being such a bad blogger is that I'm finding my Facebook page to be so much easier to write on on a regular basis. It's quicker for me to post a quick picture or a few thoughts and I tend to do this at least once or twice a day whereas the thought of sitting down to write a blog post is more tricky with so much other stuff going on. I'll always be here at least once a week though.

I'll be drawing the winner of my little giveaway later on so I'll post the winner tomorrow. 

Have a lovely Monday. 

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52 Weeks of Happy (5/52)

 

I've been pretty bad this week about photo taking. Partly it's been the weather and partly it's been me being a really scatter-brained Mummy forgetting to take my camera. For example we went on the loveliest walk on Sunday along a stretch of the Thames and I didn't take the camera. I was so annoyed with myself as it was a wonderful afternoon. So pretty and lots of memories to capture. It was a new walk to us so we're definitely going to be doing it later in the Summer and I promise to capture it next time. So yesterday afternoon when the sun finally came out I popped into the garden and captured a few images of how it's looking now. Problem is the camera doesn't really do justice to just how much better it's looking now than it did last year, hence all the fairly close up shots. So here in words are my happy things from the last week even though I don't have pictures to go with them all 

:: Making a Fathers Day gift for Lovely S with the boys. Little F painted a card and we also made hand prints of both of them which I put in a frame. ( I will take a photo to show you when it's on the wall as I'm really pleased with it)

:: An idyllic walk along the Thames. Sunshine, flowers, wildlife, fun, laughter and some seriously stunning riverside properties for Mummy to look at!

:: A day spent with my Mum and the boys. Dad was away sailing so we had a slightly more girly day together. Lots and lots of chatting and a lovely trip to the park plus window shopping in a lovely little town not far from here. 

:: Doing a lot of creating and getting my first sale via my Facebook page. I've been working really hard on Linen & Roses in the evenings and I'm loving it.

Hope you all had a good week. See you again soon. 

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52 Weeks of Happy (4/52)

My happy things this week :

:: Stitching some new brooches which are now available on my Facebook page.

:: A first peaceful cup of tea in the sunshine before the boys awake. 

:: My lovely garden coming into bloom. I am beginning to realise why people become obsessed with their garden. I'm loving mine as it slowly starts to take shape. I promise a full post soon to show you just how much it's changed since my last garden update. 

:: Working on a custom order of lavender filled linen hearts for a very lovely customer of mine. 

So many other things making me happy this last week. Lots of sunshine here in Buckinghamshire has seen us spending lots of time in the garden. Little H learning how to use his balance bike, digging in the soil, finding worms, lots of imaginary games. Little H discovering the garden, rolling and trying so hard to crawl, feeling the grass under his cute little fat feet, seeing the blue sky,  the fluffy clouds and birds for the first time. Lots of cuddles. A barbeque with neighbours. Yummy Sunday lunch with my in-laws. Lots of sewing and working on ideas for Linen & Roses. I love Summer. 

Have a lovely week. See you again soon. 

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52 Weeks of Happy (1/52)

Hello, I'm back. Well sort of. I think all I can manage at the moment is one post a week so I've decided to finally join in with 52 Weeks of Happy as I way of encouraging me to write. Yes, I know I'm very late to this particular project but better late than never.

So here are some happy moments from the past week -

:: My lovely friend Maggie and her sweet boy popped over for a cuppa last Thursday and arrived baring a gorgeous bunch of larkspur. The smell is fab.
:: Finally picking some flowers from the garden. I couldn't have imagined that last year. We have a small lilac which is an off-shoot of one growing next door. I love lilac so I'm encouraging it. It managed just one bloom this year so I decided to pick it and enjoy it inside along with forget-me-knots which we have a lot of.
:: Enjoying lots of time in the garden pottering and playing

I need to get much better at capturing the happy times. There are many but sometimes they get lost amongst the hum-drum of everyday life. I'm hoping this project is going to give me some focus.

I hope you're having a happy week. See you again next week.

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PS I'm still sharing odd snippets over on Facebook in the mean time.

In bloom

 Sorry for the unexpected mini break. I didn't mean to be away quite so long. We had a lovely weekend. Saturday was spent catching up with old friends in London. It had been a while since I'd headed into the City. Having lived there for so long I had a bit of an anti-London thing going on for a while. I think I'm over that though now and am longing for another visit. We're actually so close, just half an hour on the train but with two little ones in tow it's not always so easy. In fact on Saturday we didn't go right to the centre but to West Hampstead. It was still lovely to feel that different buzzy atmosphere you get in London. My friend who was hosting the get together lives in a lovely flat down a pretty leafy street. She has no kids of her own but was brave enough to welcome 10 children ranging from 3 months to 7 years, plus 11 adults! It was such great fun and so good to all be together again. I've missed a few meet-ups recently due to baby producing but I hope to see them more often in future. 

Sunday was a chilly day but after the usual delicious roast cooked by lovely S we decided we all needed some fresh air. We're very lucky to have a beautiful park just a few minutes drive away. It is actually walkable but it's down a very steep hill and the walk back is hard work with a pram in tow. So we naughtily took the car and walked lots when we got there. The park eventually joins up with National Trust land so it's possible to walk for miles. 

The park is particularly lovely at the moment as all the daffodils are out. They look really stunning. 

There's also a great playground so little F had fun on the swings and slides watched with amusement and longing by Little H. 

 

Something that's been occupying me a lot at the moment is the garden. 

 

My father-in-law came over with his jet wash to clean the patio and I've been re-arranging pots. Just need to get them filled now!

There's still not a lot of colour but we're really winning the war on all the weeds so it's all looking very neat and tidy. But there is one area that is starting to look pretty and colourful. There were already dafs here and a pale pink primula so I decided to turn it into a little Spring area. My Mum bought me another deeper primula and some cowslips last week and I've moved some forget-me-knots that I found in the soon to be veg plot. 

I'm pleased with how it's looking so far but plan to have a lot more in here next Spring.

 

Throughout the rest of the garden there are definitely signs of life. The roses we were bought by my in-laws for Christmas from David Austin at starting to come into leaf and grow. I'm hoping for a splash of colour with these. Bit by bit we'll get there. It's a slow process this gardening lark(unless you've got pots of money to throw at it!) but I'm loving starting to see the small changes every day.

There's been a little bit of sewing going on lately in odd spare moments so hopefully I'll be back again soon to share that with you.

Have a lovely week.

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The last day of the holidays

It's been a funny Easter holiday. Hoping so much for lots of sunshine and warmth to get out into the garden and out and about. But instead getting quite a bit of rain and a LOT of cold!

We did have Little H's Christening which was a lovely family occasion, and the sun shone weakly. He was a very good boy and only cried for a moment or two when his Great Aunty splashed his head with water.(Lovely S's Aunty is a Vicar so was supposed to be splashing him with water!) 

We had a couple of afternoons pottering in the garden and started to do a good bit of clearing and planning but it was sooooo cold and not the most fun in the World. 

So yesterday, with the promise of higher temperatures and a little more sun in the forecast we decided that we had to get one great fun day out of the holidays so headed off to lovely Dorset, one of our favourite places in the World. Luckily it was a great deal warmer than of late but unfortunately the sun only peeped out for a few short spells. Still, it was lovely to be out and about in the fresh air. We walked along the sea front at Swanage then hopped on a steam train to Corfe Castle. I did take photos but due to the lack of sun they really do look a little drab. The ride on the train had been a much looked forward to treat as little F is a huge Thomas fan but it nearly turned into a disaster as the sight of the huge engine coming into the platform was rather too scary for him. Luckily we managed to calm him down and once the train got going all was well and he loved it.

We had a lovely potter around the village of Corfe Castle and ate yummy pasties while being rained on for just a moment or two! Then it was back on the train to Swanage and into the car again to drive up to the lovely village of Worth Matravers. We normally camp just a mile or two from this pretty village so it's one of our favourite spots. We had a little drink in a favourite pub which has stunning sea views then wandered down the village green which was looking lovely despite the dullness of the day. Don't you just love the red phone box and the cute duck house. There was no sign of the ducks so either they were tucked away inside or have gone away to nest elsewhere. 

At the bottom of the green just behind the phone box there is a sweet little memorial garden that was bursting with spring colour. I couldn't stop snapping away at the pretty things that gave me hope the Spring is just about here. 

Finally we headed back to Swanage and went for the obligatory fish and chips. Unfortunately by this time it really was rather chilly so we sat on one of the little tables inside the chippy to eat, although still out of the paper of course. Poor Little H sat in his buggy looking longingly at the three of us tucking into our yummy fish and chips. I can't believe he will be five months at the end of this week and I think the time has nearly come to try some solids as he constantly looks longingly at what we're eating!

Finally it was back into the car for the ride back home. Little H was a little unsettled so in order to save Lovely S's sanity by not having to drive with a screaming child in the back, I squeezed in the middle at the back between my two lovely boys. It wasn't long before the sea air worked it's magic and I had two sleepy heads either side of me. 

So with the holidays behind us I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back into our normal routine. Often I feel a little down when Lovely S goes back to work after the holidays but with the promise of Spring and Summer I don't feel so bad. I don't mind admitting that these last few months did at times make me feel very down in the dumps. Terrible winters and new babies do not mix well! But as I sit here now, I have windows and the back door thrown open and I can hear birds singing. I've had a row of washing on the line this morning and without getting boring on the subject(or getting into too much yucky detail) it has done wonders for all the baby washing. Washing dried on the line smells so wonderful don't you think?

Hope the Spring has arrived where you are. 

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Re-arranging

I've been doing a bit of re-arranging this morning. Despite the fact that we have snow forecast for later I wanted to give the mantle a bit of a new Spring look. 

I still had my little German Christmas houses out and suddenly decided that they look too Christmassy and heavy. I wanted the look to be a little lighter. I haven't changed that much but I added the sweet post card of a rose and the little china flowers. The larger one belonged to my Grandma and the two smaller ones were sent to us as a Wedding present from the lovely Jane Posy. (how I miss her blog)

I bought out my Cath K jug which had been in the cupboard for a while but which I love. I also popped my diffuser bottle, which is almost empty, into the tea light holder and added another picture roses at the other end. It just looks a bit lighter and fresher. We can at least pretend the Spring is here can't we? 

Hope you have lovely weekend despite the snow. 

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Red and Pink

Who says pink and red don't go together. Personally I love the clashiness of this combination of tulips bought for me on Saturday by Lovely S and Little F. They're really cheering up the dining room today which I need as I've got a poorly sick big boy to look after. Hope you're having a cheerful Monday. 

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Garden hopes

The opening pictures are not pretty today I'm afraid but I wanted to share them because I want to remind myself just how far we have come with our garden and hopefully by the summer I can show even more progress. 

The first three photos here show how our garden looked in August 2011, approximately 4 weeks after we moved in here. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of how it looked on the day we moved in as I didn't get my camera out quick enough before Lovely S went to work on the jungle! But what I can tell you is that only about half the amount of grass was visible due to the amount of growth that over hung from all borders. Most of it was pretty ugly greenery. Certainly nothing much worth saving. 

Last year we started to make progress but it was frustrating for me as my pregnancy meant I couldn't be hands on. Lovely S enjoys dealing with his lawn and doing the basics of the weeding and plant care but I'm the one who is really passionate about planting. I am so excited to get out there this year and start turning my garden dreams into reality. 

On Sunday I had a brief hour when both the boys were napping so I took the opportunity to get out there and start assessing. I swept the patio first then did a spot of weeding along border. 

Here are two butlers sinks that Mum and Dad gave me. I'm hoping to remove the concrete treatment as I actually prefer the original look. These will be moved down close to the shed as the garden gets sun there all day long. I plan to plant one up with herbs and the other with salad leaves. 

This border down the left may not look like much yet but it is the one we have done the most with. We've planted a number of evergreen plants to give it some structure all year round, including the box balls which I love. Everything is quite small at present but I hope through this year things will really get going. Looking at the picture below I'm thinking that I seriously need to do something about the lawn edging. I love to see a nice crisp edge to a lawn. 

I still can't decide what to do with the shed. Do we paint it? Do we leave it? Do we keep it?Do we knock it down? It's not really in the best state close up but I do like the focus it gives the bottom of the garden.The wall is looking a little sad as well with the selection of random pots sitting on it. These pots are definitely coming off. I think it will look better bare with larger pots sitting in front of it and flowers behind.  

The bird table has been moved a lot but I popped it here on Sunday. I think eventually it will be in the border in front of the patio though. This border below needs some serious work. We have put some box in here too and there are now three roses. One of the roses is one that my in-laws gave us as a first Wedding Anniversary present. It has never done well as it lived in a pot for a while as we knew we would be moving and wanted to take it with us. When we moved it was a while before it was planted because of the state of the garden. In the end my Mother in law just plonked it in somewhere just to get it in the ground but it wasn't really the right place and last year it didn't thrive. So my Mum moved it to this border for me at the end of last Summer. I'm hoping it's going to prefer it's new home as it will get a lot more sun. It has two new friends in the shape of two David Austin roses that Mother in law bought us for Christmas. They went in bare rooted in November and are showing signs of springing into life right now. There are two more in the other main border. I can't wait to see how they all do. I miss the beautiful roses that we had in our old house. 

The patio is looking fairly bleak at the moment. Most of my big pots are in the garage as is the bench that usually lives out here. We really didn't make much of the patio last year and this year I want so much more from it. 

I want to paint these railings outside the back door and I have a vision of pots of geraniums on the steps outside my kitchen door

So that is where we're at now with the garden. The sun has been shining today and I'm imagining how this garden is going to progress over the Spring and Summer. I can't wait to share it with you here. I have such hopes. 

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