Blimey it’s been a busy couple of weeks – so much so, this is my first post in a fortnight and I can’t fit it all in!  I’ve been quite productive on the creative front and have loads to show you, so I will try to catch up in the next few days and hope you’re not too bored…

First up, the most exciting event.  Well, for me, anyway because I cook loads. Our ‘old’ range cooker pretty much gave up the ghost after seven years of hard labour and I kind of decided that, as you get what you pay for, I might as well upgrade seriously.

This is the old one…

..and this is the lovely new RED one!

(If anyone knows how to change an oven thermostat and repair a grill element, we have an electric range cooker with ceramic hob going begging…!)

Four ovens including a slow cooker and five induction rings on the hob – I’m in cooker heaven, seriously, and I need to make more jam.  We’ve just finished the last of last year’s jam and the new crop of blackberries is looking promising, although it’s a fine line between them being ripe enough to pick and the hens deciding when they’re ripe enough to eat.  At least they can only reach the lower berries so we should still have plenty for jam making.  About another four weeks, I reckon, before the first berries turn black and sweet.  It’s a thornless bramble which is perfect for the garden, and domestic varieties are always much larger, juicier and sweeter than their wild cousins. They also ripen earlier which means the picking season is extended – good news for our household of blackberry lovers.  Blackberry and Apple Crumble anyone?

We only have a small, young apple tree and an elderberry bush in our (quite large) garden which means shade is almost non-existent and, in this current heatwave, makes it too unbearably hot to enjoy the garden. The hens have commandeered the elderberry bush so my lovely husband created a shady retreat just for me!

Gazebo up, it needed bunting obviously. Well, doesn’t everything look better with a string or two of bunting??

 

Then, I had a brainwave and decided to utilize the under-used daybed from my sewing room as an outdoor sofa.  After a bit of under-the-breath muttering and “Why do want me to put the bed outside?”, husband complied.

I covered the ‘sofa’ with some patchwork throws I made thirty years ago – very faded and a bit worn, but I tell myself that it adds to the rustic charm!

I piled it up with loads of squashy cushions including the crocheted ones I made recently and it looks soooo inviting that everyone who comes to the house dives straight in and that is where they stay!

I even get to use it too sometimes!  There’s nowhere nicer to relax and enjoy a bit of crocheting with a G&T.

This is what I’m working on, curled up in a cosy corner of my new favourite place…..

…..Ta da!

I’ve got a few more ‘Ta da’ moments to share with you in the next few days, so watch this space!

In the meantime, here’s a snippet of my latest work-in-progress using Drops Paris Cotton – it’s already my favourite project to date!