Sewing & Gardening Snippets

Greetings lovely friends & readers

 All the Spring feels this week, from this sweet bunch of flowers sitting in Mum's crystal vase on my bench  💛

Jane purchased these cushions from me a few years ago now & just loved them.  They were looking tatty so she removed the buttons, opened them up & removed the stuffing, then soaked & washed them.  She asked me to refill them with new wadding, some covered buttons were missing & I also replaced 5 panels which were threadbare.   Jane was delighted to have them back again & they turned out great.

My youngest son returned my hair straighteners after "borrowing them" for over a year.  He gifted me these silicone hot-mats which are made especially to sit straighteners on.  As everything kept falling down the back of my wardrobe I decided to make a simple pouch to store everything in & chose fabrics to match the silicone mats. 

I just sewed together 4 inch squares, quilted them & then made a lined bag to fit everything.  Although I wasn't going to have a closure I decided to add a button tab to stop it all spilling out. 

It is proving to be so handy to hold everything together & I am no longer crawling around on the wardrobe floor, trying to find it all. 

There has been some other sewing completed but as it is being gifted I cannot share it yet as the recipient reads this blog  😉

The Garden is waking up after the winter & there is colour everywhere.  The magnolia is in full bloom & my Azalea is looking the prettiest it has ever looked.  September is a busy time for me in the garden as there is much to do.  When it all feels overwhelming (as it frequently does) I just remind myself of how it looked this time last year when THIS disaster was all going on! 😯

This variety of Tulip that is just coming in to bloom is called Parrot Tulip.  I have a packet each, of pink & white in Mum's old concrete Urn.

Remember how I mentioned in * this post * about growing giant Sunflowers up the side of my Hothouse?   I've started some seedlings & they are doing well. I am currently moving them outside each day to harden them off before planting.  

For those that don't know, Worm Tea is a wonderful liquid plant food.

I cleaned out my Worm Farm & filled 12 bottles with fresh Worm Tea. I could easily have filled more but I ran out of bottles & need to acquire some more.  

The raised veggie bed that I planted in autumn is doing well with a variety of Brassicas.  I dug over & fed the 2nd bed & planted strawberries, beetroot, & 2 varieties of lettuce.  I'll plant more when it gets a bit warmer.  

I bought some tomato plants & put in the no-dig bed that I had ready in my Hothouse.  This year I remembered to use plastic cages as last year, they flopped everywhere.  

I purchased cucumber & chilli plants but will keep these pots in the Hothouse for another month 'til it's warmer. 

The Aloe Vera plant that I grew from a leaf from my daughter-in-law, was looking yellow & rootbound so I took it out of the pot & split it up.  I got 2 good sized plants for myself & then 6 small size ones, two I have already given away & I'll find recipients for the other 4.  

I have 3 large potted topiary Buxus that were looking orange & neglected after the winter months.  I gave them all a good prune, the smaller one got removed, its roots trimmed & then planted in fresh potting mix.  I cannot do that with the bigger ones as there is a large crack in one pot & I fear it will break completely.  I gave them each a half bottle of worm tea & a good water.  I am hoping they won't die of shock after this (!!)

Sid had book character week at his school & went as "Dog Man" from the Dog Man Series of books.  His Dad made his 3D mask & his Mum made the hat & decorated his shirt.  I thought he looked wonderful 💙

I am not sure how this happened last night & I can assure you I had not sedated the Ginger Girl Cat (!!) but they got rather close on the fireside mat.  If you look closely at Pippi's face you will see she is not entirely happy about this but Little One was hardly breathing in case she hissed at him.  I can verify that No Hissing took place (maybe I hissed just a teeny bit at The Mr) 😉

Thank you dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

With much love & friendship to you all,