Summer and Garden Love

Last week was incomprehensibly busy, I think it always feels the same towards the last couple of weeks of term and, but at least I know that very soon we can all BREATHE again with lazy mornings and more relaxed days, which I am so looking forward to. Somehow throughout all the chaos I found so many things that made me smile and my little garden didn't fail to ground me.

My little veg patch is making some kinda magic at the moment and I am like a little child waiting with bated breath on its every move. Every morning I can't wait to get outside to see what magic the wonderful hands of mother nature has performed overnight. My first sweet peas have started to flower and I simply can't wait for the rest to follow suit. I always admire peoples sweet peas and now it feels so wonderfully grown-up to have planted more than just a handful for once. I have however already learnt that it might be worth attaching some netting against the trellis to offer a little more gripping options for both the sweet peas and sugar snaps, but that's the beauty of gardening, its very much a case of trial and error. Now these cheeky sugar snap peas appeared out of nowhere and its great to see little E's excitement every time she pops outside to see what's happening to them.

 

 

 

Cabbages are growing, but they have been under attack from the pesky (I mean lovely!) caterpillars and it seems that the Cabbage white butterflies has been really busy. So far we have already lost quite a few cabbages and this morning the next one seems to be under attack, and even though we are all for attracting butterflies and bees, says she whilst muttering under her breath, pesky little flutterby's! I have now removed all the eggs from the cabbages and also moved all the 'catties' as little Es calls them, to another piece of green, so we will see how it all pans out. Has any of you had any experience with this?

 

 

 

 

  

 

Loving the vibrant colour of the courgette flower, it certainly adds a bit of colour to the rather green looking veg patch. My very late planted sorrel seems to be coming to life, I love the taste of sorrel in salad, it just adds that lemon zing to it for me. In Jamaica they use sorrel with rum, sugar, water and ginger to make an alcoholic drink, which apparently is quite yummy, and for those wanting to give it a whirl you can find the recipe here. The pumpkins are slowly popping out and it must be really strange as a child to try and get your head around the fact that these tiny little yellow balls will grow into big pumpkins (well we hope anyway) in time for Halloween. Surely that's got to be magic, right?!

Loving all the beautiful succulents around the rockeries at the moment, not because they are a bit phallic (not saying more :-)), not because of their beautiful and very sweet flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

I am so excited to see my new David Austen's Strawberry Hill rose in bloom. After several years of rose envy, I finally purchased one this year and I am as pleased as punch! The second rose, is a climbing rose called Rosa Albertine, which I planted two years ago and last week it gave us our very first beautiful pink rose. I propagated this rose last year and amazingly it worked and it is now growing in a little pot already showing us its first bud. For any of you interested in propagating roses, you can read more about it here. I will add that I didn't leave mine outside, I put it in a small plastic bag to act as a little greenhouse for a week or two and then took it outside.

 

   

This glorious weather makes such a difference to lifestyle and we are making the very most of it by enjoying leisurely meals outside, it is amazing how a little sun can bring some calm to busy days.

 

 

 

 

We finally got around to clearing the majority of the wood away from this corner so we could get a tree swing up for the kids. Andrew collected this lovely piece of wood when they went for a walk and a couple of hours later there was a brilliant new swing for the kids to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

All things British, some flapjacks baked especially for the doh race on Saturday and will add here that he did really well, thank you for all your kind wishes. Not only did he finish the 30 mile fell race, he also managed to come 26th out of 90 odd people, so I am so proud of him for achieving this on the hottest day of the year. Moments of croquet in the garden with the kids.

 

 

No, not a sock tan, but my doh's legs when he came back from his 7 hour run, you can imagine what he would have looked like if it was wet and muddy!!

 

 

 

Last week I managed to do a little more on my first quilt by sewing my strips together and then cutting them up again, just so I can sew them together again, oh such fun. I am really enjoying the process and I am starting to appreciate just how long this is going to take me, with fingers and toes crossed I might have some warm snugly toes  by next winter.

 

I hope that you have all had a lovely weekend and that you were able to enjoy some sunshine where you are, even if it is a little winter sun. This week I am working on our contribution to the annual village scarecrow festival and fingers crossed I will get it done to get it up in time for the fete. This is such a strange, but lovely English tradition and I am not sure where or how it originated, but I love the effort people make. We are only doing something small, which I will share with you very soon.

 

 

 

In the meantime I am going to take a leaf out of Sinbad's book to do a little snoozing in the shade. Wishing you all a very happy and creative week.

 

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

 

Simply Simple

 

 

Joining in today with Lou's Nature in the Home series and this weeks theme is 'Simple'.

Oxford defines the word 'simple' as plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form, nature, or design; without much decoration or ornamentation, humble and unpretentious, you can read more here.

Hope you all enjoyed a good week, mine feels like it has been rather manic, but I am really looking forward to slowing down a little this weekend, which is looking more likely to happen on Sunday, as my doh (darling other half) is off to go and do a 30 mile fell race tomorrow, rather him than me!

A big welcome to my new followers, I am so thrilled that you have decided to stop by and hope you enjoy your visits here. For me blogging is all about writing what I do and sometimes think (that doesn't happen to often :-)), and not with the intention to get followers, but I have to say that it does feel rather special, so thank you to everyone reading this little blog of mine and for leaving comments and for stopping by, you are all very lovely!

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

Decoupage with vintage wallpaper

A few months ago I purchased some lovely vintage wallpaper and vintage fabrics from the lovely Ada's Etsy shop and slowly I am getting around to using some of it. We have had this little trinket box, or a mini chest of drawers as Ikea refer to it, which has been crying out to be covered for quite some time and today was the day!

 

 

 

All in all it took no more than an hour and a half and I think it looks rather sweet in its new little coat. I absolutely love this wallpaper and for any of you with a similar project lined up or just in need of some wonderful vintage wallpaper, pop over to Ada's shop and grab yourself a bargain as she is currently selling the rolls off at a discounted price. Furthermore, she is also doing a wonderful giveaway to celebrate her blog's one year anniversary, so pop over to her blog to have a look. 

 

Off to go and fill my little drawers with some crafty related bits and bobs.

 

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

Sun and Weekend fun

The sun is shining, and somehow whenever this happens I feel alive. It invigorates my mind and  takes me back to a place where I once was young in the heat of Africa, a place that invokes many wonderful memories and a place I dearly love! I love this feeling of being transported back to my childhood, the feeling of feeling free again with no commitments, no responsibilities, just living life and drinking in every aspect of its beauty, even if that feeling only lasts for a few minutes at a time. This weekend I felt like that again, young, alive and ready to take on anything that life throws my way. Its times like this when I just want to embrace all the little projects I've left for weeks and months and finally make some progress with them, but on the other hand there is the desire to just sit outside soak up the sun and enjoy this glorious weather whilst doing some crocheting or just watching the children play.

So, that is exactly what I did this weekend, got my cutting mat and rotary cutter and started cutting some of the fabric for my first attempt at a quilt. Unfortunately I already started cutting my fat quarters into 10" squares a few months ago, which is a shame as I could have used this fabric for the quilt along that Blue Elephant Stitches will be starting VERY soon. We have only just covered what fabrics to look at and choose, so if you haven't already linked in, it might be a great opportunity to learn how to make your first quilt, well that's my rational anyway. I also really enjoy her blog as I am new to quilting and find it very inspirational. I finally managed to get these 10" squares down to the 2.5" strips ready for the next phase.

This was followed by some crochet time. I have just started a new blanket and like with any project I start, I am already feeling rather impatient with it. It is a strange feeling and although I know that it is going to take months, especially considering that it will be worked along several other projects, I can't stop the urge for it already to be near completion. I often wonder what gives me the most enjoyment, the actual making of the project or the satisfaction that comes with the end result. I do have to add here that I thoroughly love crocheting, but it is more the fact that I get so excited about it all that I start lining up far too many projects and this causes what the lovely Chrissie so rightly labelled  as 'Craft Anxiety' and right now I definitely have a serious bout of it!

Late Saturday afternoon we joined our local village school for their annual hog roast where the evening was filled with lovely things for the kids to get involved with, such as face painting, duck races and coconut shy and worm charming.

 

Little J was delighted when he finally won his coconut (especially seeing his sister had already won two by this point), and I have to add that with all the money we spent on Coconut shy, we could have bought a coconut tree! Note to self avoid fairgrounds with this little chap, but also credit to his determination to get it right, (not sure where he gets this stubbornness from?!). All in all it was a lovely afternoon and we had two very tired children to put to bed when we got home.

On Sunday, I needed a great deal of rest, but I also enjoyed some of this lovely sun whilst watching bits of the Wimbledon final. It suddenly dawned on me that I could drag the TV outside, definitely a eureka moment! I have to add here that this moment of a magazine and cake didn't last long, that would be far to idyllic, no the table got cleared and Little J watched with me whilst we built the last of his Lego X-Wing.

I still haven't seen the last couple of games as we had to dash out to go and see the Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore at Gawsworth Hall. This was our first experience at their Theatre and I have to say that this beautiful ancient manor house was the perfect setting for any production.

 

The production, directed by Alastair McCall, was excellent and all the members of the cast were brilliant. I especially enjoyed the voices of Andrea Tweedale as Josephine and Timothy Langston as Ralph Rackstraw, but on performance and voice Martin Milnes as Sir Joseph Porter was the star of the night for me, his acting and singing was sensational. It was the perfect end to a wonderful weekend. Thank you Silk Opera for putting on a wonderful production.

 

I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful weekend?! Lets hope this sunshine is here to stay. It is dangerous as we could just get use to it :-).

 

Wishing you all a very happy Monday and a creative and week.

 

 

Red is the colour of a rising dawn

 

 

Red.
Red is a fading sunset on the horizon.
It’s a burst of flame;
A spray of the fire leaping towards us.
It’s the heat of the warm afternoon.
It’s the face of an angry teacher.
It can also be an embarrassed pupil.
It’s a flickering flame of a tiny candle.
It’s the spark able to spread the wildfire of love.
Red is the color of heat.
It’s full of passion.
It’s bold.
Red won’t tolerate injustice.
It’s hard and unfortunately stubborn.
Red will never give in.
Even when it needs to.
Red has the brawn of an ox,
The skill of a pride of lions,
And even the diligence of a colony of fire ants.
It does not back down or grow weary.
Red stands his ground firmly.
It’s charming and romantic.
Red is like a harvest of fresh raspberries:
Satisfyingly and deliciously juicy.
Red is optimistic.
Red is the color of a rising dawn that glides across the morning sky and through the misty white clouds.
It’s the hot July sun, beating down on your entire body, and filling you with warmth.
It’s the thorn that gets to prick your fingers when you choose to hold it.
But it’s also a precious rose, that will always smell sweeter and sweeter than before.
Red, by any other name, would still remain red.

 

 Poem by Sunny Summers

 

 

 

 

Joining in today with the theme 'Red' of  Lou's Nature in the Home series. I so enjoyed picking these flowers for this week's challenge as I have been eagerly waiting for this rose bush to come into bloom and it's finally happened. I love Roses, largely for their beauty but also for their fragrance as it really lifts my mind and soul. This rose, in particular, has an incredibly strong scent and one that I find heavenly intoxicating, to be honest having it in the house makes me feel quite giddy. There is something so special about being able to fill your home with flowers from your garden and I am really enjoying this little link in with Lou, as it really focuses the mind.

A very big welcome to my new followers, it is so lovely that you have decided to stop by and share my journey with me. I appreciate all your comments and love reading each and every one of them. You are all very kind, thank you!

Hope you are all having a good week so far and that some of you are enjoying the excitement that this year's Wimbledon is bringing, I know I certainly am when I have the time to sit down and watch that is! Just what I am off to do now as I recorded the Murray game, yes from yesterday, and hoping to finally watch this nerve-wracking final set.

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

Meet Fantastic Mr Fox

Meet Fantastic Mr Fox

 

 

 

When I was a young girl my mother, being the amazingly talented creative soul that she is, made porcelain dolls from scratch, embroidered, made quilts, most of my clothes, everything under the sun and years later had her own shop with her own clothing range, which I look at today with a very critical eye and can't find a single fault. This, not because she is my mother, and yes offcourse we are all a little more bias when it comes to family, no, because I am yet to meet someone as gifted as her. I have stopped counting the number of quilts she has made by hand and each one of them to perfection. When the Great British Sewing Bee was on and they made the shirt, I thought to myself, my mother could do it with her eyes closed, as I have countless shirts that she has made for both my husband and myself and they are all better crafted than the likes of Boden or French Connection, just to name a few. Anyway, I digress. So when this was all going on when I was young, my mother moved in very creative circles, as often is the case, and one day she took me into her friends shop, another very talented and gifted lady who made and sold bears. It is strange how it only feels like yesterday. I remember walking around her shop in awe, completely speechless and dumbstruck for what felt like an eternity, picking up and examining bears. I couldn't believe that someone had made these and I remember leaving the shop that day with a note to myself to make a bear one day and now many years later, I would like you to meet fantastic Mr Fox, my very first bear playing fox.

 

As a child my favourite toy was always my bear. I still remember the day my Dad came home with this rather big brown bear, which if my memory serves me right he bought from a BP Garage (I must ask him!), and Beer (bear in Afrikaans) became the best friend that any girl could want. He bathed with me, he swam with me (we had a pool as the weather was a great deal warmer in SA, and how I miss it on grey days like today!). Beer did everything with me. I loved Beer more than any other toy I had, so it seemed only natural that the very first toy I gave to both my children were bears. Little J got Toffee and Little E got Treacle and they have been their besties ever since. They go everywhere and do everything with them. Yes years down the line they don't look their best, but they bring such comfort and out of all their toys their besties are the only things that really matter to both my lovely children.

 

It was actually quite funny, years before J was born during a visit to SA we visited this friend of Mum's shop and I decided to buy a bear, Toffee. He was perfect in every way and little did I know that I would give it to my first born. Ironically when Mum arrived a couple of months after J was born, she brought with her a bear for J, not something we had discussed in any shape or form, and ironically she had bought the exact same bear (great minds think alike, haha!), it was so funny and clearly meant to be. To be honest it has been a blessing to have a second bear to fall back on to when one needed a wash and a little time out, so when E was born we did the same and bought two of the same bears (which we bought when mum came over just after E was born, yes it became a little tradition). In fact little E has gone through three, and only yesterday and the day before we had complete meltdown because Treacle was lost, but how?, we definitely knew that she hadn't left the house (Treacle has been known to be a little rascal of some sorts at the best of times!). Fortunately Dad found her last night amongst he piles of wood by the back of the shed and this morning there was one very happy girl giving loads of cuddles and kisses to her bestie, Treacle, and telling her just how much she had missed her and never to run away again, it melts my heart!

 

So here are the two besties, maybe not at their bestest, but all the same from left to right, Toffee and Treacle.

 

 

So a few months ago, whilst reading the lovely Paula's blog 'Sugar Sweet Pink', which unfortunately is no longer available, I was so inspired by her first little bear that I decided the time had come. You can have a little look at some of Paula's beautiful creations here. It was serendipitous to say the least.

 

I immediately bought a pattern from Sasha Pokras's Etsy shop and then later bought my supplies from Christie Bears, a UK based shop. It was actually quite funny as the first pattern I bought was going to be a very different bear, but then after showing little J the bears on Pinterest (as he loves bears) he told me that he wanted one for his birthday. I have to add here that this was exactly a week and a half before his birthday. Fortunately the supplies were sent out and I had a week to complete the bear and I was delighted to be able to wrap it up and give it to little J for his birthday. He was so exited about Fantastic Mr Fox, I just hope it is going to survive the journeys here there any everywhere and stand the test of time as he is already being dragged along with Toffee. This makes me think of the lovely book I love you Blue Kangaroo by Emma Chichester Clark and I just hope that little Toff is not feeling to sad about this new arrival!

 

 

 

So this is where it all started before he finally got welcomed into our home.

 

Basically you cut out all the pattern pieces out of Mohair and then there is a great deal of hand sewing and sewing involved before it is stuffed and the cotter pins and joints are all put in place. All his limbs can rotate and move and it just feel like a lovely vintage bear, or bear playing fox as in this case. I had such fun making this bear and can't wait to start the next.

I think he quite enjoys posing... and is not at all shy, true to form, just like fantastic Mr Fox before he lost his tail.

  

 

 

 

and with that, a very warm goodbye from both me and Mr Fox.

 

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

Mezz Coleman

Thank you for all your lovely comments, you are all just FAB!!!

Just a quick post today, something I have been meaning to do since this lovely parcel arrived last week. I have been waiting for this to arrive with bated breath and I can honestly say that the waiting has been WELL WORTH IT!!!

A couple of months ago, not long after I started my blog, I stumbled across this very lovely and VERY talented lady Mezz Coleman and how very pleased I am. She is a singer and songwriter and is just so talented. She has the voice of an angel and I would say that her music is a fusion between classic, jazz and some aspects of rock. The album, 'Parts of You, Parts of Me' offers such a variety and it is rare to find an album where you love every song on the album. So please, if you haven't heard Mezz's music, visit her here where you can listen to her music. This is where I spent a lovely evening listening to her music whilst crocheting and that was me sold. So once you had a little listen, please pop over to her lovely blog and leave her a message to tell her what you think. I often think that musicians like this really need to hear just how amazingly talented they are and that we appreciate everything they sacrifice to give us music. Personally I know there is no way I could live without music, there is not a day that goes by without music in our house and it is thanks to people like Mezz that has to sacrifice so much in order to continue to live her dream. What a beautiful gift she has been blessed with to be able to touch our souls through her voice and her music. I think my favourite song on this album is 'Something's gotta give' and for anyone interested I bought mine here.

I have tried so many times to get music on to my blog, but it is definitely still WIP. If any of you lovely people out there know how to do this, please let me know.

That's it for today, but I will be back soon to introduce you to a very cheeky little chap!

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo