crafts, crEAting

crEAting…growing and repotting and a bit of crafting

On my kitchen windowsill at the moment I am trying to root these succulents; they were originally part of a Mother’s day gift from my daughter two years ago but eventually outgrew the moss filled glass bowl they came in.  Although the arrangement was very attractive I am not actually a succulent fan and have no idea what the plants are called other than I thought one of them might be a Wandering Jew (if I am allowed to say that) or a Money plant (though I haven’t noticed it growing any yet) but I am not sure and stand to be corrected.

It seemed a shame to let them die so we rescued and repotted the two main plants in fresh compost and new pots, trimming them back to encourage more growth from the base, and the straggly parts we snipped off have been plunged into a jam jar of water in the hope that they will root.  Succulents I think are fairly easy to root from any part of the stem – again correct me here someone if I am wrong.

I was hoping they might root in time to give to the plant stall at the Christmas charity coffee morning at my local church but realise now this is a bit optimistic.

So during the week so far I have managed to do a few of my intentions from the list.  I have sent out the Not so Secret Santa wish lists and had the big draw of names out of the hat so we all know who is buying for who.  I have started the advent calendars and cut round the doors ready to decorate. I am on with arranging our family get together and present swap event and have started editing the photos for mum’s book.

Well when I say ‘I’ …OH has given me a helping hand.

In the photo there is a glimpse of my back garden through the kitchen window – it is in dire need of a tidy up and this is on my list but it has either been very cold or very wet here so that is another day and another post.

I have been concentrating on the decorating and we are almost finished so very soon I will have the big ‘guest room’ reveal.  The wardrobes have been fitted but guess what – the doors are still to be delivered because there was a scratch on the mirror.  The bed is being delivered on Monday and hopefully the doors next Tuesday – mum will follow shortly after (not delivered though!).

I am pleased with the way it looks though it has been a struggle at times finding exactly what I wanted but I have managed to throw it all together using merchandise from many different sources.  We are trying to decide on a bedside table (one we can afford and at budget price) – so at the moment we are resorting to an Ikea stool.  We also bought curtains for this room – I can’t remember ever buying curtains before – I would normally make them myself but just do not have the time.

I did buy the quilted throw I had my eye on for ages in Sainsbury’s in the double up rewards scheme they run at this time of year –  I had to hide the last one at the back of a stack of cushions on the shelf until double up day began and then go in to work earlier via Sainsbury’s that morning to make sure I got it!

 

I packaged the fun sized chocolate bars, a mix of Mars, Maltesers, Milky Way etc left over from Trick or Treat night (with a few extra added) into these brown craft bags, then stuck a stamped Christmas label to the front and this will be my donation to our local church Christmas coffee morning the proceeds going to Crisis for the homeless at Christmas.

Last time I did these I made the bags myself from a roll of brown paper but being short of time I bought these from the Range a pack of 5 was £2 so not a big outlay.  I found they sold quite well as they make a nice little gift for children – they are a bit like the old selection boxes but in a bag.

I am looking forward to ticking off a few more tasks by the end of the week – how are your plans going?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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gardening, getting things done, homestEAding, mEAndering, out and about, rEArranging, to do list

Packing, potting and posting…

              Lilac Verbena

‘No matter how busy a man is, he is never too busy to stop and talk about how busy he is.’              Kahlil Gibran

Perhaps this is true of blogging as at the moment I am breaking off my busy tasks to write a short post!

Getting ready for tomorrow

  • Try on clothes to find an outfit – done
  • Check toiletries bag – done
  • Clean shoes – done
  • Collect items together to go to sister-in-law (items we have been storing waiting for such a moment to be able to pass them back and yeah – more empty space for us! – definitely done
  • Wash and iron any clothes to take – done
  • Collect together any items for journey – done

  Household tasks       

  • Dishes – done
  • Fridge to clean out – has to be another day
  • 4 loads of washing – done many more than 4 – great drying day
  • strip bed and wash – done
  • Sewing – turn up lovely hubbly’s jeans – done
  • Dust and Hoover our bedroom – done
  • Dust and Hoover office – done
  • Labelling items – ran out of time
  • Check on directions for taking new supplements and make a note for kitchen notice board – nope
  • Add items to shopping list as I think of them – done
  • Plant plug plants – done – see below

Quite a productive day despite the raging heat which has left me feeling rather ‘cream crackered’.  Must retire to bed now for some much needed beauty sleep for the party tomorrow and because we need to rise with the larks and be off on our journey at 8.30am – I had thought about giving everyone a timed ticked for the use of the shower room to prevent a queue building up tomorrow morning – 4 adults and one shower is not easy!

The best things come in little packages

I arrived home last night to find a surprise waiting for me…

The free perennial plug plants I sent for from Gardeners World magazine.  I had forgotten all about them as they are quite late in arriving.  They are all re-potted and  hiding behind the shed for the weekend out of the direct sunlight.  There are 6 tiny plants of Foxgloves, Geums, Lavender, Echinacea, Penstemon and Delphiniums and they are so cute I just hope they make up for lost time so that they can get established before the end of the summer.

Have a lovely weekend – I certainly will and hopefully one or two photos to post.

And before I go  – welcome to my new readers from the Philippines and Ireland – I hope you enjoyed stopping by.

beach cottage, bEAching, cottage garden, mEAndering, out and about

Home again…home again

Back home and back to work now.  It is funny how so much happens in a fortnight when I am away – both at home and work.  We arrived home Sunday evening to find the land-line phone is not working and our neighbour has put up a new fence.  At work there has been a few changes (but at least I still have a desk!) and sadly yet another work colleague has received rather bad news on the health front.

And guess what before I can even get myself unpacked and sorted out again my mum is coming for a visit this week to go to the dentist for an urgent appointment.   So it seems now that the relaxed feeling you get after a good holiday is fading fast and being overtaken once again by the more stressful events of normal everyday life.

But yes, I did have a good holiday at our cottage despite the gloriously wetter than normal weather and the fact that it was a  working one – although I don’t consider working in my garden hard work and after spending most of my days working at a desk I quite enjoy doing very manual work in the fresh air.

As an additional holiday treat my better half – who always takes me to the nicest places – took me to the local tip (to off load many, many bags of prunings and weedings), the local builders yard (for cement and paving slabs) and the saw mill (for more planks of wood to make a giant compost bin later in the year).  What more excitement could a girl want!

I remembered to get a quick snap of my wooden bunting that I bought from Sainsbury’s I love it so much it has become a permanent feature and matches the blue of our tumble-down porch where we sit and look out to sea whilst eating our breakfast.

We (or rather my better half) made good progress with the log store (the base is the remains of an old coal bunker) and all is now safely gathered in.  He then turned his attentions to digging out the ground by the side of the cottage to make a channel which will run across this narrow strip of garden to the stream and allow the rain water from the roof of the cottage to drain away.  We saw this drainage channel landscaped into the garden of Broughton House in Kirkcudbright and it was sudden inspiration and just a perfect way to solve our difficult problem.

Meanwhile inside the cottage I have been doing more painting in the living room and have finally got the second top coat on the boarding and have only to finish the rail and shelf which runs around the top.  When that is complete we will be ready to put down the screed before we lay the wood flooring which we have yet to choose and buy.  I am thinking wide oak boards and real wood not laminate – but will need to get a price on this first.

My woodland walk is taking shape again and I cleared all the banking of buttercups just above the lower wood over the little bridge. I love this patch of ferns with all the different greens and leaf shapes.  The creamy white spray of Rogersia flowers are just peeping through and the red Fuchsia petals fall like blossom onto the open fern leaves below.  I could sit here for hours it is so restful. The ground in places had become so wet that once or twice I found myself just skating around in the mud. Most of the plants seemed to have thrived in all the rain and will no doubt burst into flower as soon as there is a bit more sun.  I had no shortage of damp places and it was an excellent time to do some more planting.

We had a trip round the bay to Bayview Nursery in Wigtown and bought an assortment of Candelabra Primulas which thrive in a sunny and damp spot.  I planted them at the edge of the old concrete pond by the wild Iris – I want to create a mass of colour here and hope that they begin to spread quickly.  The pond is another of our ‘problems’ waiting for a solution as it is not a very good pond because it is surrounded by trees but as yet I haven’t had any great ideas as to what I can do with it.  As soon as we clear out the debris it fills up again.

We have self seeded poppies springing up everywhere – but I love the bright spots of colour and the seed pods look delightful in the Autumn.

We had a break over the weekend and drove round to Kirkcudbright for the day.  We spent our time pottering around the Harbour and the shops and galleries…

and finally ended up in our favourite garden at the back of Broughton House on the High Street.

On the way home we spotted this cow who had gone to investigate the standing stone and made a rather unusual picture!!

And that is the end of the holidays and back now to the daily grind.