Holly napkins for Christmas

Embroidered holly napkins for Christmas lunch. One down, 5 more to go! These were budget plain napkins made to look a little special for lunch. This will be the first Christmas in our new house as well as Sarah's first Christmas so it's all out to deck the halls!

I tat I taw a puddytat...I did! I did!

Sarah's first halloween 2010.... I said I was not spending money on halloween costumes and my words came back and bit me as in Sarah's bumblebees play group required her to wear a costume. So I had no choice but to make her one. Since she is only 3 months, I felt it was not right to dress her as a witch or any ghoulish sort, it might influence her future character!! Haha! I decided on a cat and had a rummage in my wardrobe. I found this large track bottom which I used to wear when pregnant and had tossed aside because it was tissue-pappered in the washing machine and proceeded to cut it up! .... five days later, I was still sewing (forgot to take into account that I had a baby who needs constant attention and no free time!). Night before her bumblebee halloween party, it was completed...phew! And as you can see, there's my precious little puddy tat!

Finally, all the flower beds are dug and prepared for planting. Summer is almost over and the air rings of autumm. With the beds ready, we managed to put the plants and bulbs in, in time for spring next year, phew! The vege plot is next after we finish the borders.

Cardigan for the lovely Ms Sarah

I've finally managed to finish the cardigan for Sarah and in the nick of time as well as it fits her just nicely. So, I suspect she will only get a month's worth of wear before she outgrows it! With that in mind, I'd better get clicking on the next project, which is a wee dress to be made with the excess yarn from this one!


The flower motives added by yours truly!

Goji Berry Project

This is my latest gardening project, the growing of the Goji Berry or 'Kei Chi'. This berry is known for it's antioxident value and mostly used in chinese cooking, particularly soups. Although the dried berries are easily available, with growing concerns (mine) of produce imported from China, I decided to grow my own. So with a stem cutting from a friend's uncle's plant, it will be a year long project to see if the plant is successfully grown and bears fruit, watch this space.

Desiree and Nadine

This is the last harvest of my homegrown potatoes, Desiree (pink skinned) and Nadine as pictured above with the lovely Sarah. These have been left to fully grow so they are of a better size compared to the earlies, Foremost. After the taste test, my favourite is Desiree so for next year's crop, it will be lots more of Desiree and other new varieties.

First harvest of potatoes

I managed to harvest the first of my potatoes, just before the rain came today. It was quite an exciting experience, rooting around the soil to find the potatoes or tatties as they are known here in Scotland. Next will be a taste test, probably a potato salad to see if they are any good.

The potato plants after 3 weeks

The harvested tatties, with more in the ground to come.

Bear for Baby

When my sis made some Amigurumi toys, see Three
Friends, she asked me to give it a go as well. I've been looking at lots of Amigurumi patterns before but have not gotten the chance to make any. So while waiting for baby to arrive, I made a bear for baby. I neglected to check the size of the finished bear and ended with one which was bigger that I wanted!


Side view of the chocolate bear


The finished pieces, ready for stuffing and assembling.

Three Friends

My sis made these Amigurumi toys, how cute are they? According to Wikipedia, Amigurumi is the art of crochetting or knitting small stuffed animals or anthropomorphic creatures. The trick is to give them cute faces!!

Hardening the okras

The okras have now grown to about 6 inches and ready to be put outside in the greenhouse. My intention is to plant outside, cross my fingers and hope they survive. Due to their size when fully grown there is no way I can manage to keep them going in the greenhouse till they fruit.

Picture shows the okras being hardened in the greenhouse beside my blueberry plant.

Cili Padi : This year's crop

Last year, I didnt manage to put any of my cili padi to crop, so I was glad that the seeds still managed to sprout. In fact, I left them in the airing cupboard and forgot all about them, hence they were a little leggy to begin with. But with some sunshine and care, they seem to be doing fine just now. The plan this year is to try to harden them and grow them outside, so fingers crossed that it will be a good summer with lots of warmth.

Growing okras

This year, other than growing the usual chilli and because I now have a garden, I will attempt to grow other fruit and vegetables. First up is Okras, I was surprised that the seeds started to sprout just after 3 days, they are now 2 weeks old and starting to grow their second set of leaves...fingers crossed that they will survive!