Buttercup bag

I decided to do some sewing a couple of weekends ago. I've been browsing patterns for bags and this one called buttercup bag from Made by Rae seemed to be popular. Another selling point is that it uses a fat quarter make with some material for the lining. I even managed to put in a recessed zipper, we can't be too careful can we when we are about town shopping away! The result is I loved the way it turned out and it was not complicated as the instructions were clear and easy to follow!

Love love the material!

Recessed zipper

Interfaced and pleated, ready to sew

 

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Roses galore

My oldest rose plant is producing an abundance of flowers this year. The picture above is the second flowering of this summer. The blooms are so many that the branches are bowing over. I should really remove some of the flowers else the branches will snap especially if it rains. But it seems such a pity to cut off the buds, besides I'm already having trouble keeping up with dead heading the ones that have gone over!

The present from the plant every morning, littered all over the lawn!

 

 

The fruity ones

I think it's finally safe to say we have gooseberries this year! [victory dance] .... Just can't wait for the fruits to ripen and I can finally taste them after 4 years! As for the others, the raspberry canes have finally flowered and the bees are doing their thing, hooray for bees! The strawberries are also coming along, I hope they taste great, need to keep an eye out for the birds though.

The first one gaining colour

 

 

Raspberries flowering

 

Another shot of the gooseberries

 

The first rose

The first rose has bloomed! This is the start of the excitement in the garden. I now have 5 rose bushes and all but one has got lots of buds on them. It's all poised to burst into flowers come the next few weeks and I just can't wait. I started with two plants, one a climber and another a bush. The climber as you know was cut down and removed as it was plagued with rust. The bush has grown over the last 3 years and the tallest branch is way over my head. It was its bush that has made me fall in love with the rose! So I now I have a collection of 5, no more climbers though.

The first one, cut and in full bloom!

 

 

Clematis on bloom

The clematis was the replacement climber after I had to remove the climbing rose which was affected by rust. I wasn't sure if it will take but looks like it's doing well. The flowers are larger than I expected as when I first bought it, it had smaller flowers of a lighter colour on it, seems like the soil has done something to it!

 

Can't keep mum on the gooseberry anymore!

At risk of causing the developing fruits to fall off, I can't resist but to update on the progres of the gooseberry. We DO indeed have fruit this year, on a daily basis I keep eagle eyes on the flowers should they show signs of not setting. Slowly but surely I could see the fruit start to develop, it's still a long way to go before they are ready for picking but this us by far the furthest and most positive I've ever seen it...still holding off on the victory dance, just in case!

 

Azalea in bloom

The azalea is now in full bloom. I just love it when the bush is fully covered in flowers, it's a shame that the flowers only appear once so no deadheading does help to give continuos flowers. The other bush is just catching up with some buds opening..... Just lovely!

The fuchsia one

Close up

 

 

Strawberry fields forever

Not quite a field but 3 strawberry plants in 3 pots! I've finally decided to plant strawberries this year. It's one of the first things the people tend to grow but my "I'm not doing it just coz it's the fashion" DNA kicked in and I haven't till now! The flowers are coming through now so there will be fruit soon...talking about fruits a quick sort of update on the other berry in the garden, I've been checking it everyday but I will not reveal what I see, in case I jinx it! Hahaha...

 

 

This year's vege plot

Finally on a Tuesday off,I managed to weed the vege plot and prepare the soil. Then this evening, the exciting bit, putting the seedlings into their permanent home. I hope the weather is not still too cold but really there was no room at the inn for them anymore. This year I'm trying all things new, for the first time there will be French beans, broad beans, runner beans and cauliflower! There is also 3 pea plants that sprouted from peas dropped from last years plants. And making a comeback, potatoes planted by mini me!

The top plot

Potatoes by mini me

 

 

 

Broad beans

French beans

 

Runner beans which looks very like French beans

 

Cauliflower

 

Peas

 

Tulips!!

The tulips are popping up everywhere! Some new ones, some olds ones ..most of which I've forgotten I've planted! The thing is tulip bulbs goes in before hard winter sets in, this is the time where the garden is bare and there's lots of gaps in the beds, so there is a tendency to go bulb crazy and bury them all over the place. Come spring, I've forgotten where I put them till they start poking out of the ground! I will also refrain from buying mixed bulbs in the future as all I keep getting is yellow ones and the odd 'other' colour one!

New yellow ones

Yellow ones

The three year old ones

Late ones just about to bloom

More yellow ones

Some white ones mixed with daffodils

 

 

Gooseberries or no gooseberries?

The gooseberry bush is becoming more than a thorny bush, it's becoming a thorn in my side! For almost 4 years now, I've been waiting for it to fruit. Last year I had flowers and was jumping for joy... Alas, I was celebrating too early as the flowers did not set and rapidly dropped off! This year again I'm seeing flowers, this time more than last year and it's looking different as well (maybe I'm just trying to convince myself it will be different this year). I have seen bees buzzing around, hopefully helping to pollinate the flowers and maybe finally giving me some fruit? Here's to hoping!

 

 

Waiting in anticipation

This morning I woke missing my garden...it's a dull morning but there is a sense of readiness in the garden. It's still early spring so frost is still knocking on the door and it's still not time to start working in the garden. Little spots are coming to life, making the wait harder to bear and I have had enough of waiting, probably a side effect of the longer days that we are getting...patience is the gardener's virtue hence patient I must be!

Muscari bulbs

 

 

Some other bulbs!

The pink alpine one!

Names are escaping me this morning!

Not even going to try naming it

Lastly the layered flower pot...looking good!

 

Zippered pouches

Work has been a little crazy recently and I've lost my mojo for cooking/baking and the garden in not quite ready for working in so I turned to sewing as my destress option. Over winter when kept indoors, I got quite hooked on watching uTube videos of people making little sewing projects. Now it's my turn! I was out in the shops (refer to top WORK BAD+BAKING NO NO =SHOPPING THERAPHY) and saw these sweet looking fat quarters. They were of complimenting shades of pastels, so out comes the sewing machine and some frustrated rummaging around to find the zipper foot, a lot of snip snip snip plus my usual finger in the air measuring... I was set to get machining! I really missed the soothing hum drum of the sewing machine, why have I waited so long...oh oh, I think I've caught the sewing bug!

Lined, zippered and adorned with dangly beads

After completing the first, I had to make another so see what it looked like in another colour then it became an obsession...suddenly there were 3!

Lucky for me I had some girlfriends who had birthdays coming up, so birthday presents sorted! Then I wanted one for myself! So more measuring, snipping and sewing....soon it might be time to lock the machine away else my garden will be barren and my family will be living on takeaways!

Making the pleats

 

 

Securing the pleats

Zipper time!

Shaping the corners

One for me..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I had to make one without boxed corners!