My garden

Although I live on a very busy road in the city I am fortunate enough to have a decent size garden. I think it was the garden that made me want to buy the house initially. When we first came to see the house the agent couldn't open the back door into the garden so we had to see it from the bedroom window. The owners had left the house empty for some time after renting it for a while, but decided, after a bad experience with tenants, to sell the house instead. What greeted us was a lawn full of very long grass, over a foot high and a glorious 100 year old, huge apple tree as well as various other trees, a few too many considering the width of the garden is only 15 feet and about 120 feet long. When we eventually manged to see the garden properly we discovered another far smaller eating apple tree, the big one being a cooking apple, although sweeter than your usual Granny Smiths you get from the supermarket, and a delightful plum tree. There were also three domed pine trees, I think Monteray pine. We cut down two of these firs soon after we moved in to let more light into the back part of the garden and have recently cut down the last. I had waited and waited, trimming off the bottom branches each year, because I really didn't want to chop down a healthy growing tree, but it grew at an alarming rate each year, blocking out light and all the needles would fall off into my pond. So sadly we made the decision to cut it down before it became unmanageable. My neighbours were grateful too.

The apples are falling off because of the wind. A lot of them are still quite small and probably very sour but I shall use some of the ones that haven't got too bruised from falling from a height.

This is the eating apple tree but are very small and a lot of the time don't taste that nice so we usually leave them for the birds. It has done well this year though and earlier on I had a taste of one that had dropped off. It was quite nice, sweet and crunchy. The problem is with all fruit trees, if you wait till the fruit drops off they get bruised when they hit the floor or else a lot of them look like another creature has got there first and if I see a hole I don't like to eat it. You have to be really careful with the plums because on numerous occassions after cutting one in half I have found a caterpiller has got there first.

I shall have to get a move on and pick these before they go over  ripe and rot. My mum's plum tree has snapped this year and is now trailing on the ground. They lost half of it a few years ago and now the other half has broken. There are new shoots further down the trunk though so if they cut it off it should be able to start growing again. I have a second plum tree growing near the first that has self seeded and I even have some plums growing from that even though it's just shot up this year.

Not a pretty part of the garden but it will one day be used to grow vegetables. Each year it gets cleared only for it to be covered in tree and bush cuttings the following year. Other than the nettles that keep growing it is actually quite clear at the moment as we've had a couple of fires to try and get rid of a lot of the stuff. When my husband eventually gets round to making the raised beds out of the wood he brought home two years ago I think the soil will be really good to mix in with the soil I buy for the beds. This part of the garden, as with all scruffy bits of people's gardens is a haven for insects and frogs.

I seem to have had more bees than butterflies this year. Last year I had masses of butterflies.

Well I think that will do for now, I love gardens and wildlife so expect more of this in the future.

Holiday in Cornwall

We have recently been on holiday to Cornwall. It is the place of my birth and even though we moved when I was four we spent many happy holidays there each summer visiting my grandparents, aunty and uncle and cousins. The last time I was there it was for my grans funeral over 15 years ago. Sadly I haven't been back since, mainly because it is so far away, so I thought it would be nice to take my own children. Unfortunately we never got the glorious hot weather I was used to as a child but we went to some lovely places and the children did manage to get in the sea, even if it was a bit cold.

They even managed to be the only ones to strip off on a little cove called 'Crackington Haven' and get wet after the sun had gone down.

My eldest, however wasn't as daring!

We went to a place called Boscastle,

and a lovely little harbour named 'Port Isaac'

Sadly, my hubby's excitement with taking photos, in what he thought was the best place we had been to, was cut short because we had already spent the whole day in Padstow, only stopping off here on our way back to the caravan, and all of us, except him, had splitting headaches and so there was a lot of moaning and groaning going on. We shall one day hopefully go back and experience the food in one of the rustic pubs.

We visited a place called 'Tintagel' which gave the kids yet another opportunity to skim stones into the sea and run away from the waves coming in and where they could also do a bit of climbing, both up the steep hill to the ruined castle and on big rocks.

We did get one lovely day when the sun was out and we actually got burnt. I kept telling my boys to keep their t-shirts on so their back wouldn't burn but as always they would not listen and so the two youngest ones had to suffer the consequences for the rest of the week. Maybe, just maybe, one day they will realise that I'm telling them for their own good and listen to me. Anyway they enjoyed their one day of sand, sea and surf.

Well that was a peek into our holiday. I hope I didn't bore you too much, that is if anyone actually finds this blog and reads it but even if they don't it gives me something to do.

GOODNIGHT

All my material I had ordered has now arrived and I now need to decide what I am going to do with it, although I think I shall need quite a lot more as most of the bits are just fat quarters. I would show you some but my hubby has took our camera away with him on a job in Africa. I keep meaning to buy myself a little one that isn't as big and heavy to walk around with as our Canon SLR but I haven't yet decided which one to buy so for now you'll have to wait. Each piece has something on it that my family like. For my dad, who is a classical music lover, I have a piece with the profiles of classical composers, for my brother a piece with VW Camper Vans on, for me some patchwork squares to make a patchwork sausage dog and for my mum some cupcake material. I shall put photos up when I have used the bits of material.
For the moment I have been and will be slightly preoccupied with another business proposition, interest, that a friend has proposed and will be thinking of ideas, and making up crafts for that. I must admit it wasn't something I would have really thought about doing but I mentioned to her I would like to do some crafty things and she seems to have been inspired to go down this particular route and is very excited about it. She is one of those people that when has an idea just gets on and does it where as I'll talk myself in and then straight out of something without even trying. I shall leave the details for another post. Today I am determined to get my new sewing machine out and give it a go.

Blog

I wasn't really thinking of starting a new blog. I had started one 4 years ago called 'Organised Chaos' but it has been so long since I've accessed it that I have forgotten the details. Anyway from buying some felt off ebay I looked into the woman's blog who was selling the felt and from there opened up loads of blogs full of all the things I love, such as gardens, homes, country living, (something I yearn for as mentioned in my profile), and making crafts. I have spent the last couple of days reading just some of those blogs which have inspired me to start this one. So thank you all you bloggers. When I figure it out I shall be adding your blogs onto my site.

It has begun

Well as the title suggests I am starting something new. Something I have wanted to do for a long time but never really have got around to it. What is it you may ask and I will tell you. I'm starting to make my own crafts and my first bit of material has arrived with many more to come. It is a nice bit of pink gingham and my mind is already thinking of lots of ideas to make each of my family members for Christmas. Let's hope I don't disappoint myself and actually get on with it this time.