Sunday 19 July 2015

Summing Up Sunday 19th July 2015

This was a week in which everything GREW: the first sunflowers, the first gladioli, the first tomato and LOTS more currants and gooseberries.

And today was Book Club (Flight Behaviour, Barbara Kingsolver) hosted by our members who have moved to Bath, so it's their turn to host once a year, and we visit for a summertime weekend lunch. 
We harvested the mini carrots and beetroot:

and pickled them:


and added a courgette:


and added vinegar, salt,  honey and fennel seeds:


and then had some of the soft fruit:




The book discussion was good too.


Apart from that, two family visitors over the weekend, lots of time spent in the sun, a private visit around a show garden! (... next door's), and frantic crocheting as one baby came a little earlier than expected!

Happy Sunday.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Summing Up Sunday, 12th July

A went to Cambridge to visit T and H (and to a VetEd conference) for a few days. Looks like they had a good time!











J and E played a mean game of Scrabble with M and J's mum (and another with A on return); sat in the field and felt the space around us; spun/crocheted/cross-stitched; read in the garden, and enjoyed it being summer.

Everyone has been reading lots; the garden has been grow-grow-growing, and A found two cauliflowers she never knew about! These are the Persian buttercups (thank you Mr FX):


Everyone been to see new kittens (!), amidst worry about our 13-year-old Kirry-cat who has a mass on the side of her neck. J removed it on Friday, so it's a bit of a waiting game...

No Guardian quiz - we're rather out of the habit!

Looking forward to: book club for A and J next Sunday; a potential party for A on Saturday night; a YA binge for E; the peas being picked; the long summer evenings, and a new edition of The Train Game.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Noah's Ark for Baby Sol

Now, this goes back a looooong way. A friend of the family had a baby waaaay back in September. I meant to complete this for his birth. Then for Christmas. Then... well. It could be for his first Birthday, but that feels like cheating him out of a present somehow! So here it is, only seven and a half months late!

It was a long stitch done from a kit, so I can't take all that much credit for it. It's a lovely design, though, and I hope that it gets hung in his bedroom somewhere if mum and he like it. I personally love the bright colours and the animals. (I also mastered the art of French knots somewhere along the line - wahey! Although I have a strong suspicion that I have forgotten already...)



Then, it was just backing it (recognise the starry material from my first tote bag?) and putting a cane through the top to hang.




Welcome to the world, baby Sol.

(Even if it's really late!)

Sunday 5 July 2015

Summing Up Sunday: July 5th






Best Event: It's A Knockout - J got covered in foam, soaked in a thunderstorm, climbed some plastic mountains, jumped through hoops, dressed like a Telly-Tubby and did a four person sack race, all in aid of Pet Savers charity BSAVA! Despite the rain, a really fun day for both participants and spectators. AND Coombe Cottage hay from Maidens' Piece for the first time - really exciting!

Best purchase: A's new sparkly shoes from Rieker! Even more sparkly than they looked online!

Enjoying: 'The Gilmore Girls' - somewhat to our surprise. It's pretty old, and has surpassed our expectations. Rory and her mother, Lorelei, are an odd American family muddling their way through life and work with mostly funny, sometimes touching energy.

Reading: 'Flight Behaviour' (A - reread of a brilliant novel), 'The Miniaturist (among others, E - one of Mr B's reading spa books, good read), 'Gut' (J).

Best things in the garden: the rose tree (again), and the first beautifully stripy courgette!


Travels: London for a 90th Birthday (J), RSPCA to see cats and kittens (A/E), visiting J's mum bearing flowers and playing Scrabble.

Best News: Lacey has a new home!

Crafty things: painted runner bean poems afoot, hats being tie-dyed, pots being painted, more bunting being made, cross-stitch still being crossed...






Happy July xx