Spencer's Sunday Hat - well sort of........

A beautiful sunny day today...

Very hot but we've managed to get some gardening done.... I say gardening.....it's been more of a clearing vegetation sort of job.....a Russian vine that's been clinging to our back wall and getting larger and more intrusive by the minute.

So clearing job done, I thought I'd show you some of the flowers in my garden today.....

Pretty nemesias....gorgeous colour...

One of my favourites.....London Pride.....such sweet little pink flowers...

 

Pretty clematis.....I planted this a couple of years ago and I'm so pleased as this is the first year it's flowered...

Our Poached Egg Plant is spreading everywhere but it's a stunning display.....

 

Unfortunately I can't say the same about our little veggie patch. I planted carrots, parsnips and leeks....trouble is we can't work out which are the vegetables and which are the weeds!

We're hoping time will tell and we'll be able to recognise something!.......

Doesn't look good does it?!

I haven't had too much success in my greenhouse either...so sad :( .....I was so excited about growing seeds again......never mind though, the courgettes, tomatoes and butternut squash grew... here they are waiting to be planted in the veggie patch.....You can see how hot it's been here...some of the leaves have been scorched..

We've had a little helper in the garden today.....Max appeared on the wall (he likes to sunbathe and have a bit of peace and quiet in our neighbour's garden)......

I'm sure he was asking if he could help ;)

Trying to help with the weeding?

Or just wanting a bit of fuss?.....

He soon found a nice cool block to supervise from!

In the meantime, Spencer hasn't been enjoying the heat much...he's been indoors keeping cool most of the day but when he did come out to keep us company, we thought we'd better help him out.......

Especially for Spencer....

Not exactly a hat...

More a hankie....

A knotted hankie to keep him cool.......

 

Hope you've had a great weekend :)

See you soon.

Maggie xx

More Cows and More Patchwork

This week has been wonderful as my younger son George came to stay for a couple of days. As always, it was lovely to spend time with him.

On Tuesday we took a walk up to the Common. It was warm and sunny and wonderful to enjoy the fresh air and scenery.

Each year, in May, the cattle are put out on the Common to roam for the summer. I always think they must have a most wonderful life in this time. Freedom, fresh air, lush grass and they do just as they please. They just have to avoid the roads.

Enjoying a nibble..

A bit thirsty in the heat...

Nearly reached the top.....

The views at the top of the hill were just beautiful on this sunny day...

Luckily there is a well positioned bench on which to sit to catch your breath....

This shot shows the view from the top with Stroud in the distance....

Chris, George and Spencer........they're all so handsome!!

We then had a delicious lunch at The Bear, sitting in the shady part of the garden by the croquet lawn. Mmm ..... very relaxing, enjoying the atmosphere and catching up on all our latest news.

The rest of the week I have been making a start on two patchwork quilts....

One is a custom baby quilt using some really lovely fabrics that my customer has chosen. I'm hoping to show you the results in a future post.

The other quilt is a Fractured Pinwheel block quilt for our home. It's a block I haven't made before so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this as I love trying new patterns :)

I have chosen these gorgeous fabrics from the Annie's Farm Stand Collection designed by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods...

I'm really in love with this pretty collection.

Such pretty roses, strawberries, polka dots, rosebuds, checks......in such lovely shades of red, aqua, pink, lemon........

 I've already made another quilt using a different selection from the same collection - my red pink and aqua baby quilt.....

So far I have cut the fabrics for my new quilt into strips......

I'll keep you updated on my progress....

I do hope you are enjoying the same lovely sunny weather that we are having here. I can't take it too hot but there's a lovely breeze today so it's perfect.

Later today I'll be raiding Chris' vintage collections for a suitable hat for Spencer so please check back tomorrow to see what I might have uncovered :)

Maggie xx

Calf Show at Castle Combe

A week or so ago my friend Catherine asked me if Chris and I could help her at a Calf Show she was organising at Castle Combe Steam and Vintage Rally. We didn't have anything planned and it sounded like a really nice day out so we agreed we would go along and help.

We set the teasmade for 7am this morning thankful that the weather looked bright and dry. With supplies of tea, coffee, bacon, bread rolls and dog biscuits, we then trundled off in Harvey J to arrive in plenty of time for the show. This was Harvey J's first trip out this year and it was lovely to be driving along seeing gorgeous countryside views over the hedges that you wouldn't be able to see in the car. 

Catherine had been pleased to tell me that Spencer could come along too as long as he was kept on a lead. This would be his first experience travelling in Harvey J so we took his special quilt so he felt at home:) He was so excited and he loved it! He fitted in straight away!

We arrived about 9.30am and luckily Catherine had arranged for us to park close by.

It was lovely to see Catherine and her partner Pete. The last time I saw Pete I remember something about a bouncy castle and red wine.........don't ask! .....At least he told me his leg was ok now....

Catherine informed me that I would be 'stewarding' which involved passing the rosettes, prize money and certificates to the judge, Mr Rob Musson, to hand out to the winning exhibitors. Chris would be in charge of taking lots of photos.

The show began and I took my position in the corner of the ring armed with clip board, rosettes etc..

There were two types of classes - Handler Classes (ranging from under 10s to 'over aged' 26+!!) and Dairy Calf Classes.

You just have to admire these little ones and their calf handling skills...

 

What better way to take a well earned rest after you've shown your calf?......

Spencer was also feeling rather worn out by all the activity ;) ....

 We mustn't forget the 'over aged' class.....

And Catherine looking proud of her calf for winning a First Prize :)

Whilst Catherine was taking centre stage, Pete was happy to attend to the calves in their pens or just take some time out to do some thinking....

And I just had to do it didn't I?

I just had to borrow that hat.....

As Sunday wouldn't be complete without Spencer's Sunday Hat!!

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about our day...

Have a lovely week.

Maggie xx

The Proud Father

A couple of things....

Firstly I would like to thank you for the lovely comments I have received on my posts. It's so heartwarming to read them - they really make my day :)

Secondly it's been a bit longer than usual since my last post as we've been rather busy over the last week or so preparing for a very happy occasion.....

On Saturday, Chris' daughter Katherine married her fiance Sam.

It was so lovely and the sun shone all day :)

The proud Father of the Bride looked very handsome in his suit.....

He was the proud father and I was very proud of him :)

Maggie xx

Spencer's Sunday Hat - The Baseball Cap, A Fairy Ring & Weird Fungus

Spencer has been looking cool this Sunday wearing a baseball cap......

Keeping the sun off his head as it's stopped raining at last :)

We've had a lovely walk on the Common today and it stayed dry the whole time :)

On the wooded path up to the common....we saw Wild Garlic flowering.......

Up on the Common........delicate blue speedwell in the grass

and the horse chestnut already has pretty blossom......

We found a magical fairy ring of mushrooms....

I'd never seen one of these before....

If you look closely you can see the mushrooms form an arc....

There are two different theories as to what causes these fairy rings which you can read about here.

These gorgeous tiny blue flowers are just blooming......

And there are thousands of cowslips everywhere.....

What about this then?

We found this a couple of weeks ago on the wooded path..

A really weird fungus.....

Never seen anything like this before....

If we were in the olden days,

 I would imagine it would be called something like 'Witch's Nose' !

Have a lovely week - let's hope the sun keeps shining :)

Maggie xx