Friday night and I'm loving...

life being back to 'normal'...

that tidying the house is strangely a long-awaited treat...

the glorious colours and kindness of a bunch of flowers from a friend's garden...

 

that we're harvesting in the veggie patch...beetroots galore thanks to our new raised bed sytem which husband of patience has mulched with cardboard, grass clippings and donkey muck, producing crumbly rich soil instead of just having clay!

daughter mine setting to and producing delicious beetroot chutney...because there's nothing like homemade
 

the stunning wild flowers that  mingle in the garden with those we've chosen to plant

the sights and tastes of the veggie patch...who can resist picking and eating peas al fresco...very few get cooked!

and there, out there, are the wild hills and rolling countryside

the seasons moving on...and simple pleasures of the start of a new wood stack...

ah life is good and we are rich indeed...

hope you're loving your garden and the outdoors and the joys of summer living...Emmaxx

Friday night and it's hot hot hot!!

after a day which was ridculously, gloriously, madly hot, the scent of warm greenery and grass and flowers...roses, honeysuckle, mock orange...drifts in through the open window as dusk gathers and I sit to try and write a little post to say hello world... 

my beautiful white roses have flowered beautifully despite, or perhaps because of, the incredible heat...everytime I go past I bury my nose in their soft petals and breathe in summer...I make sure I stop to smell the roses!

it has been a busy week with all sorts going on, daughter mine and husband of patience hanging on in there for the end of term...an unexpected trip for me to the dentist(a 4 hour round trip...yes I know it's barmy but he's a brilliant dentist and usually I stay over with my Dad)

my zumba class today full of amazing dancing women, all body rolling and samba-ing despite the heat

and lots of making as I prepare for ArtFest in Kendal next weekend....if you take a look here and scroll down the page you'll see some of the talented contemporary art and craft exhibitors. It is sooo close now I can almost touch it, the most exiting thing I have done this year...sharing a stall with my friend and fellow textile artist Sarah. We have worked closely together, encouraging each other and planning endlessly...we have both come a  long way...

and I have to say, being my own boss when the weather is this good has many advantages...eg a leisurely lunch outside...a siesta...and working into the cooler evening to make up for when it was just too hot to think earlier in the day...

and now it's getting late..I've just been outside for one last stroll...the big round shiney moon is out and it is cooling down..tempting me to just stay out all night...

but I must away to bed and sleep...night night! xx

apres Woolfest...

so Woolfest is over for another year...and thanks to everyone who made it such a fab event...again! I had so many wonderful people visit my stall, friends and strangers, lovely feedback, lots of chat and made some good sales too...

 

so did you miss me?? I am sorry not to have been here for a while...somehow I just needed a breather as I put such a lot of energy into my stall ...but I was very pleased with how it looked ...a BIG thank you goes to husband of patience who painted everything white (and himself!) and to him and daughter mine for being the tech team setting up the stall...and she and I did the arty arranging, she always has such good ideas...

and I did get time out to look around too, daughter mine and I enjoy going round and shopping together...

here's a few of  my favourite stalls this year...I would so like to make a basket like this one...made by High Fibre...check out their website here

 

 

and every year I buy some lovely felt items from Jenny Pepper...they're irresistible! see more here
 

Lindsey Tyson is another feltmaker, with such beautiful felt creations... see her website here
 

and still more lovely things I spotted...beautiful knits by Jennie Atkinson...see more of her gorgeous patterns here

stunning hats and scarves made by Felt by Bridget...and still more here 
 

and of course some beautiful animals in amongst all the stalls...

and loads and loads of people, and such a bustling happy atmosphere...

and to sum it all up...




my next challenge is ArtFest North in Kendal 27th and 28th July... put it in your diary if you're nearby

have a great week...summer is here so it's icecreams all round and sitting in the garden...haha I'm off to work!

Emmax

summer sweetness...and some making...

a rose is just summer for me..rain or no...that beautiful sweet haunting deliciousness as you inhale the perfume...

and honeysuckle twining high in the trees but still filling the air with its scent

just put your nose into the deliciously pretty Philadelphus or mock orange...mmmm...just wish this was a scented post so you could have the full effect...and the combination of fresh creamy white, soft pink and primrosey yellow is perfection...



daughter mine collected 25 heads of elderflowers to make some delightful elderflower cordial last week...which captures this particular scent of summer beautifully

not all the flowers in our garden are scented..some earn their keep with their beauty alone...I love clematis and have several...they are so obliging and fit in almost anywhere...

and as for geraniums...we counted them one year...all the different types and shades...all their different names...many forgotten now and just loved for their colours and ability to fill the beds with blowsy summeryness (and not be eaten by our slugs and snails...)

and how quickly things change in the garden...I love to follow the flowers throught their different stages...each with its own beauty...

and I delight in the detail of each one...isn't it amazing how how the raindrops balance on the stamens of this amazingly coloured potentilla...

and in the studio daughter mine has been cutting fabrics and planning and making and stitching and ...with no rules or much in the way of a pattern has produced a wonderful dress...it is joyful to watch her at work!

she is an inspiration to me in how she just has the idea, organises herself and whatever she needs, sets to and makes...mind you she isn't thinking about the teetering pile...hoovering and what's for tea...tho' she does often have a pile of schoolwork to get through...

instant patchwork...just cut the squares sew in strips and then stitch the strips together...allow them to gather as they will...

no worries about how to put a zip in...ha ha!! easy peasy...just cut it out of something else with the fabric around and stitch in place ta da! genius! and doesn't it look fab?

she even lined the top...and the underskirt was made from an old lacy underskirt attached to more fabric to make it the right size...

and the top was made from some of my Granny's fabric stash...a pretty broderie anglais in blue...creativity continues in how the sleeves were sewn on...finished off with perfect blue buttons and there you have it!

I am amazed and proud...and think how my Mum and Granny would like to see!