a
aAs it was such a fab day I decided to go out again this afternoon for a short walk in the woods (another Brownie point!) This time DH came with me.
Not sure what these are going to be - Lords and Ladies (arum maculata) perhaps? - but they seem to think Spring is on the way!
Just look at that sky!
The woods were beautiful - birds were singing and everywhere was full of the promise of spring...
Not sure what these are going to be - Lords and Ladies (arum maculata) perhaps? - but they seem to think Spring is on the way! I picked a little posy of twigs and am hopeful that they will burst into leaf in the warmth of indoors.
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Wouldn't you just love some of these sheds?
\I have been busy making marmalade and having sorted out the freezer I also used up some crab apples given to me by a friend with some damsons purchased at Stourhead months ago to make some crab apple and damson cheese which I love spread on bread. I also made crab apple and parsnip soup for supper last night but I don't think we'll be having it again as it was too sweet for our taste! Still I am keeping up my resolution re doing more cookery and doing well on the waste not want not front!
a
Am I the only person who never reads the instruction manuals that come with the various items of equipement? I have had my sewing machine for over 25 years and on Tuesday I went to Hansons in Sturminster Newton to do a day course entitled "Know your sewing machine"!! I learned a lot of things I hadn't realised before so it was a day well spent although maybe I would have been wiser to have done it 25 years ago! I learned how to use the double needle (see bottom of the photo) how to do piping and that the seam ripper is the tool for cutting button holes once they are sewn (I only discovered how to do those last year!). I won't get a job in a clothing manufacturing sweatshop as my zip took me ages and then I got it back to front but as I don't want a job and certainly not in a factory of any kind maybe it doesn't matter.
aAm I the only person who never reads the instruction manuals that come with the various items of equipement? I have had my sewing machine for over 25 years and on Tuesday I went to Hansons in Sturminster Newton to do a day course entitled "Know your sewing machine"!! I learned a lot of things I hadn't realised before so it was a day well spent although maybe I would have been wiser to have done it 25 years ago! I learned how to use the double needle (see bottom of the photo) how to do piping and that the seam ripper is the tool for cutting button holes once they are sewn (I only discovered how to do those last year!). I won't get a job in a clothing manufacturing sweatshop as my zip took me ages and then I got it back to front but as I don't want a job and certainly not in a factory of any kind maybe it doesn't matter.
Yesterday I went to the library and got this book - some great inspiring photos although some of the buildings can hardly be called sheds!! And the Gardeners journal from a charity shop - so now I can keep notes of how I get on with my gardening resolutions!
Wouldn't you just love some of these sheds?A girl can dream can't she?
I gave up trying to do less on the computer last year - it became very addictive!
ReplyDeleteI love the Catkins and like you reminds me of Easter
Julie xxxxxxx
A friend lent me the Shed Chic book - its lovely isn't it!!
ReplyDeleteJane, we thought alike today - I went for a walk in the woods with my camera at lunchtime and was surprised to see so much coming to life.
Now that is a blue sky!
Jeanne
x
You are doing well with your resolutions :-) Wish I could say that about mine, it was almost as if once I'd written them out, they became impossible! I'd felt so positive on 1st January as well.
ReplyDeleteWasn't very nice here at all today, overcast and drizzly all day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Love the books and as for marmalade...yummy!
Isn't it just wonderful seeing such fresh greens shooting up? Spring is just around the corner, yay.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing all the tiny signs of spring at the moment - they herald such hope and anticipation don't they?
ReplyDeleteLove the catkins! We have our first tiny yellow crocuses out in the garden at the moment. I LOVE the shed book! What a shame our library doesn't have a copy. I'd love a shed exactly like the one on the cover.
ReplyDeleteDan
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A day like today gives a great lift to the spirits, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteThe whole blogging thing is addictive, so I need to give it a break once in a while.
Hi Jane, I am also trying to spend less time on the computer.. failing miserably so far! Wish I had time for a walk today, was too busy trying to pack the van for Shepton! Have a super weekend. Lizzie x PS forgot to offer tickets this time for the fair, if you would like some next time, please email me & remind me & I will pop some in the post!
ReplyDeleteAll your ticks have earned you an extra hour or two of computer time Jane! Love the catkins. It has been disappointingly grey and drizzly here today so your sunny post is a real tonic. You deserve another brownie point.
ReplyDeleteAnd those are NOT sheds!Sheds are full of tools and mud and bits of string and empty compost bags and mowers and empty seed packets and tubs of smelly chicken poo!
Lovely walks pics. I haven't seen any catkins here yet. I find this blog lark very addictive, but I guess I'll do less when the weather improves.
ReplyDeleteYou sun shiny, blue sky pictures are wonderful Jane - I can almost smell Spring in the air.
ReplyDeleteNina xxx
Hasn't it just been a glorious day today? I have been at work but have loved looking out at it. I like the look of that "scruffy" shed with the cabbages growing in front of it. My kind of shed. Interesting combination, the crab apple and parsnip soup. Sounds yummy, but will take your word for it that it is sweet.
ReplyDeleteWe had the blue sky and sunshine alright but the frost never left the ground all day, it was freezing!!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'm a never read the manual person too much rather learn by my mistakes! Manuals are so boring.
Vivienne x
Sounds like you had two lovely walks and the sky is the most amazing blue! I'd love one of those sheds, a brilliant place to hid and crochet :-)
ReplyDeleteI also took some 'Springy' photo's yesterday and there are glimmers of hope with new growth. Our favourite Spring flower - the primrose seem to be flowering at the moment which really cheered me up!
ReplyDeleteLovely vibrant pics, Jane. It's been wonderful bright weather this week, glad you've been out and about. So hard to cut down computer time...
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend!
Not for nothing are instructions called 'destructions' in this house - it's taken years for me to get into the habit of reading them! Weather has been lovely here too, so heartening to see the blue sky even if it comes with sharp frost. I've been trying to forgo the computer too, though I haven't anything to show for the time I've saved. Wish we had room for one of those sheds.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely blue skies - we've had frost here for the past 2 days. Violet's got a stinking cold so there haven't been any walks in the woods for us.
ReplyDeleteThose sheds look fab - it just shows us that a shed can be so much more than somewhere to hang your spades.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
It looks like a fabulous day, it always surprises me to see new buds emerging when it is still the heart of winter, at least it gives hope that spring is on it's way.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should go for a lesson on my sewing machine that I bought a year ago, I might learn some very valuable things!
The sheds look so inviting, although if they were here they would be full of spiders :)
Those lovely blue skies will have you all dreaming of Spring and the green shoots certainly make it look that way too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're still around - would miss you if you weren't there. You seem to be doing very well with your resolutions - the vegetarian cooking sounds like it is going well too. Soup is one of my favourite things, I could have it every night and be quite happy and I only make vegetable soups.
I've been doing OK too especially with my "movin' more" though it has been very hot and humid and we have taken to walking in the dark at night ( no twilight here. Dark by 7:00pm)
Cheers
Helen
Thank you for a lovely cheery post - love the catkins! I yearn for one of those sheds but fear I would live in it most of the time!
ReplyDeleteI will have to go a catkin hunting! lol
ReplyDeletelovely photo's and I would love a shed/studio and oh yes a girl definitely can dream.... and ... dream! oh and probably dream a little more! ;D
x
I am glad you enjoyed your walk. It looks like Spring is on the way where you are. The shed book is great! I don't think we will be able to get a shed for the allotment but i hope that I can build a few things out of some old wood we got given!
ReplyDeleteLucy xxxxxx
I'm always amazed at how your part of the world barely has to put up with winter. We won't be seeing signs of spring such as yours until April. I stopped by my library today and the librarian is going to order 'Shed Chic'!
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteThose photos give me a serious case of shed envy! I just wish mine was tidy for a kick off. I doubt it will ever be this stylish. You're doing great on the resolutions. I started out trying to do a calendar like Jill's this month but petered out a few days ago. I just can't seem to keep up anything that requires daily input! Good to see you're enjoying nature's bounty too. Hope you're having another sunny weekend. Lesley x
Never seen catkins before. Great photos
ReplyDeleteHi Jane, temperatures have risen here during the last week and everything seems to be moving in the plant world.
ReplyDeleteThe catkins are lovely, nice you brought some inside.
I love sheds, the more battered the better. I wish I had a battered shed, any ideas??
Hello Jane,
ReplyDeleteThis is my first visit here and I was delighted to find such a visually nourishing post...lovely! The catkins were especially lovely to see as I have been looking at the pages of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady all week long. Her entries for this same week in January 1906 included a watercolor of catkins and a diary entry about seeing some on a walk through the countryside....like you.
Thank you for the beauty,
Lesley
Greetings from a new visitor who, also, can't keep away from the computer - despite having so many other things to do...! There is, after all, so much to do (here) when you log on, or just pop into the study for a little break and a sit down...
ReplyDelete