DANGER!

Our computer home page is MSN and today I see that there are various newsworthy items which I thought I'd share with you along with some more cheering photos!

First up don't drink aloe vera juice containing something called ketamine since there have been a couple of women who have had severe reactions to the stuff and ended up in hospital.

Secondly don't use your mobile phone too much since it seems use of mobiles increases the risk of tintinus.

Some poor soul in Bosnia has been hit 6 times by falling meteorites and thinks he is being targeted by aliens

Only 1 in 10 police officers are visible - the mind boggles till you click on the article and find that it means the other 9 are beavering away behind the scenes!!

But this one I do like it says that women who are too houseproud are more at risk of breast cancer! Seems the use of air freshening sprays and mould and mildew removers are the main culprits. Since I use none of these I can rest easy till tomorrow I discover some other item of news which says that having too many dust bunnies or an untidy tabletop is likely to cause some illness or other!

The other day I came across an article telling me that if I were willing to pay £39.99 for a product which would increase the length of my eyelashes by up to 50% it would boost my self esteem and apparently so many people tried to buy the stuff on-line that the web page crashed!

I definitely need to get out more or perhaps to change the home page!!

Afternoon in the garden

I have spent this afternoon in the garden - not wearing a shady hat and sitting quietly with my book oh no! I have been on my hands and knees doing a little outdoor housekeeping!



With my trusty knife in hand I have been weeding the gaps in the paving slabs and cutting the grass back from the edges. It was hot work in the sunshine but very satisfying and reminded me of the times I spent cutting round the irregular slabs of stone which made up the path to the front door of our house in France only this was easier as they were square slabs and not all different shapes!

This hydrangea came with us from our garden in France and we unearthed it as it was such a stunning dark blue but sadly it prefers to be pink here - I think I need to add iron or something to get blue flowers don't I?

Our beans continue to grow and are looking very pretty together - for those of you who are interested the red ones are Scarlet Emperor and the pink ones are called Celebration.

The bees seem to like them anyway and were busy buzzing round both colours!

This is the mauve one I told you about and when we looked to see what it was called we discovered it is not a runner bean at all but a climbing French bean called Cobra which would explain why it is not growing at the same pace as the others! I really should have a garden journal and write down all the names of what we plant and so on but I am not that organised I am afraid!

Not a lot of organisation indoors either - when we moved here and finally had a kitchen large enough to eat in I fondly imagined that at least one of the tables might remain clear and harboured thoughts of having a runner with a vase of flowers on the dining table like they do in the Ideal Home or Country Living or whatever!

Fat chance - now we have two tables covered with "stuff" which has to be cleared away to make room to eat or if anyone is coming! Still no table runner nor vase of flowers either although there is a fruit bowl in the kitchen even if some of the fruit is not in it!

Thank you for all you lovely comments re the Dorset buttons - for those who asked about a tutorial I can do no better than refer tyou to this website http://www.craftstylish.com/item/42688/how-to-make-dorset-buttons which is much better than anything I might be able to offer!

Mixed bunch!

Thank you for all your kind comments on my Dorset button post - They were a bit fiddly but fun to do and I had another 2 hour session this week in which I made these buttons.



The little silk fabric covered one is called a Singleton button and was reasonably easy to do though I wouldn't want to make them by the dozen! The blue and red wool one was actually 2 buttons one on top of the other with a bead in the centre. These were made without a ring and worked round 14 wraps round the finger of the wool itself if you know what I mean. And the green beaded one is just another variation of the previous week's buttons.

We have had rain! At long last the promised rain has arrived and the garden is all the better for it. I love the sunshine but not all the time and the rain is lovely after such a prolonged dry spell.

We planted a couple of new varieties of runner beans this year and as well as the usual red flowers we have these lovely salmon pink ones too. There are also some pale mauve ones but either they are not as vigourous or they are a later variety as they are not as far forward as the red and pink ones.

Here is a little posy of Lesley's marigolds (see this post) picked from the garden on Monday morning. They were put to good use as I held them up in front of the webcam when speaking via Skype to my friend in France that morning and singing Happy Birthday to her. A posy for my friend's special day. Then they graced our lunch table and that afternoon I took them to the old lady I visit as a volunteer as a little gift to cheer her up - explaining that the French word for marigolds is "soucis" which is the same word as for anxieties or worries and how I like to think of my worries as marigolds!!!

Indoor games were called for due to the rain so I got out the flour and the trusty old Kenwood Chef and made some bread for lunch.

Dorset buttons

Last Tuesday I had a lesson in making Dorset buttons. I felt that as we live on the Dorset/Somerset border it was something I ought to know more about. I enjoyed my 2 hour lesson and came away with the little purple button in the bottom right hand corner of the photo. It was made using fine crochet cotton and I must admit I found it terribly fiddly to do and so the others which I have been practising at home since are done using a thicker perle thread (apart from the silver one made in Twilleys Goldfingering) which I found much easier to handle. I am glad I don't have to make teeny tiny ones by the dozen in order to make a living (see this web page for more info http://www.thedorsetpage.com/history/Button_Making/button_making.htm ) but they are fun to do, easily portable and could be used in all sorts of creative ways other than for their original purpose.

Pay it Forward

Thank you to all those of you who read my Pay it Forward post yesterday and said you'd like to join in. The first 3 bloggers to comment were:

Sarah from The Blueberry Patch
Jee from Jeeandme
Kate from Harmony and Rosie
and a close runner up (judging by the times against each comment}
Cheryl from Take Time to smell the Flowers who will receive a small consolation gift!

You will all receive a small gift in the mail sometime soon - no dates promised but within the next few weeks.

Your only commitment now is to write a post pledging to Pay it Forward and send a little gift to the first 3 people to comment on your post and to promise to send their gifts within the next 365 days, (but hopefully sooner of course!)

Thanks to those of you who were kind enough to comment but not lucky enough (or perhaps that should read lucky enough!) to be receiving a small hand made gift from me. If you like the idea you can always join in anyway

With all this generosity and kindness floating round the world should soon be a better place!

PS Forgot to say - please will the 4 bloggers whose names were listed above contact me with their postal addresses - otherwise you might be waiting a long time for your gifts!! You can e-mail me at the address on my profile.

SPREAD A LITTLE KINDNESS

Having seen this idea on Winnibriggshouse I signed up to Pay it Forward - a lovely idea in which the participants pass on a little kindness without expecting any reward. How it works is that I promise to post a little something (value not important as it is the thought that counts) to the first 3 bloggers to comment on this post who will in turn do the same and keep the kindness moving forward. Of course you don't have to be in the first 3 to join in and the more people who do join in the merrier.


So are you up for it? I will post a little gift within the next 365 days (no it will definitely be sooner than that but apparently it must be within 365 days!) to the first 3 people to comment on this post then all you have to do is wait for the postman to arrive!

Garden update

What a difference a week makes...

Our little veggie plot is coming on well - remember me showing you here when it was just a square of bare earth? Now we have beans and tomatoes

with a little border of nasturtiums and marigolds.

Beans dashing up the canes (I notice a weed there that needs to come out!)

My lovely marigolds were a present (in seed form) from Lesley at Printed Material back last year and I have them all over the garden as well as here with the veggies.

Nasturtiums looking so cheerful and, dare I say it, so far without blackfly! Of course this little square is nowhere large enough and we also have cucumbers, courgettes and more tomatoes in amongst the flower beds.

The heather is giving way to a further veggie plot little by little although someone isn't too happy about that! No wonder it is all flattened is it?!

Had another sort out in my work room last week (can't find anything - why am I such a messy worker I wonder?!) I had visions of a workroom like this until I realised there weren't any boxes of scraps of this and than nor all the usual rubbish I have in mine but one can dream can't one?!

I came across this little square of tapestry made many years ago and subsequently made into a small cushion cover which was now worn and dirty. Took the backing off and washed it - any ideas as to what I might use it for? Or perhaps it should join the rest in the back of the cupboard?

I had also made a start sometime on this - again I have no idea where this is going - any suggestions?!

Enjoy the remainder of this lovely sunny weekend - although us gardeners wouldn't mind a little rain now preferably at night!

PS I meant to add the button for Silver Pebble's Pass the Book to my sidebar yesterday but it has taken me till now to figure out how to do it - hope it works! Check it out - it sounds like a good idea!