In the bag

I've just managed to squeeze a couple of pink projects in for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Luckily I don't have too many pink scraps, so there's not much left over. Life has been just too hectic this month.

Up the Garden Path

We recently took the decision to have proper paths built in our vegetable patch. When we moved here the vegetable plot was one large piece of land, and at the end of the first year the soil had been well trampled and proved extremely difficult for Christopher to dig. At the beginning of last year I divided the patch into four and subdivided the three largest of these pieces. This meant that I could rotate crops, and rarely needed to stand on the soil. This worked brilliantly and the earth needed hardly any digging over this year. So, having proved that I'd got it right, we got a local builder to make proper paths.

I'm absolutely delighted with the results, they make the vegetable garden look brilliant. I don't care for straight lines in flower gardening but there's something so satisfying about a vegetable patch full of straight lines of vegetables.

Festival

Life has been a bit hectic this week. It's the Chewton Mendip Festival of Art, Flowers and Music this weekend and I've been organising the art exhibitition. The run up to this week has been fairly straightforward, getting artists on board, making sure they know what's expected, chasing them for details, etc. But this week it's all got under way with a vengeance; tidying the church, doing flower arrangements, collecting display boards, receiving the art from 24 artists and setting it up has been exhausting. On Thursday evening we had a concert with local musicians, including the choir I belong to, Village Voices. On Friday evening we had an Art Preview, which was very successful and over the weekend, as well as the art exhibition in the church, there are ten gardens in the village being opened for visitors. Roll on Monday, and total collapse of stout party (I think that's a quote from Pickwick Papers).

So here are a few photographs for you to see of the exhibition and flowers. It's not easy taking photographs inside the church because of poor lighting, but they'll give you an idea of what's going on.

This free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Brit Quilt Swap

I recently joined a Brit Quilt flickr group, for British quilters. There are 126 members now, from all over the British Isles. And they're all completely nuts! Some of the discussions are bizarre, and that's being kind. It was decided that we should have a swap, and it sounded fun, so I joined in. I've got my partner now and have started stalking her, and I guess that whoever has me for a partner may be reading this, so hello and welcome, whoever you are. The next part of the challenge is to design a small quilt for her, and that's going to be fun, I know the sort of fabric she likes and the sort of designs, so all I've got to do is get my thinking cap on and come up with something. Huh! Easier said than done I fear, but I'll be getting down to it next week.

This week I'm up to my ears getting things ready for our village Art, Music and Flowers Festival. I'm organising the art exhibition and hoping that I've remembered everything I need to do.

Apart from exhibiting several quilts I've also made a few mug rugs for sale, here are the last few.

I've also made a weekend bag for Number One Son's girlfriend, using a pattern by Lisa Lam of U-Handbag, she wrote the Bag Making Bible. The ties at each end can be untied which makes the bag much more capacious.

Down in the Garden

Down in the Garden is at last finished and hanging on the wall. I think I may need to do something about a slight bagginess in the centre block, but apart from that I'm really pleased with it. It will be going to display itself at our village exhibition this week. So here are a few photographs of it, with some close ups of the individual blocks.

Finished at last!

At last, we've got our kitchen back. The decorators finally left yesterday lunchtime, and we were able to stand in the middle of the kitchen and enjoy it. Here are a few photographs of the finished kitchen before we put all our things back in. I'll try and get some more photographs when I finish titivating.

New button

I've just added a new feature to my blog.

If you've read and enjoyed my blog post, but don't really feel the need to leave a comment, then just click in the little box at the bottom of the post that says 'Read and enjoyed but no comment'.

I don't know about you, but I often read posts that I don't feel the need to comment on, but would like to let the writer know that I've enjoyed it (my younger son tells me that there's something like this on Facebook). And I really won't be offended if you don't leave a comment on all my posts.

I'd love to know what you think about this idea though.

The last leg?

We're hoping that we're on to the last leg of our kitchen renovation; it's been rather a long haul and I can't wait to see the back of workmen and reclaim my kitchen and dining room. The granite worktops have now been installed and the new flooring laid. And today they started work on the tiling and decorating, and then with any luck by this time next week they'll all be gone and I can start sorting things out.

Today they've taken off all the old tiles, plastered walls and filled all the little holes.

This is the new worktop granite, a lovely silvery grey.

And this is the new flooring, a grey stone effect laminate.

We still can't use the dining room as everything from the worktops and shelves is stored in there. Our younger son is coming to visit for the weekend and I think we're all going to be eating off our knees - unless the weather is kind enough so that we can eat outside in the garden. But I think the forecast is for rain, and I'm not going to complain, we desperately need some. We've had less than 50% of our usual April rainfall.

Cute?

Our WI (Women's Institute) group are having a special meeting on Wednesday, where other local groups are invited to join us. We're having a theme of Weddings (I wonder why) and we're all invited to wear hats and make buttonholes - I think these are called corsages in America.

Now I don't do hats; I'm too short, my head's too small and I wear glasses, all reasons not to wear a hat. But I wanted to join in so decided on a fascinator. I didn't want to splash out on buying something I'm never likely to wear again, so made one from a plastic headband, a few feathers, some felt and some suffolk puffs and buttons.

I made my buttonhole in much the same way. Thank heavens for glue guns.

Don't you like my model? I fear that I won't look anywhere near as cute.

Purple round up

There's nothing new to show, but I thought I'd put it all together in one post to share for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge linky. (And, friends, please don't feel that you need or ought to comment, as you probably have done already!!!)

The last of the purple, together with the last of the blue, red and green, went into making this bag with pockets.

And a collection of mug rugs.

I didn't have much in the way of purple scraps, so there wasn't much I could make. Just as well really as I've been bogged down with so many other things this month. I wonder what May will bring.