Susie's Country Cottage and Garden

Big Congrats William and Kate

2011-04-29T21:54:00.005+01:00

What a fantastic day. I really enjoyed watching The Royal Wedding. I was glued to the tv from 8am until well...now at 10pm!

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Spring Time Motivation

2011-04-09T21:19:00.014+01:00

Time for some blogging me thinks. The weather these last two weeks has been gorgeous and I know it may sound sad but I actually enjoyed putting the washing on the line for the first time this year today in the spring sunshine! Tiger and Lily enjoyed playing in the garden although, I have discovered that kittens and garden flowers dont mix as the amount of daffodils and tulips they have broken off has meant I have a vase full in the house before they've even had a chance to come out in the garden.

I couldnt wait to try out my Royal Wedding bunting - bought on Ebay for £2

Another reason to celebrate is the fact that I very nearly have my bathroom finished. This is how it looked two years ago and this...

is the new floor and boards with Tiger spending an unhealthy amount of time guarding the bath down pipe hole in floor!

And finally the decorating was finished and the new mirror was put up

and my lovely Cath Kidston curtains were made by my mum...

and here it is...almost finished but definitely usable but now that all the work has been done on the bathroom I have no excuse for not tidying the rest of the house including...

...my tip of a bedroom!

and then I will tackle the next project...the spare bedroom, a bit of a dumping ground at the moment as you can see!

Enjoy the rest your weekend everyone and hope the sun keeps shining.

Susie X

New Year, New Start

2011-01-14T10:58:00.007Z

Hello everyone.

A belated happy New Year to all of you out there is blog land. I hope you all had a good Christmas.

This is a rather image heavy post of a sort of condensed version of my family Christmas, more for my own record that anything so I hope you enjoy having a look!

Christmas 2010 was a very cold one. We had lots of snow and temperatures of minus 17 degrees C, which is cold for England! It was also quite chaotic at our place with the plumber coming in to install the central heating just a week before the festivities. My cats, Tiger and Lily pretty much destroyed my Christmas tree so the photograph you are seeing on this post is the first day that it was put up. After this it looked a sorry state. But we all had a good time, ate lots, drank lots, did the usual party games, went to see a pantomime at the theatre, visited Santa’s reindeer, walked in the snow and went sledging and built snowmen.

A game of Hungry Hippos!

My mum's table set for Christmas dinner.

Lily in her favourite place.

Big boys and little boys playing dungeons and dragons!

Christmas dinner at my mum's.

Sir Rufus!

Tiger on her way to destroying my tree!

Choosing the Christmas tree and visiting the reindeer.

Snowy Shropshire

Santa's reindeer

Sledging

More sledging

I cant wait to get out in my garden again. Due to the exceptionally cold weather, I have lost a lot of plants this winter. My olive tree has finally had it after surviving more than ten winters outside and the bay trees and rosemary are black. I think even if I cut them back they probably wont come again. Even though it is sad that I have lost so many plants, I am looking forward to re-planning my garden and having a rethink about what to plant in the spring.

Happy New Year!

Susie X

Medieval Fayre

2010-11-30T20:20:00.005Z

Hello everyone. Okay, so I know I haven't been around blog land for a while but now I am feeling inspired to get started again.

Thank you to everyone who has left messages and emails to see how I was. It was very thoughtful of you all. I have been kind of lurking for a while so thought it was about time I started posting again. I have missed all my bloggy friends out there so it will be nice to get in touch again.

On Sunday we decided to brave the freezing temperatures and drive down to Ludlow in South Shropshire for their medieval Christmas fayre.

There were lots of medieval type things to try including archery!

Plenty of arrows available for those who are not so good at hitting the target.

All the stall holders and people involved with the fayre dress up. These knights at the gate to the castle were pretty impressive.

There are a lot of nice food shops in Ludlow and this one is very typical with its produce on show outside the windows.

This autumn has apparently been what's called a 'mast' year. There has been an unbelievable amount of fruit and nuts in the hedgerows. This is a good thing for the wildlife with all the cold weather we are having now as we dont usually get snow as early as November. The holly tree in my garden looks very festive with its dusting of snow.

That's all for now. I'm off to try and do some catching up and have a look at what everyone else has been up to!

Susie

A Taste of Somerset

2010-07-31T16:52:00.009+01:00

The weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse since I returned from my break in Somerset. After being starved of rain for two months, the garden is now looking a bit on the soggy side! My flowers are suffering. The good thing is we had lots of sunshine in Somerset. There were so many places I wanted to see that we had to limit ourselves in the time we had. Here’s just a taster of some of things we did.

First stop was Glastonbury, no not the festival, the town! I think every single shop in Glastonbury is a spiritual, hippy trippy type place. That’s fine if you are out of fairy dust or joss sticks but where the heck do people in this town buy their groceries!! It is a very pretty town with its Abbey and we had a nice lunch in a cafe called Hundred Monkeys We also stopped off at the tor just outside the town and climbed to the top.

The views from the top were worth the climb!

Wells was next on the list. It has an amazing cathedral. All I could think about when looking around this cathedral was the baby eating bishop of Bath and Wells from the Black Adder series!

The cloisters in Wells Cathedral.

This is where all the priests used to live and not surprisingly it is called Vicars' Close!!

Next stop, Bath. It is a town I have always wanted to visit and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The Roman Baths are really interesting to look around and we had a look around No 1 The Crescent which is now a museum.

Roman Baths

With all that sightseeing it was nice to chill out on the beach in the evening.

Finally, here’s some mischief makers, Tiger and Lily, my new kittens. We’ve had them two weeks now and they settled in almost immediately. They are into and onto everything! There’s not an ornament left in sight!

As you can see, I have a problem with blogging now as they think it is great fun to sit on my laptop!

Enjoy your weekend.

Susie

Catch Up!

2010-07-03T10:37:00.010+01:00

How are you all? It's been a while since I visited blog land I know and I have loads and loads of catching up to do! I've missed everyone and I'm going to have look at what you've all be up to. I've been kinda busy, enjoying the good summer we've finally had here in England, the tennis, the World Cup football and working on the house and garden.

Where do I start?

Well, the good weather has enabled us to start major work on the house, replacing all the windows. The middle window here has been knocked out to make way for a front door and porch.

Before fixing the porch Andy thought it would be a good idea to put the new window in above.

Here's the new window from the inside. It was relatively easy to fit and just slotted in to position. We didnt even have to take the curtains down!!
Next, a little old original window was re-fitted and this will be inside the porch to give a bit more light in the living room.

Here's the little window from the inside. The original, original windows with their leaded lights were tiny. It is hard to imagine how dark it must have been inside the house with windows this size.

The timber frame for the porch was then fitted and this will gradually be clad in the brick that took ages and ages for us to find to match the house but eventually we managed to get some from a reclamation yard. Only four more windows to replace now and then the front of the house will be finished. Hooray!!

Rufus has enjoyed the sunshine, playing in the paddling pool but as you can see, the hose goes everywhere except in the actual pool!

The kittens are really growing and one has even been re-homed already. We have found homes for them all and I'm having two and will pick them up on return from my holiday next week.

Aren't they cuties!

Finally, I couldn't go without showing you some of the garden. The roses, peonies and in fact, everything else has done really well this year despite the lack of rain.

I'm off my hols next week to Somerset. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. See you later!

Susie X

Summer Days

2010-05-23T17:21:00.009+01:00

First things first. Congratulations to Mami the winner of my giveaway. Your prize will be winging its way over to Japan very soon. I hope you like it!

Over at my parent’s house, look what we found in the barn! Five gorgeous little kitties!

There are two ginger, two tabby and one tortoiseshell.

Here’s mum. She doesn’t have a name. She is a stray who took it upon herself to visit every day during our horrible winter and of course, my mother took pity on her and started feeding her. She is still very nervous and won’t come in the house and it is difficult to get near her. She has made her home in one of the outbuildings at my parent’s house and that is where she had her kittens. She is gradually gaining our trust and becoming more confident and if you approach her carefully, will now let you stroke her. She is a really good mother and is doing well with her kittens and is very proud of them, purring away when you go to look at them. The kittens get cuter by the day and are just beginning to open their eyes. So far, we have found homes for four of them including mine!

My mum in her greenhouse getting all the geraniums ready to put out in the garden.

It has been a bit of a scorcher this weekend and about time too and with all the warm weather everthing is now beginning to flower in the garden.

This clematis is taking over the hedge that borders the garden but it does look very pretty.

You may remember, last year I bought some alium bulbs at Tatton Park Flower Show and here they are now just out in the flower border.

BBQ time. Making the most of the good weather, on Saturday I went to a BBQ at my brother's place.

Rufus was looking pretty cool in his shades!!

Getting the fire going.

How long does it take to put a two year old's swing together. Most of the afternoon in this case! Time for a cool off in the paddling pool I think!

Hope you all enjoy your your week and the sunshine.

Susie

Oteley Garden

2010-05-12T12:56:00.012+01:00

I do so love having a nosey around other people's gardens, so on Sunday I visited Oteley in Ellesmere to have a look around. As it is only four miles from where I live it isn't exactly a treck but is only open for one day a year as part of the National Garden Scheme. The idea is that people can open their private gardens to the paying public and all the money raised goes to charity. Gardens of all shapes and sizes can enter but Oteley is a particularly grand example and certainly gives you lots of inspiration as you walk around.

The house has a huge walled kitchen garden full of vegetables and fruit trees. The spring cabbages are looking good at the moment and...

...the apples trees are in blossom, looking very pretty.

The garden also has a lot of rhododendron's in all colours. This pink one was particulary spectacular.

The one consolation about having such a cold May is that the cherry blossom is still out. Normally by now, it would have long finished but is still going strong.

If you go to the National Garden Scheme's website here you can put in your postcode and see if there are any gardens open near you.

By the way, there's still time to enter my giveaway by clicking here and leaving me a comment.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.

Susie

Walking in the Hills and a Blogiversary Giveaway

2010-05-09T20:50:00.006+01:00

Last weekend I decided to be a bit more energetic than usual and went walking on the Lond Mynd, which is part of the Shropshire hills. Long Mynd means Long Mountain.
The town of Church Stretton can be seen in the valley.

From the top you can look over the Shropshire plain.

On the horizon, if you looks closely, you can see a hill. This is the Wrekin and is supposed to have inspired J R R Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings and is said to be the original Mount Doom!

Now to my giveaway! It is twelve months since I started my blog, so to celebrate I am giving away some goodies. When I started my blog, I never thought I would have this many followers and have met so made so lovely people in blog land and this is my way of saying thank you.

On my recent trip to London I brought back some souvenirs. I am giving away this rather retro London landmarks oven glove and a really cute London bus key ring.

I am also giving away some seeds that I bought from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The packet is a William Morris design which I think is really pretty. If you plant them you should end up with something that looks like an English summer meadow!!

All you have to do to win this group of goodies is leave me a comment.

Good Luck.

Susie

The Blossom in May

2010-05-02T20:26:00.005+01:00

"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough."-

A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, 1896

"The world's favorite season is the spring.

All things seem possible in May."-

Edwin Way Teale

Marathon Weekend

2010-04-28T10:52:00.011+01:00

I have been in London this weekend to watch my brother, Mark run the marathon. It feels like I have almost run a marathon myself! We have had a very busy weekend. My mother and I arrived by train on Saturday morning and then checked in to our hotel in Docklands. We had a great view of Canary Wharf and the O2 Arena. The next morning we met up with the rest of the family and stood for nearly two hours at the half way point on the marathon route, waiting for my brother to run past. He made it at pretty much the time he'd estimated but in the meantime we were entertained by all the fun runners and the celebrities and saw Gordon Ramsey and Richard Branson run past us.

The streets were strewn with empty water bottles.

We then set off to another part of the route to try and see my brother again and got the tube to Westminster. It was a really good atmosphere here but there were a lot of very tired runners who needed a lot of encouragement as it was only a mile from the finish.

After about two hours standing in the crowd we eventually saw my brother run past again and he looked okay considering he only had a mile left!

We then walked to the 'meet and greet' at Horse Guards to try and find Mark at the finish.

And here he is with my sister in law, Katherine, proudly showing off his medal!

Of course I couldn't go to London without doing a spot of shopping and first place on my list was my favourite shop, Liberty.

Lots of Liberty print goodies.

We spent the evening in Covent Garden and my nephew Rufus enjoyed watching the buskers in the street.

On the Monday my mother and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the wardrobe of one my favourite style icons, Princess Grace, on display. I have always loved her style so it was a real thrill to see the collection. There were gorgeous haute couture gowns from the 60's and 70's as well as dresses from her films.

The poster from the exhibition.

The dress she is wearing here, in the film High Society, was also on display and was really beautiful. It also made you realise how slim she was!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week. I'm having a blog giveaway next week of some souvenirs I have bought back from London so see you next week!

Susie

The Quiet Sky

2010-04-17T20:07:00.004+01:00

I have looked up into the sky over the last three days and what have I seen...nothing! Thanks to Iceland's volcano, I think it is the first time in my life that I have seen a vapour trail free sky. The beautiful blue skys we have had over the last few days are usually marred by all the aircraft criss crossing the UK. Don't get me wrong, I do feel for all those poor people stranded at airports and those who can't get away on their holiday and those who can't get home, but to look up into a sky that is only populated by birds and insects is a rare treat. It is spookily quiet up there.

More blue from the garden. As blue as they sky, a grape hyacinth.

Forget-me-not.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Susie

Time for The Garden

2010-04-11T16:42:00.004+01:00

This weekend I have made the most of the sunshine and warm weather and been out in the garden. There is quite a bit of tidying up to do and pulling out of poor, dead plants that haven't survived the harsh winter, but the main thing is digging and weeding. I cant believe how quickly the weeds appear. There are dandelions everywhere! Considering how late everything is this year, there is quite a bit of colour in the garden at the moment. Come with me on a little tour of the borders and you will see these lovely hyacinths and......pretty primroses and

bright poppies and...

elegant hellebores and...

dainty lungwort and...

delicate narcissi and...

delicious flowering currant and finally...

gorgeous grape hyacinth.

After all that gardening today it is time now for a sit down in the sunshine and a glass of wine. Cheers!

Susie

Easter Prizes

2010-04-08T09:53:00.007+01:00

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter break. This gorgeous chicken arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I was the very lucky winner of Country Style Living's Easter competition.

I am really pleased with it and can't believe I won. I never win anything!

I also recieved other goodies, mini eggs (my favourite), some sweet pea seeds and some Easter ribbon. Thank you Maria. You can check out her website here. There are some lovely vintagey bits and pieces on the site like these pretty cushions.

I spent Easter with my family and having those two extra days off work was heaven. We spent the weekend hunting for Easter eggs, making Easter decorations, catching up on gardening, planting sweet peas and antirrinums, shopping in the spring sales and of course eating too much chocolate!

My nephew had a lot of fun on the Easter egg hunt.

Rufus with some of his hunt finds!

We spent all day on Sunday at my mother's and had a very nice lunch, complete with chocolate Easter cake.
The sun is shining today and it looks like we are set for a nice weekend so enjoy everyone.

Susie

Visit to Wales

2010-03-28T15:13:00.005+01:00

As it was my Birthday on Friday I treated myself to having a day off work! Because the weather was quite good we decided to have a day in Wales. We ended up on the coast in the town of Conwy, famous for its castle. I haven't been around the castle since I was at school so it brought back quite a few memories. Here's a bit of history for you! The castle was constructed by Edward I between 1283 and 1289 and in the photo above you can see the town of Conwy which is enclosed inside the town walls which are guarded by 22 towers.
The main castle has eight huge towers making it a World Heritage site

The castle towers with the Conwy estuary in the background.

The Welsh flag flying.

A very deep dungeon!

The castle has a very intimidating presence and towers over the little town of Conwy.

Conwy estuary.

A good breezy place to hang the washing!

This tiny house stands on the quayside front and is said to be the smallest house in Britain at just 6 x 10 feet! It has two rooms and was once lived in by a 6 foot fisherman, Robert Jones who was too tall to stand up in the rooms!

Hope you all have a good week.

Susie X

During the last week...

2010-03-21T14:57:00.012Z

Hello everyone. What have I been doing? I can’t believe I haven’t posted since 28th February!

So far, March has been quite busy with family celebrations and, because the weather is now much more spring like, I have been getting on with some gardening. Today my brother and I planted a native hedge. I wanted to keep the species native as they are much better at attracting birds and insects. Apparently, you can tell how ancient an English hedge is by counting the number of species growing in it. If you count 100 years for every species you find and then you will know roughly how old the hedge is. We planted hawthorn, holly and berberis.

The hawthorn looks like a load of dead twigs at the moment but later in the spring it should have some very pretty blossom on it like the photo below.

It was the 75th Birthday of my sister-in-law's father on Saturday so we had a little party. First of all we had a very nice meal at the Mytton and Mermaid, a restaurant just outside Shrewsbury and then went back to my sister-in-laws place for cake.

My dinner. Lobster and crab linquini with asparagus went down very well!

Ian about to blow out the candles with the help of Katherine and Rufus. Happy Birthday Ian.

Rufus had a lot of fun with the balloons which we’d brought back from the restaurant.

Last weekend at my place, we had a Mother’s Day tea. I made a lemon cake and covered it in chocolate eggs!

My easter/mother's day cake!

The table set for tea.

I am pleased to see that there are a few more things coming out in the garden now that the weather is getting milder.

These little violets come out before anything else and are so pretty in the borders.

The crocus are also looking really good at the moment but still no daffodils out. They are so late this year.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week.

Susie

Spring Flowers

2010-02-28T10:54:00.004Z

I would just like to say thank you for all your kind comments on my last post. They really have encouraged me to continue blogging. I just needed that kickstart to get inspired again and what better way than to celebrate the last day of February with some spring flowers. Spring is well and truly here in my books and few daffodils and some polyanthus really brighten up the home.

Have great week everyone.

Susie X

A Me Time Weekend!

2010-02-21T10:32:00.006Z

Hello, how are you all? I’ve been so wrapped up in problems at work that I haven’t really had time to think about blogging. I know I haven’t posted for ages and I’m sorry for neglecting all my bloggy friends but sometimes I find it really hard to get inspired, so much so that I think I might stop blogging. Do you ever feel like that?

This weekend I have had some me time. To hell with the housework, cooking , cleaning, ironing and washing. Yesterday I had a day’s shopping.

I went to Shrewsbury and took my time browsing in ‘out of the way’ shops that I don’t normally have time to shop in. There are a lot of little independent shops in Shrewsbury selling things you don’t normally see in general high street stores. I bought this really pretty jug in a shop called Vintage. They have lots of gorgeous vintage stuff and I could have spent a fortune but then I saw this necklace in Whitestuff and bought that instead.

Something for my summer wardrobe...I bought some espadrille sandals in Next and finally,

some heart door hangers for my new dresser. All in all a very good day.

Today though I’m sitting by the fire with a cup of coffee, Country Living Magazine and a bag of Cadbury’s mini eggs because we’ve had more of this...

...yes it has snowed again so I think I’ll just sit inside and watch it falling.

Hope you all have a good week.

Susie X

Photo Opportunity

2010-02-04T21:19:00.006Z

We had more snow here in Shropshire on Sunday. I thought we'd seen the last of it but this little lot wasn't forecast so it came as a bit of a shock. By the afternoon though it has stopped and the sun came out. I went out with my camera and just snapped away. I love taking photographs in the snow as everything looks so different.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Susie

Avatar

2010-02-04T09:35:00.003Z

I have to tell you about Avatar! If you haven’t seen it yet then do, I’m sure you will be as surprised as I was!

James Cameron’s new film has been receiving a lot of awards and nominations recently so I thought I go along to the cinema to see what all the fuss was about. I went with absolutely no expectations of the film and didn’t have much idea of what it was about. I’m not one for fantastical sci-fi type movies with tons of action and special effects but I have to say, Avatar is now one of my favourite films of all time!

Avatar has to be the most visually spectacular film I have ever seen. The special effects are breathtaking and it is the first film I’ve seen with luminescent visual effects which look stunningly pretty on the big screen. It is utterly captivating and you feel literally immersed in the virtual world of the beautiful planet of Pandora and begin to forget that what you are seeing isn’t real!

If you are not a big fan of fantasy/sci-fi, but enjoy a bit of escapism and a good love story then you will like Avatar. I know I’m sounding like I must have shares in the film or something but I would watch it again in a heartbeat!

Here it is!

2010-01-30T15:27:00.006Z

Most of you guessed that my new piece of kitchen furniture was a dresser and here it is! I am really pleased with it. It was made by my brother who, very handily, happens to be a carpenter! The paintwork is Blue Grey by Farrow and Ball and the boards at the back of the shelves are painted in contrasting Off White. Eventually I hope to get the rest of the kitchen to match!

Now I have somewhere to show off all my Cath Kidston stuff!

I bought this cutlery basket today from a little shop in Ellesmere called Hoppies. They have lots gorgeous interiors stuff and have a web site here. They have some very nice restored furniture.

Do you remember the hyacinths I planted last September? Well the pink ones are out and smelling gorgeous but unfortunately the yellow ones didnt seem to do as well and they stilll haven't come out.

We had more snow last night but today is a beautiful, sunny day. I took a little walk around the garden to see what's coming through. These snowdrops peeking through the snow should be out in the next few days.

The catkins are appearing on the hazel in the hedge.

And finally, I saw this today. Yes, it is blue sky! It hasn't been around for a while, at least not this blue anyway. It is amazing how a sunny day with clear blue sky can lift your spirits isn't it. Spring is not far away.

Susie

Can you tell what it is yet?

2010-01-22T13:18:00.010Z

Hello everyone. Have you survived the snow, frost, heavy rain that seems to be pelting down on the world at the moment? Thank you for all your encouraging comments on my last post. I’m happier now! I had been worrying about the results of my yearly mammogram. There was a little ‘glitch’ on my last film so I was recalled to have extra views and an ultrasound scan. Having already had breast cancer I was scared sh**less as you can imagine and the wait for the results has at times been unbearable, but thankfully, all is okay so I feel I can now start getting on with things again! I’m having a piece of furniture made for the kitchen. It is something that I have always wanted and I can’t wait for it to be finished. This is how it looks at the moment. Can you tell what it is? All will be revealed…hopefully in a couple of week’s time!

As I'm into all things mismatched at the moment, as a treat to myself I have ordered this Eclectic Cutlery Set from Contemporary Home. It consists of four knives, four forks, four spoons and four teaspoons and each piece is different.

Finally, I am really pleased to receive an award from the Duchess over at Rose Tea Cottage. I feel very honoured...almost like royalty!! Thank you for thinking of me Duchess.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Susie

Chilly Walk

2010-01-10T12:02:00.006Z

Yes, more snow! Are you all sick of the sight of it yet? As much as I love the snow and how pretty is can look, I hate all the problems it brings with it. I haven't been in the land of blog for a few days and I have found it difficult to get started and inspired by anything this year. I've been too preoccupied with the cold weather. I had a horrible week last week. Getting to work has been a struggle but I did manage to get in every day, although arriving late! Of course you get no thanks for arriving which makes you wonder why you even bothered. January, as you probably guessed, is not my favourite month of the year and the sooner its over the better!
I decided to go for a walk yesterday to try and cheer myself up. The mere in Ellesmere is completely frozen over. This is quite unusual and I think I have only seen it completely frozen a couple of times in my lifetime.

There are lots of migrant birds visiting for the warmer weather! These Canada geese must have got quite a shock when they arrived to this weather.

They get fed regularly by people visiting the mere so as soon as you arrive they swarm around you looking for something to eat.

My garden seems to have survived the worst of it. I have an olive tree outside the back door which amazingly seems to have survived the -14C degree temperature.

The sun came out today which has melted quite a bit of the snow but temperatures still havent risen above freezing. Hopefully I will be in a better mood for my next post! I did notice when walking around the garden that there are lots of daffodils and snowdrops beginning to come through so spring can't be that far away....can it?

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T22:54:00.003Z

A very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010 everyone.

Happy New Year

Family Christmas

2009-12-28T12:18:00.013Z

I hope you all had a good Christmas.

I spent Christmas Day at my parent's house with my family and we all had a lovely time.

The table was set for dinner.

We all opened our presents in the morning and my father had these slippers!!

We had the traditional turkey and Christmas pudding for dinner.

This little elf couldn't wait for the pudding to be served so decided to help himself!

On the Sunday it was my turn and everyone came to my place for lunch.

One of my Christmas presents was a CK cake stand so I made good use of it with my Nigella Lawson rocky road.

Rufus enjoyed playing with the streamers.

And...after I'd complained about not having any snow in Shropshire....we eventually had some on the night before Christmas eve.

Christmas Market

2009-12-21T10:03:00.009Z

It seems to have been snowing everywhere in the country except here in Shropshire!! We've hardly had a flake! At least it has made it easier to get about and finish my Christmas shopping. I went to Shrewsbury on Saturday to the Christmas Market.

The market was very busy with lots of people mulling around the stalls.

The market is set in the old Square around the original Market Hall.

Once finished at the Market it was off to the shops.

I sorted all the decorations out for my tree last weekend. I have a bit of a mixture of all sorts. Some old and some new!

I haven't really gone for a theme this year and have just put absolutely everything on the tree until I couldn't find a branch left. I have put coloured lights on my tree this year as I like the vintage look of them.

Here's my tree all done! It has every colour you can think of on it and I think it looks really pretty....

...especially in the evening when the lights are low!

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all my fellow bloggers a

very merry Christmas

and

a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

See you all in 2010!

Susie X

Cold and Frosty Morning

2009-12-11T17:49:00.007Z

I woke up this morning to a very foggy and frosty Shropshire. We have had quite a mild autumn but the temperature has really dropped now and today is the first really cold day of the winter.

I had to take my car in for a service early this morning. The garage is just down the road from my house so on the walk home I took some photographs.

I took these photos at about 9.00 am and the sun is still not very high. You can just about see it through the haze of fog.

This old oak tree is at the bottom of the lane.

The ivy in the hedgerow looked very Christmassy with its frosting.

More trees and the hedgerow.

I thought these plants on the verge looked very pretty with their frosty covering.

There is more wintery weather forecast for the weekend and possibly some snow! I would love it to snow.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. Stay warm!

Susie

A Rednesday Christmas Red

2009-12-09T09:55:00.007Z

Today I am joining Sue over at Its A very Cherry World for Rednesday. I just have a couple of reds to show you today and one of them is a drink!

I bought this very kitsch, glittery bambi on my recent trip to London. He was quite expensive but I couldn't resist him!

I don't know if you remember, but back in September I made some sloe and damson gin. Well, now it is ready to drink and has been decanted into new bottles!
Here it is. It can be left longer to mature but I really wanted it for Christmas. It is now this gorgeous deep red colour and apart from the fact that it nearly blows your head off when you drink it, it is very delicious.

After seeing a brilliant pomander tutorial over at Rosies blog, I decided to make one last night. It took no time at all and it amazed me how one small orange can make the room smell so Christmassy! Pop over to Rosies lovely blog and have a look.

And finally a big, big thank you to the very kind and generous Michela for sending me these lovely gifts. I was thrilled to see a parcel arrive in the post. As well as a gorgeous bag, she sent me some Italian sweets and a lovely little pin dish.

Thanks Michela. I don't know how you guessed but as you can see from my china cabinet, I collect flowery things so the little pin dish now has pride of place in the cabinet!

That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone.

Susie

Ludlow Medieval Fayre

2009-11-30T09:46:00.007Z

On Saturday I drove down to Ludlow for the Medieval Fayre. Ludlow is a market town in South Shropshire and is a bit of a food lovers mecca! It is famous for having more Michelin starred restaurants than any other town outside London! I'm not sure whether that's true but Mr Underhill's is very good!
When we arrived, the place was absolutely heaving with people. I couldnt believe how busy it was. You couldnt really get into the shops so we headed straight over to the Fayre.

My mum ready for our shopping.

There are lots of really good food shops in Ludlow and there is a good market in the Square.

The fayre itself was held in the grounds of Ludlow Castle.

If you fancy a gargoyle to go on your house then here's the place to come!

There were hundreds of stalls all around the castle grounds.

There were lots of medieval themed things you could buy, including suits of armour, swords and bows and arrows! Well I suppose you never know when they might come in handy!

Me and my mum on the mulled wine! We had a really good day. It was well worth going and there was a nice Christmassy atmosphere.

I bought this knitted rabbit from one of the craft stalls. It is made by 'Flock of Ages' and all their products are made with wool from their own flock of sheep. You should check out their website. They knit some really cute animals.

I also bought some Victorian style gift tags.

A finally with it being the start of Advent, here's my calendar which I put up yesterday. Happy Advent everyone.

London

2009-11-23T10:15:00.006Z

I had a really good day in London. The weather was kind to us and I managed to get to all the shops I wanted to go to and even buy some Christmas presents! It all looked very Christmassy with the lights and decorations everywhere. Here are a few photos from my day.
Big Ben! It was just going dark when I took this picture so its a bit blurry!Trafalgar Square.

Cath Kidston. I've never been to a CK shop before as there are none near me so it was a real treat to finally see all her stuff in reality! The shop is stuffed to the rafters with things I liked! I bought some presents here for my family...which I can't show you yet as they'll look at my blog and see them!

Another corner of CK shop.

Which bag would you choose?

I love her kitchen stuff.

There was even a bowl of washing up in the vintage section!

This is me in Selfridges with just a few shopping bags.

I thought I'd show this couch. Its not really my taste but I thought is was interesting. Its for sale in the Conran shop and is only £4,975!!!

I thought these sugar mice candles were quite cute.

Andy eyeing up a Ferrari but unfortunately a little on the small side for him!!

This 'tree' stands outside the Royal Academy of Arts on Piccadilly and although I love traditional trees I thought this contemporary one was really impressive.

Fortnum and Mason had lovely Christmas displays in their windows.

Cartier on Bond Street. Unfortunately, I was window shopping only here but when I win the lottery I might venture inside!!

More my price range...Debenhams on Oxford Street looked very pretty! That's all for now. Have a good week everyone and hope we have no more rain!

London Shopping

2009-11-19T09:45:00.006Z

I have a day off work tomorrow...can't wait. I’m off to London for the day, catching an early train so that I have plenty of time to shop! First stop will be Marylebone Village. It is one of my favourite shopping areas of London and has lots of gorgeous shops like Cath Kidston,

Cotton and Cologne, The White Company, Whistles, Neal’s Yard, Agnés b all in one area so it is a nice easy place to shop in that isn’t too busy!

There's also this interesting shop called WW Rouleaux. It is the largest retailer and wholesaler of ribbons and trimmings in Europe. If you cant find the ribbon or trim you want here then it doesnt exist!!

Then I will head over to Piccadilly for lunch at the 5th View Bar which has good views over London and then to Fortnum and Mason to buy some nice foodie Christmas goodies!

Fortnum's food halls.

That's the plan anyway! I always try and have a set plan of where I want to shop when I go to London but usually end up getting diverted by other interesting things along the way. I will report back at the weekend with photos and buys!

Hope you all have a stress free and happy weekend.

Susie

Christmas Tablecloth

2009-11-13T14:10:00.005Z

This Christmas I have been hankering after one of Cath Kidston's retro style tableclothes but just cant bring myself to pay all that money for something that I am only going to use once a year. Then I had an idea! I could make my own... even though I'm a hopeless sewer I can just about manage to put a hem on something! But finding that retro style fabric has been difficult until...I stumbled across this on the internet. It is by Michael Miller who produces some absolutely wonderful kitsch and retro prints. This one is called Yule Critters and will be my new tablecloth!! It is a US company but in the UK Michael Miller fabric is available at Fabulousfabric.

Here's a few more of their wonderful fabrics.

Blast off!

Gnome-some Traveler

Christmas Greetings

Cool Treats

Handy Gnomes

Holiday Hostess

Trailer Travel

I'm off the Chester at the weekend to try and do some Christmas shopping! Wish me luck.

Hoping you all have a lovely weekend.

Susie

Wednesday is Rednesday!

2009-11-04T09:30:00.009Z

Today I am joining Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World who is hosting Rednesday. This is my first Rednesday post. I didnt think I had much red stuff around the house but when I actually looked, I had quite a lot!

I bought this little red chair off Ebay. It is need of a bit of tlc and when I get around to it I am going to sand it down and re-paint it...probably red again.

I always buy some candles for the table at Christmas and this year I have gone for some spotty red Cath Kidston candles.

I have finally brought all my geraniums in to protect them from the cold. This one sits in the kitchen window and is still looking quite good.

I bought these two cake tins from Tesco last week. They were £6.00 for the two which I thought was a good deal.

This little red bird is from a craft shop in Ellesmere, a small market town near me. It is filled with lavender so smells as nice as it looks .

This red gingham cushion sits on my bed and is from Laura Ashley.

Well okay I know this isnt exactly red but it is red themed! This is my favourite home magazine and this is the December issue, out now and full of lots of lovely festive things. I do love Christmas magazines!

Halloween Party!

2009-11-01T08:36:00.019Z

Last night's Halloween party was a big success with much drinking, eating and merriment!! I'll be checking out all your blogs tomorrow when I have a bit more energy but for now here are some photos from the party!

Some gruesome guests!

Rufus as a mini skeleton!

Some of the puddings.

A baby witch!

Me and a moment when my nephew Rufus wasnt in a party mood!

My brother, Andy and a scary Monica!

The grim reaper, the devil and a mad scientist - aka Tim, Katherine and Robin!

Dawn, Guy and Greg.

A brilliant Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and...I can't remember the character's name but she was played by Helena Bonham Carter in the film!

A happier Rufus with Granny.

A frightful foursome!

Witches watching the fireworks.

Dracula and his neighbour!

And plenty of clearing up and washing up at the end of the night!

Party Prep!

2009-10-30T17:35:00.006Z

Today I have been busy getting things ready for our Halloween party tomorrow night! There's about 60 people coming so we have quite a bit of food and drink to prepare!

Eyeballs anyone? I bought these floating candles from the supermarket and thought they'd look good in red water!

My mum grew a lot of pumpkins this year so we had a plentiful supply to make into decorations.

I bought these party favours to decorate the puddings.

This is the first layer of my slime green jelly complete with spiders!

I'll be posting more pictures of the party itself at the weekend. Happy Halloween everyone!

An Appeal to Green Gate!

2009-10-28T10:43:00.011Z

If there was ever a shop that I wished I could buy online from, it is this one. They have some really lovely stuff but for some inexplicable reason they have no online shop. All you can do is infuriatingly browse their gorgeous catalogue. Being a Danish company they do have shops all over Scandinavia but here in the uk...nothing!! I know that there are a some retail outlets for their stuff here but they really are few and far between.

So come on Greengate, open a shop here or at least make your stuff available to buy online!

Autumn Garden and Shopping!

2009-10-17T15:13:00.013+01:00

I've been a bit neglectful of blogging lately. Work is so busy at this time of year and I have had a cold for two weeks. Its getting better now and I'm starting to feel like I have more energy, so here I am and I thought I'd show you some of the garden. The holly tree is covered in berries at the moment.

The birds love the berries and when they are ready, quickly devour them so that unfortunately, when the holly is brought in at Christmas for decorating, there's hardly a berry left!

Because we've had such mild weather, the leaves have lasted on the trees, giving spectacular displays of colour.

A flowering currant turning pink.

These little toadstools sprout up all over the lawn at this time of year.

I've been shopping today and bought some party things including...

some fireworks for Guy Fawkes night...

some baubles for the Christmas tree...

and Halloween costumes for a party we are going to on 31 October. This is Andy's costume and...

this is mine, although it is doubtful whether I'll look as sexy as the witch on the packet, but I will do my best!!!

A Mish Mash

2009-10-05T17:29:00.017+01:00

I seem to have got a bit behind with my posting just lately so this post is a mixture of things I've done and seen locally over the last couple of weeks.

These red sunflowers are out in the garden.

A concert in the park....

...with a picnic.

This balloon came in to land in a field near the house so I ran upstairs to take some photos through the bedroom window!

The logs have been delivered for the winter.

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye...well nearly!

Blackberry picking.

Walking in the fields.

View across the fields.

This is a first for me, photographing the inside of a garden shed! It is my brother's new shed and he's very proud of it so we were all invited to look at it before he fills it up with rubbish!

Today we dined in the library!! Well actually its the pub and a little celebration meal for my brother's birthday.

Shrewsbury School rowers on the river Severn.

Walking by the river Severn.

And finally...this is my parent's dog, Barnie who died today. He gave us lots of love, fun and laughs for the last 14 years. RIP Barnie. I will miss you lots and lots and lots.

Award Time

2009-10-04T10:57:00.008+01:00

I have received an ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ award from Carol over at Old Glory Cottage . Have a look at her blog, it is amazing. Carol is a collector extraordinaire! The award celebrates the ability to "see the blessings where they're not obvious, and making lemonade instead of complaining about sour lemons"! I am now supposed to share what I am grateful for, and then pass the award on. Here are just a few things I am grateful for:

Lingen Davies Cancer Centre. This is where I received all my treatment last year for breast cancer, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy and will for ever be grateful to all the wonderful staff there who helped me and to the people who have raised funds to keep the unit going.

My Mini Cooper. I don’t know what I’d do without my mini. I travel 70 miles to work in it every day and it never complains and is always reliable. I would never buy another car now, I love it.

My garden. This is where I can chill out after a crap day at work by just simply walking around it and looking at the plants and flowers.

The Aztecs and Mayans: For inventing chocolate! I’m sure I’d be addicted to some other form of stimulant if chocolate didn’t exist so thank goodness for the coco bean. Green and Blacks is my favourite.

It goes without saying that I am very grateful to all the wonderful friends I have met in Blog land and appreciate all the lovely comments I receive. Here are the people I would like to pass the award on to. Please don't feel that you have to abide by the rules of this award.

Tracey at Tracey's Crafty Scraps
Amy at Bubbles blog
Mami at Mami's photo diary
Michela at Little Secrets from My Garden
Duchess at Rose Tea Cottage
Maria Cecilia at Casa dulce hogar

I'm dreaming of a new bathroom!

2009-09-25T14:26:00.010+01:00

I just wanted to show you my new bath and other stuff that will be going in my new bathroom! I have dreams about using my nice new bathroom. We have been ‘putting up’ with a horrible, cold, dark, damp, spider infested bathroom for three years now and what's worse, it is downstairs, about as far away as you can get from the bedrooms upstairs!

Here's my new bath! Unfortunately it isn’t usable yet due to the fact that not only is it not plumbed in but the room it is standing in needs a lot of work doing to it! Still, the bath is in position and that’s a start! I can kind of get my head around how the room will look now and how much space I have left to work with. As you can see from the style of the bath, I will be having a vintage style bathroom. The silver on the walls is insulation material.

I wanted a big French style mirror for one of the walls and bought this one in Laura Ashley. It is one of the few vintage style things that shop does now.

This is the radiator/towel rail. It is new but Victorian style

Hopefully my dreams will become reality soon!

Sloes, Damsons and Gin!

2009-09-18T09:32:00.012+01:00

I'm told it is a good year for damsons and sloes so that being the case, mother and I went into the orchard to pick some and decided, instead of making pies and jam we'd go down the alcoholic route and make some sloe (and damson) gin.

Damsons in abundance.

I had the task of picking the fiddly little sloes in the hedge while mother...

... had the relatively easy task of picking the damsons off the tree!

Don't they look lovely in their basket.

To make sloe gin you need to weigh out half a pound of sloes.

Buy some cheap gin - supermarket own brand will do and then drink half of it (not all at once)!

Prick the sloes or damsons with a knife and then put into an empty bottle.

Add four ounces of sugar.

Then add the half bottle of gin. Give it a good shake.

Then leave it for a few months to mature, shaking it every day for two weeks. After three or four months you can decant it into clean bottles and start drinking. Cheers!

Hyacinths

2009-09-13T10:46:00.008+01:00

I always think it is nice to have some spring bulbs flowering in the middle of gloomy winter. As September is the time of year for planting bulbs, this year I have decided to pot up some hyacinths. Planting them now means that they should be flowering around Christmas/New Year time.

These are the bulbs. Three of each colour. The white bulbs are yellow flowers and the red bulbs are pink flowers

These are the pots I'm going to be using. They belonged to my grandmother and I remember her always using them to plant hyacinths.

Put a layer of compost in the pot and set the bulbs out on it so that they're not quite touching.

Fill the spaces with compost, making sure that the bulbs just have their noses showing. Water the pots and then leave them in a cool, dark place such as a shed or garage. Check on them regularly and water them sparingly if needed. When the shoots are showing bring them into the light and then hopefully, you will have beautiful hyacinth flowers ready for Christmas.

If they are ready at Christmas it is nice to give them as presents.

A Day of Hunting

2009-09-06T11:03:00.007+01:00

I’ve been trawling the antique shops and reclamation yards this week. The main thing we needed were some ridge tiles for the roof. They need to match the original one’s and have been difficult to find. Anyway, this particular rec yard had exactly what we wanted. The only problem was, it was closed! It will be a good excuse for another trip this weekend!

Mushrooms anyone? I love these garden mushrooms but unfortunately everyone else does too and when you have them in your garden they tend to disappear overnight only to reappear in the nearest rec yard!

I really wanted this tub. Hopefully it will still be there when I return next weekend!

Here's where you come if you need a new chimney pot!

I can spend hours looking around antique shops, especially sprawling ones like this one in Church Stretton that sell junk as well as antiques. I walk around the whole place and then go around again and spot things that amazingly, I missed the first time round.

You really have to search for what you want. The place is stacked with old stuff!

It was a good week this week and there was a lot of nice furniture but unfortunately everything I liked was around the £1000 mark so I settled for a plate and a jug!

I collect blue and white plates and this one is by Minton. I got it for £4.99 so I thought that was quite a good bargain for Minton.

This little chintz jug is by Nelson Ware and it too was a good price at £2.99.

Cast your minds back to 1403!

2009-09-02T18:12:00.018+01:00

Well okay, I know it is quite a long time ago! At the weekend I visited the site of the battle of Shrewsbury which took place in 1403.

The history is all a bit complicated so I am quoting from Wikipedia! The battle was fought in 1403 between an army led by King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Sir Henry Percy of Northumberland. In 1403, unhappy with King Henry IV, the powerful Percy family rose in rebellion. The family's dissatisfaction stemmed from a feeling that they had been mistreated by the king after helping him gain his crown in the wars against King Richard II. Raising an army from among the Richard's former supporters, Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy moved south with the goal of destroying a small Royalist force at Shrewsbury commanded by the 16-year old Prince of Wales. The conflict began, after a long stand off and failed negotiations, with an archery attack from both forces followed by an attack by the King. To cut a long story short the King won and poor Percy was killed.

Anyway, I won’t go on but I will show you some photos of my visit.

This is part of the battlefield itself and as you can see, is now just farmland. Who would have thought that thousands of men fought and lost their lives 600 years ago on these fields!

There are lots of marshy bits too, a bit like The Dead Marshes! I didn’t see any hobbits though!

There is a walkway through the fields where the battle took place. There are lots of things to eat in the hedgerows at the moment.

There is a shop, cafe and exhibition and if you have the strength to pull a longbow you can have a go at archery.

On the battlefield is the Church of St Mary Magdalene. The church was built in 1406 as a memorial to those who fell in battle and is said to be have been built on or near the mass graves.

The beautiful stained glass windows of the church.

The Victorian encaustic tiles of the floor of the church replaced the medieval ones when the church was restored in 1861.

In the church, they have on display, all the coats of arms of the men who fought alongside the king and Henry Percy. I noticed there are two Kynastons (my family name) among them. Maybe they are my ancestors but who knows. It would be nice to think so!

Show us Your Roosters!

2009-08-28T18:19:00.009+01:00

I hope everyone will forgive me. I'm very late with my post. I meant to post when I got home from work but I was called away to babysit so couldn't do any blogging!! Poor excuse I know. Here, finally are my roosters! I have the grand total of two.

This is my Emma Bridgewater chicken! No, I don't keep any money under here, just lots of receipts!

This little rooster usually sits on the doorstep but as a treat I brought him in to protect him against the elements.

Thank you to Barb over at Bella Vista for letting me take part at such a late stage and for hosting .

Roses

2009-08-23T12:42:00.001+01:00

I went for a little trip to the garden centre with mother at the weekend. This place in Hadnall, Shropshire, specialises in roses and they have so many that you really are spoilt for choice. There is a lovely house in the grounds and you can sit outside for a cuppa if you want, so it is almost like a day out in itself.

I wanted to try and find a rambling rose that will 'ramble' all over the fence in my front garden.

Fortunately all the roses are divided into groups so finding the type you want is fairly easy.

I could have bought several roses but I went for a red rambler called 'Rambling Rosie' and it is a repeat flowerer so should look good all summer.

Finally, I couldn't go without showing you this gorgeous creature. I snapped him in my garden on the echinacea and he/she was very obliging and sat there for a while so that I could get some good shots!

Over the past week...

2009-08-23T12:00:00.001+01:00

I decided to paint the kitchen. We only have a 'temporary' kitchen at the moment because of the renovations to the house. The problem is that the kitchen has been this way for the last three years and I am sick of looking at the horrible orange paint and cement on the walls so I decided they had to go.

It may be a lot of work for nothing but I think it was worth it and the white walls looks to much brighter and cleaner.

A few buys and finds...

I bought these little cabinet cups on ebay and...

I found these vintage tea plates in a shed at my mother's house and...

these are new. I splashed out on some Cath Kidston tea plates.

It was my father's 70th Birthday last week and we had a little celebration. Here he is getting a helping had to open his presents.

Rufus helping to blow out the candles!

Award Time!

2009-08-22T16:59:00.001+01:00

I received this award from Michela a few weeks ago. I am afraid I am only just getting around to listing my current obsessions and passing it on! Better late than never I always say!

My current obsessions are:

Ebay: I can't stay away from this site. I spend far to much time on it!

Gardening: I would rather be in my garden than anywhere else unless its raining of course!

Shopping: If I go out to the shops and come back with nothing, I'm extremely disappointed!

Chocolate: I have to have this every day.

University Challenge: I can't miss this show and if I can answer more that three questions correctly then I think I've done well.

I would like to pass this award on to:

Carol For being my first follower and for being such a brilliant finder of so many vintage goodies!

Rebecca For her very pretty blog and for her fantastic creativity.

Aimee For the success of her business and being such an inspiration.

Kate One of my most recent followers who has a good eye for all things vintage.

Congratulations to you all.

A Day In Wales

2009-08-18T14:22:00.001+01:00

Yesterday my family and I took a trip into Wales. We drove to the town of Llanberis where we caught the train to the summit of Snowdon. Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and the little trains have been going to the summit since 1896.

This is our train arriving into Llanberis station.

The journey to the summit takes about an hour. The views on the way up were spectacular and we were very lucky with the weather and the fact the it was clear enough to see a long way into the distance.

After getting off the train there is just a little bit of climbing to do before you reach the actual summit. Katherine, Rufus and Mark nearly at the top!

My father Ken, me and Andy at the top of Snowdon.

My mother, Annette and Rufus at the summit. The people in the background are climbing up to the summit Ordnance Survey point.

People who have walked up taking a breather. It is possible to walk up and back down Snowdon in a day.

The building in the background is the new cafe at the summit of Snowdon. It has been designed to blend in with the side of the mountain.

We stayed at the summit for half and hour and after arriving back down, had lunch and then had a look around Llanberis town and saw Dolbadarn castle.

We also walked to Vivian Quarry. This is a disused slate quarry, last worked in 1958. Vivien Quarry is part of the huge Dinorwic Quarry, the second largest in the world until it closed in 1969.

When you come out of the mine tunnel you reach this pool. The water is very clear and very blue because, apparently, slate produces no sediment. The pool is very popular with divers.

Blue water in Vivian Quarry.

Later that day it was on to Llangollen where we had arranged to meet more family. These are the ruins of Dinas Bran Castle overlooking the town.

Finally, a well deserved drink and meal at the Mill pub in Llangollen.

At The Pub

2009-08-15T14:04:00.001+01:00

I started my week off in style last night....well kind of! My brothers, sister in law, nephew and I went to the Boat House Inn in Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury is the nearest big market town to where I live and last night was a good night to visit as it is the RHS Flower Show at the moment and they always celebrate the end of the day with a big firework display. It is the 122nd flower show so it’s been going a long time! This pub is one of the best free views you can get of the display so of course, it gets packed but has a really good atmosphere. The pub has a big garden that runs along the river where you can sit out and enjoy the views across the Severn and this is where everyone stands to watch the fireworks.

The Boat House Inn
Andy, Mark and Katherine on the ale!

The fireworks are obviously intentended for the paying public at the flower show but you get a really good view of them at the Boat House Inn and the pub takes full advantage of this by putting on a hog roast to get the punters in!

Back to my garden again. The sweet peas are nearly finished now and I will miss them. I have picked a couple of bunches every week to put in the house and they smell gorgeous. I’m told that picking them makes them produce more flowers so hopefully, I will have a few more bunches to come.

Red Currants Harvest

2009-08-14T18:06:00.001+01:00

I'm home from work now and I have a whole week off to enjoy...hooray! I have so many things I want to do but I'm sure I wont be able to cram them all in. One thing I thought I would do is make something with the red currants I picked last week.

I bought this red currant bush for the garden this year. I would ideally like lots of soft fruit in the garden but we just don’t have the space plus that fact that I would rather have flowers than vegetables! I didn’t expect the currant to do as well as it has with it being its first year. Anyway, it has given quite a good crop considering it still such a small plant. If anyone knows any good recipes using red currants, they would be much appreciated.

That's all for now. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Doors and Flowers

2009-08-08T21:31:00.001+01:00

This week the new doors were fitted to the rooms in the extension. They definitely look more like rooms now that they have the plaster board on the walls and the doors fitted and I can picture more easily what to do regarding their interior design! The doors have been painted in a heritage colour by Farrow and Ball called Old White. I prefer this to stark bright white as it gives them a more aged look and will match in with the original old doors on the other bedrooms.

On the landing the walls have been filled in with plaster board between the beams so are now ready for plastering. The door on this room is one of the originals but it has been covered in horrible brown varnish so will have to be stripped and painted again.

This is my Indiana lily and it is currently looking and smelling lovely. It never ceases to amaze me at how well it does each year. It is still in the tiny pot I planted the bulbs in three years ago and gets left outside and neglected all year round.

The echinops are coming into flower now and the bees love them.

I do find it difficult to photograph things close up and not get my shadow in the shot!

Day Out

2009-07-27T19:33:00.001+01:00

I had a day out on Friday. I took a day off work and went to the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire with my mother. We had a wander around the show gardens, but to be honest, there really wasn’t much to inspire me. So many show gardens now are contemporary in their style and have a fondness for concrete and I just don’t like them. We then headed for the floral marquee. This is my favourite place at any garden show. There were so many lovely flowers. I could have spent a fortune but I was good and restricted myself to buying what I really wanted.

I have craved some alliums for years so bought some bulbs. Two different types, Purple Sensation and Christophili and some lilies. A bit later on we met up with my aunt and uncle and had lunch. By the afternoon, unfortunately, the rain came and it was torrential, thunder rain. Everyone retreated into the marquees, making them packed out. After sheltering under a canopy for a while, Mother and I decided to call it a day and made our way back to the car, getting drenched in the process! Despite the rain, it was a good day out but I can’t help but think these shows always look so much better on the television!

The garden above was planted with flowers to attract bees.

I bought some little cane tops. I'm not sure that they are much use but the look very pretty!

Recent Buys and Finds

2009-07-20T17:47:00.001+01:00

I bought some Cath Kidston smelly sachets today to try and make my house smell a bit sweeter! When I got back from my holiday, I realised, after being away from my home for a while, how musty and old it smells!! I think it is because we've exposed all the old plaster and beams or it could just be because I don't do much cleaning!!

I am gradually getting around to painting chairs to go with my kitchen table but I thought we could do with something a bit more comfortable to sit on so I found these cushions on Ebay. You get four for twenty quid which isn't bad I think. They are Sandersons Chelsea print which amazingly, matches the colours of the chairs.

I am collecting pewter. I have the grand total so far, of two pieces! I bought this pewter plate from Cellar Antiques in the Yorkshire Dales a couple of weeks ago. I would love an oak dresser to display them on but finances won't allow so for now they will have to sit on the mantlepiece.

I feel very lucky to have this gorgeous object. It was given to me by my aunt when I visited her in Scotland recently. It is a glass dump from the Pilkington Glass factory in St Helen's near Liverpool. I remember it from my childhood and always admired it so couldn't quite believe it when she said I could have it.

This lovely little bottle was found in a hole in the ground! Well actually, the electricity men dug it up when they came to move a cable than ran across our garden. They dug a dirty great big trench across my lawn but did at least put it all back again after moving the cable. This Mason's Extract bottle was one of many that my brother managed to rescue before they filled the trench back in - bottles and all.

These are two images from my kitchen calendar. Every month is funny but I find Dec and July a real hoot. It is by a company called Kiss me Kwik and they produce hilarious (well in my opinion anyway) cards and gifts.

Holiday Snaps

2009-07-13T13:42:00.000+01:00

I'm back from my break now and my garden has survived thanks to mother and her hard work watering every day, but I was right about everything finishing in the hot weather, there is hardly a flower left.

First stop on my trek up to Scotland was the Yorkshire Dales. I went to Aysgarth to see the falls, famous for their appearance in the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner! Despite the fact that it rained non stop all day, there wasn't a lot of water coming down the falls but they were still very pretty.
Next stop was Prudhoe near Newcastle. This is where my cousin lives with his wife Cathy and their three sons, Harry, Oli and Theo. It was only an overnight stop but it was really nice to see them all again as we don't meet that often because of the distance. We were treated to a very nice meal including a delicious chocolate pudding made by Theo!

Theo adding the finishing touches to his chocolate pudding

The next day we headed up to Portgordon, a fishing village in Scotland to stay with my aunt and uncle and to see my other cousins who live nearby. We arrived at about 6.00 pm, had dinner and then went for a long walk along the beach. It was a beautiful evening and as it doesn't go dark in the summer months, the sun was still shining when we went out at 10.00 pm.

Sunset over the North Sea at Porgordon with HMS Ark Royal on the horizon

More sunset

No trip to Scotland is complete without a visit to Dallas. It was smaller than I imagined and we didnt get to see JR Ewing!! My brother and I now add to the list of idiots who have stood beside the sign for a photo!

We visited a couple of castles and this one is the very Harry Potteresque, Fraser Castle

Me (far right) with some of my family Delphiniums at Fraser Castle

Fraser Castle

Another castle, this time, Brodie Castle, owned by the National Trust

Brodie Castle

It was lovely to see the newest member of the family, Deri, who is 9 months old.

More Garden

2009-07-02T16:11:00.000+01:00

I have been around my garden today photographing all the flowers. I'm off to Newcastle tomorrow to stay with my cousin and then on to Scotland for break. I'm away for over a week so am hoping that my garden will not be too frazzled by the time I come home. The weather here is very hot at the moment so I'm sure everything will be more or less finished by the time I return home. My mum has offered to be on watering duty while I'm away.

The poppies and delphiniums are looking really lovely at the moment.

Stripping!

2009-06-29T19:14:00.000+01:00

This week I have been stripping - wallpaper that is! There are several interesting layers of paper revealed under each other. They all look a bit 1930's in style to me but I have really no idea how old they are. The paper has 'Made in England' printed down the side of the roll, which is something you don't see now. Around the skirting board I have discovered a very fetching border of black gloss paint!

A border of leaves and shell like thingies!

Some lovely flowery paper in various shades of brown!

Finally I got down to the plaster! It seems to have some sort of buff coloured paint on it. The house dates back to the 1700's and I think this might be the first layer of paint ever put on this wall so it is pretty old paint! I am going to have a look at heritage paint colours to see if I can identify it, not that I will be painting the walls back to this colour as it is a bit drab - maybe that's what the paint is called - drab. Anyway, they certainly did like their decor gloomy all those years ago!
On this wall the plaster and the paper came away but it has revealed the lath and plaster and some nice oak beams which we have decided to leave exposed and just plaster in between. It would be a shame to cover them up.

Nostalgia Time!

2009-06-28T12:22:00.001+01:00

Back in the 1960's my grandparents lived in this house. They ran it as a dairy farm and retired in the 1980's. I often used to visit them and this is me standing on the front step in 1966.

When they died the house stood empty for a while so my brother and I decided to buy it off the family and renovate it. This is me now, standing in exactly the same place with my nephew, Rufus. The door was bricked up in the 1980's but you can see in the brickwork where it has been. The original concrete path still runs along the front of the house. It is my intention to put the door back and get the house back to its original layout.

Scaffolding down!

2009-06-25T21:05:00.000+01:00

Finally, the scaffolding on the extension was taken down this week. The brickwork is almost finished. There's just a bit more to do on the other side of the house and then that's it...hooray! You don't know how long I've been waiting to see this scaffolding down. There's going to be some major celebrating and cracking open of the champers with weekend!

The scaffolding has been up around the house for so long I'd almost forgotten what it was like without it!The next job is to point all the old brickwork to match in with the new part and then replace the windows so not much left to do!!!

Around and About the House

2009-06-14T16:11:00.001+01:00

I walked around the house and garden today with my camera and just snapped away!
This old chest of drawers was left in the house when we moved in. I painted it, added some new handles and a mirror and now have a lovely dressing table.

This year I have gone for pink geraniums as I think they look quite good with the pale green leaves of the olive tree.

There are a lot of fledglings in the garden at the moment and the sparrows in particular, like to line up on the fence waiting to be fed.

I bought this rhododenron in a sale at Percy Throwers Garden Centre two years ago. It was really cheap in their sale but had no label and was not in flower so I really had no idea what colour it was so took a chance. This year is the first time it has flowered. It was worth waiting for.

My bed!

The washing!

I inherited this old plant pot off my grandmother.

I finally got around to painting another kitchen chair today.

I painted this green chair a couple of years ago and amazingly it matches my new Cath Kidston mixing bow.

Rainy days and Birthdays

2009-06-08T17:20:00.001+01:00

It was party time this weekend as it was my nephew's second Birthday. He's really into Thomas the Tank Engine as you can see here, blowing out the candles with mummy on a Thomas the Tank Engine cake in his Thomas the Tank Engine t shirt!

Testing out the new sandpit.

More sand on the patio than in the sand pit!

Sandy socks and shoes.

Time for a bit of cricket. Rain actually didn't stop play for a change!

I decided it would be a good idea to rescue some flowers from the garden that have been battered down by the rain. I don't usually like to pick flowers from the garden as I always think it is a shame when they look so pretty in the borders but as these had practically been flattened by the rain I thought I might as well pick them and at least appreciate them in the house.

More work on the house...

2009-06-02T21:14:00.000+01:00

Today we got the roof light fitted into the new roof. It will lighten up the landing which, until now has been really gloomy. We bought a heritage one so that it would be in keeping with the house. There was a big hole in the ceiling for a while but fortunately, the weather has been good so we didnt need to worry!

The one thing I'm looking forward to is to look up through this window at night and see the stars!

My brother checking on the window. As you can see from this photo, we have quite a bit of work to do upstairs. The wall at the end of the landing has been stripped to reveal the original oak beams.

I couldn't resist adding some more of the garden. It really is looking at its prettiest at the moment and in particular, the lupins have gone mad this year.

The foxgloves are looking good now too.

...and the geraniums

Summer's Here!

2009-05-30T22:35:00.001+01:00

Summer is finally here and the corn is ripening! The weather was beautiful today with cloudless blue skies. When the day had cooled down a little, I took a walk down the lane than runs past the house and into the fields to watch the swallows swooping over the corn for flies.

Lupins in the garden

2009-05-25T16:31:00.000+01:00

The lupins are looking really good at the moment.

New Roof

2009-05-25T13:22:00.000+01:00

This weekend my brother started on the roof of the extension and felted and battoned it ready for the slates. The weather on Sunday was perfect. Clear blue sky that we haven't seen for a while and lots of sunshine.

Over the past week...

2009-05-25T13:05:00.000+01:00

Sunday was a total wash out which was unfortunate as I'd been invited to a family BBQ. It turned out to be a good party but we had to have it indoors and cooked the sausages under the grill!

My dad above, waiting for the food! A bit later on the weather improved so we managed to get out into the garden and kick a ball around with my nephew.

Later that day when I arrived home, I got onto Ebay as I'd been watching a Georgian mahogany bow fronted chest of drawers which was to end that evening and amazingly, I won it! The next day my brother and I trecked out in the van to Mold in Flintshire to collect it.

The new chest of drawers. It looks really nice but could do with a good polish. At the moment it's sitting in the living room but eventually I think we'll put it in one of the bedrooms!

Rain, Rain, Rain

2009-05-16T14:43:00.000+01:00

It hasn't rained for ages here but yesterday we had thunder and a torrential downpour. As a result we had little bit of a leaky roof last night! The extension is still to get its tiles on so is not exactly waterproof yet. We used every bucket and bowl we could find in the house to catch the drips! By the morning everything had dried up again.Anyway, thanks to the rain the garden is now looking lovely and the spring flowers have really perked up.

Oteley Garden

2009-05-14T16:13:00.000+01:00

Azaleas and rhododendrons at Oteley

On Sunday I went to have a look around Oteley garden in Ellesmere. It opens to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme for charity and is pretty good value at £3 for entry. At this time of year the rhododendrons and azaleas are beautiful. There is also a very impressive walled vegetable garden and woodland walk than runs along the mere.

Cherry Blossom

2009-05-14T13:44:00.000+01:00

This is my first post!!

2009 is our cherry tree's third spring in our garden. The blossom is beginning to finish now but it was really at it's best a couple of week's ago when I took this photo.