things I like this September and October...

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Some more Pinterest picks.
Blues and pinks, and hand-dyed gems.

sunday morning making

I was a little under the weather yesterday so I failed to do much at all - eating cheese on toast under a blanket was my achievement of the day. 

I really hate to waste the weekend hours so to make up for it I got up nice and early this morning (very much helped by Ben's pre-dawn work alarm) and decided to get to work making a cushion. 

I picked out one of my Shibori samples as a starting point and then matched it with some other fabric pieces I had at home - I really love how they all look together. Nice patterns and colours.

It turned out really well - I love it! 

I haven't really done much patchwork sewing before so this was a good test of my skills. I think one of my vague goals is to practise making things on the sewing machine more and improve my skills (and patience levels). Having these Shibori samples to work with is really encouraging me, so hopefully there'll be more to come.

Shibori overload!

harvest time

I don't think I've done an update on our little garden since way back in June. Our vegetable plot was coming along nicely and we were looking forward to sampling everything once it was ready.

We had mixed results with our produce in the end. The cabbage went the same way as the cucumber (devoured by snails) and although our courgette season started well with some lovely big juicy ones, the snails and slugs soon tracked them down too and we didn't see many more reach full size before being munched away.

Here are some pictures of some of the things we did get to eat...

Our first shiny courgette // One of many handfuls of beans which we enjoyed through August & September // Our tomato crop has not been quite so bountiful // Another lovely bright courgette

I exaggerate a bit with regards to our tomato crop. It has been a bit better than one green tomato, but we have had nowhere near as many as expected, especially as we had about 10 tomato plants (or more) on our patio. They just didn't seem to get going properly this year, and looked a little feeble. I hope we have better results next year.

Below is a photo of my flowering Cima di Rapa, grown from the seeds I received in the secret seed swap. Doesn't it look pretty?

Unfortunately over the last couple of weeks the caterpillars have got to it (disaster!) and now all it's leaves have been stripped away and I have very little hope for it's recovery. I think caterpillars may have overtaken snails as my no.1 gardening enemy. No Cima di Rapa for us this year anyway.

The good garden news is that the season isn't quite over yet, and we have a couple of squashes going strong on the patio. Let's hope they manage to grow big enough to eat before the weather turns wintery.

Aside from harvesting this years mini crops our thoughts have been turning to next year and we have already planted out some bulbs for the early spring months.  We layered them up (bulb lasagne!) to make the most of the space we had and I'm excited about seeing them pop their heads out of the soil when the time is right. 

Daffodil // Tulip // Iris // Snowdrop

I've also been gathering seeds from the garden, ready to plant out next year (or for future seed swaps?)

We had loads of Nigella flowers this year so I collected a bunch of seed heads up once they had stopped flowering and dried out a bit. I also collected some dried sweet pea pods, nasturtium seeds and the last of the runner beans.

All ready for next spring. It's nice how much gardening is about forward planning.

fruit & veg

It has definitely felt like we're in the midst of autumn today. Drizzly and dark.

Here are some super colourful summer photos of fresh fruit and vegetables to brighten up the day. A (healthy) feast for the eyes!

his and hers hats

Ben and I had a couple of festivals planned towards the end of the summer, and I know how cold it can be at night so I decided to make us a couple of cosy hats to keep our heads warm.

I only thought of this shortly before we were due to go to Green Man but luckily they take almost no time at all. I think I made each one in under a week, and enjoyed some garden knitting in the sunshine in the process.

It seemed a bit silly to be making woolly bobble hats at the beginning of August, but I think it was a good decision as it did get quite chilly at End of the Road.

They turned out really nicely. Very comfortable and stretchy. I will probably make some more for the winter months - I have a track record of losing hats so it'll be good to have some spares.

I don't normally post photos of myself on here, but here we are at End of the Road, wrapped up warm...

Luckily Ben wasn't too embarrassed that I'd made us matching hats.