Garden days and needle cases

Today is one of those golden September days that make you want to amble round your garden to take a last look at the fading summer blooms. So why, you might wonder, am I showing you a picture of a festive cutie that is snugly wrapped for winter? All will be revealed later!

First I'll take you into the garden and onto our terrace where growth has been prolific during the recent rainy spell. Weeds manage to spring up from all the cracks and crevices on the paving and keeping them in check is a never ending job. However, there seems little point attacking them now as they are nearing the end of their growing season so those that remain will stay there until next spring.

If we turn and look the other way we'll see my little stone rabbits. They can often be found wearing hairy coats of green moss but they were brushed down recently and today are looking quite presentable. They stand on the corner of an old stone wall that edges the terrace.

And here they are on their corner. The gap between each of the stone provides a home for tiny ferns and ivy-leaved toadflax that seeds itself everywhere and is awash with pretty mauve flowers throughout the summer. Now let me show you what is happening to this lovely wall !!!!!!!

Hubby is knocking it down!!

And what a dreadful mess it looks. But fear not, there is method in this madness. We are soon having a window in our breakfast room replaced by a patio door which will look out onto this stone wall. The wall is very pretty and colourful in summer but can be depressingly grey throughout the winter. And so the length of wall in front of the window is being removed and we will be able to look into a small area of garden which will be a nice place to sit once the jungle has been cleared. A low wall will be built on the far side to prevent people falling into the garden below which wouldn't be a fun thing to do. If we walk towards the tree you will see what I mean. . . . . . . . take care crossing the lumps of rock.

Here we are beside the tree and as you can see the garden is many feet below us so a tumble would not be advisable. I'll invite you back once the project is complete but it might take a while!

But that's enough about stone walls and gardens, let's get back to the stitching I've been doing recently. In the last post I showed you three little needles cases with dollies on the front that I'd put in my Etsy shop. When two of the girls were chosen to go and live and Australia I suddenly felt very sorry for the little one that remained as she had no one to chat to!! Being rather soft-hearted where dollies are concerned I knew I'd have to provide her with a few friends and so here they are.

I used linen and a pretty Liberty lawn for the needle case on the left and pink and white candy stripe and blue cotton strewn with summer daisies for the one on the right.

Knowing these little girls would definitely not want to be hidden away in a drawer or cupboard when not in use I have given each needle case a tiny handle which means it can be hung on a hook or knob so that each little girl can smile at anyone passing by.

I'll finish with the little girl in festive colours that I showed you at the start of this post. I hate thinking about Christmas at this time of year but the weeks are quickly slipping by and anyone keeping an eye open for a small, easy to pack gift in festive reds and greens might be wanting a needle case. To add extra sparkle I've attached to the hat a tiny silver charm in the shape of a holly leaf. The needle cases can be found in my Etsy Flutterby Stitch shop.

Today is Saturday and the weather is lovely but it is due to take a turn for the worse overnight and tomorrow we are promised gales and torrential rain. . . . As we live in a wood a tree will probably fall on the power line (again) and we shall have a power cut. On the positive side this would mean I could get on with my new knitted dolly as the sewing machine won't be working!!!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends

Eli x

Not yet five

Greetings friends. When I found this sweet picture recently I remembered that Flutterby Patch will be five years old next month. How time flies. This little girl is on the cover of a 1950's booklet entitled 'not yet five'. Doesn't it make you long to be that age again.

After five years at Flutterby Patch I'm having a bit of change, but I'll tell you more about that later.

Meanwhile here in the UK we've spent the last two weeks basking in the summer sun and just like the tiny tot above I've been able to do plenty of solar drying. How sweet the laundry smells when it comes in from a day in the fresh air.

The garden has been a blaze of summer colour and a joy to behold. But of course good things don't last forever and overnight heavy rain has flattened the flower beds.

Yesterday I sat on this old seat in its sun filled, lavender scented corner of the garden. Today the corner looks quite grey.

As I cannot bear to show you my poor rain soaked flower beds I will show you our ancient Scots Pine tree. It is over 250 years old which means that when our famous Lakeland poet William Wordsworth was born in 1770 this tree was already about 10 years old. What fascinating tales it could tell.

It's an enormous specimen and over the centuries the westerly winds have taken their toll on its huge branches.

Some of you might remember from a previous post that I am now working with our local red squirrel society. One day soon I'm hopeful that reds will return to live in our garden but we've seen no sign of them yet. The Scots Pine tree is the red squirrel's favourite nesting place and the tree's cones contain lots of nourishing seeds. I always keep a watchful eye on this tree just in case a red calls in for a tasty meal.

Ever hopeful I have nailed a squirrel feeding box to my gazebo and as you can see there is a tempting mix of nuts inside. Garden birds are unable to reach the nuts thanks to the hinged lid. Squirrels however are cunning little creatures and soon discover that the lid can be lifted and the meal inside is easy to reach. There is even a little perch for the squirrel to sit on. The birds are currently in another part of the garden munching on food provided for them in squirrel-proof feeders.

And now more about the change that is happening here. I've decided to concentrate on a new blog and you won't be surprised if I tell you that red squirrels will put in a regular appearance. I want to feature more of our Lake District countryside but meanwhile Flutterby Patch will continue as before. 

I've already put the first blog post on line. It was written during our recent sunny spell so is quite a colourful post . If you'd like to pop over and take a look you can find my new blog at Sheltered by Trees

Until next time

Eli x

Flowers and fun

Thankfully the sun has been shining on the London Olympics but here in the mountainous north west of England the clouds and rain remained until just a few days ago.

So what to do when you can't enjoy your summer garden? Buy a new mug of course! When I first saw this it immediately reminded me of my blog banner which was the perfect excuse to give it a good home!

The mug is from Liberty, one of my favourite London stores, and the floral pattern is based on one of their 1950s fabric designs. I've loved Liberty fabrics since I was very small and used to visit the store with my mum who could never return home without at least one length of floral cotton lawn.

I've decided that perhaps now is the time to put some of my Liberty printed fabrics to good use. I have a few ideas buzzing around in my head but nothing definite as yet.

In my last post I promised to let you know about my tiny knitted dolls. Well I'm afraid this is as far as I've got and they are still a work in progress. I'm hoping there will be a pattern available soon but working with the Liberty lawn is proving very difficult to resist and knitting is currently taking second place!

Meanwhile I can tell you that as soon as the sun started shining last week the playroom door burst open and an avalanche of dolls and rabbits headed for the garden.

Belinda Jane (one of the more sensible dollies) did a spot of gardening and helped to remove some of the dead rain-battered flower heads.

Olympic cycling events have been featured on TV quite a lot in recent weeks and when Lucy Lavender spotted the old red bicycle leaning against the ivy clad wall she decided she'd chance here luck at a bit of speed cycling. Fortunately the ivy had wrapped itself tightly around the wheels preventing Lucy from disaster!

Several rascals climbed into the wheelbarrow hoping for a free ride but were foolish enough not to realise that the barrow was on a steep slope. Thankfully I spotted it just in time and a major dolly spillage was narrowly avoided.

Would-be sprinters and marathon runners amongst the young bunnies had to be watched closely as they would have certainly disappeared into the nearby wood where predators roam. Poor Mother Bunny did here best to keep the youngsters in the basket but with little success. This little rascal dashed off at high speed and was lost for quite a while.

Everyone searched the garden in vain. After quite some time he was spotted with his head protruding from this watering can. The scamp had climbed inside and become well and truly stuck.

Luckily Kate was on hand to pull him out otherwise goodness knows how long he'd have been in there.

Even though dolls and rabbits were scattered around the garden it didn't take long for them all to spot the picnic hamper when Posy laid it on the check tablecloth. Alice and Lucy were the first to arrive and watched in mouth-watering expectation as the basket was opened.

Gathering everyone together at the end of the day might have been a problem if it hadn't been for Merrily Ann's bright idea. She suggested using the tablecloth to transform her wooden bed into a boat so that everyone could 'sail' back to the playroom. This was an excellent plan and 100% successful. It was just possible to squeeze everyone in, right down to the last tiny bunny who, as you can see, very nearly missed the boat.

I hope you have enjoyed watching the London Olympics on TV, or perhaps been a spectator at one of the events. A knitter in London, living close to the Olympic Park, has displayed a number of little knitted athletes in her garden and they've proved very popular with passers-by. If you'd like to take a look please click on the link below. There is a description written under each picture.

WOOLLY SPORTING RIVALS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19222190

Around the garden

I love having pots of flowers on the patio throughout the summer. So with the risk of frost now over (hopefully) I visited the local garden centre yesterday and purchased a variety of colourful young plants with plans to fill the pots over the weekend. The evening weather forecast however brought unwelcome news. The coming weekend could see unseasonal falls of snow in the north. My heart sank. These little beauties will have to live indoors for the next few days until the worst is over.

Today is warm and sunny with no hint of the cold blast to come so I took a stroll around the garden with my camera.

My son and his wife gave me these gorgeous daisies as a Mother's Day gift. I transplanted them into a large pot and they have bloomed their hearts out ever since. They start small and grow 'fat and fluffy' as they mature.

If you have visited my blog during May in previous years you will have seen my pics of our rhododendrons and azaleas. Here in the English Lake District they grow like weeds and the garden is currently ablaze with colour.

This pale pink beauty hangs over the wall beside the kitchen.

Vibrant magenta lights up the driveway.

Scarlet blooms spill onto the lawn

The edges of our garden are left to grow wild and mingle with the woodland that surrounds our property and the whole place echoes with bird-song.

Fresh new buds open and reach for the sky whilst wild flowers like these delicate white wood anemones bask in the warm sunshine.

I always keep a watchful eye on this young horse chestnut tree (below). It started life as a shiny brown conker as of course all horse chestnut trees do. The conker is the special ingredient as it is one that I picked up from the garden of my all time favourite gardening guru, Rosemary Verey. I planted the conker in her memory hoping that it would become a mature tree one day and so far it is obliging.

For many years I had wanted to visit Rosemary's famous garden in the English Cotswolds but she passed away in 2001 before I'd made the trip. Then in 2002 I discovered that her garden was welcoming visitors for just a few days before closing for the last time.

On a sunny day in early October 2002, hubby and I travelled to the much loved garden that we had admired from a distance for many years. Since her death it had been maintained by loyal gardeners and was full of late summer blooms and berries and of course, conkers.

If I could choose the perfect house in which to live it would have to be Rosemary Verey's 300 year old rectory (above) which is built from honey-coloured Cotswold limestone.

Her laburnum walk became world famous so you might be familiar with this picture.

The old rectory has now become a country house hotel and the owners open the garden to the public at specified times. Rosemary's spirit lives on but for me some of the magic has gone and I'm pleased I saw the garden just as she had left it.

But back to reality . . . when not working in my own rambling patch I've been spending time making small items to sell at a local village fair. It will be held in June in aid of the village church that has a leaking roof in need of urgent repair. Here in England our ancient churches require constant money raising events to fund repairs to roofs, windows, bells and organs etc.

Kate and Lucy have been assisting me and looking after these pencil dolls that I knitted last week. They are quick to make, only take small amounts of yarn and hopefully will appeal to young customers who don't like to return home empty handed. They should raise a few extra pence for the church roof repairs.

I used the pattern that I featured on my blog last year. If you'd like to create a fun pencil doll or two then you will find the pattern here -  FREE Pencil Doll Pattern

Have a great weekend everyone

Bunny fun

What a week we've had in the playroom! The mischievous bunny children have taken up residence in my wool basket and have spend every day creating havoc.

Our search for a mother bunny to look after these little ones continues. The 'Wanted - Mother Bunny' poster we put in the playroom window last week has unfortunately brought no Mother Bunnies to our door. To be honest, I'm not surprised as the five little rascals are such a spirited lot that many mothers would probably want to disown them.

Anyway, as today was fine and sunny we decided to pin the 'Wanted' notice to the old tree at the edge of the wood. Hopefully a passing bunny would take pity on the little scamps and offer them a good home. The dolls, of course, want the bunnies to 'stay forever' but I'm not sure that is a good idea as their unruly behaviour is beginning to influence some of the younger dollies.

Being such a lovely spring day the ever sensible Posy volunteered to take all five bunny children for a ride in the old pram and set off across the lawn. Of course they wriggled and squirmed but Posy kept on going.

Then all of a sudden, and with no warning, they began scrambling out of the pram. Posy's loud protestations had no effect and every bunny set off at top speed across the lawn in the direction of the wood. What had startled them? . . . . . . . . . . .

Maybe this had something to do with it! A lady bunny was looking at the 'Wanted' poster. Beside her was an empty wheelie-basket and she appeared to be very interested in what she was reading.

Suddenly two little girl bunnies ran towards her. She picked them up, gave them a big hug and then placed them firmly in the empty basket.

The third little girl quickly followed and was placed next to her sisters. But where were the boys?

Not surprisingly the boy's escape plan failed miserably and they were unceremoniously picked up and thrust into the basket alongside their sisters.

Meanwhile, Posy had returned to the playroom with the empty pram and the dolls examined it in disbelief. Was it really empty? Had the bunny children gone forever? They didn't have to wait long to find out . . . . . . . .

Through the playroom window they saw a wheelie-basket loaded with captured bunnies being dragged across the lawn by none other than their very own mother. She told us how one day last week her five rascals had scampered off into the wood looking for adventure. When they failed to return she feared she would never see them again. But here they all are, alive and well thanks to the care given to them by the dolls. She asked if she and her children could she stay for a while in the playroom.

This was the response she got! Need I say more!

So many of you said such nice things about my pattern for the 'Baby Bunny in a Basket' that I decided a Mother Bunny would have to come next. And so here she is.

A pattern for the Mother Bunny in this blog post can be found in my Dollytime Etsy shop.

 'Baby Bunny in a Basket Crib is available from my Etsy shop.