In the Garden

 There has been a lot of pottering in the garden and in the potting shed here this long weekend.....

 .................lots of flowers still to enjoy, especially mallow, geraniums, sweetpeas, daisies, lavender.....some late flowering roses, huge hydrangeas...........

 ...............and below.....a very exciting flower for us....our first water lily in the pond that we remade last year.......the water lily bloom had been in bud for a few days and then charlie discovered it fully opened and ran in to tell me the good news :).........

................the sweetpeas are still happily flowering and i want to enjoy them for as long as possible..

 ....................both in the garden and in the house too............i try to keep a nice balance between picking them and leaving some on the canes so the garden still looks pretty.............

 .............this year i have grown lots more geraniums.....i put some in a window box at this tiny window by the back door.....they have been flowering all summer, three different plants together making a nice display...............

 ..................lots of white daisies grow all over our garden but here are some pink ones for a change....

 ..............the mallow was so tall and the flowers so heavy with rain drops i had to cut some of the branches............i put them in a big glass sweetie jar in the potting shed............

 ................besides tending my garden flowers i have been crocheting lots of flowers too for my latest blanket.......here are some close ups of the border being worked this weekend..............

 ................a simple shell pattern that is quick to crochet..............i will show you more pictures of the finished flowery blanket very soon.............

 ................i loved making this blanket and am thinking of making another one with the same pattern but different colours..............

...............thank you for visiting me here dear readers, and for your sweet comments too, it is always a pleasure to hear from you...........i wish you a happy, sunny, flowery, crafty week ahead.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

August Makes

 My summer brights throw is one of the projects i finished this august and it was a pleasure to make with its simple granny stripes and warm colours that remind me of summer flowers and fruits.....

 ...............and colourful striped sticks of seaside rock too................

 ..........most of the crochet was done at home and i finished the border when we were away at the seaside.............

 ............the yarn is all stylecraft special dk except for two of the greens...the bright one is from king cole and the softer one is a dolly mixture one by patons.............the border is a few rows of single crochet in colours from the main blanket............it is a lovely little throw to use, especially for children and babies to have tucked round them...................

 ............some nice sustenance is always need during crochet and other crafting sessions don't you find?................below is little miss molly showing off her amazing new summer hair cut.......

 ..............the hydrangeas are in full bloom here and i love being able to make a really quick and colourful flower arrangement with a few snips of the secateurs and a pretty jug............

 .................the next august make i would like to show you is my project in the new issue of crafts beautiful magazine.............(it is actually the october issue that is on the newsstands now).........

 ...............i made a set of three dotty bears which can be gifted individually...............

 ..............or made into a pretty garland to decorate a playroom or nursery............

 ..............you can find out more about the magazine and download patterns on the crafts beautiful website here...............

...............wishing you all a happy last few days of august.............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for taking the time to leave such sweet comments.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beside the Seaside

 Here we are home from the seaside again............and lolly wore her striped sun dress for a lot of the time as we had some bright sunny days...........lots of sea breezes too, exciting for the sailing......

 ...............we love to stay in beaumaris, it is such a pretty little town and the colourful cottages looked prettier than ever this year.............

............this year we had baby rhys with us for the first time, and molly the dog too........they both seemed to enjoy their first visit very much :)..........i loved spending time with my daughters and their families as well as watching my hb sail his boat in the menai straits regatta............

 .................we spent some time on the beach, collecting shells and looking for sea glass........charlie found me a special piece to keep for always :).............daisy found some little pebbles that we are going to paint bees on next week............below is baby rhys's first bucket and spade set....

 ............i love the bright colours of seaside toys..........and i love the wide blue skies at the coast....

 .............i sewed some of this seaside flowers hexie quilt while staying here a few years ago......this time i was working on my lucky dip quilt which i showed here last time, and also i finished the border on my summer throw.....will show you that in a post very soon ........

 .............i had a lovely time visiting the janet bell gallery and met up with lovely janet herself......and she took me to see her light and airy studio where i had a sneak peek at some of her new work....janet is creating some gorgeous new flower paintings ready for the *happiness exhibition* at the gallery opening on 19 September and featuring many other wonderful artists too..........find out more here......

 ...............i love the colours and freshness of janet's style, whatever subject she is painting.....

 ...............i came away with some treats :)........and now i have some treats for one of my lovely readers too, as it is time to announce the winner of my little lucky dip giveaway......i gathered together the following for my little holiday souvenir package.....three of janet's gorgeous seaside cards, a shell shaped china dish, three tiny soaps in nautical paper with a handmade decoration, some blue seed beads in a tiny bottle and a handful of real seashells.............

 ................and the winner is: christine barnsley of patchwork allsorts.......congratulations, christine, and if you would like to email me your address i will send your gifts to you :).......

..............thank you to every one who visits me here, and for the lovely comments too........it is always a pleasure to hear from you dear readers.........wishing you a happy sunny week with lots of crafty inspirations........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lucky Dip

 This week i have been working on a new quilt with a bright and fresh nautical theme.......

 .............it is called LuCkY DiP just because that was the name that popped into my head when i began putting the fabrics together.................i used lots of bonnie and camille *daysail* fabrics from some sweet charm packs that i've hoarded for a while, together with plenty of other fabrics from my sewing cupboard stash..............

 ...............i cut some octagon shapes and joined them together with little red squares............

 ...............there are some nice text printed fabrics in the daysail collection, and i have also added in some lovely postage patterned *ava* by windham fabrics which makes me think of seaside postcards :)............

 ................i am really enjoying sewing this new quilt and will be taking it with me to the seaside next week along with my (almost finished) crochet summer throw................

 ...............we are going to the sunny isle of angelsey as usual at this time of year, as mister p always sails in the menai straits regatta...........we have the family to stay and meet up with lots of friends too so it is a good time each year.................

 ..............as i will be taking a little blog break next week i thought it would be nice to offer my lovely blog readers a little summer GiVeAwAy..........it is a sort of lucky dip mystery giveaway.........

 ...............i am planning to bring you a present back from my holiday at the seaside.........of course, i don't know what it will be yet ;)............but i will be thinking of you dear readers while i am away and choosing things for a lucky dip surprise package..............just leave me a comment on this post if you would like to enter the lucky dip giveaway and i will announce the winner when i get back.........you don't have to be a follower, and anyone can enter from anywhere in the world (but please make sure you include an email address if you don't have a blog, so i can let you know if you win).............the giveaway will close on sunday august 16................

 ..................below is a little picture of where we will be going..............the little card shows a painting  called *beaumaris beach*  by the wonderfully talented janet bell whose gallery is in beaumaris and i am so looking forward to visiting there too, just as i do every year........... i always find something lovely there...............

..............thank you for your visits and sweet comments, it is such a pleasure to hear from you, dear readers............wishing you a happy august with lots of sunny days and crafty inspirations.........good luck in the lucky dip :)...................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooxxxxxxxx