May Day Catchup

Well April flew by and was surely a month of contrasts! We did have a few sunny days for walking on the beach and even a visit to the local nature reserve.

But there have been plenty of dull, cold and wet days just right for staying in and sewing. I discovered flex frames and gave them a go. I've always wanted to make little coin purses but have been put off those snap frames as they looked rather difficult and I didn't fancy all that glueing.

The flex frame is much easier and suitable for straightforward flat purses or the boxed corner kind. I found a nice pattern in this gorgeous Japanese craft book (don't worry it's the English version).

Anyway, it seems I missed Easter altogether here on the blog but I did enjoy making a few Eastery bits and bobs when I found Manuela's Etsy shop and her cute felties. These chickens were my favourites. I managed to machine stitch them rather than hand stitching as recommended in the pattern.

Okay, I know snails aren't normally an Easter image but they were so cute I couldn't resist! Could you!

The garden has come to life again and is demanding my attention.... rather more attention than I've been able to give and there's a lot of weeding to catch up on!

The trouble with leaving the blog for a month is there is much to catch up on - I think rather more than will fit into one blog post. So I'll finish now and hopefully write a bit more later.

But one more photo from the garden. These little creatures demand feeding every day now as they are busy with courting, nest building, egg laying and brood feeding. They are costing me a small fortune but they give so much pleasure I don't begrudge them one shilling! 

Sweetly Stitched

We celebrated Mothering Sunday last weekend here in the UK. My mother is 92 and not in good health so apart from flowers there is nothing she really wants. But I wanted to stitch something for the occasion and as I'd lost my phone case the week before decided to make one.  I based my make on a project for an eyeglasses case in Amy Sinibaldi's Sweetly Stitched Handmades

so I can fit it into the 2017 Sewing Book Challenge over on Instagram. However I have changed the design a bit by decorating the front with some sewing illustration. I've a Pinterest board of mid-century czechoslovakian matchbook labels - such wonderful designs - and adapted this boy and girl to fit in with the Mothers Day theme. I haven't tried to translate but guess these two labels are encouraging a healthy diet but I changed the cabbage into a bunch of flowers and the dish of yogurt(?) into a nice cuppa!

I liked the project so much I just had to try a few more and this time did use Amy's design. Pretty happy with how they turned out. And of course they don't have to be for glasses. My phone fits perfectly into one and I'm sure you can think of other uses - a few sewing notions or crochet hooks for crafting on the go comes to my mind. I like to have a few small items on hand for gifting and these fit the bill nicely.

After all that stitching I awarded myself a Mothers Day treat of a Sunday afternoon walk by the Alwen Reservoir.

After watching an item on BBCs Gardeners World the Friday before I was on the lookout for Lichens and Mosses as I seen lots there before. I wasn't disappointed - just look at those colours!

Then in the evening it was lovely to see that very same area featured on another BBC programme Countryfile.

PS - I found my phone case under a chair a few days later whilst looking for something else!!! Isn't it always the way! 😄

Picture taking woes!

I finished another project for the Sewing Book Challenge last week and it was another requested gift - this time to cheer my friend's niece who is at college in far away London and missing her home in North Wales.

Its another make from my favourite Sew Illustration, an embroidered needlebook.  I made a pincushion to match and added the recipient's name.

January is not a good time in my house for taking photos of my makes. Even on sunny days the houses opposite shade my windows. I sometimes add my daylight lamp but for some reason it still doesn't make a decent photo so I usually resort to Windows photo editor. But often even that doesn't produce a photo I'm pleased with.

 
I had such problems with this photo of two zip purses this week. Even now I'm not happy with it. I think its something to do with the thread I used - a dark one for the duck and light for the lamb. Too much contrast for the camera.  I found inspiration for the little animals in Francoise's lovely book illustrations. I've loved her books for some time and always thought her simple shapes would make good embroidery motifs.  I'll be trying some more.


Anyway - January is almost over and the sun is rising higher in the sky every week. I'm looking forward to the time when it rises above the houses on the other side of the street and will fill my sewing room with light.
 

Yesterday was sunny and cold - a perfect winter day.  I went for my favourite walk and visited some of my favourite trees. And on the sunny side of the lane the snowdrops were in bloom.

 
These are always the earliest to flower - those in the garden won't come out for another couple of weeks and by then we'll be half way through February and definitely looking forward to Spring!

I've squirrelled it away....

I finished a little gift for my friend to give her friend. Apparently they have a squirrel thing going on between them so I hope they both like it. I like making zip purses - they are so useful for storing bits and bobs. This one is big enough for pens and pencils.

I found the squirrel design in an old Dryad Press leaflet entitled Embroidered Dresses for Children. Its written by one of my very favourite embroiderers Priscilla Mary Warner and features five sweet little girls' dresses decorated with embroidered motifs 1950s style. This gingham pinafore is my favourite. Sadly I fear no little girl would submit to wearing such an outfit nowadays. 

And if you read my last post, you might like to see the finished autumn leaf panel. I really enjoyed working it. A quick and easy project that encouraged me to carry on with another gift using embroidery - a small pram/car seat quilt. Already started it!! :o)

Photographed on yet another dull and grey day - even outdoors doesn't produce a particularly good image at the moment!  But we do have the occasional sunny day, for example last Friday was beautiful! I sneaked off by myself to walk on the beach.

Hmm, a shell embroidery is floating around in my head - perhaps nearer the summer!

Bank Holiday Walking

Well not much was going on here this bank holiday (no transport available for any jolly outings) so when the sun came out I took a walk to the cemetery.  Its a lovely walk, especially at this time of year when the lanes are lined with beautiful swathes of Ladies' Lace and the hills are clear and close after rain.

Along the way I found many of my favourite wild flowers.  Here are a few you might recognise - well actually I've named them for you.

I was happy to see these bluebells were our own British variety not the invading European bells which are usually seen in hedgerows and verges near gardens these days.  Although most of these wild flowers do turn up in my semi wild garden I've never seen Bluebells there but there are dozens of the blue and white bells from 'The Continent'.  Still, I can't complain, they are quite pretty, but like daffodils their leaves have to be left to die back naturally to feed the bulbs for next year.  Can't wait to cut them off - they do look so untidy.

I often wonder why my garden looks so untidy while the farmers manage to keep their land looking so neat and tidy.  Lots of very hard work I suppose.

Its not a long walk, about two and a half miles there and back.  And its on the flat, which is unusual round here. But it was a warm afternoon so I casted my clout - after all the May was most definitely out! 

You were right!

Well you six commenters are all winners!  I did go for a walk but I also made some more roses yesterday morning, started on the garden in the afternoon and had a nice bath with my book as well.  And I'm very glad too as after two glorious sunny days the sky has clouded over today - but it is slightly warmer!

Which is good as these poor little lambs must have had a few hard nights lately - I hope they snuggled up tight to Mum. 

We haven't had much snow here - even the top of nearby Moel Famau only had a sprinkling.  There wasn't even enough to tempt out the usual sledgers we normally see when driving over the tops to the next town on Saturday.

But that sprinkling does show up the cut heather nicely.  These cut strips encourage young growth in the heather to temp the wildlife and make spaces for Red and Black Grouse to lek.

I always stop at this gap in the hedge here.  It looks down the Vale of Clwyd towards the sea - though you can't actually see the sea.  I thought I might take this photo every month this year to watch the change of season.

Although not an official footpath, I've been walking by this stream for over 40 years so I hope the farmer doesn't mind.  It has a lot of memories - not least watching my son and his cousins playing in the stream in summer and walking the family's yellow lab Pen many years ago - she loved to paddle in the water.  And there were always curlews calling on late afternoons in winter but I haven't heard them for a long long time.

But I did stop to watch and listen to a large flock of goldfinches in the top of an oak tree.

It was very cold - the puddles were still frozen late afternoon - but at least that meant the very muddy bit I usually have to try and jump around posed no problem this time.

And finally back into town.  This first bungalow always reminds me of the little house at the beginning of episodes of Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men we watched as little children in the 50s.

Well, as I said you are all going to be winners and expect a little something in the post in the next week or so.  If I haven't got your address (that's you Julie, Ethel and Gill) please do let me have it.  You can email me on annhayes2008@gmail.com.  Look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day all - unfortunately the sun has disappeared behind the clouds today but we did have good weather for the Easter holiday so can't complain.  Here's a picture I took on Good Friday when we made a trip to Marl Hall Wood near Llandudno.  This is Ffrith Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and in the distance you can just make out Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm - apparently destined to be the largest in Europe!

Climbing to the top of the wood you can enjoy views across the Conwy estuary to the mountains of Snowdonia.  To me this view over Llandudno Junction is rather spoiled by the sun shining on the roofs of the caravan park and the faint noise of traffic on the A470 below.  Still it was worth the climb to sit in the sunshine and watch the many bumble bees around us looking for some nook or cranny to build a nest.

Down by the Riverside

There's much to do in the house and in the garden but I've been itching to go walking in the fields since the good weather arrived at the weekend.  So I skived off for an hour or so this afternoon.  The river banks have been "tidied up" by the council in this field, as you can tell by the piles of wood chippings left at regular intervals.  This has rather spoiled the footpath as although you can't see in this photo, the ugly industrial buildings and council yards along the opposite bank are much in evidence now they are no longer screened by trees and undergrowth.

These three little chaps were certainly on a mission to get from A to B as quickly as possible!  I kept overtaking them as they dallied now and then in the shallows, but in next to no time they were there again paddling away as fast as they could. 

There's nothing as spring-like and sunshiny as a Celandine - they are like little candles lighting up the hedgerows.

I love to see a ploughed field all ready for planting.  I wonder what will grow here this year.

You know its a good day when you can see the moon lit up by the sun.  Its been evident in the daytime sky for the past three days.

And the sky has been that intense blue you only get in the colder months of the year.  Worth a little frost at night don't you think!

For the rest of the week I've promised myself I'll spend all the time I can tidying up the ravages of the winter and recent storms in the garden but I'm glad I couldn't resist the call of the fields today.

And I have been a bit productive too.  These little corsage brooches I made with Mothers Day in mind.  I found the pattern in Nicki Trench's book Crochet with Flowers.  If you like Nicki's patterns as much as I do you might be interested to know she has recently started a Crochet Club.  I thought we would be getting an exclusive pattern every month and special offers on yarn etc but today I was delighted to find out we will be receiving the yarn to make this month's pattern too - a small corsage similar to this one.  There's still time to join and get the pattern and yarn yourself if you are quick.  :)