A fab week.

I put all my buttons out in the shop last week, to make jewellery and button hearts and to demonstrate how to make them. Customers could also have a go and make a button heart for £5.00, which proved really popular.
I poured out my jar of Mother of Pearl buttons (for me and not to share ;) I made two necklaces that I really like, inspired by the sea. I am going to do a beach window and these will look perfect alongside a couple of my beach paintings and a window full of pebbles.
I also made some tiny mother of pearl hearts also for the window, I sold a couple on Sunday so will have to make some more :) I will be leaving the buttons out this week and adding a few big beads and some hemp to make crochet necklaces.
In Wincanton we are very lucky to have Jenny who runs Divine Wines, not only does she have excellent taste in wine but is also an amazing cook. Part of the Wine shop is a cafe and outside is beautiful..if you like to get that 'holiday moment' this is the place to visit.
On Friday night Jenny ran a Greek evening, a five course delicious meal, (I could hardly move afterwards!) everyone sat on the long tables and though we didn't know anyone to start with we soon relaxed and enjoyed the company around us. It was an amazing evening and we could walk home ya! The wall art was gorgeous and I'm sorry to say I have forgotton the artists name, the picture are weather proof, a brilliant idea for the winter.
On Sunday I did the monthly Artisan Market at Catherine hill in Frome, I did not have any help so didn't get much chance to go around the market, I managed to take a couple of pictures of the fab shops that can be found on Catherines Hill.
and this stall of Sunflowers from a farm in Codford (which I would like to get to before the seasons out), they sold out in a few hours.
I was in my usual place at the bottom of the hill, I couldn't believe how much stock I had made over the last month, which means being in the new shop is starting to work. My next job will be to find some galleries and shops to supply with my scumble collection and brooches.
I loved Laura Merritt's work, unfortunatly I could only afford a couple of her cards but would really like one of her embroidered fabric canvases for my kitchen.
Monday we went for a picnic to Stourhead.
With My Mum and Sister in Law, was great to get the cousins together.
A really relaxed picnic in an amazing spot, probably spoiled a few photographs lol

Think Mum was pleased to see us altogether, Arthur actually took this pic with my camera with the zoom lens attached.
I have also been enjoying flowers from my garden, it has been great to walk down the garden and come back armed with beautiful flowers to brighten up the house :)
Hope you all have a fab week x

A Beautiful Week

What a fantastic hot week its been.
I had a stall at the Anonymous travelling market on Saturday and it was sweltering from very early on. I stupidly did not take my marquee, thinking we would be inside. I like how the stall looks but I had to keep hiding behind my van in the shade. Unfortunatley the market was so Anonymous very few people showed up. I enjoyed sitting in the sun (and shade) crocheting and listening to the live music. Maria (who's bunting you can see in the pic) came along in the morning and went and got me some suncream to stop me burning for which I am very gratefull!


It has been amazing to have the doors open in the sitting room drinking the odd glass of wine and enjoying the full moon :)
The flowers are all coming out in the garden, Star flower one of my favorites to add to salads along with nasturtium flowers (we eat very pretty salads lol)
The sweet peas have come out at last and look gorgeous.

and I have been lucky enough to spend time reading the paper and drinking tea amongst the flowers half way down the garden, my own little hiding place.
Arthur had his first sleep over on Saturday and they thought it was great to watch Doctor Who together, I made them a midnight feast (which luckily they ate at 7.30 ) and they were asleep by 8 after quite a bit of chatting. On Sunday we went to The Wincanton Classic Car Show which we thought would be very small.
But it turned out to be a really good show of vehicles, the guys were in there element.
Arthur and Ted loved all the steam engines,
Tony loved the bikes, He has an old BSA which he is slowly restoring.
Sunday afternoon we all planned to watch the World Cup with England versus Germany, Arthur has been loving the football and insisted we put flags on the van.
George and Tony put up a new goal for Arthur (well thats what they said) Think they went for a rather big one!
George thought he'd test out the goal....I don't think Tony was quite ready it was hilarious, he got quite badly hit by the ball as you can see from his face, I haven't laughed so much in ages.
Then Tony decided he would get revenge..not sure George was ready for it either, but he did turn sideways I notice ;)
The boys had a little game then went in to watch the match, which ended 4-1 to Germany, with a goal that was disallowed because the Ref didn't see it, he was the only person in the world not to see it, not sure about the rules there! It was so funny reading all the comments on Twitter...quite a bit of swearing going on!
I have also been busy making this week, I sold out of the felted brooches so thought I would make some more, I am also working on scumbled bags, which I am lining with recycled jumpers, and cushions which will be backed with recycled jumpers. I love playing with colours and textures like this. Great fun.
Arthur picked me this lovely bunch of flowers from the garden. I feel so lucky this year that we have the luxury of picking our own flowers :) Veg is also looking good and I forgot to put the picture in!

How does your garden grow..

Above is the view of our garden from the top bedroom. These pics were taken 2 weeks ago when we had a break in the storms, we had been planning to start tackling the garden on the Sunday and were amazed to get a gorgeous sunny day to start. Take a walk with me to see the very exciting but daunting project. The garden has been neglected for many years so we aim to clear it and cut back the shrubs to see what there is to work with. I am sure it will be a fairly slow process one little bit at a time until next spring.
I have been clearing the patio area and the terraces below.
With the aim of planting herbs in pots and covering the different levels of terrace. I love to use fresh herbs in cooking and just go outside the kitchen door and grab what I need will be a dream come true :) I also have the book 'grow your own drugs'..medicinal ones! and would love to test out some of the recipes.
I think I may clear a bit more ivy first.  It would cost a fortune to fill the garden using garden centres so I intend to do some swaps with friends for plants and cuttings, possibly some gardening in return for raiding there gardens ;)

Above is the view back up to the house from the first grassy patch.
This section we have already discovered little paths through and I would like it to be full of cottage flowers and roses, honeysuckle with a small bench. mmmm I can just smell the summer:)
Getting further down the garden now..
possibly a veg garden ?? not sure we have the time, but eventually i would love to grow all our veg.
Tony's potting shed..needs a little tlc and electric! with kettle and cups..it's a long walk back up for a cup of tea ;)
lots of hidden paths.
lots over grown..

This is the teenage bit, right at the bottom of the garden where next summer they will be able to have camp outs, though Harry is imagining a nice shed..free cycle I think :)
A small amount of clearing to do first!! It's going to be a great family project and we are hoping for a few more sunny sundays :)
Tony and harry playing with the new toys! They did clear quite a long way down and it already looks better.

For the love of flowers..

The other day I met up with two of my close friends who I have not seen for sooo long. Lotte and Barbara used to work with me in my shop in Warminster, for 3 years. We had some great times :)  Everyone used to think Barbara was my mum! She is a very trendy dresser and used to wear all the clothes from the shop ( which were quite hippy and glitzy) and she always looked  amazing.  Lotte worked on Saturdays while she was doing A levels, I was pleased to hear she is off to Falmouth to study Contemporary Crafts, so she will soon be outshining my work!!

We went for Tea and yummy cake at Pythouse a lovely cafe with a walled PYO garden. We thought we'd go and pick some raspberries, and filled up our little basket only to find we'd picked logan berries instead doh! So then we filled up another basket with raspberries.
Lotte left us after lunch and I decided to take Barabara to Flowers Of Hatch just around the corner from Pythouse, a large field full of flowers with an amazing view over the countryside..a great 'escape' place.  Arthur went straight off with his scissors and bucket, he did like chopping the heads off the flowers so I had to keep an eye on him. We put the heads in a bowl and around Barbara's garden when we got back, so they were put to good use:)
I love the colours of the flowers, it's been ages since I did any paintings of flowers, due to lack of time , so it is great to be able to take lovely photographs :)
Echinacea's are one of my favorite flowers not only to they look gorgeous but they are used to keep colds away..handy at the moment :)

Gorgeous daisies and cornflowers, to remind us its summer..
and my lovely bucket of flowers I took home.
Barbara loves to see Arthur..she is his adopted granny ! They chatter for hours!

Barb was very happy with her flowers :) We also went home via the Dairy House as Barbara had never been there, Arthur enjoyed showing her every floor and all the little rooms full of yummy antiques, it was very difficult for me to go further than inside the door as thats where all the lovely fabric and buttons are kept ;) A fab day and I hope to meet up with the girls again soon, I have been so busy I hadn't realised how much I missed them.