Busy, like the bees

It has been a very busy week here in Gogo land. The students have settled in and are both lovely young folk. I have settled into the routine of waking at the alarm & trying not to get too crabby when the Prince has to shake me to get up!! LOL. I am usually the one who wakes with the sunrise but of course just when I need to, this skill has deserted me!! Never mind.

I get up & make breakfast for everyone, push them out the door & then my narcolepsy has been taking over my days. So in between naps I have been studying (counseling), researching business ideas, & even sewing a very little.

This picture is very bright as I took it looking out to the light but it shows the new privacy curtain I made for our dining room door. We wanted to gain some privacy while still letting in the light. I picked up this bit of fabric at a charity shop for $4, while I was in Australia. I still have some left which may become cushion covers or some other such.

One seam!! LOL Hardly sewing really but Gretchen is still being temperamental!! I did two seams of  quilting on a wall hanging & am now in the process of ripping it out!! getting very bored with this, I have so much I want to get on with & the quilters block has lifted so now is the time. Le sigh!! I have decided to ring the service people on Monday (found the phone number) & if they can't get me going then I am going to trade her in on a lesser model Bernina. Hopefully no money will have to change hands or if it does, it will be coming my way!

In the spirit of needing a finish this week, I declared the fridge cupboard done. Remember this cupboard?

Well its now this.

This is so we can make notes, keep track of whats in the freezer & The Prince is keeping a tally of how many meals we get from our potato crop. Yep, that's a potato up the top above my poor rendition of a pig. LOL. My original plan was to draw the various animals on the board but I forgot that I can't draw that well. Oh well the plan was good & I can still write.

Had a lovely evening at Marsh Quilters this week, it was Strawberries & Cream night in honour of summer. Luckily it was warm on Thursday & we could feel summery. This is a bunch of lovely women & I am enjoying getting to know them albeit slowly. Anne, the President did a great presentation on a simple way to make striped blocks with jelly rolls. Sew four strips together in a tube, cut triangles along the strips, open out to a square. Very fast & creates lots of secondary shapes. Darn it, I can't find a picture!! Think diagonal stripes on a square. If I can get Gretchen to behave I will make a few of these this weekend for a charity quilt. Wish me luck!

Loving what I do.

Lush x

Surprise Gifts

I have been blessed with several surprise gifts lately. Some of them from family some from nature.

This is one from nature, random poppy came up in the garden

Gorgeous birthday flowers from my Sister.

Look at that electric blue

I moved them so I could see them more often. Thank you Sister! I love them.

 Here are our very first potatos from the garden!! We had them for dinner with salad completely from the garden & some lovely chicken. Feels so good to be growing our own food again. At this stage I can only dream of a house in the country where we can have a huge vegetable garden & chickens.

Yummy!!!

That is a 1 pound coin for perspective - about the same size as an Aus $2 coin

 We had a fantastic day of gleaning yesterday. We had both spotted a cherry tree loaded with fruit in a small park on the way up to Stratford. So off we went with the ladder & a box for the bounty and didn't we attract some strange looks & comments! My favourite was the guy who asked if they were cherries like you get in the shop? 

I recently read some statistics that discovered that only 60 % of those surveyed knew that milk came from cows!!! I believe they were surveying schoolkids but I have to say that the questions we get when gleaning, this is unfortunately a common occourence.

How can it be that we have become so removed from our food? It is truly astounding & sad.

 They were very small cherries & were a little sour but after about 2 hours of pitting, we had them in the pot & cooking away into jam. It only made one jar of jam but that little jar is bursting with flavour. You should have seen my hands though, I look like I had been at the salon getting a WAGs tan!

Doing what we love

Lush x

Living la vida London

I am sure I have mentioned that I am soooo glad to be back with my Prince. We missed each other terribly & it has been great to be together again. I have been blessed to find someone with whom spending time is such a delight. Since I have been back we have been once again getting out around the city & enjoying the sights. There is a plinth in Trafalgar Square that does not have a permanent sculpture but allows for different artists to exhibit for a time. This is the latest exhibit from a team from City Hall.

Golden Child

Old & new blending together

Sunshine through the water on a beautiful sunny day

 We had a visit from S & M from Brighton on Thursday evening & we had a lovely day wandering around Walthamstowe market & then the area known as the Village. Beautiful historic houses, churches, pubs & shops. We think this is a place we could love to live & would be great to be able to buy something there.

Just a bit of history resting in the park outside the church

This house dates from around the 1400's!!

We have been enjoying planning our Spring Summer garden & deciding what we want to grow. It has been interesting trying to get our head around the planting schedule in consideration with the weather but we are learning fast. We are hoping that our plants survive this evenings frost & I intend to go wrap them with a towel before bed. Tuck them in & keep them warm.

A house a few doors up has been having major renovations & I rescued a couple of timber pallets & we are trying our hand at vertical gardening. We wrapped the pallets in weed mat & filled them with potting mix. Once you have them filled, you slash a very small hole in the matting & settle the plants in each one. We have put in a few herbs, pansies & strawberries. Once the threat of frost is gone we have some broad beans, tomatoes & zucchini seedlings. We will also fill with basil & marigolds. The big green bags contain 3 types of potatos.

Really enjoying doing what I love. Thank you Prince for another great weekend.
Lush xox