Poppies

I was asked if I would knit some poppies so I braved the rain this morning to visit the wool shop to get some red and green wool. 

I hate this typical English weather where cardigans and tights are abandoned while the sun shines and then you wake up to cold and rain and out they come again......still, the rain does the garden good and it saves filling the watering can about a million times!!

So here I am on this wet afternoon  all cosied by the fire with a dog at my feet, a big bowl of yarn ready to be knit into poppies, a "fleur d orangerier" candle burning, filling the air with the smell of oranges,

 a  nice mug of rosy lee and a packet of wine gums to chomp on while I look through my patterns....bliss!!

What fills your afternoons when it's raining "cats and dogs"?

Lucey x

Beekeepers Quilt

Knitting honeycombs for my bee keepers quilt with left over sock yarn....free

Lovely pink lillies, reduced in the supermarket...£1.80

Playing bubbles in the sunshine with my gorgeous granddaughter...priceless!!

I'll be doing an awful lot of knitting as I'll need hundreds of honeycombs to make a quilt, on second thoughts I might start off with a cushion!!

Happy Knitting
Lucey X

A Happy Sad Day

It should be a sad day today as it's the anniversary of the day we lost our lovely son in law Paul, but I don't like sad days so I remembered all the good, happy days we had with Paul as I pottered about in the garden. 

These little purple faces made me smile and I remembered when Paul brought me a huge bunch of lillies for looking after Dylan when he and Rachel had a night out,

and I smiled as I planted out these sweet peas from Sarah Raven, they're from the vintage silk sweet pea collection and highly scented

I smiled as I stitched a  bunting  from the lace on an old torn tablecloth to drape across the bike

and then I smiled some more as I run up a cushion cover from this lovely fabric that I got from Louise at Hope and Elvis.

I even smiled when I made a few more brooches from the abc puzzle from long ago and burned myself with the glue gun, ouch!!

And who wouldn't smile when the sun shines ALL day and you can sit and sew pretties on a new skirt!!

"Let's go fly a kite"

"woodland fairies"

I had fun arranging all my vintage goodies on the painted shelf that  I've been collecting, there's everything piled on there from china, glass, packets, tins and even ice cream tubs!! 

And I will be positively grinning as tonight I'm not putting a foot in the kitchen, I'm being taken out for tea, now that's what I call a "happy, sad day"

Lucey X

Vintage

"The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady" is one of my favorite books and I try to read a page or two each night and the illustrations are so nice,

"change not a clout till May is out"

this is so true!!

I love this quote starting in May,

"A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon,

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly"

I was browsing through a magazine when  I saw a vintage shop advertised so me and a friend jumped in the car and set off to find it.

"My Vintage World"  wasn't hard to find once we found the street and the window was vintageness at it's very best!!

Look at that picnic hamper,

inside the  shop the dressers were full of plates,

the tables were groaning under the weight of china,

 and the cupboards were packed with kitchen ware, 

who remembers Vim scouring powder??

Tea trolleys, baskets, linen,

pretty brooches,

tea pots and  sugar bowls, does anyone still use these? I've seen them filled with candles and they look lovely burning away.

Little chairs, wooly blankets, bobbins of cotton in fact you name it and it was there. I could have bought the whole shop it was so lovely and the owner Catherine couldn't have been more helpful or friendly, I can't wait to go back.

That lovely Brexton picnic hamper just had to come home with me along with a few other goodies,

 I need another cup as one was missing, anyone got a spare?

and I got this lovely trio with lilly of the valley on, just right for a cuppa on a sunny May afternoon, a couple of reels of cotton and a packet of "snowfire" that says it "sooths and heals"...

My Vintage World,
Sowerby Road,
Thirsk,
North Yorkshire

Lucey X

Away For Easter

Just to let you all know I'm going away for Easter this year and if anyone cares to join me for afternoon tea I'll be at ...

"Buttons B&B" 

Buttons B&B is a super place to stay and the afternoon tea is to die for, I'm just having  a stroll round the cottage garden where the birds are chirping away, the bees are busy  and the scent from the flowers is divine.....

So if you fancy joining me here's the address....

Buttons B&B 

Bloggers Lane

The Country side

England.

I'm in the front bedroom overlooking the garden but there's plenty of room for everyone!!

Lucey X 

PS This was made for me by the lovely "Miss Clementine"  thank you X

Busy Darning With Tom

I've been so busy darning that I forgot to show you the photo's from the darning workshop with Tom of Holland at Hope and Elvis last weekend!!

Have a look at Tom's darning,

beautiful samples on a jumper, it's almost a work of art, something to be worn with pride,

sock's darned to give them more life,

to be worn forever......

Tom showed us how to darn using a mushroom and different needles and wools, like everything, you need the right tools for the right job and then it's easy peasy...well not quite but you know what I mean!!

Our first attempts at darning were clumsy but Tom's were lovely, it made me want to darn my cardigan, just for show,

Tom showed us how to darn with a "speedweve" a sort of little loom that makes a "darn" for you and ever so neat.

I met up with the lovely Rachelle, from Ted and Agnes fame and we spent the day chatting and darning and having a a wander round Louise's studio,

 I  took a few snaps of her treasures, wouldn't we all love  to have this little beauty in our kitchen??

Tea and biscuits anyone?

Louise's "stash"

"all the sizes, all the colours"

time for some paper work.

I bought a  piece of Sanderson fabric from Louise to make into a skirt and this lovely old box of Newey's pelican mantle hooks and eyes, I love old boxes.

Right back to the darning, I must get some more practice!!

Lucey X

Hope And Elvis Workshops

Way back in November the lovely Louise from H & E put up some workshops on her website which are on a "first come first served" basis so I chose my workshops,  pressed the button then waited anxiously for Louise to reply.

Not long after I heard I had managed to bag  both workshops....and the first one, "Tom of Holland" who is going to show us how to darn, is this Saturday!!

So, my pile of woolies are ready,

I've packed my suitcase,

new brooches are pinned onto my cardigan,

and pennies are ready to be spent!!

Roll on Saturday.....

Are any of you lovelies going?

Lucey xx