an apple for the teacher

Well hello

and

Gosh!

Thank you for all of your very sweet comments

on my rhubarb post

you made me blush

xxx

Now to reveal what all the apple glimpses have been about recently

This rosy apple applique started it's life destined to be a lavender bag

like this one

as requested by my lovely friend Chrissie

a nice teacher gift .....

although as I got stitching I suddenly had a brainwave

How about a teacher 'supplies' pocket?

a special place for a teacher to store their bits & bobs

you know like ..... 

pens, stickers, stamps, glasses and maybe a little choccy number!

Luckily Chrissie doesn't mind going with the flow

The pocket is lined with a pretty co-ordinating fabric 

and the whole thing is edged with handmade

 and hand sewn binding

 I think it gives a lovely polished finish

I LOVE making my own bias binding

I find it very addictive.

I used Tilda fabrics

which, as you may know, are my favourites

and possibly another of my 'addictions'

I added a label with the teachers name

Et voila!

A teacher's 'supplies' pocket

I think they make fabulous 'thank you' gifts

for a special teacher

I've only made a limited number

if you are interested they are in my shop

right here

While I'm nattering on .....

I'd love your opinion, if you don't mind me asking?

I think this pocket idea has 'legs'

I was thinking

maybe a pocket for Grandma to hang by her chair

maybe for children, by their bed perhaps

I'd love to know if you have any ideas

although beware I may have to steal them!

I am having a busy brainwave time at the moment

my mind is in overdrive with new ideas

especially at bedtime!

I know better than not to utilise it

I'm making the most of it

just in case it vanishes without warning

Back soon

things to make!

BIG love 

x Jooles x

P.S If you like the lavender bag you can find them here

Rhubarb crumble :: Two ways

Hello sweeties

Monday again

(I'm trying hard not to groan)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend

Ours was a good balance of jobs that needed doing and restfulness

perfect.

I have a * Ta Da * for you today

It's been a loooong time in the making

but here it is

Rhubarb crumble :: Way one

.....

My Rhubarb crumble granny blanket

.....

Ta :: Da!

What do you think?

I am not entirely happy if I'm being honest

 but it is my first granny square blanket

so I'll let myself off the hook

  (he he there's a joke there)

I'm certainly not a relaxed crocheter

and it shows

I joined the squares too tightly

but never mind.

I will remember that next time.

I made a wide border

partly because I thought it would look nice

(and I think it does)

and partly because I got bored making the squares

I gave up a bit too soon

making a rather small blanket

so the border made up for it.

I used Lucy's fabulous pattern for the granny blanket edging

and I love it.

I used cascade 220 pure wool

it is gorgeous

and comes in a bewildering array of luscious colours

very hard to choose from

the ones I (eventually) chose were .....

Natural 8010

Oyster 8407

Dusty rose 8114

flamingo pink 7805

Mauve heather 9441

soft pink 4192

cotton candy 9478

framboise 2428

Well my title says 

'Rhubarb crumble :: Two ways'

so here is

Rhubarb crumble :: Way two

I bet you didn't see that one coming!

Before I say toodle-oo for today

I would just like to say a BIG hello to all of my new followers

Hello ..... it's lovely to welcome you here

In fact 'hello' to all of my followers and readers

it would be no fun at all without you here

x x x

Back soon

BIG love 

x Jooles x

hello Friday .....

..... I'm so glad to see you

We are planning a chilled out weekend

the last few have been full on

I have already scooted around the house

chores are done

feels good.

I intend to spend the rest of today sewing

..... and the weekend .....

just pootling about

a little gardening

a little walking in the bluebell woods

a little knitting

a little lot of eating

A lot of thinking about my Sweet B

I hope her poor little head doesn't explode with all the revision

exams very soon

My little orchard is looking magical at the moment

blossom and narcissi

what a perfect combination

This is the last of my narcissi to bloom

pretty huh?

this one is Narcissi 'Felindre'

Apple blossom ..... you are my favourite flower in the world

(I think)

and cherry blossom, you're pretty fabulous too

Love Love Love spring time

it's just so

 b e a u t i f u l

Thank you for so many wonderful comments on my last post

they were all very touching

and the birthday boy was thrilled with all your kind wishes

Wishing you a wonderful weekend

Back soon 

(with a Ta Da)

BIG love 

x Jooles x

birthday boy

Yesterday was our lovely boy's birthday

nineteen

goodness me

It was a fairly quiet day to be honest

a trip to the cinema with his friend (him)

LOTS of cooking, baking, dishing out hugs and reminiscing (me)

The cake of choice this year was

'chocolate and orange swirly cake with very chocolatey icing'

(tick)

One of his (many many many) hobbies is fish keeping

hence the edible fishy garland.

I made a plain victoria sponge and once it had been mixed

I divided it into two bowls

added chocolate to one half

and lots of orange zest to the other half

spooned it into the tins and then swirled it around a bit

sorted.

The icing is a dark chocolate ganache

can't get more chocolatey than that!

Oh and the finishing touch .....
chocolate orange sticks around the side
He LOVED it and it tasted pretty nice too.

Tea was lasagne, garlic bread and salad
 (salad added by me, not requested by the birthday boy)
and pavlova

It seems birthdays round here are all about food!


Lovely G is cool
He has a sweet sweet soul
kind, loving and Oh. So. Funny
he makes me laugh like a five year old sometimes
his sense of humor is contagious and wonderfully silly.


He can mend (almost) anything
A genius boy
(in my eyes of course)
build a computer
he's a techno king.

He must get fed up with me
but never lets on
I OFTEN have a technical problem or three
yesterday he rescued me yet again
he always does
I adore him



When my children were little
I would sometimes worry about what it would be like
 when they were big teenagers
the thought scared me
what would our relationship be like?
would we still be close?
would we be friends?
We hear things, see things on TV
quite often teenagers are seen in such a negative light.

Both of mine went through some tricky times
growing up is a hard job
we all know that much
hormones and peer pressure are tough on them.
But ..... even when they would shut themselves away in their room
their safe haven, away from the world
Mr Sweet and I would always insist that we ate tea together
sat around the table
(we were very lucky that this was possible for us)
it was non-negotiable
we always ate as a family
and that was that.
This meant that we talked
sometimes it was awkward
but ALWAYS things were chatted about
  (eventually)

Just Talk.



I just wanted to say this
as other parents may be feeling just like I did
and I'd like to say that
'It will all be alright'
Teenagers are AMAZING


Back soon
BIG love
x Jooles x

I'm confused .....

..... do you remember Marjorie from my last post?

 Well .....

she had been sitting happily in her nest for ten days or more

but then

she just disappeared
no sign of her for a couple of days.

A sneaky snoop in her nest revealed 

..... absolutely nothing

NO eggs

no broken eggs
no evidence of broken eggs

no broken eggs on the ground

in fact nothing, but a beautiful but empty nest

What's going on do you think?

we're all sad that she has just disappeared

maybe she was just testing the nest out
and decided not to lay her eggs there after all
all that hard work for nothing
poor Marjorie
it just seems so strange.

Who knows .....

On a happier note .....

Percy Pecker and his lady friend are now nesting in hole in our rockery

even closer to our back door than Marjorie was

it's very exciting but an odd place yet again!

I think they are messing with me

naughty birds.

I haven't managed to get a photo of the super-sonic Percy as yet
so how about some blossom?
pretty huh?

The birds are not the only misguided creatures in our garden

Oh No

We had frogspawn in the watering can of all places

along with two frogs!

I was trying to water my seedlings with the watering can
which I had filled up to the top with water
but something was blocking the rose
(makes me cringe now that I know what)
so I took the rose off of the spout and poured
out plopped a whole heap of slimy frogspawn
all over my garden
it wasn't pretty
poor frogs ..... what a shock it must've been
mind you
it gave me the shock of my life too.
Sweet B sorted it out

they have been carefully decanted into a large bucket
with a stone 'ladder'
(the frogs have since leapt away)

luckily my zoologist in training was on hand
I would NOT have wanted to pick up that slimy spawn!
Sweet B loved it ;o)

Talking of Sweet B
she was home all weekend ..... bliss
but we had to take her back to uni on Monday

I feel lost

it's always the same when we take her back

I miss her

BUT

it will soon be the summer holidays

(sorry I don't mean to frighten anyone ;o)
and I have LOTS to do
my shop is busy busy busy
(Yippee :o)
and its my lovely boy's birthday next week too


I hope you had a wonderful weekend
we had glorious weather
lots of beautiful sunshine
it's raining today
I like that too

Back soon

BIG love
x Jooles x

Friday flowers

Hello sweeties

It's a bit of a photo day today

There is so much loveliness happening outside at the moment
I have been snapping away
it's irresistible.

Ahhhh ..... spring ..... Hello

It's so wonderful having the back door and windows wide open

hearing the bird song

Anyway back to flowers
♥

Posies to pretty up inside

The next of my Narcissi to flower

I have been waiting for this little beauty to reveal itself

Narcissi 'Hawera'

isn't it sweet?

and so very minute
I am no expert
but this is the smallest Narcissi that I've come accross

You can see how titchy these beauties are

I'm holding up Narcissi 'Milner' as a comparison
It looks like a big daffodil but it's not

Hawera are like little fairy flowers
and I think my favourite

Narcissi 'Pueblo'

The little orchard is looking beautiful

I LOVE it

I'm waiting for one last variety to show itself to me

It's such a treat to spend even a few peaceful minutes there

I'm tempted to add a few more varieties come Autumn

My new addiction

Narcissi 'Minnow'

..... violets .....

Cowslip

Forget-me-not among Aquilegia leaves

Can you spot a beady little eye?

that shiny black eye belongs to Marjorie

isn't she absolutely beautiful

she has made a nest in a hedge just outside our backdoor

(a strange place really)

She is so content and patient

sitting there hour after hour

such dedication

sweet little Blackbird.
Everyone is under VERY strict instructions
 to be quiet (hard for some it seems!) and calm when near

Sweet B and I are off for a long walk in the woods now
while the boys are hard at work
(I have a little pang of guilt but not too much)

so I must be off

Wishing you a glorious and long weekend

(it's a bank holiday weekend here in the UK ..... hoorah)

Back soon

BIG love

x Jooles x

new friends

Hello

Happy May

♥

I hope you've had some sunshine this week?

It has been beautiful here

* SPRING HAS (actually) SPRUNG *

Last week the postie delivered a parcel to me

how exciting .....

I wasn't expecting anything

and couldn't imagine what on earth it could be

The parcel was beautifully wrapped

 so I knew it was going to be something wonderful

would you like to see?

Isn't that the cutest face you ever did see?

look at those little heart lips

she has a friend too

Miss Nellie

Oh My Days ..... so cute

Let me fill you in .....

Way back in February I had a giveaway

you can read about it here if you like

the winner was a very lovely lady called Paula

she has a beautiful and very pretty blog Sugar sweet and Pink 

Paula and I have since been getting to know each other by email

(that's why I love blogging so)

she is the most truly beautiful person, inside and out

♥

 The kind of person who just radiates inner love and beauty

I'm probably making her blush, but it just has to be said .....

sweet sweet lady

The precious parcel travelled

all the way from the USA

Paula made these two little treasures to thank me for her winnings

see what I mean? ..... true loveliness

They are just so beautiful

I love all the little details .....

the little hair clips, buttons and cute~some shoes

Thank you my sweet friend

I will treasure them always

I have named the beautiful little lady

Angel ..... after you

They have found a lovely new home in my sewing room

they like it there I can tell.

Do you like my new mug?

I just couldn't resist

just had to get it

It's all Chrissie's fault 

she's a bad influence

;o)

I have been working hard in my sewing room this week.

Earlier this evening I looked around the house in such horror

seeing the devastation I had caused

three rooms trashed

(three and a half really)

how is that even possible?

There must have been gremlins here

I'm sure of it.

Once I get wrapped up in something

I lose my sanity

searching for the perfect fabrics, trimmings, the thread .....

I forget it all has to be tidied away

urgh ..... not fun.

I have been designing something new for my NOTHS shop

It's still not quite finished

so I can't reveal all just yet

but soon ..... I promise

I did take it outside in the sunshine this afternoon

 did a little hand sewing

that was lovely, sitting on my swing chair in the spring sunshine

shoes off ..... bare feet in the grass

bliss .....

Here's a little sneak peek

Well I must be off now

Guess what?

Sweet B is coming home for a long weekend visit

I am so excited

Woooo hooooo

Thank you for all of the bunny love from my last post

♥

Back soon

BIG love 

x Jooles x