a little bit of gardening.

I have spent the whole weekend sorting out the gardens.
                                                   The back garden started the weekend like this;

The front garden now looks like this( I forgot to take a before shot) Believe it or not this tiny little patch took 12 bags of chippings, it would look better with another couple as well;

The back garden now looks like this;

Little splashes of colour are starting to pop up;

Strawberry plants are looking good so far;

And the raspberries are beginning to grow new shoots;

I love tulips :-)

There is still work to be done, I want to pave over the patch near the back door so that I can put the garden table there this year.

Once I finished working I sat in the sun and read a magazine while dinner cooked. The children also took advantage of the good weather;

independence day challlenge #4

OK Here goes for this weeks round up!

1. plant something
This week my greenhouse was blown over, so I need to re plant some of the seeds planted last time. I have already re-planted;
sweetcorn
parsnips
cauliflower
beetroot
sweetpea
tomato
lobelia
broccoli
pea
brussel sprouts

2. harvest something
nothing this week

3. preserve something
I froze some meat I bought from the supermarket reduced aisles.

4. waste not
I re-used some compost from my spud bags used last year to plant the seeds. I also re-used some empty food containers (yoghurt pots, fruit pots etc) to plant the seeds in

5.want not
I bought lots of food etc in the supermarket reduced section. These have formed the basis of all meals this week

6. eat the food
We have used up the reduced bargains I bought in the week
I made biscuits and cheese straws with the children at school for us to have at snack time

7. build community food systems
nothing this week

8. skill up
I watched a TV program in the week that showed how to clean a cooker with just a bicarb and water paste- I tried and it worked!! Most impressed my cooker is shiny and squeaky clean.


In other news I am feeling very boastful- I had no non recyclable waste this week :-)


My inspiration for the independence days challenge comes from Angela and was originally started by The Chatelaine's Keys. If you are inspired then leave a comment below and pop over to their blogs to check out what they are doing for this weeks challenge.

February round up

I just realised it is March and  I've not shown you what I have acheived in February, it's not that impressive but I have acheived a few things.

My original  aspirations list had these as my aims

knit waterfall cardigan for Stephanie - not started

Sew curtains/blinds for kitchen -delayed until I have been able to plan decorating so I know what I want to do

varnish kitchen unit - started but not finished

swim at least 3 times - managed to go 2 times in half term

use bike - technically I used it, although only round the block once, after Dylan helped me to fix it

continue to buy fruit/veg from farm shop- not been to the farm shop have bought from local market though

go for family walks/bike rides- we haven't done this, but did have a couple of days out in London

plant any seeds for this month- lots planted. I have some devastating news, the high winds blew over my little greenhouse last night. I think I have lost all seedlings I need to try and get home during daylight tomorrow so I can sort this out. 

plan work for the allotment. Work planned and begun.

Considering the list like this shows I have acheived more than I thought. So feeling quite pleased with that. So what do I have planned for this month?

Make summer dresses for Stephanie

Work on Mum's crocheted blanket started this already, need to buy some more matching yarn so I can complete

decorate kitchen

begin work on the allotment done this already, still more to be done but it is started

swim

cycle

I also plan on adding;

• decorate hallways, they are looking VEY tatty so are higher priority than the kitchen now.
• finish swoon quilt/picnic rug
• finish Henry VIII cross stitch

Works in progress

I had planned to get up and go to the allotment this morning, but I had a couple of texts from family that meant changing plans, nothing serious just earlier times for our gathering this afternoon. So I didn't have as much time as I had expected. Not to mention the torrential rain that means the clay soil at the allotment is even harder to dig!

I did manage to blanche and freeze 2 bags of savoy cabbage, one of curly kale and 1/2 a bag of red cabbage.

I have also selected some possible colours for the hallway. I'm tempted by the peachy colour to the left. Stephanie thinks that we should paint it all of them and have a massive rainbow going up the stairs!

As I have ran out of the wool I need to finish the crochet blanket my mum started and I want to go on my bed I have decided to finish this cross stitch. When my sisters and I sorted out Mum's flat we found several projects mum hadn't completed. We chose one's we thought suite dour homes/ children. This one Henry VIII and his wives is one I have chosen to do is going to be for Stephanie, she developed a fascination with Henry VIII last year when visiting many of the local castles which were built for him. It is nearly complete I just need to finish the border.

Sewing Saturday

I was sewing some more blocks for my swoon quilt earlier when I realised I haven't cleaned my sewing machine recently. In fact since I bought it about 18 months ago I'm embarrassed to say. Hence it looking like this;

I could only clean around the bobbin case. Here I am trying to unscrew the plate using the screwdriver that came with the machine- I couldn't manage it as the screwdriver is too tall and I don't have a shorter one. Even without getting the plate off I managed to brush this lot out;

YUCK!

I did manage quite a bit of sewing today I know have 5 blocks of the swoon quilt sewn;



I'm pleased with the progress so far.

Independence day challenge #3

Ok so it's Friday already so time to see how I have managed this weeks Independence days challenge.

1. Plant something- we have begun our spring planting, planting; peas, sweetcorn, aubergine, leek, pepper, tomato, beginia,sweetpeas, parsnip, cauliflower, lobelia, broccoli, french bean. I plan on planting a few seeds every week to make a  successional harvest.

2. Harvest something. we have harvested red cabbage, curly kale, savoy cabbage, bay and rosemary.

3.Preserve something. I froze some reduced items from the supermarket.

4. Waste not We used compost from the compost heap to plant the seeds, and toilet roll/wrapping paper tubes as seed pots.

5. want not I bought some reduced price meat for freezing, some reduced price cereal and wafers because of their damaged boxes ( 50p for a box of rice krispies and 20p per box of ice cream wafers). Also some stickers for 5p a box I used to decorate around my house.

I also gave these to my allotment neighbour

6. Eat the food I cooked a roast chicken on Sunday which made dinners for Monday and Tuesday as well, and 2 jars of stock. I also had apple and rhubarb I froze from the allotment last summer with some custard for dessert.

7. Build community food systems

I took the bay and rosemary to school as well as some cabbage and kale for the children in my class to chop and use in the role play corner.

8. Skill up

I have learnt to join a new ball of wall to my crochet, ok so I need to ind a ball of wall to match the colour my mum started it in, of the 2 bin liners full of yarn I inherited from her none of them match!

Ok so I seem to have acheived more than last week.

Thia post was inspired by Angela over at The high desert chronicles The Independence day challenge originally came from the Chatelaine's Keys. If you are inspired to do the same then leave a comment below linking to your post.

more clearance bargains

I get a real buzz out o saving money, I always head straight to the clearance aisles whether I am food, cloth or home shopping. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across wheelie bin stickers for 5p a pack. I bought 4 packs; daffodils, lilies, tulips and butterflies. I didn't buy them to pretty up my wheelie bin thought my intentions were for my house. I am so pleased with the results;

This used to be a nice but plain mirror in my downstairs hallway. I love it's new look it has my favourite flowers and butterflies on it. I have to look at it every time I pass now.

I have also put some on my front door but it is dark outside so I'm not going to attempt to take a photograph now. Stephanie used some to decorate her bedroom door too. I'll try and get a picture of how she used them another day- she is supposed to be asleep now so don't want to go and disturb her with the camera flash