Welcome home Sophie

Sophie has rung from Paris, on her way home from Africa. Her plane gets in at 10.30pm. We are waiting for all the news. So I got out the baking gear and made a cake. I havent done one for quite a while. I dont need the calories!! I had bought some lemon curd from a farmshop last week when in Suffolk. Its a sponge filled with lemon curd and has lemon icing and strawberries to finish it off.

I use the scales below to weigh the ingredients. These belonged to my parents-in-law when they had a little village shop. Can only weigh in pounds and ounces but I'm an old fashioned girl so can translate from grammes and kilos. Sarah says she makes the best scones if she uses these.

The cake picture is for Angel Jem. She wanted a gratuitous cake picture and this is probably the best she will get from me. Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine.

The weather has been fabulous today. I'm afraid I havent got as much done as should have as I have been sitting and enjoying. Has summer come at last?

Seen the SUN and the SEA this week

Had a busy week. Been to visit my brother and his wife in the country. Although seen some rain it has also been a little sunny. We went to Southwold on Wednesday and saw the sea. It was great to spend some time with them. They have a fantastic garden with beautiful flowers and they also grow vegetables. Very peaceful. On the way home we stopped at a lovely village called Lavenham. There are the most lovely old buildings there including the Guild Hall, which belongs to the National Trust now. There are a couple of antique shops and at one I bought a large tin of old buttons for just £8. I also added to Sarah's collection of hankies, but I will leave her to blog about them. Here are some of said buttons. There are some fantastic ones. I love tins of buttons and used to enjoy playing with them when I was a child.

The guy who was doing the paving has managed to beat the weather and has finished. We need to repaint the walls now and move some of the plants in pots back and then I can show you all our tiny new patio. All we need is the weather.

The garden is looking very sorry for itself. I have a lot of work to do in it during the next week. Si has been able to cut the grass earlier this evening so I will weed and tidy as a break from painting tomorrow as the weather forcast is for no rain here. No French beans but the sweet peas are begining and other things such as the hydrangeas and poppies look good.

Yes we finally have some sweet peas. Looking forward to loads more I hope. We need sun now to help all the other plants along. Jenny one week from today you will have arrived from Australia for your visit. I have ordered the tickets for the quilt fair. I got the OLP rate!!

Dust and more Dust saw the SUN today

This weekend I have been cleaning and trying to sort out the dinning room for ITS BIG MAKEOVER. This is to be a major project as we have a huge hole in the wall where the central heating boiler has been removed, holes in the skirting boards where rewiring has been done and we are having a new radiator put in as well. The 1970s carpet has now been cut out and up ready to go to the skip.The next job is to strip the wallpaper off and get ready for new fireplace, the plumber and the plasterer. Its all going to take weeks and weeks but I will take some photos as we go along.

So while we are in the middle of this my sister rings to say she is minding her granddaughter for a few days and is OK if she pops in for a cup of tea. Lovely say I covered in dust. Ten minutes later my great friend Sue phones to say she and her husband are in the area for a family wedding and could they come to see us tomorrow. So of course I say, lovely would you like to spend the night? Oh that would be great says Sue, so everything stops while I ensure bathroom is clean, make bed up clean and all the other things I need to make sure she does know I do clean sometimes. !!!!

Oh and the guy who is doing our paving has not been able to finish due to the weather so not only does the inside of the house look a mess but the outside does as well. But there are some things looking OK so I will let you see the decent sights. I have picked some lavender from the soggy garden and cleaned some kitchen cupboards and the armoire.

Lovely lavender and enamel in the kitchen

So now I'm well ready for bed. Hope everyone has had a happy and dry weekend.

Africa

Just a quick post today. Lots of news from Sophie's group in Africa. Just have a peep at Africa Watch. Despite the grotty weather the garden is still producing great flowers but very poor runner beans.

Love in the mist, but nearly at its end now. The Sweet Peas are just about to start to flower. Pictures of them to come and maybe the odd bean!

Sheds and Sun

Today we have been clearing out two old sheds that have been awaiting attention for a very long time. So far only one trip to the tip with several cans of paint with a little bit left in each. Why, do we keep it I kept saying to big Si why do we do that? As though we are ever going to use it again. We are clearing an area to the side of the house ready to have paved, then I will paint the walls, put some of my plants in pots there and have a little table and 2 chairs ready to have breakfast there on sunny days. Yes we get the sun sometimes and particularly today, and the sun is there early in the mornings in the summer.

Today I also managed to do some weeding and couldn't resist cutting these roses for the house. They actually smell like roses. Please let this pleasant weather continue for a while. Thats what we need now.

Below is another of our recent French finds. I have been after a hall coat stand for some time and big Si put this up this week.

Well its after midnight so I am away to bed as there is a local carboot here tomorrow. We were supposed to be in Shropshire for the weekend but were unfortunately unable to go due to work pressures for big Si. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends

Tagged Moi?

Have been tagged by Sophie Honeysuckle and Kara. I don't know if there are eight random things I can reveal!! But I can try.

1.I hate Harry Potter and everything connected. I am in the minority I know but.

2. I worked ,sometimes as a nurse,sometimes in a bar, in Majorca during the summer 1970. I went with a friend Susan who is still a great friend. We had a fab summer and met some wonderfully interesting people. I can hablo espanol un poco.

3. I love Russell Brand. Not in a fancying kind of way. He just makes me laugh.

4. I love to people watch. I like to sit and drink coffee and I like to imagine what they do for work and about their lives.

5. This is connected to number 4.I love camping. I really enjoy getting up early and sitting outside with my coffee and watching the world go by. I have a very active imagination which I let go at full stretch when doing this. I'm a bit long in the tooth for tents now so go for mobile home option.

6. My fav film is Calamity Jane and I have co-opted both daughters into loving this. The three of us can sing "Take me back to the black hills" in harmony. We do this particularly well after a couple of G&Ts!!!!

7. I only realised how hard a life my mother had when my children were almost grown up. My father died when I was eight and I have one sister older, one brother older and one younger than me. We had just moved to Lancashire and were in a rented house whilst they were going to buy one. The deal was not sealed when he became very ill and died within a week. My mother took all her stride. She went back to work, teacher by profession, and worked to keep us all and to buy a house etc. She always insisted that education was everything and that us girls needed to to get jobs that would make us independent. All of us went on from school to college or university. My sister to teaching, my elder brother to a maths degree and computer boffin, me to nursing and my younger brother to become a medical doctor. She loved to read and I'm sure my love of reading comes from her. We all read a lot and all have houses full of books. There are many days I wish she and my father could visit and meet all their grand and great grandchildren.

8. And finally. I know Angel Jem I shouldn't start a sentence with and. I have many long term friends. I do however have problems making new friends. It takes me ages to get to know and trust people. However since blogging I feel as though I have made friends all over the world. PS I have the most horrible feet ever invented!!!
Well what people will make of all of that I don't know. Thats all folks.

Still waiting for summer

OK the weather has improved. But its cold. At least Sophie will be getting some sun. They arrived in Paris and flew on to Toga today. They will be there now and probably all very tired. I have had a thing about bathrooms today. Mosly cleaning and tidying but remembered that I said I would post a photo about the washstand recently bought in France.

This just fits nicely in our shower room and I can have all my lavender toiletries to hand. The enamel jugs are old French purchases except the blue one on bottom shelf which big Si gave me one Christmas, and I believe came from Cath K. Sarah got it when visiting her friend in London several years ago.

The next photo is from the bathroom where there is a definate seaside theme.

Big Si has several pond yachts which he displays here. The thing hanging from the ceiling is apparently an eel trap, which Si got in a reclaimation yard and I keep looking at it and wondering what I can put in it.

Today I have finished a little project that I have been making for Sarah but I will leave her to blog about that.

I must finish with an apology to Angel Jem. She knows why.

Tickled pink and SUN

It has not rained for over 12 hours. We have had very high winds and some sun. Big Si is currently ( with some muttering ) cutting some of the 18inches or so high of lush green grass. Shame we havent got a cow or a sheep it would be great fodder for them.

I have been pondering about the pink thing! I always assumed that I wasnt a pink person but today I have looked at some things in a new light. No pink furniture or walls but look. Fav mug and very new phone.

Then the most useful items a long handled dustpan and brush with feather duster. These were presents from the offspring as part of 60th birthday pressies. They are great I wanted something useful and as I have arthritis in my spine they are really easy to use. But then I saw the Ikea cushion!! Pink

Now we all know that I love enamel and I have one of these thingies for hanging kitchen tools on and pink is here too.

and the most comfortable shoes in the world Pink I wanted the limey green ones but they didnt have in my size.

OK so maybe I have learnt something about myself today. I am more pink than I thought What could that mean?

Meanwhile Sophie is busy getting ready for her African trip. She flies out on Monday and they will be blogging from there so I will be putting a link on so you can see what they are doing. We have been to buy some childrens clothes coloured pencils, paper and other bits and bobs as they will be visiting a childrens home and school and doing some crafty things with the children while the lads are going to be helping with some building. Her luggage will be weighed at home to the last ounce so she can get as many things as possible for the kids in.

I leave you with another pink picture!! Ill be back to normal tomorrow!

I

Today I be mostly pink

I have been editing the blog today. I like the pink in it. I'm not normally a pink person but something must have got to me.

Pink petunias in a pink pot. There is blue in the sky (enough to make a sailor a suit and a pair of PJs) Will it be dry tomorrow.

The Rambles of a Rose

The last week has been wet,wet,wet and I am seriously getting cheesed off now. Despite torrential rain look what happened in my garden today.

This came from a packet of black poppies planted in the spring. Its not actually black but a deep purple. This is the first to flower but there are lots more to come. Its not the only thing doing well but the rain has actually knocked the flower off a lupin its just lying in the soil. However my petunias are doing very well . There is just one plant each in enamel pots hanging on the wall. I must explain about these pots I have several of them mostly bought in France and they were apparently used to contain the fluid to give enemas!!!

Now on to some old and recent buys. The planned shopping didnt go to plan at the weekend due to bad weather and security events. I did buy wool to make husband a new jumper ( not made him anything in years) but that was it. However Sarah has made me start to use a tablecloth I bought in a car boot sale about 2 years ago and it just fits our kitchen table perfectly. So upon this I have put an enamel jug and coffee pot bought very recently in France. I love the roses on the cloth so there is a close up of them.

This cloth was brand new and even had the label intact on it and it cost 50 pence. I want to leave you with a final picture of my naughty cats - well 2 of them Hamish and Dougal. Its title "How many cats does it take to help you make a bed?"

May we take this opportunity to wish a Happy and healthy July 4th celebrations to all our friends in the USA