Meme from Home Thoughts Weekly, 19th May 2009

'Revenge is Sweet' is what Chris at Home Thoughts Weekly said to me:

What are your current obsessions?
Making ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), little pieces of artwork to be swapped with other ATC makers. It's such fun. Let me know if you'd like any more details..






Here's one of my ATCs - this one went to soulbrush, they're only the size of a playing card.












What are you listening to?
The tinnitus in my ears or

Will Young's 'Let it Go' or Lyric FM Radio, a mix of classical and Irish music.

Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?
Oh this is a dreadful question for me. The clothes I wear most often are in a drawer. As I'm mostly working in the garden, a disgusting old pair of washed out navy blue jogger bottoms with patches and darns on the knees. Sexy, eh?

What are you reading?
I have just started 'The Bone Garden' by Tess Gerritsen. We're into the realms of skeletons in the garden then back to the 1830s and the gruesome job of the grave robbers - for medical research. It promises to be a good read.

What’s for lunch?
We don't really do lunch. Breakfast is usually our lunch, a bowl of assorted cereals with a cup of tea. A tea or coffee later in the afternoon followed in the evening by dinner.

What makes you helpless with laughter?
Oh, that's a hard one. Usually pretty silly things. My husband and I (I sound like the queen) sometimes fall about over the most ridiculous things. As for comedians, I loved Tommy Cooper and the slapstick sketch of him in a leaking, rocking submarine has me crying with laughter.

What was the last thing you bought?
When I visited the UK recently my daughter in law dropped me off at a fantastic material shop in Bury St Edmunds. I bought ribbons, butterflies, cord, bias binding, cotton, some gorgeous rainbow material, a 'Kitty' button, etc, etc, etc.

Favourite plant of the moment?
Oh now that really is impossible. I love all the plants in my garden. OK, Alchemilla Mollis. I just love it, green leaves, green flowers and the raindrops resting in the leaves look magical. Oh, and my Judas Tree, which managed to produce some flowers this year for the first time but the cold snap has removed most of them. Top marks for trying though.




Judas Tree Flowers before they fell off












Alchemilla Mollis after the rain. Click on it for the full 'raindrop' effect









Guilty pleasure?
Chocolate. Oh, and chocolate. And maybe a bit of chocolate. And the odd Magnum ice cream.

If you were a dog, which one would you be?
I'd be a large black standard poodle. Intelligent, good looking and with black curly hair!

Sum yourself up in a sentence
Great sense of humour, would be artist, photographer, critical of myself, deaf and sometimes depressed.

What's Your Best Time of the Day?
Mine is the afternoon/evening/night. I'm a bit of a night owl. Well, it's 3.40am now so that's a bit of a give away!

The Rules
Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag some people.

Right, now then, who can I tag??
soulbrush, because she always tags me,
Marianne
Mildred from Nalley Valley
Renee
A Gardener in Progress and of course anyone else who'd like to join in. Go on, it's fun!

Sunday 3rd May 2009. Patchwork, Poppy, ATCs

Garden Progress

A bit of a mixed bag today and no gardening! Well, I did do some but didn't take any photos. I started by moving a big pile of cut willow down to the house for firewood. Then I did a bit more tidying up of the 'war zone', it's looking better now, still has bomb holes though. I then moved down to the new bed at the side of the arboretum and finished the edging off. It didn't take long and looks so much better. We have a medlar tree and underneath that is some willow. We prune it every spring but it's in the way of the medlar and the mower. So I decided I'd have a go at digging it out! Easier said than done. I dug a trench round it and cut through all the roots I uncovered with secateurs. No sign of any movement in the willows. I gave up at that point as my arms were aching and went inside.

Ali and Poppy came to visit Jim in Worthing

Jim emailed me these 3 fabulous photos of Poppy.


How cute is she? Great hairstyle. She's 5 months old now













Almost sitting up alone
















Smiling Poppy with a bit of Mum Ali!













I've no doubt Jim will bring a lot more back with him. Isn't she adorable?

ATCs

Here area couple of ATCs I've made:



Nellie the Elephant


















Sheep Dreams



















Amazing Patchwork Book


As I've been making this patchwork wall hanging, I was looking to see whether I had any books on the subject. Well, I found this wonderful 1970s 'Golden Hands' Special. 'All About Patchwork'. I keep laughing at the illustrations. To be fair, the information is pretty good and some of the bedspreads and quilts are lovely. But the clothes. OH the clothes!! Feast your eyes:





The Front Cover
Sorry, some flash in most of the photos as it's a glossy book. Look at that pinafore dress!

















A long waistcoat! The hairstyle was from the 'Miss World' of the day if I remember rightly. Somebody Green?















I quite like this work, I have to say



















A 'trendy' skirt. Poor girl














Even worse is what the poor boy has to wear!


I think he's trying to make a getaway
















Now this has to be the very best of all. I'm sure you'd all like to make one for your husbands/boyfriends! I'm going to have this blown up and printed for my wall:



Isn't it just the bees knees?







I'm sure my son Jason would love one (not....)











Alphabet MEME


I picked up a meme today to do with the alphabet. It came from soulbrush and I have replaced her answers with my own:


A - Age: 60
B - Bed: I love love my bed and never want to get out of it in the morning
C- Chore you hate: dusting
D - Dog: Buster
E - Essential to start your day item(s):tea, tea and maybe a bit of tea
F - Favorite color(s): purple
G -Gold or Silver: gold
H - Height: 5' 7" (maybe a bit less now)!!
I - I've come to learn: people often let you down
J - Job: banking
K-Kite: phew, last flew one with my daughter and family in Worthing
L - Living: for a long time I hope - currently in Ireland
M-Mood: a bit fed up cos my shoulder's giving me pain
N - Nicknames: Whizzer (from my Father), BT!
O-Owl or Eagle: Owl
P-Pet Peeve: apostrophes in the wrong place. 'less instead of fewer'.
Q - Quote : ' It's part of my charm' Grandson aged 3 (almost 4) when his Dad accused him of making a mess!
R-Right or left handed: right
S -Siblings: 1 sister, 1 brother
T-Touch: yes please, I'm very tactile, hug, touch
U - Umbrella: I hate them, they just get in the way.
V-Vegetable favourite: corn on the cob with butter or jacket potato (with butter)!
W - Want: to be settled in what might be my 'final' house
X - XXX: lots of kisses for you all in bloggyland ha ha, I'll go with that soulbrush
Y - Yo-Yo: my life's very much so. Depression does this.
Z - zebra: Joke. Zebras standing in a group, Daddy zebra saying to young zebra, 'you can support Newcastle like everyone else' (they play in black and white for those not in the UK).

You are all tagged, I want to know more about you. Do let me know if you do it.

So, a bit of a different blog from me today. I hope you've enjoyed it.


Spotted Orchid

Oh all right then, just one flower photo!



















This spotted orchid comes up in our meadow each year. In fact, last year we had two. This one always has loads of flower heads.

25 Things Meme from LeatherdykeUK

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

Well, I've fallen at the first hurdle, because I haven't a 'notes' bit on my Profile Page. Can't tag 25 people (not in r hand corner of the app) so I'll just do it here and hope for the best.

1. I have always worried far too much about what other people think of me. I know it but I can't change it.
2. I am very much a 'Jack of all trades, master of none'.
3. I eloped with my first love and later first husband. We went to Hastings. My father traced us the next day and dragged me back home.
4. I did ballet, with my brother and sister, until I was a teenager. My brother got into the Royal Ballet School. I didn't.
5. I performed in Choirs, Amateur Dramatic Societies and Operatic Societies. I did theatre in education for a while with a sort of professional society. When we made any money, I was paid. My favourite part was 'Anna' in The King and I. I loved it and felt like a star. On the Sunday after the run had finished, I was on my hands and knees washing the kitchen floor. Back to reality with a bump.
6. I don't read anywhere near enough since discovering the joys of computer, blog, facebook.....
7. I have a 'shaky head' and although I'm told it's not Parkinson's Disease, I have a dread of it..
8. I regret not having gone to university. I had the qualifications but became pregnant instead.
9. I played the violin for 6 years at grammar school. I had an incredible violin which my father bought me from a member of the orchestra in which he played at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. My teacher used to borrow it when she played in morning assembly. When my first husband and I were broke, I sold it for £100. I never dared tell my Dad.
10. I once managed 11% for a maths exam. Algebra. Amazing that I then worked in a bank.
11. I drink tea and coffee a lot. I am not a big fan of alcohol and always found it hard to find a drink I liked until I discovered Gin and Tonic. I'd still rather have tea.
12. I adore chocolate. Preferably milk and unadulterated. No nuts, bits or bobs to spoil it.
13. I have performed on stage hundreds of times but have never had the courage to do karaoke.
14. I am never happier than when I'm in the garden, preferably tackling 'big' jobs like bramble clearing or ivy removing. If I'm really down, a spell in the garden will often cheer me up. I hate planting bulbs.
15. I had a great childhood and feel very lucky. We had Christmases where we sang carols round the piano, usually played by my wonderful Granddad from Keighley, Yorkshire.
16. I aspire to produce something 'crafty' that is good enough to sell. I'd love to be an artist but just haven't got it. That is not false modesty, just fact. I often think things I make look as though they've been made at school! I am the world's biggest pessimist.
17. I am a bit of a slob and live in trousers (the pair I have on have darns in the knees), t-shirts and sweat shirts. If I go to the shops (which is very rare), I'll put on clean clothes! Trousers, t-shirt, sweat shirt........ I've never spent much on clothes. It always seems a terrible waste.
18. I love Puccini and Madame Butterfly is my favourite opera. I know it almost note by note and cry when I listen to it or see it live. I shall have the ending played at my funeral.
19. I am a terrible procrastinator. (I left that one in from Rachel's answers).
20. I am hooked on stationery. I will buy pens even though I have too many. And felt tips and craft materials, all things sticky and dangly. Pretty papers.
21. My parents were quite 'old' and died in 1980 and 1987. I miss them both and regret the hurt I caused them. I should have made them proud.
22. I must be getting old as I have started wearing bigger pants and 'comfortable' bras.
23. My first husband and I made love on a picnic table by 3 nuns bridges, Thetford, Norfolk. (Well, I had to have one naughty one)
24. I was hospitalised 3 times by the same man.
25. I am a terrible one for 'the grass is always greener'.

Oh, and I don't know 25 bloggers. So

Leatherdykeuk
Life at Willow Manor (Willow)
The Weaver of Grass
Big Blue Barn West (aims)
grumblog
garden delights (Arija)
From the House of Edward (Pamela)
The Hermitage (Rima)
Ces
Home Thoughts Weekly
soulbrush
Cris, Artist in Oregon

That's all I can muster! I know this isn't the proper way to do it so I'll let them know individually!