Poppies

(Viki and I on the ullswater steamer this spring. )

I've had this post in draft for a week now, trying to work out how to introduce a friend of 20 years without sounding trite or sappy. But really, it doesn't matter what I say, just that I say it. So go read vikis blog, she's just started. And it's well worth reading.

DIY:jersey shift dress

Yesterday evening I made this dress! I've not yet learnt how to follow a pattern, (my mum is meant to be going to show me) but I found this fabric pretty cheaply in the Market, and thought f@&k it, let's try it out. Normally I buy fabric for two main reasons, either I have a plan for it (so it goes on my fabric pile of doom at home) or I like it (so it goes on my fabric pile of doom at home) so I didn't want this to go the same way.
I'd never sewn with jersey before, and the only other piece of clothing I've made was a smocked maxi dress which was nice, but someone in the pub asked me when I was due. So I haven't worn it again.
Anyway, this only took about 2 hours, I was pretty pleased! It's fairly plain, and obviously I have a tshirt on underneath, buti think with a belt and some jewellery it could be nice. It's also very comfy.

Growth: wisteria

One of the first times I managed to get out into the garden properly after we moved wasn't until about February (what?! It's cold and wet up here!). My parents came across to help for the day, with a large amount of pruning and thinning. To the left of the porch in that photo was a large pile of grasses, which we cleared out, and there were 6ft conifers somehow still growing in chimney pots either side of the porch which we took out completely.

 There is a wisteria which had been left to climb the front of the house, but had gone a bit mad and was going through the guttering! We decided that the best way to tackle it was to cut it right back to about 4 foot, and pray.

(you can just see the stump here, that standing twig to the left of the porch)

It eventually started to shoot, just as we were starting to think the worst, and once it had a leaf it was away. Dad came and put wires in for us, they have to be a certain distance apart to allow the flower heads room to hang, apparently.

We put the next two wires up at the weekend, as it was starting to grip onto telephone cables, and here it is now:

(most photos taken on my phone, excuse the quality!)

Our House

So here it is.

Our House, in the middle of our street.

 

I'm not mad keen on either photo, but the front garden isn't very big, so I don't have much space, and the trees, oh the trees! there are so many.  you can see what a difference a few months and some leaves on the trees make. But thats another story for another time.