Imagine it.

Remember my friend? (how could you not, the post is only about 4 back, such is my blogging prowess these days)

She got married. It was beautiful.

Herself and her husband run a group providing a fresh perspective on life, positive help for anyone who wants it, and embracing and experiencing everything that comes in their path. If you want to be a part of it, you can go to their facebook page, their website, and sometimes through Vikis blog. (they even do wristbands, if you need a positive thinking stocking filler!

Tonight, all their friends and family are having a push to get their ethos out there to build support for the community they are creating, which is why I'm bombarding you with links. Tomorrow, those of you who read wedding blogs, may notice her face pop up again. I know I've asked it before, but shes worth repeating myself for. If you can, If you want to, go, visit, talk, support. anything you feel like doing.

Thank you.

Bookcase: the River Cottage handbook series

Personally, I could write a post on every one of these books, I own 6 of the 8 or 9 there are in the series so far. I love them. They are informative, modern, interesting and well written. The veg book is the only gardening book (other than the fruit one, which I think I took in a bath with me to read!) which I have devoured from cover to cover without skipping bits.

Each book is written, not by Hugh F-W, but by someone knowledgable on the subject, who you'll probably have seen if you watch any of his programmes. So the hedgerow book is written by John, hughs foraging friend. The bread book is written by dan, his baker. The veg and fruit books are written by Mark, the head gardener at river cottage. You get the idea. Don't even get me started on 'pam the jam', I think you can guess that she wrote the preserves book!

Each book is divided into roughly the same sections, an introduction, telling you why you really should bake your own bread/grow your own veg/bottle the veg you grew/foraged, and what you'll need to do it. The majority of the book is taken up with alphabetised sections of recipes/plants and explains about each one really rather well, without losing you in a mire of technical words. Then, in the case of some books (hedgerow/fruit/veg) Hugh has written some recipes to use the ingredients you've grown, and in the veg/fruit books again, there are really helpful chapters on how to set up a good veg plot.

If all that's not enough, they are cloth covered, and the photography is gorgeous.

all images from amazon

Pinspiration: sewing case

Pinspiration, see what I did there? I know. Im a comedy genius.

Anywaaaaaay. I thought I should start using some of the images I spend my life pinning, rather than just.... Pinning them. And as is the way, I then have to show off my projects.

So heres the pinspiration for this one:

left, from tasha horsley right, from natty michelle both via pinterest

and heres mine:

We found the suitcase in a junk market in france, I think I spent about 3 euros on it. Its battered, and was lined with a paisley patterned paper. I relined it (badly) with a striped ticking sort of fabric which I found in a charity shop and fabric glue (which I know you can see, dont tell me).

It was reminding me by this point of my mums school case that I still have, so I went with the school vibe and made the needle book to look like an exercise book...

and the pincushion a rather crude apple...



It now lives in the living room next to my seat, and houses a mini sewing kit, and whatever project I'm currently working on - the embroidery of the world was my present to James for our anniversary. It has since also housed pom poms and another embroidery piece which became a wedding present.

One year on

One year ago right now, I married my best friend.

Happy birthday grandpa, you would be 90 today. We'll celebrate your birthday too.

And happy first anniversary Ray, my anniversary buddy! Hope you both have a wonderful day.

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!)