Friday 1 April 2022

...Marching on

  • I continued with my 100 Day Project, one square at a time, channeling poppies and primulas, daisies and forget-me-nots...
...then adding in some stripey squares for contrast. I'm still not sure what to do with them - make a baby blanket perhaps? I'm currently on Day 47 and thinking about a change of direction at Day 50, so maybe I'll wait 'til the project is finished and then decide!
...and more natural scenery. The goat willows were just starting to come into flower, bright silver buds swelling into almost irridescent yellow-green honeycomb shoots before bursting into blossom where the sun shone brightest.
  • We always buy pots of live flowers for my mother and mother-in-law on Mother's Day, so that they can enjoy them for longer, planted out in the garden. These stunners were our choice this year - my husband chose a big pot of the purple-and-white ones for his Mum, and I went with two smaller pots of the pink-and-white and plain purple ones for mine. The photos really don't do justice to the rich, vibrant colours of these flowers - they were eye-poppingly gorgeous!
  • Our central heating boiler broke down towards the end of the month, and it took over a week to be repaired. The first half of the week we were blessed with mild Spring weather - blue skies and sunshine - but we had sleet, snow and freezing cold winds to contend with for the last few days, and it was pretty miserable indoors and out. The XXSCat dog chose one of those final Wintery days to have a comprehensive roll in fox poo at the park, and had to endure the indignity of an improvised bucket bath in the back garden. To be honest, she was lucky I didn't just throw her in the lake!
  • I bought some cheap and cheerful seeds and propagator trays from the Central Aisle of Joy at Aldi, and I am so excited to see them growing - some of them almost visibly - every day. The photo below is the current vista over my miniature fields. Lettuce in the foreground, then spinach, beetroot and carrots. I'm very inexperienced with growing vegetables/salad, so this may be as good as my farming adventure gets, but a girl can dream...

10 comments:

  1. Oh, how lovely your crocheted squares are! And I immediately saw them reflected in the stacks of colorful shipping containers in the photo below. I love when that happens.

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    1. Thanks Sarah! I definitely saw the potential for a shipping-container-inspired project. Turquoise, pink and orange really pop against rusty browns and dark green. Who knew shipping containers came in such fabulous colours?!

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  2. Yes, yes... just what Sarah says! I thought "shipping containers, like bright granny squares!" Your crocheted squares are so pretty. I love seeing them appear in my Instagram feed, like bulbs blooming.
    XXSCat... fox poo? Really? As though there wasn't enough going on! So sorry.
    Terrific gardening, Amelia. Those sprouts promise to be tasty veg! Keep it up!

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    1. XXSCat likes to be the centre of attention. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
      Thanks for the words of encouragement re. my 'farm'. Even if I only keep myself supplied in spinach and lettuce I'll be pleased!

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  3. Does anyone else feel a twinge mortified when a comment ( for no reason I can figure out) posts twice? What is that??

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  4. Those squares are joyous! They would certainly make a lovely blanket or scarf.

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    1. Thank you Kate! They're very addictive, especially on a one-a-day basis.

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  5. Our heater went out the first winter we lived in Washington state, during a huge snow storm. We had just moved from Southern California, so you can imagine how cold we were! We were going to bed with hats on! It sure did make us all appreciate our heater when it got repaired! Hope you are warm and cozy now!

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    1. Ooh, that does sound grim! The boiler is back in business, but it has now developed a slow leak, possibly where something wasn't tightened up properly after the repair. So we're waiting for another engineer to call and keeping a close eye on the water pressure gauge in the meantime!

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