It's The Thought That Counts....

Mothering Sunday - payback day - and my two were very good as always.  When I was little I'd go out into the garden and pick Forsythia and Daffodils for my mother, and my mother remembers going to church and giving her mother little posies of Violets.

Well, Sunday dawned bright and beautiful and because George was sleeping in - fine because he'd be up later to go bell ringing - so my day started with helping Jonathan to feed the sheep: all plump and ready for lambing to start on April the 1st.

Then I went over to visit my mother, armed with flowers and chocolates!  We had a look at her garden, which is very much a spring garden and ready to burst into colour.

After that I nipped home and opened my cards from George and Victoria.  In George's he'd written, "hope you will enjoy the bells at the service", so I thought I'd better get down there and have a listen.

As well as George bell ringing, Jonathan was playing the violin at the service so it was going to be quite a treat.  I went into church but couldn't hear the bells over the violin music, and, choosing my son over my husband, decided to go outside and listen.

Well, it was perfect, the sun was shining, the graveyard was all green and yellow with the daffodils, and the beautiful sound of bells ringing out made for a perfect scene. I've always loved the fact that George has taken up bell ringing.  I stood listening and thought what a perfect Mother's Day gift the scene was, and how lucky I am.

After the service I came home.......and George was still in his room!  He'd overslept because of the clocks changing......

Finally, this is the picture my nephew sent my sister, I think it's so funny.

Finished...at LONG Last

At times I have wondered if I'd ever be able to say this.....but, the day has come, and I have finished my medallion!!

I think I started it in 2011 - and it has been hard work but, once I've quilted it, I think I'll be pleased.

All those years ago it was my plan to show people that quilting needn't be an expensive hobby, and decided to make it out of four old dresses that I'd loved.  I've just been searching through my old trunk to find photos, but could only find pictures of two of the dresses.

Two were Laura Ashley (this is one, and I'm wearing it at an old friend's wedding where I was one of the two Maids of Honour - I think it must have been about 25 years ago)

and the other one was actually a skirt and top which I bought on my way to an interview in London - I think it must be about 30 years ago

In fact it was again at a friend's wedding - I got fed up with going to people's weddings after a while!!

The last dress was a Miss Selfridge dress which I really loved and would have bought between the above two.

When I first started the quilt I was a bit worried that I might still want to wear the dresses but, looking at them now, I think they had their time!

So that's the good news.

But there is also a little mystery happening around here.  Everyone knows about my friend who comes over once a week and hides a little sheep we have somewhere in the house, and then I have to find it and hide it again (- don't ask).  Well, this week I couldn't believe it when I saw she'd introduced a cat into the game.

She denies all knowledge of it though, as does everyone else I've questioned......so, where has that little cat in the yellow coat and purple scarf come from?...or did I make it and have forgotten?  Am I losing my marbles?  Oh dear.

Two Days Until Springtime!

Bring it on!

Well, today is grey and drizzly but last Wednesday it felt like Spring was well and truly here!

It was so sunny we had the door and windows open in the workshop

Everyone was really busy working on their Yoko Saito town quilts with Lynne's beautiful quilt to inspire them

It was especially nice because we had two ladies from the caravan site join us - Barbara all the way from Fleetwood in Lancashire, and Ruth from Skegness.  I loved seeing them walk up the drive together to spend the day sewing and chatting.

And what a lot of sewing, houses sprouting up everywhere

 

Such a beautiful quilt.

 

 

Oh yes - and I finished my 'shabby chic' throw

 

so that was good.  I wanted it to look old and used, and it does, probably because it's taken so long to finish!

When everyone had gone I went for a little walk around the garden and was so pleased to signs of spring everywhere; the hedges greening up, primroses and daffodils looking so pretty, cherry blossom coming out and all the pussy willow and catkins.  The willows down by pond had a green haze around them where the leaves are appearing.  All just as it should be!

 

How Rocks Appear

So - the mystery of the Spring flints have been solved!  Pippa explained it to me at the Lynne Johnson workshop yesterday, and, even though I got her to repeat it twice, because I was obsessing about my imminent haircut I didn't really take it in.

I looked up "How rocks appear in your garden" though (carefully avoiding the use of flintstones which just kept coming up with Yaba-yaba-doo) and an Indiana Public Media site put it very well:

Where The Rocks Grow
Any place that has winters cold enough to freeze the ground might experience the magical appearance of rocks welling up from beneath the surface. This is so common in the eastern U.S. that the rocks are called “New England potatoes.”
Here’s what makes these stones mysteriously appear. Stones are better conductors of heat than soil, so the stone conducts heat away from the warmer soil beneath it. That colder soil under the rock then freezes before other dirt at the same depth.
Remember that when water freezes it expands. So, when the water in the soil under the rock freezes, it expands and pushes the rock up a little.
When the ground thaws a space is left under the stone which fills with dirt, so the stone rests a little higher. Over a period of time this repeated freezing, expanding, upward push, and filling underneath eventually shoves the rock to the surface.

So, these are our East Garston Potatoes!

And here's a not-very-good photo of Pippa's really beautiful Baltimore

Stunning!

Strange Phenomenom

I just snatched a walk with the dogs between showers (and to avoid doing the ironing) and noticed the strange phenomenon which happens every year.

All along the fence line, at the bottom of the field, as winter is coming to an end, flintstones appear.

It's just as if they've been washed up on a shoreline, all in a line.  I supposed they have been washed down by the rain, but it is strange.