Tag Archives: Gardens

I love country gardens

The Merry Month of May

Merry Month of May May is my favourite month, full of promise and optimism. Here in Norfolk the hedgerows are bursting with new leaves and blossom and it won’t be long before the verges are frothy with Queen Anne’s Lace.

Here, in the corner of a field where Planet Penny orbits, there’s a lot going on. Next month the builders move in to build an extension, which will be wonderful when it is done, and a complete nightmare while it’s underway! I’m having a little practice today; as I type I have a man in my garden building a greenhouse. So far I have only had to make one coffee, one tea and one trip to the builders merchants. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it though. We live in such a windy spot and so far we’ve had three mini greenhouses and two rotary washing lines mangled by the wind, and the second hand greenhouse I was given was folded flat by Storm Doris before we even got the glass in.

This time my darling OH said we’re getting a really strong one and so what’s going up is one of these… Rhino Greenhouse …which as it has been very rudely pointed out to me, I can sit on during the next storm to keep it in place!

So watch out for me putting on my Alys Fowler hat and getting excited about growing things, whilst also doing all sorts of styling with bunting and fairy lights (which is the bit the dear OH is most worried about)

So, talking about flowers, I’ve currently had a bit of an obsession with making paper ones. What started me off was Mollie Makes’ The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon and Lia Griffiths tutorial on making paper peonies. Frankly, it’s not the best obsession for me…all that scissor work really annoys my cranky thumb joint…but I just can’t help it. An evening spent catching up on TV whilst cutting out the petals, off to bed after rubbing ibuprofen gel on said joint and then a joyful hour the next day with the glue gun and wire making a gorgeous bloom.I’m now eagerly awaiting a delivery of nicer crepe paper, finer and more subtle in colour so watch this space. crepe paper flower The magazine has sold out now, but I have a spare copy which I would love to pass on to one of you lovelies out there… big comic relief crafternoon …so just leave a comment and next week I will put all the names into a ~~virtual hat~~ Random Number Generator to find a winner. An opportunity to have a sore thumb just like me, and fill your home with paper flowers. Or to be more sensible and chill out in a pompom beard!

I’ll be back before then though, I have another project to share.

See you soon…x

Midsummer! and a Festival…

It’s hard to believe we’re now halfway through the year and in this little patch of Norfolk we were blessed with a warm sunny weekend in which to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

We are just back from a Midsummer Festival which took place just down the road from us at How Hill, a beautiful spot on the Norfolk Broads. You might just remember me taking part in a craft fair there a couple of years ago.

The aim of the Festival was to celebrate the success of the Truly Local shop in the small town nearby, so of course all the stalls, producers and businesses were truly local too.

There was such a lovely atmosphere, we bumped into family and friends, and a great time was had by all, including Higgins!

He was particularly helpful when it came to testing the deliciousness of the beefburgers…

What a look of sheer bliss…

Then of course he had to sort out the washing up after icecream…

Vanilla…

Mint Choc Chip…

…and that icecream cornet, surely the pointy bit would go to waste otherwise…?

There were more stalls than I can mention individually, but these are the ones I know you would like to hear about…

It was great to meet Rachael of Foxglove and Gingersnap with her snazzy stitching. I only knew her through Facebook, I love meeting up with my cyber friends in reality!

… and Sue Maton of The Mercerie. We only ever meet when we haven’t got time to talk properly! She has so many gorgeous things to tempt knitters and crocheters alike…

Paul Williams, one of our Two Rivers Trail-ers was there with his wonderful wooden creations…

Woods World Wide (I now have a dinky little board made from a local fallen tree, exclusively for me to slice lemons on! G & T, anyone?)

And a brilliant, serendipitous find, Ros Arrowsmith who makes beautiful ceramics with which I have completely fallen in love…

I particularly love her quirky lettering style and giant handles. It’s good to find something so fresh and different.

We finished with a walk round the Secret Garden, where my camera started complaining about it’s dying battery. You can get a little flavour of it here… so peaceful and calm.

The visit concluded with tea and cake, what could be better?

Back home I’ve a new project on the go, a spin off from last week’s Needlefelt Workshop, and a commission to complete, so I’ll be back soon with photos.

I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend too, see you soon…x

(now where’s that gin and tonic…?)

Needlefelting in Norwich

Well, Open Studios may be over for another year, but the needlefelting goes on… Last Saturday I packed my big spotty bag with a rainbow of fluffy fleece and went off to the Craft Lounge at the new Arts Desire premises. It’s all looking very lovely there now, and I especially appreciated the posh new coffee machine, and Kay’s newly acquired skills as a barista. I function so much better after a shot of caffeine!

We had a lovely group of people on the Needlefelt workshop who were very creative and soon got into the swing of needlefelting, with only the odd squeak as someone missed the work and pricked a finger (with no swearing, I was impressed)

At the end we had an eclectic mix of creations, several birds, a cuddly mouse, a French bulldog, a scary monster and a rainbow hedgehog…

I’ve now had a request for a workshop for making needlefelt notebook covers so if you are interested, do let me know.

Back home, I’m trying to get to grips with the garden which seems to have gone mad while my back was turned. I’ve made lots of moments to just stand and stare at the Albertine Rose though…

For 48 weeks of the year it’s a complete thug. It’s rampaged over the fence into next door and is swarming up their house too, fortunately they really like it. It sends out long, long branches covered in large thorns which grab at unsuspecting callers and it takes our son, Will, who is also our gardener most of an afternoon to trim it, tame it and train up the wires he’s put on the house. But at this time of the year it completely redeems itself, smothering the front of the house with fondant pink. I love lying in bed and viewing the world through rose petals!

It’s all too brief though, and already the North wind of the past couple of days has made the doorstep look as if we’ve hosted a wedding reception…

Such a fleeting moment…

Going back to the needlefelting again, one or two sharp-eyed people spotted the little old man in the tree when they came to visit for Open Studios…

I’m going to leave him there and see what happens. Will he rot? Will he be eaten by slugs or moths? Will he be dismantled by birds for nesting material? Or will he still be there for next year’s Open Studios…?

We shall see!

See you soon…x

The Year in Books

I mentioned serendipity in my last post, as that is what led me to a blog I hadn’t visited before, and a project ‘A Year in Books’ which is just what I need to rejuvenate my flagging spirits.

I’ve written before about my book habit, but over the years I’ve bought more and more books to feed the creative side of things, practical stuff, craft books, cookery books. My fiction reading has dwindled to 10 or 15 minutes a night in bed. Dozing off after a few minutes means that I end up rereading the same paragraph over and over trying to remember what is going on.

One of my decisions about slowing down and living in the real world a bit more was to put down the smart phone and pick up a book. This was why when I visited Penelope by the Sea on her lovely blog, L is for Love, I found she had discovered the perfect incentive on ‘A Circle of Pine Trees’.

Laura has created a reading project, nothing unattainable, of reading and sharing a book a month over the year. It can be shared on her blog via a linky button, on Instagram or Pinterest, a great way to find recommendations for new authors and books. All the details are in Laura’s post here, if you are interested in joining in.

My book for January is the latest Mark Haddon, which I bought on Liverpool Street Station on my way back from Aimee’s graduation a month ago (and hadn’t looked at since!) …

I made a start this morning in a packed hospital waiting room. Much better to get stuck into a book than fuming about my appointment being an hour overdue! So thank you to Laura for devising the idea, and for Penny for pointing me in the right direction…

Meanwhile, unlike so many other places in the UK, we had a glorious start to the day so I wandered round the garden with Higgins to see what was going on.

The snowdrops are nearly up!

There are primroses…

…and tiny miniature cyclamen…

…and still at the end of the garden, a rose is blooming…

Higgins, meanwhile still dives into his bed to hide when his coat is put on and he knows he has to go for a walk, however bright the sunshine!

Thank you for all the encouraging comments on my last post. It seems I’m not alone in feeling a little jaded, I think a lot of us are experiencing post Christmas burnout!

Onwards and upwards….see you soon…x

Beautiful Blues

I’m suffering from the Blues a bit here after last weekend. No lounging in the garden for me this time, but it’s all full on for Open Studios in 10 days time, and anyway the weather has gone back to it’s default setting – Rubbish! I can’t believe it’s nearly mid May and I’m back to lighting a fire in the evening. Not that the four legged members of the family are complaining, they can’t believe their luck!

I didn’t even find time to write a blog post either, and I’ve been collecting lots of photos over the week. Mother Nature is a lot more robust about the weather than I am, she’s in ‘I’ve started, so I’ll finish’ mode and the garden is filling up nicely, and the hedgerows and verges too.

I love the way Spring has a sequence of colours, it’s reminds me of the little mantra of names I run through when I’m packing the Planet Penny Cottons…Aubretia, Delphinium, Cornflower, Eggshell, Aqua, Jade, Apple, Lime, Buttercup, Marigold, Peach, Petal, Gerbera and Rose Red. Spring starts white, with Snowdrops, but almost immediately there are yellow Aconites…

photo: Van Muewen

…and then the Daffodils and Primroses arrive.

Not long after, pink is added to the mix, with Primulas, Tulips and all manner of blossoming trees. But get to May, and it’s blue…the Beautiful Blues and probably my favourite time of year. I’ve tried and failed so often to capture that mysterious ethereal blue of the Bluebells but it always defeats my little camera…

…and anyway I can’t catch that glorious smell and save it in a file on the computer, can I? It’s an experience, and all the more exquisite because it’s impossible to completely capture it.

In the garden, there are Forget-me-nots.

….Periwinkles…

and Cornflowers, and quite a few of the ‘Wrong sort of Bluebell’ , a European interloper, very prolific but not quite achieving deep glow of our native species. Still, it looks pretty good as a flower arrangement…

There are also Irises, but I can never bring myself to pick those…

…aren’t they amazing?

Back in the studio the challenge is to turn the working space of one incredibly messy worker (Moi!) into an exhibition space for two, and it’s a l-o-n-g job. I can always think of so many things I would rather do than tidy up! T’was ever thus. My dear Mamma, listening to me moaning said, ‘Well, you always used to stuff things under your bed…’ Too late….full!

I’ve tried hard to keep the creative vibe going though. I mentioned the on going white cotton theme in this post, and I’ve at last found time to complete the project which required it. I found this gorgeous pattern…

…with a tutorial here which was just perfect for the Planet Penny colours. One day I might have time to make a throw, but in the meantime, there is this…

It looks perfect on the dresser.

If you are looking for white cotton, there are still a couple of packs left from this post and of course all the other colours can be found in the Etsy shop.

I might be a little random in my appearances over the next week or so, there are a couple of family birthdays, a confirmation and much travelling round the country coming up, but I’ll be back, like the proverbial ‘Bad Penny’!

See you soon …x

Craft Fairs and Family Fun

It’s been a busy half term week here on Planet Penny what with the How Hill Craft Fair and family fun with a special visit by two little boys over half term. Not that they were always recognisable as little boys…

…slightly troubling for a granny!

The craft fair went well, such a lovely venue…

with beautiful views over the gardens and the Norfolk Broads…

The robins proved very popular and quite a few flew off to new homes…

So the felting needle will be red hot again next week to refill my little tree!

Higgins has had a lovely week with his favourite boys, and even had his moment as an artists model for Thomas, their dad…

…but didn’t quite get the hang of posing!

He was invited along with the rest of us for a wonderful lunch with my second son, and my talented daughter-in-law produced a fabulous cake worthy of the ‘Great British Bake Off‘, and Higgins even managed to get in on the act with this too!

It was all most enjoyable…

So creating has been a little low key this week, I actually have something on knitting needles for a change, but I’ll save that for the next visit.

I’m sending my continued thoughts good wishes over the ‘Pond’ to everyone who has been affected by the horrendous weather. I hope you have all the help you need to get back to some sort of normality as quickly as possible.

I would also like to send a big, BIG thank you for all your visits, and lovely comments and the support you give me here on Planet Penny. Today I reached the huge milestone of having 200,000 hits on my blog since its very tentative beginnings in December 2007. 100,00 of those visits have been in the last 7 months! I have my thinking cap on for a celebratory Giveaway so watch this space…

I’m leaving you for now though with the Handmade Monday link and I’ll be back soon…x