Sewing Afternoon

Abigail and Eleanor are staying with us for a couple of days. Rain has stopped play so we had a sewing afternoon, and they cut out designs, applied Heat-n-Bond to make new pictures for their bedrooms.

Sue's Workshop

Sue and Annette



Busy sewing






Two bags



Yesterday was spent in Bedford at Sue's workshop.
A pretty bird picture and a bag were on offer, but as I did not have time to get ready for either I worked on two bags I had already done the machine embroidery for. 
Both patterns the frog and boot are favorites of mine.
It was a great day with lots of chat and sharing of ideas, plus some sewing!

Back home

Wales was such a wonderful trip I did not want to come home. The peace and quiet, the wonderful scenery and the incredible views on our off road trips made it very special.
BUT... look what awaited us on our return, the garden had suddenly burst into flower.

Wisteria above the raspberry bed

The red Rhodedendron

The minature Acers over the pond

A week in Wales

18th to 25th May Chris and I spent in a mobile home on a farm miles from anywhere. The weather was great, only one day of rain/hail. The trip was planned around Green Laneing, and Chris has researched lots of routes for us to follow... some VERY scary but all with magnificant views. This is our holiday in photos.

18th A brief stop at a lake

18th The Land Rover starts off clean!

18th A bird tried to fly into the LR!

18th A pretty waterfall



19th we walk to the nearby reservior




19th Ty-Drain Holiday home for the week



19th Sun on the patio

19th The view down "our" lane



20th The first of many gates





20th 60p to cross this bridge [my eyes closed!]



21st Outside our window

22nd Breathe in!

22ndA flock of sheep bar the way



22nd A pretty bluebell wood



22nd I've openned too many gates, it's Chris's turn



22ndA really narrow bridge



22nd Can they get any narrower?



23rd Trusty old Featherweight sees some action



24th A narrow gap in the wall

24th entering the forest on a muddy track



24th we pass a Ghost village in the middle of nowhere



New Me !

Curves Gym

Eat Clean

Rhododendron



Flowers

 Well at last things are moving in the garden, my two large Rhododendron bushes are starting to burst into flower, the white one has cowslips growing under it.
I am trying to "sort out" my body! My knees are really bad and although I joined Curves gym over a year ago, which has helped a lot , I have done little about my eating habits. Having been told about the Eat Clean way of eating [ I don't think of it as a diet] I am trying to change my eating habits. In the past two weeks I have managed to loose 4 lbs and already feel a lot better. The two litres of water a day are a real challenge.

BQLPC

Time for the June birthday postcards to be made and posted.

The yahoo group BQLPC hold regular swaps, and I signed up for the 2013 birthday swap, so each month I like to prepare the cards for the following month.
I really like the 3 bird PC's that will be going to Irene in Scotland, Joanne in France and Marion in England for their June birthdays.

The Temple Visit

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Yesterday I made a visit to the London Temple. This meant a 6am start ! The sun shone and there was little traffic until I hit the M25 !! commonly called the 'car park' it lived up to its name.
I had a wonderful Temple visit and enjoyed my lunch overlooking the gardens. The drive home was not so good, as I broke down and had to be rescued by road side assistance. Home at 5.30 very tired and cold as it rained all the way home.

Traveling the Byways

Main road cuts through BYWAY

Stop for lunch by the river

Map marked with route

Meeting the Highway Man

BYWAYS closed for "Health & Safety"!

The narrow Path is a BYWAY !!

Cowslips

Another nice day out using the BYWAYS around Thrapston. Many are temporarily closed due to Health & Safety !  One BYWAY we found was almost too narrow to walk down let alone take the car.
Under the hedgerows were covered in cowslips, one of my favourite flowers.


Many British byways are sinuous, as the poet G. K. Chesterton wrote in The Rolling English Road:


The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road,
A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire . . .
A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread
The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head

Four more May challenge items completed

The Bird House

French braid



3D Windmills




ME swap quilt










Today's "sit n Sew" at Poppy Patch was very productive. I managed to insert zips and make the backings for three cushions, pictured here with out the inserts.
Also completed hand sewing the binding down on the ME swap block quilt.

The ABC Linus quilt top was completed, but needs wadding and backing etc, before I can call it complete.  

Two wheels on my wagon!

As the old song goes, Two wheels on my wagon...

Something to do with rods and ends are being replaced.

The plan is to go off roading tomorrow, so lets hope the wheels are on and the sun shines.

I cannot stop sewing!

In the last couple of years I took part in three machine embroidery swaps. The first was a bird on a blue background, then flowers and finally butterflies.
The blocks have been stacked in a corner of my workroom as they are all different sizes and I could not decide how to put them together.

I decided just to go for it... added a 1 inch border to all of them having cut them into squares or oblongs. Next I just started sewing at random [ a hard thing for me] and making them fit by adding extra strips of fabric to fill in gaps.

Two blocks left over will be used for something else, but I am quite pleased to have it all in one piece now, and will probably put a fleece backing on it, and use as a snuggle quilt to remind myself of all the friends that made the blocks.