Ruby's Button Tin

No sewing, no working on the allotment ...

I'm typing this one handed as a couple of weeks ago I managed to come off my bike.  I'm having to wear a sling on my right arm.  Some bone around the elbow area has got a little break in it, so I'm getting thoroughly bored and cranky as I'm not able to do much in my spare time.  Can't sew - no needlepoint, quilting or softie making.  No knitting.  No cycling.  No weeding or planting on the allotment.  No nuffink!  Grrr ....

The half finished projects around my flat are staying half finished ...

... like this needlepoint which is intended to use up scraps of wool left over from other cushions or tablemat designs. 

I'm getting more reading done, re-visiting some favourite Agatha Christies.  I do so love an old fashioned murder ... preferably in a quaint English village full of maiden aunts, eccentric vicars, scheming ne'er do wells and mysterious strangers.  Add a dash of cyanide for the perfect crime.

Bye Bye Baby ...

Just sitting down at my laptop having a few cups of tea to start the day off.  It's a very rainy Saturday, and I'm planning on lots of clutter clearing and cleaning up.  There might be several trips to charity shops to drop off unwanted books and clothes. 

It's been a sad week as I've had to say goodbye to my beautiful cat Caesar.  Old age and illness finally caught up with him.  I will miss him loads as he was my constant companion for the best part of 15 years, so it'll be funny without the pit pat of his feet around the place.  I'm hoping to acquire a couple more kitties, but need to do lots of decorating and get new carpet put in, so that'll be easier while I'm on a cat break. 

 What a handsome boy!

Odds & Ends

What I'm reading:

Marigold - frumpy, a fish out of water, hideous in her own eyes, known to one and all by the unfortunate nickname Bilgewater.  A really lovely book by Jane Gardam.

What I've bought:

6 glasses with colourful bird designs, £2.00 for the lot from a charity shop.  A bargain!

Are you getting 5 a day?

It's been raining so much this week I haven't spent more than an hour on the allotment.  I did manage to pop over yesterday early evening, only to find that The Evil Slugs have been feasting on my poor little plants.  Tender leaves are either more full of holes than a piece of cheese, or have been munched until there's nothing left but a stalk.  I'm loathe to use slug pullets, but I might have to. 

Anyway, on to craftier matters ... are you getting 5 a day?  Pieces of fruit I mean. 

I've been making strawberries for a while, but the apple slices are new.

There's also been some baking going on ...

These gingerbread men look pretty pleased with themselves.  The colour doesn't show up too well in my dodgy photo, but the felt is a wonderful spicy shade, perfect for gingerbread. 

A grey, rainy day

It's raining.  I'm sewing. 

Fruit & veg

Well, since my last posting I've got my allotment.  Yay!!  I'm the proud occupant of plot 39a, and have been since last Thursday.  So I've been weeding and weeding, pulling up grass and dandelions and generally clearing the ground so I can start with a blank canvas.  I've planted the odd thing - a nasturtium, some marigolds and mint, but it's mainly a tidy-up at the moment. 

This is a view looking down the slope at my patch.  At the top I'm planning on putting flowers, then a veggie patch.  Then you get to the raspberry bushes which apparently produce masses of lovely berries in autumn, then another veggie patch, then it's compost corner. 

My windowsills all around the flat are full of seedlings in pots, and the courgettes in particular look to be very sturdy little fellows.  I've got high hopes of them, if I can keep the slugs off them of course.  Maybe eventually I'll end up with an abundance of brightly coloured veg - something like this???

I've been making lots of carrots and cherry tomato felt sofites, plus cake - Bakewell tarts and jam tarts.  It's weirdly addictive ...

My desk, as usual, is a total state.  What I really need is a separate sewing room, but no chance of that!  So I'll just have to live with a dining table covered in felt food.  How do people in swanky magazines manage to cope with those severly minimalist homes where there's not a dust bunny out of place?  Do they just clean and tidy 24-7  ?  Are there really people with no clutter?  They can't be crafters ...

Thrifty buys

Yesterday was beautifully sunny and warm, the kind of weather where you just don't want to be inside. I did a lot of lounging around, a bit of reading (Stef Penney's 'The Tenderness of Wolves') and some sewing (felt cakes). Also, popped into a couple of charity shops and found some more stuff to clutter my flat with. Not that I need more clutter, but these were so pretty ...

A dinky little green & grey patterned milk jug and sugar bowl for £2.50

and these six crackle glass bowls. (I don't know what the correct term is for them, but crackle sounds right to me.) They were £4.00 the lot, and I suppose were originally fruit bowls. What a very civilised afternoon tea that would be!

On the greenery front, my windowsills are jammed with plant pots and seed trays. Among the plants that will hopefully be flourishing this summer, I should have tomatoes, courgettes, marigolds, larkspur and foxgloves. Lots of mint too.

May already. The year is racing by ... and still no allotment news. I've had a look at 4 plots, and made by choice but the council haven't sent through a tenancy agreement yet so I don't know which one I've been allocated. After a year and a half of waiting I'll be happy to get anything frankly. 1 of the 4 plots was in good shape, fairly recently dug, complete with raspberry canes and a flourishing rhubarb patch. But the other 3 were on slopes more fitted to Alpine goats, and came with an extensive collection of weeds and brambles. I picked the raspberry & rhubarb patch as 1st choice, but there's something quite appealing about rescuing a completely overgrown patch and putting it to good use.
Oh well, patience is a virtue and I've just got to keep gently pestering the council until they get this sorted.

On the crafty front I've made making lots of felt fruit and vegetables, though I'm having problems buying all the colours of felt I need. I may have to find an online supplier as local fabric shops sell felt either by little squares - which are used up in no time, so aren't economical - or if they sell by the metre they only have basic colours - red, white, etc.

Oh, going back to all things gardening - there's a great new book out called Guerrilla Gardening. Apologies to the author but I didn't note down his name. I was reading the book for ages in Borders yesterday, and it's so inspiring. Guerilla gardening is just about taking over a neglected public space and - well - planting it! Clearing the littler, planting flowers, taking care of a verge or an area at the base of a tree. It's about brightening your neighbourhood and chimes in with another movement I really admire - the KnittaPlease crew. They're busy knitting woolly cosies for lamp posts and parking meters. Both the Guerrila Gardeners and Knitta Please have easily located websites, so please look them up on a search engine.

Public spaces in cities have been terribly neglected for years, so it's lovely that urban dwellers -seeing what their councils are not prioritising - are taking matters into their own hands and personally beautifying their streets. The prettier, cleaner and more appealing a street is, the more likely people will get out of their cars and walk or cycle along it. That's got to be good.

Cat in a bag

I've no idea why cats like to climb inside everything and anything. Maybe they were submariners in a former life? Whatever the reason, all cats seems to love clambering inside bags and boxes. This is Caesar snuggled inside a bag of tapestry wool, looking snug as a bug.

On the crafty front - the green and growing crafty front - I've been planting various seedlings and impatiently waiting for them to sprout. The kitchen window sill is crowded with pots and seed trays. The marigolds are popping up nicely, though the chive seeds I've planted seemed to have disappeared without a trace. I'm also impatiently waiting for Bristol council to allocate me an allotment. After a full year and a half of waiting I've at last reached the top of the list for my very own veg patch. Now I'm watching out for the postman to bring me a tenancy agreement so I can sign it, pay the rent and get on to my plot. Come on council, pull your finger out please!

I didn't manage to get my act together to submit anything for the softies central competition. Maybe next time ...

Food, glorious food!

Cakes and strawberries

I've been taking photographs of some of my felt food, hoping to get some decent pictures in order to submit for the softies central competition. But my lack of a decent camera and - more to the point - lack of any shred of photographic skill hasn't meant brilliant results.

I shall have to persevere!