Random purchasing

I have been very remiss with my blog recently. I am not sure why as I have been keen to sit down and write nearly every evening but same old excuse I am afraid. Time has just conspired against me. I had a flying visit down to see Emily at the weekend as she is suffering from a horrible chest infection so as well as a hug  to make her feel better I wanted to give her some moral support in her planning for the Country Living Fair, as I mentioned in my last post. We had a fruitful catch up and I feel a plan is coming together. The two of us and the wonderful Jonathan must have looked like a load of chumps though as we paced out the stand size in the back garden, laying out sticks and cushions to mark the spaces for tables and print holders. Improvisation can be such a hoot if you try hard enough! 

My flying visit was preceded by a quick trip to the "Scottish Quilt Championships" at Inglestone near Edinburgh and the title of this quilt fair always makes me chuckle. Not quite the FA or Ryder Cup but some hard work exhibited by some very clever and talented ladies ( and lads perhaps? who knows). I took along my lovely lofty friend Emma, who is a "quilt virgin" and I hope I didn't bore her too much droning on about fat quarters and the like. Emma is a great supportor of QD land and I love keeping her up to date with the latest news. Who knows she may at some point get the urge to join in, but I have had to warn her how very addictive all this stitching can be. 

one of the few linens I found at the show

 

As you can see I did indulge in some retail therapy and I was shocked at the randomness of my purchases when I surveyed them back at home. No real theme or style here at all, but I think that's a good thing as I like the idea that different styles grab me on different days. Having quilted for over 15 years I have made many traditional pieces but have loved watching all the new styles and colours come through and the change in fabrics available has been so refreshing. I have to say that I actually was a little disappointed at the lack of modern fabrics at the show, with the only real nod to modern quilting coming from the girls at the Avery Homestore in Edinburgh. I had fallen on their website a few weeks ago so it was lovely to meet them and I am itching to get through to see the shop itself soon. The girls were selling a lovely mix of contemporary fabrics, from my favourite Amy Butler, through the jolly Brrr Ice with its great polar bears ready for Christmas, to some great Suzy Ultman Critters. I felt quite rotten actually as I rather inappropriately said that I had just bought some of the fabrics that they were selling from Pink Castle Fabrics and how great they were, but did not mean to be so rude. The girls had the best choice of fabrics at the show by far and I will most definitely be a supporter from now on. I love Pink Castle and their service is great but sometimes you just have to shop locally and avoid the tax too.

One of my plans was to look for fabrics for my Mouthy Stitches swap , with our partners being announced that day  but technology failed me and I couldn't get my emails to work on my phone till that night by which time I was tucked up in my trundle bed in the B&B in Newcastle.  Actually as I say, the fabrics on sale at rhe show were mainly run of the mill, with the exception of the very large pile now laying in the middle of my dining table, so I will be looking online for my partner, or alternatively will be "google mapping" to see if I can leg it to Avery Homestore in my lunch break in the next day or so. ( This time I shall go alone rather than inflict agony on any more friends - see " A Challenging shopping trip" ha ha). As this is my first swap I am very nervous that I will not be able to match up to the amazing work of my fellow Swappers but I will keep you posted- without revealing too much. However I will say , I do have  plan .... wink wink nudge nudge
 

Don't blink - this might be summer

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we suffered yet another day of lashing rain and we were all  beginning to wonder if we are going to go straight into Autumn, so much so that my mind has started to turn to thoughts of apples, pumpkins and all this autumnal. My favourite time of the year. This feeling was not helped by my latest copy of Country Living Magazine hitting the door mat, displaying  a beautiful cover photo bearing all those things that make me feel comfy and cosy but I quickly buried such thoughts. It is only August for goodness sake. I must not succumb to the urge to either hibernate or seek out all things witchy . And do you know my resistance was repaid immediately.  The sun has come out!

Edinburgh Castle ready for the Tattoo

I braved the elements, coatless, on the commute in this morning and then spent my lunch break envying all the passing tourists in their skimpies as I charged about the shops on a very important mission ( shoes!!) boiling my little bits off in office gear. Edinburgh is such a stunning city and the arrival of the Festival in August transforms an already hectic city into a place of madness. However I do not begrudge the extra ten minutes it takes me to plough through the crowds to get to my train home, as the colour  and vibrancy of the place makes me smile. Me and the beloved JB have not been very organised with tickets this year as I think the ongoing Olympics has been a bit of a curved ball and drawn our attentions away, but I am sure we will catch up for the final couple of weeks once the Games have finished. Last year we very proudly took Zoe on her first ever trip to see live theatre , seeing " Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy", based on the wonderful books by Lynley Dodd. If you are not familiar with these you really should check them out for the little people in your life. Tales of naughty pups and their friends, with names like SlinkyMalinky, Bottomly Potts and Hercules Morse. Cracking stuff.

Anyway as ever I digress. I purpose of this blog was to share with you a little update from the garden, as I was able to catch a few rays when I got home tonight. It has taken an absolute battering this year with all the rain and although it looks very lush and green, we have had hardly any flowers since back in May when things started to peek out. Its been such a shame as many of my favourites just didn't appear because of the low temperatures and the rain.  We do have a garden full of roses at the moment though which is giving a great show of colour, but if you look closely you can see we have the worst black spot I have ever seen.  I will need to consult Dad, as rose guru, to see if he thinks this is due to the rain or some other horror. He told me years ago to plant garlic near the base of the rose bush and this did appear to help, even if it looked a bit on the odd side. If roses are your bag and you have and ideas , do let me know your ideas for beating this blight.

As well as the roses, the hostas are out which I adore but again they are very bruised. I love these giants of our garden and we are very lucky not to have a slug problem. Don't tell anyone though but when I have found the odd mollusk or two I have been known to fling them over the fence as my neighbour doesn't garden at all and I figure the little blighters do need to eat at some time.

 

 As you will see we do have a few other favourites in bloom, even if it is a bit of a poor shown this year, but I hope you enjoy the pictures. As for me I am about to put my feet up with a glass of something chilled and enjoy the dappled sun under the dovecot, comfy cushions to hand ( as you will  see we have gone for an international flavour - of a sorts ha ha)



White Buddhlia



Under the dovecot, the sun breaks through

Bring on the Games ( or a girl outstanding in her own field)

Its a busy weekend for Quilty Doings as I head south to family, friends and the Olympic Games. Reception to London hosting the Games has been somewhat mixed North of the Watford Gap ( which is only just North of London for all my non UK friends and readers) and I have found this a bit sad. We in the UK are not very good at showing our patriotism but this occasion surely must be an opportunity for us to celebrate and even show off a bit?  Perhaps its that old self deprecation thing with us here in Blighty, in that we don't like to be seen to do anything too well - who knows. Anyway this small English woman will be waving her flag with the best of them both at home and down in the Olympic Park itself. 

Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

 To get in the mood on Friday we headed out to Princes Street Gardens to watch the Red Arrows fly over Edinburgh Castle, as part of the all day opening celebrations and as ever they were spectacular. Don't worry, the sky in the photo is very misleading as it was a lovely sunny lunch time rather than the end of the world as it appears here.

next stop Belfast in half an hour

Me and the beloved JB will be meeting up with Number One Son on Monday and heading for what they have called the Copperbox to watch a spot of Handball, followed by a couple of games of Hockey.  The first of these will be a hoot as I have no idea what handball actually is and even had to enquire whether it have goals or a net to a knowledgeable sporting colleague on Friday before I left the office. However Number One Son struck it lucky as it turns out, discovering it is the national sport of Croatia. He was   was told this in a  proud and happy voice by his Croatian boss on the same day, so he has the inside track on rules, regulations and who will be the ones watch. I think we are watching team GB, Russia, Spain and France so my hopes for  a British victory are slim.

When it comes to hockey this is a different matter all together. Many hours of torture where endured in my youth on a school hockey pitch, so the rules are ingrained on my memory. I think for women of a certain age hockey will always conjure up memories of frozen playing fields, giant Airtex Navy knickers and games mistresses with more facial hair than Fidel Castro. I have one particularly vivid memory of an incident when  after a term and a half of proving that I was absolutely rubbish at the game, Mrs Barefoot ( no trust me that is not a made up name, she was head of the P.E department) decided she would make me play in goal. Now what ever possessed her to place a very diminutive 14 year old girl with child sized feet in goal I still to this day have not figured out, but that she did.  

what an attractive way to dress your teenagers

 Luckily for me, the opposition turned out to be even more rubbish than me , so our team spent the whole of the game in the opposition's half. I was left alone in my little goal mouth, stick in one hand, singing Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns" to myself ( heaven knows why singing to myself or why that particular song) whilst desperately trying to cling on the giant pads with the other hand. The pads and foot protectors were so huge that  they hung off me with the pads so gigantic they reached above my waist, making any kind of movement almost impossible. Who knows what would have happened if the opposition had deemed to make an attack on goal. I think my only tactic would have been to physically launch myself head first at the attacker and hope to shock her into missing the ball altogether! Needless to say I would never have made Team GB or achieved any sporting prowess, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate a good bit of rough and tumble when it comes to a well honed muscular man running around a pitch.

Anyway I digress. Hockey it is on Monday night. Team GB versus Argentina, which will be interesting to say the least. Our national rivalries are more than well known so an "interesting" confrontation may ensue. Let the best men win, that's all I can say ( and I know who they are....). 

As you may have guessed all this sporting excellence means there will be no stitching this weekend. Well almost none. To while away the hours on the East Coast line I have bought a small patriotic table mat with me that I am going to give me my best mate and host, which I knocked up this morning in a rush of patriotic fever. The binding needs finishing off but with a 5 hour train journey I really don't need to rush. Just hope for a sympathetic neighbouring passenger who doesn't mind the odd thread being tossed their way. 

The London prints were a must  when I saw them, with the taxis, guardsmen, phone boxes and the like and so I hope she likes it. Just a little bit of fun really. To be honest I only went in the shop to by a long quarter for a binding on another project but came out with this little bagful but you know what its like, don't you. 

Actually I have hidden in my bag a real gift for her, but that is for my next post as if she reads this it will not be a surprise! 

See you again soon.