Sunflower Houses & 30 Days of Beauty : 29

Our new garden project has been inspired by the wonderful book Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy, her lovely blog is here

http://sharonlovejoy.blogspot.com/ and spurred on further by this lovely bloggers post http://downinthemeadow.blogspot.com/2008/11/sunflower-house.html

A sunflower house for O, a secret place for summer days, to cool down, to play, a spot for lunch, a special place to be with friends.

We set pots out in a circle with a tepee of canes and cord for the plants to climb up.

Each pot has a sunflower and plenty of sweet peas.

We plan to add pots of runner beans to add cover and edible treats to hand.

The foundations are laid with rich compost for the plants to grow, now we hope with lots of love and care, plenty of help from Mother Nature and a good mix of both sun and rain, our Sunflower House will be blooming soon.

Moving in before it's finished.

Number 29 in my 30 Days of Beauty, our salad bed, nearly ready for a first picking.

30 Days of Beauty : 28

Blessings on the blossom,
Blessings on the fruit,

Blessings on the leaf and stem,
Blessings on the root.



Happy Earth Day to all.

30 Days of Beauty : 27

Hands, young and old.
Together.
Sharing.


Grandad and youngest Grandson.
Learning from each other.
Connecting.


Planting seeds and love.
Tenderness.

Big hands, Little Hands.

Loving Hands.

Garden Treasures inc 30 Days of Beauty : 26

Morning coffee in the garden, complete with Lincolnshire Plum Loaf, topped with thick slices of cheese.
While we relaxed the hustle and bustle of the bird world never ceased.

Our Sparrows are back, again choosing to nest in the bat box rather than the box set up for them.

With full plum loaf tummies we decided to spruce up the tree house, this unloved kitchen was long over due for recycling.

After pulling it out, it was quickly returned to it's spot.

Someone has other ideas for it.

My day 26 of 30 days of Beauty.

30 days of Beauty : 25 ( The Hatching Edition )

Remember that chicken, so patiently sat on her eggs, checked over and over by my little guy.
Well ....

finally they hatched, to the delight of O.

Just the cutest chicks.

30 Days of Beauty : 24

Happy Easter.

30 Days of Beauty : 23 ( The Baking Edition )

When my littlest guy was poorly recently, we fell ( far too easily ) into having the TV on during the day, Cbbeebies was a huge hit especially I Can Cook.

So when O was better ( and the TV switched back off ) we set about having our own I Can Cook session.
I measured everything out in bowls and then gently guided O with his baking.
Firstly he made Banana Bread.


Those little hands were so capable, so clever, so skillful.

The start of a Mama-Made gift for a friend, who adores Battenburg Cake.

O's Banana Bread, ready to share with his Woodland Group friends.

A tray of feta cheese filled savouries, O loved making and eating these.

His pride at sharing his goodies with family and friends is wonderful to see and so worth all the clearing and washing up after.

Recipes here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/makes/theme/cooking/all

30 Days of Beauty : 22

Light and Love in the Darkness.

I have found love for my girl in many places here on the net over the past few days, kind Mamas who have opened their hearts and dedicated a place to her.

We are humbled by your love and oh so grateful for it.

Thank You.

x

30 Days of Beauty : 21

Every morning O looks to see if this broody hen has hatched her eggs yet.
We're all hoping it won't be long.

30 Days of Beauty : 20

Hello Spring.

Welcome Back.

It is so wonderful to see you, to smell you, to feel you.

Stay Awhile.

Happy Days.

30 Days of Beauty : 19

Basket of Mama-Made knits, knitted with love and care for babes just arrived and babes due soon.

30 Days of Beauty : 18

Waiting for Daddy.
Looking.
Calling.
Waiting.

And then the joy when Daddy calls back as he rounds the corner of our road.
Dancing.
Jumping.
Smiling.

Daddy is Home.

30 Days of Beauty : 17

Brightening my day x

30 days of Beauty : 16

But every time it rains,
Your here in my head,
Like the sun coming out.

I just know that something good is going to happen.

And I don't know when,

But just saying it could even make it happen.

On top of the World, looking over the edge,

You could see them coming.

Cloudbusting - Kate Bush

30 Days of Beauty : 15

Blue sky reflections.

I am a Knitter not a Sewer ! including 30 Days of Beauty : 14

My poor sewing machine, which has been with me for many years, mostly lies dusty and unused in the cupboard under the stairs ( very Harry Potter ish ! )
But recently, instead of lusting after all the wonderful bits and pieces other bloggers seem to always be up to but sitting on my hands ( and piles of stashed craft equipment ) and not giving them ago, I have decided to just get on and do them.
Finding the time has been easy, one rule ... switch off the TV for the whole evening or at least a couple of hours.
So out came the sewing machine, quick dust down and we began to make friends.

Inspiration came from here
http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/
and as with most things from Gill, who always gets things done !

I had no t-shirts to use, so ordered some cheap material from ebay ( gotta love it ) sent N to the pub, children to bed and set to.


The above photo is for my 30 days of Beauty project, proving to myself I am no longer just a Knitter but a Sewer too.

The finished trousers in all their glory and 101+ mistakes, I can tell you them all, not least of all is the snugness of the waist but hey I learnt to love my sewing machine, enjoyed my evening and

the delightful giggles and jumps of excitement from O this morning, so makes it worth it.

I am stupidly over-the-top proud of seeing my boy in Mama-Made trousers and funky animal trousers at that !

30 days of Beauty : 13

Thoughtful, mindful knitting.

Caring, loving knitting.

Aware, concerned knitting.

Sad, soulful knitting.

Painful knitting.

Mama to Mama knitting.

............

Knitting for Cuddles http://cuddles-uk.org/