garden matters

The good news is the Snakehead Fritillaries have done really well this year. We bought a seedling when we went to visit a farm that had a field covered in them, so wonderful. each year they open the farm to visitors, but that year it was very wet and all the cars got stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out by the tractor.

The plant has been staggering on in a big clay pot on the East bank facing the frosty morning sun, it seems they need pretty hard conditions to flourish, so I reckoned that would be perfect.

They are strong this year - I am tempted to plant them actually in the bank and see if they will spread.

Sadly the nights are still cold and windy so most of the magnolia petals have fallen but they look so scrumptious on the grass it makes a good excuse not to mow right up to the tree yet.

There is a bit of a demarcation dispute at the bottom of the garden. We get on well with them, it is good to hear their two little kids cavorting around. They have a huge wooden climbing frame and an even larger circular bouncy thing, with a net round it that they jump, kick many balls both rugby and footie, and generally seem to live in.

However there is now a bit of friction. Their house is even further down the bank, so "we look down on them". Recently they did a bit more terracing and started edging onto the bottom path. This is a right of way from the lane, across the bottom of our garden to the neighbours next to us on the hill [not much town planning when these cottages were built] so it has to be defended or how will R and Ben and Milly, [two large dogs] navigate to home with the morning papers?

Now they have tied this rope and the RP is not convinced it is accurate to the nearest centimetre, which is why he had to start adding height.

Two Shows

Saw this vegetable quilt at a friend's show, it was very appealing. It would be nice to make a quilt based on the garden........one for each season. hopefully there will be time.

I once had the desire to make a full size double bed quilt, with a cricket pitch and all the daft names they use with a serious face. Silly mid on etc. haven't sorted that yet either.

This week I have made 2 [out of 3 Fat Ladies] as I hope to make " Soft Sculpture"as they call it of my Pink Blowsey Women, cavorting among the pink roses, a competition piece.

Sadly I didn't win, but they have asked us to develop our designs so I am taking it to the next level and damn it if they can't take a joke. We were stewarding an exhibition on Sunday and L. taught me how to make a fabric rose so I am trying to make my figure into a human rose..........RP is not impressed which is not a good sign.

This is a Fat Dancing Chicken from the show too.

This is one of L's stitching based on some of the bits of the machinery in the Steam Engine museum, the exhibition was quite a success because lots of people came to see it, who wouldn't usually cross the threshold to see textile art. Some husbands followed their wives into the room looking very trepidatious, but were soon intrigued. Either they went round identifying each piece with great pride at their expertise, or bought a piece of work to hang on their [garage?]wall.

It was good to have a whole day to sit with friends and stitch while welcoming enthusiastic visitors, no washing up or hoovering to deflect, not even the doggy to walk. Totally exhausting being sociable for so long however.