A week of finishing up projects

Some weeks are more industrious than others aren’t they? And that’s been the case here, unwittingly it has been a week of finishing up projects, some of which have been ‘on the go’, even though some may not necessarily have been verbalised previously, for a while.

And it feels good.

I’ve plenty more projects to start, but it’s so good to get some over the line, or in one case over the line as it is now. I could be a perpetual project starter - I have plenty to start, and the materials to start many of those - but there’s something about finishing and achieving isn’t there that’s equally as rewarding. The ‘glow’ of making it happen, making the change you planned and seeing just how well it turned out too.

I don’t know if it’s coincidence or all part of life, but this week I’ve also completed my dental treatment plan. Since my crown fell out earlier in the summer, and subsequent infection, a root filling and a new crown or two I’ve been a regular visitor to the dentist practice just up the road from us. I found them one night while I was kept awake with excruciating pain from that infection - tooth ache is not a good pain, but it certainly sharpens the mind when you need it sorted, I’d been meaning to get the crown looked at and nature said right now please!

I’m hoping that my troublesome toe takes some hints and also continues to behave and get itself completely healed. The x-ray results I was waiting on showed no breaks, no fractures, no infection and nothing really of concern, which is good and a little frustrating. I was hoping that it would provide the answers, but no. It is less troublesome than it has been, and in the most recent appointment the doctor said my body needs time to heal. So it’s got some more time, but is on a watching brief!

But back to my industrious week.

My Great Granny quilt top

It was only in August that I wrote about the deliberation that lay ahead, but it turns out that didn’t materialise quite as much, or for as long as I expected. After taking a punt on the sashing between the blocks - I randomly picked the patterned blocks, and randomly placed them - after a fair bit of rearranging and crawling around on the living room floor, I finally worked where they looked best, and sewed them into place before I could change my mind!

I did spend some time deliberating if I should add another border or two, but decided that as I’d already deviated from the pattern by including more blocks, that another deviation wouldn’t harm. I also wasn’t sure that a patterned border would actually be seen, or add much, and so I declared my quilt top finished.

There’s a little way to go before declaring the quilt finished, but I’m ok with that. I need to think about what I’ll use as backing, get some wadding and then assemble it - and then can consider how to quilt it. But a large chunk of this is done, which I’m grateful for - it’s been a long time getting here though, I started it back in 2017, and it’s been one of those projects that I pick up and put down.

New life with a box of dye

Well, two boxes actually. I’d had plans to use the black dye on this tablecloth for a while, but hadn’t quite made it happen. Then recently I found the tablecloth again and remembered just how much I liked it, but how it didn’t work with our redecorated space. The tablecloth originally was bought in Bruges by mum for my oval mahogany table, but since we’ve got our new white glass table the cream and natural coloured lace tablecloth didn’t really work. So (and after checking a long time ago) this was the week the box of dye came out - and it’s turned out brilliantly.

I wasn’t sure if the lace would take the dye, but in fact that’s taken it more strongly than the material which is a slate grey. You’ll also be pleased to see that I haven’t totally ditched my love of colour - the multi-coloured throw and chairs are here to stay, at times now though they’ll be paired with this rather elegant revamped tablecloth.

While I was winning with the dye, I thought I’d try my luck with an older and no longer used duvet set. Again, there was nothing wrong with it but the colour was from a previous iteration of our bedroom’s colour scheme, and somehow this set had never made it into use in our spare bedrooms. For me the colour was just a bit meh, a bit too beige and nothing - or it was. It is now the most glorious olive green, and again I was pleased to see the stitch detailing also take the colour. I know that this will be the perfect foil and show off a future project I have planned - you see, there’s always a project forming somewhere!

You never really know how the box of dye and materials will take, and thankfully I’ve been really pleased with both of these this week and now I have some newly refreshed older items to make use of and bring into use once more.

A new cardy

Like so many of my projects I get to a point where the making is done, and then I put it aside often starting something new before finishing a project completely. And that’s been the case with this cardigan too - for me, the thrill is the crochet part not the putting together part which is mad really as the putting together part is just as important.

And so, another project called to me this week - look, it was so close to being done.

It’s another project where I’ve gone slightly off-piste. The pattern called for bold stripes of alternating colours, but I figured this soft grey was the perfect foil for some artisan yarn I’d bought a while back. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have enough to continue the pattern to the shoulders though, and so decided to set aside two of the skeins to use for the sleeves and to use the rest for the main body and to see how far I could get. Turns out that was up to the arm holes, and so that worked out quite well, and has become my design feature by default, which I actually quite like.

Once the body was made I decided I wasn’t so keen on a straight edge, and much preferred a deep rib - and so I dug out my knitting needles and added one. That was a bit of trial and error as the first time I realised I hadn’t picked up enough stitches to make it actually wearable, but knowing this meant success the second time round.

Which just left the buttons. I have a stash of buttons which seems to keep growing, so I knew I must have some that would work. And I did, just not enough of the same design, so the lower half will have the round traditional style buttons and in keeping with the ‘doing it my way’ approach the top four buttons will be square.

So a good week getting things done my own way, as usual!

Sliding into autumn

The signs have been coming, haven’t they?

It’s been clear that a change of seasons has been about to take place, not least because of the autumn equinox on 23 September. There’s been subtler ways that our days have changed though over the past few weeks, and I’m sure yours have too.

We’re no longer wearing shorts and we’re sad about that! Now we’re most likely to reach for our jeans and long sleeved tops. My sandals are still there tempting me to put them on - and occasionally I do - but mostly now I’m choosing proper shoes or trainers. I’ve not yet broken into a coat yet - there’s a few months before that’s likely to happen, but a fleece and/or a waterproof is now a consideration when leaving home, though thankfully not always required.

There’s still some sun at times during the day and it’s been great to make the most of that, I’ve been able to time when I leave the house to coincide with the best of the weather, and I’m grateful for that. Just yesterday I spent an hour or so with my head in a podcast walking around a new-to-me local garden, taking pictures as I went.

CONEFLOWERS TUMBLING OVER THE BORDER AT HALL PLACE BEXLEY THIS WEEK

The food we’re eating has changed too - less salads and more heartier food, which is great - even lunches now have something hot, and I know that soup will once become a regular on our table. For me, autumn food is always welcome I think it’s of the best seasons food-wise! The slow cooker is making more of an appearance on my kitchen worktop and I’m regularly cooking recipes from Sarah’s Slow Cooker Series - they’re seriously tasty, and definitely worth a look if you need some inspiration.

The temperature is lower as you’d expect, and we’ve had one much chillier day this week. That’s meant we’re finally using more than a sheet and a patchwork quilt on our bed. The heating isn’t on yet, but we have progressed to the summer weight duvet - we have the duvets that click together, so there’s a few layers to go before we’ve reached maximum levels yet. Even so, the past few winters we haven’t even made it to the winter duvet stage, let alone both clicked together - but we know it’s an option if we need it.

A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OF PUMPKINS, SQUASH AND GOURDS AT NT STOURHEAD IN OCTOBER 2021

In the garden the leaves on the sycamores are still green and don’t look as if they’ll be coming down just yet, but there are other changes; the plants that suffered most in the summer drought are recovering, and our grass is finally green again. It’s patchy, but it’s green and patchy - which is good news. The squirrels are collecting food for their winter stores, and annoying MOH by digging holes around the garden - though I’m pretty sure they never come back for whatever they’re digging!

This weekend we need to move some pots and put away the sun loungers for the winter. I’m debating (with myself) whether it’s time to cover up the garden table and chairs just yet, or if we’ll be lucky to get a little bit more use out of them, even if it’s a snatched hour or two here and there.

I don’t know about you, but I’m here for it - autumn is probably my most favourite season, what about you?

My garden in August

The hot weather continued this month, and our grass got drier and drier. A drought was declared and our hosepipe was put away and we started to use some of our grey water on our pots, and on the plants that looked like they needed it most. That said our plants, and even the grass, are more resilient than we think. Writing this post later than I usually would has provided the benefit of hindsight, and that’s helpful.

The garden wasn’t without colour either - roses, sweet peas, verbena and agapanthus were flowering, just not with the same gusto or vigour as perhaps they usually would. We only had three flowers on our two pots of agapanthus, last year there was three times as many. The fatsia seemed to be most visibly suffering, dropping leaves that had yellowed and some which were burnt to a crisp. My dilemma was should I trim it now, or wait - for a while I waited but eventually I thinned it out and I think that has helped, who knows?

The bay tree that I’d cut and dried the leaves from had sprung back into life, as plants do when you cut them which is why I was hesitating about giving the fatsia the same treatment. And it’s good to see this one fill out and respond so well - there’s a chance that it may yet become as dense as it’s ‘twin’ but perhaps it’ll need a few more cuts over a few more years for the difference to be less obvious.

The white rose on the patio has also been flowering slowly, a few buds appear then the flowers come out, the petals drop and some more buds appear. It must make being an insect hard work, so it was especially nice to capture this one going about their purpose and heading straight into the centre of the rose.

Our trees (which were cut in mid-June) continue to thrive - this photo was taken mid-August and at this point we hadn’t had a proper downpour, though a couple were soon to follow. And it was great to see, and feel, the rain. When it rained there was a sense of relief, people didn’t seem too fussed about being caught in a shower (assuming it wasn’t one of the huge ones!) and it was all very good natured. The trouble with the huge downpours is that there’s really nowhere for the water to go when the ground is baked, and at one point later in the month, we did have puddles forming on our grass which was weird to see.

All of the trees that were cut have now started to show new growth, and that’s really good to see. It’s also good to see our garden slightly less bare again! Even the ornamental quince bush which got a bit trampled on the tree cutting day has recovered well. In fact it’s looking healthier than another of the same variety we have elsewhere in the garden, so proof that a severe prune (rather than a trampling) is a good thing every now and then.

It’s also been nice to enjoy the garden in the evenings - the lights are back up, and on one evening were were treated to this glorious sunset - the perfect backdrop for a G&T too!

With showers more regularly forecast we’ve taken to leaving trugs around the garden to collect water - with mixed success it must be said! But every little helps, and we’re hoping that the grass will be a resilient as the experts are saying it is, as we much prefer ours to be green!