A growing pile of colourful crochet

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about what’s on my hook, so here one is. And what’s on my hook is a bit of a misnomer really as I’m waiting for my next delivery from the mini-skein club. I’ve half-way through my six month subscription, which I took out to treat myself whilst lockdown was on, and to support a smaller business.

But it’s been addictive. And a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was fine with the first month’s yellows, greens and turquoise - all colours I’m comfortable with. I had a bit of a wobble when the next box arrived with pale blue, but by the time I finished on a lilac that reminded me of parma violets, I was back on course. Then when the pinks, which turned out to look quite like raspberry ripple arrived, I was on the up again.

My original plan was to make a wrap, oblong shaped as I’m not a fan of the triangular shaped ones, and at times I wonder if it might be too colourful. Which is quite something coming from me, a self-confessed lover of colour. Another suggestion is a beach cover up, and I’m tempted, although beaches aren’t quite my natural habitat, and I wonder if I’d want to get it sandy.

Maybe it’ll turn into some other kind of multi-coloured wearable. I’ve thirteen completed squares so far, with the fourteenth already started. So the pile will grow for a few months yet, which means I’ve some time to finalise exactly what I’ll make. Which is probably a good thing!

But for now, I’m just enjoying the colours. And wondering where we’ll go next in the colour wheel.

Oh how I've missed the flower garden in Greenwich Park

My regular daily commute used to involve more than coming down the stairs and heading for the dining room table, it used to have quite a picturesque walk through Greenwich Park. And yes, I know I’m lucky. And while the park has been open, the flower garden had been shut.

It has reopened, and on our mammoth Thames Path walk I couldn’t resist a slight detour even though my feet were already aching. And being there just emphasised how much I’d missed my almost daily park visit, even though my glimpse of the flowers was often minimal.

The neatly manicured borders, with the plants flowering almost uniformly made me smile.

The bursts of colour.

And even, unusually, the more formal beds. Usually I’d be slightly more unkind and refer to these as ‘municipal’.

But really it’s the hydrangeas and the lace caps which line the path that once again had my attention.

And yes, why wouldn’t it?

It’s a plant I don’t have in my garden, and one I don’t have the space for. But it’s also going straight on my list for our next garden, whenever that comes along.

But then again the delicate lace caps, are also vying for a place in that fictional space. I’m going to need enough space for them both aren’t I? Though for now, I’ll be making do with those in Greenwich Park, and hoping that the flower garden manages to stay open.

The Echeveria Gallery at RHS Wisley

It seems like a lifetime ago since we visited RHS Wisley, but it was actually only six months. So much has happened across the world since then. I’ve not been as present on my blog as I usually am, but I’m hoping to be back here more often. Just a scroll through my unedited photos was enough to inspire me to start posting, and start editing photos again. I’m not sure if that’s coincidence that that coincides with a couple of days off, or something deeper.

I’m not sure if this is a permanent installation at Wisley, but I very much hope it is. The next time we’re there I’ll be heading to the hot houses (as usual) to check.

Either way when I saw these framed succulents, I knew they were right for today’s post. Before lockdown, I had plans to create my own frame of succulents but that’s been slightly scuppered as going to a garden centre hasn’t happened yet, even though they’ve reopened. My succulents over-wintered well, but I don’t have quite enough to fill a frame, and if i’m honest, I hoped to add to my collection!

Not that I plan to compete with this display, a single frame was my aim.

But maybe I should aim higher? And if not hight, be more ambitious. Though I suspect that once you start they’ll be addictive. I’m sure I’ve got a few more old picture frames hanging around. Well, not actually hanging around, but you know what I mean.

I’m not sure mine will be as grand, especially as I planned to hang them on the garden fence!

Looking more closely at the frame on the right in the picture below, you can just see some of the mesh which keeps the plants in place. I’d not worked out how I would do that, but this gives me some clues. I’m sure I must have something that could also work, though chicken wire might be too ‘open’.

The frame on the left above, I’ve just realised is much more stylised than I’d ever hope to achieve. Actually growing succulents vertically is my aim!