Post Comment Love 6 - 8 November

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they may be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

We had a great trip to Porto, and got lucky with the weather with temperatures reaching 25 degrees on a couple of days. It was so nice to wander around - and up and down all the cobbled streets - in a t-shirt, though the temperatures dropped quickly when the sun had set, but that was an hour later than at home so it felt like a bonus hour.

It’s been chilly now we’re home though, and the heating is fully on so it was soon nice and toasty. Of course now I have many more photos to edit, and I already had a lot anyway - but it was good to get away, but also good to come home.

Have a good week.

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My garden in October

Unusually I don’t have many garden pictures this month, partly because we’ve been out and about a fair bit and partly because the weather hasn’t always been fine. But there was at least one gardening session this year as we prepped the garden for winter - and the rhubarb photo below proves that. It’s the last stem from the rhubarb crown that I planted earlier in the year after rediscovering it growing in the garage.

I’m looking forward to it coming back next year, as we’ll be able to pick the stems and enjoy them - which will be the first time since we moved here that we’ll be able to. I’m hoping it will be as tasty as I’m anticipating.

Another reason for their being fewer photos this month is that we needed to make full use of our time in the garden - and there’s nothing like an incoming storm prediction to focus the mind. Or in our case to make sure we could get our garden furniture way in an organised fashion, which we did and I’m so grateful for as there’s still room to move about the garage as we need to.

Both of our olive trees have had a successful year - they’ve clearly enjoyed the sun and have repaid their happiness with actual olives. Even the older tree in the smaller pot that we brought with us from London. I joked in my October post that MOH might actually be making olive oil at some point sooner than we perhaps thought, but who knows?

The forecast storm did arrive on one of the weekends we were away, and I was so pleased we got what we needed to into the garage before that. Our tall umbrella blew over, which was fine and the rosemary pot next to the old olive tree also blew over. I know right, how windy was it?

I didn’t realise until afterwards that it had left a ‘heart shaped’ gravel deposit on the grass - you could’t have done that if you tried. But it’s kinda cute isn’t it?

Our garden has been top of my thoughts this month though, and that’s probably another reason why there’s few pictures. After the multiple heatwaves from this summer it’s been clear to me that we really need to get as many things out of pots and planted into the ground as we can. And I can’t do that right now as we just don’t have the beds that we need, and if I plant the plants where I can then they’ll be in the wrong spot and I’ll want to move them again - and I’m not sure if that’s any better than staying in their pot!

Towards the end of the month we had a garden designer visit us and our garden for an exploratory introductory chat. I’m keen to get help on my ideas, how to improve them and ideas for the areas I’m struggling with, plus a plan on how to make it all happen - so exciting times.

Ahead of their visit I finally got around to capturing my thoughts into an (almost) cohesive list - I even surprised myself.

I’m sure I’ll be sharing more on all of this at some point, but for now I’m off to contemplate my next steps, though I think I know already what they’ll be!

New to my craft room in October

It’s been a busy month in my craft room, but one where I’ve felt like I haven’t really got any sewing actually done. Though I seem to have been finding projects, and adding them to my list quite successfully…

Oops.

I shared that I’d fallen for Alison Glass’ colour study quilt heavily - and although it’s five weeks in and I have my colours sorted, and even four of the blocks cut out, none are actually sewn yet, so I need to fix that. I’m making the dark background version and so to make it work well I opted to extend my blacks a little. I think this quilt is going to be stunning.

My next purchase also adds to my sewing list, but it’s something I’ve been contemplating for a while now. Won’t this vintage quilted fabric - see the year 1979 on the selvedge - look great as a jacket?

I couldn’t resist the yellow with the embroidered bows either, and I’m hoping to turn that into a pouch to store my overlocker foot in. I’ve had a slight rearrange in my craft room, moving the overlocker out from the corner into a more practical, and hopefully more usable space, but that’s means it won’t be plugged in all the time, hence needing a pretty pouch for storage.

I’m already finding that the rejig has meant my middle desk is a more flexible space, and so I think this slightly amended layout will work well for me.

I’ve an interesting reuse pile this month - from the vinyl pouch which I intend to cut up and use as windows on some pouches, to the ribbons and red headphones and onion nets for my weaving with waste pile, which is another thing I need to start making use of soon - an idea is brewing!

My advent calendar arrived this month too, and while it looks as if I’ve had a sneak peek, I haven’t - honest. I’ve torn the wrapper to insert the stuff that came with the calendar, so I have everything together and aren’t tempted to investigate sooner.

Fabric-wise there’s been some more additions this month, with these browns and mustard fabrics coming from another stash buster at my patchwork group, and the new fabric shop in Newark respectively. I’d hoped there’d be enough of the darker brown to back my Flying Geese quilt but I’m not sure there will be, sadly. I thought the pattern on the mustard one was similar enough, and even though the colour was different I think I can probably make it work - but I’m just not sure how yet, it’s on my pondering list. I’ve quite a selection of these colours so with some thought I’m sure I’ll come up with a plan.

I saw in my sewing group Facebook group that one of the charity shops in Newark had received a large craft supplies donation and were calling for crafters to come in and help them out - well, who am I to resist a call such as this. I left with these two bags for £6 resisting similar bags of other colours, and wondering what I’d discover inside them - but at £3 each I couldn’t really go wrong.

Both have some great fabrics in, and the blue one has some part completed blocks which I’d spied in the shop and which swayed my decision. I’m not sure if I’ll make more of the blocks yet or not, but it’s nice to have some inspiration included isn’t it?

There’s a good length of the interlocking circles fabric in the green pack and whoever put this fabric together has done well, and clearly had a circles, spots and squiggles theme in mind.

My final purchase of the month was these Portuguese fabrics which we happened across quite randomly. I love both of the sardine fabrics, and you really can’t go wrong with anything that resembles a Portuguese tile can you? Though that fabric would be ideal for a bread bag especially as it’s where the inspiration first came from, but as I’ve recently made one of those I don’t need a third, but I’m sure I’ll know when I know.

In the shop MOH commented that the checked sardines fabric would make a pretty cool shirt - so now I have a pretty cool shirt to make for MOH. I think we’re both a little scared at the prospect!

Thank you for joining me for another month in my craft room, please check out my previous updates for earlier additions, and remember to let me know below what you’ve added to your craft supplies this month.