Lavender

I've been away so long.... sorry!

Last year I told you all about my lovely lavender growing in my garden

It was getting out of hand so I cut it back early this year

I have 4 plants in the front garden, this is the crop this year

Crikey....

It's all hanging up in the shed drying

Plus the 3 plants in the back garden have done really well this year ...... they're different & much easier to cut & dry..... must remmeber that for next year!

I bagged some up to sell at the vintage fair & sold out so I'm thinking of putting it in my Folksy shop.

I have more then enough to make my lavender bags!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend..... work for me!

Back soon

Happy Mother's day....

........to all you mummy's out there......you deserve a restful day!

A week of my holiday as gone already so here's a quick catch up.

The highlight of the week had to be......

(Picture from the BBC news site)

I didn't get to meet her or Philip but me & OH headed to the train station in the hope she would be coming in on the royal train. We stopped & had breakie on the way......OH did NOT want to see her but the idea of him waiting in the pub while I went with all the other 'saddo's' was too good to miss.

We arrived at the station with minutes to spare, the car pulled away from the crowds & I was stood on my own, it headed towards me & started waving......and the best bit was they waved back!!!

Now I know they were thinking...
'god look at that sad women all alone waving like a nutter' ...
but hey it's the thought that counts.......so I saw the Queen & the Queen saw me!!!!!

On Monday I met up with this little fella.....

His name is Samuel & it's the first time we've met since he was born in November....his mummy is my good friend Teresa, they live in Lincoln so I don't get to see them much so it was a lovely surprise when they called into Exeter on their way to visit family. We had a lovely afternoon in coffee shops in the sunshine. We've met for the last 2 years in London, we went to the zoo last year....now what to do this year??? I hope Innocent smoothies have their village fete again, that was so good.

On Wednesday I visited Stover Pack near Newton Abbot, have you heard of it?
No.... me neither but I must say it was beautiful, I spent about an hour walking in the warm spring sun with my parents & their 3 dogs...

Beautiful eh?
We then headed off for a carvery.....that was an early Mother's day treat. My mum hates the fact it's a day for people to make money so we never eat out on the day. She was happy we got to spend some time together & liked her bunch of Daff's I brought her. As I can't drive it's hard to see them unless they come to me, also I work funny hours so I haven't seen them since Christmas, it's more about time then fancy gifts.

Now one last photo.....

On Friday I re potted my plants as they haven't been done for 2 years. My Peace Lilly was looking ok but on closer inspection I noticed the plant had split & the roots were just sitting on the top......it didn't look good :(
On the Internet it said they like to be over crowed, well this pot was far to big for them...it that why they tried to escape???

So I split it into 7 plants.....is that right???? I'm in a panic now because they looked really healthy on the day but some of the leaves are starting to flop & have gone soft......not sure that makes sense. Has anyone else done this before?
I hope I haven't killed it because I've had it for about 5 years. It never flowered until I moved to this house & I often think it must have been really unhappy in the last house..........please help!!!!

I've updated the Make, Do and Mend blog with photo's of the last meeting....... that Black Box studio is very black...hahaha!!
Go take a look.

Crafty day

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend & enjoyed the beautiful weather we're having at the moment :(
On Friday, after working a 10 hour day (!), I fought my way through the gale force wind & rain to here....

(Yes this was taken on a different day!)

It was due to start at 8pm & we were thinking surely no one in their right mind would head out in this weather...... how wrong can you be!!
They were queuing up to get in & when the doors opened they all flooded in.

It was a slow start for me & at one point I felt like giving up, then they all came back!
The Christmas decorations were a hit & sold out very quickly, at one point I had 2 ladies fighting over them.
I didn't have time to take any pictures before the rush but here's one I took just before the end.....

I tried to keep my prices low but it's so hard when I know how long everything takes to make..... knitting is very different to sewing, it takes me 5 mins to run up a lavender bag in fabric but over an hour to knit one side, then you have to back it etc so I think £6 is a bargain!

I shared the table with my friend who does wall decals.....

Very popular, love the fairy.

So that was my 2nd fair & it was fantastic :) I loved it.... it was such a buzz selling my own things & I'm finally in profit :)
I've been asked to do my 3rd on Friday 4th November so it's all go (it's the first one that I'm doing alone)......I must be mad taking on 4 craft fairs in one month & leading up to Christmas. I work in retail so my hours have gone up as well! I'm hoping if I work really hard now I'll be asked back to these in the summer when I have more time on my hands....also loads of people were asking about ordering online so things are looking up. You never know I might make my millions & be able to hand in my notice soon :)

In my last post I show a photo of my basket that I took to the tea dance. After I wrote the post I went back to the kitchen to find this.....

Silly Nanny.

He didn't like it when OH picked him up.

Last year I showed you this Christmas cacti I brought......

I said I didn't know how to care for it so I didn't think it would last long but look at it now....

I'm so pleased with it, it's grown so much.

I thought I'd show you this photo of the lovely planters I brought from Habitat to go in my plant stand. Also my plate that I brought today....

I've been looking on the web for Spode baking days but haven't got round to buying any, today I went in to Panters...(do you have Panters?) & it was really cheap! This plate on the web is £10...mine for £6.20...bargain! I'll be having my dinner on that tonight.
This wasn't the only thing I brought today...... as you know I was suppose to go to the CL fair on Thursday & the Vintage & Handmade fair on Saturday, both of which I had to cancel due to work......so I treated myself to some goodies from Michele, can't wait for them to arrive so I too can share my V&H goodies.

Have a good week

Happy holiday & a great birthday

Hello again everyone, well as promised I'm back to tell you all about my birthday.

I finished work at 12pm on Saturday the 29th & travelled to Watchet.....my that's a pain to get to if you don't drive!!!
OH was flying back into Exeter from Majorca so I left work & dashed home to get changed, pack & feed the cats before being collected by OH in a taxi..... of course the flight was late so I was hanging around not sure what to do! Finally we got to St Davids station & headed off to Taunton.
Once at Taunton we then needed to get the bus to Minehead as this was the only place we could get a hotel. On the busy hot bus we got & just sat....... it wouldn't start!!! We then had to wait for a replacement bus to arrive....luckily this was a double decker so not so busy.
This bus takes an hour.....it goes all around the houses.... we went to the steam train station, we went to little hamlets that had flower shows etc. Then we came to Watchet.... we could see where the festival was but just couldn't work out which stop to get off & how far we would need to walk.
Once in Minehead we went to the hotel..... it was the first time we've stayed in a Wetherspoons hotel & I was looking forward to it, it's cheap & cheerful but I always think it clean.
So we arrive only to be told that the company we had used to book the room didn't work for them so our money was lost!!!! Not a problem, OH knows this company well so couldn't see why we wouldn't get the money back.
However they didn't have any rooms......aaarrgggg!!! It was now about 6.30 so we were really pushed for time. It turned out they did have a room that wasn't in use during the weekend as it was over the nightclub & the smoking terrace was right outside the bedroom window..... oh well better make sure we have a few drinks then to help us sleep!!!

Apart from that everything turned out really well, after a well earned pint we headed off to the bus stop.... it turned out it stopped right outside the gate & it was about 10 mins walk to the main stage. I'm not a fan of festivals but I must say this was great, only 2 stages not that busy & everyone having a good time. Cider was only £2 for a can so nice & cheep!!!

We timed it just right & after 30mins of walking around we got to the front to see these......

The Men They Couldn't Hang.
I've mentioned them before..... they're great!
I saw them for the first time around my 18th birthday..... so I was celebrating my 20th anniversary while they were celebrating their 25th!!! I must say it was one of the best times, although seeing them playing in the centre of Berlin was pretty good. We got back to the hotel 11.30 ish & the noise was really bad so we sat in the bar til 1am..... we closed all the windows in the room only to wake in the early hours boiling....yes they had the heating on full!!!! Heating on in August???? My goodness what will they do in winter.

So Sunday saw us repeat the journey which seemed to go on forever.... we had planned to go out for lunch & come back slowly but we both just wanted to come home!
I had a lovely nap...... had roast chicken then went back to bed to watch The Walton's..... perfect birthday!!! I didn't even open my presents..lol!!

I managed to drag my birthday out til Tuesday when I found the time to sit down & open them slowly.....

First up a lovely new clock.......

I love gnomes, sorry the pictures bad...... I had a problem taking this because the light kept shinning on the glass!

I wanted to do a fancy mosaic picture with all my presents but it wasn't working tonight..... or if it was I was too impatient to wait for it!!!

I finally got my wii fit..... I had some birthday money & I went to Sainsburys on Tuesday & it was really cheep...... better then spending it in CK!
The other wii game is really hard..... it's suppose to be for 3 years plus so I thought I'd be ok, I just can't work it out!!!
Lots of books..... I'm just finishing the ones from last year! Thank goodness for my Amazon wish list!

Some CK goodies & a lovely silk scarf.....

A treasure hunt map of Topsham...look forward to doing that.
Some book marks...need those... the one with dogs on moves...how cool is that???!!!

A lovely hand knitted scarf, my crochet buddy made this..... even nicer because it was me who taught her to knit all those years ago. She was also the naughty one who gave me the CK goodies.

And some magazines......

Now on to garden gifts.....

Liv's dad made the planter for me... great isn't it??? My brother gave me the bulbs etc...

Didn't I do well???

Sorry there's so many pictures..... just one more...

My goodies I brought when I went to the zoo...... I really needed another hankie!!!

Well my holiday is nearly over, I've cleaned the house from top to bottom over the last 2 days ready for my trip away. This will be the first time I've left the cats for more then 1 night in nearly 3 years.... I hope they'll be ok.... my friend will pop over on Saturday to feed them but she can't stay... I'm hoping the wii fit will change her mind!

I'm off to Sutton on Friday to another festival then back to Camden on Saturday before OH heads back to Majorca on Sunday & I head home back to work :(
It's been a great holiday......... & it's not over yet!

Back on Sunday to tell you all about it.

A week of sunshine & showers

It's been a funny week this week, on Sunday the weather was lovely but on Monday the heavens opened with a very big storm. The road outside was flooded but I was safely tucked up in bed watching TV!! The rain was so bad it lift up the road near me!!!

Tuesday the sun came out again so as it was the first day of the Royal Ascot meeting we decided to pop to the pub for lunch & meet some friends to watch it.

Normally when we do this it's fun but the day was full of crazy people..... ever had one of those days??? Should have just stayed home!!!

On Wednesday I headed to my parents for lunch......yummy roast turkey..... my favourite!

You can't beat your mum's roasts can you??

I had a huge plate full but managed to eat the lot!!!

What was this birthday challenge thing???.....lol!!!!!

My parents have a few pets but I must confess I do love this one......

Her name is Sophie & they've only had her a for about 18months. her owner passed away & she was being offered free to a good home!!! Can you believe how lucky were they???

Mind you she does have a very good home..... we curled up on the sofa together .... just don't tell dad!!!!

Today has been a odd day weather wise.... this morning the sun was shining but then it got very cloudy & has been a bit hit & miss all afternoon.

Never mind there was house work to be done........

How often do you clean your oven????

I hate doing it..... when I brought it 3 years ago I thought.... 'oh look at me with my nice big oven' .....now I'm thinking 'OMG why did we buy such a stupid oven'!!!

It's really hard to get in to clean & now I've got a sore neck. So house work done I headed to the garden.

My lovely Jasmine over the arch......

The flowers came out on Tuesday but I must say it's getting harder to get to the washing line.

My runner beans are doing well......

Picked some strawberries today....

Won't be getting fat on theses!


Hope the grapes do better......



What is this?????

It's growing at the top of the garden around my poppy. Last year I planted up a load of plants my friend gave me from her garden so I though it might be something really beautiful but now I'm thinking it's a weed.

What ever it is I don't like it because when I touch it I come out in a really bad rash, even if I wear gloves, that lasts for a few days .

Sorry if the photo's are rubbish I'm really enjoying the fact I don't have to fight with the camera batteries. The battery in my phone last about a week which is fantastic so you'll have to put up with bad photo's I'm afraid.

I'm going out for the day tomorrow..... can't wait!!!

Back soon with the details.

BTW.... I've updated my shop with some bargain flower corsages.... the ones from the photo shot.... go on check them out.

Sunday joy & calling all London Gals.... EDIT:

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week.

My My the blog world is very quite at the moment... I don't know about everyone else but I've seemed to have lost my mojo when it comes to commenting..... I do read everyone's post but can't think of anything to say...so I don't!!

Yesterday I went to WHsmiths because I had a 20% off voucher..... you know what it's like...I wasn't going to buy ...just to look!! This is what I came home with..... Country living, supposed to be for today's treat but I've decided to wait until Tuesday...more about that later. Carol Klein's 'Cook your own veg', I'd heard this was a good book, I have the 'Grow your own veg'. I've been looking at this for a few months & yesterday it was marked £5 so I just had to have it.

Then by luck I found these CK goodies, I didn't know smiths stocked these.....

I've had the stationary set in my Amazon basket for a while now but I've never seen the note card set. 24 cards for £9.99..... I stood for a long time in Smiths trying to decide if I should treat myself, even with 20% off it's still alot to spend if you don't really need it. I finally decided to go for it as my lunch break was ticking away. Did I do the right thing??

Today I'm home alone & this morning I had so many things planned but I never complete them..... looking at everyone's blogs I think I must be really lazy!!!

I brought these bedding plants last week but haven't had the time to plant them, this was the first on my list of jobs.......

I put them in the front garden to try & cheer it up.....


Not the best photo, you can how miserable the weather is today. Me & the cats were running in & out from the showers...my they were heavy but at least it didn't thunder!!
I have really bad soil in both garden so I started a compost bin 2 years ago to help this but it's not working..... it didn't in the last house either. Yesterday I brought some powder to speed it up but I'm not sure where I'm going wrong. I have real problems trying to find any plants to grow in rubbish soil, I love cottage gardens with hollyhocks etc but every time I buy them they just die!!

My friend gave me some comfrey last year, I've got one in the front & one in the back. I think they look really nice but I know not everyone would like them.....mum!!! I can't believe how much this one has grown in the last month....


I've forgotten when to cut it back, is it after it's flowered??? Them it can go in the compost bin...right???

For the last 2 weeks I've been playing around with this.......









Can you tell what it is yet???

Here they are all pressed & ready to go. I was hoping to show you the finished thing today but I'll leave that to another day, finishing off is taking longer then I thought.


I saw my friend on Friday & her little girl had brought me these.....

She choose them herself.... not bad for a 5 year old. She told her dad that auntie Joe would love them....he wasn't sure but she was right I do love them!!! Now I'll have to have a tea party!!

LONDON Gals.......

Ok this is where I need your help..... I'm attending a H&S training course on Tuesday & Wednesday in the big city, it will be held at our head office just off Brick lane & I'm staying in a hotel in Commercial Street. I would like to know if there's any good shops in that part??? I've been there a few time but not for many years. I've found this which looks like it should be close by but is there anything else I should know about??

I feel I should treat myself because I really don't want to go, I hate H&S...... it really bugs me... I mean did they d0 risk assessments in the blitz??? .......No people used common sense!

I feel I will be a very bad student!!

So hence why I'm saving Country Living.... I find it a long evening stuck in some lonely hotel room. I can't take my crochet because I need to take too many balls of wool so I brought myself this......

Just take a look at the lovely little ball of wool, well I couldn't help myself. I had to photograph it with the other balls I brought so you could see how cute it is. The other ones are for a knitted house.... you know the one from Kirstie's homemade home???

The little ball knits a pair of baby socks, I'm going to make them for my friend.... Hello Teresa if you're reading!!!!.... she's just found out she's having a baby after years of trying. Teresa.... I'm soooo happy for you both x


Sorry this is such a long post... hope I haven't bored you all!!!!

Back soon

PS. To those of you who watch Eastenders..... can you believe Heather joining the Brownies???? Everyone is finding it very funny... oh well I best get my alice band sorted before the next meeting!!!

EDIT: I've finished!!!!! More photo's to come, sorry it's so dark....it's very late!

Nanny says....stop blogging & pay attention to me!!!!

Sunny Sunday.....

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely sunshine today. I was hoping to get out in the garden but as I haven't had a day off since Monday the housework took over.

I did remember to get batteries for the stupid camera yesterday so as promised here's the gift Mel sent me......

A lovely little bag that just the right size for my lunch box & book, at the moment it's full of craft things as I had to clear the table to clean it!!! Inside the bag was some really helpful cooking leaflets.

Also some fantastic vintage CK fabric...... thanks so much Mel..... I hate cutting up fabric but I really must make some thing with this so I've decided to make a cushion cover. Now the problem is my sewing machine has a red bobbin at the moment & I'm not sure how to change it...... you see me & bobbins don't get on, when I was young my mum used to let us use her sewing machine & I used to always get the bobbin all knotted up. When I left home I brought a 1960's singer & I had the same problem, Dad was so fed up of collecting it, mum mending it & him bring it back only to do the same thing a few months later that it now lives at mum's. The new machine is supposed to be easy but I to scared just in case I mess it up!!!!!

Thought I would try to make my plant stand look a little better.....

I've just chucked some small plants on until I can find the ones I want...... not sure what they've called but I'll know them when I see them. OH hates it, it reminds him of his childhood....his Auntie had one but I think it's his fault for being so old...LOL!!!!

Sal did a great post about Otto retro, hope you all saw it.

Do you like the union jack flag I found????

Is anyone else collecting this magazine?????

Issue 2 is now out...... unfortunately I haven't had any spare time to sit & read it cover to cover but it looks really good. Every year I plan not to plant too much because I don't have the time to look after it but I always get carried away.

This is my salad bar last July....just look at that sun. My dad made me this to try & stop the cats from getting in (it's waist height)..... I think you know why..LOL!!

I've just enjoyed some lovely curly kale from the garden..... I thought it had died but it's come back with a vengeance....yummy!!! I also have loads of spinach so I'll be eating something with spinach for dinner next week. Can't wait to get growing again..... so rewarding.

My goodness it's nearly 3pm.... that can only mean one thing..... tea & cake....must dash!!!