September Days

 This month is going well so far, the return to work has been going smoothly after the summer holiday and everyone appears to be back into the routine.  It is a bonus that there is still some daylight to be had at the end of the working day at the moment although the nights ado seem to be getting darker at quite a speedy pace.  We had a lovely day on Sunday thanks to the glorious weather, we had a walk around Elsecar Park with the dogs in the morning, then returned home for lunch then out on the bikes to Wentworth in the afternoon. We are making the most of the late sunshine.

I have photo's of both these places but they are on my husbands phone so I will have to share those later.  I have made a few things over the last few weeks but as I have been absent from my blog for a few weeks I am losing track of what I have shared!  The last thing I made was this little pinnie for a colleague at work, she wanted it for the class so she wouldn't keep losing her whiteboard pen and other bits and pieces.

Jo you may well recognise the purple piece of fabric!  Also the trim I really get the most out of all pieces of fabric that come my way. The butterfly patches are leftover from a wrap dress that I made.

The little apron has been worn and appreciated which is nice to see, I have also had more trousers to turn up for people, it must be that time of year certain things seem to come in groups.

The garden is still looking bright but many things are going to seed now, I sat the other evening just bagging up seeds for myself and a friend, just surrounded by bits of debris on the desk, it was quite relaxing.  I have brought in a few more dead heads just now to sort through.

My  friend brought some seeds for me today we have decided we will keep swapping and that way we will have lots of free plants (hopefully).

I listened to Normal People on audio last week, it was probably a bad choice to listen to out loud due to some of the events and language used. Also the female reader putting on a male Irish voice was quite off putting, still I finished it so I was interested to see how it ended but the whole book just felt sad and bleak to me.  Due to the topics raised it was, but it left me very unsettled so I am not sure I would recommend that one despite all the hype.

Further reading I am on the last book of the Neapolitan series  The story of the Lost child by Elena Ferante, I have loved these and will be sad when they end, highly recommend this whole series.

My last bag make was this one...

In other sewing I also made this little t-shirt for my friend's  son for his  birthday.

I just have not had the time to sit down and post anything here,  in fact I made the decision that while it was still light out I would not spend too much time on the computer and be sure to get out or do other things.    I redecorated my son's room a few weeks ago, there is just the ceiling to do as the plaster had to fully dry out.

Now I have bought grey cupboard paint to give my kitchen a facelift, it is just a case of when I will be brave enough to start as my main worry is if the paint is not durable and begins to get scratched.  It has had lots of good reviews so hopefully it will be hard wearing. 

Well that's all for now I hope you are having a good week, back soon. 

August...ing

 I thought I would do an 'ing' post as I am always stuck for a title, and it helps me sort my thoughts a little bit too.  I hope you are all having a lovely summer not that there is much of it left but lets grab a hold of the bit that is and make the most of it.   So here goes...

Riding my new bike, for the first time actually this morning.  My husband has been out on his quite a bit recently after converting it to an an e bike.  The problem from riding straight from our house to get any where was the hills coming back.  He has added this option just to use when you are shattered and need a boost getting up the hill.  It has worked for him as he can now go much further knowing that he can get back up many hills.  He wanted me to join him but I only normally do cycle paths, today was the first time for me on the actual road (with a bike that is, I do drive a car).  Sunday morning seemed a good idea to me and fortunately a lot of it was still cycle paths and canal paths.  We rode from out house to the city centre and around the canal paths there.  We did nineteen miles I know he would have done more without me but I enjoyed it.  It is now raining so we chose the best time.

So this above is Victoria Quays in Sheffield, quiet a few places where I was very close to the edge of the canal!

Listening to The Keeper of Lost Things, I am still undecided about listening to books in this way it is the voices that seem to annoy me.  Am I alone in that? Some of the narrators sound as if they are auditioning for Shakespeare and would you really read a book like that in your head, even with the non fiction books there seems to be too much emotion.  Well that aside the book is not bad.

Reading Those who leave and those Who stay by Elena Ferrante and  Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver, the first is digital and the second is in actual book form from the library as our library is now open for orders. 

Making quite a few things over the last few weeks, this last week I have made a dress from the burda August edition in a lovely stretch cotton jersey from Minerva.  I had to make quite a few changes, it was quite loose and sack like in shape so I have added shape and removed the back vent as that would have made it quite baggy. 

That little purple flower button was in my stash and it is just the perfect match  think.  I have also made some little coin purses and listed these in my etsy shop. 

They each have a little pocket inside for cards or notes.

Watching a German series on netflix called Biohackers, I really enjoyed this but it was only six episodes long.  It has been left as to make another series but worth a watch if you are wondering what to watch next. 

Planting some winter pansies and Viola, I am hoping that we will get a bit of colour from these in the winter months. I have some more lettuce on the go and Basil and my giant tomatoes are just starting to red.

Enjoying my last days of the summer holiday, I am really never bored and can never understand when people say they don't know what to do with themselves when they are  not at work.  

That is all for now, take care everyone. 

 

 

Summer Days

Hello everyone I hope you are enjoying the summer, we are trying to make the best of being at home.  My husband had two holiday days last week so we went to Chatsworth gardens on Friday.  It was hot so we left the dogs at home with my son, we did see a few dogs being pulled around exhausted and they did not look happy so I think we made the right decision.   The gardens are beautiful and I am glad we had a look but we both agreed that the estate is so large that next time we will pay to park and explore the wider area but not pay for the gardens now that we have seen them. 

We took a picnic and I am glad we did as I remember when we visited at Christmas there was not a great deal for me to eat.  We found a nice spot near some ducks on a bench and had our lunch there.

There were people swimming in the river and really making the most of the good weather, there were also families with children playing on the waterfall steps.  We thought it was nice that they let them do this as some places would have come and told them to stop in this world of health and safety gone mad.  At the first sign of anyone having fun there is usually someone with a clipboard ready to put a stop to it. 

 I was about to add another image but I have tried three times and this new set up keeps changing my font to blue and underlined no matter how many times I change it back or try to remove the underline!  I am losing my patience with it.

I have just been weeding the garden, this took me a lot longer than I thought it would, I also had a go at taking some hydrangea cuttings while I was out there.  There are now three in pots, I followed the instructions as I read them online so now it is just a case of waiting to see what happens. 

There has been some bag making this past week and I have also added a make up bag, I thought I would do some smaller items for my Esty shop as sometimes people may not want a bigger gift.  I have to say that I end up taking quite a bit of time on the little things too as I end up faffing about with fabric!    The bag I made I used a panel I created some time ago called cathedral window, it has been sitting waiting for the right project.

There I am going to say goodbye for today as this new set up keeps playing up!  I may have to change to a different platform if this nonsense continues as I have tried every tool at the top and it will not behave.   Have a good week everyone.