Spring has Sprung

and the weeds has riz, so this is what I've been doing recently.

My allotment - a big (and perennial) WIP.  I gave up on the traditional rows of veg a while back and the most productive thing I ever did was to divide the allotment into a series of narrow strip beds with paths in between.  This made it easier to weed by hand and manage a better crop rotation (where you don't plant the same kind of veg in the same spot year after year, as it isn't healthy for the soil).  It wasn't very aesthetically pleasing though (fussy!) so I'm in the process of dividing the beds up further.  What I will lose in making more path, I hope to gain in beauty and better organisation (that's the plan anyway...)

Favourite thing here - my pond!  It was built using the smallest and cheapest hard plastic liner you can get and it's about 2 and a half feet long.  Despite this I came down last summer and found seven frogs peeping out of the water. This makes me very happy.

I'm so lucky to have an allotment - the waiting list for one here can be longer than seven years, depending on whether you are in the posh part of town or not. I've had my plot for several years now though you might not think so from the lack of visible perfection! I have learned to never get too smug about it - one year you think you have it magnificently under control and the next year weeds/weather/babies take over and back to nature it goes!

Despite the forecasted change in weather, we're still basking in glorious sunshine here and the feeling of things coming to life is wonderful.

Narcissus Thalia, Acer leaves unfurling, Sempervivums x 2, Variegated perennial wallflower, Sprouting peony Duchesse de Nemours

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

PS: you might like to check out the fabric giveaway for followers over of Pings and Needles which I obviously hope to win:-)  I'd add at least some of this fabric to the quilt I've pledged to make for Siblings Together (you can find all the links to this charity quilt scheme in this post).   Patchwork Queen has already very generously offered to donate me some from her stash.

Reasons to be Cheerful 3

Who was that masked rabbit?

Rabbit does Nacho Libre

Superhero rabbit, by Sprog 1 using a found piece of felt.

Give Something Back at Lily's Quilts

Just in case you haven't yet seen it, there's a post at Lily's Quilts about the UK charity Siblings Together, which promotes positive contact between siblings in care, and the plan to make quilts for 50 children at a summer camp to bring home.  I've signed up to make a quilt - it's just a really great incentive to actually sew something. 

Even if you don't have time to make a quilt you can still join in by donating some fabric.  See the flickr group for more info.

Liebster

I'm very grateful and honoured to have been awarded a Liebster by Celtic Thistle Stitches - thank you!

The Leibster is awarded to and by blogs with less than 200 followers.  The name comes from the German word meaning darling or beloved and the award is really a chance for small blog bloggers to show their appreciation for their fellow bloggers by passing on the love. And it also means that you can draw some attention to blogs which you think deserve checking out.

I've duly copied and pasted the award onto my blog, and would in turn love to nominate the following bloggers whose blogs I really like and and hope you will visit if you haven't already. 

Kate at A Sometimes Quilter - who describes herself as diving into the world of quilting one square at a time - have a look at her neat Sew Happy Quilt QAL blogs and lovely baby quilts
Katie at  Shocking Hocking -  she's creative and artistic and her humorous blog often makes me smile
Amy at Thread Robin - her blog is full of thrifting and making - she's always up to something new

Fabric Mosaic Fun

Yay, I have a laptop of my own again, and finally it's all set up, files transferred, and I'm back in business....And it's so shiny:-)

I've been having such fun because there's a new fabric competition at I'm a Ginger Monkey to design a blogger bundle for Pink Castle Fabrics.   This is my entry - it's the Beach Party Bundle:

Fabrics are, from left to right:

Dash Stripe in Blue Bell, 

Pezzy Prints Multi Pez in Orange

Timeless Treasures Basics Sketch in Yellow

Hoodies Collection, Catch of the Day - Ecru

Early Bird Cross Hatch in Green

Designer Solids Red

Metro Living Circles Orange

Kona Cotton in Corn Yellow

Dumb Dots - Citron

That's It Dot in Black

Punctuation Dot in Orange

Going Coastal Bottle Caps Multi

We are experiencing technical difficulties

I'm having some technical problems by which I mean my husband knocked a cup of coffee off the arm of the sofa and into the power connector on my laptop.  My laptop is no more - it was totally fritzed.  Thank goodness for contents insurers who were so helpful I almost feel like doing an ad for them.

Until my new one arrives he has to go cold turkey from Civilisation IV every so often while I borrow his to catch up on blog reading and drooling over lovely craft shops online.  Susan at Canadian Abroad just posted about a new shop, The Village Haberdashery , and I almost wish she hadn't because I've already found at least twenty things I want to buy.  It sells a really interesting mix of fabrics, and 600 items in the floss, thread and yarn section, all really nicely photographed and totally desirable, so I will have to save up my pennies unless I am lucky enough to win the giveaway they are sponsoring (UK residents only)- details here.

If it weren't for the technical problems I would have posted a photo mosaic of the ten items I sewed over the weekend.  You will just have to take my word for it:-)
 

Reasons to be Cheerful 2

While sprog 1 is recovering at home from one of those viruses that makes you feel suddenly exhausted, we have been entertaining ourselves by making her another pincushion. This one suddenly developed a personality and took a new direction of its own:

She is a bit of a whiskery old lady, but we love her!