Catching up

Hello blog readers

Not such a good start to July, healthwise things have been a bit lot bleugh.  No details as its just so frustrating and mentally challenging at the moment and the more I talk about it the more the mental side of things gets me feeling rubbish.  Chin up and get on with it I keep telling myself.  There have been other challenging family issues too  this month.

Suffice to say I missed the end of the month 'what did I do' post.  

There were two craft finishes I had shared with you ...

 

and the books I read were :-

 

The Lost Village by Neil Spring was a 'supernatural spooky thriller' (that's what the blurb says) a tale set within the village of Imber.  Imber is the real UK village on Salisbury plain that was forcefully evacuated by the Ministry of Defence in 1943 and the residents have never been allowed to return.  It's still owned by the MOD and a live firing range.  You can only visit there at certain times of the year.  Sadly, many people still have relatives that are still buried at St Giles the church that is still standing.  

The Sealwomans Gift is the first novel by Sally Magnusson. She has woven a story around the real life incident that happened in Iceland in 1627 when Barbary pirates raided the coast, abducted 250 people and sent them on a long boat journey into slavery in Algiers.  It tells of a preacher, his wife and children and the wife is the main character in the book and the life she had.  I really enjoyed this one and knowing it was true made some of the things that I read hard.

Kate Morton was a nice read, her usual type of story, but I did feel in parts that it waffled on a bit.

There are a couple of other finishes on my camera, but i'll wait till 15th when its the Gifted Gorgeousness post as they will fit that nicely.

I have picked the first posy of sweet peas of the summer and very lovely they smell too. 

 

With the warm/hot sunshine the greenhouse is producing a nice crop of tomatoes and cucumbers and DH and brought from the community allotment garden some tasty potatoes, peas, raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries, lettuce and radish.  It all helps saving the pennies doesn't it. 

 

I must take some pics of the community garden for you to see it.  Such a lovely friendly place to meet twice a week and grow.   We have a very small amount of money each year from the local council and everyone who lives locally is welcome to give a little time regardless of disability or experience, children must come with an adult though. Always something to do in a garden, and they can harvest and take home the fruits of their labours when ready all for free.  But, like most places its the same old few that come along.  We seem to live in a very apathetic society these days.  Is it the same where you are?  Do you volunteer within your community?  

 



Love and blessings

 

Julie

 

 

Scavenger Photo-hunt ~ JUNE

Time for another link up with Kate for the monthly scavenger photo-hunt

The words for June were :-

Notice

Spotted

Starts with a K

Cobweb

Step

My own choice

My photographs for this month ....

NOTICE

The kids bought this tin notice for DH many years ago. 

He specialises in DIY for them now they have both left home!

SPOTTED

Hubbys favourite mug was cornishware stripes - as the canisters behind.

It broke and he decided to replace it with a spotted one this time. 

The handle is perfect for his arthritic hands.

STARTS WITH A K

Kite flying at the beach

COBWEB

The cobwebs on this birdhouse make it look more like a haunted birdhouse than one that is being used this year. 

STEP

Entrance steps to the city Town Hall building

MY OWN CHOICE

As this weekend is the Glastonbury festival, I thought I would show part of Glastonbury Abbey.  We visited Glastonbury a few years ago, climbed the Tor and wandered the Abbey and surrounding area.

You can see the other photo-hunters in the link up on Kate's blog 

Love and blessings

Julie

 

Quilt Show visit

A nearby village was hosting a quilt show this weekend
 
Lots of very talented ladies had made so many beautiful things


No words needed this post, just the pictures to share

We also had the Jo Cox 'Great Get Together' event on Saturday. 

A good turnout of people, although, I was so busy I forgot to take any pictures of the knit group stall in all its splendour as I was helping DH at the community garden stall.

Love and blessings

Julie 

Gifted Gorgeousness ~ JUNE

How did we get to the 15th of the month so quickly?

  It means it's time to join Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching and the other bloggers who link up to gifted gorgeousness. 

What is it? It's a post about things you have been gifted or that you have gifted to others.  It can be anything at all.  You can read more about it on Jo's blog.

Other bloggers joining for June can be found here.

A lovely gift arrived in the post for me this week.  Kathy (no blog) and I met many years ago on a stitching forum when we took part in an exchange and we have been emailing back and forth since.  Unfortunately, the forum is no longer.   Kathy has taken up quilting and knowing that I was to go into hospital for a procedure this past week and needed some recuperation time afterwards she sent me this splendid lap quilt as a gift.   I think she has definitely got the hang of quilting!

Thank you Kathy x

Blogging friends are the kindest and some time ago Ann sent me some Madelintosh wool that she couldn't use.

I made some socks for me with the first hank (May 2018)  and I'd read and heard about continental knitting where you hold the wool in the left hand instead of the right.  It's supposed to be a quicker way to knit as well? 

I decided to have a try at continental knitting with the second hank Ann sent.  

First sock completed although the tension at the beginning wasn't quite so good, I soon got the hang of it. 

I'm not sure it is quicker knitting for me, perhaps i need more practice.  I've been knitting the same way for over 45 years, but its fun to learn something new.

  I'm doing the second sock with the continental method exactly the same and they will make a nice soft plain pair to go into my winter boots.

Off to visit other Gifted Gorgeousness'ers  ......

Love and blessings

Julie

Congratulations and celebrations

We've had a wedding in the family this weekend.  My nephew married his sweetheart.

Lovely to catch up with people you don't see very often.  A little dancing, a little tipple (for some, not me though), and plenty of fun, laughter and happiness.

These little love heart sweets were on the table, their names and date were printed on the other side of the label. 

I stitched them a small gift.  A Little Wedding, by Lizzie Kate and I chose a simple plain white frame.   It turned out really pretty and I was pleased with it.  Quite modern for a young couple I thought .... me being middle aged, or nearly dead as my granddaughter thought to tell me when we were talking recently about my somewhat greying hair!

Still clicking away with the knitting pins (the hobby of elderly people LOL).  Here's my latest finish for the knit group sale table for the Jo Cox event coming up at the community centre.  A top down little summer cardigan.  The size on the pattern for this one says 2-3 years.

I had to run some errands in the city centre last week and found myself walking by the wool shop.  Something caught my eye in the window.  It was Winwick Mum's own designed sock wool in conjunction with West Yorkshire Spinners.  I seemed to be on auto pilot.  Ding, went the bell above the door.  "Hello" said the lady crocheting on the pretty sofa just inside and then two balls of wool jumped onto the counter.  "These are selling fast" she said as I handed over some ££.  I didn't need any sock wool, but sometimes you just can't help yourself and as my late father in law used to say "Stock is as good as money in the bank"

I hope you have enjoyed a lovely weekend too.

Love and blessings

Julie