Now there's a funny thing!

Hi everyone in blogland. I told you all about my sweet chickens earlier in my blog. Well I am pleased to update you on their progress. They are now laying 6 eggs a day between them and lots are double yokers, and we have even had a triple yoker. I took this photo because I didn't think that anyone would believe me. Honest there is no trick photography involved.

On a stranger note, we went to collect todays eggs and found this little tiddler in the straw! Not sure what happened there. At first I thought it was a dove egg as we have them living with us too, but it is the wrong colour. Am baffled, has anyone else out there had one as small and what about the triple yoker...is it common, should I be in the Guiness Book of Records, ha ha!

Found this lovely vase in Merchant Chandler, it isn't hand painted it has pretty paper wrapped around it but for £3.99 I thought it was sweet.

I also fell in love with these two items, but want to paint them white before putting them in my kitchen. Will show you photos when done.

Bags Galore!

I have described myself as nearly being a crafter before. But it is true. A recent sort out of my bags, boxes and cupboards has revealed a wealth (and that can be taken quite literally !) of unfinished projects. These range from cross stitch, tapestry, a bit of Hardanger, beading, knitting and fairy dolls which I love with a passion.

I love the anticipation of starting a new project, the collecting together of the *ingredients* needed and then finding a nice quiet time to begin. So far...so good. Then things begin to get in the way and before long I'm back to square one again! Things like work, shopping, motherhood etc and the other pastimes that I enjoy like reading. If I had the opportunity I could settle down with, and read a book all in one go.

Currently, I am making two seperate quilts. One is 9 inch blocks decorated with hearts, and the offcuts that this produces are going into making a crazy patchwork so nothing gets wasted. Both quilts will also coordinate well as they are made from the same fabric. So two birds with one stone. Some of you might have seen these pictures before in a previous blog so apologies for not providing new eye candy.

9 inch heart blocks for double quilt all hand sewn and appliqued.

Scraps of material carefully collected to be turned into crazy patchwork quilt.

For the photo I have placed the blocks side by side, but when I finally get round to making it up I will have a contrast sashing between the blocks to break it all up a little.

So for now, whatever crafts you are doing...or not, this weekend, enjoy.

Dev X

Spring Greens!

Hi everyone

I bet your thought I would be rambling on about sprouts and cabbages... but no I have decided that green is very much the colour that I like at the moment and so started to look around for things that I have in the house.

The photo is not brilliant but it gives you an idea. I got the ipod from J at Christmas, it is supposed to be mine so he tells me, but invariably he has it in his top pocket when out in the garden! The statuette I bought in a secondhand shop about 15 years ago, I got a similar one in pink..but that is for another blog. The beautiful beaded bag is from Monsoon and it contains all my daughter's birth cards and christening cards. The leaf dish is Carlton Ware and is the first piece to start off my collection. I love this range and decided that I would treat myself. The jug and bowl was a boot fair find and cost £5. The glassware was the local jumble for 10p each...I kid you not 10p each. I love my jewellery and this is just a few pieces. The bracelet is indian silver and the brooch and earrings are Wedgewood. Finally, the fabric is fab and I am waiting to do something with it and the wallpaper is my absolute favourite from Laura Ashley called Heath Green.

I think it is easier to see things if you can enlarge the piccy.

Bye for now Dev X

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We had another cold and rainy day today and I despair of ever seeing the sun again. To cheer myself up and to hopefully interest others I thought you might like to see some shots of my garden taken last summer, when the sun shone and we all moaned about how hot it was, and were there any ice lollies left in the freezer.... etc etc.

My family and I live in a valley and we are south facing so we pretty much get the sun from dawn till dusk. We have approx 4 acres about two thirds of which is woodland, some is fenced of for my beloved chickens and the rest we use to sit out in and for growing flowers and vegetables.

This is the view as you come in through the garden gate. It was newly planted last spring so is maybe a bit sparse.

Moving up the steps and around the corner, you may be wondering about the green rails, we need these as we live on a hillside which is very steep.

For me the best part of gardening are the tubs and pots, I leave most of the heavy work to my man person, J. He grows the veg and is handy with a spade!

I love my little bit of woodland but it is very steep so you need to be sure-footed. The anemones and blubells are coming into bloom just now and carpet the ground. There are hidden nooks and dells, and it is easy to imagine little people flitting around from the corner of your eye...or not!

Chick, Chick, Chicken!!

Finally, a bit of sunshine and all is right with the world! The last few days have been so cold, grey and overcast. The birds are singing their little socks off as they rush around gathering twigs and collecting moss from our shed roof to line their nest with.

On the subject of birds, we are the proud owners of 6 hens and a very handsome cockerel named Marmaduke. We have had them a month now and they have settled in well and are laying the most gorgeous yellow yoked eggs imaginable. They were a little pasty (as the pictures show) when they arrived but they are flourishing now. We collected 6 beautiful brown and white eggs this morning alone. The girls are called Martha, Mabel, Matilda, Madeline, Mary and Meredith......soooo sweet don't you think?

Marmaduke before and after!

Gorgeous yummy golden yolked eggs for breakfast...what could be better.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend too.

My First Blog

Well here it is, my first blog under this name. My profile gives you an idea of who I am and what I like. I originally wrote a blog under the name Nearly a Crafter, but decided that I would like my posts to be more general and cover all aspects of my life besides crafting. Having said that I love to make things but I am what you would call a lazy crafter. I would rather lay on the grass and look at the beautiful blue sky than actually paint or embroider it! I have a large collection of carrier bags and boxes that contain many unfinished projects. That is not to say that they never get completed, it is just that it takes me a while!

Since reading some of the fantastic blogs out there I suddenly have the desire to paint all my furniture white, cover old sofas in rose patterened fabric, start going to boot fairs and amassing gorgeous goodies at incredibly cheap prices and buy shares in Laura Ashley, and Cath Kidson! How to do all this without selling a kidney is going to take some serious management.