Around the garden

I love having pots of flowers on the patio throughout the summer. So with the risk of frost now over (hopefully) I visited the local garden centre yesterday and purchased a variety of colourful young plants with plans to fill the pots over the weekend. The evening weather forecast however brought unwelcome news. The coming weekend could see unseasonal falls of snow in the north. My heart sank. These little beauties will have to live indoors for the next few days until the worst is over.

Today is warm and sunny with no hint of the cold blast to come so I took a stroll around the garden with my camera.

My son and his wife gave me these gorgeous daisies as a Mother's Day gift. I transplanted them into a large pot and they have bloomed their hearts out ever since. They start small and grow 'fat and fluffy' as they mature.

If you have visited my blog during May in previous years you will have seen my pics of our rhododendrons and azaleas. Here in the English Lake District they grow like weeds and the garden is currently ablaze with colour.

This pale pink beauty hangs over the wall beside the kitchen.

Vibrant magenta lights up the driveway.

Scarlet blooms spill onto the lawn

The edges of our garden are left to grow wild and mingle with the woodland that surrounds our property and the whole place echoes with bird-song.

Fresh new buds open and reach for the sky whilst wild flowers like these delicate white wood anemones bask in the warm sunshine.

I always keep a watchful eye on this young horse chestnut tree (below). It started life as a shiny brown conker as of course all horse chestnut trees do. The conker is the special ingredient as it is one that I picked up from the garden of my all time favourite gardening guru, Rosemary Verey. I planted the conker in her memory hoping that it would become a mature tree one day and so far it is obliging.

For many years I had wanted to visit Rosemary's famous garden in the English Cotswolds but she passed away in 2001 before I'd made the trip. Then in 2002 I discovered that her garden was welcoming visitors for just a few days before closing for the last time.

On a sunny day in early October 2002, hubby and I travelled to the much loved garden that we had admired from a distance for many years. Since her death it had been maintained by loyal gardeners and was full of late summer blooms and berries and of course, conkers.

If I could choose the perfect house in which to live it would have to be Rosemary Verey's 300 year old rectory (above) which is built from honey-coloured Cotswold limestone.

Her laburnum walk became world famous so you might be familiar with this picture.

The old rectory has now become a country house hotel and the owners open the garden to the public at specified times. Rosemary's spirit lives on but for me some of the magic has gone and I'm pleased I saw the garden just as she had left it.

But back to reality . . . when not working in my own rambling patch I've been spending time making small items to sell at a local village fair. It will be held in June in aid of the village church that has a leaking roof in need of urgent repair. Here in England our ancient churches require constant money raising events to fund repairs to roofs, windows, bells and organs etc.

Kate and Lucy have been assisting me and looking after these pencil dolls that I knitted last week. They are quick to make, only take small amounts of yarn and hopefully will appeal to young customers who don't like to return home empty handed. They should raise a few extra pence for the church roof repairs.

I used the pattern that I featured on my blog last year. If you'd like to create a fun pencil doll or two then you will find the pattern here -  FREE Pencil Doll Pattern

Have a great weekend everyone

Pirates

The playroom door has remained firmly shut for the past couple of weeks as there has been much talk of pirates here at Flutterby Patch.
My daughter has always been a fan of ocean going adventures such as 'Hornblower' and loves the movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean', and so I wasn't surprised when she showed me these colourful pirate flags that she'd designed for her Etsy shop.

She'd also been working on a pirate to accompany the flags but wasn't sure how he should look. Should he look mean or friendly? Over Easter we put our thinking caps on and discussed various options. We both knew which book would be first out of the bookcase. This was one of my daughter's favourites when she was younger and needless to say is very well thumbed.

We searched on the internet for pirate images and were overwhelmed by the variety. In the end we concluded that her pirate should look more comical than cruel.

Once started, the pirate took shape quite quickly. He had an eye patch (of course), striped jumper, scarf, belt and long boots with turn-over top. By giving him a large nose, straight mouth and upturned eyebrow he looked like the sort of pirate you definitely wouldn't want to meet on a dark night! But very quickly we decided he looked rather lonely and needed a shipmate.

It was quite amusing to watch this little fellow taking shape. He is worked from the same basic pattern as the one above but his facial expression give him a completely different character. This pirate we decided had been in one battle too many. He has a stump and and a hook. But now surely there should be a third member of the group.

And here he is with his bead-trimmed dreadlocks.

What a terrifying trio they make!!

Daughter and I both dream of finding treasure one day so for obvious reasons this is our favourite part of the book.

As luck would have it daughter has a replica wooden chest which made the perfect prop for this scene. Some old necklaces became the treasure, although judging by the reaction of the pirates I'm not sure it was quite what they had hoped to find when they opened the lid.

Over the years my daughter has collected quite a number of nautical bits and pieces and this page in the book reminded her of another essential item in her collection.

And here it is, a replica cannon. I can't remember when or where she bought it but I know when she saw it she just had to have it. And so, several years later it is being put to good use! With beads being used as cannon balls and a bit of gun powder (or soap powder) this motley crew will be a force to be reckoned with . . . . . . . . So now you can see why the playroom door has remained firmly shut.

If you  know any young pirates who would welcome shipmates like these then you can knit your own motley crew. The pattern for the 3 pirates and the bunting flags can be found in my daughter's Toyshelf Etsy shop.

A cute gift

Greetings friends. I hope you've all had an enjoyable Easter. My daughter stayed with us over the weekend and I'm happy to say the box of chocolate nest cakes that the dolls were looking after remained unopened until she arrived. She'd mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she was knitting something 'round' as an Easter gift for me so I naturally presumed it would be egg-shaped. When she passed me this little tissue covered surprise I let the dolls take the first peek inside.

Lucy Lavender couldn't wait to untie the pretty lemon ribbon.

And just look at the little cutie that popped out! She certainly wasn't the egg shape I was expecting.

Of course everyone in the playroom was delighted to find a new playmate.

But this little girl is not destined for the playroom as she will sit next to my sewing machine and hold my pins.

My daughter had mentioned a few weeks ago that she was working on a new pattern to list in her Etsy shop. This little girl is one of three dolls (small, medium and large) that she designed for children to play with. When she'd stuffed them she decided they would make great pincushions.

As she had brought the two larger dolls to show me we couldn't resist covering their skirts with all kinds of treasure. The vintage brooches belonged to my mother and the tiny rings were stashed in my daughter's childhood jewelry box. I think they'd look great sitting on a dressing table holding bits and bobs.

Lucy Lavender seemed very surprised that anyone would want to carry pins in their skirt. I just hope she doesn't try any experimental pin-sticking amongst her dolly friends in the playroom!

My daughter has named these little characters 'Twirling Doughnut Dolls' as their skirts are doughnut-shaped with twirling zig-zag stripes. The pattern made by the stripes is very easy to knit and as each doll only requires small amounts of yarn they'll be a great way to use up odds and ends. They are soft and cuddly so make safe toys for very young children. I also love the idea of using them to hold pins and other sparkly treasures. The knitting pattern contains instructions for all three sizes of doll (10cm, 12cm and 15cm).


Whilst the smallest doll now guards the pins in my sewing room the two larger dolls have gone back to my daughter's house to join the other characters on her toyshelf. If you'd like to knit your own twirling doughnut dollies you'll find the pattern in my daughter's Toyshelf Etsy shop.

Happy Easter

Here in Britain our activities are often governed by the weather. Last week brought the hottest March days ever recorded and this week we've had a freezing northerly blast bringing howling gales and substantial snow. But thankfully the warm spring sunshine has returned and so everyone is busy with Easter preparations.

On Thursday we spent a happy afternoon in the garden. Posy gathered daffodils and caught fluffy chicks to put in her Easter basket. She insisted on wearing her bunny ears and Peter Rabbit coat.

Of course no Peter Rabbit outfit would be complete without a big white fluffy tail.

Mother Bunny's wheelie-basket came in useful for carrying chocolate Easter eggs.

Unfortunately she'd forgotten that the eggs should  remain hidden until Easter Day?

As you can see the chocolaty load was quickly spotted by several inquisitive onlookers

and like pirates finding treasure the little rascals raided the basket as soon as Mother Bunny's back was turned.

Later, in the playroom, dolls and bunnies (with chocolaty fingers and paws) posed for the camera.


They have all promised to take good care of this box of chocolate nest cakes that I bought for my daughter who is coming to stay for a few days. These are my daughter's favourite but I can see all eyes are very firmly fixed on those yummy nest cakes and I'm wondering if there will be any left by the time she arrives.

Is there a mouse in the house?

We've had a wonderful week of blue skies and sunshine and as a result everyone (humans and dollies) has enjoyed happy times in the garden.

The playroom door has been left open and much fun has been had. However, the downside to all this freedom is that the younger dolls have tended to wander around the house and today I found this inquisitive little group looking at my computer screen. Something in my blog comments had attracted their attention. . . . .

. . . . . . 'Nannie Sheila' was wanting to know if I had a mouse that would fit into Baby Bunny's basket and 'Pearly Queen' had suggested that there are patterns for mice in my Etsy shop. Would these be a suitable size?

Before anyone had time to consider the possibility of a mouse instead of a bunny in a basket two of my cheeky mice (Pip and Darcy) scurried up to Baby Bunny who was having her morning nap.

With no word of warning Pip grabbed hold of poor Baby Bunny and heaved her out of the basket.

Very quickly a crowd of curious onlookers gathered round and the sight of Pip the mouse asleep in the basket created huge amusement.

Inevitably a game of 'let's all try the basket for size' followed next. The mice might have been a bit too large but the little Jolly Tot dolls fitted perfectly.

One thing was certain, everyone agreed that Baby Bunny's basket would be a very cosy place to take a nap.
Very quickly however the game of individuals trying the basket for size turned into 'let's see how many can squeeze into the basket' and from then on things got a bit out of hand.

Fortunately Posy came along and dealt with the culprits in double quick time. Armful by armful she scooped them up and took them into the garden.

Mice, bunnies and dollies were deposited in the old wheelbarrow and when it was full Posy spent the rest of the morning pushing the overloaded barrow round the garden. Needless to say a jolly good time was had by all, all that is except Posy!

Meanwhile, Kate gently placed Baby Bunny back in her crib but Bunny didn't like that idea at all and wanted to play with the others. Kate, of course, didn't mind because it meant she could wrap Bunny in her cosy shawl and cuddle her.

 

A very big thank you for all the nice comments you have left with recent posts. Baby Bunny seems to have appealed to a great many of you and I know several knitters who have made a variety of other animals to pop inside the basket crib. In answer to Nannie Sheila's question, my three mice (pictured below) are the same length as the basket but if knitted on needles that are one, two or even three sizes smaller then they would fit quite well. You could consider knitting the head on smaller needles and then stitching it onto a bunny's body. The heads are very quick to make so my advice would be to give it a go!

The Jolly Tot dolls (below) fit in the basket crib perfectly and there are 10 styles to choose from. They can of course be knitted in 'baby shades' if softer colours are preferred.

I have three easy to follow patterns for mice. Each mouse has the same head pattern so if you only want a head please choose only one mouse. Mice and Jolly Tot doll patterns can all be found in my Dollytime Etsy shop.

I hope to spend more time in the garden this weekend as the English weather can never be relied on to stay fine for long! Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.