Five on Friday - End of Season Colour

Friday has come round quickly this week and here we are again joining with Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday. It has been a busy week, mainly with the boring things like catching up with paper work and appointments. There have been fun tasks too like preparing for the Junior stitch group (JETS) which begins again tomorrow after a break during the summer. The volunteer helpers and I met last weekend to plan projects for the year and decide what resources we will need. It was a very productive meeting and we probably have enough ideas to keep us going well into 2018! 

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This week has been very odd weather-wise. Monday to Wednesday were dull and cloudy but very hot and humid at the same time, most unpleasant. Yesterday morning we woke to sunshine and a much fresher feel so I headed outside in between fighting with the computer and printer. 

My Five this week is the end of season colour in the garden.

1. Begonias

The begonias are wonderful. They flower all summer long and then when all the other annuals are starting to fade they get even bigger and better. I generally choose mixed colours and do not have any colour scheme in mind. So the pots are filled with riot of bright happy blooms that make me smile as soon as I come out of the house.

2. Rudbeckia

We had a very dry August here and our clay soil became very parched. I water the pots and baskets but never water the garden so the plants can suffer during hot, dry weather. It would be too difficult to water the whole garden (even though it is not very big) so I try to only grow the plants that can survive this harsh treatment. The Rudbeckia has struggled this year and has not produced as many flowers as previously, but although smaller, it is healthy and will hopefully do better next year.  

3. Hydrangea

The weather has had an unusual effect on the hydrangeas too. The first flush of flowers in August faded quickly in the heat but since we have had some rain over the last two weeks a new crop of flowers has emerged. There are several Hydrangeas in the garden and they have all been affected the same way. They look rather odd (but strangely attractive) with a mixture of old and new blooms on them.

I love they way the petals fade and change colour. I like to collect some of the dried heads to create an Autumnal display indoors.

4. Sedum

The sedum flowers are still developing and are not fully out yet. The pink of the flower heads against the lime green of the leaves bring a lovely contrasting burst of colour. The bees and butterflies love the sedum and although there were no butterflies yesterday there were plenty of bees trying to work their way into the partially opened flowers.

5. Anemones

Anemones have to be my favourite plant at this time of year. No matter what the weather throws at them, wet summer, dry summer, wind, they always come up year after year and flower their socks off.

They look especially good with a blue sky background of course!

I always feel a little sad at this time of year as the summer fades because I dislike winter and the cold months. So end of season colour and days with bright blue skies would be very pleasant

......... if they could just keep going .......... 

.........at least until the end of November please.  

Five on Friday - August

It is difficult to believe it is September already and time for Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home. Looking back over August it has been a quiet, gentle month with no drama's (thank goodness!). There has been time to relax with a few days out here and there but mostly peaceful days at home enjoying the garden, spending time with my mother and lots of knitting and stitching. 

The month began with
1. Amazing skies

2.  A Visit to Stowe Gardens

The vistas across the landscape never fail to delight. 

Stowe House looking majestic across the lake.

The deep rich green of the trees at this time of year are a wonderful sight.

The Temples create focal points.

Capability Brown must have had remarkable vision when he planned the landscapes of the gardens in the many historic country houses he worked on. To be able to see how the trees would work when they were fully mature is extraordinary. It must have looked very different when they were first planted and I often wonder what people thought of it then. 

It is the 300th Anniversary of the birth of Capability Brown this year and several National Trust properties including Stowe have collaborated with the Embroiderers' Guild to create exhibitions inspired by his landscapes. The exhibition at Stowe, 'Capability Found' is in the Temple of Concord and Victory. This is a lovely Temple with a view across the Grecian Valley but sadly the exhibition does not have disabled access. Although some of my work is in the exhibition we did not go to that area of the garden as it is a bit frustrating when you cannot get in!

3.Garden Flowers

The garden was in full bloom during August

Lots of daisies with Day Lilies popping up

The pots and hanging baskets were full of colour too. They needed regular watering as it has been quite dry here in Buckinghamshire. My mother likes to have lots of pots in her garden too, so there were two gardens to water. It was easily solved with a routine of watering my pots and baskets in the early morning and my mother's in the evening. We would then sit in the fading light enjoying the garden and spending time together. 

The Fuchsias have done really well this year

Apparently, this is a Comma Butterfly and is an endangered British species. I was surprised when I looked it up and felt privileged it came to visit my garden.

4.Ascott Gardens

Friends and I went to Ascott Gardens one day, which I had never heard of before, although it is only a short distance from home. Ascott House is a half timbered Jacobean farmhouse, transformed by the the de Rothschilds towards the end of the 19th Century. The house and gardens are now cared for by the National Trust although I understand the family still use the house at certain times of the year. It is a wonderful place with great views across Aylesbury Vale. 

Aylesbury Vale

The gardens are divided up into 'rooms' with different styles of planting.

The Venus Fountain

The Eros Fountain in the Formal Gardens

The planting in the Formal Garden was very beautiful.

Fairy Grotto

The Grotto had been roped off because a wasp colony had taken up residence and built their nest in there. I can imagine fairies living in the grotto, flitting about the flowers when no one is watching.

5. Knitting and Stitching

There was plenty of time for stitching and knitting during the lazy days of August.

As mentioned in a previous post I was determined to make a pair of socks for the Yarndale Sockline. The lovely Christine (Winwick Mum) organises this at the Yarndale Festival in Skipton each September. The socks are used as decorative bunting and then donated to a number of charities for people who need some warm footwear. You can read all about it here. 

Even though I am very slow at knitting socks I was delighted to post a parcel yesterday containing three pairs, yes, three pairs of socks. Okay, so one pair was baby sized but I am still very chuffed.

The baby pair was an experiment as they needed to be made on the dreaded DPN's. There are probably lots of people who find DPN's a breeze but I seem to tie myself in knots with them. Apparently I pull very strange faces when knitting with them.

I am very pleased with the result and might, just might consider making more with leftover oddments of yarn. If they keep a little person's toes warm it will be worth the stress.

Some stitching has been going on too, creating a new range of notebook covers

This one was shared in my last post.

There appears to have been an invasion of sheep. I so enjoyed making Shirley the Sheep and her friends back in July it has started to influence my stitching. 

This one was a special request from a friend - Sew Happy and a sheep - 

 which resulted in a stitching sheep - what else?!

This Herdwick and her friend were made as gifts.

Looking back, August was a happy month. I hope you had a good August too and like me are looking forward to what September will bring. If it was not so great for you hopefully September bring better things.

Summer Flower Needlecases

The garden is always an inspiration for my stitching and much of my work seems to feature flowers. This is the latest set of Needlecases that have been completed this week.

Liberty fabrics have always been a favourite and a pack of off-cuts have sat in the fabric drawer for some time. (So long that I am not sure where they came from!) Instead of getting them out, admiring them and then putting them back "for another time" I decided to use them. 

Strips of Liberty fabric were added to linen and cotton fabric leaving a space for some hand embroidery. This was backed with felt to give a soft but firm foundation. The best bit (to my mind) is creating the embroidery, deciding which  flowers to create and colours and stitches to use. This is normally freestyled because although I know I should sketch and draw more, it is not really my thing. In fact I  am a little afraid of drawing, which is very silly and wish I could be more relaxed about taking pencil to paper. Sketchbooks of a sort do exist but are generally used in fits and starts, normally for  particular projects or when attending a workshop.  Although I have frequently started a routine of drawing for 10 minutes a day, enthusiasm wains after a week or so...... 

........ perhaps more discipline is required.

Once the embroidery is complete, construction can take place. More pieces of Liberty fabric were used to line the needlecases and the edges bound with twisted embroidery floss. Felt is cut for the inside leaves, one white and one in a colour that tones with the cover and is stitched into the centre. A rolled elastic loop and button are attached to fasten the completed needlecase. 

All they need now are some needles and pins.

Marguerite Daisies

Tulips and For-get-me-nots

Blue Daisies

Poppies

Lavender

Echinacea and buttercups

It has been a while since I have been in a stitching mood as finding the time to concentrate for any length of time seems to have escaped me. Completing this small project has helped to get my mojo back and there are lots of ideas buzzing for new Journal/Notebook covers. Hopefully they will be ready to share soon.

The needlecases are now in my Etsy shop
or you can find them over on my Facebook page.