Nice Clothes

I've gone a bit crazy lately buying new clothes.  For quite a few years I lost interest in taking care of myself.  Lately I've felt much better and realised the clothes I had were a mess.  So it was time to update myself.  I have shown one or two things I bought in the past but lately I've bought a lot.  Here is a top and pants that I wore this week...

I love this top, and it only cost £14, the pants are sort of jogging bottom type fabric and cost £10, the scarf I already had.  This made a really comfy outfit to wear around the house.  I like a scarf, my neck gets cold so I always feel much warmer with a scarf.  I got the top and pants from Bon Marche, their clothes style has really improved this last couple of years, lots of stylish stuff for the older woman.



Round Robin Embroidery

I'm currently participating in a Round Robin that is for stitching related items.  So far we've made a needlecase and pincushion...

There are five of us in the group, four stitch on the item and the fifth (whoever the items are for) sews them together.  The others are doing crazy quilting but I wanted the type of finish you see in the picture, I think the work is beautiful.  I do enjoy stitching on the crazy quilting that the others are doing.  Our next project is a hussif.



Autumn Fruit

Well, what a summer it's been, it was actually hot!  It seems years since we had such good weather for an extended length of time.  Here are a few things from my garden...

I'm still getting rhubarb, it's done well this year, hardly got any last year.

 

I simmered the rhubarb then put it in a pyrex bowl and covered it with blackberries.  These blackberries are from a bramble that is growing wild in my next door neighbours garden.  It is creeping into my garden, I'm sure my neighbour doesn't mind sharing!

 

Here's the crumble I made, yum, rhubarb and blackberry crumble.

 

100g plain flour

100g sugar

50g corn meal

50g porridge oats

100g butter

Whirled all together in my food processor - easy.  The oats and corn meal stop the crumble topping being stodgy.

 

Now I've just got to do something with my damsons

 

Maybe another crumble.

 



Replying to comments

Thanks Theanne, Laurie, Peggy and Dorothy for your comments on my outfit.  I never know how to reply to comments.  I notice that on some blogs you can 'reply' to individual comments but not on this blog.  I enjoy reading your comments and do appreciate getting them, it is fun to hear from you and what you think of my posts.

Growing in Pots

It's two years since we got our polytunnel.  Last year was a terrible year for the veg I grew in it.  I think it was a combination of lack of sun, cool temperature and poor soil.  This year I decided that grow bags were the answer.  Each grow bag has two or three plant halos .  So far they are working out great.  They are easy to water and feed.  All the plants are growing really well.  The aubergine and peppers look very healthy, in fact the aubergine is the best one I've ever grown, and even the peas are doing well with lots of pods on them.  Also, it is easy to keep a check on slugs and snails, we have a terrible problem with these but I put plastic sheeting on the soil and placed the grow bags on top, this way I can safely use slug barrier if I want to, not that I have had to so far.

 

 

There are a couple of empty spaces in the corners.  Just to fill these in I planted sweet corn in two of them, don't know how they'll do but this year is really just a trial for the grow bags.  Next year I'll put grow bags in these corners too.  Can't you tell I'm pleased!

 

Next to the polytunnel I have a large raised bed.  This contains cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts.  I have completely covered this bed with netting as I was sick of cabbage white butterflies laying eggs on my brassicas.  Each year my brassica crop has been ruined by the caterpillars.



 

I managed to squeeze a row of broad beans and a wigwam of runner beans in our flower garden.



 

So, no lettuce, no beetroot, no carrots this year.  There are quite a few things I have missed planting this year.  After the disappointment of last year's growing and wondering how best to use the polytunnel I was a bit more cautious with what to grow.

 

Up at the house I have some cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets and a courgette in a big tub.

 

 

Notice I now have a water butt here.  Altogether I have three water butts now, very useful they are too.  Two are up near my veg plot, they collect the water from our garage.

 

My veg growing is more for fun than to be self sufficient though it does mean that some years I've had enough veg and salad to supply me for several months.







Outfit Put Together

I'm trying to overcome my dislike of having my picture taken.  I don't recognise myself anymore!!!  Who is that old woman?

"Put your head up!"

"Ok, clever clog!"

 

 

Well, I suppose these pictures aren't too bad, thanks Graham for taking them!

 

I wanted to show how my latest sewing efforts looked on.  Well, they feel very comfortable.  The trousers are very comfy, they don't crush my kneecaps, something I find very painful these days.  The top is very baggy but I think that is because I'm not used to really baggy tops.  I teamed it with this cardi and it is altogether a comfortable outfit.

Butterick 5610

I started this blouse a couple of weeks ago.  It shouldn't have taken me this long to finish it but I had a horrible cold all last week so no sewing got done at all.  Yesterday I felt well enough to finish it off...

 

I liked the look of this blouse on the pattern and it was fairly easy to make.  It does feel a bit baggy when I tried it on.  It doesn't have any waist shaping so I curved the side seam slightly to reduce the bagginess.  I'll have to wear it a few times before I decide if it is just something to wear around the house or if it is suitable to be seen in public.  I do intend to make the other version of it but will probably go a size down.

This fabric that I used is from Boyes .  Boyes is a very useful shop, they sell everything!  They have now even started selling dressmaking patterns.  I will go there this week and check that out.  The fabric is cotton and is nice and light, it might have some polyester in it, I'm not sure but it feels like cotton to me and irons at quite a high temperature.