Lilacs, Lupins and Lobelias! In my favourite shades of blue and purple. I am particularly fond of the two lilac bushes in the garden which, although they only flower for a short time give off the most wonderful scent.
The lupins are everywhere this time of year, growing like pretty weeds in all the ditches on the edges of the roads.
Craig picked a bunch of them for the dining room table.Our trademark dainty blue lobelia trail delicately in baskets outside the kitchen window, flourishing as they do every summertime, much to the delight of the hummingbirds.
My hubby arrived home safe and sound, armed with a few little goodies and special treats for the ladies in his life. He couldn't resist the English sweeties, minstrels, Rowntree's fruit pastilles and wine gums :) The Twilight four book set was a huge hit with the girls, including the latest release 'Breaking Dawn' . I was thrilled with my M&S cotton T-shirts and a copy of Good Housekeeping UK magazine. Craig enjoyed his trip and was able to meet up with his niece and nephew in Buckinghamshire.
He took numerous snaps of the places we lived and visited when the girls were young, post office, school and parks. It took me on a little trip down memory lane just looking at them. Not much has changed really, except that the trees have grown to an enormous size and the roads seem ever so narrow :D
The familiar lane leading to our old home in West Clandon, Surrey. I walked down here many times while the girls rode their bicycles
Back here in the Maritimes, we were invited to a local wedding on Saturday. Friends of ours Brian and Jess tied the knot on a perfect sunny afternoon at a local hotel. The reception that followed was lovely, with so much attention to detail and foot tappin' music from a live band. It made a nice change for us to don our 'glad rags' and even get up on a dance floor! I haven't been to a wedding in years and felt a little sad that I have missed both my younger brother's weddings, my sister's and Craig's sister's too :( The downside to leaving South Africa is that we haven't been able just pop back for these special occasions, even though we would love to have done so and shared their happy day
Craig and I were even colour co-ordinated in sky blue :)
A visit from our English friends Terri and James on Sunday morning made a very pleasant start to the day. Inspired to do a spot of baking I mixed up a quick apple tea bread, which we ate outside on the deck and drank cups of tea. They couldn't stay very long as they had their own tea room to open up to the public in the afternoon.
This week is a busy one for the girls, with all their end of year exams, for Jemma the end of her high school lessons forever! The Graduation Prom is on Monday and then the Graduation ceremony on Thursday - crikey, it's all so final and my baby is growing up fast.
She is off to Prince Edward Island with the International students on Friday. A wind down after exams before the summer holidays begin. She is very excited to be meeting new foreign students, some of whom will be going to the same University in September. As a 'helper' she gets to go for free, which makes it even better.
Hazel x
It was such a lovely weekend that my blog post was once again put 'on hold' for a few days. Craig kindly brought home two hanging baskets with pretty blue trailing Lobelia flowers. They have become a summer tradition and are to be hung on the side veranda, along with the white pots full of purple and lilac pansies. The flowers seem to flourish all summer long and we enjoy them almost as much as the humming birds do. Incidentally, the little ruby throated hummingbirds are due to arrive next week. We are prepared and have even bought another feeder in anticipation of their hunger after such a long flight all the way from Mexico!
I diverged a little from my usual painting of furniture this week (OK I did give a small side table the robin's egg blue treatment). This time instead of painting I 'covered' a couple of old wing back chairs. They had been left behind when we bought the house. No longer wanting to look at (in my opinion) ugly blue velour fabric I had moved them into the basement (much to Craig's horror when he came home from work) a few months ago. This gave the parlour a 'spacious airy feel'. Perhaps 'sparse' was a better description? But, after finding some new cream cotton slip covers on 'e-bay' they have now had a facelift and the chairs are back where they belong. They are very comfy and make excellent reading chairs. After trying out my newly acquired 100% wool felt, by sewing a couple of animals, I found it wonderful to work with. Quite pricey compared to my wool-mix felt and not such a large selection of colours. I ordered some small squares in brown, cream and honey. I will be sewing a selection to list in my shop when the demand is higher during the Autumn months. Here is a tiny honey bear!
Amber had a tiring day last Sunday when she took part, along with a few friends, in her 'trial' Duke of Edinburgh Award - hiking trip. This was to prepare them for the real thing in June. She was loaded up with a 35lb back pack, plenty of water, medical supplies, granola bars, sleeping bag etc. The day was hot and even though they were in forest for a good part of the 5 hour walk, it was exhausting. She seemed pretty good once home and only a tiny bit cranky and tired. She was even able to take part in track and field events the next day (oh to have such stamina!)
You may remember that I received an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday back in February from my friend Sandra. I have known Sandra since I stayed in her London home as a lodger, back in 1988! Well, ever the procrastinator when it comes to buying stuff for myself I have hemmed and hawed over what to treat myself to. Not wanting to buy a novel, that I could just borrow from the library, I decided on some carefully chosen home and craft books :) I am awaiting their arrival, but here they are: I spotted a couple of them on other peoples blogs where they got good reviews.
Sublime Stitching Something I haven't really tried before, but always fancied having a go at some contemporary embroidery designs. Today is cooler, after a string of warm pleasant days, there are so many things I have been able to do 'outside' my imagination has been running on overtime (no lewd comments please) Ironing, cutting out felt, recycling old tee shirts with pinking shears to make great cleaning cloths, scrubbing sneakers, washing the car inside and out, painting (of course). I could go on ....
This weekend Craig and I plan on doing a spot of yard sale hunting, always on the look out for a piece of furniture that needs some TLC. Hazel xx
