Goodbye January

 Hello dear friends , well I have had a dreadful time this week with flu....it's been a bit of a nightmare actually , with a bad reaction to some pills I was given to take ...  I,m still coughing....but thanks to a good Doctor  , I am still here !  :)
I wont be going to dance class this week or shopping with my good friend ...nor will I be going to spread the nasty flu virus around at church this Sunday . ....although I might just pop in to do the flowers . I think this will be the last week of flowers until Easter now  .
 Anyway I couldn't let the month slip away without mentioning my lovely leeks . Look how well they stand up to the cold and miserable weather .

 Of course  I always make the mistake of trying to pull one up by hand , only to have it snap apart . It's o.k I managed to save the best part of it !

                             It is always better to gently fork up leeks .

  They are a reasonable size......I,m not growing to enter into any show ...these are just perfect for us to eat .

 So I just smarten them up and hasten back into the warmth of my kitchen again .

 I recently came across one of these old Boot Scrapers and snapped it up ..another job to be done when the weather improves .

 Meanwhile the weather and the sea is wild and turning bitterly cold as we slip into February . February and March being our coldest months here .

 There are signs of Spring though if you care to look for them . Pretty raindrops falling from the Sticky buds on the Cornus controversa variegata ..."the Wedding Cake Tree " .

 One of my sweet daughters sent a Tesco crate full of healthy goodies to build me up again .  My other daughter sent  nourishing homemade leek and potato soup .... mmmmmm .... sweethearts both of my lovely girls !
 I have enough citrus fruits to make marmalade , lemon ,n,lime curd , Sticky Lemon Drizzle cake ..maybe ..as well as the obligatory honey and lemon drinks !

 My January Kitchen windowsill .From left to right I have a nice sized specimen of a Leuchtenbergia principis cactus . In the large vase is a Bromliad that finished flowering , it had a large yellow inflorescence ....which I have now removed as it finished . It is putting out shoots and will need re-potting very soon . next back pot is an unknown bulb that I found under a dead plant as I tipped it out to throw away . I re-potted the bulb and here it is coming up . Looks a bit like a Tulip..but maybe it could be a Lily of the Valley . Then all my Pelargonium cuttings the last ones that I did end of Autumn . Then all the Air plants that I still haven,t mounted on hanging wires ,so they are still sitting in the old Hyacinth vases ...and they too are putting out pups ( shoots )  . The air plants have a weekly warm bath ...by the way . So everybody is looking happy and healthy  :)

                                  Wild sea down at Poldhu this evening .
 There was one surfer in amongst the waves this evening  , the sea looked too strong for him we thought .

                                                  Goodbye January !

Wild ' n' Windy Weather

The weather is certainly changing here in Cornwall. This is the wild sea at beautiful Poldhu Cove.

I haven't been away for a holiday for a year and a half due to being so poorly...yes..I know its lovely here and I,m very lucky to live here.....but I do love a bit of Dinosaur Hunting and one of my favourite places for this is Charmouth . Contrary to what people say, you can find fossils here in Cornwall.....I found a nice piece of fossil wood , a foot long piece of a pine tree branch, nicely preserved on our own Poldhu Beach and a big " devil's toe-nail  " on a beach down at Lands End .....poorly preserved Trilobites at a beach on the North side of the Lizard....but for prehistoric sea creatures..the place to take the children is Charmouth .

.........and at this time of the year..dogs are welcome too !

Here we are arriving in Charmouth,... little dawg recognises where we are and is practically jumping onto the dashboard of the car in excitement !

.......turn left and there is a car park right by the beach ....and loos ...Charmouth Heritage Centre and fossil shop with amazing Icthyosaur  in a glass tank at the back of the shop...and lots of gemstones and big fossils  and little fossils for you to buy ...,in case you
dont find any ......

                                          .......but you almost certainly will !

 We stayed in the lovely  ,near by village of Wootton Fitzpaine ....it seems that every where you look there are Bronze Age settlements. The sun rising through the drifting mist is just so beautiful !
My only complaint was that I would have liked to have had one fish'n'chip meal during our holiday but the Charmouth Fish'n'chip shop was shut every time we went ! : (
 I brought my crewel embroidery with me ..oh ..I take this everywhere with me and have been doing this for pretty much most of this year...but I will speak more of this over on my new journal  Cornish Piskie Stitches .

So in my large handbag I am carrying this crewel project and three bags of crewel wool and in my DMC Embroidery Travel bag I have packed another project that my clever little grandson designed .....and that I am stitching up as a little surprise Christmas gift for my daughter . I,m having so much sweet fun stitching this in perle cotton  embroidery threads , in the colours of his original picture .

             I love the way children pretty much all do these radial , big headed ,  happy  stick people !

We found a few fossils , tiny pyrites ammonites , broken belemnites , a broken piece of Ichthyosaur tooth and a bag of rocks for further investigation when we get home .

Did some more , then added lots of yellow French knots to give it a bit more sparkle .

On the way home , we drove out of our way to go and see Stonehenge....I,m glad that I took this photo as we approached it on the motorway , as when we got there they were closing and you cant see it from the new entrance . Fed up !
Then briefly rejoiced as we approached my favourite ring of trees on the hill , my heart sinking to see another bloody windmill ruining the view . How come the people here allowed this  , in such a beauty spot ? !!!

.......and then this ...so much of Bodmin Moor is now being ruined ...this is the Temple Fishery and Dozemary Pool area ...and as you are driving out of Cornwall the view of Rough Tor and all the surrounding  ancient moors will never be the same again .

 So then I took pictures of the trees.....thinking maybe to embroider a tree ....

......or thirty trees on a hill....without a windmill  : )

Aah ! ...good to get home and find my Schlumbergeras beginning to bloom . Yes , I have a thing for Gasterias too !
  Then to finish off that embroidery ....

 Yes I used a vintage arm chair cover  , flipped it over to iron on the wrong side down over a towel . Cut off the excess with the useless scissors that I bought cheap on ebay and wont make the same mistake again .

                  Press down edges over the cardboard  backing of the frame ....

                      lace up the back and neaten by stitching a scrap of fabric over.

                   
                                          another quick press with the iron......

                                                               Ta daah !
               Thats  another Christmas present done ! Very happy me !
Well tonight Storm Barney is on the way . I,ve closed up the cold frame and moved plants into their shelter zones....I hope my old greenhouse will still be there in the morning ,or else I,ll have to bring the entire cactus collection indoors !
  Hope you are cosy and warm where you are !   love Daisy Debs  : ) x

Brown Paper Bag Embroidery

While storms rage , rivers burst their banks , homes flood and mountainous waves crash around our beautiful Cornish coast.....I cant  stand hearing about it any more..and creep away into my cave to sleep ....  and read my favourite old embroidery books ....and stitch......and look at all your lovely gardening and crafting and embroidery blogs .
Leeks , onions , kale , parsely , sleeping rhubarb....thats about it up in the veg garden .
We noticed the first snowdrops as we drove through Nantithet  last weekend .
I,m still worn out from flu...so not been dancing .
 So yes , just trying to keep warm ...stitching in my fingerless gloves : )
 Look at that green thread ... that has to be my favourite colour .

Here is not a very good picture of the stormy seas at Poldhu Cove , Mullion.
The reason it is not a very good picture , is because I am actually taking it from a safe distance ,through the window of our car.....cosy  ,  safe and warm ...with the car heater blowing nice and warm all around me : ) ......( and a hot  Cornish pasty on my lap )

I am really enjoying this project , those bright ,n cheerful colours making me feel better .
 I,m going fossil hunting in a couple of weeks time , Charmouth .....cant wait !  Waterproofs at the ready....I know ....keep away from those cliffs !
 I,m taking this embroidery along to work on ,back at the cottage ,cosy in front of the fire , in the evenings . I,ll let you know if we find any dinosaurs when I get back .

Thanks for visiting my journal and for your lovely comments x

Pearls !

 I changed my mind !  I found a couple of old necklaces in a charity shop and I thought
these light green pearls would be perfect for those peas in the pod .

                                             I just have to sew them on .
            Also I embroidered  the background with French knots till quite late last night .
                                Time to rest my eyes ..lets go for a walk !

The weather is pretty wild here today ...I thought I.d take you down to the beach , Poldhu Cove , to see the waves ! Wellies and water proofs !