Monday 23 November 2015

Passiflora caerulea


We had a bit of frost this morning , but it didn't last long ...and the sun is shining in that big old blue sky . I,m walking around my garden and watching the bees on the last flowers of the year .
  I am always surprised at how this Passion Flower Vine , Passiflora caerulea  keeps going well into Winter !     Such a beautiful flower .

Sunday 22 November 2015

Grandma Daisy's Big Bad Wolf Costume


                                                       Grandma's new hat ?
My daughter was delighted with Teddy......and promptly announced her next request for a " Big Bad Wolf Costume " for the Parc Eglos Infant's School play .
Thankyou to

Children's Hospice South West in Helston. this project only cost me £1.50 .

So I put on my nurses apron again ....only this time the Veterinary Nurses apron..for some fairly major Wolf surgery this time .




I am told that all the little  girls are going to be Little Red Riding Hoods and all the little boys are going to be  the Big Bad Wolf.......Wolves ! : )  So they will ALL have the starring role !
I,m sure there are lots of ways of making a Big Bad Wolf costume , but,  I thought I,d share how I finally did mine....just in case anyone is stuck for ideas how to do this . Please note that this IS NOT REAL FUR !
 I made this little  silent slideshow in a bit of a hurry as I have to go out . You will also need to make him a Grandma's Pretty Mob cap , glasses and long-sleeved nightdress. Sew some more felt claws onto the ends of the sleeves and dont forget his tail !


Of course my grandchildren would know that it was not their Grandma .....This Grandma wears a coin belt and does hip drops !

Thursday 19 November 2015

Mending Teddy


Today Grandma Daisy Debs had to put on her nurses apron and see what she could do for poor Teddy !  One sad little boy , showed me a hole in Teddy's foot pad , from where tiny white plastic pellets were escaping !
  My daughter had thought that I,d forgotten , but I had n't and I know she will be pleased when I give her ,the baby's own book that I kept for her all these years .She can compare notes with her new baby ....Inside it , I had put in one of her first little ballet shoes....and in that brown envelope is a lock of her long , long blonde hair. I used to put in in two plaits pinned up on top of her head and tied with a pink ribbon . .... aah .....memories ...


A long time ago  , Grandma Daisy worked as a little shop girl in the most beautiful shop in London .....Libertys .   So I have always loved pretty Liberty Tana Lawn and have used it to make pretty dresses both for myself and my two girlies ...always saving any scraps  for appliqué and patchwork.
    I cut a tiny scrap to cover the repair  , thus making a pretty " visible mend " ..I think Tom of Holland should be proud of me ...his wonderful journal is all about making " visible mends " to wear as a badge of honour ,so to speak . I love his website..do look him up !

     ..and then I stitched him a tiny love heart . Grandma Daisy loves her little Harry !


                                         Oh ! Teddy !    Now you're famous !

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Labyrinth Update


So today I gave the labyrinth a tidy up. My husband has been doing it all this year while I,ve been poorly..he'd bought a new but rubbish lawnmower . I cant even see how to adjust the height on this . I do the pathway on the lowest setting and the walls on the highest setting usually , but I,m exhausted after cutting the pathway . I,m exhausted from all the walking up and down the beach at Charmouth ,carrying rocks !  Also , I forgot to tell you about the amazing Yvette Cowles  Joyful Dance - African Dance Workshop that I attended last Sunday Jamaican Reggae and Samba Reggae..beautiful African music and Afro Brazilian and fun fun fun Azonto from Ghana .Cant wait till Yvette comes again !
...So you see ....I am aching just a little bit ...in a good way though ...and I have a dance class tonight too . I have really pushed myself this week .... everyone needs to dance..its so good for you !


 The weather ......Barney...wasn't so bad ...We had a hot chocolate ,coffee and delicious shortbread biscuits up in the Polurrian Hotel Conservertory, the wind was howling away up there , but here we are a little bit sheltered and looking around the garden , everything seems fine .


 Look !  There are flowers on my Purple Raspberry bush Glen Coe  . ....and it still has petals after Storm Barney passed through !


                    If I have any stamina left .......this is my job for tomorrow .

Tuesday 17 November 2015

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