Video tour of my garden

Hello. Crafty Club this morning, then watering a friends garden, then lunch, now going to town. I will leave you with this video of my garden, and will come back later. 



Toodle pip

Busy weekend

Hello, that's it, all done now I'm a bit jiggered. Big success both Saturday at the Summer Fair, and today at the Open Gardens. I've emptied the summer house, artwork now back indoors. Just had a bite to eat, now I've got to go outside and water up because it's been a scorching hot day, and everything is dry.

I made a video, which will be uploaded to yoootooob tomorrow. Just finishing my coffee, so I'll say cheerio, and catch up with you tomorrow.
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Bloomin lovely.

Hello. Not long now. 

We'll catch up soon, have a nice weekend.
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All before breakfast.

Hello. I was up at 5 this morning, raring to go with a full day of stuff to do. Perched on my usual chair at the back window, watching the sun come up and sipping a welcome mug of coffee, I set about cutting up some aluminium drinks cans that I've been storing for ages. Commonly known as soda cans across the pond. 

Another idea I picked up from a yoootooob video, I can do that. Cut circles using a cardboard template, use a paper punch to make two holes opposite each other, and join them together with thin wire. Hang five rows of five from the top bit of an old lampshade. Attach wire to the top, and hang.

Clear blue sky with the sun coming up, and a slight breeze, and they glisten and dance about.

Something for you to have a go at, if you feel so inclined, better that twiddling your fingers :o)

I'm off, got to do a Bailey poodle walk. Catch up later. Toodle pip

Countdown to Open Gardens.

Hello. It's starting to come together. David is installed in his new position, among the flowers. The pots have been moved around, the straggly plants have been trimmed and the tall ones have cane supports. I just have to fill the gaps now with plastic flowers. 

Leo looks lovely with his flower arrangement.

One more day left to add the finishing touches tomorrow. The lawns will be mowed. A few weeds will be pulled up. I won't be putting my artworks in the summer house until Sunday morning.

That's all for now. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

More painting, and blinging stones.

Hello. That's another day of winds battering the garden. The trees at the back have been lashing about, the noise is a tad annoying as I'm trying to get things done. The flower beds need tidying, must try and get that done tomorrow. Mayze doesn't care, she is in heaven in her sun lounge. 

This is the remains of the old cat shelter, I managed to salvage some of it and today I painted it. I might not paint the bottom shelf, and I haven't painted the bits round the back that can't be seen. It fits perfectly in this space.

I have painted a few stones, they will be scattered about the garden. Blinged them up with sequins and glitter nail varnish.

I've been looking after Barry's dog, Scruff, today, short walks and sitting with him. I managed to find a new home for a large plant that I have no room for. Janet has taken it in and will find a place at the bottom of her garden. Only two more days of prepping to do, then a busy weekend, then I will be free to do something else.

The strange marks were inside the bottom of a bowl which had a bit of rain water in it. I think the readers who said slugs or snails are probably right.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Pretty pots.

Hello, just popping in while I have my after lunch coffee. Egg and beans on toast today. Someone asked about using emulsion paint on outdoor projects, does it wash off in the rain. It seems to work ok with me. I painted these two pots this morning, one is plastic, one terracotta. I last did them a year ago, they were a bit faded with the sun, and had a few scratches where I moved them about. They will be ok for another year now, I have repainted them in the same colour. 

One thing I would say is that if you are painting over a pot which was previously finished in gloss paint, it might not cover it very well, and might flake off. Here I have used Crown flat matt emulsion, shade Euphoria. 

I have to go to the vets now to pick up Heidi's tablets, so I'll say tattybyes and catch ya later.

Adding more colour to the garden

Hello. At last this screen is finished, it looks lovely. I got the clothes rail out of a skip, 66 flowers and 66 leaves cut out of vinyl, attached to strips which are fixed to the top and bottom rails with cable ties. No wonder it took ages. I didn't take the flowers down to the bottom because I will stand a few pot plants in front of it. 

Here's a little puzzle for you. I took this photo in the garden today, it's a close up of something. The patterns made me look twice at it, rather fascinating I thought, and very arty. Any ideas about what the something is, and what made the patterns. I don't know the answer to the second question so your guess is as good as mine.

Got to go outside and water up now, no rain so the ground is dry. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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The evolving Shed of the Year.

Hello. This is my entry for Shed of the Year 2016. It's interesting looking back at these photo's and seeing what has changed. The flower beds had pallets around them, now they have bricks. There is now a porch on the front of it. Some of it has been repainted and is a different colour. The garden chair has been replaced with a cane conservatory chair. The brown old fashioned dining room chair has been repainted. I still have the black storage boxes, some of the plants have come up again this year. I have thrown out the dead pieces of monkey puzzle tree but I still have the vase. The sea view on the back of the garage has gone and is now a rainbow of colours. The stack of small pallets next to the shed has gone. The carpet tiles have gone, now vinyl flooring with a large carpet on top. The table has gone, now there is a board supported by two tressles. The roof now has a sheet of plastic over the top of the polycarbonate.

There will be some newer art pieces in there on Sunday. I hope I remember to make a video of how it is now.

Crafty Club this morning, and a coffee with Angela after. Now going outside, more to do. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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Making the job easy

Hello. Late lunch again, just having a coffee. I don't like bending down, leaning sideways, and stretching up when I'm painting. I like to do it at eye level while I am standing. This little coffee table comes in useful, given to me by my next door neighbour. Sometimes I sit on it if I am painting something which can't be moved, or I use it to elevate something so I don't have to stoop. I put the chair on it to paint the seat and the back, then moved it onto the bigger table to do the legs. Chair out of a skip, it was white, now it's blue. 

While I had blue on the brush I did a couple of pots. The easy way is to put an old plate or a plant pot drip tray upside down on the wheelie bin, and walk round and round it as you paint. I like to use a long handled artists brush then you can keep your body straight and not lean forward.

They look lovely.

I gave myself a haircut yesterday, it was getting on my nerves, now neat and tidy again. A load of washing is on the line, time to get it in, and more jobs to do outside.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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Jazz it up a bit

Hello. Oh no, not more toilet humour, this blog is going down the pan ;o)

What do you do with a lamp that no longer works. My neighbour threw this out ages ago, it's been in my garden for months. I knew it would be useful for something.

The three lamps can be turned in any direction. I know, turn them facing upwards, and fill them with bird seed and peanuts. Makes a good bird feeder.

Today I tackled the job I have been putting off, wasn't really in the mood. The cat shelter needs a door to cover the plant pots and other bits and bobs underneath the kitty apartment. I had a massive pallet and cut it down to size. It was a beast. A lot of sawing was done. I didn't put hinges on it, I put a bolt on each side to hold it in it's place, when I want to get in it, I just lift the door out.

That's better, a lick of paint to jazz it up a bit. Matches the summer house now.

That's another job ticked off. Things are coming together nicely now. No rain yet so I am watering up. The tall plants took a bit of a battering in the wind yesterday.

It's the weekend, enjoy. We'll catch up soon.
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Change of lavvy habits.

Hello. I've been having a stock check on my toilet roll stash, not had a count up for a long time. I have no idea how much toilet rolls cost because I haven't bought any for years. I used to buy them at a cash and carry, at either Lincoln, Sheffield, or Leeds, when I was buying stock for my Mr Puss business, and that has been closed for at least 15 years. I accumulated quite a lot of them so haven't needed to buy any more. 

The count today is 72 in this picture, then I found another four, making 76 altogether. Oh dear, my stocks are going down. I've been looking through previous posts about my toilet roll collecting  habits. In August 2009 I bought 144 from Sheffield. In September 2011 I bought 120 rolls from Sheffield. In September 2012 the count was 154, then I found some hidden in a suitcase in the wardrobe which brought the total up to 194. In June 2015 I bought 72 from Leeds. 

You may remember I posted about how I cut down on my toilet paper usage, my mantra being.....2 for a pee - 3 for a poo. I have been keeping to that and a roll lasts quite a long time in this house. Back in 2011 I did a post about this, counting how many squares there were on one roll. In that same post I also said I was not ready for the wiping with a wet cloth method as I could afford to buy paper. Well here we are nearly seven years later and I have been giving it a try, and it's working quite well.

As you can see, my toilet is very close to the sink, I can reach the cold tap on the right while still sitting on the loo. It's easy, wet sponge, lift bum off seat, wipe drips, towel is on the side of the bath. It has become an automatic habit now, and the toilet paper stays on the roll. Of course it's still there in case I have to use it. My new mantra is 2 for a poo, none for a pee.

My 76 toilet rolls are going to last ages and ages, I may never have to buy any again.

It's very windy outside, dry but windy, I'm doing stuff inside.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Ten hearts and a barbecue table

Hello. More decoration for the garden, I think I have enough things on sticks now. This time I decided to do hearts instead of flowers. Plastic shapes cut out of boxes of washing machine tablets, cd cases, and chocolate boxes. Three sizes for each heart, plus a heart shaped button for the front. 

Sequins added, and glitter nail varnish with extra glitter. Eight of the stalks are 29 inches long, two short ones are 12 inches. They came from a large parasol which my friend gave me to take apart. A piece of florists wire is threaded through the hearts and twisted around the stalk at the back, and covered with hot glue to stop them moving about.

 Look what I found this afternoon. I was five minutes into my walk when I came across a barbecue on someone's front garden with a note on saying free to take. I thought, no, I don't want a barbecue and walked away. Then had second thoughts maybe I could use the table for something. It's very heavy solid wood. I rang the bell and said if no one wants the whole thing, I will take the table. The man  lifted the barbecue bit out of the middle and said, there you are, it's yours, so I pushed it home. Wants a bit of a clean up but otherwise it's sound. Lucky, eh!

Time is getting on, after a long phone call I must now go outside and water the garden. They say it will rain, but will it. The plants need water now. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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Making garden decorations

Hello. I'm counting down, ten days to the Open Gardens, and I must have my garden ready. Looking good so far, but still more to do. I made a video this morning, takes twenty minutes to set it up, ten minutes to film, then upload to yoootooob. A quick way to compose a quick blog post. Coffee break after lunch, I won't rabbit on, I've got to get back to what I'm doing, so I'll leave it with you.

It's not perfect, have a laugh.



We'll catch up later.
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Blinging fun.

Hello, just popping in. I added some sequins to the plastic flowers I made. Some have knitting needles for stalks, and some have broken umbrella parts. That hot glue gun is sure becoming very handy. These will look lovely in the pots. Think I'll make some more. 

Steamed veg for dinner tonight, now I need to go and walk it off. We'll catch up soon.
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