Mixed Bag!

I could not decide what to do a blog on this week so thought I would just waffle on about nothing in particular for a bit in the hope you might be interested enough to read on!  Where are the weeks going?  Here we are half way through July already, not long to Christmas now! I have been getting bits and pieces of work done for the Home spun Fair, I think my stand will be small but interesting!!!! 

We went here last week, Golitha falls on Bodmin Moor, it was raining (when hasnt it been the last couple of weeks!) and it was very gloomy and green and romantically creepy.  We got soaked but it was worth it, such a beautiful place.

This was the first time that we have been up onto the Moor, we will definitely go back but not till the autumn when there are not so many tourists around.  Now the summer holidays have started there are places that are no-go areas till September, it is like there are two Cornwalls, our Cornwall in the winter with wild empty beaches and then summer Cornwall when villages are full and beaches packed.  Not that I am complaining as I know how much we all rely on tourist trade for our livings but of the two I much prefer the quiet times.  

I have just been mad on sewing this week with my new/old machine zig-zagging away happily.  This piece based around this lovely photo is called 'What are little girls made of?'  I used bits of a torn quilt that Christine gave me, the colours in it are beautiful it must have been gorgeous when new and its faded to lovely subtle tones. I love all the torn edges and the bit in the bottom left hand corner was worn and torn and worked as a little pocket to put some vintage millinery flowers in, sweet.

This is my sewing table, a bit untidy after finishing 'Sail Away' which is all red, white and blue. I keep all my favourite old photos, scraps of lace, ribbon, buttons and fabric on here and try and only use it for planing and layering up new pieces.  I only recently made this area for sewing stuff and its nice to be able to leave it all out like this.  

Thought I would bung in a pic of some little things in a little old cigar box that has sweet little flowers on, I love old cigar boxes. 

The sun came out this afternoon!!!!  So this is where we were at 3 o'clock, where were you, and was the sun shining?  Hope the sun shines on you this weekend, have a good one.

birthday outing.

It was my birthday on Thursday and I had wanted to do this post that evening, but after the thunderstorms of Wednesday night we were left without our phone until Saturday and then I had my birthday dinner to organise so I have not got round to it till today!  

It was not a good start to the day weather wise with torrential rain and thunder rumbling round the hills but being ever the optimists we set out to our first destination of the day Trevarno Gardens near Helston.  With virtual rivers of rain water swooshing down the roads we gloomily drove on in the hope of it getting better and luck was on our side as by the time we arrived it had stopped and the sun was trying, not too successfully to emerge.  You can take dogs into Trevarno so Midge was with us so we set out first to wander round the lovely grounds.

First stop at the lookout deck with a lovely view over part of the garden and the potting shed, wouldnt you just love to have that as a studio!

I just love this little garden that runs along the back of the walled garden, it is such a romantic fairy tale little space and the peacocks make it more so, there are loads of them wandering around.

Another romantic view of the lake and the boathouse, nice and moody with the slightly mistiness. On the bank there was a family of ducks mummy and babies and I managed to get really close to the little darlings, sweet!

This waterfall feeds down to the lake.

It is a beautiful garden to wander around with over a mile of paths through woods and other little formal gardens, I love this place as its not too tidy and has a slight wildness to it and one minute your in the woods then you find a gate and you are in a little rose garden.  

Then when you have had a good old ramble round you can go and look round the three museums. 

This is the gardening museum, with all sorts of tools and things garden related beautifully displayed. No thats not Midge digging in the display!

Lovely watering cans.

Love those wire pot holders.

There are lots of gardening toys too.  Look at the sweet little wheelbarrow.

The embroidered bag is divine. 

I would give anything to have these two seed display cases on my walls!

After drinking in all the delights in here, next door more to gloat over in the little toy museum.

Isn't that little drapers shop a treat?

There is also a small soap museum that I forgot to put the pictures of on here and you know how hard it is to stick pictures in where you want them so I will show you them another time. It is another little gem and in all if you are ever in Cornwall do visit this garden, not only beautiful gardens but you can get a Vintage fix at the same time!

Next wizz back home to drop Midge off and then on to The Headland Garden at Polruan near Fowey.  Ian has wanted to go there since he saw it in a book years ago but its a private garden thats not open a lot and we were lucky it was open on Thursday.  Its right on the cliffs with lots of little paths and stunning views, unfortunately I was wearing the wrong shoes (not good grip) to explore many of the slippery little steep paths but enjoyed the views and the sub tropical plants.

They have there own little beach too!

In all a lovely, even though it was a bit damp, birthday outing.

Then when we got home I finished off this new bit of work that I have been really enjoying doing, based on the poem 'Sweet stay at home'.  My birthday present was a sewing machine, my last one died on me, it was really old and had been given to me years ago and never that brilliant. Now I have a second hand singer that goes a treat and even does zig- zag stitch!  I know thats probably not exciting to you all but I have never had a machine new enough to do that before so now I am mad on zig-zagging!!