Some sunshine please........

Oh these dreich days are really getting the better of me............the lurgy has been hanging around in our house for weeks now, little star was ill for about 3 weeks, she then had a small spell of jollyness and is now full of coughs and cold again :(

Last week I coughed like I smoked 40 a day and then eventually took to my bed at the weekend, full of the cold and feeling very flu like.........bleurgh.

So, in an attempt to try and cheer myself up, I decided to take a look through some lovely Spring pictures taken in the garden either last Spring or the Spring before that (I'm thinking prob the Spring before that as Stella took up all of my time last year!)

Where is the sunshine of February? The lovely sunny days promising us that Spring is just around the corner? There is nothing nicer than being able to take a cuppa out to the back door and sit and enjoy a bit of early Spring sunshine on your face, it warms the soul out of hibernation, don't you think?

Oh how I long for the yellow burst of little celandine flowers along the bank of the burn, and that sparkle of sunlight off the water as it trickles down to the big burn...........

Fingers crossed Mr. Sunshine arrives back from his long holiday fairly soon. In the meantime, I hope this little burst of Spring has cheered you up, it's certainly given me hope!

L x

Sunny days

The last couple of days have been absolutely glorious, real spring sunshine with a warmth that gets the washing on the line perfectly dry!

Today I planted my garlic and red onion sets, a little bit late, but hopefully they'll produce something, it was just so good to get outside and working away in the garden again.

Yesterday two friends came round to organise our application for the Perthshire Open Studios event which we're taking part in again this year. Between the three of us we'll have a really varied selection of work, from painting and photography to textiles and ceramics, plus we've decided to do a produce table as we should all have spare cut flowers, veg and eggs, something for everyone hopefully!

What I really enjoyed yesterday was having the support of others and not the usual "having to do everything myself, therefore it gets done at the last minute in a bit of a panic". I think that's why I've enjoyed doing all of the fairs over the last couple of years with Katie, the company and the shared responsibility makes all the difference, even though we are both separate businesses yet working together.

I really hope this great weather continues, wouldn't it be wonderful.......

L x

The chicks!

As promised more photos of the chicks! They ventured outside for the first time yesterday and are getting quite confident on their feet, they seem to be able to fly from one end of the run to the other in a flash! I've been spending far too much time just watching them tottering around and jumping on their mums back, so very cute! Two of the chicks are black with little tufts of yellow, they are Maran cross Welsummers and the other seven are pure Welsummers. Hopefully not too many of them will be cockerels!

It's raining today so I'm getting on with work and watching them from my workroom window and the study window.I told a little fib the other day when I wrote I'd come back empty handed from the market, I didn't bring back anything of the feathered variety, but I did manage to spend some pennies in the "Bygone Era" auction. I was amazed at the amount of really interesting bits and bobs that were for sale, I could have spent a small fortune but I didn't! Everything from old glass butter churns to ploughs! Even a rusty old post box! There were a few things that I lost out on but I did manage to get some really nice galvanised buckets and baths for planting up in the garden and some old tattie baskets. I managed to get something in the sewing line too, a really special find at an absolute steal of a price, but I'll save that for another day!

I just have to decide whether I'm going to plant them up with flowers or veg now!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to the fair we go.....!

At last, we are nearly at the end of March, Spring is well and truly here, as is the Country Living Spring Fair Scotland, aaaargh! We're nearly all organised, although I've still got a million and one things to do tonight, including filling and sewing up another 10 door stops! I spent part of the morning doing something I've been looking forward to for ages, I had planned to do them last year, but as usual ran out of time! What do you think of these.....................?

My friend Diana who has Glenshee pottery sold me some of her old china, she used to have a tea room on Mull, so had plenty going spare! I think it's such a sweet way to recycle old cups and saucers, I just hope the Country Living visitors think the same! Although if I was bringing them home to dot around the house I wouldn't be too sad! As you can see I've got a bit of a production line here.....!

I'm really looking forward to meeting a few of the Scottish bloggers at the fair so please do come along and say hello, we're at stand C34. Tomorrow is set up day and the fair runs from Thursday 22nd March until Sunday 25th March at the SECC in Glasgow.

I'll be back next Monday with all the tales from the fair and lots of photos!

Right, I really must go and get on!

L x

Gorgeous day

Work wise, today has been crap, one of those days when you really just feel like throwing in the towel and getting a normal job................

But, thankfully it was a gorgeous sunny day, I took myself off for a long walk with Chrissie this afternoon to sort my head out, I'm a great believer in thinking that you have to have the lows to appreciate the highs, my way of putting a positive spin on having a rubbish day!

But best of all was this........................................

.....................getting the washing out on the line! And there's nothing better than bring it in, pretty much dry and smelling wonderful................until you get a whiff of the sceptic tank and then the moment is totally lost! Ooh, the joys of living in the country, I'm off to put the chickens to bed, light the fires, make the tea and have a large bombay sapphire and tonic, I think we may even have a lime lurking in the fruit bowl.

Enjoy your weekend.

L x

Could this be Spring?

Well, it's the 31st of January and boy, is it mild. I can't believe the first month of 2007 is almost passed, not that I'm particularly sad as I hate the long, dark, cold days of January. But amazingly after all the gales, snow and freezing weather we've had over the past couple of weeks it has now turned to be so mild and Spring like - what's happened, January is never like this? In fact it is so mild that I have taken my sewing outside to do. I just can't bare to sit inside when it's mild like this, the birds are cheeping away, the chickens are scratching about in the garden, and best of all the spring bulbs are at last starting to show (not that there's many as most of them only got put in the ground on sunday!!!). I've got a stinking cough at the moment so I'm a tad zomby like, getting outside will do me the world of good and hopefully waken me up a bit!

Just being able to get the washing out on the line is such a treat, I have to say, hanging out the washing is my favourite chore - peg bags are a must for this year and will definitely be crossed off the "to do" list! I've also decided to stick with my trusty "dotty" fabric. I've always worked along the lines of once a fabric is finished it's finished as I don't like the idea of churning out hundreds of the same product in one fabric (not that I ever make 100 of anything - I'm lucky if I make a dozen at a time!!). But, seeing as it is soooo popular I've decided to stick with it, a bit like Emma Bridgewater and her dotty china, everyone loves it and it's a bit of a classic in every country kitchen.

I've plonked a jug of my daffs on the table outside with me, seeing as there aren't any out in the garden yet, but it's something to look forward to - if the hens don't scratch them all up! I seriously think mother nature is fooling us though, there's no way it'll stay like this for next few months, I'm sure there'll be a cold snap just around the corner? But I'm going to make the most of it while it lasts.

Right, I think that's the bread maker I hear bleeping, fresh bread for lunch - outside of course, anyone joining me?

L x

Spring flowers

It's the start of another week, the bed is stripped, the washing is done and the bread maker is on, filling the house with the gorgeous smell of baking bread. The stove is lit as it is yet another grotty day, windy and raining, grey and dark, oh how I wish for spring.......

At last the planning for the Country Living Fair is now in full swing (thankfully!) so I'm feeling very inspired and raring to go. I spent Saturday afternoon in Borders book shop with a friend, we had a lovely time looking at so many interesting books and dribbling over the stationary in Paperchase! I bought a couple of lovely craft books, hence the inspiration!

We had our first little flurry of snow on Saturday night, it was only on for about an hour and didn't lie as the ground is just too wet, when is the rain and wind going to stop? It's no wonder we all hate January!

The only way of brightening up the cottage at the moment is to fill it with spring flowers, beautiful red tulips in one of the kitchen windows and blue hyacinths in the other, the smell is fantastic.

I have yet to get my spring bulbs into the garden, hopefully there might be a dry day this week but the ground is just so wet, what can I do? I have bought a lot of spring bulbs this year as last year was our first spring here and we didn't know what was in the garden. So the plan was to plant daffodils all down the burnside as you come in the front gate, I have a feeling they might be a little late in flowering this year.........................

Oh well, off to get on with the sewing, I think I'll have a day of making new products today and planning what new fabrics and trimmings I'm going to order later in the week, one of my favourite jobs.

Enjoy your Monday.

L x