A Normal Week And A Gallery Visit - W/E 31st May 2026

This week began with a Bank Holiday on Monday. OH went out cycling in the morning and I got up early to take our canine visitor (next door's dog) out for a walk before it got too hot. We had a nice long walk and were back home by 10.30ish, where it was lovely and cool and we could just chill inside. I can't really tolerate too much heat these days, so I'm happy to stay inside when it is over 30 degrees. 

I was a bit tired after getting up early, so I had a little snooze on the sofa in the afternoon, which was lovely. After supper, we headed to the allotment to water at the end of another scorching hot day. OH planted out our sweetcorn plants and a few more lettuce. That's most of our plants put in now. We just need to tend/water them, watch them grow and harvest the produce. 

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. I was looking forward to going back, as I'd had to cancel my classes the previous week to travel north. The teacher was actually on holiday, so she'd got cover for the class, but it was a teacher who'd covered before, so she was good.

In the afternoon, I headed out of town to do some shopping. I had a limited budget with it being the end of the month, so no visit to the charity shop this week. I did overspend a little to get everything we needed. It will just have to come out of next  month's budget. It was another steaming hot day, so not a great day to be out shopping. It was also the day before Eid and the car park where I go to Home Bargains, was rammed with people getting ready for their celebrations. It took a while to get out as it becomes a bit of a bottle neck. Everywhere else was okay though.

On Wednesday, I didn't have a lot planned. I enjoy the days when I don't have to be anywhere and can do as I please. I only needed to take a walk up to the library to take a book back and buy a stamp to post a card and that was it. It was a little cooler today, but still quite hot. I needed to make some banana muffins, as I'd taken some overripe bananas out of the freezer the previous evening, and I also needed to cook some chicken drumsticks, so I did that first thing, along with some laundry. OH wasn't best pleased as it increases the heat in the kitchen, but it had to be done. That's the thing about hot weather, you just don't want to cook and make the house any hotter.

One good thing though, is that I can get my washing out on the line, which I did again. You can't beat air drying it outside. I've started being careful to turn everything inside out, so as not to fade the colours and keep my clothes looking better for longer. I resisted doing this for many years, but have finally been converted, especially as most of my clothing tends to be darker colours.

I made my way up to the library, returned one book and got another one out. It sounded interesting and I'm enjoying reading it.

On Thursday, I was at the gym for an aerobics class in the morning, which was good. I went on a few machines at the gym afterwards and then came home. After lunch, I did some financial reckoning, as it is almost the end of the month. Next month is going to be a little tighter finanically. I can't do anything about it, but I do need to rein in any spending habits this coming month. I don't really have any big expenses on the horizon, save for a meal with friends, so this will help.

Later, I decided to do a bit of sewing on my machine. I needed to re-hem a top I got from the charity shop, that I had cut down from a short dress. I then made some more fabric yarn with some jersey strips, cut from some old t-shirts. I have just one more set of strips to join, but I needed a thread change, so I left it for another day.

Friday, was another day where I had nothing planned. I went to the allotment with OH for a couple of hours in the morning. It was a lot cooler today, thank goodness. I spent most of the time weeding between plants and also weeding the paths again, as our main plot inspection is coming up at the end of June. We got most of what we needed to do on our plot done. I'm sure a few more weeds will surface between then and now, but we'll just pick them out as we go.

We harvested more strawberries and lettuce, but the strawberries aren't looking so good this year. I think we need to dig out our old plants, buy some new ones and create a strawberry patch in a different part of the plot next year. They've been in the same place for quite a few years and are looking very much worse for wear.

After lunch, I was going to go out to a local museum, which has a lovely garden and have a walk around. I set off to get the bus. but by the time I got to the end of our street, the sole had completely come away from the sandals I was wearing. I'd only bought them last week (from a charity shop) and had worn them once. I was a it disappointed as I liked them. They may be glueable, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it put me off going out, as I was already leaving it late in the day, so I decided to stay home and sat reading in our new deckchair for an hour or so, as it was actually bearable to sit outside for once. 

On Saturday, I puttered around in the morning, whilst OH was out cycling. I did a bit of sewing, creating another ball of yarn from t-shirt strips. In the afternoon, we headed out into Central London, to visit a gallery in the St James area of town, where one of OH's cycling buddies had an exhibition of his work, using found ceramics. It was an interesting and thought provoking exhibition, that was also funny. I didn't take photos, as it was a swanky gallery and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. We enjoyed looking around though and then retired to the nearby pub for an hour, before heading into Soho for a walkabout and to grab a burger. 

We caught the bus home, which was not a good experience. The bus seemed to be overheating and was belching out smoke and fumes. We were worried it was going to burst into flames and couldn't stomach the smell or the smoke, so we jumped off and got an Uber the rest of the way home.

Sunday, I had a lie in and then got up and ready to go to the gym. I spent an hour or so in there. I hadn't been for over a month, since I hurt my back. I needed to get back to it. The rest of the afternoon was spent pottering in the garden, dead heading, watering and just generally tending to plants. Next door's cat viciously attacked a wood pigeon in our garden when we got home from town yesterday. I wasn't impressed. Luckily, it managed to fly away, leaving multiple feathers behind. I just hope it wasn't too injured.

A relatively normal week this week, thankfully. Hope yours was a good one.

Monthly Makes - May 2026

This month, I didn't give myself a huge list of projects to complete, I mainly just wanted to complete a couple of small ones and then continue to work on a couple of longer term projects.

The first project that I completed, was to make a new patchwork ironing board cover for a second ironing board I have. I decided to use lots of floral pink/orange fabrics that were in my stash, that I wouldn't really use for anything else. I'm not big into pinks and flowery prints all that much, but I wanted to use these as they are quite pretty.

It took a couple of weeks to make enough large hexies to cover the board and then stitch them together. I backed the patchwork with the original cover and then added an additional backing to cover the print on the original cover, which I didn't like. It just neatened it off well and used up a bit more fabric. Here's a picture before I put the binding on and string in:

I then bound it and attached it to the ironing board and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the result. It's very pretty and the colours seem to blend well. A satisfying little project. Here's a final photo:

The next project I needed to work on was the denim cushion cover for my chair at the kitchen table. This originally started as a cover for the ironing board, but I decided the fabric was too thick and I think I made the right call. Instead, I decided to make a cushion cover for my chair at the kitchen table. I do spend quite a bit of time sat in the kitchen on a daily basis, sewing or on my laptop and a cushion makes it much more comfortable.

Having already made the cushion top, I cut out some denim fabric for the back, added a zip and then added some ties, which I made from some denim scraps that I sewed together using a zigzag stitch, as I do with my fabric yarn. Then it was just a case of sewing them in place and stitching all around the cushion cover. It turned out well and here's a picture of it in situ:

I'm very happy with the result of this project.

I did start one new project this month. I decided to try something completely new to me, that I'd never done before, which was to make some Suffolk puffs or yoyos. I saw an Instagram post and it looked so easy and seemed a good way to use up small pieces of fabric. 

I had a long narrow strip of fabric, that I was going to use to make fabric yarn, but after making a puff with some of it, I decided that I was going to use the whole strip to make puffs. I cut out circles the full length of the piece and I'm gradually sewing them into Suffolk puffs. It's something that I can do whilst travelling or sat at the kitchen table, it's very portable. I think I'm going to use them to decorate a cushion cover. It's fun to try something new, but I've got a way to go. Five down, 18 more to make. Here's a picture:

For the remainder of the month, I continued to focus on progressing the kingsized hexi quilt. I've been working on it for so long that I just want to get it finished now. I've been doing a bit here and there whilst watching TV. 

I've also been doing some work on the scrappy shed quilt. I managed to machine quilt a few more rows this month and am now half way across. I'm still struggling with the thickness of it though, and it's not at all perfect with a few puckers here and there, but it's for the shed. It doesn't need to be perfect. I had to do a bit of a clean of my machine too, as there was way too much fluff clogging it up. I should do this more regularly.

The only other thing I've done this month is to stitch together some strips of jersey from old t-shirts into fabric yarn balls. It's a job that's been sat waiting to be done for a while, so I'm trying to get it done and limit clutter. I created a couple of balls of yarn.  I have a vague idea of what I'm going to use them for.

Not a super productive month, but any fabric from my stash being used and any project completed is a win in my eyes, so I'll take it. LB has also started to help me use up my fabric stash. She wanted to make some bunting for her bedroom and went through my stash, picking out quite a few fabrics to use. I'm more than happy for her to use some of it and help me get it down.

Bank Holiday Car Boot Visit - 24th May 2026

During the Bank Holiday weekend, on the Sunday, OH took me out to a Car Boot sale as a treat. He knows it's one of my favourite things to do. It was a nice little trip out to Chelmsford in Essex, about a 45 to 50 minute drive away. It was going to be another hot day, with temperatures up to 34 degrees centigrade forecast.

We arrived at the Car Boot sale for about 10.30am, as I had slept in longer than I anticipated. There were still lots of stalls to look around though, so we both headed off, OH albeit at a much faster speed than myself, as it's not really his bag, whereas I like to check out every stall. 

This particular Car Boot sale was one that we'd never been to before. It was on the car park of a Park & Ride, just outside the centre of Chelmsford. It was pretty good though, in that most of the stalls were selling second hand goods, not new goods, which have sadly crept into the Car Boot that we usually frequent.

I spent a nice couple of hours wandering around in the sunshine. I bought a few items of clothing, in natural fibres. I'll post about them in my monthly clothing purchase post, a brand new carry bag for my sewing machine for £4, two natural soaps for 50p each, some bun cases for 50p and this little tiered stand for £1, which I'm going to use in the garden. I might sow herbs into pots and put them in it. I've temporarily put a few pots inside to give you an idea.

OH probably bought the coolest item. He bought this traditional deck chair for £8 and it looks great in our garden alongside a footstool that we already had in the shed. It will be a nice place to sit and relax in this hot weather.

We had a BBQ after this photo was taken. I'm not planning on going anywhere for the rest of the weekend, so it was nice to at least get out for a morning, doing something I enjoy. How was your Bank Holiday weekend?

A Garden and Allotment Update - May 2026

It's been a while since I did a garden and allotment update, so I thought I'd post one. Although it is still early in the year, our garden is bursting out all over. It is probably at it's best at this time of year. 

My philadelphus or mock orange is currently in bloom. This is one of my all time favourite plants. I did cut it back very harshly a couple of years ago, but it is starting to fill out again.

These little pink/purple geraniums have taken over this border, but I don't have the heart to reduce them, as the bees love them so much and they are so pretty. They come back year after year and form a carpet of flowers.

My white rose bush is also blooming, as are my Johnson's Blue geranium and another small white geranium that I added to my garden last year. (I don't know it's name) It has self-seeded in virtually every pot in it's vicinity. I have potted up some of the seedlings, some of which I may take to the allotment or plant elsewhere in the garden.

I have a table full of plants to plant into the right hand border and the allotment. I'm waiting for this fruiting plant to finish fruiting before I remove it and add the new plants. It's a plant that is definitely in the wrong place and I think I'm going to move it to the allotment, as it seems to want to spread outwards. I'll try to train it up the fence there instead.

Otherwise, this border isn't looking too bad, but it does need a few more plants planting into it for more year round interest.

I moved around some of the plants and trees that I have in pots on the decking, so that they are not too crowded. The decking is looking a little less congested as a consequence of this and also the fact that I washed and put away all of the dirty plant pots this weekend. I also got out my little fountain in a pot and cleaned it and set it up. The fountain isn't working too well, but it's good to have some moving water in the garden.

The allotment is doing very well this year under OH's care. I'd not been for a week or so, as we had some rain and didn't need to water, then we went to Yorkshire for 4 days. We went there over the Bank Holiday weekend and I took a few photos:

Everything seems to be growing well. The only plants left to go in are some more lettuce plants. I also have a few small kale plants and some white borage, if I can find the space for them.

We've been harvesting lettuce for a few weeks now and have just started getting strawberries. We had a bit of asparagus too, a month or two ago. I'm weighing everything as we harvest it and keeping a proper record of how productive the plot is, for the first time ever. 

OH has really got to grips with successional sewing of lettuce this year. Unfortunately, I've gone right off salad at the moment. I need to get back into eating it, so nothing goes to waste.

Good Week, Bad Week - W/E 24th May 2026

After a relatively good week last week, this week really wasn't so good. OH got a phone call early on Monday morning, to say that his brother's health was deteriorating and he'd been discharged home from hospital. We can't say it came as a surprise, but it's not a pleasant thing to hear.

OH and I decided to pack and head up north to stay with OH's mum for a few days and visit him at home and see if there was anything we could do to offer support. We visited daily whilst we were there and stayed an extra night, because we didn't want to leave too early. Sadly, he passed away peacefully in the early hours on the day we were due to come home.

We eventually set off back to London mid afternoon. Everyone had disbanded and his partner had gone to stay with her family. The journey back was strange. He was the first sibling in our generation to die. It had felt like it had been a long week, with everyone on tenterhooks. I was glad for OH, that he had been able to be there, sad though it was.

Once back home, on Friday, I had to head out of town and do some grocery shopping. I'd only done a very basic shop on Monday morning, locally, to ensure LB had food to eat whilst we were away and by the time we got home, there wasn't much left in the fridge. With a Bank Holiday weekend looming, I needed to stock up, so that we didn't need to worry about shopping over the long weekend.

It was busy on the roads, but not really in the shops. I got what we needed, including a few things for us to have a BBQ over the weekend. I did also drop into the charity shop and bought what I felt was a nice, loose, cool top to wear in the hot weather, as the weather was scorchio, reaching 27 degrees centigrade. The top I bought was in fact a short dress, but I've cut it down to make a top. It cost £3.

When I got back, I did my laundry from our time away and was able to hang it out in the garden on our new line for the first time in probably a couple of years. Very satisfying.

On Saturday morning, I had a nice lie in reading my current book. Eventually, I got up and ready and headed out into the garden.  

It was a hot day, somewhere around 30 degrees centigrade, but it didn't put me off. After being away for 4 days, it was just lovely to spend some time out there. I ended up working in the garden for the entire afternoon, washing plant pots, potting on a few plants, moving things around a little, tidying the greenhouse and sweeping up the decking. 

I was shattered by the time I'd finished, but it was very satisfying to get it done. There will be more pots to wash in a couple of months when all the plants OH has grown for the allotment get put in, but by far the majority got done today and I enjoyed doing it.

LB came in from work later and told us that there had been a big fire two streets away. The whole of our local high street was closed to traffic. Apparently, 60 firefighters were needed to get it under control and her bus was diverted to avoid the scene. Not good. Luckily, I don't think anyone was hurt.

On Sunday morning, OH and I headed out to a car boot sale. I've made a separate post about this. LB was working all day and later we had a visitor in the guise of next door's dog, who was staying overnight with us.

Later on Sunday, we took a stroll down to the allotment. I hadn't been there for a while. I just wanted to see how things were growing and plant out a dahlia that I had in the garden at home. OH wanted to plant out some courgettes and cucumbers. When it cooled off later, we had a BBQ in the garden, which was nice.  A relaxing way to end a pretty awful week really.

A Relatively Normal Week - W/E 17th May 2026

This week started with a lie in with my current book, which I'm really enjoying. I then got ready and ended up going out of town again, to do the weekly shop. It's unusual to do this twice in the space of a few days. 

This time around, I stocked up on a few things that were on offer, to save money in the coming months. I can't buy much more for the pantry shelf, as it is fully stocked, so I bought some meat products instead and froze them. I bought a large pack of mince and split it into 3 portions. We maybe use one a fortnight, so it will keep us going for a while. We don't eat a whole lot of meat, when OH makes a curry, I often prefer a veggie one or we sometimes use Quorn products instead of meat.

On Tuesday, I went to Zumba in the morning, which was good. I then spent the afternoon and evening working on the ironing board cover. I got quite a lot done. It was nice to spend some time sewing again, as I hadn't done any for a week.

Wednesday, I spent most of my time sewing again. I finished the ironing board cover top and pinned the old cover to it, as it was foam backed and some fabric to the back to neaten it off.  I was quite pleased with how it was progressing. It's very colourful compared to the previous one I made. It used up some fabrics that I wouldn't normally use, i.e. pinks. oranges and florals. It's pretty though. 

It was very squally on Wednesday, with intermittent rain and hailstone. I'm not really complaining, as we needed the rain, but I wanted to walk up to the library, to pick up a book I'd reserved and needed to find a break in the weather to do so. The book in question was Robin Wall Kimmerer's 'The Serviceberry'. 

By 4pm the skies had started to clear, so I walked up to collect it. I was really looking forward to reading this, after reading a previous book of hers called 'Braiding Sweetgrass'.  It's a very small book, smaller than I imagined, at just over 100 pages. I had finished my current book that day, so the timing was perfect.

In the evening, whilst watching TV, I finished the ironing board cover, stitching the binding around the edges and adding string to draw it onto the board. It looked nice.  I'll post a picture on my monthly makes post.

On Thursday morning, I started reading the book I'd got from the library. It's good. I then got up and ready for my aerobics class. When I got back, OH and I headed out to B&Q to get a few bits for some DIY he was doing and to put the car through the carwash, as it was very dirty. It looked like a new car once it was washed. We should clean it more often.

Whilst he was looking for some bits he needed, I ventured into the garden centre part of B&Q and found that they had some very reasonably priced floral hanging baskets. They were priced at £16 each or two for £28, which I thought was a very good price. OH ended up buying one for us and one for his mum, which we'll take up to Yorkshire next time we visit. He just needs to fix a bracket to hang it from. I was very happy with this, as a local shop sells them for £40, which is a lot more expensive. They are nice, but not £26 nicer. 

We then dropped into ASDA for him to do a 'man shop' and get some wine, whisky, chocolate and other bits he likes to buy for himself, that I don't buy as part of the weekly shop.  When we came home, I did a bit of banking to pay a couple of bills and then did some sewing using my machine to finish a chair cushion I'm making.

On Friday, having finished two sewing projects this week, I decided to take a break from sewing. I had a lie in and finished reading the library book. It was such a small book, I knew it wouldn't take me long. Late morning, I had a little potter in the garden dead heading. I decided to deadhead the hanging baskets OH had bought the day before, to prolong the flowering. Ours had a family of snails living in it. A couple of adults and several babies.  Needless to say they got evicted and re-housed in various parts of the garden, where they can't do too much damage. I'm hoping I got them all.

After lunch, I decided to walk into our local town centre. It felt good to just get out of the house and go for a walkabout and I rarely go into our local town centre.  I did drop in to a local charity shop on the way and spent £8.50 on four items, one item of clothing, one accessory as a gift and two books, both of which looked really good. When I got home, I started reading one of the books, which is quite compelling.

Saturday, was another day spent at home. OH worked on some jobs outside that needed finishing and he managed to put up the new hanging basket and a new retractible washing line that I'd bought ages ago, which was good. Here's a picture:

I, meanwhile, spent most of the day sewing on my machine working on the shed quilt and then trying my hand at a new small handstitching project.

On Sunday, LB was working and OH was running in our local half marathon event. I got up and ready and headed out to meet him on the finish line. He did well to finish, as he's still nursing an injury. It's a big event with a main stage and entertainment, lots of food stalls and thousands of people. It's a good atmosphere though. We met up with a cycling friend of OH, whose daughter was also running and had a chat, before coming home.

In the afternoon, OH headed out to the pub, to meet another cycling friend who'd also run the event. I stayed home, as I was part way through a job application and wanted to finish it. Not sure I'll get anywhere with it, you can but try.

It's been a relatively normal week this week, not too much going on, but enough to keep me busy and occupied.

I hope you've had a good week.

Another Open Garden Scheme Visit - Sunday 10th May 2026

On Sunday this last weekend, OH and I ventured to the car boot sale and on the way back we decided to go to another Open Garden. This garden was a private garden, located on the Northern edge of London. It was close to where I studied horticulture at a local horticultural college. It had once been a chicken farm, but the current owners had created a beautiful garden with a woodland area and vegetable patch.

We began by wandering around the garden. It had some amazing mature trees. Here are a few photos:

This was one of several large oak trees. Absolutely magestic.

A beautiful willow tree.

A huge eucalyptus.

A pine tree with beautiful cones.

In amongst some of the trees grew beautiful flowers such as this climbing rose 

and some beautiful clematis.

There was a lovely little woodland walk too, complete with a slightly overgrown tree house.

In other areas of the garden were this beautiful wisteria, lovely peonies and roses and other bushes that caught my eye.

You could tell that this garden belonged to a real plantswoman. It was the kind of garden that I love. 

There were also chickens 

an orchard, a greenhouse and a vegetable garden, which I didn't photograph, as it was sadly a bit overgrown. I guess with a garden this size, you can't always get everything done in time for an open day, it's such a huge undertaking and it's still early in the gardening year. 

We stopped off in the barn for a cup of tea and cake.  There was plenty to choose from on this occasion. We also stopped off at the plant stall where we went a bit mad and bought around 7 plants for £12. 

Here's a picture of the ones we came away with, some of which were in very big pots and were a complete bargain:

There was a large white anenome, a large pot of acanthus, a valerian plant, feverfew, a couple of daisies and a new to me small blue geranium. I also met the lady who owned the garden and she was lovely and told  me a bit more about the plants and what they needed. I'm hoping that I can get them to thrive in my garden. 

It was a lovely visit and we enjoyed wandering through the garden. Very inspiring.

Do you ever visit any Open Garden events? I'm hoping to get to more yet, before the end of the summer.