Honey, Gold and Sunflowers Review 2018 Part 2

By June and a flaming July, the yurting season was in full swing and what a great year for it.

Despite the drought conditions, the garden looked beautiful.

We had many lovely and very welcome comments from campers as they came to see the growing menagerie ....

 ..... often receiving a few salad veggies for the bbq. 

Sunflowers were thriving in the searing heat.

However watering was beginning to create problems due to the fact that we only go to the garden every two days in the height of summer.

Tomatoes responded by decreasing the surface area of their leaves.

 The polytunnel was in fact far too hot and often reached 50 degrees.

But tobacco plants loved it.

At the end of July the barn dance was held in its usual venue, on the same day as the Flower Festival, so a rather busy day.

 

By August the sweetpea row was really suffering and was pulled out much earlier than usual.

 But some areas continued to look lovely.

The grass suffered but is always so quick to recover.

 Harvesting continued.

And I tackled the over-grown hornbeam hedge.

In September Steve created a much needed extra compost heap.

Tim brought us a very welcome load of manure,
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The garden was still beautiful.

Gifts of honey in exchange for jam were left in the polytunnel.

 The cobshed got a bit more coating on its crumbly parts.

 

By October there was a fantastic pear crop. 

I made apple and pear chutney. 

 The Michaelmus daisies buzzed with bees.

It was quite mesmerising.

 There were hazy days of sunshine ....

.....and armfuls of dahlias which we sold at the village coffee mornings to raise funds.

 Crabapples turned golden yellow.

And sunflowers just kept flowering.

It was a golden autumn.

By November we were still picking bunches of flowers ....

.... and Florence arrived.

In December we helped to plant up the new wood which was a real privilege and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And finally 

Carols in the Barn 

held on a dreadful night of cold, wet and wind.

Well done to all those who ventured out.

 

What an incredible year.

There are so many things I haven`t mentioned, the many people we meet and of course Tim and Anne always at the heart of the farm, with minds always open to new ideas.

We love it all.

Here`s to 2019 and whatever it brings.

 

Gales, Snow and Sunshine Review 2018 Part 1

As I have trawled through my unedited photographs of Freshwinds Garden for 2018, clear themes have emerged.

Cold, miserable start, followed by hot hot hot and ending up with a long drawn out glorious autumn.

So far winter has not been as cold as we would wish.

We want the slugs dead.

In January on our first visit of the year we found the sign blown down in gales.

It was soon mended.

 

I managed to overhaul just one of the flowerbeds.

In February Gandalf finally died.

And Janet painted a fairy for the garden on a sawn-off tree trunk.

And we did get some snow.

 In a very cold March I didn`t take any photos in the garden at all. It was a very late spring. We did manage to get seedlings going though plenty of protection from mice was needed.

 

In April I set up the craft trolley in the Wool Barn.

The mini fairy yurt got a new wooden base, built by Nick.

Kay`s lovely bird bath made its way into the garden ... such a nice reminder of a lovely lady.

 

In May Tim managed to get the self-seeded willow out of the pond. It was planted elsewhere.

Steve created a much needed new compost heap.

And the tiny fairy garden was recreated.

 

In June we had the first story telling and craft weekend.

It was very successful. The weather was fine.

The orchard was providing very welcome shade and most teabreaks were taken here.

If we thought it was hot then, little did we know 

what was in store.

 

And so ends the first half of this review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas Crafting

There is usually a lull in my crafting at this time of the year unless it is last minute Christmas presents.

Not so this year.

My niece in law has asked me to make several things, some with a flamingo theme.

I found this one quite a challenge.

It is a rather unusual tree topper.

I bought these fluffy clip stands in Flying Tiger and I`ve turned them into flamingoes.

I`m hoping they will fit the table theme for Christmas day.

On a donkey theme, my sister said she didn`t have much to hang on her tree so I created these donkey hangings for her.

But only after an unsuccessful attempt at some felt fairies.

No pictures of those I`m afraid.

I wish I had some of my own now.

 

And here is Florence`s new headband.

Today we took my great niece to meet Florence for the first time.

She loved her visit.

Anne left out a bucket of sweet hay to feed her.

Macie loved that and commented on her fluffiness.

Florence is 7 months old now.

Rosie and Alice enjoyed some hay as well.

 

I have recently discovered origami through pinterest youtube tutorials. 

They are well presented and slow enough to follow as you make.

Here are two I tried successfully.

 Some weeks ago I blogged about the fabric sample books I bought in Leicester.

I`ve been making silky bags with mixtures of colours. They are fully lined with contrasting cotton fabric.

They are fairly small, about 30 cm square.

I find this a very useful size for my purse and mobile. 

The colours are lovely.

 

I was really inspired with a garland I saw on Pinterest made from fabric strips. I think it was the colour combination that attracted me.

Here is my effort. strips of fabric, cut to the same size and knotted on to garden string.

I used mainly shirt fabric, saved after recycling. 

 

Last weekend a visitor told me that our Christmas tree reminds him of the ones from his childhood.

I took that as a compliment.

 

A few of my home-made tree decorations.

(I have a new project for the Christmas holiday

which I will blog at a later date.

It involves domino knitting.)

Now here we are on Christmas Eve.

All the presents are wrapped, indeed quite a few have been distributed and received with many thanks, owing to our extensive extended family.

I wish all my readers a very 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Thank you for reading my blog

and especially to those who leave comments. 

Next up will be the 2018 review.

Watch this space.