Sunday afternoon garden visit

It was such a gorgeous day on Sunday that we took ourselves off to the RHS gardens at Hyde Hall, a mere 15 minutes drive away.

Such an abundance of colour

I can't believe how late the daffodils are this year. We've had some flowering in the garden but these were wonderful

The gardens were gorgeous and there was plenty to see

This is a 'hotel' for insects - made up of various objects and garden waste

Everything is just that little bit later this year but oh so pretty

 Love hyacinths - the fragrance always reminds me of my childhood 

We had such a lovely afternoon which we finished off with a nice cup of tea in the restaurant and a browse around the shop (like you do). So much so that we decided to re-join the RHS as our's had lapsed many years ago and as we are only about an hour away from RHS gardens at Wisley it made sense. Plus you can go into many other 'partner' gardens free of charge of which there are 145 around the country many belonging to country houses and stately homes.

I'd like to welcome my new followers The silver bunny, Halloween couple and Lanya - thank you for joining me and look forward to getting to know you.

Crafty or what?

Thank you so much for your recent comments and good luck wishes which really were a confidence booster. This is what I love about blogging - so many new friends who are always there for you no matter what.

A small diversion this afternoon - a trip to the supermarket and before you say "oh no not again" yes I did indeed buy another magazine. A little bit of light reading is what I need right now and this certainly fits the bill.

A lovely new Craft magazine from Prima called Spring Makes

and it's packed full of lovely ideas of things to make for the home

I love this trug adorned with hearts and ribbons which I'm definitely going to do for my sewing/crafting room

and these painted cans are gorgeous 

I like this novel pin cushion storage jar too and so easy to make

Finally, if anyone saw my soon to be started crochet project the Camellia blanket that I told you about recently well the pattern is also in the magazine.

A good all round magazine which I intend reading from cover to cover.

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I'll leave you with a few photos of our regular crafty garden visitors - 

all on a look out for food

 Mr and Mrs Squirrel

just checking that no-one's looking

Yes!

Then there's the ever so sly Mr Fox - crafty but so cute with it. 

One of two that visit our garden regularly during the day and a joy to watch

Have a great weekend and I'll catch up with you all soon

A quick catch up....

A huge thank you to all my friends for your lovely comments recently they mean such a lot. Things are getting pretty hectic around here now - with just over a month to my final mammoth assignment I don't seem to have time for anything. So - for the moment I'm blogging as and when I can and apologise now if I miss any of your posts.

So here's a catch up on what's been happening down my way over the last week.

Last Sunday we were having coffee in our sitting room when John spotted this strutting past our front window.

We couldn't believe our eyes

It was obviously a bit peckish as it was happy to eat some breadcrumbs

we threw out of the window

We have since heard that it belongs as a pet to someone living about a quarter of a mile away who often lets it out. It finds it way home later in the day when it feels like it - like a cat will do. 

I was absorbed with my reading last week and feeling pretty stressed out when the postman knocked. He had a parcel for me and I definitely wasn't expecting one. Well to my absolute delight this is what I received all wrapped up in this pretty fabric and sent as a RAK from the lovely Heidi in Holland such a lovely Random Act of Kindness and so much appreciated. Made my day!

These are called 'Lapkins' that she made from fabric purchased at an Alsacian factory in France. So pretty and reminds me of William Morris fabric.

and then she crocheted the napkin rings to go with them

which she had attached some gorgeous vintage brass buttons

Thank you once again Heidi I love them and as you suggested will come in handy for out in the garden (when we get some sun of course)

Thought I'd show you a couple of charity shop finds too.

I really don't need any more bone china tea sets but couldn't resist this one. I just love the colour which is a very pale pink almost white and the pattern is so pretty.

and also this cut glass cake stand/fruit bowl - not sure which but will do for either.

Again I have a sideboard full of them - well three or four at least. But hey it'll come in handy

As it was half term last week my daughter had a friend and her daughter to stay and they took me out for the day with young L to Suffolk for the day. We first of all went to Jimmy's Farm - where it rained all day long - not an animal was to be seen by us - they were there somewhere but had the sense to stay inside their pens, barns, stables etc, although we did see some day old chicks which pleased L.

So what were us girls to do with ourselves - a pub lunch - that'll keep us happy and it did too. We found one called the Butt and Oyster by the river near Ipswich which in the Summer would be idyllic but in the rain - dismal.

This ploughmans with cheese and ham was divine and kept us out of trouble for a few hours catching up with all the girlie chat as you do over a glass of wine or three.

We had friends to stay this weekend so made these yummy chocolate brownies  which I only just remembered to snap before they all went - recipe another time.

Well that's all the news from here and will be back soon.

I'd like to welcome my new followers - Serendipity, Lavender Attic, Tanya, Louise and Ivan - lovely to have you on board.

March Photo Scavenger Hunt

My how the weeks are flying by. Here is my selection of photos for March - some new some old. Many thanks to Greenthumb for arranging these Scavenger Hunts for us.

Green

In my Uncle Jack's garden last summer

Three 

Deer  - in a Suffolk field two weeks ago on a weekend break

Person in uniform

My great grandfather Ernest Bones who fought in the Boer War 1899-1902
under the command of General Sir Redvers Buller  - Ernest's son - my grandfather, was named Edward Buller Bones after Ernest's hero (more in another post maybe)

Bubbles

A glass of soda water

Shoes

In a basket under our stairs - could do with a tidy methinks

Toys

mine - two beloved cameras

A gate

Lych gate at the church where we were married 

Eggs

on my Easter twig tree

Dessert

Apple crumble after our Easter Sunday roast dinner

Water

the moat around the farmhouse we stayed in Suffolk

 A bridge

where else?

Empty

the High Street in the village we visited on Saturday in my last post

Hope you enjoyed this month's selection as much as I had in gathering them 

See you soon x

A stroll around Coggeshall

Hope you all had a wonderful and peaceful Easter. Our's was - we had some lovely family time with both our son and daughter and their families on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Plenty of Easter egg hunts and frivolity all round.

On Saturday John and I took ourselves off to the pretty medieval market town of Coggeshall a 40 minute drive from home.

The town lies on the Roman Road of Stane Street between Colchester and Braintree and can be traced back to around 1140 when a burgeoning textile trade sprung up around Coggeshall Abbey and the town's trade route to London.

The hub of the town is the White Hart Inn in Market End which dates back to around 1420 and is thought to have once been the old Guild Hall.

The clock house was built in the 16th century and was formerly a 

school for poor children. The clock tower was added in 1887 to  celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden jubilee.

We had a lovely hot lunch in the Clockhouse Tearooms (whilst it was snowing heavily outside) 

This was the rear of the cafe where they had a small garden nursery which we wanted to have a nose around. You can see the buildings are very wibbly wobbly 

While we were there we paid a visit to this National Trust property Paycocke's, built in 1550 by leading cloth merchant Thomas Paycocke who wanted to show off his family's wealth and a grand example of the wealth generated by East Anglia's 

wool trade in Tudor England. 

This was the rear of the building which led us to the rambling gardens and 

also the coffee shop!

and again you can see the misshapen and slightly leaning buildings

Such a pretty town and because of the weather (I know it looks fine here) we didn't see as much as we'd have liked

I couldn't go home before loitering around a quant little shop or two - like you do - and I just happened to come across these gorgeous mother-of-pearl cake knives and forks, which John very kindly treated me to. I'm over the moon, they're so sweet.

and - just as we were paying I caught sight of the matching spoons - job done!

 Can't wait to go back now - the town of course.

See you soon x