A few Simple Things…

 Hello my lovelies. Don’t you think it is kind of sad that IG has taken the place of some great blogs? I remember the days when I would happily spend an hour or two reading my favorite blogs. Now it’s all IG and I feel that something has been lost and it’s kinda sad.

I also don’t like how most of the blogs that are around have all become these ‘super blogs trying to make money following a formula that ends up squishing the natural voice of the author behind the blog and cluttering up the place with adverts. If I’m honest I just leave those blogs straight away. I can’t stand reading something and then having to scroll past adverts or closing a popup to get to the next paragraph.

It may just be me, I prefer things to remain simple and uncluttered and the same is true of life in general. With all the mayhem happening in the world I’m once again yearning for wide-open spaces in the middle of nowhere.

I guess that’s why I love traditional crafts and homemaking so much. It slows you right down to a state of calm and mindfulness. You have to think about the task at hand whether it’s following a knitting chart, baking a new recipe, or piecing together a quilt. Whatever it is it brings you right back into the moment.

I wanted to show you the garden. If you have a look at this post from June I showed you what we had been up to. Well, it’s kind of unbelievable the transformation in just 2 months! The garden is brimming with abundance. The sunflowers are now towering above the deck, everything is in full bloom (perhaps even about to go over) and the summerhouse is nearly complete! 

We will need to finish painting it this weekend and then we have the joy of digging out beds around it and planting it up. It’s almost bulb planting season so I will be sure to plant up with spring in mind!

 My courgettes have done well this year and have given us lots of yummy yellow fruit which have been transformed into lots of lovely Mediterranean veggie roast mixes for our suppers. 

 I have one pumpkin. We tried growing them vertically this year as we just don’t have the space for it to roam free. Old tights make a handy hammock to support the weight. I had hoped to grow enough pumpkins to supply our autumn decor needs but perhaps that was a little optimistic! I guess we will be going to a pick-your-own farm for our pumpkins this year.

I’ve been propagating these lovely colourful leafy Coleus plants over the past few weeks (all three of the ones pictured were little twigs 3 weeks ago!). We bought 4 different ones as fillers in the garden and to provide a bit of texture and interest. It turns out they are really easy to propagate so I have been doing so and will use them in my autumn pot displays this year. 

I’ve simply taken a cutting below a leave node, stripped the lower leaves off and cut the remaining leaves in half so as to prevent too much transpiration, and then popped them in water. Within a week roots begin to sprout and after the second week once there are ample roots I pot them up. So easy!

Anyhoo lovelies, I had hoped to be blogging a lot more by now but annoyingly my 3 day work week only starts at the beginning of September! It was a bit of a blow finding out that my replacement at work actually had leave booked prior to starting which meant I have had to cover in her absence. But hey, not long now and then I will be able to spend more time dying yarn and doing all the things I love. I’m still planning on growing my yarn and craft business over the rest of this year, in fact…I am participating in my very first virtual yarn show in October.

I’m so excited and a little nervous. I need to get a lot of yarn-dyed before then. I’m looking forward to that extra time from September! And…double excitement…you know what September means don’t you…the arrival of AUTUMN, my most favourite season!!! 

Are you looking forward to the arrival of autumn or is it just a little too early for you?