Mrs Craftypants Giveaway

Over on my crafty site that you can find over here is my very first giveaway!  If you would like the little kitty below go over and see what you need to do!

Time in the garden

This weekend my husband was NOT working and it was NOT raining!  Finally we could get out in the garden together.  I set about finishing off a little DIY project, upcycling a set of nesting tables into nice tile topped garden tables.  I still have one more lot of grouting to do and some painting so won't post any photo's until I have done that.  My lovely husband set about sorting out a border that had got so out of hand you could only see a couple of plants that were growing way to abundantly.  I posted this photo last June with a note that we wanted to take the border back to basics.

Well now he has done it for me!  It looks a little different, and as you can see we have managed to salvage a few of the plants.

I am so looking forward to planning out what I want to do it now that I can see how much space there is.  I have managed to hopefully salvage, a lovely pink Hebe, a bunch of Alliums and some blue bells.

I have also managed to get seeds planted in my veg plot and tried my hand at a little recycling of plastic bottles we had been saving to hopefully keep the birds and cats off - what do you think?

This year I have planted, lettuce, salad leaves, spinach, sugar snap peas, parsnips, pumpkins, broccoli and spring onions.  Let's hope it is not as wet as last year and things actually grow and not just get mouldy!

Next job for my husband is to finish clearing another area that we are reconfiguring.

This photo was taken a couple of years ago, well after all the rain last year the seat was crumbling and so we have decided to make another raised bed here in between the border at the top of the page and my rose garden.

Talking of my rose garden - this picture was taken just after it had been planted, 3 years ago, would you like to see a picture of it now?

Ta-dah, there is still more plants to go in but I am really enjoying slowly seeing it grow into itself.

I can't wait for the little buds that are already there to bloom in bring more colour into this area.

One border that is not going to need too much doing to it this year is my wiggly border

I am really happy with how full it is looking, in the next few weeks there is going to be an abundance of white with beautiful purple alliums like balloons on sticks emerging from them.

do you see the bench in the picture above?  This was made by my late father for my late mother, I know it is is at least 30 years old.  It has been all stripped back but on doing this we discovered it had a rather poorly foot

Fortunately I seem to have found someone at church who is a carpenter and is going to have a go at fixing it for me.  The sentimental value of this bench makes it priceless.  When it is fixed and painted, I have also been working on crochet cushions for the seat and back.  I am so looking forward to a good bit of sitting on this in NICE weather over this summer!

Holiday Time.

You may have notice I have been absent for a while - or maybe you haven't.  Shortly after mum died in February we made the snap decision to have a lovely holiday over the two week Easter holidays.  We went to Southwest America, did 4400 miles and the children had an amazing time.  For me and hubby there was a lot of reminiscing of a very similar trip we took before we had our first child 14 years ago.  Unfortunately I was rather ill for the majority of the holiday, however I was able to be thankful for being sick in very beautiful places rather than sitting around at home.

I have definitely hit a bit of flatness since returning.  My immune system having been very active attacking whatever the virus was that I had is still playing havoc with my rheumatoid arthritis.  I have finally admitted defeat (why on earth do I view it like that!) and phoned the hospital to get an appointment for a steroid injection.  Hopefully that might just jolt things back onto a more even keel.

Here are a few snaps from our holiday

 A little jet lagged but enjoying our first American breakfast.

on our way to the Grand Canyon we got to stop off at the church in the mountainside at Sedona

The next stop was at the Meteor Crater - the children were amazed!

 

 

we got to see so many amazing skys and beautiful sunsets 

sunrise at the Grand Canyon

 

 Sunsetting at the Grand Canyon

 Next stop - Monument Valley

 we did see lots and lots of road!

 but there was always time to stop and look at the flowers.

 and while the rest of the family walked I got to crochet at Zion National Park.

Then it was time to hit Las Vegas!

 and I got to meet up with my cousin Susan and her family who I hadn't seen for 17 years.

 and despite feeling rough, I still got to dip in the pool.

 we were staying right up there at there, beyond the top of this photo.

 My young American wannabee daughter at the Hoover Dam

The bottle tree ranch just outside Las Vegas

A trip to Victorville for hubby to see the airplane graveyard.

 

and then onto San Diego to meet up with Susanne a fellow blogger I have followed at Meditative Meanderings for over 4 years and her daughter Elizabeth.

 we got a guided tour of San Diego in just one day - this is the tropical house at Balboa Park, unlike the glass houses we have to have in England for these plants, this building was made out of slatted wood to give the plants a bit of shade - no glass required!

Californian Poodles!

C

 Fancy having your graduation ceremony here?  Hopefully this is where Susanne's daughter will get hers. Point Loma Nazarene University

 We could not leave San Diego without a trip to the beach, our girls looked for shells while we......

 sat and chatted some more.

and then it was on to Los Angeles!

 The children loved the amazing views from the Griffiths Observatory

 Not content with Disney in Florida - we had to try out the original park.

 To celebrate my first day of feeling almost normal we went for an amazing meal at the Encounter Restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport - my husbands favourite restaurant in the world.

 we stood in the footsteps of some famous people and horses.

 

 A rare posed photo of my teenage son.

there had to be a trip to another Universal Studios

 

and good to go and stuff that wasn't in Florida.

visiting Wisteria Lane.

 We also took a trip out to Edwards Air Base to visit my cousin's place and chat some more.

 and see humming birds :o)

and eat delicious food - thanks guys.

 

 A trip to Santa Monica pier on our last day

 You are never too old to go on the swings.

before we headed back home.

I hope you enjoyed that whistle stop tour - it has certainly got me smiling again on this cold and rainy SPRING morning.  I'm off to get my hair cut now.