Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - August, 1-11

Hi there everyone 😀

Well, July was a month filled with sunshine, crafting, the garden, days out and time spent with friends ... which was just lovely.

August is shaping up to be very similar and you won't hear me complaining. Here's what I've been up to so far ...

Day 1 - After a few days of feeling a bit under the weather it was nice to wake up feeling a little more like my normal self. At least today I felt like getting up and doing a few bits and pieces. Nothing too strenuous, just catching up on laundry and paperwork. There is always time for a welcome distraction in the form of a visit from mum, which always involves a mooch around and a sit in the garden looking at what is doing well and what needs doing next. A low maintenance garden ours most certainly is not. Sitting on the patio under the shade of the umbrella, neither of us could quite understand how this hibiscus is suddenly covered in two completely different coloured flowers. There must be a bit of a mix going on in the rootstock. It looks beautiful anyway and is absolutely covered in buds and the bees love it too.

Day 2 - Today I spent the loveliest of days with this lovely lady in Stratford-upon-Avon, where we ate cake, mooched round a few shops, spent lots of time chatting and relaxing in the sculpture garden at Shakespeare's New Place and ate lunch in the garden at The Four Teas. There is something really lovely about spending quality time mooching about with girlfriends ... it is just sooooooo relaxing and always feels like a real treat 💜

Day 3 - After my big day out yesterday I had a nice quiet day today, which started off first thing in the garden where these two beauties paid a visit and were very happy to stay awhile.

Day 4 - The weekend and it was the first for ages where we had absolutely nothing on the calendar ... lovely. We didn't do an awful lot really, just a bit of tidying in the garden and pottering about, finishing up with a BBQ tea in the garden. These beeswax wraps came today, which I am looking forward to trying out to see if we can start to reduce the amount of clingfilm we use ... every little helps.

Day 5 - Today was another absolute scorcher and too hot for doing anything much at all. First thing, however, was actually quite pleasant with a beautiful blue sky with white fluffy clouds.

Day 6 - I love having fresh flowers in the house and, other than the sweet peas from the garden, it's not something that we treat ourselves to that often. This bunch of pretty pinks and gypsophilia were a treat from Lesley & Tom when they came round for a BBQ a few weeks ago, and are still going strong.

Day 7 - Yay!!! Got my first order for one of these frames today, for a lady who's fur baby is no longer with us but wanted a nice memento 🐾🐾🐾

Day 8 - Another lovely day out with old friends. We met at Canons Ashby, a National Trust property near Daventry and spent the most relaxing of times just mooching about, chatting and eating cake. There really is something about meeting up with girlfriends that is such a treat 💜

Day 9 - When I saw this fabric I just had to buy it. I don't know what I'm going to make with it but it's got my nephew Bobby's name written all over it, as his nursery is decorated in a woodland theme. It arrived today and I just love it. Now I need to decide to what to make with it.

Day 10 - Martin's garden light project is coming on nicely and we actually got to place these around the garden today. I'm looking forward to seeing how they look tonight when it gets dark.

Day 11 - All in all we had a very crafty weekend. We had a bit of a production line going with the doggy bandanas. I'd cut them all out earlier in the week and I did the stitching and Martin did the trimming. We got 40 made up in total. We then moved on to Christmas gift tags and managed to make up 60 of those too. I love it when we find something to make that we can do together. Some crafting is definitely much more productive when there are two of you. 

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Martin is at work for the next couple of days, which leaves me to catch up with blogging, paperwork, laundry and some other crafty stuff. We've then got new carpet being fitted in the lounge later in the week so plenty of activity going on shifting furniture and the like in preparation. Whilst I am looking forward to getting the room finished we have both become quite attached to our red carpet and only hope that we like the new look as much. No doubt I will let you know next week.

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