Autumn - A great time for Crafting

Hi there everyone 😀

In the great scheme of things I'm fairly new to Facebook, only finally taking the plunge and joining back in 2014. I'd really hung back from joining, finding it hard to understand the appeal and, for some reason, it scared me just a little bit. Did I really want the world to be able to look into and comment on my life?

The driver for me finally signing up was my hair dresser of the time. I'd shown her the stuff I was making in the earliest days of Hand Made at Number 27 and she asked me how she could buy from me. She bought this owl fabric tooth fairy pillow from me, whilst I was in the salon, and was actually the first person to buy something I'd made that wasn't a friend or a member of the family ...

She was just so encouraging ... At the time I was trying to sell on Etsy but hadn't had any interest at all. She said I just had to get on Facebook ... it was where all the mums she knew were and where they looked for the kind of hand made stuff that I was making.

So I bit the bullet and created a Facebook account and set up my Hand Made at Number 27 page. It was so exciting seeing my friends following my page and even more so when people started liking it who I didn't even know.

I'm not looking to make a load of money from making stuff, but I do love crafting and needed an outlet for the end result. My aim really was for it to pay for itself, which it is doing. I've also had lots of really lovely feedback from people who have bought from me and that is really motivating.

Setting up the Facebook page was definitely the right way to go for me and I get a fair amount of interest on the majority of things that I post and I now have just over 300 followers, which I'm really happy with. It allows me to carry on making stuff, making enough sales to cover my costs, without lots of stress of having to make things in volume to short deadlines.

So now I'd best get to the point of this post ... Autumn being a good time for crafting ...

Well, when I joined Facebook I also signed up to Timehop, which provides memories over a period of time and this was what came up one day this week ...
This was last year and I was going hell for leather making up all kinds of things for Christmas craft fairs. Beeswax wraps and reusable face cleansing pads have both done really well over the last year and were made as a result of me trying to reduce my use of single use things like cling film and cotton wool pads ... it seems that there are lots of other people trying this too.

This next memory was from 2017 when I had a go at hand making some of my Christmas gifts ...
I crocheted this tea cosy for my good friend Lesley and it's the one and only one that I have, or intend to, make ... it was definitely a labour of love.

In 2016 I made a fair few of these paper cut frames ...
This next picture is from 2015 ...
I remember taking these Christmas decoration hearts away with me to Thorpe in The Peak District on our week's holiday, where I added bows and ribbons ...
The photo for 2014 takes me back to one of my very first makes ...

A stretchy glass beaded bracelet, made for my youngest God Daughter for Christmas ... in fact everyone I knew was given these for Christmas that year.

It's funny looking back at both the quality of the photographs and the quality of what I was making back then. When it comes to bracelets I moved away from the glass beads as they were painted and after time the colour rubbed off on some of them. I also found a better way of hanging the charms and I definitely upped my game on the photograph side ...

So, has Autumn been a good time for crafting this year too? Of course it has. There's no better way to fill a damp and miserable afternoon than by sitting at the dining room table, surrounding by all kinds of bits and pieces and turning them into something useful or beautiful ... or both ...

I've had a go at marking cards with fabric and free motion machine embroidery ...
More cards with words of positive affirmation ...
Christmas decorations ...
Plenty of beeswax wraps ...
... and reusable face wipes ...
... and as tradition would have it ... I will be aiming to have another Christmas gift tag making session whilst we are away later this month ... not sure we will make this many this year though ...
So there you go ... Autumn ... it really is a great time for crafting, so if you're feeling at a loose end, a bit lower than normal or just generally fed up with the dull and dreary weather ...  have a go at creating something. Doesn't have to be anything too taxing ... bake a cake, make a new cushion cover, have a go at making some cards ... anything. Make it for yourself or make it as a gift. Make it from scratch or make it from a kit. In my view there is nothing as rewarding as standing back and looking at something that you created yourself. Go on ... give it a go 😀

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In the Garden - June

Hi there everyone 😀

It's been a fair while since I've done a monthly garden post, but June has just been so different in the garden this year, and I've taken so many photos throughout the month, that I thought it would be good to bring them all together just to see how far we've come.

Our garden has always given us plenty of interest and colour in the Spring but, come the end of May that has been pretty much it ... lots of lush green foliage but not much by the way of any other colour.

Over the last few years we have been gradually trying to extend the flowering season and this year we have definitely made our way into June.

We were away on holiday for the first week of the month and we couldn't quite believe how much the garden had changed when we got back ...
The pots and baskets of summer bedding had really filled out and the delphiniums were looking spectacular. At just £1 a plant, they have definitely earned their spot in the garden.

The irises that we'd bought from the Osborne House plant sales when we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight last year had also all come into flower and were looking just as we hoped.
The new raised brick planter we added to the patio last year had also really filled out with the pom pom clematis and the Rhapsody in Blue rose in full bloom.

This is the old raised vegetable bed which we used a bit of a temporary bed for bits we'd had to move out of the borders last year. I had intended to plant it in a white theme, but seeing it with this tangled mass of colour has changed my mind. It looks really cottagey, just the kind of look that really suits the garden.

There were even flowers on the wisteria that we planted against the new pergola at the end of last summer.
This yellow rose has been in the garden since I moved into the house over 20 years ago. Up until a year or so ago it did nothing as it was swamped by ivy. Having finally got rid of all the ivy we've been able to let the rose ramble as it wants to and has now spread pretty much half way along the garden fence and has been covered in blooms. I'm so glad that I never actually got round to digging it out.

The strawberries and sweet peas had also come on really well.

We always like to bring some form of memento back from our holidays and this time it was a treat for the garden.

Since we've been back from our holiday the weather has been amazing and we've spent a lot of time in the garden, with plenty of al fresco breakfasts, lunches and BBQs ...

The Rhapsody in Blue has really come into its own ...

Even the succulents have flowered ...
... and we've had a go at taking some cuttings ...
We've managed to use the new pergola seating area ...

... and have now fitted a sail to give us some shade from the afternoon sun ...

Coming into July there is still plenty going on ...
... including an impressive harvest from the Morello cherry ...
... and hydrangeas which we have managed to turn back from pink to lilac ...
So far ... it's looking like July is also shaping up to be colourful, assuming we can keep on top of the watering ...

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This time last year - The Top Patio

Hi there everyone😀

Since the beginning of May my Timehop and Facebook pages have been bombarding me with memories of this time last year, when we were in the throes of having some pretty heavy work done in the garden.

Before the works started I published this post, giving an idea of how things looked back then and what our plans were.

Looking at the garden now it's very easy to forget how it was at the height of the works being done and now seemed as good a time as any to share the progress we've seen over the last year with you.

I took lots of photographs whilst the works were in progress so I thought it might be good to do a before, during and after post of each area of the garden, starting with the top patio which used to look like this ...

The plans for this patio were for it to be extended down a bit further into the garden and fully repaved with a colourful Indian sandstone. We were also having a new brick planter built along the back wall of the house, a new gate and shallower steps up into the garden and some tidying up of the drain.

Before any of the garden works could start we had to have some repairs made to the external render, which really started a period of chaos ...

Once the render repairs were completed works on the garden could begin. The works to improve this patio were not without incident. We had lots of rain, an incorrectly fitted soil pipe, the discovery that the old grey slabs were laid on top of a layer of crazy paving which, in turn, was laid on top of the old concrete yard, leading to lots of issues in excavating the drain. Added to that an incident with the Stihl saw leading to a hospital visit it was a fairly stressful time.

Here is a bit of the journey we went through ...

Old slabs taken up and new shape starting to be seen

The existing side bed will stay but will need to be built up

Footings going in for the retaining wall for the extended patio area

In spite of the mess these delphiniums just keep on flowering

Starting to see the new shape

Starting to excavate the drain, which needs to be raised to the level of the new paving

The bottom of the gate was the level of the old patio, it was one hell of a step down

Yay!!!!! Slabs!!!

More slabs, steps and some brick facing

Beginning to see how it will look

Surely we are getting there now?

Delphiniums are still looking good

My favourite bit so far

It looks fabulous wet

Time to build a planter

And some steps

My new favourite bit

Finishing off the planter

We are definitely nearly there now

July 2017 - BBQ Ready

So there you go, that's what we went through to get the top patio as it is looking today ...

We have been pretty busy since the landscapers left ...

We have given the arbor a makeover

Added slate chippings around the edges and have a brand new gate

Planted up the raised bed in a bit of a purple theme

Planted up Martin's mum's old bread pansion with succulents which have not only survived the winter, but are actually flowering

We have added this plantstand, planted with more succulents, ferns and seasonal bedding

Re-planted the side bed with a mixture of spring bulbs and evergreen perennials

It is really starting to look good with plenty of colour and interesting bits and pieces to catch your eye. This is the view from my kitchen door as of today ...

And this is the view looking down the garden ...

If you've made it this far, well done and thank you for sticking with it, I know there were lots and lots of pictures, but I am so glad that I've captured this journey that we've been through with this part of the garden. 

Overall we are really pleased with how it has turned out and, whilst there are still a few bits and pieces that we want to add or finish off, we are really looking forward to spending lots of time out there over the summer 🌞🌞🌞

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