and what became of the monkey....monkey, monkey?

This weekend was the weekend of a very chilled out hen do. A lovely breakfast of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup was followed by a session at 'Go Ape' in Delamere forest. I conceded to my fear of heights and assumed the role of chief photographer for the day.

The Trees are very very high!!

In honour of the occasion I made a monkey for the hen. I improvised the design as none of those listed on ravelry appealed to me....at the half way point the creation did look more like a monkey massacre though. See what I mean!

Following hospitalisation monkey was feeling much better though.

After some rest and relaxation Monkey donned a TuTu and went out for some dancing.

A tale of two teapots....

Once upon a time there was a teapot. The little teapot was adventurous and left home for the big wide world to gain some work experience in an office. Would you like to see a picture of the little teapot? here we go.

The little teapot worked hard but he found the big wide world could be a cold place to be.....very cold....so as a reward for hard work I made The little teapot a coat. A hard wearing blue was chosen to create a nice chunky coat.  but the coat was plain and did not suit the little teapots personality. "Could I add some Jazz?" the little teapot asked....." Just a little Pizazz?". So little teapot thought hard and long and said "fishes if you please". The little teapot wanted a coat with fishes so he could feel smart and proud when talking to the fishies and crabs in the office fish tank. A clownfish and  some weeds set the scene and a large friendly octopus adorned the front....and the little teapot was happy. Would you like to see the little teapots coat?

 Such snazz and pizazz. Such fishy goodness the little teapot was very happy twirling around in his new coat and was so very very warm. The little teapot wrote home about his new coat and his cousin the Shiny teapot was amazed and just a little jealous for the Shiny teapot did not have a coat with such Jazz and pizazz and was feeling a bit left out. Would you like to see a picture of the Shiny teapot?

So the little teapot decided to surprise the Shiny teapot and send him a coat with some Snazz and pizazz....so I set to work...The Shiny teapot is used by a select few so a coat of emerald green would serve it well. but what to add for the jazz and the snazz? the little teapot thought....and thought....the Shiny teapot works in a house, a house in a field, with some sheep int he field. The Shiny teapot can watch the sheep in the  field through the window while it works..."why not add a sheep!" exclaimed the teapot. so it was settled a jazzy sheep of a field of emerald green for the shiny teapot's coat. Would you like to see the shiny teapot's coat?

 And a closer look and the snazzy, jazzy, pizazzy pompom?

and the sheep?

So both little teapots are now nice and warm and still working ever so hard in their coats of snazz, and pizazz and jazz.

Digging for Gold

Last year the men in my life spent a lot of time and energy transforming my clay bound garden into a manageable raised bed area. Gone were the days of spending two hour to dig through half a foot of ground. Gone are the days of sour earth and struggling plants. When the time came to plant up my raised beds it was amazing. No longer having to break my back to sow a few seeds I was faced with the dilemma of deciding what to plant.

I have a few golden rules that I live by when gardening - two are non-negotiable

1) My garden MUST have Runner beans
2) My garden MUST have Sweet Peas
3) Birds are welcome so no nasties are used in the garden if possible

Two other choice vegetables that I enjoy growing are carrots and beetroots....that almost took care of the larger of the two raised beds....Then my mum appeared with a bag full of potatoes to plant. The job was done the bed was full.

Time passed and the inevitable happened a huge spell of dry weather,m busy weekends and a lack of water saw half the potatoes yellow and flop. I Chalked it up as a disaster. I decided to forget about growing potatoes again. The dedication of frequent watering was not fitting in with my gardening approach of "fling em in the earth and see"

This weekend the garden got a haircut and a general tidy up. During which I had to look and see; and my what a find!! The sheer joy of digging and picking and piling up all the potatoes is unbelievable.

I also harvested some Mooli, two whole runner beans (there are more maturing on the plant) some beetroot and a sizable courgette!

Here's a wider shot of the harvest

Next year I shall employ slightly more restraint when scattering seeds and go for more order and less chaos. 

Well.....I can dream can't I!?!