Flowers and Stitching

I love being surrounded by flowers and plants and the month of May was an exceptional month for them in different forms.

Our granddaughter arrived on my birthday with a bouquet of flowers that had been bought by her on behalf of her cousin and his girlfriend who live far away in Berkshire.  She thought I would like a bright selection.

Our granddaughter and her boyfriend also brought us these orchids.  Aren't they a gorgeous colour?

From our daughter-in-law I received this cushion that she had made decorated with crocheted flowers. The embroidered panel had once been given to her by my late mother and it was thoughtful of her to incorporate it into the design of the cushion. 

Above, if you look closely you'll see Bobby, our granddaughter's first soft toy dog.  Because of much cuddling the top of his head had become worn and his eye needed a few stitches to secure it in place.  She asked me to do a few repairs on him.

I darned the delicate net fabric covering the soft material and stitched on his eye. (Before and after photos). When our granddaughter comes to collect Bobby I'm sure she'll be pleased with the result and also happy to have him back with her again. 

Here is the embroidered tablecloth that I showed you in my last blog post.  Now I shall start another project as I have two different tapestry pieces to work on.

May has been a good month for rhododendrons and these are the ones under the birch trees in the local park.  It was a damp day.  When I came out of the library I found that there was drizzly rain so I didn't stay long to take photos.

This little robin came and landed at my feet.

Yesterday our eldest grandson and family came to visit on their way up to see the other grandma who lives further north in York.  The sun was shining and after lunch we had a lovely time in the garden.  No photos of the family this time, but instead a photo of the pot plant (a bromeliad) that they gave us.  We were also given a stand for the mobile phone that we can use when we do face-to-face phone calls.

Thank you for your visit.  I hope you have a lovely June.  I understand that it's officially Summertime!

Floral Bliss #60

Hello everyone. Thank you for all your kind messages for a good new year.  Mr. P and I are well although I did have a fall when walking out in the slushy snow last month. Thankfully there were no injuries except a sore wrist, but it made me more wary about going out walking.  The weather has been so cold even on brighter days. The snow and ice comes and goes.  Yesterday was much brighter, and I did take a walk in our local park, but it was still very cold.  We look forward to warmer days here in the UK and when we go to Italy for our usual Springtime trip. 

Today I'm joining Ritta's Floral Bliss link-up because we've been enjoying the indoor plants that brighten up our home during these Winter days.  I'll share more another time. This amaryllis which is a double petalled one called 'Dancing Queen', given to us by one of the grandsons for Christmas, has been a joy to watch as it has grown and flowered over the last few weeks.  There have been two stems that have produced flowers and as we've never had an amaryllis before as a pot plant we've appreciated its beauty. 

Wishing everyone a good day and week,

Linda :)

A garden centre visit

    When we were out the other morning we couldn't pass by one of our two local

garden nurseries without going in as it's a good place

to buy gifts, get some inspiration for decorating the home this season

and gardening in the new year.

The site is extensive so walking around outdoors and in the various

 indoor departments is a pleasant way to browse and shop
away from the crowds. 

  

There was a whole room dedicated to pretty, twinkly Christmas

decorations and plenty of indoor pot plants, which I was much more

interested in. I wanted to add some more natural greenery around our
living rooms and I bought a tray of three small buckets of Delft Blue hyacinths

and a bowl of White Pearl hyacinths. 

I've set up a Nativity creche which was a gift that one of our grandsons
 gave us last year made from a balsa wood kit.

  Today I bought a bunch of white roses from Lidl - always good value for money.

I'll put the Christmas tree in place and decorate it in a week or two.
 Some Christmas cards have started to arrive
and I want to think of a new way of displaying them.

The weather was beautiful again today - very cold, but sunny,
so a good time to get out and about when there's the opportunity.
I hope you're having a peaceful weekend.