Getting ready for Spring

Hello! Welcome back :-) Today has been such a beautiful day it would be a shame not to give it some credit! We've been warned that the sun won't last so I'm making the very most of it.

This is the view from our flat, it's not very pretty (not like some of these views, and these) but a lot goes on down there and I find it very interesting to watch the canal boats, trams, trains and rowers on the river.



This is Salford, our neighbourly city.

The weather up here (we're on the 7th floor) is pretty kind to my plants so most escape all the ground frost.



My bulbs have started to come up nicely so we'll have lots of colour soon!





It's so nice when everything starts growing again! After Christmas I really just want winter to be over :-)



Before & after!

I decided to get busy this afternoon by sowing some seeds while J was sorting out the millions of CDs we have in boxes!



I got to put into action my new scieve which makes me feel like I'm looking for gold!



Fingers crossed this little lot will make it, I've not always had much luck with sowing seeds (apart from sweet pea and nasturtiums which I think must be the easiest thing in the world to grow!)



I think I took too many photos to show them all so I've made a little mosaic to summarise :-)

1) Some tiny sempervivum "chicks" that I found in the compost, they'd rooted themselves so now they're in this little dish :-)
2) A plant I found in the green house, it has such lovely colours!
3) A hand carved muchroom from the Manchester Christmas Markets
4) My lovely polka dot watering can, I tried not to use it to keep it nice but it's got a great pouring action!
5) Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Flags from Glastonbury Festival
6) My hard work!
7) Hyacinth from Wythenshawe Market
8) The other end of the balcony
9) My £1.99 peony!

I'm off to watch Wonders of the Universe now with the lovely Professor Cox, byee!

x x x x

Happy Valentines Day

I'm not sure why I've chosen to write about Valentines Day as I'm not really one for celebrating it (an agreement that my other half is probably quite pleased about) but these hearts had been lying around since our anniversary, so if you do celebrate today, this is for you :-)

I've been busy in the garden (technically balcony) again and can't believe how fast a year has gone. I learnt a lot last year about what-not-to-do when sewing seeds and I've cut back on how many I'm sewing because it's a real pain to be honest! I don't feel like sun flowers this year but I am looking forward to the nasturtiums coming back (the bees like them!)

This is the cushion I've been making for a friends 30th birthday in a few weeks and I'm really pleased, I just hope she likes it. J commented how much faster I am at making squares now which is a bloody good thing in my opinion as I've been doing it almost solidly for a year now!

After a busy day of pottering there is nothing better than a good cup of Yorkshire Tea, and what cup of tea would be complete without cake or a donut?

I'm getting really into a little crochet thing called Amigurumi and have been following a great little tutorial to make a cup of tea from Ana Paula's blog, check it out because there are some adorable tutorials and even I seem able to make them. Maybe I'll upload some photos next time if I ever finish Mr Brew.

Sunshine = plants!

I'm really quite excited about how much the seeds have grown, they need repotting (but I don't have any pots left) although compost is plentiful - asda are selling bags for a quid! Bargain :-)

Seeds week 4

Hurrah the cornflowers have started to grow! They're supposed to flower late March - April but this is not flowering, still at least there is something happening. Only another 29cm to grow...

Seeds day 1

Welcome to the very first page of my very first blog!  I've recently caught my Mum's green fingers and am really exciting by the prospect of growing some seeds!  I have no idea how things will turn out but that's all part of the fun isn't it?

I'm also a tad obsessed with crocheting but to be truthful I have embarked on a large-ish project (more later) and it may take a while to finish!  I hope you enjoy what you see / read and will come back for more!

I've never planted seeds before so it will be interesting to see if anything actually grows!