miss marie's miscellany

2010 retrospective

2010 seems to have sped by with great speed, and to be honest, some of the ride has been very bumpy. But despite that, when I looked back over my photos, there were lots of good recollections and happy moments.

The weather and seasons have been quite a feast for the eyes, sunsets and snow seem to be greatly featured in this collage.

I have carried on my love affair with crochet. It has kept me sane over some difficult times this year, and it makes me really happy to see how far I've travelled since I first picked up a hook early in 2009. And I made all of these! 

I've been on a few trips to places interesting and beautiful

And last but not least, the garden has been a wonderful source of inspiration and pleasure

Thanks to you all for reading and commenting, lovely blog friends; let's hope 2011 is full of adventures and new wonderful opportunities for us all!

Happy New Year  xxxxxxx

The snow has arrived

Up till now we seemed to have been getting off lightly weather-wise in Glasgow, it's just been cold. Not a drop of the white stuff. But it snowed a bit yesterday and a bit more during the night, and a lot this morning.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get to work later :-( .......but it is very pretty :-)

Edited at 2pm to add; work has been cancelled, hurray, and there has been loads more snow falling, so I may just go out and build a snowman to celebrate!

 

October collage

This month; autumn arrived with all its beautiful colours, plus its changeable weather; I crocheted with pink and blue and a touch of romance; I went to my friend's wedding; a garden project ( a little peek is in this collage for you to wonder about!); new friends; lots to be happy about and much to look forward to :-)

September collage

September has been quite a month ; hot weather, cold weather, stormy weather have turned into autumn with the leaves already turning, a fair bit of hooking and some wool purchases, the garden is still blooming with lots of beautiful autumn shades and some delicious fruit and veg........oh, and there was a certain visitor from Rome across the road in the park!

Hope you have a happy weekend, whatever it brings :-)

Feeling peachy

Life is a bit work- dominated at the moment. Not much time for anything else. Except a little gardening; despite there being an autumnal feel in the air now, there seem to be lots of plants blossoming.......like this lovely peachy rose

 

and this calendula, brilliant vibrant orange

 

And I have managed to fit in some crochet too; here's a glimpse of the nearly finished cushion cover, burnt orange and raspberry looking lovely together

 

Just the buttons and buttonholes to be done and I'll show it to you!

I'm off on a short trip later today to Newcastle, surely some good photo opportunities to be had there, I think. It is for a job interview, so cross your fingers for me!
 
 
 

Harvesting

Time for a little digging in the garden and look what I found.......some Pentland Javelin potatoes, 4 and a half pounds worth

 

and some more potatoes, this variety is called Bambino, and I got 6 pounds of these

 

I have already tried some of these and they are delicious! 

I also picked the last of the peas: they have been brilliant, my first time of growing peas and it won't be the last, and some big and little courgettes

 

There are more goodies to come, some promising looking beetroot and french beans, and parsnips, leeks and jerusalem artichokes for the winter :-) 

 
 
 

August collage

I can't believe August has been and gone, it flew by. I started with all the garden improvements, I went back to work, and did a humungous amount of crocheting. I took a trip across the sea, went on a hen night and I have painted, dug and chopped things down in the garden. Perhaps that's why August whizzed by, I have been very busy!

 

More dahlia love

We're having an Indian summer here in Glasgow this week, and I keep finding more lovely flowers in the garden, late visitors but they are very welcome. This dahlia is as lovely as the one in my last post; a beautiful, rich red, and a prolific flowerer, I hope it will last for a while.

 

 

Dahlia love

Just blooming in the garden this week, isn't it lovely?!

 

I think this is my 'best in show' for this year :-)
 

 

Shed demolition and garden improvements- part 1

It was high time there were some improvements in the garden; a new fence and garden shed and making the top end of the garden more user friendly; it has been home to the horrible old shed and a large plantation of weeds up to now. and I have to admit, that has been very daunting.  It's all been happening over the last few weeks though. Note the lovely new fence in the picture below; job no 1, done.

Goodbye to this old shed, which I inherited with the house. I hated going in there, it was dark and dingy and also completely rotten and not watertight, so it had to go to shed heaven. My lovely handyman Michael pushed it over in about 2 seconds

 

The aftermath!

A new base put in place, Antony Gormley would be proud of this beautiful plinth.

 

Friday morning at 7.30am, I'm still fast asleep when the shedmen turn up to install the new shed

 

Here it is, 8.15 am, all done and dusted

 

A bit of painting and now it looks like this.

 

I thought the inside needed brightening up

 

And it's home to all the garden paraphernalia again

 

Now there is a big space waiting to be used for who knows what? (I know it's a complete tip just now, but it will look beautiful in a few weeks, I promise.......this is the 'before' photo!)

 
 I'd definitely like some raised beds, but there's room also for something I read about recently here; I fell head over heels in love with it and have been wondering if I could/should acquire one myself? I am sooooo tempted, it would be crochet nirvana for me :-) What do you think?