miss marie's miscellany

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 :-)

Pope fever

The last week has been a hive of activity in Bellahouston Park, just across the road from where I live, preparing for the papal visit. All sorts of crashing and banging has been going on, while a huge stage and all the ephemera that a big event with lots of bodies requires were installed. The park was closed from Wednesday afternoon and all the residents were subjected treated to a sound check from 9am to 9pm. All the main roads were closed apart from 2 for local access and the local buses and trains operated to a different timetable and route or didn't run at all. I ventured out in my car yesterday morning, despite the dire warnings of my neighbours that the traffic would be awful; it wasn't, in fact it appeared that most people not going to the park were at home! Later on, I went to have a look.

 

Lots of people  everywhere

 

I went back up the hill where I could see the stage framed by the trees

 

The music was spectacular, a brass band, full church organ, choirs of all ages, various singers and bands and Susan Boyle and Michelle McManus too. I sat in the garden with my crochet and enjoyed a free concert for most of the afternoon. When the Pope finally arrived, the sun came out and the stage/altar was bathed in sunlight;  just as well as it was very windy and rather chilly, hope he had his thermals on!

 

And the person who really deserved a medal was this cameraman perched high above the park. he must have been frozen:-(

 

Vertigo, anyone?

 
 
 
 
 

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.

 

 

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?

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

Looking lovely in the garden this week

I was thinking how few photos I've taken this year of flowers in my garden, somehow up till now, there don't seem to have been as many as last year. But this week some beautiful colours have appeared .

Blue, blue anemone - this is sitting on the front doorstep, every time I go out, I have to stop and stare.

 

Pretty pink geranium

 

Frothy creaminess of this beautiful hydrangea

 

Lovely rose :-)

 

I love this two-tone geum, it's so unusual and the colours almost seem to glow, I find it mesmerising, especially when the sun is shining.

 

Green apples galore, it'll be a good harvest this year.

 

Cheery yellow calendula

 

All the bright and beautiful colours are having a good effect on my latest WIP, I thought I'd take a photo of it in the great outdoors.

 

Nearly finished! I'm loving how it's turning out, the random choice of colour is working a treat. I hope to be able to show you the completed blanket after the weekend.

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

July collage

This year is passing by rather quickly, I can't believe it's the end of another month. There's been lots of crochet, some trips away and a mix of good and bloomin'  awful weather, sounds about right for the good old British summertime!