miss marie's miscellany

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?

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

What every crochet loving lady should drive

I came across this fantastic smart car with its own multi-coloured crocheted cover........I love it!

 

It is the work of Magda Sayeg, an American lady who is a guerilla knitter. I've heard of guerrila gardening, but not knitting; but it sounds like an excellent idea to me, brightening up your surroundings with some lovely knitting or crochet, putting it in locations where you'd least expect to see such a thing; lampposts, road signs, a bus .........yes,really, if you don't believe me, look at this.

 

Magda Sayeg has a blog called KnittaPlease where she posts all her latest projects. Absolutely fascinating and inventive, it takes yarn and what one can do with it to a whole new level.

I wish my car looked like this!

  

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!

 

Heather shawl

I finished my granny stripes shawl :-) I'm made up with how it looks, the colours are just right for me and it's very cosy. I tried to take a photo of me wearing it, almost impossible, but after lots of shots of the side of my head, I succeeded in taking a presentable image.

 

It was a lot of crocheting once the sides started to get longer, but it was worth the work to get such a lovely finished article. I used a mixture of wools, some Sirdar Countrystyle and Bonus DK, King Cole Big Value DK and the purply-pink is from my Ebay wool from Kingcraig Fabrics. 

 

Thanks to Jenny for her comment on my last post, she said it reminded her of moorland colours and so, inspired by her idea, I've decide to call it my Heather shawl. 

I hope your weekend is full of colour and good things!
 
 

 

Playing with colour

It's a while since I talked about crochet and wool. but I haven't been idle, in fact quite the opposite, I can't stop with the crochet hook!
 
I found some fabulous wool/silk mix yarn on Ebay, from this seller. Their shop has lots of beautiful wool in a rainbow of shades; much of it comes on cones, good for those larger projects, and they have now started selling 100g balls, which is ideal for my purposes.  I chose an autumnal mix of aubergine, dusky pink, mustard, oatmeal and lemon and lime twist (sounds like a recipe) in this lovely nubbly yarn which has turned into this round cushion.

It is an unusual mix but I think it works :-) 


When I was in Liverpool, my sister-in-law took me to an Aladdin's cave of a shop, Abakhan, a treasure trove of supplies for every craft under the sun, and of course, that includes lots and lots of lovely wool. They have an online shop too, worth a butcher's.  It was like being let loose in a sweet shop, I left with a huge bag filled with brightly coloured wool. I decided to make a granny square blanket using lots of colour and a random combination of them.



A freefall colour experience for me, I usually like to be symmetrical ; I'm just keeping going till it's BIG.



Still a way to go before it's ready, but it's turning out nicely!

Continuing with the granny theme, I've seen a couple of lovely granny shawls recently and had a real attack of the wanties. Just the ticket for a cool summer evening in the garden, I thought, and it will definitely come in handy if we have another baltic winter! I'm just playing with the colours, but think I've found a good combination with these.



These are very 'me' colours! A concerted effort over the next couple of days and I should be able to show the FO shawl.

I hope your weekend is full of colour too.

Strolling in the park

These palatial gates are the entrance to Birkenhead Park on the Wirral. My brother and sister-in-law live quite nearby and took me for a visit. The park was created in the 1840s and inspired the architect who designed Central Park in New York.  I can see why......it's vast with wide avenues, lots of trees and flowers; you can walk, run, cycle, play and even go fishing in the park, motorists can drive round the perimeter road in the park, and there was even a horse-drawn carriage sitting by the gates when we passed by. And of course, there's the all- important cafe, I didn't go there but I'm reliably informed it's good!

There must have been hundreds of squirrels running about the park, I managed to snap this one, they don't really like posing for photos!

 

We headed for this boathouse. It seemed Italian in style to me, both exterior and interior.

 

It has an amazing floor decorated with pebbles.

 

A lovely tranquil place in what is a busy urban area, good to know it's being looked after so well and is there for everyone to enjoy. 

Old Hall

This elegant old building is Rufford Old Hall which i visited last week.It's not too far from where I grew up as a child but strangely, I've never been here before. The building above, the Great Hall,  dates from the 16th century and is the oldest part of the hall; bits have been added on over the centuries,17th and 19th to be precise, so it is a hybrid building, but full of character and history because of that.

Here is the 17th century facade





The gardens were full of interesting features; a pair of swans and a squirrel topiary.


as well as plenty of flowers. You can see the 19th century part of the Hall on the left of the photo.


This leaded window is in the Great Hall


as is this wood carving on the wall


and also this strage window in the roof of the Hall. It was added in the 19th century to give more light over the snooker table!!



Photography was allowed only in the Great Hall, so I can't show you any of the beautiful rooms in the main part of the house, full of huge fireplaces, paintings, china, original furniture and squeaky floorboards.The cafe is very good too, I had a delicious ploughman's lunch with Lancashire cheese and my dad had hotpot which disappeared rather fast :-) All in all, a good day out!

Summer colour

Some delightful colours at the garden centre near my brother's house

 

They make me feel summery :-)

 

More tales from my week in Liverpool soon..........
 
 

 

Three gardens in one day: part 3

Last stop on this whistle-stop tour is Castle Kennedy Gardens, set on a vast sprawling estate, with a lake and tree-lined avenues. Castle Kennedy is a romantic ruin, covered in wisteria

 

Next to the castle is a beautiful walled garden

 

A lovely space to wander around
 

 

 

and enjoy the flowers

 

 

 

I have to admit the feet were starting to hurt a lot by now, so a big explore of the huge estate was not really going to happen. If you want to see Monkey Puzzle Avenue you will have to visit yourself! 

But through this gate..........

 

we found a lily pond to rival all the ones we'd seen before.

 

 There were so many water lilies you could hardly see any water

 

Monet would have been proud!

That's the end of the garden tour, I hope you've enjoyed this little slice of this beautiful part of Scotland.