Friday Chat Day

 Hello friends

Welcome to Friday and another chat day.

I hope all my waffle finds you well.
The sun is here, I think we are in for a scorcher of a weekend.

Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes for my Mum,

we had a nice afternoon last Saturday and certainly indulged in a lot of cake.

Things here continue as normal - I awoke to this view...

Pet wars- there is serious jealousy going on.

Bella can normally chase away any of the cats except Pixel -

not only does he stand (lay) his ground but manages to look very conceited about it! 

Crochet:

I've started something new and it is very rythmic and easy,

well apart from the heart in the middle, I had to concentrate on that bit.

The pattern is from Sue at Sweet Pea Family Crochet - 

it is called the Sweetheart Granny - Rose Garden Blanket.

Pattern is available from Lovecrafts here. 

It lists two colourways, I went with the pinks, silver and green combo.

It has a nice border which I hope to start at the weekend.

Garden:

 When I'm not moaning about slugs and snails (I do that a lot!)

I am in awe of nature and how plants grow.  

I acquired this hydrangea last year through Freecycle, 

a lady was having her driveway paved and the builders had wrenched

it out of the ground. I retrieved it and it was a bit sorry for itself for some

time but amazingly it has grown and flowered.

And the Clematis I mentioned last week - Florida Sieboldiana

has developed into such colour contrasting blooms.

And...not the best photo as taken in haste.

This is my tomato plant growing area at the front of my home

among the wheelie bins!

Can you spot the Marigolds??

(Monty said to grow them with tomatoes as perfect companion plants).

No - neither can I!  

Pesky slugs and snails, they demolished the Marigolds in one night.

I did take note of YouTube tip that if your grow bags are not particularly thick,

keep the tomato plants in their pots but cut out the pot bottoms so 

the roots can spread. Seems to be working...

OK returning to more impressive plants - Agapanthus, again a rescue plant

 from the same lady as the Hydrangea.

And this Clematis beauty is flowering for the second time this year.

I manage to maintain my garden by dashing out in my lunch hour

and doing a little bit each day - there are some perks for having

a titchy garden.

Telly:

Clarkson's Farm - Amazon Prime

Follow Jeremy Clarkson as he attempts to run a farm in the countryside. 

With no previous farming experience, Jeremy contends with the worst 

farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, 

unresponsive crops, and an unexpected pandemic.

I confess I'm not a huge fan of Jeremy Clarkson but you see him in a 

whole new light in this series.  With his very funny and brutally honest sidekick - 

Kaleb, the series is a mix of  humour, harsh farming realities, informative

and occasionally a little bit sad.  I'm hooked and so is Elliott -

it is one of our joint watching programmes right now.

Charity Kit:

I love it when this happens...

Michele has used two of this month's charity kits and adapted them 

to her choice/style and...even better - sent me the photos.

Version 1.

Version 2.

So pretty and thank you Michele for sharing them.

I still have a few remaining kits available - please click here.

And talking of the kits, I did receive a few messages and the 

preference going forward seems to be to remain with cards, fine with me.

This weekend: hopefully catching up with family,

catching up with housework, washing etc.

The conservatory ... still the same, work hasn't started,

when they first quoted they said 6-8 weeks start to finish.

I sense they are a little ambitious as it is now 10 weeks and nothing has happened.

I'm not overly concerned, I didn't really want the work done in all that rain

and as long as it is done by Christmas! 

Take care friends, wishing you a lovely weekend,

pop those sun hats on.