O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Youngest child has finished formal schooling!  No more school runs, parents' evenings, unwanted raffle tickets, requests for trip money, or letters demanding to know why a lesson was missed.  The relief!  I'd like to wish any readers about to sit exams, final or otherwise, the best of luck.  And to any parents facing the exam season, I think the current phrase is, 'Keep calm and carry on'.  Or, as my sister-in-law would say, 'Keep calm and open another bottle of white'.  I hope you all get the results you wish for ...

Spring stitching ....

Walking past Hurley church last weekend there was a beautiful floral wreath over the door left over from a wedding.  It set me thinking again about wedding decorations so when I saw a faux blossom wreath at the car boot sale on Saturday I bought it and this is what I did with it...

The felt dove is improvised from an image found on google images.  There are many outline drawings of doves and other birds there that could be used as templates.  I just added a gusset for volume.  When I get time I'll play around with some of the other bird images and experiment a little with colours.  But that will have to join the list of all the other things I'm going to have a go at some time.  Funny how that list never seems to get any shorter or the pile of waiting yarns and fabrics any smaller - does that happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

I want to point you in the direction of Kelly and her lovely blog and shop.  She currently has the most wonderful set of vintage painted tables (23.05.11) which, if you are a fan of painted furniture, you really need to take a look at.  I don't think they'll be in her shop for long!

'The time has come', the Walrus said, 'to talk of many things' ..

Despite the disappointing response to last week's plea for reader feedback (apart from Izzy and Nay - thank you), here I am to blog again just to show you I am above sulking.

I've had a varied week craft-wise and here are some of the results ..

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The knitted swan you've seen before on my masthead but I put him in because I thought he looked pretty.  The velour covered hat box was a car boot find this week and I've added the crochet flowers to perk it up a bit. They are very basic Irish crochet motifs done in silks which I've had tucked away for some years and bring out every time something looks as though it needs some adornment.

The mirror is an early plastic and was very plain so I've added some flowers.  I hate to see a blank space that can be filled - just you ask Northern Man about his views on all the stuff I have around the house!

As you can see from the close up, the stroke work is a bit shoddy and slapdash, but I think that probably gives it a more 'vintage' feel.  Can I hear sarcastic laughter and comments about the quality of my painting?  No?  Good.

More knitted birds ....

A few weeks ago I muttered about a garland of knitted doves joined by celebratory ribbons to hang as a decoration around a room for a wedding or birthday or Christening or ....  Well, I sort of got distracted and this is what I ended up with.

As you can see, not a ribbon in sight.  This is an adaptation of the knitted dove pattern, smaller, reshaped, new wings and tails - new bird really.  I'm thinking bright sparkly yarns and pegs underneath to turn them into Christmas tree decorations.    Is it too early to start knitting for December?



On another note I want to make a personal request.  I know that I have regular visitors because Blogger thoughtfully provide a stats page which tells a blogger how readers arrive at the blog, where in the world they are based and which pages are read (but not by which reader).  It would be lovely to hear from anyone who is reading on a regular basis - I feel I'm blogging into a huge void.  Just an  'I live in ... and think this' or 'I would like to see more of ...' would be lovely. 

Disaster at Chiswick Car Boot and what I did next ...

Well, I would love to tell you how successful my morning on the sun-lit uplands of  Chiswick Community School Car Boot was, but I can't.  Having got up at 3am and made it to the queue (number 80 this time) before 4am, I sat patiently watching the dawn rise through the leaves of the sycamore trees on Burlington Lane.  Does that sound poetic?  Trust me, it wasn't.  When the time came to move at 6.30am I discovered that my car had died - no power, no lights, no hazards, no hope.  So I called the break down chaps and 6 hours after I left home I arrived back, not as a woman weighed down by £1 coins, but on the back of a low-loader.  But, thanks to my chat with my rescuer,  I did know a lot more about accident black spots on the M4, M40, M3 and M25 and  what type of lorry to steer clear of on the motorway. So thank goodness it wasn't all a waste of time, eh?.

Anyway, not despairing at the waste of a good night's sleep, I decided to do a bit of painting.  Here it is.  I hope you like it.