What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 835

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a good week finding lots of time for crafting. There's not been a lot of crafting going on here. Too busy elsewhere, unfortunately. Because of that, all that's different about my desk from last week is a pile of pages waiting to be filed. They are waiting because I can't decide which album to put them in. The photos on the right are old ones found when I was sorting out a box of framed photos brought from the old house. We had a lot more wall space there but it's much more limited here so I've had to decide which to keep and which to sacrifice. Not that I plan to bin the photos, just the frames. I hope to scrap the photos eventually. 

11/2025 - Misty Loch

The two photos of Loch Linnhe were taken on the first morning of the holiday we had in the Scottish Highlands in 1995. The B&B we stayed in was almost on the shore of the loch. Only a road separated the house from the loch shore. That morning we were both enchanted by the sight of the loch partly shrouded in mist. Magical!

The inspiration for the layout was simply the leftovers that had accumulated after making a few earlier pages. After choosing the base sheet, from Jen Hadfield's Peaceful Heart collection, 'New Day' 2021, I juggled the scraps until I was happy with the way they looked. Once I had the photos in place all I had to do was build the embellishment clusters from bits and pieces found in my stash.

Materials - printouts from Scrap-A-Sketch, 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Mango Ephemera Stack, flowers fussy-cut from various patterned sheets and wooden buttons from Cocoa Vanilla's Storyteller collection. Title made up from Simple Stories Snap Studio's alphas. 

Due to the change in the weather, from heatwave to deluge, not a lot of real gardening has been done. However, I'm pleased to show you the work my daughter and SIL did, while the weather was good, to the patch of garden to the front of the flat. Above is the before shot. That grass was hiding a very uneven base. It was difficult to maintain and equally difficult to walk on for someone like me with dickie hips. 

And here's what they have accomplished so far. They've removed the grass, levelled the ground, cut the hedge, removed the dead ivy that was adhered up the wall, and laid the weed suppressing material. They have done a brilliant job, don't you think? The only thing I've had to do was weed and tidy up the plant pots. The next phase is to choose and order the gravel which will cover the entire garden. The idea being to make it as low maintenance as possible with only the pots to take care of, leaving most of my time for the new back garden. 

Speaking of which I have been enjoying watching and photographing the antics of the starlings that visit the birdfeeder there. Alan bought it when we moved in here but, sadly, never got the chance to see it erected and enjoy his birdwatching. 

And finally, no funnies this week but a photo of Silver out in the garden with me.

She's my constant companion whether inside the house or out in the garden. In fact, she would be happy if I spent much of the day out there with her. 

That's all from me for this week. Apologies yet again to those of your posts that I didn't manage to leave comments on. Life just got in the way. There's a story there but I'm not ready to tell it just yet.

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth  

Sunday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

Hope your Sunday has been good so far. It's raining here - good for the flowers. Typically, I didn't make it to Annie's Friday Smiles again this week. Didn't make it for Saturday either so I thought I'd post what's made me smile this week today. 

First up, the following photos explain why I was really busy yesterday. 

As mentioned in my last post, Alan is learning to knit. He's been inspired by Tom Daley, the Olympic diver and talented knitter. 

It's not coming easy to him but, with the help of YouTube and me, I'm sure he'll master it eventually. I can't wait to show you his first knitted masterpiece. 

Next, our cherry trees have been attracting interest from a large flock of starlings. 

The crop has been amazing this year - so many we've invited all our neighbours to help themselves. 

The starlings must have spotted them, though, oddly, we haven't seen as many of the birds in our garden this year. 

Not a very clear shot but I hope you can spot all the starlings sitting atop my neighbour's roof. This was after they gorged on as many ripe cherries as they could. 

Again, not the best shot. I wasn't quick enough to get the full effect of the murmuration that followed. A fabulous sight. 

And finally, our most exciting family news. My daughter's rottweiler, Ebony, gave birth early this morning.

Six puppies in the litter, four male and two female. One of the females, puppy no. 3, was not doing too well but a quick visit to the vet for treatment and she's doing fine. 

That's it from me. It's not been a bad week with plenty to smile about. Hope you've had an equally good one.

Thanks for visiting - it's much appreciated. 

Have a great week ahead 

Elizabeth

Springwatch in my Garden

Evening Everyone,

After doing a bit of garden work this afternoon, I found myself a quiet spot near the feeder and waited. And here's my reward.

Baby great tits. They are learning to feed themselves although whenever the mother is around they wait for her to feed them. I've seen as many as six on the feeder but wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a shot of them all together.