Friday Evening Smiles

Hello Everyone, 

I know it's a bit late to add this to Annie's Friday Smiles, Week 425, over on A Stitch In Time, but I've had a busy few days that has stopped me posting until now. I even had to skip Wednesday's WOYWW, No. 842, post over on Sarah's Craft Shed, but what kept me so busy gave me a lot to smile about. 

Here's why.

Finally, the makeover of my front garden is done. Well, almost. All I have to do now is freshen up the pots, plant up and add a few more and place them in groups to provide colour for next year. 

My daughter and son-in-law, Juli & Graeme, took me to the local building supplies merchants on Tuesday where we choose the material that is replacing the grass that was there before. It had to be removed because the surface beneath was very uneven and difficult to both walk on and to mow. I decided that as I'm getting on a bit now, it was time to go for something that needed less maintenance. 

The delivery was exciting to watch. 

The man who delivered the bags of pebbles very kindly slit the sack bottoms for the contents to spill to the ground. Much easier than emptying them from the top. Juli & Graeme came over yesterday  afternoon and finished spreading the pebbles after Graeme made a wooden edging to prevent them spreading to under the privet hedge. 

Before the day of delivery we had to cut the hedge and clear the trimmings from both the garden and the pavement. While Graeme used his electric shears, I concentrated on trimming round the clematis that had climbed its way upwards through the hedge to bloom at the top. 

It's one that I brought in a pot from our last house. I'd forgotten the name but, after a search on Google, I was reminded that it is C. Niobe. Isn't it a beauty? Well worth moving with me. 

That's only a little of what's made me smile this week but I think it's enough for this post. I hope you all have had much to brighten your week too. 

Have a wonderful weekend and take care.

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 837

Hello Everyone,

Good Afternoon! So late. No excuses beyond the fact that life has been busy and this morning it all seemed to catch up with me. Sometimes, I forget how old I am and do more than is good for me then pay for it and need to rest for a day or two to recover. So what have I been up to that's taken so much out of me, you might ask? Well, gardening yesterday, after days of seemingly endless rain, sorting through and reorganising of my entire wardrobe all Friday and the weekend too. and the all day conference on the Wednesday. 

The conference was held in an interesting venue, the cinema in Saltcoats. I attended as someone who has been one of the many unpaid carers this organisation tries to support and also as someone who is, as a volunteer, about to undergo training as a carer mentor. I found the speakers informative and interesting and I met a lot of lovely people too.

No scrapbooking has been done at all. No time. Instead, my sewing machine is making a rare appearance on my workdesk today. I don't think I've used it for about three years! Not that I'm planning to make anything pretty, like a quilt. No. It's just that, after the wardrobe sort out, I have a little pile of alterations now waiting to be done. Mainly waists to be taken in and trouser legs to be shortened. The instruction book is at the ready just in case I've forgotten how to use the machine, and I've found the box that's full of sewing accessories and the one that has the dressmaking scissors in it. I think it's nothing short of a miracle that I was able to put my hands on everything that will be needed after all this time. 

All this reorganising has meant that I've finally had to decide, what to do with Alan's treasured collection of coats and jackets, some never worn. Soon they will be on their way to a charity shop where I hope they will help raise funds and where they will be bought, used and loved by shoppers there. 

Out in the garden the rain has worked it's magic and the rose bought in memory of my husband, Alan's Rose, is in bloom for the first time. 

Simply beautiful. It's a floribunda rose named by the breeder after his son, Alan. Unfortunately, I've not been able to find out more than that so the breeder remains unknown for now. 

Another rose that has just started to flower is The Douglas Rose, gifted to me by our Jan and Julia in memory of my late brother, Douglas. 

He's blossoming among the ox-eye daisies that have gone a little mad and are looking fantastic. That heatwave earlier in the year followed by all the rainy days we've had has just spurred them on. 

The garden was looking a bit wild and out of control until yesterday when I took advantage of a few hours of sunshine to get out and do some tidying up with the secateurs. 

There's more screaming out to be done but this recent injury is slowing me down. I don't know what I did, but it still hurts! 

Silver is doing her best to console me.

And finally, a couple of funnies I saved thinking you might enjoy them.

This one rings so true! 

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

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 834

Hello Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all.

There's nothing on my desk right now. Instead, this is what was on my desk yesterday afternoon. The latest page in progress using an Ella Bonella kit. There's also, under the pencil, a checklist which I created using MS Word. If I didn't keep that list, I'd forget the details I do know, never mind those I don't! At the back on the left is a box containing packs of embellishments. They are there to remind me to use them. They are all lovely so the deserve to be used, not forgotten. There's also the obligatory cuppa. 

This is the sticker sheet used with the letters for the title and the stickers that formed the base of the embellishment clusters on the page. It's and oldie but a goodie from Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection. Here's the finished page.

13/2025 - We Made a Garden

I think it's very timely that I'm scrapping photos of the garden we made together, given that I'm now making another garden. The photo on the left was taken in November 2013, just after we moved in. It's a bit crumpled and creased because Alan kept it in his pocket to remind him of the 'before' while he admired the 'after', something he did often! The one on the right, the 'after, was taken about seven years later. 

 

Details of items used:

The layout was inspired by the Premium sketch #98 from Scrap-a-Sketch. Materials used are as follows: the background is made up from a Cosmo Cricket paper from the Hansel & Gretel collection dated 2007 and Circa 1934 'Chaplin' paper dated 2010. The photos are mounted on Bazzil Cardstock with the delightful title, 'Granny Smith' and then backed with 'Victorian Rose' from the Kaiser Kraft Devonshire collection, an unknown green paper, and 'Cross Stitch' from Crate Paper Farmhouse collection.  The clusters were constructed using stickers, wooden buttons, and fussy-cut flowers from a variety of sources, e.g. the sticker sheet photographed, Maggie Holmes 'Market Square', and Simple Stories 'Garden Party' from the Bunnies & Blooms collection.

I think I may have mentioned in my post from Monday that we've been enjoying rainy weather. Torrential rain, in fact. It started on Friday afternoon and just kept coming steadily until Monday, since when we have had a few dry and sunny spells, interspersed with yet more rain. Nice!

It forced me to get myself some wellies. The cross-stitch was a gift from a friend who is sadly no longer with us. It's waiting to be hung up but that's easier said than done. The walls here are solid so it's not simply a case of knocking in a nail. It requires an electric power tool. A piece of equipment I'm less than confident, or competent even, using, In the meantime, Mary's gift will continue to grace the porch at floor level. 
  

You may have noticed that my in-house quality controller, Silver, is missing from the desk photo. I took advantage of one of her frequent snooze periods to get it done. 

Here she is in deep sleep mode! 

And finally, the funnies for this week.

That's it from me for this week. I hope you had a great Spring Bank Holiday despite the change in the weather.  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  

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 827

Hello Everyone,

Happy Wednesday! Happy WOYWW too.

What's on my desk is a page in the planning stage but just look at the sunlight gleaming through the window blinds. A very welcome sight any day of the week! 

It's sad but sometimes I have to close the blinds and shut out the sunshine to work on a scrap layout. Here the last two I put together.

The photo is of my youngest great-grandchild, Freddie, taken just after he was born. He's now a loveable three-year old whirlwind! 

Materials from Echo Park's Welcome Baby Boy collection from 2021. If I remember correctly the collection was purchased from The Mad Scrapper, based here in Scotland.

In complete contrast, this is one for the Family History album. The photo is of my mother and stepfather visiting my great-grandmother, Nana, in hospital on their wedding day in 1969. Nana had fallen, breaking a hip, while running to catch a bus. She was in her early nineties at the time! It's not the best of photos but the only one I've got. So few photos have survived from those years.

Materials from Ella Bonella's Family Blues Kit. Ella Bonella can be found on Facebook. 

Most mornings I note what the temperature is for the day in my journal. Recently, it's been in the low teens - typically 11-15 degrees Celsius . This morning it's only 8 degrees, despite the sun shining. Not only that, but the reports says it feels like 6 degrees. That's cold! 

Fortunately, it usually warms up enough for me to spend a wee bit of time pottering in the garden. I'm still having to take it easy but have managed to cut back the brambles up at the back of the garden. They were on a mission to take over completely but I believe I have tamed the beast! 

As well as that, I've been rescuing the many pots of plants scattered front and back. All brought from the last garden but completely neglected. They don't just have plants in them, they have weeds. Lots of weeds. 

My plan for the coming week is to clean them up, split plants where needed and repot and, hopefully, give them new life. 

It wouldn't be a garden report without a shot of the undergardener!

And finally, 

T

This is so true!

That's it for this week. Apologies once again if I didn't leave a comment on your post. I'm still not a hundred percent fit so having to rest often. It's a pain but it's life. 

To see many more WOYWWer's desks, and admire their work, pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed. Indeed, why not join in the fun and let us see what's on your desk this Wednesday. They are a very welcoming bunch of crafters.  

Take care everyone.

Elizabeth

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 826

Hello Everyone,

Happy Wednesday. Happy WOYWW too.

This is not really what's on my desk this morning but it's a photo taken back in February, the last time I did make a page.  Since then there's been a lot of dreaming and scheming but no actual scrapbooking done. 

This then is only the second page completed so far this year. It's an old photo taken from last year's  Three Towns Explored calendar. The term 'three towns' is used in reference to the towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston in North Ayrshire which together form a contiguous settlement along the shore of the Clyde Estuary. Since moving here to Ardrossan I have become fascinated with the history of the towns and surrounding area. 

The materials used to make the page are from the Scrappyroo Scrapbook Supplies October kit, purchased while I was doing all that dreaming and scheming mentioned earlier. This is not a paid promotion, but it is a lovely kit and I could be tempted to buy more in future. Just as soon as I get busy scrapping again.

Talking of dreaming and scheming as I am today, and as I hinted in last week's post, I've been longing to make a garden. It's been on my mind since we moved in just over two years ago but, of course, other more pressing needs prevented me actually doing anything about it. For the record here's a photo of just how neglected the garden was.

Shameful! Hardly a redeeming feature to be seen. Even the shed is on it's last legs and there is no boundary between the strip that is my backyard and that of my neighbour in the flat (apartment) above mine. 

At the end of last year, I finally decided to do something about it and drew up a plan of sorts. 

This plan. It's basic and will probably change in time but it gave me a starting point. 

The first thing I did was order the summerhouse.

It's arrival was delayed by winter and a certain, now notorious, Storm Eowyn! One thing that has become very apparent is that Ardrossan could be a contender for the stormiest town on the west coast of Scotland so there will be no greenhouse. The summerhouse will have to do double duty as a potting shed, somewhere to grow seeds and a retreat in which to sit and idle the hours away.

Next came a fence to create a boundary.

This area of the garden is now enclosed. The area to the front is where the washing lines are and wher the two poles on the boundary are shared. I'm not sure why this is so. Perhaps it was intended to encourage neighbourliness, or more likely to save money. The apartment blocks were built by the council in the post-war period in answer to the increased need for affordable housing. Today apartment blocks like mine are a mix of privately owned flats like mine and council owned like my neighbour above, 

Since these photos were taken a gate has been fitted and trellising added to the picket fencing ready for the planting of the climbing plants I visualise scrambling up and over and around all that brown wood.  

Digging and clearing, not by me I hasten to add but by a neighbour's son, has unearthed paving hidden by the overgrown grass and evidence we believe that the land was once used as allotments. Possibly as part of the war effort to dig for victory. It's a nice thought. 

Needless to say, I'm now busy acquiring plants - quite a few. The plan is to keep it mainly grassed but to introduce wild flowers where possible like those in this photo - snowdrops, bluebells, wild daffodils, and wood anemone. There's also wild garlic which, as it spreads too readily, will be planted up in a pot.  There's more. The climbers - clematis, honeysuckle, wild sweet pea, and my favourite rambling rose, Albertine is on order.  As are a couple of small trees,  rowan and an amelanchier (also known as serviceberry or juneberry) to encourage birds to visit. Which brings me to my last photo for today.

Silver has found herself the perfect lookout post. She's clearly intent on monitoring the local cat and bird population.  Seriously, she loves being out in the garden with me. My own little gardening companion. 

And finally, the funny is back.

So that it from me this week. Thanks to everyone who read last week's post and also for the lovely comments left. Sorry if I didn't leave you a comment. Must try harder. I'm just out of practice as could be seen from the mess I made of leaving a link on Sarah's blog - Sarah's Craft Shed - where you can find even more clever crafters revealing what's on their desks this week. 

Goodbye for now and thanks for reading this far. I wish you all a very good week.

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

No Flowers In A Vase Today - Gardening Catch-Up Instead

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately, there's nothing to cut in the garden and I've not been out foraging either. I've too busy with the Scrap-a-Sketch Rainbow Challenge, not to mention catching up on more domestic stuff that I won't bore you with. I have, however, been giving the front garden much consideration. 

What a mess! That's the result of almost two years of neglect. Time, methinks, to do something. It needs a makeover so I'm looking for a landscape gardener but that's proving to be not as easy as I hoped. In the meantime, I've moved the smaller of the overgrown weed-filled pots to the area I've designated the potting area in the back garden. The plan is to clean them out and repot any plants found worth saving. Any pots that are emptied completely will be cleaned up, filled with lovely new compost and sown with quick growing annuals such as:

nasturtiums 

calendula 

eschscholzia 

malope

All photos and seeds from the Higgeldy Garden.

Hoping for a bit of late summer colour. 

And finally,

However much I despair of my overgrown patch it's clearly providing Silver with the perfect hunting ground!

Thanks for following my blog, reading this post, and for sticking with me this far. I'm trying to post more regularly but it's been a rocky road for so long and I still have days that are a struggle. Listen to me! I don't want you to think that it's all bad. I'm slowly, but surely, adjusting to this new way of life. 

On that note, I'll sign off for today. 

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

In A Vase on Monday

Good Morning Everyone,

As mentioned in my last post, due to the paucity of material in my garden, I've been foraging up in the nature reserve for today's In A Vase On Monday. I was hoping to find trees in blossom but it's too early just yet. Buds are just forming on the hawthorn trees (crataegus) but otherwise there are no flowers. 

Nevertheless, all the different shades of green found make a fresh and pretty display. Unfortunately, except for the hawthorn, I don't know the names of the other trees I snipped from. 

I'll leave you with this shot of this stunning camelia, smothered in blossoms now, growing in a neighbour's garden. I've been keeping my eye on it for a while wondering how well it would do this year. My patience has been rewarded. It has excelled itself this year.

For many more colourful displays do pop over to Cathy's blog, Rambling in the Garden. Cathy's vase includes tulips that are much more bright and colourful than my all-green offering. 

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

In A Vase On Monday

 

When we moved home I brought as many of the plant pots from my garden as I was allowed. They've been sadly neglected since so pickings are very slim indeed. 

However, after a deep search I found two tulip buds and one sad little narcissus peaking out of a rose tub. The foliage is from a self-seeded aquilegia and a curry plant (helichrysum italicum).

The photo in the background is one of my favourite shots of my late brother, Douglas. 

Given that there is very little in bloom in my poor neglected garden, next week's vase contents will have to come from elsewhere. Fortunately, there's a nature reserve at the top of my road which I'm thinking could be an ideal source of plant material. 

Please pop over the Rambling in the Garden, where Cathy hosts her very popular Monday meme, to follow links to other beautiful vases today. 

Note: Much as I've tried this week and last, I am unable to leave a comment on Cathy's blog. I've tried everything with no success. Things have clearly changed in the year I've been gone. 

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth