rubykittyruby

  There are three or four blackberry bushes on my allotment, and the first of the berries to ripen and be ready to eat were picked today.  Served with fat free natural yoghurt and a meringue nest, completely delicious.  Lots of the hedgerows locally have blackberries growing in them, and I'll be out - with my freezer bags and plastic tubs - collecting berries in a few weeks time when they're at their peak of sweetness.   I was on my allotment today, making the most of the sunshine, and doing my best to tidy things up.  I've not been spending enough time down there this year.  A combination of cold, rainy weather and having other things to occupy myself with has kept me away.  Consequently, yesterday I received one of those official ' tidy your plot or we'll kick you off ' letters.  Ooops!  I've nearly four weeks to get my act together, which is do-able, and I've made a good start.  Pulling up weeds and flowers that've gone to seed, ...

I haven't posted for a while, and can't give you any good reason for that.  Day to day life gets in the way sometimes. Odd jobs and irritating tasks need doing, and sometimes have to take precedent over taking pictures and wittering away on Blogger.   Well, we managed to miss the worst of Storm Babet in this part of Yorkshire.  The rain fell continuously for an entire day, and I discovered there was a tiny gap at the top of the sliding glass doors leading to the conservatory, and through that tiny gap rain dripped down for hours!  I can't complain though, can I?  I mean, all I needed to do was deal with several sheets of soggy newspaper and a few damp cloths.  Nothing compared to the poor people whose houses have flooded.  I can't imagine how awful that'd be.   Today's foggy.  It's nearly lunchtime and it's not fully lifted.  I've been indoors this morning, happily splashing acrylic paint around and producing yet more prints us...

Today's going to be a lengthy post as I'm combining a couple of things.  My self-imposed task for October, namely making different types of simple books, plus my regular Wednesday craft book review.  I think I'll do the book review first, so here goes -  I've chosen 'Makery' by Kate Smith, first published in 2013.  It's subtitled 'Over 30 projects for the home, to wear and to give', and includes several patterns including ones for a clasp purse, a shoulder bag and a stuffed stag's head.  (No taxidermy involved, I promise.)   The book's divided into sections - fashion, gifts, home - and the final reference pages which give basic beginner instructions for how to hand stitch, use a sewing machine, knit and crochet.  There are a good mix of projects featured in the book.  A decoupage necklace, a flex frame sunglasses case, hand carved rubber stamps, a felt embroidered cuckoo clock (no, really!), a knitted rug and a lovely patchwork pouffe that I...