My garden in May and plans for June

Some big changes to the front of the garden in May, starting with the removal of the tree and creating a new border out the front.

View from bedroom window, we're not overlooked at the front or the back of the house. 

Before

After

My friend collected the logs for her wood burner.

The border had disappeared and was half weed, half bulbs.

I've since added a few new plants here, a fuchsia and lupin.

The back garden also saw some tree work, not as successful, but I did read up about how to cut a fir tree back to retain shape and regrowth, time will tell how it's worked out.

The lawn looks so much better now it is edged properly.

Bluebells growing in the garden.

I've been wanting a hydrangea for years, now I'm back in the UK I treated myself to one.

I'm growing peas, basil, mint, tomatoes.

I added some colour to the garden fence.

My friend distance dropped a table and chairs she no longer had use for off.

My garden plans for June.

 Repurposing my recycling I made mini green houses for my beans. I've been unable to get a plastic greenhouse anywhere.

The cat and dog have been digging up smaller plants, so I made this frame for the beans to grow around. I've been unable to dig up the tree stump so this is a good way for me to hide it.

I've prepared a spot to plant my pumpkin out and looking for somewhere for my cucumber plant.

Long term plans are to extend the conservatory with a lean too, to enable us to enjoy sitting outside more when the weather isn't as good. If anyone has done this I'd love to hear how easy it was to do and what costs were involved.

If you'd like to join in with The Garden Year and showcase your garden then you can link up with Stephanie on her blog Life at 139a. I'd love to read more gardening posts to share ideas.

What I've been doing during lockdown - Crafting

Last week I blogged about the gardening, this week it's all the craft activities I've been doing around the house.

I've got so many bits and pieces on the go, I'm starting to wonder if lockdown will be long enough to allow me to finish, especially as I'm also redecorating our family home after 9 years of tenants.

All the items I've made will be kindly donated/offloaded onto the Things, my great nephew, our grandchild and a friends twins.

I've turned child 5's old bedroom into a craft room

Used milk bottle cartoons to make Elephants

Used up old tins of paint in the shed, toilet rolls and sticks from the garden to make giraffes

Washed and painted stones from the garden

Recycled cans into plant holders to brighten up the garden

Made pom poms to turn into a rug for our grandchild

Attempted a jigsaw puzzle with help from the cat

Hung bunting up around the house I made a few years ago

Hatched a flamingo, that a friend gave me last year

Had a complete fail with papier mache

Had a felting kit gifted to me from a friend that I'm having fun with

Every week I post magazines and sweets to my mum, with a large stamped address envelope, so she can fill it with crafting items such as wool and ribbons and all she has to do is post it in the letter box near her home.

Have you been doing any crafts? I have limited abilities and limited resources, but I've had a lot of fun and it's amazing what you can do/make with things you have lying around the house.

I wish I had my sewing machine and over locker with me in the UK and my stash of material to make some more bunting, a new bed for the dog and get the curtains ready for when our furniture arrives at some point in the future.

Making floor cushions

How hard can it be to make a floor cushion? 

Well the answer is not that hard at all. 

It took me around an hour to mark and cut the 16 pieces.

15 minutes and a lot of swearing to thread the over locker. 

About 20 mins to sew the pieces together.

A lot more swearing to sew the centre piece.

20 minutes to add the base piece.

10 minutes to stuff and 15 mins to hand sew the opening up. I used stuffing but if you're short of space you could use it to store a winter/summer duvet. 

I up cycled a pair of curtains and an old table cloth for the project, unfortunately I cut the material the wrong way (there's a fancy way of saying this, Dias???) and as soon as I sat on it the seams started to rip and after much more swearing and hand sewing. I gave up and will try again tomorrow with a different cut.

And I'll reuse this material to make some patch work smaller cushions after re cutting it the other way. 

What uses are there for old and odd socks?

I suffer with chill blains and I get fed up taking gloves on and off to regulate my temperature. I asked hubby to pick me up a couple of thin, cotton pairs from the UK and he threw me a pair of his socks and said 'make your own'

 Choose an old pair of socks

 Cut above the heel

 Hem the top with a blanket stitch

 Put on and mark where you want the thumb hole

 Cut the thumb hole about 1.5cm long, use blanket stitch or machine button hole

 Decorate with buttons or ribbons