genialgemsandothergabblings

I came back from a shopping trip  to spend my Birthday money with this lovely little planter which  I fell for bigtime! I have many planters all over the garden which are sometimes a problem as when we go on holiday I have to enlist the help of someone to water them and this can sometimes take a while in hot weather. This large pot planted up would have cost quite a lot from a garden centre but it was on offer at at half price empty and I got lots of reduced spring bulb in flower from Morrisons which are great for really good plants at good prices.In a week or two it will look really great and have early bees buzzing all over it I hope. Then I spent more money and ordered this lovely fabric from Australia , Just could  not resist it. Now what to make with it is the question....Any ideas?

Well seeing as they say we are in for a few mild spring like days, at least until the weekend I thought I would post up a few spring like photos taken in the garden. Lovely tete a tete daffodils coming into flower Some eggs dropped from the nest of the doves in the conifer tree, they have started early this year. Just wish they liked another garden as I shall worry because of the cats. A sweet group of snowdrops. Last night I made Pancakes which were pretty tasty, you shouldn't stop these things just because the kids grow up and go! Hope you manage to get out in the milder air!

Nella Last probably looked out at this view many times during her life. It is the view across to Piel Island from near Rampside, a location often referred to in her diary. Infact I think it was the place where she said that her grandmother spent a couple of months nursing a sick child. Is this the hotel in Nella's diary where she attended a wedding? Rampside itself is a sleepy little backwater, tucked away with a few houses and cottages on the road  from Barrow to Ulverston. The shore has silted up and a few old fishing boats are scattered here and there and when we visited in winter it had a forlorn look but then so do many such places and come summer they spring to life . The market place in Ulverston where Nella often went with her husband for a drive to shop. Across to Piel Island An old shop in Ulverston that still retains the look of shops 60 years ago that Nella would have known.It is a town that has not seen many changes in the years since Nella knew it. 

Thank you so much to everyone for some lovely birthday gifts, I was a very lucky lady indeed. Sonia and Nigel surprised me with a voucher to be used this summer for Afternoon tea at a lovely  hotel in Haworth and even better Sonia will be coming with me!  My Tea voucher!  The hotel at Haworth Here I am standing in the grounds of Storrs Hall hotel at Windermere at the start of our 2 days away last weekend. I had wondered if we would actually even get there as Peter was coughing like mad with this virus that we both got , but we did and the cough came with us! Still we had a really lovely stay at the hotel which was very nice and and warm and cosy with beautiful meals and breakfast taken in a dining room looking out over the lake. A view from Fell Foot park Little snowdrops near Beatrix Potters Hilltop Mountains with snow on the way to Hawkshead Inside Storrs Hall Snow and lots of it!

Black cap Did you know that squirrels are partial to a bit of chocolate birthday cake? Well here they seem to be and he was so excited, he danced off after having a nibble then back he flew and so on and so forth.Well nuts can get  a bit boring all the time I guess. With the weather being so cold and having gone down with some horrible chesty virus I have been hibernating away like a squirrel myself and keeping warm . This has allowed me to do a bit of  craft work and catch up on a  few sewing projects,such as the cushion with the hare's face .  I drew the picture and machine embroidered the face with just a little hand fill in. It's a  gift for someone so I am quite pleased it turned out fairly nice. I managed to get a couple of layouts done for my scrapbook, made some cards so at least  I don't feel as though I have completely wasted time.    Just  a couple of weeks ago we called at Martin Mere and saw the swans , the other little bird  I managed to photograph is a