good things for the weekend!

happy saturday!

here are some pretty things for the weekend....

how has your week been? despite having most of the week off from work, I have been really busy.... this week has included two trips to bristol (one for yoga, one for tea with the lovely shelley), it's Eurovision tonight (which I think we're all excited about) and there's a Eurovision party round at my friend Rhys' house. Monday me and bert are off to London for the day - we are going to see the Lichtenstein exhibition at Tate Modern and check out a few other things too. I am back in work on Wednesday and I know I have so much on (hello half term, hello hay book festival, hello reading group) that it's just best I don't think about it at the moment.

anyway... on to some nice things....

my lovely cushions! I just had to have that one of a hare....

we watched Moonrise Kingdom again the other week. I love Suzy's books and what she packs for her trip - mainly books, but also a record player and records and a kitten.

I bought another escape magazine and this is a picture from it - it's of the inside of a tipi in tipi valley in west wales.

I am a big magazine fan.... and tipi fan.

I love this beautiful  Bubblegum Installation by Merijn Hos an Renee Riejnders

so excited about Robbie's new book! which comes out in september.

I think we all need a copy.

He blogs over at www.knitxcore.com in case you didn't know.

 are you doing anything fun this weekend?

are you watching Eurovision? I think romania is my favourite... or finland

x

creative space

I'm working on a simple crochet blanket! it's my first proper crochet project (other than 2 scarves). Turns out that crochet is a bit addictive. The colours here are a little off - here it looks a  bit peachy, but actually it's bright, bright orange as I wanted to go for a bit of a seventies look.

I'm still quilting, but have been working on three different quilts so at the moment there isn't much to show.

In other news I think my camera's broken after getting wet in our lovely Welsh weather.

(linking up with my creative space too)

the cutest seed packets you ever did see

over the bank holiday weekend I made seed packets with the kids.

I had made a template and got the children to decorate it and the we stuck it all together and popped in some seeds that they could take home and grow.

here are just a few (badly photographed in a dark shed) images from the sessions.

I love this one so much!

look at Elliot planting his seeds and watching them grow into flowers with love!

and here it is all folded up seed packety

this one's mine...

as are these.

asparagus pea helped me choose my seeds (calendula - so the bees would like em) and was also talking to people all about bees and any fruit enquiries...

(am linking up with my creative space - people have been making over there!)

Plum

Bert got me a copy of this new vegan cookbook called Plum by Makini Howell.

It is so beautiful.

I don't think I've seen such a pretty vegan cookbook!

and the recipes are different too....

there's lots of delicious looking tofu recipes....

how does balsamic tofu with white bean sauce and agave pumpkins sound?

good, huh?

or tempeh vermouth?

and there are raw recipes in there too and some fancy looking pizzas...

and it shows you how to make fresh vegan pasta, which is something I've wanted to try for a while.

I can't wait to make something from this book! 

Have you seen it, or have you been lucky enough to visit the Plum restaurant in Seattle?

happy beltane!

Happy Beltane and May Day all!

what i read in april

here's what I read this April!

A goo-ood bunch I think.

Manhattan when I was young by Mary Cantwell

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore

The End of Your Life Bookclub by Will Schwalbe

Green Girl by Kate Zambreno

I await the Devil's Coming by Mary Maclane

I liked lots of these and have written more about them on Goodreads 

My Favourites of the month were probably Manhattan When I was Young which is a memoir about working on magazines in 1950s New York, and Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton - Leanne Shapton is a writer/illustrator and her drawings and paintings are just lovely. This book is a memoir about swimming, and I used to swim a lot, so, you know, I could relate.

I also thought The End of Your Life Bookclub was very lovely too, it's another memoir, but this time about a mother/son relationship when the mother is dying. They read books together and then discuss the books so it gives them something to talk about other than illness and treatments.

Oh gosh, I also really liked Green Girl... and I await the devil's coming, and even tho The Night Watch was a re-read for me, I loved that too....

so,all the books I read this month were great, aside from Texas Gothic which was just ok....

what have you been reading?

what shall I read next?

oh, and happy beltane!x

bionic

I hadn't watched Bionic Woman until recently....Thanks to Bert and his continuing 70s obsession we now have a box set. I love it, and Lindsay Wagner is super pretty (and strong, of course). She often wears great mu-mu's and robes.