Snowdrops

I'm so pleased it was bright and sunny today - I had a friend coming over, and I wanted to take her to Benington Lordship for the snowdrop walk.  After all the snow, today was the first day that they've been able to open the gardens.

Apparently, they have over 200 varieties.  Not sure I could really tell the difference, but I'll take their word for it.

I love this house - they filmed a BBC version of Just William here a couple of years ago.

I'm a bit of a fan of knot gardens, or maybe it's "partial to a parterre".  And I like the splash of red from the shrub in the background.

More snowdrops ...

And giant snowdrops ...

and not just snowdrops, but hellebores too

On a completely different note, how about these two lovely little plates I found in a charity shop yesterday.  They are tiny - smaller than saucers.  But just right for a little fairy cake.  Sorry, we ate the cakes before I thought to take a picture.

Snowdrops - The Pineapple Thief

Cups and Cakes

What a lovely afternoon!  There were lots of beautiful and delicious home made cakes

and our best china ...

and once we had set everything out in readiness,

we just had to keep our fingers crossed, that in spite of the cold, people would come.  And they did!

We had a steady flow of visitors all afternoon, who said very encouraging things - and (big excitement) I even sold two pieces of work.  I managed to stay calm, although really I wanted to jump up and down.  Actually I probably should have done, it might have burnt off a few calories from the cakes.  In case you wondered, I went for the jacket instead of the cardie - on the basis that I could wear the cardigan anytime, whereas this jacket has limited 'wearability'! 

So a very big thank you to Gina, our bossyboots bully mentor, for her advice, encouragement and organisation, and to Viv and Kev at Art Van Go (Art Suppliers to the Stars) for letting us host our Tea Party in the gallery, and to all of the lovely guests who came and stayed to drink tea, eat cake, and who said such nice things about our work.  

As my Mum said this morning, my sister Linda would have loved it - and she'd have been equally as excited as me that I sold something.  I so wish she could have been there - but then who's to say that she wasn't?

Cups and Cakes - Spinal Tap

Come and Join Us!

It's today! 

I've made the cakes .....

and I've dug out and ironed my summer frock.  Tell me - whose silly idea was it to wear a summer frock in February?  Oh, that'd be me then.  Still, with my vintage-y cardie over the top, no-one will know that I'm wearing a long-sleeved thermal vest underneath.  Although there's no disguising the thick tights and boots.   Classy.

 Or maybe, instead of the cardie, I'll wear the charity shop denim jacket I finished 'embellishing' this morning?

Now,  we just have to hope that someone turns up!

Come And Join Us - err The Salvation Army?

She's The Queen

I WAS intending to give you a mini preview of our Spectrum exhibition, now that it's all beautifully hung.  However, having taken loads of photographs I inadvertently left my camera there.  Fortunately one of the girls realised it was mine and I will be reunited with it on Saturday.  In the meantime, can I suggest you head over to Gina's blog as she managed to take pictures AND remember her camera.  (I guess that's why she's in charge)

So instead, I'll tell you where I've been today .....

It's a lovely exhibition, with some familiar photographs and a lot that I'd never seen before. Plus some other artefacts, such as an affectionate letter from the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to Cecil Beaton, thanking him for a book of photographs that he had taken of her family over the years.  I think this photo of the Queen, taken in 1945 when she was still a young Princess, is one of my favourites.  

The exhibition opens tomorrow and runs until 22nd April.  Well worth a visit.

Following a link from Jane, I went to Own A Colour.com where, for a donation you can buy and name one  of over 16 million colours.  I went for a lurid pink shade - and named it Gilly Pink.

Gilly Pink is the name of an Art Van Go ink, which is also, incidentally, named after me!  I guess that's my 15 minutes of fame then.

Oh, and in case I haven't mention it, I hope to see some of you for tea and cakes on Saturday.

She's The Queen - Starflyer 59

Wrong Place, Right Time

We tried a new venue for knitting on Friday - The Saloon in Hertford.  We have been there before but it's had a name change and a re-vamp and it's lovely.

It has half a dozen different wallpapers - these two are my favourites...

And the light fittings were fab too - we all wanted these chandeliers

And this one was ingenious - now I suppose there will be a run on old lampshades in the charity shops

Not sure if there's a problem with their signage though.  Having been there for several hours and having had numerous teas and coffees, I nipped to the loo for the second time.  Afterwards, I washed my hands and it seemed that during the course of the morning, since my first visit, someone had been in and re-sited the heated hand drier.  And I could have sworn that the beautiful metallic tiles were blue and not bronze.  On my way out back to join the girls, I glanced to my right I noticed some other items that hadn't been there before.  Yeah, you've guessed it, I was in the gents. Luckily there weren't any chaps about.

Tomorrow we are due to hang our Spectrum exhibition at Art Van Go.  All of our work is in, and I've been pottering about making small things to sell, cards .....

.............and needlecases, from vintage table linens (don't think badly of me, I only cut up the stained or torn ones)

But now I'm a bit concerned whether we'll all manage to get there tomorrow, because of this .....

I did think that as I don't now intend to go anywhere today, I'd make a start on my stitching homework, but I find myself trying to make some sense of my pen and pencil storage.  You wouldn't believe how many different containers and cases and 'really useful boxes' I have, that contain an assortment of pens and pencils.  No wonder I can never find the particular one I want.  

I must be in Spring cleaning mode - last week I tidied up my sock drawers.  I counted up how many pairs I had - is 78 pairs a bit excessive, do you think?  Anyway, I did a fair bit of decluttering and whilst I'm not prepared to say how many pairs I STILL have, at least I'm down to one drawerful now.

Let's see how I get on with the writing implements.  Enjoy the snow x

Wrong Place, Right Time - The Fall