Purple but not sprouting

At the allotment today I was hoping for broccoli; it was planted last spring and looks lovely and healthy, it has been just about to sprout for weeks and weeks, lots of buds but no shoots. I wonder if it will ever shoot or if I did something wrong. Too much water, too little water, too close together, too cold, too hot... Who knows? It is my third year of trying to grow broccoli and it is my last if this doesn't work.

But boy what it lacked in sprouts, it made up for in colour.

There is something about colour that can just catch me unawares sometimes. Like a certain piece of music it can just make your heart sing, and your soul soar. And when I got home, still buoyed up by the glorious richness of the purple leaves, I realised that I chose that particular purple quite a lot in fact.

What I was wearing for a start...

My new cushion fabric

My ripple blanket (Nearly finished, I've started the border, can you see?)

Definitely purple..

My favourite house plant

I remember reading on someone's blog about how they chose their colours, then ended up with the same ones every time. Soul colours she called them. Well, I guess I found mine.

Been busy

I've been offline, finding it hard to get back into blogging. The longer you leave it the more difficult it gets. (that is such a truism, you can apply it to so many things... tidying, decorating, exercise....)
Anyway I've not been idle. In the craft arena I've crocheted a scarf

Remember the first attempt? Here

Well I frogged that and bought a couple of balls of new blue wool. OH is delighted with it, and I must say I am quite pleased. It was SO quick to make. Two strands of yarn crocheted together, a simple half treble (us half double) and only a few long rows. All done in one evening. What's not to like?

And I made a bag, started a quilt - well actually I've done quite a lot of a quilt :) - and made some fabric boxes for a friend and neighbour. Oh, and I made a cushion out of the remnant I found here. Plenty of stuff to post about. No excuses.

January brings the snow

A Song of the Weather

January brings the snow,
Makes your feet and fingers glow.

February's ice and sleet
Freeze the toes right off your feet.

Welcome March with wintry wind
Would thou wert not so unkind!

April brings the sweet spring showers,
On and on for hours and hours.

Farmers fear unkindly May
Frost by night and hail by day.

June just rains and never stops
Thirty days and spoils the crops.

In July the sun is hot.
Is it shining? No, it's not.

August, cold and dank and wet,
Brings more rain than any yet.

Bleak September's mist and mud
Is enough to chill the blood.

Then October adds a gale,
Wind and slush and rain and hail.

Dark November brings the fog
Should not do it to a dog.

Freezing wet December, then
Bloody January again!

January brings the snow ... The great comedians Flanders and Swann version of the children's nursery rhyme.

Not much snow here yet, so here is a picture from last year.

Linking to Francesca's Corner View on fuoriborgo

Hyacinths and haberdashery

Well, today was very successful in many ways. After picking up an off-cut of a gorgeous furnishing fabric from John Lewis, I went to our local fabric shop to search for supplies to turn it into a large cushion. The perfect fabric for backing and piping- in the off-cuts bin for £2!, bargain. Here they are, I can't wait to see it made up. It comforts me to read other's comments on their fabric buying habits and to know I am not the only one who cannot resist these impulse buys. Chocolate leaves me cold, but fabric? Or a new pattern or book. No self control at all!

In other news, I have another project to share at some point, but not yet. Here's just a hint:

And the hyacinths? Beautiful, just such a gorgeous scent to fill the senses when I am anywhere downstairs. Unfortunately I can't share the scent....

Marmalade #2 and a little embroidery

I think if I didn't like marmalade I would still make it. It is so beautiful with the light behind it and the strips of peel suspended in the glowing jelly. But I do like it, so I get the best of both worlds. A feast for the eyes and the palate.

So I made my second batch of the year today, now I have enough for our own consumption as well as enough to give away.

In other news I tried my hand at a little machine embroidery. I have wanted to make an embroidered picture for as long as I can remember, and inspired by many talented blogger, made a little sketch, transferred it to cloth, and just 'had a go' today. Well, for a first try, it's ok.

Corner view- Black and White

It is all there in black and white!
From my teenage daughter's bedroom wall.

Linking up to Corner View on fuoriborgo blog from Francesca.

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor..

Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief!

Do you know this rhyme? It goes on, I don't remember all the words but I do remember the second verse ends in Indian chief!

Anyway, I definitely don't know enough verses for the amount of damson stones I have here.

I found a carrier bag of damsons in the freezer that my sister gave me from her tree a while ago ( it might even have been 2010, oops!). I'm not that fond of damsons so they have languished there ever since. But having been up to see my brother and his family, and having been given a selection of very delicious chutneys with my lunch I decided it was time to make some myself.

And now I remember why I don't like damsons. Too many #€£¥% stones!

In the recipe I used for the chutney, Delia suggested using rubber gloves to separate the stones from the flesh. Works a treat but it doesn't half make a mess!

Oh and I had some damsons over so I made some jam. More stones, more mess.

But it will be nice when it is eaten. The chutney is still cooking by the way, hence no pictures of the finished item in nice clean jars. Phew the house smells of vinegar too.
Now to clean up the kitchen :(