A year of blogging...

I'm celebrating a year of blogging today! The last year seems to have flown past without many changes in my life. I'm really happy I decided to start this blog, it has given me a positive focus for times when things aren't so good but also a place to record memories and I have enjoyed looking back at my posts. The 52 Weeks of Happy posts, which I started this year, have made me look for the happy things through the week. Being a carer, it's sometimes emotionally challenging so having the happy things to look for gives me something else to focus on. 

Blogging has made me notice things more than before because I'm always thinking about photos I could take for my blog. The changing seasons, flowers, insects, my outside space are all things I've taken more of an interest in, over the last year. I've learnt things from other bloggers too, such as the names of flowers in my garden and the identification of a caterpillar I'd found in the garden.

I first came across blogs when I was looking for how to/patterns/ideas for crochet. My nan has always crocheted but she found it hard to teach it so I looked at YouTube videos and on blogs. I started crocheting in April last year, just doing practice pieces at first. When I came across Lucy @Attic24 and her granny stripe blanket, I knew straight away I'd like to make one. Not long after I found Jacquie @BunnyMummy who had made the same blanket but in seaside colours, this was perfect for me as my favourite place is the beach so I started on my own blanket. I have been getting on with the blanket over the past couple of weeks but there is still a long way to go!

Thank you for all your lovely comments over the last year! All in all, blogging is great and I've really enjoyed it so here's to another year!

I'll leave you with some of my favourite photos from the last year.

Glorious Sunday!

What beautiful weather we had in the South today! The warmest day of the year so far, I think we got to 18°c. It was so nice to feel the warm sun on my skin (I was in short sleeves!) and to have the windows open so a breeze flowed through the house. I did three loads of washing and got it all dried on the line too.

I spent about an hour and a half in the garden planting and just watching the wildlife enjoying the weather too. I planted my mini daffodils and some snowdrops in the rockery, to hopefully enjoy next year.

All of the time I was outside there was a Comma butterfly flitting to and from the heather. I took eight photos but only a couple were any good!

Comma butterfly

This could be a dead leaf in the heather!

There were a couple of bees too, a Red-tailed bumblebee and one with a white bottom. I also saw a yellow coloured butterfly and two butterflies dancing around together but I couldn't see what they were. 

Red bottom!

I spent 10 minutes standing still, by the washing line pole, waiting for a robin to feel brave enough to come to the feeders so I could get a photo. The robin teased me, flying from the tree, to the fence, onto the grass but never to the feeders. Just standing, listening I heard the sound of people chattering, a lawn mower starting up, a motorbike whizzing up the hill, a car alarm going off all sounds I wouldn't necessarily have acknowledged if I hadn't been still. Sometimes our lives are so busy and on the go, we forget to stop and listen and take things in. 

A few more photos from the garden today. Blossom in my neighbour's garden.

Daffodil buds.

A lone seven spot ladybird.

My washing blowing in the wind.

Spring is on the way and I can't wait! I hope you've all had a glorious Sunday too!

Making a pond

I've always wanted to have a pond in the garden but my nan didn't like the idea. So, I've made a pond in a bowl, I got the idea from this website. I did it yesterday with my nephew and finished off when my niece got home from school.

Finding the best location. I was going to dig a hole to put the bowl in but decided to stand it on top instead. The rockery hasn't really been touched for many years (apart from a few bits I planted last year) so it's a bit overgrown and has weeds coming through.

My nephew washing the gravel.

The pond in place, ready to be filled.

The finished pond, filled with rain water. I'm not sure how successful it will be but it's good to experiment! I thought, if this doesn't attract any wildlife I will dig a hole in the rockery and use pond liner to make a new pond.

When I tidied up the rockery a bit today, I saw this caterpillar under a rock. It was curled up in a ball and I don't have clue what it is! I had a look online but couldn't find what it is. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

After not seeing many ladybirds last year, I saw a seven spot ladybird on one of the bins yesterday, so hopefully it will be a better year for seeing ladybirds.

One frosty morning

Some photos from the garden this morning.

This week

I've had quite a busy week so I'll just share some photos.

Clouds rolling in. This is from the window which is why the aerial is in the middle!

Another lovely sunset.

This tree is in my neighbour's garden, with red and also some green leaves.

This is the crochet Minion that I'm making for my niece and nephews, here is the body.

This is the beginning of the trousers but it went a bit wrong, it's not flat! I think it will be OK though as it will be attached to the body.

I hope you've all had a good week. Thank you for the comments on my last post, I'm pleased to report that both nan's are feeling much better.

In the garden...

I spent some time in the garden today, taking some photos and enjoying the warm sun. I thought I would share these with you.

Vapour lines from the planes.

There were three of these holes dug in the garden and this one with a poo by it. I'm not sure what is making these holes, maybe a hedgehog?

Lots of mushrooms by the climbing frame.

I have had a look in my Fungi book, these look like Fairy Ring Champignon. Any other suggestions?

I really like this photo with the small water drops on the grass, the first time I looked at it I didn't even see the water drops.

I know this one is blurred and the focus is on the grass in the foreground but I quite like it.

Upside down!

I wonder what's been eating this one.

I saw this red leaf and, at first, I thought it was a moth but on closer inspection I realised it was a leaf!

I hadn't looked up behind the shed so I didn't know this fence had come down. Part of it was already broken, now it's all broken!

There were quite a few windfall apples so I made an apple bird feeder with some and kept the best ones to make a crumble tomorrow.

I'd put some twine under each apple because they kept falling down, then I realised I could of put pegs on instead. I think they make good bird stands. Although, I think if a pigeon lands on it, it will all fall down! There haven't been many birds coming into the garden recently.

I'm enjoying watching Autumnwatch, it's just a shame it's only on for four days. I love seeing all the different wildlife.

After the storm

So, the storm 'St Jude' hit on Sunday night and we were lucky, we didn't have any damage. Our neighbours had a bit of damage to their fence and they lost their big trampoline. There were quite a few trees down in the area and travel disruption to the buses and trains.

I took a photo of the garden before, in case there was any change but as you can see there wasn't any.

Before and After

Did you have any damage from the storm? I hope you managed to stay safe.

Bird watching

I haven't really spent any time this year watching the birds, except when I did the Big Garden Birdwatch in January. From the bedroom I can watch birds on the bird feeders in the back garden. So, I spent about 15 minutes on Thursday, after 8pm, not expecting to see any birds but I did! A male and female house sparrow, great tit, male chaffinch, greenfinch and two wood pigeons. I also saw about 16 Red Kites over the garden on Thursday afternoon. The RSBP website is good for identifying birds.

This goldfinch was on the telephone wire then it went down to the garden, I got a few pictures but none of them are very good. Here is the best one!

Goldfinch

These flowers were waiting for me when I got back from holiday and they are still going strong!

I have been doing quite a bit of crocheting the last couple of days, although I'm still making slow progress! I'm on the seventh colour now but I have realised that I've been doing the end of the second row of colour wrong! Instead of going into the top of the chain three, I've been going between the last treble and chain three. It's looks fine to me though and I wasn't going to undo it all!

This has been a bit of a mixed post so sorry if it hasn't made good reading!

 

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Crocheting and flowers

Even though I haven't been doing much crocheting, my granny stripe blanket is now taking shape. I'm pleased with how it's coming on and I'm excited to see how it will look once its finished, that might be a long way off though!

Here is my progress so far.

The pink lupin in the rockery is flowering now and looks lovely.

I don't know what has happened to the red lupin though! It went a bit funny after I bought it but it seems to be perking up a little bit now.

The foxglove isn't flowering yet but seems to be doing well.

I haven't seen any ladybirds yet this year, which is unusual. Last year it was about April when I first saw them and we had quite a few around the garden. I guess it's the late Spring making them later. I haven't seen many butterflies either, just the Large Whites.

I have been busy uploading my mums photos to Flickr now that you get 1 terabyte of storage and unlimited uploads, it's nice to look through the old photos. I will be packing tomorrow to go on holiday on Friday, hopefully I will get to do some posts while I'm away.

Hope you all have a great week!

 

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