Spring flowers

I love this time of year. The garden - which, being north-west facing, spends most of the winter enshrouded in dull dampness - is finally seeing some sunshine and bursting into life once more. I moved my little cherry tree into a better position to catch some rays and warm the soil in it's pot and it responded by bursting into bloom - the smell is heavenly! Hopefully we will actually have some cherries this year - before all the birds get them...

Sometimes a wonder why I bother so much with the cultivation of plants. I really think that I should just leave mother nature to do the work - look at these gorgeous wild violets that have popped up in little clumps everywhere in the front garden. I know, I know 'They're invasive, they'll be everywhere by next summer and you'll never be able to get rid of them blah blah' but you know what, they and the primroses and and all the other pretty so-called 'weeds' can stay and flourish and provide me with a nice colourful view from kitchen window without any input from me (except the occasional removal of dandelions which, while they are a lovely sunny colour DO tend to take over the plot completely!) Gardening at it's simplest...

Hobbies Fair

I was recently asked to create some of my personalized bunting to advertise a forthcoming event that is promising to be an interesting day out to say the least...




A 'Hobbies Fair' held at Gorsley village hall on May 15th (Gorsley is a little village in Gloucestershire about 10 miles or so from Gloucester) The organiser, a lovely lady called Sarah Davy has gathered together a host of people to come along and share their hobbies with the public. Contributors include a beekeeper, a spinner, a potter and a gentleman who has restored an old vintage car. Weather permitting there will also be a pet dog show.
Lara's Den will also be there of course, represented by my goodself, Riley and the mother-in-law, so I am busy making bunting, pin cushions, pillows, teddies and other goodies plus we will have Alys' jewellery and Hannah's cards.
Light refreshments will be available but the surroundings are perfect for a picnic so why not make a day of it?
Old fashioned village fetes are a dying tradition ( although here in the Forest they are thriving, with two or three some weekends at the height of summer) so it's great to see someone trying to galvanise the community and provide a fun day out for the whole family.
Lets just hope the weather doesn't spoil it!

Hobbies Fair, Gorsley Village Hall, May 15th, 11am-4pm

How the time flies...

I cannot believe it has been 7 - yes 7!- months since my last post.
Well things have been a bit hectic what with trying to get Owen's new shop up and running not to mention Lara's Den... It's been hard times for many as the recession seems to have caught up with many of our customers and, in turn ourselves. The almost three months of continued bad weather really didn't help matters as we couldn't even get to the shop to open up on several days during January.
But spring is here and the lengthening days and warm sunshine has lifted everyones mood and the bikers are coming out en force once again which means trade at both branches of Bikerdean is picking up nicely - here's to a long, hot, busy summer season!
I have been busy too - orders for my personalised bunting have been slow but steady - with one order coming from the Merthyr Tydfil Fairtrade Steering Group who wanted bunting for their stall in the fairtrade colours - I even managed to make it using fairtrade cotton hand dyed and loomed and quite 'rustic' to look at but great to work with. The staff at Fair Trade Fabric were really helpful and even sent me some samples so I could get the right colours - if you want to try some of their lovely fabrics go to http://www.fairtradefabric.co.uk/ where there is also a very interesting page on why 'fair trade' is so important.

I have also been making lots more lovely fabric things for Lara's and for my own shop I am currently in the process of building at http://folksy.com (which is like Etsy but UK based). I will let you know when it's open for business!