Flutterby Patch

A day of great sadness and loss

If you'd been at Flutterby Patch on Wednesday morning you would have found me moaning yet again about a pipe on our central heating boiler that drips and makes puddles on the nice clean floor. We've had several visits from plumbers but it seems no one can fix the dreaded drips. And so I mopped up the water, did a few chores and then mopped and moaned some more.

Still thinking about the dripping pipe and how it could be cured, I sat down with my lunch to watch the TV news. Nothing could have prepared me for the horrific scenes being shown. That morning, a 52 year old man in our county had shot his twin brother, then his lawyer and then his friend. We were told he was now working his way across the area shooting to kill anyone he saw. He was travelling in our direction and advice was to stay inside and lock all doors and windows. It was a warm sunny day and I'd planned to spend the afternoon in the garden but not any more. I spent the afternoon glued to the TV and watched the tragedy unfold as body after body was discovered. In total, the man killed 12 people, badly injured 12 more and then turned the gun on himself.

British laws on gun ownership are extremely strict but on Wednesday morning in our sparsely populated county, where few crimes are committed, a local man cut short the lives of 12 innocent people.

Today is Friday. The sun is shining and so I spent the afternoon with my family at our local garden festival and a jolly good time was had by all..... And the dripping pipe?...... Yes, it's still dripping, but who cares!

This horrific story has been beamed around the world and several of my blogging pals who saw the pictures recognised Cumbria as the place where I live. I should like to thank you all for your messages of concern. Thankfully the people in our town were not harmed, but of course many of them have friends and relatives in the places where people lost their lives. I can't begin to imagine how those affected must be feeling but my thoughts are constantly with them.

Eli.

 

Yummy colours

I feel quite guilty about knitting when the sun is shining and the garden beckons but last week I picked up my needles and, inspired by the little bunnies hopping around our plot, I produced Rowena Rabbit who has become my trusted sewing and knitting companion. You'll find a pattern for her in my Etsy shop.

 
After a night of rain the sun has popped his head out once again today and the garden is ablaze with the colour of our rhododendrons and azaleas. They thrive in our damp climate and grow like weeds.

 
The overnight rain sadly knocked off a number of blooms so I've gathered a few to show you. The combination of colours is wonderful.

 
This piece of gift wrap has similar vibrant shades....yummy!

The weather this weekend is not looking good so, inspired by the colours in the garden, I've selected some vibrant yarns and will have a good excuse to excercise my needles.

Indoors or out......... have a good weekend

Blue and white room makeover

I think you all know by now that I'm a big fan of blue and white china and have gathered quite a collection over the years. It fills my cupboards and, as you can see, I even have it climbing the walls.

This is our breakfast room (next to the kitchen) and it's a room for all seasons. Cool and calming on hot summer days and toasty warm in winter when the wood burning stove is alight.

The old pine dresser in there holds even more blue and white

and the door knob matches too!

Sadly the pretty wallpaper that has served us well for a number of years is now looking quite 'tired' and there has been much discussion for a while about whether to choose more paper or simply paint the walls white..... We've chosen and paint option and so.....

 yesterday I removed all the china from the walls and mantle.

Emptied the dresser.

 And began peeling off the paper.

The job won't be an easy one as the paper has a vinyl coating.

Removing wallpaper is definitely one of my least favourite jobs, and clearing up afterwards is even worse, but hopefully the new room will be worth the effort.

Meanwhile, I thought you'd like to see the little twins that I made with the yarn I showed you last week

I've named them Jack and Jill although they are a little too young at the moment to venture up the hill to fetch a pail of water! As always the pattern is in my Etsy shop.

Back to paper stripping........

Until next time,

Eli