Flutterby Patch

Festive thoughts

You might remember last week I told you I was I feeling rather autumnal. Well friends, today you find me feeling distinctly festive. The reason....

I just happened to be loitering outside the local fabric store (as you do) when my eye was drawn to some delicious silver and gold fabrics. It's a warm sunny summery day today but on seeing these I was immediately transported to mid December and could definitely detect the scent of pine needles in the air. I had to buy a small selection of course.

On arriving home I matched the fabrics to my various trims.....

and was closely watched by some little faces waiting patiently to be made into Christmas fairies. It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas is it?

Difficult choices

Greetings friends. You find me all of flutter with a paint brush in my hand and a lot of decisions to make. I'm doing a spot of decorating and want to give the sitting room a 'new look' but in my usual flutterby fashion I find I'm drawn to a number of different colours and styles.

Before starting any redecoration project I always consult my home-making books. The Laura Ashley style has remained a favourite of mine for many years and I regularly look at the beautiful interiors in my old catalogues to dream and wonder if I could replicate some of the ideas.

Interiors have changed over the years but my enthusiasm for the Laura Ashley style hasn't waned and this week the current LA catalogue popped through my letterbox.

What joy! 308 pages to drool over.

Just imagine a peaceful night's sleep in this cosy bed. I love the calming shades of aqua.

I could easily spend time in this summery sitting room in cool shades of eau de nil.

Or for a complete contrast, how about vibrant reds?

Or scrumptious pinks?

Imagine one of these cut glass chandeliers catching the sun's rays and making little rainbows dance across the wall?

I wonder if these glass knobs would look good on my doors?

Aah! What a pretty pink bedroom. My daughter is grown now but I know she'd still choose this style. Just look at those toys enjoying a tea party on the pink polka dot rug....sweet memories.

Shall we have our own tea party? We'll use the Laura Ashley bone china and treat ourselves to a fairy cake (or two).

Whilst taking refreshments we can look at the shades of paint on offer. Parisian blue, pale peony, soft truffle, cranberry.... just the names are enough to make me want to use them.

I've made a start...I'm playing safe and painting the windows white which leaves me plenty of scope to add colour when I've made my final choice. Now where did I put the catalogue?

Until next time,

Eli

Thinking of bees

Yes, I know it's a bit late to be showing you pictures of apple blossom but it makes the prettiest picture. And just think of all those ripe rosy apples that will be ready for picking in late summer.

In spring our little orchard is always alive with the sound of busy bees working their way from flower to flower, but there could be troubled times ahead.

Honey bees around the world are suffering from a deadly virus that is eliminating thousands of colonies with the result that in some places fruit blossom is not getting fully pollinated. The worry is that if these busy little insects continue to disappear there could soon be an enormous shortage of fruit and veg worldwide.

Wild bumble bees do an excellent job pollinating our fruit blossom but when warm spring weather suddenly turns chill (which it frequently does in Britain) these fluffy little creatures become tired and lethargic and seem to give up the will to live. If a warm day suddenly turns cold and the sun disappears behind clouds I know I will find at least one solitary bumble bee sitting motionless on the driveway. Touch him and he won't fly away but simply raises his legs as if to say "keep away, I'm cold and tired"...... This is when I know it's time for action!

I put a pinch of sugar in a teaspoon.

Then I pour on 2 or 3 drops of warm water and mix well with my finger until all the grains of sugar are dissolved. (As an alternative to sugar you can use a tiny amount of honey)

Then its back to the sleepy bee with the restorative mixture. Just one drop placed right under his nose and the sweet smell attracts him immediately and he will sup it for several minutes.

Then, with his energy restored, he'll walk a short distance to get his bearings and fly straight back to work on his favourite flowers.

My dad, who was an amateur beekeeper, showed me how to help bees in this way when I was a child and I've always done it. Its my little way of repaying the tiny creatures that do so much for us.

Where would we be without them?

Until next time,
Eli