Feeling fruity!

I'm astonished at the abundant amount of fruit in my garden. I remember my landlady mentioning before she went back to Madagascar that I would be inundated with apples and that there were pears, rhubarb and blackberries, but I've also found wild strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, artichokes and potatoes! I'm also growing tomatoes, peppers and aubergines in the greenhouse and the tomato vines have little green babies that have just appeared so I'm very excited about those too!

I'm not a lover of goosegogs as we like to call them, so my sister relieved me of a huge tub of them this morning, but I'm going to pick some raspberries later to go with some strawberries I already have in my fridge.

The cooking apple tree is absolutely smothered with delicious looking fruit and I can't wait for the blackberries to

ripen so I can make my favourite pud - apple and blackberry crumble. ;o)

I've been avidly watching Andy Murray's progress through Wimbledon and he has just this very second beaten Ferrera in the quarter finals, so is on his way to the semi's! I went up yesterday to see the ladies quarter finals on Centre Court and we were very thankful that we had shady seats as the temperature was unbearably hot yesterday.

I always go with my SIL who has been going for many many years and is very adept at spotting tennis players and famous faces, well I managed to spot one of my own yesterday - Ainsley Harriott was sitting 5 rows in front of me. I did toy with the idea of giving him the contents of my picnic bag and asking what he could do with it in 20 minutes, but decided to resist that particular urge!! For those readers outside the UK, Ainsley is a celebrity chef/presenter on Ready Steady Cook. I couldn't get a photo of his face, but did get the back of his (very shiny) head!

A few piccies

I picked up Crescent Dreams from the framers yesterday & I'm really pleased with the results:

I decided to take some arty type photos in Dad's garden, by the lavender I planted as a tiny plug a few years ago & it is now this enormous bush, which is always swarming with bees collecting pollen. The frame is silver with a tinge of gilt and both mats are in shades of lilac. I shall be giving it to Sharon next week, although I don't really want to part with it now! :o)

To the left you can see the aforementioned lavender bush. I love lavender as a plant, although the fragrance I find quite sickly. Give me a beautiful rose fragrance anyday!

Catkin (right) came up to see what I was up to. She doesn't like having her picture taken & doesn't usually stand still for long enough! Catkin is approximately 8. She turned up unannounced on my doorstep one day and decided she wanted to live with me - she tried to follow me in my front door! I already had 2 cats at the time and didn't really want to have another, but when she was still hanging around a couple of hours later, I felt sorry for her & let her in. She made herself right at home and has been there ever since.

Her elder 'sister' Bobbi is now 14 and I've had her since she was 6 weeks old. I was first introduced to her when she was a tiny 1 week old kitten - she didn't even have her eyes open! She sat in the palm of my hand & mewed contentedly. She's never been a lap cat, but has a very sweet temperament. She is the image of the 'Felix' cat, although a little rounder in the tummy department! Unfortunately, Andy is allergic, so my kitties have to remain with my Dad.

Last but not least, I have a stitching progress picture for my one and only TW - Egyptian Sampler:

I've been stitching this on & off since 2004, in the run up to my holiday in Egypt. I've left it at Dad's house, so now whenever I visit him, this is the one I work on. I've been working on the Queen square, as you can see. After that, there's two bands to complete and then onto the border...! I have several TWs in my stash, but they have so many colours & blends, I don't think I could cope with having more than one on the go at any one time! I will definitely start another TW once this is finished. I'm wondering if her beautiful Illuminati will be finished by then - I saw it on her blog the other day & it looks amazing so far. I have more than enough to keep me going in the meantime though! Have a great weekend everyone. :o)

I'm still here.

Yes, I am still around, though not very much lately. I am spending very little of my spare time on the PC at the moment, so I've been doing a bit of lurking on blogs & boards. The RSI I get in my right wrist/elbow from using a mouse is pretty painful recently & sometimes its enough to be on a PC most of the day at work. I'm still HDing with all of you though & sending hugs where necessary :o)

A huge thank you to everyone who sent hugs & warm wishes following my recent lump scare. They were really appreciated. I had my 2nd check up just over a week ago & all seems fine. My doc believed me to be quite run down & stressed which is probably effecting my immune system. I could do with a holiday & am off in 2 weeks time to go & stay with my best friend Sharon up in Yorkshire for an extended long weekend. We will be celebrating as she's just found out she's expecting again :o) They've been trying for baby no.2 for 3 years so I'm really pleased for them.

I have been doing a bit of stitching, but sadly the USB connector on my camera seems to have died totally meaning I can't upload the pics I took this morning :o( I have stitched her face and started her other arm which are over 1. I'm so pleased with how her face has turned out. I may have to get my brother to take a photo for me next time I'm visiting him & upload it that way.

I've discovered a wonderful garden nursery several miles away - Old Barn Nurseries which has re-ignited my gardening bug! They have some beautiful Japanese Maples, some must be very old indeed as I nearly fainted when I saw the price tag on the £5,999.00 one! It was gorgeous though. They also have a fantastic pantry/restaurant which has delicious food. I can fully recommend a visit! ;o)

Ow my tonsils hurt!

Yuck. Yuck. And double yuck. I'm feeling pretty yuck today (as you might have gathered)! I've got that awful 'I think I've got tonsilitus again' feeling...

:o( When I was a child I had it LOTS, though they never really got around to taking my tonsils out. I hadn't had it for many years until I got it over Christmas 2 years ago, then last year I had a real nasty throat infection which was pretty similar. Now it seems to be back again. I actually like having my tonsils - think I'd miss them if they weren't there! Guess I'll probably have to see the Doctor for some antibiotics. Yuck!

On a nicer note, I took a couple of pics of a beautiful rose in the garden today, one before the sun hit the garden and one after:

Its such a gorgeous scarlet-orange colour. This is the rose that I was pruning earlier this year when Andy was pruning the tree back - he didn't believe me that you had to prune them back so hard, so I told him to trust me & sure enough the shrub is now covered in buds ;o)

In the garden.

We had a busy afternoon on Wednesday when we were both off from work... Andy has a couple of eeeeeenormous trees in the garden which are a bit close to the house, so I decided it was time he got up a ladder...

...and I got on and tackled the rose bushes & shrubs!


Eventually the ladder just wasn't enough, so Andy relived his youth by climbing up the tree!

A little bit of devastation...

And then he decided to take this fuzzy one of me holding some clippings...

I don't really like having my photo taken, but I don't mind this one as it's out of focus, lol! We now have a garden absolutely full of pruned bits of tree & shrub. We're going to have to make several trips to the tip to recycle it all, although the last couple of mornings I've looked out the window in the hope that the garden fairies will have cleared it all up for me! We'll probably spend some time on it this weekend, although Andy's mum is coming to stay & we have a couple of days out here & there planned, so I'm not sure we'll have that much time. I'm getting the gardening bug a little right now so want to get out there & planting new things!

Stitching-wise, I've put Titania down now for a while & have picked up Egyptian Sampler for the first time in ages. I so want to finish this one during 2006 so will share my progress with you soon.