#BraveQuilter for June

Having completed my challenge for May, I have decided to link up again in June to be a #BraveQuilter over with Julie at Pink Doxies.

 

My challenge:

 

I would like to try using a pantograph for quilting on my longarm quilting machine.  My goal is to quilt a Project Linus top, I have ready pieced, with the pantograph design that came with my machine (that is still in its plastic wrap!!) 

 

In other news .....

  

 

We have been collecting elderflowers to make cordial.  I love how it makes our kitchen smell of summer whilst it's steeping.  We generally have a bottle in the fridge straight away and then the rest gets frozen.  It's wonderful in the depths of winter to get a jar from the freezer and be reminded of these long summer days.  It's also a lovely drink to have a warm in winter.

 

I have had some lovely walks this week, whilst the girls are at various activities and yesterday I explored a part of the River Avon I have never visited.  I will definitely go back because I now need to know where the path leads ......

 

Last month I bought you ducklings, this month it is cygnets!

 

A bit of this and that ....

Well there's not been much sewing going on around here these last few days because the sun has come out and so we've headed outdoors.

 

Today involved using a very different machine for me ....

which gave us this ........

Still some way off filling this little area with wood but, whilst I am sweltering in the heat and humidity doing this, I know I will be very pleased when we have a lovely large woodpile come the end of September!

 

Also in the garden are some self sown hollyhocks.  I am not sure how they got into the garden but I am so glad they did, and so glad I was there last year, before they had flowered, when my husband was going to rip them out not knowing what they were.

 

 

The little sewing that has been done includes one project that was started and finished.  Whilst I am not over the moon with it, a finish is a finish ..... but I'm saving that for Friday because I doubt I will have another finish before then!  The other items were little scrap blocks, which I will be swapping in the #ukscrapblockswap.

 

 

Looking at the photo now they appear kind of wonky .... let me assure you they are all 6 1/2" squares which was what was asked for!

Quite a lot of our time has also been spent with my brother and his wife's new puppy ....

Linking up to Let's Bee Social today, and if you head over and see some of the other people taking part I guarantee you will see a lot more sewing than on here!! x

Green ....

May always amazes me with its lushness and all these greens were snapped on an after dinner walk the other day.  The sheer variety of colour in nature astounds me so I thought I would share them here! 

The colours and smells of our autumn ...

Blackberries and apples from my Mum's house - we 'found' three apple trees laden with fruit that we didn't know were there!!

 

 

 Damsons from a tree that is split in two, chewed on by cows, totally neglected but continues to produce fruit.  Unfortunate most were way out of reach.  Topped up with some fruit from a friend's tree ...

 

Blackberry pudding .... very easy and very delicious ...

 

Plums, from a friend's tree, thrown into the pan with all the other ingredients for plum sauce.  The smell was divine ...

 

The satisfaction when it is all bottled up ...

 

Straining the blackberries and apples for Bramble & Apple Jelly ...

 

 

all bottled and labelled ...

 

Just love the jewel like colours of this with the sunlight catching it ...

 

And the damsons ... here is the gin!  Just got to wait 3 months now ...

 

it didn't quite all fit in!  I had to decant into a better container.  This colour is after only 3 days ... and it tasted quite nice too!

Sunday morning walk ...

Everything was crunching under my feet as I set off into the mist .....

and spotted this amazing fungus growing on the tree.  

There were two locations and they were tiny ....

I have no idea what they were but they certainly made me stop a while.

This tree always catches my eye with its extensive root system covered in moss and algae ....

and in the light this morning it seemed to glow.

The mist was lifting and gave way to clear blue skies which was the perfect backdrop for these winter trees.  It always amazes me how these empty trees burst into life each spring.

Blue skies one way ....

still misty the other.

The Welcombe Hills obelisk standing proud in all its glory.

All in all a beautiful walk and a wonderful way to start the day! xx

A great end to the year ...

New Year's Eve also happens to be Mr C's birthday, for better or for worse.  This year it was definitely for worse because we have all been struck down by the flu virus that is doing the rounds so Christmas was really a shadow of what was planned and a week later we were still lacking energy from the bug.  However, two young girls had recovered quicker and were ready and raring to do something for Daddy's birthday.  So on the morning, after the obligatory birthday breaskfast, we decided to go to The Cotsowld Wildlife Park & Gardens.

The day was sunny but freezing, I'm not sure how the animals out of their normal habitats survive in such conditions, even the penguins seemed to be shivering!

A turkey vulture preening his magnificent wings

The meerkats seeking out the sun

A scarlet ibis - captured by  Little Miss C - I didn't actually notice it on the day!

A conspiracy of ring tailed lemurs enjoying the sun on the hill.  It truly looked like they were meditating or doing yoga!

A close up of the two at the back, just love the way that one has its hand on the other's knee.  Later on they were holding hands!!

The otters

The magnificent male rhino on the front lawn

One of the 29 Humboldt penguins - who were sliding all over the place on the ice when they were out of the water.

Such magnificent giraffes

An asiatic lioness - she was truly beautiful.  She had been wandering around outside and then came inside where we were separated by inch thick glass.  The detail with which we could see her was remarkable and when she yawned right there you really could see how fearsome her teeth are!

Whenever we visit zoos or animal parks I am always left in two minds about it.  Whilst it is amazing to be able to see such animals and nowadays they do a lot towards conservation of species it is still hard to see animals and birds in captivity.  There were two beautiful blue macaws, which I had never seen before, but I would much rather see them flying through the jungle canopy.  Again two keas, which are mountain parrots from the south island of New Zealand seemed a sorry sight in a very small enclosure.  But to see how it ignites a passion in the children and lends itself to much discussion of animals, conservation and the environment afterwards tends to make it worth it.  In fact its sparked a fully fledged investigation into the penguins of the world and the gleaning of many new facts.  One of which is that New Zealand is the country which has the most species of penguins in the world - I think that made Mr C's birthday actually! x