Quite a Satisfying Weekend

Well, this was a good weekend. Not only did the weather behave remarkably well (and far better than advertised), but I managed to finish Busy Bee (hurrah!) AND frame Mum's Heart II (double hurrah!) and also spend a good deal of time in the garden, which I find quite rewarding. Also, FIL was over from Ireland and we all went to watch the Heineken Cup Final at Twickenham on Sunday which was a lovely day out.




So, first to Busy Bee. The photo unfortunately hasn't come out all that well, but this design, by The Sweetheart Tree, was done on 32ct cream fabric with DMC threads, Mill Hill beads and a bee charm (not the bespoke ST one, but one I found that was the right size as was finding it difficult to track down the one that was called for) and some crystal paillettes (again, not the 'proper' ones but some Gutermann substitutes which are just fine). I love the twirly delicate backstitched vines on this one, I think they turned out beautifully (if I do say so myself!). I have a couple more Sweetheart Tree designs in my stash, so will definitely dig those out - they are so quick to finish (this design is about 2.5 inches across and 8 inches high).




Also, I framed MIL's A Mother's Heart. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come over this weekend as originally planned as they are off to Australia tomorrow, and thus she had a million and one things to sort out before they left, and there wasn't time for everything. So FIL is going to take it back to MIL and I guess we might get a call tonight when FIL gets home. Hopefully she will like it!




I spent a good deal of Saturday in the garden - we only have a small L-shaped raised bed in an otherwise paved garden, but there was enough to keep me busy for most of the day. I was happily weeding, forking over, adding topsoil, pulling out some of the horrible plants left by previous owners, pruning, planting a new clematis (it's a gorgeous mostly-white-but-faintly-pink colour with striking purple stamens, and I of course forgot to take a photo of it), and planting a dozen or more different types of seeds - since it is our first growing season at the new house, I'm mainly planting loads of annuals until I decide what I want to do with it more permanently. Meanwhile, H and FIL watched the *yawn* FA Cup Final. So everyone was happy! Below are some photos of the (old) clematis already in the garden. I can't remember exactly what it's called.