IT'S GOOD NEWS WEEK

Hi everyone

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful evening after what started out as a soggy grey morning.  'We' are on holiday this week and next week - having a break in Stopathome, which is located in Windowsill Bay.  A lovely place, lots of green fields and good walks around us, the chance to catch up with friends and do some relaxing - have to do some housework though, so not all fun.  Oh, and of course, the 'we' doesn't mean I can stop making things.  It is getting to the time of year when Christmas events are more plentiful than long sunny days so I need to keep on making.  I am determined this year, possibly for the first time in many years, to have plenty of stock ready for the Christmas fairs.

This week has been tag and bag week.  More tags - I now have bags of tags (sorry, couldn't resist that) so think I will call a halt to making them.  One of my 'makes' are decorated gift bags and I need to begin making stock because I want to ensure I have plenty of sizes ready for my event season.  I have been looking at decorating the 'bag for life' jute bags and played around with one and the results is this:

I love butterflies and these are a particular gorgeous fuchsia pink.  It looks as though it should be easy-peasy to decorate, but believe me it wasn't!   Lining up the butterflies, gluing and ensuring they are stuck correctly was time-consuming.  I might have a play around with some more during the next week or so (patience permitting) - I would like to have one or two to put out at the Ripley Nurseries Craft & Food Fair on 31 August as a test run to see if there is any interest.

We have a big family get-together here in a couple of weeks time and we are trying to get our garden looking neat and tidy.  Not easy with five cats - no, not what you are thinking!  We have to be very careful with the tools we use as they think everything is a potential toy!.  Hose pipes are snakes to be chased, ladders are to be climbed, as are apple trees; rakes are for chasing (why?) and low plants are for snoozing on, in and under!  However, one plant that has survived well - probably because I moved it into a pot - is one of my Heuchera's.  I love these plants - the colours of their leaves are stunning.  Often it is like having the beautiful colours of autumn all year long.  This is one of my favourites:

It has a mix of gold, brown, red and yellow leaves; its name is Sweet Tea.  Among my 'collection' I have a bright lime green Heuchera called Key Lime Pie and a stunning dark red one called Fire Chief.  The flowers of Heuchera are almost non-existent, their beauty is in the leaves.  My favourite plant?  I think it is pretty close to the top.  What are your favourite plants?

Last week I mentioned about the wood-framed pond we moved from one side of the garden which was a big hit with the Christmas Pie cats.  Here is a picture of Coco dropping in for a pint!

The sun is still shining, so it's back into the garden.  It seems very quiet out there and that means Richard has decided to sit and watch the grass grow rather than cut it.  Have to put a stop to that.

Oh, and the reason for the title of this week's post?  I had the results of my operation this week and was very pleased to be told that the tumour that had been removed was benign!  What a relief!  There are very few times when I have felt like jumping up and down in a hospital, but this was one of them.  A very good news week for me.

Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend everyone and I hope the weather is good for you, but before you go off to enjoy yourself, don't forget to whiz over to Handmade Monday - would you believe it is week 131?  Lots of lovely blogs to read.

See you next week.

Jill