Folders!

I went and bought another bike :) The hubby and I have made plans for a bit of touring. We have a plan to hop on and off of various types of transport and cycle around when we get to wherever we are going. For this we decided we needed folding bikes :) ! I looked around at some of the great and classic folders and even managed to sit on a few, but as they are usually unisex some didn't feel comfortable and some were downright uncomfortable! Dahon, while being said to be one of the best, and though hubby liked it, it really didn't fit me (too short in the arm department). Bromptons are way beyond our budget and others such as Tern (just didn't like it) and Raleigh (too heavy) weren't right either. So what to get? In the end I chose a Hoptown 5 from Decathlon. Not the most popular or coveted folder but it seems great so far - it got good reviews and is supposed to have links with Dahon (though it still needs a proper test drive, so time will tell).  Hubs likes it too, not too girlie either, this one had to fit me comfortably and be function over form (though I do like how it looks too!).

My lovely little B'twin folder

I've ordered a pannier rack for it and i need to find some baggage and we're good to go!

The hubby has also chosen a bike, a Carrerra Transport which we pick up on Sat - watch this space :)

A Little Bit of Love

So I walked up the hill to begin my run from the usual hightest point and as I was nearing it I walked by a tree.  Up hanging on the tree was the sweetest  little crocheted lilac heart.  I stopped and had a good look at it, it really made me smile.  I really would have liked to take it from the tree and keep it, but I wasn't sure if you were supposed to or if by doing so it would make someone really sad - so I left it where it was and went off on my run(/shuffle).

Last night I thought I would have a quick look on line to see if I could find out anything about it or if there was a reason behind why someone would be hanging little hearts on a tree and I couldn't believe it when there on the second site I clicked on - was a photo of the little heart (or one of it's brothers at least).  I clicked on a link to the blog and there was my tree! 

Dominiques' blog

I contacted Dominque who made the hearts and asked if I she would mind if I went back and collected it and then popped back in the dark last night to do just that.

The little heart still hanging on the tree when I returned to fetch it.

Up Close - so sweet!

I absolutely love it, it's so sweet and somehow really special - made all the more so by the fact that I found out who had made it :).  I did have a look around for the others from the pics, but they were gone, I guess to new homes!

I then returned and spent the rest of my evening learning to make crocheted hearts (from here - Little Birdie Secrets) with scraps of yarn and a crochet hook I dug out from the depths of a drawer.  Then this morning I made a granny square (get me, I know all the lingo now :) ) (from here - Bethintx1 on Youtube).  The Girlie had a go at crochet too and I gained a simple (but lovely) necklace from it :).  We then popped into town to buy some more yarn, better needles and a book (I know I can find all the info I could ever need online, but we really liked this one).  The next couple of days are now planned and I feel a new fad coming on!  Thanks Dominique!

My first attempts at hearts and a granny square - in fact my first go at any sort of crochet other than a chain, plus the new book :)

Do pop over an have a look at her blog where she explains what she got up to! My Other Loves x

Spuddies!

They look like they're having a meeting :)  They've been happily sitting on my kitchen windowsill for the last couple of weeks.

4 sorts, 5 of each Charlotte, Red Duke of York, Anya and Apache all from Wilkos.

I really don't need any more than this.  I don't like storing them, I just want the 'just dug up - going to eat them straight away'ness that you get with growing your own early/new spuds.  I will still buy jackets etc. from the shop as I'm really quite particular about my jackpots.  These fellas will go in the garden border wherever there is a gap as a bit of pot luck surprise when we dig them up.  Can't wait now!

Beginning with the Herby Patch

So I had planned to sow seeds today, but it was such a nice day that the garden called me instead.  I'd not really been out in ages (or at all this year so far) but I could see that the herb raised bed was in need of some attention and as it is right outside my kitchen window I had the urge to attack it. 

Pre ambush...

I needed to pull out the sage on the left that was really straggly and I'll replace that with a new variety in a month or so, plus the oregano also needed a haircut.  I then went on to tidy the peony and spirea behind it and then the bushes and fatsia top left.  Swept up and 'voila' much neater!

You can see everything now, the pot in the middle of the raised herb bed is full of lovely, lovely alpine strawbs, there's nothing in the pot back left, but that's where I usually put a french flat leaved parsley (as it tends to get a bit crowded otherwise).  There are a variety of mints in a terracotta pot sunk in the bed at the back and chives back right.  There is also a marjoram in there somewhere, though not sure where as it tends to get smothered by the oregano and can only see it when it grows up and through it.  

I fancy having another go at growing a rosemary again too this year.  I used to have a smashing one in the bed before we raised it, but is was old and didn't survive the cull.  When I re-planted a new baby one in the new bed I think it was perhaps a bit too rich for it and it died, as did the next two so I haven't had one for a few years now.  I think the bed has been sufficiently neglected now though to have another bash.  I might mix some grit in there too before I plant one.  Actually, I might buy two and pop the other one somewhere else in the garden as a back up!