A Sunny Sunday - whatever next ? :o)

At long last, the sun has decided to shine over my little patch :o) After the dull, grey, wet & windy days we've had recently, it makes a lovely change. Still cold, though, but what else should we expect for the beginning of March ?

 

I took a wander round the garden earlier this morning & it really DOES look as though Spring just might be on the way :o)

 

Amongst all the weeds - which seem to grow strong,  whatever the weather conditions - were signs of life, struggling through the cold, hard ground. A splash of colour hidden beneath dead leaves, a small bud, pushing its way further upwards as it gets stronger.

 

Hopefully a good sign of what's to come. After the wash out that was 2012, I think we all really need a drier, brighter year :o)

 

 This beautiful Hellebore lives right at the back of a flower bed, nestled against the wall between us & next door. It's a lovely splash of colour through the winter months.

 

 The *Butterfly Bush*, springing to life again. It's a lovely deepish pinky/purple colour & attracts butterflies & bees.

 

 

 Berginia - one of the first flowers to bloom after Christmas. A welcome bit of colour in an otherwise drab grey & green garden :o)

 

 One of the many primroses I have, poking out from behind the Morning Glory. This little primrose lives a few feet away from the Hellebore.

 

 Fighting their way through a clump of weeds, crocuses, almost ready to burst open.

 

 Morning Glory. It can be quite rampant & tends to take over, so every 2 or 3 years, I pull some of it up. It's extremely hardy though & always comes back fighting :o)

 

Japanese Quince - such a lovely colour & again, one of the earliest flowers in the garden. Every year, I say I'll use the fruit & make a jam or jelly with it, but I never do. I don't know why - maybe, subconsciously, I think I'll end up poisoning everyone who tastes the end result !! :o)

 

Happy Sunny Sunday wherever you are :o)

One word . . .

I'm not usually a one word person - anyone who knows me will testify that I don't stop talking - but Hazel's challenge this week was for a Christmas card with just one word on the front & this is my attempt. It's not my usual *style* & I think the letters & the tartan type paper are all of a wonk, but when you have eyes that are also all of a wonk, it's not surprising, really !! :o)

 



 

As it's *anything goes* in the February challenge, I'm also entering it in there.

 

CHNC challenge 113: one word is sufficient

CHNC challenge extra for February

More snow ?

 

 

It's been very hectic here this week, so I've only had time to make one card for Crafty Hazel's challenge 112 *Let it Snow Again* & it seems quite apt as, yet again, we've been forecast flurries tomorrow. With that in mind, I decided to have a go at making a card with this vintage digital stamp.

 

 

If I use it again, I'll probably try less colours :o)

 

I'm also entering it in CHNC challenge extra for February :o)



Black, white & one other . . .

Our swap theme for February was chosen by yours truly & it seems to have caused a bit of a rumpus :o) I chose black, white & ONE other colour. That was it. Nothing else, a plain & simple swap. Or so I thought . . .

I gave Liz black, white & yellow & I gave Terri black, white & purple. In return, I received black, white & lilac/purple from Liz & black, white & red (shudder !! I hate red, except at Christmas) from Terri.

Well, what a to do I caused !!  Liz made the most gorgeous teddy bear card, with the stamped image of a teddy bear & balloons that I'd included in the swap. She also made a lovely Easter card with an image of her own. The only problem was - they had other colours, not just black, white & yellow !!

I couldn't work out which part of black, white & ONE other colour she didn't understand & it turned out that she thought it meant only the paper/card could be black, white & one other colour - the images could be any colour. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

But anyhooo, we got over it & peace was restored to our craft rooms once more :o)

I did Liz's parcel a couple of weeks ago, so this weekend, I did Terri's & I have to say, considering I had red, with the exception of one or two of the cards I made, I'm pleased with the end result :o)

 This eagle card will be for Shaun. Eagles are his favourite big bird - apart from me, that is  !! :o)

By the time his birthday or our anniversary comes round, he'd have forgotten what this looks like, so that's OK :o)

 

 

 Now, considering I don't like red, I adore poppies. They're one of my favourite flowers :o) Liz let me borrow her stamp to make this card & I really love the way it turned out.

 Who doesn't like a cup cake now & again ? Especially one with a big, fat, juicy strawberry on top ? :o)

 

 The hibiscus flowers were a reddish orange colour & I think the card turned out OK using an off white border..

 

 

 This was difficult - an old image with hardly anything that could be coloured. The poor lady on the left looks like she's had her throat cut, but it's the ribbon on her bonnet :o) I'm not overly fond of this one.

 

 The butterfly Terri gave me, was a deep cerise pink. Not technically red, but you don't always have the exact thing to hand, do you ?  I wanted to do something simple with it & although it's OK, I'm not really keen on it.

 

Another one that didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped. I love the penguin image & thought he'd look all right on the snowflake background, but I think he needs a bit more *oomph*, really :o)

 

Terri has chosen March's theme - recycled. GULP !!! I think I may need a lie down in a darkened room before I attempt that :o)

 



Wot - STILL no snow ?? :o)

I found this cheery little elf at the bottom of my digital & ink stamped images.  I don't know where he came from, but I've had him for a while, so decided to take pity on him & bring him out for an airing :o)

 

I think he'll be quite at home with Hazel & co. in her  CHNC challenge 111: We don't want any more snow! & her  CHNC challenge extra for February

A bit of sunshine before the snow :o)

Last Thursday, before the snow came, we decided to have a morning out with our daughter & grandsons 1a & 1b.

 

Shaun had a hospital appointment at 9am,  but once that was done, off we set. We picked the 3 `erberts up & off we went to Quex Park Museum in Birchington. Although we've been many times before, it's been about 5 or 6 years since our last visit & the boys, only being 2 & 4, have never been. Grandson 1a was so excited, he asked if the animals came alive like they did in the film *Night at the Museum* :o) Such a shame I had to disappoint him & say no :o)

 

Photography isn't allowed in the museum itself, for fear of damaging the exhibits, so all the pics I took are of the outside.

 

 The entrance to the museum.

 

Quex Park is set in 250 acres of land. The museum was started in a pavilion in the garden, in 1896, to house the collection of *trophies* that Percy Powell-Cotton gathered on his trips to Northern India & Tibet. He also travelled to Africa & brought back many animals that he'd shot & had stuffed. In the galleries are giraffes, zebras, bears, bongoes, elephants, monkeys, gazelle, a lion & many more. Such things are frowned upon now, but it wasn't *way back when . . * There are also collections of guns, knives, spears, pottery, costumes & things *pickled* in jars. Shudder.

 

 Part of the gardens.

 

The gardens have exotic trees, herbaceous borders, ponds, statues, a croquet lawn, a woodland walk & lots of places to explore. In the summer, they have a Maize Maze, which is really popular with children. Although there wasn't an awful lot to see because it's still winter, there were a few small signs that spring isn't far away :o)

 

 Let me lead you up the garden path, Maude  . .  :o)

 

 

 Looking across the lawn to the Dovecote. Doves & peacocks are a permanent fixture at Quex. Grandson 1a said his favourite things there were the monkeys & the peacocks. Grandson 1b liked the zebras & the sound of his voice after he'd *discovered* the galleries echoed :o)

 

 

 Inside the Victorian walled garden are the greenhouses, which are being prepared for the spring & summer. Dotted around were some small cloches, which tickled grandson 1a - *Look Grandma !! A little greenhouse !! It's so cute !!*

 

 

 The first signs of life, awakening after a winter underground. The arched brickwork is just lovely, too :o)

 

 A beautiful hellebore. So delicate to look at, but so hardy to keep flowering through the hard winter.

 

 

 Primroses :o) Spring really MUST be on its way :o)

 

 Now, in this small pond, on the right handside, is a brick. Behind the brick was a pair of frogs, doing what frogs do at this time of year :o) According to grandson 1a, though, one of them was giving the other a piggy back :o) 

 

 The gate from the Victorian walled garden into the main garden. I love walls in gardens, but I especially love walls with GATES in them :o) It always brings to mind Frances Hodgson Burnett's book *The Secret Garden*, even though there's usually nothing remotely  secret behind a gate in a wall these days :o)

 

 I can't remember what this tree is, but isn't it just fantabulous ?  All knotty & gnarled, full of character. I LOVE it :o)

 

Oh, here we are at the end of the tour :o( Looking across the gardens to Quex House. It has scaffolding on it at the moment because there's work being done.

 

There has been a house there since the early 1400s & the Quekes family, who made their money from the wool industry, lived there from the 1500s & the house was then called Quex.

 

King William III (1689-1702) stayed at the original Quex House when he was waiting for a favourable wind to sail from Ramsgate.

 

An ancestor of Percy Powell-Cotton, John Powell, bought the house & the farm next door, in 1777 & his nephew, John Powell-Powell, demolished the house & built the Regency one now standing.

 

Although the house is still a family home, some of the rooms are open to visitors in the afternoons from 28 March 2013.

 

Wheelchair access is good - the only part you can't see is upstairs in the house - & there is also disabled parking close to the museum entrance.

 

We all had a lovely morning & will definitely be going back later in the year, when there will be more to see in the gardens.

Wot - no snow ? :o)

This week's Christmas card challenge on Crafty Hazel's blog is  CHNC challenge 111: We don't want any more snow!  Well,  I don't think Mother Nature is listening, Hazel !! :o) Have you looked outside ? It's white. Again. But I don't think it'll last as long as it did a few weeks ago. I feel the need for Spring, now, as I'm sure everyone else does :o)

 

Anyway, in keeping with the no snow challenge, this is my very plain & simple offering, which I'm going to include in the CHNC challenge extra for February, as well.