A glorious weekend and Donna's open house

I have often tried to get to one of Donna Flower's open days and have always been thwarted. Double booking, prior commitments, freak weather etc have always got in the way. Not this time though. I finally made it albeit at the last minute on the last day. Mc drove me and Sophie all the way through scenic Somerset and Devon ( I was doing crochet, so I didn't actually see any of the scenery. I had to unravel most of it though, because I was reading out the google map directions and kept getting the octagonal pattern wrong.)

We discovered that we had matching cloth tape measures!!! I often wear mine when I'm doing shows as there is a place to keep your scissors and pins.




I was tempted by all the lovely fabric, but what I had my eye on was the lovely twine that Donna sells. It comes in a variety of colour-ways, but I was after the white with red to go with my vintage twine holder. I should have measured it or taken it with me to insure a good fit, but look it fits perfectly! With 300 mtrs I should have enough for parcels, and making price tags for items in my shop. I might even try crochet or macrame and make a string bag.





















By the time I arrived stock was depleted, but there was still plenty to feast my eyes on. Look at these snugly quilts, blankets and eiderdowns. I'm surprised I didn't find one of Donna's cats sleeping in here.


















I've seen Donna's gorgeous kitchen in a few magazines, and it was lovely to see it first hand. It is huge in real life.


Sophie took the photos in this blog post. After choosing a dress and a pair of shoes from the clothing section.

When we first arrived in the village and I popped in to tell Donna we were there, but on our way to lunch. She sent us to Tea on the Green a lovely vintage themed cafe in Westward Ho! We popped back to Westward Ho! to visit the beach after we left Donna's

Then it was back home to Ilchester where the glorious weather continued. Sunday morning's car boot sale was a big one with sellers happy to get up on a warm morning with no sign of rain, and sell their unwanted stuff.


I went home with quite a stash. I bought a box of knitting needles without looking through them. I was thrilled to find an illusive afghan crochet hook in there. Here it's pictured here against an amazing pouffe that is hiding behind everything else in the picture. Also hiding is a cute little folding wooden step stool. Oh yes that is a pair of purple Dr. Martins - size 6 which means they might even make it into my shop as we are all (including No1 son, but except Mc) size 4/5

If you can't find me I'm down at the allotment

I made it to the top of the waiting list, and now have an allotment in my village. You can see it from the 303 as you zoom past the Ilchester junction and smell the sewage works.

I decided that this bed was far too big, and wanted to split it into two smaller beds or make it L shaped. This is why I have been so quiet lately.

I took over a small plot which has had some work done on it already, but the last tenant was moving out, so, the shed, gate, bench and wood from the raised beds were eventually taken away.

One thing I have noticed is how obsessed the English are about potatoes. Everyone wants to know 'Where are you going to put your potatoes?' 'How big is you potato bed going to be?' 'Will you be sowing earlies, late earlies and lates?' ...um well actually I wasn't going to grow any spuds at all!! We eat carrots and broccoli, some beans sweet potatoes, pasta, couscous, and rice at home. Why would I want to grow potatoes?

Mc has taken over the general direction of the allotment and if you haven't noticed he is Irish, so we are growing Charlotte and Desiree who as far as I knew were two of Elvis' girlfriends, but are actually potatoes.

We have now got a microwave cooking box thing in the kitchen and I have heard that you can put potatoes in it and wait for a ting noise and then they come out a bit like baked boiled potatoes. I think it is as much a waste of space as the similar looking TV box thing in the other room.

We have been working the allotment for a month now and I notice that we should start taking notes. We forget what we have sewn where and when. This info would be useful now and next year.

I've missed some good fairs due to having my head in the mud (that's another thing apparently it is called SOIL). I will have to visit a few blogs to see what I missed.