Yesterday we grabbed the bit of sunshine and used it to help us finally finish tensioning the polytunnel. This was achieved with much swearing. I now know (having watched that wonderful bit on Fry's Plant Word where Stephen Fry and Brian Blessed swore like TV chefs while inflicting pain on themselves) that, when one has hit ones thumb with a hammer (again and again) saying f@ck and b@ll@cks helps with the pain.
Anyway we achieved our objective, the far right hand corner of the tunnel no longer flaps so I'll stop nagging Brian about it anxiously when the wind blows. I cleared out the tomatoes too, made the happy discovery of a tennis ball-sized butternut squash and started getting ready for a delivery of winter plants from Delfland Nurseries. I had intended to grow my own winter plants but we were delayed so long by the weather that everything backed up (and suddenly it's October!)
I've also got my leeks tucked up for the winter under a nice thick mulch. Note the handsome chaps in the background? Those are the cockerels. We keep squeezing them in the hope that there might be some meat on them and then using the fact that there isn't to put off the inevitable. When the four of them are in full voice at the crack of doom, it's quite a racket, but a cute racket that I quite like. (I CAN'T keep four cockerels, I really can't!)
I've also been turning an old pair of Ikea curtains into cushions; a housewarming one for Dad and Pat, a cupcake one for R7 and a horsey hearts one for H9. I was inspecting the remaining pieces of material recently (the tab top and hemmed bottom) and wondered, if I sewed them together again, they would fit the dining room window. They did.
I used a piece of scarlet ribbon to hide the join, bordered by gingham ribbon from eBay and finally edged one side of the panel with some lovely pom-pom trim I bought from Nellie Dean at the recent craft fair in Maenclochog. The result? One re-purposed curtain for less than £10 (and plenty of spare bits of ribbon and pom-pom trim for other things.)
I'm so envious of your polytunnel. I too had 4 roosters and took them to the sale in Hereford last week..... check it out here.... http://archers-at-the-larches.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-conduct-oneself-at-poultry.html believe me, you're best off fattening them!
ReplyDeleteLovely cushions - clever use of spare fabric.
Ah, blissful domesticity, with @$#%^!&.
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ReplyDeleteI love the curtains and cushions... where do you get all your ideas from? Amazing creativity. Love it.
ReplyDeleteEnvy you the PolyTunnel - one day (if/when we ever get a smallholding)!
ReplyDeleteNo cockerels here, think the neighbours would string me up, but they do seem to like my hens. They like the hens eggs even better!
Love the curtain - so pretty. Like you I like to recycle and re-purpose
Ditto Lou. Very envious. Perhaps in a future existence I'll get one . . . plenty of room here of course, but OH extremely reluctant to install one because this Job would have HIS name all over it! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteGreat curtains - SO effective, and I love the cushions too. May just nick that/those ideas in future : )
I'm sure those cockerels breathe in when you pick them up to test for plumpness!
The trim looks great on the curtains.
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