Every spring I start looking at my vegetable garden.  The needles get put down in favour for spades, hoses and time outdoors. Sometimes it hold my attention, other times things get a little despondent by the end of January - lack of water (or watering), white fly and plants bolting to seed.  This is not one of those years. 



So far we have had :

• Peas and potatoes ready for Christmas, if only we had been at home to enjoy them.  
•  Avoided the tomato glut by just planting cherry tomatoes for myself, admitting that I am the only one who eat them
• My first success with climbing beans  - it's true you really do get more than with dwarf beans
• A successful strawberry bed - the answer to millipedes is to plant flowers instead.  Probably doesn't taste any good, but they looked fantastic.

This painting just had to come home with me.  The muted colors have me wanting to paint the walls to match.  I love the distant peaks and water front houses.  It feels so very sound of music.  I almost want to rip down the curtains and make playsuits for the children - so much easier when you have 2 rather than a Von Trapp-ish 7.  I am a sucker for musicals and dance movies.  I would love to believe in a world where every low point, challenge and high moment is met with a song.  Kind of like this:


The painting is from my first foray into live auctions.  This painting came with another of an english village and a "back to the op shop" framed cat poster.  Oh, and there was just a little fabric. Enough to clothe a whole Von Trapp family escaping through the mountains.

January is great time to embark on epic projects.  My friend Christine is one for epic projects and last year was no different.  Christine has just finished showcasing her 2013 project - 365 3x3 inch squares of embellished goodness.  Then at the end of the year she packaged them up and gave them away to a friend - one to open for every day of the year.  Here is just a taster..

You can see more of her wonderful work at What Goes on in the Sheila Shed.

Our garden was taken over by the Great Mystery Hunt yesterday.  5 little works of art were hidden around the place.  Each one had a clue or activity to keep little minds thinking. Adults were on hand to help with the reading and some of the clues did not have right or wrong answers.




 Little birds at the bird feeder, wondering what they might be made of.

My favorite - finding strange flowers and drawing them. 

It was a lovely afternoon prompted by the kids wanting to have an art exhibition outside.  Each child bought along some pictures to hang in the garden.  We spent the rest of the time reading* painting, both pictures and toe nails, exploring and making ice blocks.

*Thanks to Miss Fancy Nancy for exhibition ideas,

Sometimes creativity is a force to be reckoned with.  H helped her self to a buch of flowers from the garden and told me we were about to hammer some flowers like they did on Sticky TV.  I can only be thankful that the hammers are kept well out of reach or she wouldn't have waited for help.

To make you own flower stamps, you will need:
Coloured, flatish flowers (pansies worked well)
Baking paper
White fabric
Chopping board
Hammer

To celebrate the end of the end of the festive season, we made galette des rois.  While the galette baked, we broke down the Christmas tree and boxed up decorations.  We celebrated a few days early this year to avoid a clash with first day back to work blues.  Great food and company made a fantastic end to our Christmas celebrations.

Unlike last year, we had a tiny ceramic charm to bake into the pie.  If you look carefully, you can see her standing on a dollar coin for scale. 

For a brief moment there was a fantail on my couch. I meet up with friends every Monday to sew.  They keep me sane.  Every year we have a Christmas swap and this year it was cushions.  This little chap only just made it to the party.  I was stitching until the minute I left the house.


He's now sitting on the couch at this lovely friend's place. 

*The pattern was a mystery quilt from the Quilter's Lane.  I enjoyed adding just a little to it each month.  The backing is a result of raiding my stash for anything that co-ordinated with the front and stitching it together.