Handbags, shoes and ..................veggies!

Hello there! Hope you've had a good week. It's been a busy one in the JK household, and I was glad when the weekend arrrived! Yesterday was horrid - wet and cold. It was the perfect day to sit in front of the woodburner and do something yarny! Which I duly did. Now I know that last week I told you that I wasn't going to start anything else until I'd finished some of my rather long-standing projects. Well............. things didn't go exactly to plan! I've had this little summer bag for several years. I think it came from Tesco, and it's starting to look a little bit tatty.

When we were in Poland earlier in the year, I bought some cotton yarn, with a summery bag in mind. Over at Attic24, Lucy blogged about a bag that she'd started, and I'm basing my bag on her design. I wasn't too sure about the size, and by the time I decided that I'd made it too big, I'd got quite a lot of cut ends, so instead of my stripes going horizontally, they go vertically. I still have the handle to make, edging to do, and then I'm going to line it and prettify it! At the moment I'm not quite loving it - I think that horizontal stripes would probably have been better, but I'll stick with it! Take a look.

The strap will go right the way round the bag, giving it some depth, and will fasten with a button and loop. I'll try and get it all finished to show you next week.
I was sooooooooo excited this week, I can't tell you! I got some new shoes! And they fit! I have big, wide feet, and shoe shopping has always been a nightmare. I can remember only too well the visits to the shoe shop as a child, only to be offered one style of flat lace-up shoe. I hated it! I've had the same size feet (UK 9, European 43) since I was 11 years old, and have for the last few years, lived in Birkenstocks in the summer, and slip-on suede trainers (mens) in the winter! So imagine my delight when I discovered the Tall Girls website. I don't do heels (I can't walk in them, and as I'm already just over 6 ft tall, I don't especially want to add to my inches!) so was thrilled to find a huge choice of flatties! These are what I chose (I painted my toenails especially in celebration!)

I can even get a pair of hand-knitted socks on with the shoes! Yippee!

Despite the somewhat chilly weather, the garden and greenhouse are looking great. The bluebells are flowering along the fence in the front garden.

The bleeding heart has gone completely mad, and is taking over the entire border! I love the flowers on this plant. It always amazes me just how suddenly it appears. Four weeks ago, it was barely peeping through the soil, and look at it now!

Here's a close-up of those beautiful flowers.

The forget-me-nots are blooming too. I especially love these as they come from my parents' garden, so I always think of my dear Mum and Dad when I look at them.

Mr Josiekitten has been really busy in the greenhouse, and it looks fantastic! There are flowers on the tomato plants already! We need some hot sun now to really get things going. I've lost count of the number of veggies that he is growing, but here's a list of those I can remember - peas, French beans, mangetout, courgettes, peppers, red cabbage, green cabbage, cauliflower, swede, carrots, leeks, onions, garlic, potatoes, red and white onions, shallots, aubergines, celery, pak choi, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and rocket..........here's hoping for a self-sufficient summer!

Fingers crossed for some sunshine this week. Hope you have a good one!