Busy Monday

It feels like we didn't get any weekend here as we have been kept really busy in the Studio. It seems odd to be thinking of Christmas at the end of June but we really have to start our push towards the festive season and making sure our shops are brimming over with lovely things. We lost out on three months work last year while waiting to move house and so now the catch up begins. 

Two new dog breeds have been introduced into our shops, both handsome looking hounds.

Chocolate Labrador - a real sweetie

Weimaraner - a dog with a noble history

We spent Saturday printing the first plate of my third floral piece and Gary continued his experiments with mono printing. These are true one of pieces of art where ink is worked onto a glass surface and then a single pressing is made by hand. He created a really beautiful abstract which was so heavy with ink instead of hanging it to dry on the rack he left it overnight on one of the Studio shelves. Alas one of our furry friends snook into the Studio, jumped onto the shelf, walked through the ink and then pranced artfully over Gary's desk, then leapt onto mine and left green 'daisy' foot prints everywhere! We discovered the culprit by the tell tale green paint all over her back paws.

I received a parcel of plant plugs on Saturday, a special offer from a gardening magazine and was astonished as to how tiny they were. Have been misting them with water until I can get chance to plant them up, hopefully this evening.

A Lilliput sized plug plant!

I did manage to grab an hour in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon. Wanted to make something savoury we could have for midweek lunches. Hunted around the cupboards for inspiration and found some gram flour so decided on some Pakoras. They only contained potatoes, onion and garlic along with the usual spices and instead of my usual approach of mounding spoonfuls into the frying pan I dug out some crumpet rings to try and get a firmer shape. They turned out great.

Spicy Pakora for lunch today - delicious

The workmen are still tapping away on our roof but have now moved to the front of the house so the tapping is slightly less intrusive, hopefully they will be finished midweek, and calm will return.

We will then have the space to finish siting all our raised beds in the veg garden and plant out all the plants sat in pots outside the greenhouse all clambering to be sunk into some earth. We live in hope that we will get a couple of butternut squash, we just love squash soup.

'Yesterday is history,

Tomorrow is a mystery,

today is a gift,

that is why it's called present.'

Anon.