The beautiful Thorp Perrow Arboretum is situated in Bedale North Yorkshire, our u3a photography group visited earlier this month. I jumped at the chance to accompany them because although I visited these gardens back in 2017 I couldn't wait to see them again. You really can't get enough of the Autumnal splendour. The colours were amazing and I think they would have been even better if we had gone a week later. We all took hundreds of photos, you just want to capture the beauty and take it home with you. The gardens are lovely to visit at any time of the year, they have many themed events taking place throughout the year and the Halloween trail is lots of fun, they have extended it since I was there last, there seemed to be spiders lurking around every corner.
What will you be doing for Halloween, do you celebrate? Happy halloween if you do. 🙂
Hello everyone it's ages since I posted, there seems to be so much going on and the time just goes! Here we are in Autumn already and as I'm writing this the rain is streaming down the windows and I can see the tree's almost bent double with the wind. I'm staying snug indoors for now but I will force myself out for a walk at some point in the day.
There has been so much going on I really don't know where to start perhaps it would be easier to start from now and work backwards.
Can you believe my little Grandson Julian was one year old last Monday? where did that year go! His Mummy and Daddy did him proud I can tell you they hired a Marque for his birthday and family and friends gathered to wish him a happy birthday, it was a lovely afternoon but I think he was a little overwhelmed by it all at times and we had a few tears.
Singing Happy Birthday 😊
I decided to make him these for his birthday, I haven't made them since I designed the pattern but they are very popular and always stay in my popular posts feed...
They are so easy and quick to make and I love how they turn out.
You can find the pattern here, I used Aldi so crafty yarn which I had already and it took 100 grams exactly I barely had enough to sew them up. I am waiting for a photo of him wearing them and will show you if one is forthcoming.
Can you remember I made him this little onesie just before he was born...
As you can see he's wearing it now, but a request has come in for a larger size so did I need any persuading? I was off like a shot to buy yarn, they asked for brown but I hate working with dark colours so I compromised and bought this in shade Koala..
It's another lovely pattern to make and the tutorial is exceptional you can find it here. The largest size is 12 months and I adapted the pattern to make it bigger. If anyone wants the numbers I used please just ask.
I hope you are all keeping well, thank you for all the lovely comments that you have been leaving me. I must go round and visit you all and I will try and post on here more often now that the summer is over and the garden is fading...
Thank you for all your lovely comments and best wishes for my family, it's been a tricky few months but thankfully it's all behind us now.
My son-in law (he's only 43) underwent open heart surgery to repair a heart valve, he was in surgery for ten hours and his initial recovery was quite slow, he spent longer than was expected on life support but thankfully was weaned off it and was discharged just seven days after his surgery. However the next day his temperature soared and my daughter called the ward to be told to phone 111. Eventually he was seen by a paramedic who learnt after calling the ward that the patient who had been in the next bed to my son-in-law had Covid, they had discharged him without imparting that news and yes after being tested he was found to have Covid too.
I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it has been, he didn't need that added complication, but now thankfully he is healing well and we are hopeful that he'll make a full recovery.
My daughter-in law had eye surgery for a detached retina and little Louis was just two months old at the time so you can imagine the challenges she faced. She still has some blurred vision but thankfully she's healing well.
Now I feel (after having an awful bad cold for a week) we can take a deep breath and move on, although my other daughter-in-law (Julians mummy) may have to undergo surgery for an overactive thyroid gland. It's amazing how everything seems to come at once.
How are you lovely people I have had little time to pop around and visit you all just lately what with family stuff and u3a admin taking up so much of my time.
Craft wise I am doing well on the sock front, three pairs made this year so far and another pair nearly finished and once they are done, I will reveal them all in all their full glory. Apart from socks and the crocheting of hearts I haven't had much time for anything else.
My garden is beautiful right now but the weather has been a huge disappointment and I haven't been out in it as much as I would have liked.
I will leave you with another little video this time, Scampston Hall and gardens which the u3a Garden Outings group visited last month and a few photos of my garden.
My Garden
My Latest purchase I can't stop myself from buying plants!
A friend dug up this agapanthus from her garden for me (she has huge clumps) and I've planted it in this pot and surrounded it with Cosmos, it has two buds and I'm hoping that it will flower, she did the same for me last year but the plant died through the winter, I'm going to keep my eye on this one and hope that it will survive.
