Home alone...Mr Teacakes goes wild

Over the last couple of weeks we have been keeping our freezer stocked with lollies made from fresh orange juice. They are such a healthy treat for the children to eat in the sunshine...and me too. As I sat eating mine the children filled my lap up with flowers that had fallen onto the grass, disturbed from their branches by Mr Teacakes' vigorous lawn-mowing activities. Mr Teacakes has been up to other things too...left to his own devices for an hour, while I popped to the shops, I came home to find that he had cut our buddleia down to a stump...when earlier that day it had been nearly 7ft tall. I was more than a little surprised as it is not his normal way to set himself to work in the garden unprompted. I thought you would like it, he said to my grumpy face. Then I saw that the branches from the buddleia lay in a pile at the bottom of the garden, carefully stripped of their leaves and I knew then that the real reason he had taken the axe to it was that he had been filled with ideas to repurpose it! It is beyond my comprehension how he could do this...but he is forgiven because he has created something even more lovely than the buddleia ever was. At the bottom of the garden, between two trees, he has weaved branches together and bound them with twine to create a den for the children. They have swept its floor and and sit on chairs waiting for animal visitors to arrive, inspired by reading Shirley Hughes' Sally's Secret which we got out from the library on our most recent visit.

Lovely treats have arrived through my door this week. Firstly this wonderful package of fabrics from Helen, who had offered to send me some Minkee so that I might sample its softness. I was surprised and delighted to find that she had kindly filled the envelope with other fabric treats too. I was indescribably excited by the apple and pear print as it is something I have always coveted in other peoples sewing projects...so to have some of my own! It will definitely become part of an applique I think.

The Minkee is just as soft as Helen had said it was and Zebra-girl has quite fallen in love with it...so perhaps it will end up being turned into a polar bear for her to snuggle with.

Another surprise came from my father. Wonderful vintage pinking shears, still in their box.

I have never had a pair, so to have such special ones is quite wonderful. Amazingly, they cut perfectly and are completely free of rust. I love that he goes ferreting out these little treasures for me on his bargain hunting expeditions - they are always things that I really want. It is his 60th birthday today so I have been busy sewing for the last couple of days in preparation...the results of which I'll post up once he's actually unwrapped them.

And finally I thought I'd show you this little ladybird that I made for one of Zebra-girl's friends. I had been going to make her one of Molly Chicken's little Mousey and his Bed lovelies, but I know that this little girl really loves ladybirds, so I thought I'd create my own Ladybird in a Leaf for her.

A couple of days later as she sat on the sofa with Zebra-girl waiting for me to put a video on for them, she told me, completely unprompted, how much she'd liked it and that she'd taken it on a day out with her. I was so pleased and touched that she'd thought to tell me.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. x