Grass

I have been asleep ... and more  ... then some more. It is 3 and a half weeks post op and still my brain feels incapable of anything more testing than working out what to do in the next 5 minutes! The district nurse who comes out twice a week says this is all normal but I worry that the inactivity has curdled everything and my lazy gene has taken over, numbing all thought and willingness to move around. Maybe she's right. The dog is very down. She mopes about looking at me disapprovingly, then gets periods of utter exasperation and gives me a good talking to but there is nothing I can do ...

And the garden! While I was away the grass grew ... to a foot or more, then got tired of that and spread into the flower beds and began climbing up bushes and walls and over windows. I can't help thinking of Sleeping Beauty except I am no young beauty with golden tresses .... but I do sleep a lot! I can't mow or tackle it as it has gone crazy madness and I am a little frightened of it now, hardly daring to set foot out of the back door ... except to take these photos. My friends promise to come once exams, end of terms etc are over, and Joe ( maybe the rescuing knight?) promises to come next week as long as he can hack his way through and free me from the ever encroaching vegetation.

And as for work ... I am trying. I am trying to work a new tutorial and design a new kit for a little stuffed dog to embroider, but I manage only a half hour at a time before sleep overtakes me.

But despite the moaning, the garden is also beautiful too, full blown and resplendent as these "before" photos may show. My dear friend Bobby came yesterday and cut the ivy and roses from the windows so I can get some light into the cottage, then she polished and buffed the glass till the light poured back in. Bless her!

Back "meadow" remember this when I post the "after" shots

Front meadow

At last I can see out!

The honeysuckle is wonderful and as I sleep with the windows open the scent wafts in gently

Inkjet fabric printing tutorial using Reynolds freezer paper

I want to get you excited by this wonderful technique if you have not yet tried it. There are ENDLESS possibilities ... I can give you tutorials but I want you to just play with it for your own purposes.
This tutorial is included in the Little Bird downloadable kit but here it is to comfort you and help you to see how easy it is. From the second we, as a family received a computer and printer into our home, I was trying to print onto fabric much to my ex husband's annoyance, ( we separated amicably not because of the printer incident!) as bits of thread invariably wound themselves around the rollers and whipped unfortunate lines of ink across subsequent important letters.

You can buy Reynolds freezer paper  at The Cotton Patch or on Amazon. It has many uses so it is worth getting a roll if you are an avid and insatiable crafter ... you can even wrap meat in it if it takes your fancy, what more could you want? When you have practiced this you will be ready to make the little bird and the other designs I am working on, to expand this side of the business.