And the winner is............

The winner of my giveaway lavender bag is ..........

Drawn by my son and the name is......

Janie from Hedgecombers- so well done Janie- I will need an address!



Thank goodness the rain has stopped for a little while at least. Fred our cat was on our back doorstep this morning, sunning himself on the door mat. Typically he moved as soon as I headed for the camera but here's a photo of him in a less sunny place.

 Th epatio is north facing and has got so slippery over the past week. It will do it good to have the sun on it for a while. I think today will be spent in the garden. What are you going to do today?

Top tip for your planters

At the weekend when it was raining I did some blog surfing and came across the blog Vertical Veg. Wow this man produced so much in his London  home. He planted planters on a roof terrace, window sills, front garden , in fact anywhere he could ! and the produce he grew! He even kept a log. One of the things he used was self watering planter. He talked about ones that could be purchased however he described how to make your own and you can find the information here: self watering containers. So I made my own- unfortunately I forgot take photographs  but I will the next time  I make one.
I used the 3litre milk container but I didn't have any spare yoghurt pots so I used orange juice containers instead. Luckily we had some old pond piping in the shed -so I used that too. This man is so inspirational- take a look at his blog...........

Allotment time!!!!!

Hurrah its been dry for two days- or rather almost dry but good enough for me to get some work done on the allotment. I escaped on Saturday afternoon. I dug, weeded and planted:

1) the rest of my onion sets,
2) sowed some white beetroot ( I forgot to take the red ones with me). I thought that the white ones might be good roasted in with mixed root vegetables and maybe ok in cakes!
3) sowed lettuces: little gems and some mixed salad leaves, rocket ,  some spring onions and some sugar snap peas.
 Then on Sunday - another stint!!!!- This time I had a lot of digging to do - as I needed to plant where the potatoes were last year! As usual we had missed some and they were regrowing. I had  nipped  in the morning to a DIY store for some slug pellets ( we can't find the ones from last year- put away safe for the winter!) and happened to pick up some brassica plants on the reduced stand.
 So in the afternoon planted:
1) broccoli plants- we had these once before and did well with them- and the youngsters eat them :)
2)Cabbage plants- I think these should be good in coleslaw
 and sowed some red beetroot , called cylindra- which are a long root  beetroot- great for pickling.
I also picked up - sprouting broccoli and also brussel sprout plants but these will have to wait until I clear another part of the ground.

So all in all a busy two days! How did you get on - did you have any dry weather? I know Kent had more  rain- My Dad said it rained for nearly the whole two days! Hope it was ok for you!

Vintage bags and Fab Vintage

While all this rain has been happening I have been busy indoors. The lovely new shop called Fab Vintage in Winchester has recently opened and are  stocking a good range of vintage clothing to suit all pockets.
They have recently taken some of my friend Debbie's furniture which I highlighted in my post about the Vintage market and what is so delightful is that they have taken some of my vintage cushions and a couple of my bags to try.
My first bag is a messenger bag made from what I believe is uncut Moquette which was around in the fifties/sixties. I definitely remember my Mum and Dad had a settee with this fabric on it.

Sorry about the quality of the photo!

Being fascinated by the name I thought I would do a little research. Apparently Moquette originated in France. It 's well known for its durability and hardwearing properties and was often used in carpeting and upholstery. It often comprises of mainly wool with a small amount of polyester in it.There is a smooth version which in carpet world is like a Wilton and a uncut version like a Brussels carpet. Apparently it is still made in Yorkshire using traditional methods. It was used on the  seats of the London underground tube trains! So now we know!

The second bag was made as I was asked to make a bag with a Union Jack theme. Although I don't think this what was envisaged I think its worked out quite well. All of the fabrics used and the button were vintage or upcycled. I love the button - very sixties don't you think?

Hoping for  a dry spell...........

Allotment update

I was so excited I had an hour free and I heard the allotment calling. My basket was ready- I have a basket for the front of my bike and it was already primed with my seeds, gardening gloves, trowels, and onion sets. So off I set, the only problem that it was forecast to rain , so rain gear and wellies were also popped into the boot of the car.
I managed to open the shed before the first down pour came. I squeezed myself into the tiny minuscule space by t he door that was free and waited. Rain blowing through the gap. How I waished it would stop . A hat would have been useful! As soon as the deluge eased I popped out and managed to plant the broad beans plants and that's pretty well how it continued. So I had to retreat tot he greenhouse where I planted some more onion sets in module trays, I sowed beetroot and lettuce and that's as far as I have got. Hopefully a more productive week this week!
I definitely need to sort the shed out so that at least I could shelter in there comfortably ! Maybe if I get a dry day!

Vintage lavender bag giveaway!

To celebrate completion for my lavender order I am giving away a lavender bag in a draw. The bag is made using vintage blanket and embellished with ribbon and backed using changing of the guard fabric. The lavender bag is filled with lavender from Provence France.

 All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of the post . If you would like a second chance of winning then pop over to facebook and " like"  my Tales of Mrs H page and also leave a comment . The draw is open until 10th May and I am happy to post worldwide!. Best of luck!!!!

Lavender bags

I haven't been posting a lot recently as I haven't been feeling a hundred percent- having a flu like virus over Easter and migraines this week and now I feel I'm going down with something else! It must be bad if Mr H notices!- His comment this morning was "You looked wrecked". Always a good start to the day I find!!

I digress - I really wanted to tell you about my order for the Long Barn in Alresford who wanted a Jubilee theme lavender bag and the fantastic people there gave a me  a lovely order.  I finally finished the order in the second week of the hols and have taken some photos for you to see:

My lavender bags in the basket

Red white and blue! 

Blue White and Blue!

Standing to attention

I am really delighted with with how they turned out - a lot of hard work but so worth it!
.If you are near Alresford in Hampshire you should really give the Long Barn a visit. Long Barn are growers  and distillers of lavender  which is grown locally in Hampshire. I understand that they are opening a coffee shop towards the end of May. There are no parking problems as they have their own car park and its within walking distance of the town. So why not pop in for some lavender, beauty products or some of their other lovely items? Who could resist?