Patterns and Pineapples

….. continuing the story of my Sunny Sunday with Noelle and Alison

After meandering through the gardens Noelle led the way into the buildings of the Bishop’s Palace …. we were wowed by the way the sunlight played with the stained glass windows in the chapel

There was even a Stained Glass jigsaw

and more spectacular patterns in the wallpaper on the staircase

and then joy of joys – Pineapples!

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows I have a bit of a thing for pineapples, you can see more here, here and here

Although the wallpaper in the photo looks grey it was, in reality, a rich blue

Seeing my delight in the pineapple pattern, Noelle hatched a plan …. and on her way home she popped into the shops to buy ……

a pineapple

Noelle then showed us this marvellous way of carving a pineapple to get rid of all the spiky brown bits AND to make the pinepapple look spectacular – a fabulous ‘Crafty Trick’ 

just see how spendid it looks

Alison and I were in for a treat

A delicious lunch awaited us in the oh-so-cosy conservatory

Home-made soup and foccacia. I felt thoroughly spoilt – it was a day to please all the senses.

I can’t leave this post without showing a close up of Noelle’s knitted jumper – her knitting is superb and in such soft yarn and gentle colours

It makes me want to get back to knitting again.

The warmth of the day stays with me – thank you so much Noelle for your wonderful hospitality.

Before posting I checked with Noelle that she was happy with my photos and she told me of more delights she has in store for you on her blogs:

Here is Noelle’s Pineapple Chutney

and

Pineapple Carving

Enjoy!

In a Dish on Monday

My daughter and her family (Miss E, Master R, Little Miss M and Mr.M) went on holiday last week. To welcome them home I made this little cameo, which is photographed in my hall before I took it to their house.

Joining Cathy for her worldwide garden party held every Monday over at Rambling in the Garden.

I used hebe, hazel, primrose, succulents and this flower spike from a laurel

A few empty snail shells were put in the corner as Little Miss M loves snails – when she was 2 she collected them and made houses for them.

In the early 1990s I worked at Dansel , a bespoke woodworking Gallery. If you are ever in Dorset it is well worth a visit. It was a wonderful place to work and very tempting. I am lucky enough to have a few pieces from those days. Each piece was signed by the maker. The mirror frame was made by Simon Teed.

The sycamore bowl was made by Peter Dalby in 1992. It holds Angel Cards, which were created as part of the Transformation Game at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland.

If you would like me to pick a card for you, let me know in the comments.

The picture you can see in the mirror is a piece of felt I made at a workshop run by Di Pattinson a few years ago.

I can highly recommend her workshops.

The piece was immediately pinned to a canvas painted with acrylic paint mixed with sand and there it sits – I always intended to do more to it but now I think I like it as it is. I could fix the pins at the back with Sugru.The diamond weaving hanging below it was made for me by Miss E for my birthday. She knows my favourite colours! Orange and pink together always a winner!

Maybe, I could fix it on to the painting ……. hmmmm ….. ….

I’ll leave for a while….. I think I like it ….. what do you think?

Kalanchoe party

There is a bit of a Ta Dah! moment going gone in my sitting room at the moment. Although it is still pretty chilly outside, I don’t think I will be having any more fires and to celebrate I have gathered some of my flowering houseplants together on the wood-burner. Apart from the orchids, I have grown all of them from cuttings which is immensely satisfying. But it is the kalanchoes I’m particularly pleased with as they have not flowered for about 3-4 years and I was considering throwing them out when last November I noticed some buds forming – patience rewarded! And now they are really putting on a show!