Cooling Down and Hotting Up.

As the garden starts to cool down, taking on it’s stunningly beautiful autumn colours, my workroom starts to hot up. Filled with inspiration and enthusiasm I now feel the need to make, make, make.

But first possibly a final look at the garden before it goes to sleep. My neighbours beautiful Copper Beech looking at it’s best, won’t be long before the whole lot falls then I’ll be out there raking leaves. The only problem with these is that they take far too long to break down into leaf mulch.

I have a habit of not throwing anything away even bits of wood. These tend to be placed around the pond as hiding places for newts and other small creatures. These lovely bits of wood then often produce fungi which to me are as beautiful as the flowers around.

Some years I may see none at all but this year seems to be a good one.

A general view of the bottom garden, this is where we removed the g/daughters playhouse from. You would never have thought it had ever been there. Lots of autumn colour in this area asters, cyclamen,phlox and a couple of grasses. In the background the rusty leaves of viburnum opulus.

The ever welcome flowers of saxifraga fortunei. Flowering really late in the season and looking so delicate you would think that the cooler nights would kill it off.

And still we have roses. This one being Rosa Macmillan Nurse a very pure white flowering right up till the frosts. Papaver rupifragum still flowering it’s socks off. Behind is a pink hydrangea now turned a lovely dusky deeper shade.

So as a taster from the sewing room. A piece of fabric bought possibly last year from Best Fabrics Castle Donnington, just enough for an autumn inspired bag. Thinking about the softer colours this barrel type bag has two side pockets and an internal one, I was going to use some pale leather on it but working on the hoof I change my designs throughout my making up process and decided against it.

Bag handles made. Fabric not leather.

Internals done, bag base stiffening in place.

As a fastener for the sides I had two studs left over from when I made my leather weekend bag last year. Finishing off the sides nicely.

All labelled up…..

…and ready to go.

Still have a few jobs to do in the garden, several bags of tulips to go in, plants to move and the whole garden to mulch for the winter then it’s time to start making all those things I’ve been planning. Bring it on…… Sue

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Going, going, gone.

In between the the heavy rain and the fierce gusts of wind we managed to take down a tree this week.

              Prunus Lusitanica Variegata.

As it stood it was a lovely tree, but it had started to take over my small white garden.Shading out some of my roses and clematis on the fence. So down it came. With Malcolm at the helm, and me holding ladders and mashing tea, the task was performed.

And after several trips to the tip, and saving large logs for son’s log burner, the area is clear.

Yes the ladder did look a little unsteady, but it was roped in.

The immediate effect was amazing, as the sun was shining. So now I need a couple more climbers, which won’t be difficult to find. I’ve already got perennials and bulbs waiting in the wings to go in this corner. It won’t be completely open as there is a beautiful Copper Beech to the left of the pictures, which when in full leaf is truly stunning. Fortunately this tree doesn’t belong to us, so there is no worry about sending Malcolm up the ladders again.

The Beech in the summer with the Prunus behind, just before the autumn colour.