Monthly Archives: April 2011

A visit to Lea Gardens

Posted on by Abi

I hope you’re all enjoying the sun and extra bank holidays (if you’re in the UK). We’ve certainly been taking advantage and visiting several local attractions. During the Easter Weekend we took a long overdue trip to Lea Gardens in Derbyshire. The wonderful thing about the gardens is the amount of paths and plants which meant plenty of shady spots to escape from the very hot sun.

Lea itself is a small Derbyshire village where two notable figures have lived. Florence Nightingale was brought up here and the knitwear designer John Smedley started his famous business from Lea Mills.

The gardens themselves are celebrating being in business for 50 years this year and all the plants are currently in full bloom. The upper part of the garden has  numerous gravel paths between rhododendrons and azaleas and then  further down the hill the garden becomes a woodland area with mud  paths, trees and many bird boxes.

The gardens were so beautiful we think we took more than a 100 photos (such is the wonder of a digital camera) so it was very hard to chose just a few to show you here. I hope you’ll enjoy the selection. Of course the next big event in the calendar is the Royal Wedding. Unfortunately we have not been invited (I can hear you all crying about the injustice from here he he) but not to be deterred we will be celebrating Angel Eden style on Friday, if you are braving the crowds in London you have my full respect and admiration, I just hope this lovely weather holds for both you and the happy couple :)

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Happy Easter Everyone!

Posted on by Abi

A bit late posting this week, like many of you I have little people at home who need activities and attention. We’ve been lucky and have been enjoying some fabulous weather which has helped. I did prebook all three into a workshop run by the local council and held at a Georgian Townhouse in Derby called Pickfords House. The children all love Pickfords and have visited before with their school. It has a room full of puppets and miniature theatres, as well as a garden full of homes for bugs and statues of children playing. But on Thursday we visited the bottom floor and got covered in paint, glue and some very stubborn sequins that were insistent about sticking to our hands rather than our work. The kids all decorated an egg cup and egg without adult help (other than a bit of paintbrush washing). We took them outside to the garden to dry and enjoyed some time in the sun.  I hope you are all enjoying the weather wherever you are and don’t eat too many chocolate eggs this weekend ;) Happy Easter everyone!

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Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Tea Towel Book Review!

Posted on by Abi

As any regular reader of this blog will know, I love upcycling! The idea of taking something old and/or unloved and giving it a new lease of life really appeals to me whilst also being environmentally and economically friendly. So when I received a copy of Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Tea Towel to review from GMC Publications I was very excited!

The book features more than two dozens projects to transform your tea towels into everything from a bag to a halter top or pair of slippers! The projects are beautifully photographed and the book itself would grace any coffee table.  Anne had recently bought a rather lovely handprinted tea towel. I often see these kind of tea towels, too expensive and pretty to want to actually use, so this book seemed like the perfect solution.

Anne chose a shopping bag as she thought this would be the most useful item for her and we set about following the instructions to repurpose and reinvent. The project was very simple and very clearly explained and the bag was finished in very little time.  The only addition to the tea towel needed was some fabric for lining and handles and any trimming you fancy.

 

Would I recommend this book?

Yes, I think it is a wonderful idea to take an everyday item and make it into something more interesting. It also gives a brilliant excuse to buy pretty tea towels. As I said before it is beautifully photographed and would make a lovely gift.

Could it be improved in anyway?

Erm… I can’t think of anything in particular. Infact I’d loved to see a second book with yet more ideas. Some of the projects weren’t completely to my taste, but that’s personal preference rather than a fault. I honestly think this book meets all it’s claims.

Book Details

Title: Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Tea Towel

Author: Nathalie Mornu

ISBN: 9781600595080

RRP:  £14.99

Publisher: Lark

Publication Date: May 2010

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