Cosy Autumn

Hello dear readers........back today with some warm and cosy autumn pictures......beginning with my autumn coloured irish chain quilt......

............candles, berries and toadstool decorations on the mantle in this room.......

.......i love all my irish chain quilts (pattern is in my etsy shop link in sidebar) but this is one of my favourites with it's warm and cosy autumn colours....i made it using left over jellyroll scraps......

..........this year autumn seems especially beautiful and i appreciate the cosy times as well as the bright days.....

...........although we use quilts all year round now they are really needed.........

..........the fabric pumpkins are all appearing too as the house leaves summer behind and autumn decor arrives.........

...........we had a lovely day out to dunham massey and saw the gardens in their autumn glory.....

.........and with some of the apples in my last post i made this delicious apple cake.....it's a dorset apple cake (recipe found online) and i swapped the raisins for cranberries.......it was yummy......

.....the bottom of our garden is like a mushroom farm at the moment.......so many perfect white mushrooms growing there....

........and while i was busy photographing them and looking at the ground, this was happening up above....hubby called me to look up and there was a huge skein of geese flying over our garden....such a magical sight......

........small autumn joys, small seasonal pleasures are things which have always made me happy and inspired......cosy times, quilts, flowers and berries, finding conkers and acorns, pretty coloured leaves and always looking out for those red spotted toadstools too of course........

 ......thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for your kind comments......hoping you are having happy autumn days and finding joy in the little things too.......take care lovelies........love and peace.......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

September Times

Hello again dear readers.....it's a beautiful september day here with that special low mellow autumn sunlight....we have lots of apples to share....stitched on my little apples quilt and patchwork apples made from rosy red scraps of fabric.......

........i first made fabric apples many years ago and now i have finally put the pattern in my etsy shop link in sidebar......the little apples quilt pattern is there too, made from tilda apple butter fabrics with appliqué apples.....

..........some apple inspiration from our visit to the courts garden in wiltshire (while we were staying in somerset).......loved seeing the apples trained to grow over an arch.....

.......the fallen apples were gathered up in baskets to sell to visitors........

.........such a peaceful and delightful english country garden......

........september sunflowers and a burgeoning vegetable garden.....

..........a view of the beautiful old house with some late flowering roses.....

........my favourite fabric apple with it's little surface stitches.......

...........autumn plate........patchwork apples and strings of honeysuckle berries........

........this week began with a very moving and intense day when we said our final farewell to our beloved Queen Elizabeth II at her state funeral......a day of such rich tradition and pageantry.....so sad and so final......we will miss her so much as life goes on.........and now we say god save the king......

..........bright poignant september days........with dahlias, japanese anemones, winter pansies and hydrangeas beneath the low autumn sun......

.....thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave me......wishing you a happy week ahead enjoying the fruits of autumn (or spring if you are on the other side of the world)....and some sunny crafty days too...........take care lovelies....love and peace..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

The End of an Era

Hello again dear readers.....back from our visit to the somerset countryside.....on our last day there we were shocked and saddened to hear that our beloved queen had died.........as we drove home up the motorway huge pictures of her majesty with the dates 1926-2022  appeared on the hoardings (billboards) at the roadside....it just seemed so unreal....... 

.......over the past week while the nation was in mourning i've been watching the tv coverage and designing and stitching this little Queen Elizabeth II keepsake.....just a small token but stitched with love.......

.....grateful that we had the wonderful jubilee celebrations for the queen's amazing 70 year reign in the summer......celebrating her wonderful qualities of steadfast dedication, constancy, wisdom and humour....we will all miss her so much....

......our somerset trip involved visiting lots of historic places....many mentioned in the domesday book.......

..........just a few pictures to share today........

......some views of castle combe...........such a timeless place....unchanged and filled with a powerful sense of history....

.........walking along the main street in the sunny autumn morning........and stopping for delicious coffee at this little table outside the castle inn...........

.......on another day we visited dyrham park, nestled below at the bottom of the grassy hill.....more pictures of this beautiful house to share another time.......

.........outside our little cottage the crabapples were ripening.........

.........the second elizabethan era has finally come to an end.......

......one more version of my little Queen Elizabeth II keepsake, this time stitched on cream as a companion piece to the jubilee ornament stitched in the summer.........(the pattern is in my etsy shop link in sidebar)......

...........thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave me..........wishing you happy autumn times with flowers, sunshine and crafty inspirations to brighten your days........take care lovelies........peace and love.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx