Organising Mother!

Emily and Rory decided to take me in hand, I think they are worried that I'm not on top of the whole doing up the flat thing. Em required A3 paper and coloured pens, which surprisingly I had, and then made a couple of massive charts. Her head girl experience and Rory's project management techniques produced a suitably Micawberesque result...outgoings £11,930...money available £12,000. I can buy a bottle of bubbly to celebrate when I get the first booking.
It was rather challenging but a great result and many thanks to both. Ross sat in as moral support!

Give a girl a big sheet of paper and some coloured pens and she can put the world to rights!

Social media.

What a lovely excuse to escape on Friday after noon and take the sheep down to do some pretty photos of the thrift and the sea. The causeway is amazing at the moment with vast sheets of pink, I need to take more pictures when it stops raining. I can never believe that with all the people who take photos of the rocks and sunset that no one ever seems to post any of the flowers which are truly extraordinary.
On the way down the road I met about five groups of girls doing a survey on flood damage and how I had been affected. As there were very few other people around I think my answers may make up a large percentage of the results.

Sheep helping out with a survey

Horace and Daphne have Fun by the sea.

Easter Visitors.

It was lovely at Easter to have Emily, Rory and Ross stay over, although Portland sadly decided to have its only deeply wet day after weeks of waking up to blue sky, so we couldn't get out and walk but we still managed to have our first Pimms of the season. They left early on Monday morning so that Em could catch her train back to York to finish her dissertation, she gave herself four days off to restore sanity .

Food, and lots of it, the menu sounds like one the Water Rat would recite with egg sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches, rice crispy cakes and Easter Sponge with little sheep on and Prosecco as well as tea.
 I love the way in this one that Ross is trying to open his eyes by lifting his eyebrows rather than his eyelids...definately time for an afternoon nap if only Mother hadn't insisted on having a photo taken!

Sue and Richard joined us for lunch and it was great to have a catch up as although Mark goes over quite regularly I havn't met up with them since Mark's birthday in Feb...we had a great big Salad Nicoise after a weekend of lots of food and chocolate, though pudding was the first of this years rhubarb.

After that there was just time for us to dash over to the club and take part in the evening racing in lovely sunshine and a gentle breeze. A good weekend that as ever went too fast.

Happy Easter!

I have re done the planter on my front wall ready for Easter. In such a small space it really has an impact. There are several houses in Weymouth who do the most gorgeous Easter/Spring displays in tiny courtyards which inspire me to do just a little bit of fey fun. I hope that if it catches they eye of all the mums and children who walk down our lane then they may look at other plants too and get inspired, you never know!

Easter display

Even though the rest of the shop is stuffed to the gunnels with furniture waiting for the flat to be finished I managed to squeeze around and revamp my window display. I was just pondering where to find an Easter tree on treeless Portland when someone came out their side gate carrying a pile of shrub prunings. Perfect, though I see in the photo it has a distinct list so may need redoing tomorrow if it falls over tonight. I'm very picky about my Christmas tree decorations but the Easter tree has a wonderful selection of very vintage chicks, really old felted ones, a smattering of cutesy 70's ones, a craft fairs worth of 80's fuzzy caterpillars, a few well worn lady birds and a lot of rather faded paper eggs that Emily made years ago, and two of Mama's palm crosses tied up with some of her rainbow wool that she and Emily put together. It is great having the kitten free shop to put it in, also home is distinctly short of space for vast table centre pieces these days.

Ewenique achievements

I went to a farm sale with Rory and Ross, it really felt like very extreme 'vintiquing', and managed to pick up a ladder for just £5. It will eventually be transformed into shelving for displaying my Mirabelles at shows. It just fitted into my car, lucky that Rory and Ross were self propelled or they may have had to walk home.

I took advantage of the glorious sun this week to blitz my back yard. For such a tiny space the amount of stuff it contains is huge, not helped by everything getting randomly piled up when we had the side wall rendered in the autumn. Topped off with a few split sacks of coal and it was a horrid job lurking on the to do list. It took about five hours but at last it was in a fit enough state for me to have a belated but sunny lunch with Freddie sunbathing at my feet.
Well worth it in the end...and now I can reach the washing line again!

Before, or actually part way through...

and after. The poor plants looked so happy to be clear of all the rubbish at last. I removed so many slugs and snails it was unbelievable.

What to wear?

I ordered a mass of fleece with some of my show takings. Normally I am allowed to go down to Devonia at Buckfast and choose my own but they have a new policy so I had to rely on them to send it up. I had it delivered to Moatt's so Mark came home tonight with a HUGE sack of fleece which, on opening has revealed the most glorious 'pretties' as well as twenty luscious cream sheepskins. Here is Little Mo who came home from the show with me and is waiting to go to her new home with a stylish new cream coat. Freddie is unimpressed. He tried chewing a mouthful and is now sulking at the influx of OTHER even fluffier objects.

Something for the weekend Darling?..........What shall I wear?

Top of the morning!

Top of the tree, King of the castle...or just owning the lamp post! He looked very pleased with himself, I wonder if the ladies were impressed?

Belle View

An early walk this morning down my favourite road, if it is still a road when its steps all the way. I love that all the residents obviously work hard creating a beautiful overall impression. Behind the window box wall all the houses have lovely productive vegetable gardens. This is all despite being in one of the most exposed parts high up in Fortuneswell and facing North West. The scent was strong from the wallflowers, stocks and hyacinths even at 8am. So many Belle Views don't live up to their name but this one does with magnificent views right along the Dorset and Devon coast which was shining in the sun today with mist billowing distantly up the Axe valley 20 plus miles away.

Spring cleaning

Yes, obviously this is about the allotment not the house!!! Mark had an Enterprise Association meeting on Saturday so I made the most of a free day and spent it all up the hill. The allotment had got rather neglected this year with me being unable to garden for so long. Lovely sun and the soil just the right damp but crumbly texture was great for weeding. I tackled all the beds that were tamed last year and harvested my carrots, parsnips, swedes and spinach and picked a lovely bunch of scented narcissus. Seed sown was carrot, boltardy red beetroot and chioggia stripey beetroot and a back up row of broad beans. Onion sets and chitted potatoes, Maris Bard in the lowest bed and International Kidney, (which would be Jersey Royals if planted on the other side of the water) in the next bed up. Five roses form Lydls, though I think one has died in dormancy, fennel, some rescued aquilegia and an icelandic poppy are in a bed of pretties behind the composter and two lonicera which Poundbury garden centre were selling off for 50p each have gone in as a proto hedge to protect my soft fruit bushes. I've underplanted them with lavender hoping that will also shelter them a bit but still allow me to harvest any fruit, I'll keep hoping!

Country Living Magazine Spring Fair

This is a shot of my little stand as it was set up on the first day before we (my neighbour Michelle with her Baa Stools) moved to our lovely 5m x 4.5m stand and people could actually see the sheep...and buy them all. I learned several useful lessons at the show. Firstly, location, location, location and secondly that yes, size does indeed matter. I had somehow persuaded myself that it was enough just to be present at these big shows wheres being in an area of high footfall and having a long enough stand frontage for chatting browsers to actually notice is hugely important. I have provisionally booked for Spring '15 with a still small stand but in a really good position, I will need to sell twice as much but given that I lost the first day trading and had no Mirabelles left for the fourth and fifth days I feel that should be achievable.Also, having been forced by circumstance to listen to all the 'start up' workshops and sharing with the very professional Baa Stools it has resulted in Ewenique Furniture on facebook and twitter and the new name which can go in show guides and really say in two words what my work is all about. Em is doing a great job as my social media intern and running the twitter page for me...a retweet by Homes and Antiques yesterday got my name out to all their 16 thousand plus followers, its and intriguing thing.