April 2025

This morning I went round the garden early and picked a few flowers for the breakfast table. My favourite here is the Blackthorn blossom, a froth of tiny white flowers borne on thin black spiny twigs. The pot is made from a creamy clay, and was dug up here many years ago; I often wonder who it belonged to before it became mine.

So far this month I have completed two birth samplers and am now working on a collection of fifty embroidered posies to be mounted on the front of wedding invitations. It is lovely to be a little part of these happy times in others’ lives.

As a gardener as well as an embroiderer, as ever at this time of year I am very busy sewing and sowing; lots of hand cream at the ready!

March 2025

This morning the sky is so clear and bright, lighting up the sparkling frost on grass and path. The brilliance of the morning is all the more uplifting, coming as it does after so many dull days. I shall take the opportunity to photograph new work in natural light, as I listen to the rooks’ noisy chatter above me as they gather together in the tall churchyard trees. No nests yet, but it won’t be long! Also to be heard this morning are the robins; several pairs are guarding their mates and their territories, their tuneful singing adding to the joy of the morning. Spring is here with the arrival of March!

February 2025

February is a chilly month, so often misty and damp, scarf and wellie weather! Today I picked a few celandines from the churchyard opposite our cottage, there are masses of them, so a few will not be missed. I put these with some of our own snowdrops in a small vase for the breakfast table, a bright spot of loveliness beside the toast and marmalade! Even the littlest things can bring happiness.

I have been working hard on cards for a variety of occasions. Having been focused on Christmas for months, January and February are a time for catching up, re-stocking the website and fulfilling gallery orders. Good progress is being made…it is cheering to be stitching spring flowers, rabbits and lambs!