The silence is broken..............................

I sat down at this computer for the first time in 2 weeks, and let me just tell you, it has taken 1 hour and 59 minutes to download my photos from the camera, and upload them to Flickr and I am losing the will to live and have overdone the coffee intake for women of steel. 

I may need to take a walk around the garden and slow the breathing and get the blood pressure under control, because, you know, after two weeks of SILENCE, you may just want to hear reasonable language and sweet sounds instead of what could just be a human version of Mt Vesuvius erupting. 

When I last wrote a word here, Missy was here and I had just had my birthday. Then everyone left, and there I was in an empty house, and I had stuff to do, seasons to change in the house and the laundry pile was toppling, and people, I was just tired. So, I sat in the garden which led to pottering in the garden, which led to rearranging the garden, which led to a BBQ or 2 and that led to  repotting stuff, and did I mention that the sun shone all week? 

That was last week that it shone. This week is grey. But that is beside the point. THEN I got all creative, seeing that it was the end of May and I needed to change the house to summer, only all my summer stuff is in the loft and I was not going to consider an expedition up there. So, I hauled out what was around on ground level, and then I made some more rainbow bunting for the kitchen and the garden. And then I made pompoms for the kitchen. And then I changed the lounge to pale colours, because one can have TOO MUCH COLOUR and nowhere to be calm and serene. (I am still in search of serenity. It is still nowhere to be found.)

Then I needed something for the front door, and I didn't have a pale welcome sign, but, in a moment of genius, I had bought a few extra signs when they were on sale for £1.00, so I repainted one. Then I needed a wreath, so I found an undecorated one, my glue gun, some raffia, fabric and old flowers and it was sorted. 

And then I headed back to the rocking chair and dozed. 

And here I am. Do you want to see what I have been doing?????

First, just before Ann and Missy departed, we attempted some "4 generations of women photos". They were a hit and miss affair, as Missy has decided that cameras irritate her intensely, and co-operation is not something we saw a great deal off in our photo shoot. However, faces or not, here are the 4 women. Mum. Me. Diana. Missy. 

And here we have the kitchen/family room mid change from Spring to Summer. The cloth is changed, but the Spring bunting is still in place, because, there on the table is all the summer bunting. The piles of colours waiting to be stitched and finished off and sewn together, after the miles of binding is ironed.

The little rainbow lanterns are for the metal poles I have in the garden if I have an evening BBQ.

And, moving into the garden, here are a few of the flowers. We have been in a purple phase with the irises, lilac, aquilegia, aliums, bluebells and other purple things. But this is one aquilegia  which I didn't know I had. Pretty, isn't it?

Everything is growing. Actually, it is all a lot bigger now, but I haven't taken any photos in the last few days. The allotment is also doing well. Stuff is growing. That is all good.

This is the vegetable garden part. I move pots around, and I have things ready to go into the potato pots as soon as they are ready to dig up.We have already been eating the spinach and the lettuce. I LOVE wandering into the garden and picking leaves to eat!

Back inside again. All the triangles sewn and finished off. Actually, these are the left over ones. I may just have cut a few too many. I had left the rainbow bunting up in the garden through the winter, but it was looking sad and faded. Rather like its creator, I have to say - the faded bit. I need highlights. I look grey.

Oops - back outside again, to see what I meant re the purple phase. It looked lovely. It still does in places.

New bunting on the fence! A vast improvement.

So, once the colour was sorted in the kitchen, I started on the entrance, and the painting of the Welcome sign.

I should have arranged these photos. But I have lost energy. So here we are BACK in the colourful room. Did I mention pompoms? I had nothing for the centre hanging thingy, because everything is in the dark corners of the loft, so I checked out the yarn supplies, and managed to find a rainbow. Then I tried all the new-fangled Pinterest ideas for pompoms and tossed them all out, and made cardboard circles in 3 sizes. And then I sat there for two nights, making pompoms. It was very therapeutic.

The nook is also bright and cheerful. I have to say, the colours make me smile.

Right. Moving on.

 The entrance. The sign in place and the new wreath. The summer part was a Christmas one I made, but I just turned it over. I was looking for my shell supply, but only found them yesterday, so now I need the glue gun and that is in the cupboard and I can't be bothered to move everything around to find it at this moment. Maybe tomorrow. So the buttons cover the holes I drilled for the Christmas work of art. It will do. The flowers I had. They are made from wood shavings, and the petals had been damaged, so I used the glue gun to reattach them in some semblance of order. It looks fine.

Natural raffia is wonderful stuff. So is wire.

So after you come through that door, you will be in the lounge. The cool calm and serene lounge. See? I love it. I wanted to get some white lilies for the vase until I saw the price. I will wait till mine grow. They are on their way. Tall and strong in the garden.

So it is not all bright colours. Bits of both. Two sides of me.

And there you have it. My last 14 days of silence were not wasted entirely. I just did not have the energy to think.

But I have been to two consecutive days of aquarobics and aquazumba and I am still alive. Last week we were at an auction on one of the days, so missed a class. Maybe the sun will come back soon too. It is our village festival at the moment, and for two weeks, there are things on the go, like Art Exhibitions, coffee mornings, movies, concerts - and, of course, the Carnival on Saturday. I do hope there is no rain this time. Last year it was postponed because the Rec(reation ground) was waterlogged.

So, I will head off now to feed Glynis's dogs, and leave you with one last photo of the garden. It is growing. And I will be back. I promise.