Mirrors, tablecloths, stew and shadows.

This Mackintosh inspired mirror is now on its way to its new owner. I like the autumnal colours, very suitable for this time of year! I've another one in a completely different design almost ready to post and orders in for four more different ones so I'm keeping busy at the moment.

As you can see from the reflection in the mirror the lovely sunny weather continues. We even had a barbeque on Sunday night - the first one this summer.

And, a chance to get all my recent linen bargains washed and out on the line to dry. I don't know what I'm going to do with them all but when I see them languishing at the bottom of a box in a charity shop I feel the need to give them a new home. With the exception of the orange tablecloth on the right they were all 49p or less - so little when you consider the many hours of embroidery involved.

This is a detail from my most recent find, beautiful bright colours on a good sized tablecloth (25p!)

I think this one is still my favourite though.

At the end of last week we were visited by a sparrow hawk. After taking the above photo I tried to creep up even closer but scared the sparrow hawk away. Fortunately she took her prey with her so all we were left with was a pile of feathers.

We've started pulling up the carrots. We didn't get round to thinning them out hence why they're probably a little on the small side, but still very tasty and not bad for a first attempt (beginner's luck perhaps). The runner beans are still cropping too.

I cleaned and chopped them them all up to make a stew with some lamb and sausage chunks and dough balls. Dough balls have become an essential ingredient for our stews. They're very easy to make (I just use the recipe that's on the suet packet - 2oz suet, 4oz SR flour, and enough water to mix to a dough to form balls, makes 8), in fact it involves less effort and is quicker than peeling, boiling and mashing some tatties. Often we still have mashed tatties too - no wonder I have to get out on my bike every week or I'd be even bigger than I am already!

We also have our first ever sunflower. There are another two which look as though they may manage to flower successfully if the warm sunny weather continues just a little longer.

The bright sunshine reflecting off neighbouring windows gave us an unusual shadow display (on my "tidy" shelves)


Now I'm away out to enjoy the sunshine while it's still here - I've bags of bulbs waiting to be planted, somewhere - goodness knows where I'll find enough ground that is not already chock-a-block with plants but is also soft enough and sufficiently stone-free that the task is not too much of a chore.

I finish off this rather random collection of photos with one of the heart-shaped stone A collected from our holiday in Ireland, just because I like it!