Bells

As this is one of the prettiest times of the year to visit ‘my park’ I thought I would take you on a little walk. Everything is so green and as the theme of my post is ‘bells’, it is a good time to show you all the bluebells that are now in full bloom!

I really don’t think my photos do them justice as the sea of blue is just amazing!

The blue and green together is so beautiful.

Weddings ‘bells’ next and as it’s now less than seven weeks to my daughter’s wedding, the invitations have been sent out. They have been designed by my graphic designer son in the style of a vintage French postcard.

I’m afraid this is a very tenuous link to the ‘bells’ theme but as I promised I would share it, this is how the ‘Bell’s’ kitchen now looks after the revamp!

I don’t have a huge kitchen but much better use of the space has been made and as the decorator has now finished painting it is all now complete, thankfully!!

So it’s the weekend again, can you believe it!!

Thanks as always for visiting me here in my little space, I love it when you stop by and say hello and please know that your comments are much appreciated.

Wishing you all a happy, sunny, springtime weekend!

 

Bees & A Butterfly

How beautiful has it been today, just look at that sky!!

I really love these daffodils that have bloomed this week, the centre is such a pretty colour.

My flowering currant is now in bloom too.

It’s not just me enjoying the sunshine and flowers though, there are all sorts of bees and buzzy things out there today!

Bees are so difficult to photograph, it’s not hard to work out why they are called busy bees! Yesterday I signed a petition to ban the pesticides that are killing our bees. We need to help to protect these little creatures!

I haven’t actually seen any butterflies yet in the garden but this little one has appeared at Green Rabbit HQ.

When I finished this little lady, I wanted to give her a name associated with butterflies as she has butterflies on her skirt and her bow and her cardigan is fastened with one too. After a little bit of research I found out that Vanessa is the genus of butterfly that the beautiful Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies belong to, so Vanessa it was!

Hope the sun has been shining on you today too!

Happy Tuesday!

 

Cats in the Snow

Guess what we woke up to this morning???

Yuck! It’s no secret that I loathe this horrible stuff but not everyone around these parts feels the same!!!

Oh no, these two boys were having a ball in it!

Charlie and R.J. thought this was just the best fun ever.

Chasing imaginary things across the garden!

Wrestling with each other.

I took these photos from the safety and warmth of my living room. There was no sign of the girls at all just this pair of daft boys. Their paws must have been freezing!!!! It was very entertaining to watch though.

R.J. in particular just couldn’t stay out of it, he really loved it!

I, however, am glad to say that it is now raining and hopefully it will be all gone in the not too distant future.

Sorry R.J. !

Happy (snowless) Tuesday!

 

Blue

We’ve had some beautiful blue skies this week. This photo was taken on Thursday morning, it looked like someone had scribbled on the sky! I’m hoping that they stay blue or at least don’t hold any snow, that doesn’t really go with the pre~spring plan.

I’ve spent quite a bit of the week spring cleaning, I like to get it done before ‘real’ spring arrives as I don’t want to waste any ‘real’ spring time cleaning, if you get my drift!! I can’t say I enjoy it but it must be done.

Not all of my time this week has been spent cleaning though (heaven forbid!!), I’ve taken inspiration from the lovely skies to make another little bunny cardigan for my next little girl. I really love the colours I’m working with this time. Hopefully I’ll be able to share her with you soon.

On the subject of bunnies, thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my last bunny, Flora!!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, no snow please!!!

 

Pre~Spring

Welcome to pre-spring!!!

Anyone who is a regular visitor here will know that according to the Green Rabbit calendar we are now in pre-spring!

If you’re new here the Green Rabbit calendar is as follows ~

Pre-Spring ~ January and February
Spring ~ March, April and May
Summer ~ June, July, August and September
Autumn ~ October and November
Winter ~ December

I’m sure you’ll agree this is a much better calendar than the normal one, one month of winter is really enough for anyone.

The first photo was taken on the first day of the year and just look at the sky, the weather has been extremely mild and there are lots of signs that spring is on the way.

Bulbs are pushing their way through the soil all over my garden!

In fact I’m only beginning to realise how many bulbs I planted last autumn!!!

The little primroses that I kept in the greenhouse since last spring are now beginning to bloom.

The trees too are beginning to come to life again with lots of little buds forming, it really seems no time since they dropped their leaves, I much prefer this time of year though when it’s all beginning to happen again.

So with images like these how can you not agree that we are edging closer to springtime. I know a lot of people don’t like January but I love the fact that we can see spring and summer on the horizon.

Of course no time in the garden happens without at least one assistant (usually more), today’s helper was the beautiful Lily!

I hope you all manage to get out outside this weekend to look for the signs of spring and embrace this hopeful time of year!!!

Happy weekend!

 

Solstice

I love it when we reach this day of the year, the Winter Solstice, it’s so hopeful. I know that tomorrow there is going to be a little more daylight than there was today. I know that we probably won’t notice it just yet but the fact that it will happen is just enough to make me happy. Changes are already happening, little flowers are coming out, bulbs are pushing through and I even saw some buds on a tree today, so all wonderfully hopeful!!!

As this is my last post before Christmas I thought we would do a little catching up with what I’ve been up to. I’m still bunny making, this little lady is Misty, it was lovely making the Christmas bunnies but it was nice to move on to less festive ones again.

I’ve been a very lucky girl again and have won another lovely giveaway, this time from Sally. Thanks to Sally for a very generous parcel of goodies!!!

I have also received some lovely gifts and cards from bloggy friends, I just love the friendship that exists in blogland! Thanks to Simone, Mia, Jane and Gill!!!

I’ve also given myself a little gift, I’m calling it my salary from Green Rabbit Designs for the year!!! I’m beyond excited about this little baby!

Lastly just a collection of our tree decorations, some of them almost as old as me and some just new this year, exactly how a collection of Christmas decorations should be, I think.

So here we are almost at Christmas Day, I think this has been the quickest year ever and certainly December has flown by.
I want to thank all of you lovely people for visiting me here and for leaving all your lovely comments, post after post. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with those you love.

Wishing you and yours a very happy Christmas and all the peace of the season!
I’ll see you all on the other side!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

My Week In Pictures

Garden

It has been a lovely week, weatherwise and I’ve had plenty of opportunity to get outside into the garden. It’s a strange mix at the moment as the leaves are changing colour and the berries are out on the shrubs but at the same time there are still strawberries ripening!

Food

I couldn’t resist taking a pic of these oranges, I love a full fruit basket, I love how it looks however it doesn’t stay like that for very long, it soon gets eaten but then that’s what it’s for! There has been a bit of chocolate cake baking and a bit of toffee apple eating, a bit too much some would say!

Cats

What would a week be without the kits. Clockwise from top left, Charlie, Jessie and Lily.

Flowers

Flowers inside and surprisingly outside too. My cosmos is in full bloom, long may it last.

Nature

I spotted this flock of geese flying over the house yesterday, I might have missed them completely if it hadn’t been for the noise they were making, such a lot of honking!!! The little snail was snoozing in my flower border this afternoon, just as long as he goes somewhere else for his tea! As for the other photo, I have no idea at all what they are. I’m guessing they are eggs of some sort, there were a lot of big slugs round about them but if anyone knows what they are I would love to know.

Crochet

Crochet! A week wouldn’t be a week be without crochet! The bunnies, I know you’ve seen them all before, were out in the garden for a photoshoot for Facebook and I made some new crocheted brooches too.

Well as you will have worked out by now I’ve been having a little play about with PicMonkey today, it was fun sorting out my photos into little groups.

So that was my week, not a lot different to most of my weeks but that’s the way I like it!

I hope you all a lovely weekend, keep warm as it’s going to get a lot colder over the next few days and thanks as always for your much appreciated visits and lovely comments!!!

 

My Autumn Colours Park

It has a been while since we had a little walk in ‘my park’! I took my camera with me yesterday when I went on my Sunday afternoon walk so that I could share with you how beautiful it is at this time of year. We had yet another sunny day, I can’t believe how fortunate we have been with the weather this October.

You can compare the above photo with this one, just to see the change!

There was lots of autumn colour about and Sunday was a good day to visit as the park staff wouldn’t have been sweeping up the leaves over the weekend so there were plenty to kick about and walk through.

Always lots of wildlife no matter what time of the year it is!

It wasn’t all gold, russet and brown though, there was still lots of greenery and plenty of berries for the birds to feast on over the coming months.

I do love the colours of autumn, they are my favourite colours of all.

I don’t think I would ever tire of this place and I feel so lucky that it’s only a ten minute walk from my front door.

The sky was beautiful yesterday too, blue with white whispy clouds. Autumn has definitely won me over this year!!

I do hope you enjoyed your autumn walk in my park!

It was still dry and mild today although no sun to speak off, I managed a day in the garden (always good), apparently though it’s going to get quite cold by the end of the week.

Have a great week, whatever you get up to!

 

Autumn Seaside

Well here we are in not only a new week but a new month and a new season! As you all know October marks the beginning of autumn in the Green Rabbit calender.

How did I celebrate the new season ~ by going to the seaside!

My husband had the day off work and we headed to the shores of Belfast Lough, had some lunch and a walk on the beach.

It was breezy and cool but not freezing cold and there was the odd fleeting shower but it soon moved on with the breeze.

This beach is a beachcombers dream with so many shells, stones and my favourite, sea glass.

This is my little bag of treasure from today!

Even though walking the beach and picking up shells seems like a summer pursuit, the signs of the new season are all around.

The leaves are changing colour ………….

and there are berries aplenty.

So my new week, new month and new season has got off to a good start!!

Hope yours has too!

 

Wildflowers

I love of flowers!

This statement will come as no surprise to those of you who visit here regularly but it’s not just garden flowers, I love wildflowers too!

During the summer I have been photographing wildflowers wherever I found myself ~ country lanes, seaside, park!

Looking back at the photos I do wonder where the summer has gone. Some of these photos I took over 2 months ago and yet it only seems such a short time ago.

Just some of the many flowers I’ve photographed during the summer and lovely to see that it didn’t rain all the time!

I have lots of books on wildflowers too, some of them from my childhood. One of them is the Ladybird Book of British Wildflowers, the one above though isn’t my original one it’s another one I picked up a little while ago in a secondhand book shop.

Why did I want a second one??

Well I wanted it so that I could send it to the very clever Fee to work her magic and make me these beautiful blocks ………………………

Aren’t they brilliant??

I think I’m right in saying that Fee enjoys a commission, her blocks are also available from her shop.

Her work is amazing!!

I don’t suppose there will be many more opportunities for sunny wildflower photos from now on, at least I have my blocks to look at!

The air is definitely a lot cooler but at least the sun shone today, let’s hope it continues to do so over the weekend.

Happy weekend and as always thanks for visiting!