I love working with natural textiles. Gorgeous Elitis linens come in a multitude of muted shades that are perfect for creating that classic chequerboard look.

Well, it has been a long time between visits to the garden, and even more between time dedicated to working there.... Oh well, sometimes one just has to go with the flow. On a personal note, I am trying to curb my desire to be constantly productive and trying to take is easy. Taking time to smell the roses, as they say. Even if the roses are not so fragrant broccoli flowers at the moment.

Trying to keep that tefal foot from going too fast when attaching the leather patches to the dress.

Architectural folds on a two-sided pouch.

I adore long walks along the beach. Although I am usually powering away, trying to burn some calories (it would be great to think that is of no consequence to me...) I do actually take note of my surroundings. They change every day and you could say, every minute. There is the movement of the clouds, the water, the birds, and there are also wafts of sea scents of all kinds. I always think to myself that if I were an artist, this is where I would get my inspiration. I find the walks invigorating and have never thought they actually inspire me in a literal sort of way until I was looking through these photos. What do you think?

Dew kissed cabbage in the garden

With t-shirt sleeves  for straps and old pants for part of the front, this is the first bag made by me that my husband claimed as his many years ago. Although my skills have developed and I now have a more amazing collection of fabrics, I am still fond of this one - it's simplicity,  lack of pretension, and the colour combination of red, white and blue is still one of my faves.

The "Rain" bag features a shoulder strap as well as short handles for wearing versatility. Never mind the crocs  (they weren't supposed to make the shoot).

I believe it is best to enclose seed heads in some way to prevent the seeds falling to the ground and germinating. I thought I would give it a go. These must be well and truly dry by now.

Darling god daughter is making excellent progress with her "journey" (hate that word!) project. A little bit of unpicking had to be done on the gathered skirt to get it to the desired fullness but we got satisfaction in the end. Yay!

Aren't these the cutest little mushrooms you have ever seen? They are popping up all round the place.

It has been a busy day in my sadly neglected, yet surprisingly productive garden today. Lots of cleaning up to be done in the intermittent rain- pulling out the spent tomato plants, the weeds and the vines that will no longer ripen. Case in point, the rockmelons. I am fairly certain these came from the compost. Loads of self seeded seedlings coming up - rocket, Queen Anne's Lace (already!), coriander, and broccolini amongst other things. Harvested today: silverbeet, rocket (Italian and French), two stray cucumbers, parsnips I practically had to excavate, some sad looking baby beets, the last of my yellow pear tomaotoes, loads of parsley and a bunch of young cavolo nero.
I had been thinking of sowing a green manure but there are simply too many goodies coming up. My sort of gardening...

My darling god daughter wearing a dress by yours truly

I have recently spent some time with my darling god daughter - well, truth be told, she was never baptised, so I like to call myself the "fairy god mother". Sunny asked me to be her mentor for a middle school "journey" project she needs to work on over the course of the year. Let's just say she has made an amazing start. In the course of three days she has learnt to use both the regular and overlocker machines and has made two pairs of shorts. This sampler was later fashioned into an iPad cover. That's what I call amazing progress!