Monday 18 April 2016

Memorandum Monday


Well, would you look at that! It's Monday again. We had a chilly weekend here: as our girl set out for her ten mile sponsored walk along the coast I made sure she took a hat! And that cold breeze meant that anything new I did, or learned for the first time, was most likely going to be of the inside variety.

Disclaimer: photo taken back in February, when I brought this wool back from Scotland, and realised I should have bought more..


I did think bout being out in the fresh air, gardening, when I read that the best way of getting rid of weeds is to keep on watering them after you have weedkillered, so that they grow all the more quickly, use up all their strength, and then disappear in as short a time as possible. I wonder, do you think it would work? We don't like using weedkiller round here, so although as a suggestion it's something I hadn't heard of before, it's probably  not a keeper in life's great card catalogue of trivia. In any case, our garden isn't famous for its plants. Instead it's made more interesting by its treasure.


By all the scattered pieces of pottery we find every time we turn over some earth. I've written about it before. I keep the pieces on a dark wooden tray beside the phone and sometimes, if you listen carefully, you'll hear the clicks as I turn them over my fingers while I talk. 


Yesterday I thought they looked dusty and unloved, so I emptied the tray and cleaned all the little chips, which took on the appearance, then, just for a minute, of pebbles washed over by the retreating tide.

That was my gardening. Unless you count my new sock wool. It's in a colourway called Blue Tit, named for the little blue and yellow bird we sometimes see in our garden, and I've been saving it up til now so that I can use it for my April Sock of the Month. Oh, yes: time to make a start on that! I haven't made a pair of April socks before: I think I might have to make them count for innovation this week...

..how about you? Anything new this weekend? We'd love to hear about it.

 Deb, Barbara, Helena, Eileen, Jane, Karen, Liz, Mitra, Mary-Lou, Susanne, Fiona, Maggie, Julia and Melissa posted a memorandum last Monday. Go on, give 'em a wave! Wish them a good week! And have one yourself, won't you?

19 comments:

Susanne said...

Oh its sweet that you save those little bits of pottery gathered over time, and have collected them into a set, where the whole can be greater than the pieces. I see a parallel to scrapbooking supplies there. And that note to self could also apply to cardstock and patterned paper too. So you can see that my thoughts are fully in my studio today, although the sun is shining brightly outside my window. Have a great week.

alexa said...

I can see why it's called Blue Tit, your lovely wool. it looks cheerful and a little bit Swedish too :). Well done on your girl's run and hats off (or on!) to her on such a cold blustery day. We had know and hail. Your soft 'sea-washed- bits are so delicate and shell-like - I can see a scrapbook page in the making ... Hoping you all have a great week.

Maggie said...

Ahh the April sock wool! Sian you have just transported me back 50 years. We had a lot of china pieces in our garden. We kids gathered and dug and collected. We were going to piece them back together and make a fortune until... Mum threw the whole lot away. Not sure about the weed killer but I stand guard on my garden if husband comes near with it.

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

That sounds like a good plan. I've got into the habit of buying matching thread and sometimes a zip when I purchase new fabric. The idea being that if I don't know what size zip (or other matching notions) I need then I don't have a plan for it and should refrain from buying. Unless of course, it's so pretty or such a bargain, I just can't resist its call! My laptop is being a pain so I'm trying to figure out if I can blog from my phone, for Memorandum Monday, today.

debs14 said...

Oh, lovely colours in that wool! I've just turned the heel in my second pair and already thinking about pair number 3!
I think maybe I will try doing a pattern that has a plain colour heel, toe and ribbing - any suggestions?

Jo said...

I love all those little bits of treasure from your garden. I'm going to have to get some of that wool, I've had a family of blue tits living in my garden for over 9 years :)

Patio Postcards said...

That is very pretty wool, spring colours. How interesting to save bits of broken pottery - oh the stories to be told with it. For garden weeds we use white vinegar - it kills the offending plant right down to the root in a short space of time & is environmentally friendly, you just have to be sure NOT to spray on plants you want to keep.

helena said...

the promise of bits of pottery might actually get me eager to do some much needed digging in the garden - a lovely variety of patterns

Ruth said...

Perhaps you have a Roman Villa under your garden, like the chap in today's paper?! All we dig up in our garden are stones, stones and more stones ... I'd much prefer to find treasures like yours.

Jane said...

I love the colour of your wool, looking forward to seeing your next pair of socks, makes me want to knit some again.

Missus Wookie said...

The china chips made me think of Time Team and the careful piecing together they do there.

That wool is a lovely colour and we don't use weed killer. Except at the old house we had to - the cracks in the crazy paving made it impossible to get the roots out.

Mardi said...

I cant think of anything more amazing than to be unearthing such gorgeous pieces of china. Imagine the stories.It must have been the weekend for gardening...there was quite a bit of tree chopping happening at our place this weekend as well.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

I just love that you find those bits of pottery when you dig in your garden, Sian. My mom had a similar garden once, and I have a few small old bottles that were found there. :o)

Barbara Eads said...

I cannot imagine what it must feel like to uncover treasure from the past! The closest thing we have to that in our area would be bullets and other remnants from the Civil War. Since we don't live on the battlefield, I've never uncovered anything. The best I've ever found would be some plump earth worms. I must say, since beggars can't be choosers, I do treasure them! I just won't be bringing them in to the house!

Melissa said...

What an interesting collection of fragments! We need to spray some weedkiller here this year . . . as soon as the April showers stop long enough!

Cheri said...

Playing catch-up on blog reading today. Your pottery fragments have me imagining a story where naughty children broke dishes and buried them in the garden so their parents wouldn't know... probably not what really happened but does it make you wonder how all those bits got in the dirt to begin with???

KraftyKaren said...

Oh that is such pretty wool - look forward to seeing the socks that you make with it. Your pottery bits remind me of all the lovely stuff that my Dad use to dig up at work - he was a mainlayer for the water company so dug some quite deep holes and use to unearth some interesting finds. Sadly no really valuable buried treasure but interesting Victorian pharmaceutical jars and bottles which after retirement a local antiques dealer did buy some from him. Sorry I haven't joined in this week - I really need to get back to this blogging lark properly :D Have a good week!!

alexandra s.m. said...

I had missed our MM and what a treat it must be to find pieces of pottery.
Playing archeologist right at home is even better than gardening!
We've never found pottery in our back yard but we have found two WW1 flattened lead soldiers once.

Lou said...

I do wonder what those pottery pieces represent. Love colours for new socks

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