Nothing in particular

This is one of those bit-of-everything posts where I waffle on and on for no particular reason. I know my parents-in-law like reading my ramblings, though. *waves at Lynne and John*

I've had a very meh bead week output-wise, but I had the urge to make buttons yesterday. I've not made any buttons for about eight years so goodness knows why I suddenly decided some had to be made, but I did and they were. I made a few but the one at the top of this post is the best of them. It's not for sale as I'm not totally happy with it (bit of scum in the clear and a slight wonk) but I'm going to make more.

I also made a couple of cabochons. These are flat-backed, without a hole, and can be set in jewellery or seed-beaded around. They can also be turned into pendants and brooches with a bit of glue and some findings. This black and white cabochon is my favourite and I can just picture it set in a silver ring. So yes, expect more buttons and cabochons soon. Not strictly beads, I know, but never mind.

On Monday Chris and I went to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. I took many photos but I'll not bore you with all of them. Here are a few of my favourites:

Bee going about his bee business

Aster

Honey bee on a purple tansy

Poppies

Groovy mullein moth caterpillar

Our gardens at home are coming along nicely too. We've had the front garden turfed—it was just gravel and weeds—and a couple of flowerbeds made. I'm going for a cottage garden look and have planted lupins, asters, poppies, white foxgloves, teasels and cornflowers so far. They're all sprouting well so we should have some colour out there soon. I've also planted a little French lavender bush and a yellow climbing rose. We have a round window in the side of our 'porch' and I'm hoping that the rose will climb up and around it.

Graham's first bloom

Raindrops on roses etc etc...

The rose is 'Graham Thomas' from David Austin Roses and he's already blooming. My mum absolutely loved yellow roses and I've been wanting to plant one since Chris and I bought the house, so I've got there eventually. Only took me seven years.

My study resumes on Monday. This time it's Later Prehistory (Iron Age and Bronze Age) and Classical Archaeology (ancient Greece and Rome). The textbooks for the latter look very dry, like drier than a dry Shredded Wheat in the Sahara on a particularly dry day dry, but hey, I wasn't too enthused by the prospect of the Early Prehistory module either and look how I enjoyed that. Oh, and I got my first two essay marks back. I passed! I got two 2.1s (upper second class) and on one of them I was only two marks away from a 1st. That'll do for me.

Enough of my chatter. Have a great weekend.

The one with all the photos

Oh knickers! That's a big gap to have left betwixt blog posts. I shan't try and fill you in on everything that's happened between then and now as that would be highly boring for both of us, so I'll just skip through some highlights using the medium of photo-plus-caption. Ready? Here we go...

Chris had a birthday that made his age start with a '4'

Chris' family came down to visit and we took a trip to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden where we saw this beautiful pinkus flowerus. (I didn't catch its actual name so I just made that one up but I can totally imagine Monty Don saying it on Gardeners' World.)

It was a very warm day and the greenhouses were mighty hot. See how this tendril dangles and curls.

This crazy-beautiful Jade Vine looks like something out of Avatar

Jade Vine close-up. Definitely a match for Effetre Light Turquoise 232.

I finished up the last of the Bumblebead orders. Are they whooping for joy, whistling, or horrified at the bead cleaning process they'd just endured? You decide.

Finishing bee beads meant I could faff about so I made Whirly-Go-Rounds with a finer 'whirl' than usual

And then I entered my bead happy place and pulled a load of white stringer and made 'Rococo' beads that I'd not made for eight years

I offered the option of tumble-etching on the 'Rococo' beads and everyone opted for it. Behold their satin silkiness.

When I made this set I 'designed' them to be etched, layering two transparent shades to achieve a pretty 'glow'

After the 'Rococo' beads were done I had a desk full of stringer scraps, so I used it for spots on little lentils made in one of my favourite glasses - CiM Sepia Unique 2

I still had a load of stringer bits left so I made more spotty lentils, this time in glorious transparent red

And that, dear patient person reading this, brings you up to date with my goings-on.

The Cambridge University Botanic Garden really is great and I'll definitely be going back there soon. It's so relaxing and it makes you feel like you're a million miles away from the bustle of the town centre. (I sound like Judith Chalmers.) (I've just Googled Judith Chalmers to find out if she's still alive. She is and she's eighty, you know. Go Judith!)

If you'd like to see more of the flower photos I took at the Botanic Garden, you can see them on my personal Instagram feed.

Stuff is also happening in my own garden. Things are growing, especially daisies and dandelions, but I don't mind them. I hate that weeds have a bad name. They're lovely little things and the bees seem to like them, especially the dandelions.

Dandelion clock, taken with my iPhone 6s and Olloclip macro lens

I've got some strawberry plants that have appeared too. I'm assuming a bird 'planted' them via the act of plappage (yes, I mean poo) as they are down by the fence and I definitely didn't plant them. Cheers, bird! I'm growing chillies, munchkin pumpkins, micro sunflowers and catnip in a little plastic greenhouse and they're all coming along nicely. Maybe I'll do a garden-based blog post. That won't be at all boring for you, will it?

I'm off to make beads now, I've still got a bazillion scraps of white stringer to use up. Will I use them or will I bin them? We shall see... 

If you like the spotty red lentils, I have four pairs of them left in my shop. They're £4.00 a pair and if satin-finish glass is your bag I can etch them for you at no extra cost. I've also reduced the price of all remaining jewellery so you might be able to grab yourself a wearable glass bargain.

For full details of all glasses used for the beads in this post, please have a look at my Tumblr.

Have a super duper Saturday!