Stupid headache and other things

More spotty beads. Spotty beads are my go-to when I'm not firing on all cylinders. This past week I've had a nagging migraine-type headache that I can't fully shift. Just when I think it's gone it makes another appearance. I did that thing that they always tell you to do and went and spoke to my local pharmacist about it, who told me that I need to go to my GP if I want medication that'll actually work. Helpful. I'm convinced the headache is hormome-related as I've had the same thing happen at the same time for the past few months, it's just this time it's being stubborn. Hormones, eh?! I never mess with them but they mess with me.

I saw these glorious poppies on my way to the Post Office and pharmacy yesterday. There's a stretch of pavement where they grow, along with beautiful dusky purple ones, where the pavement meets the gardens of the houses that line the road. I nicked a couple of poppy seed heads from here last year and hopefully I'll be seeing some of the purple ones in my own garden in the near future.

Talking of the garden, we lost both of our fences to storm Whateveritsnamewas earlier in the year and in April we had them replaced with swanky new ones.

The posts are stainless steel and will hopefully last for many years. The garden has never looked this tidy (the old fences always made it look a bit shit) so now I'm determined to do actual gardening. I absolutely love the idea of gardening and I have tried so many times to grow things but it never quite works out and I get despondent, but I'm trying my very best this time.

I planted a sea holly at the weekend. I fell in love with these at the Botanic Gardens a few years ago and I've finally got one.

This is a variety called 'Big Blue' and, fingers crossed, blue is what it should be in a couple of months' time. My garden assistant Nigel oversaw the hole-digging.

In crochet news, I'm halfway through yet another blanket.

At least it's not a doily! I don't think I ever blogged about the doilies but for almost a year I've been fully obsessed with crocheting complex-yet-utterly-useless-to-me doilies.

I have a ridiculous stack of them and I put some of them on Etsy because I simply have no need for them. I thoroughly enjoy the making of them but once they're done I consign them to the doily stack and that's that.

I've sold a few of them to people who are actually using them, so it's nice to know that they're out in the world fulfilling their potential. I've posted just a couple of doily photos here but if you want to see more there are lots on my Instagram crochet account - joinwithaslipstitch.

But yes, back to the blanket. It's an overlay mosaic crochet pattern called 'The Twister' by GetYerHookOn. I'm using Stylecraft Special DK in the shades teal and silver.

One of the things I like about mosaic crochet blankets is how you get to hide the ends in the border - no sewing them all in - which can only be a bonus.

Anyway, if you'd like the beads at the very top of this post, they're currently in my shop, along with some pairs of white and yellow spotties ...

... and some ethereal teal and blue nuggets.

Time for me to make a brew - which involves boiling a pan of water in the olden style because the kettle literally blew up yesterday and we're waiting for a new one to arrive - and to switch the kiln on. My headache is currently hibernating (I hope I've not just tempted fate) so perhaps today will be a non-spotty bead day? We shall see.

Flower power

*Monty Don face*

Welcome to the blog post where I bore you with news of my uninteresting garden. Don't worry, there are some beads too, but first, let me show you my munchkin pumpkin. (Oooh, Jeremy.)

I grew munchkin pumpkins for two reasons:

1. The name 'munchkin pumpkin' which I sing to the Oompa Loompa song as "Munchkin pumpkin, pump-a-di-doo"... obviously.
2. Because who can resist the idea of growing an actual tiny pumpkin?

The plant itself is like a triffid; massive leaves and curly-wurly tendrils aplenty. I was starting to think I would never get any pumpkins because it's done loads of flowers but those just wither, leaving no offspring behind (which I can totally identify with because that's how I'm living my life) but then I read about it and they have male and female flowers. Nature.

My sunflowers are an embarrassment. I couldn't get the same seeds that gave me the amazing ones I grew last year so I have eighteen weak and wimpy sunflowers that are no more than three feet high. I did intentionally grow micro sunflowers, though, (I'm clearly all about the miniature garden stuff this year) and they've turned out really well.

My favourite plants this summer have been my poppies. There's one at the top of this post and look, here are some more:

Poppies making the grotty fence look nice

Poppies refracted in raindrops

Raindroppy poppy

I've also grown chillies and tomatoes and wild strawberries and mint. All the mint. Mint-mint, peppermint, spearmint and watermelon mint. So. Much. Mint. Oh, and catnip, which I'm having to grow in hanging baskets out of Nigel's reach as he goes totally Renton for catnip.

Anyway, beads. These are flowery too.

I made these beads ages ago. I rescued them from a jam jar of odd beads I found in the cupboard under the sink. I don't know why I 'rejected' them. (See? That's how annoying my pernickety faff brain is; I can't even remember what I thought was wrong with them.) The only reason I can see is that a couple of them have small, harmless bubbles in the encasing but that's pretty normal for encased florals so I'm fine with that. For today, anyway. They're in the shop as I type.

I don't want to be a premature idiot, but I'm pretty sure I can smell a slight whiff of autumn. Something about the weather's mood has shifted and I like it. Don't get me wrong, I think there are some summery days left to come but there's something different about the morning light and the coolness of the breeze this week.

Now I must away to the shed where I will spend the day blowing glass bubbles and chair dancing and singing along to Lucius.

Have a great Friday! (Of course you will. It's Friday.)

A splash of red

I've not been feeling very beady this last week or so, so here are some poppies instead. These are on a grassy bank next to the main road, round the corner from where I catch the bus into town.

In between trying to make beads I've been doing a lot of reading and quite a bit of garden pottering.

Books I've read are:

• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (I say read, but I actually listened to it twice as an Audible audiobook) 5/5
• The Reunion by Amy Silver, who is also Paula Hawkins (I liked this one a lot) 4.5/5
• All I Want For Christmas by Amy Silver (chick-lit but good chick-lit) 4/5
• One Minute to Midnight by Amy Silver (fab chick-lit) 4.5/5
• Black Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin (amnesia thriller) 4/5

And I am halfway through The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, which is a thriller set in Australia.

I guess I should stop reading and typing about reading because this blog post really is about nothing, and I should try and go and make some beads instead.

See you later!

Poppies To Order

Lots of you have sent me lovely comments about the 'Poppies' beads that I posted the other day.  I do realise that at fifty quid a strand they are quite expensive, so I decided to make them available as single lentils and also as pendants.

I've also added some red and black spacer beads to the ordering page too.

The single lentils are £9.00 each, the pendants are £12.00 a piece and the spacers are £6.50 per strand. All prices include worldwide postage and they are all available to order right here.

'Poppies'

I made some poppy lentils like this a good few years ago. Since then they have been one of my most requested bead designs but I've never remade them ... until now.

The 18mm clear lentil beads are decorated with bright red poppes. The use of enamels gives the petals a variegated, almost painterly effect. Each one of these lentils takes me about half an hour to make and they are such tricky beads to photograph. Red glass, like lavender glass,  hates artificial light. They look best taken in bright sunshine but alas, there is none of that today. 

These would look beautiful as a bracelet and lentil beads are so comfy to wear. I've teamed these pretty poppies with some small spacer beads.

They are available over on my Freshly Baked Beads page now.