Pebble covers...

This week has been pretty stressful, and work has been getting too much, so one of my days off I chose a mini project to focus on

Something that's been on my list of things to try, a pebble cover

I look for smooth and good shaped pebbles on our beach walks, and had found a few ready with this project in mind

Again I've worked organically, working round the natural shape

Other than being by the sea, that would make this a natural project to progress on to, my main reason is for decoration. The fireplace in our living room, has an empty space, which had a couple of rocks placed in there. So ive been filling the hearth with prettier shaped pebbles, and I intend to add quite a few splashes of colour. I may even try my hand at painting a few!

To help myself relax I did have another afternoon sat on the beach

Walking along the seafront

And did another round of my mandala under the warmth of the sun listening to the lapping waves

I've now completed week 7 and its growing nicely, and involves plenty of stitch counting on each row. I'll endeavour to get a full picture next week as its getting quite a size now!

I'll leave you with the beautiful bunch of tulips that hubby brought home for me

I'm loving their deep red colour...

Floral madness...

We've had fabulous weather this week, and we tried to make the most of it. I had seen pictures of Highdown Gardens on facebook and knew instantly it was somewhere I wanted to visit. So we leapt on a bus, and found it easily enough, and it really didn't disappoint. You may know by now that I have a small obsession with photographing flowers! So this place was a perfect playground for me, and we'd gone at the ideal time of year.

There were carpets of bluebells

and forget-me-nots

little clumps of primroses

an array of blossoms

and magnificent splashes of bright colours from the proud standing tulips

As we'd made a spur of the moment trip, we hadn't thought about refreshments, but thank goodness there was an adorable little café, that was full of homemade goodies, so of course we indulged in a drink and some cake!

Crafting wise I have been focussed on my Mandala rounds and made good progress

And as I couldn't choose between relaxing and doing crochet or going out in the sun, my Mandala took a trip to the beach with me!

Best of both worlds!!

Each round looks so complicated in the written instructions, and occasionally I have a wobble and wonder if i'm out of depth, and then I break it down step by step and before I know it I'm in the flow of doing it, and then feel proud that another section is complete

Today I had to work in the afternoon, but the luxury of living so close to the sea enabled us to have a couple of hours strolling together

We even managed to pick up a few little treasures on the way

The forecast doesn't look so great for the week ahead, so it may mean we get some housework done ;-)