Sun, bunting and blanket for baby Mrs R

Neutral baby quilt for Mrs R

I took advantage of some sunshine this morning to photograph a little blanket made for Islay's teacher, Mrs R.  She is expecting her first baby in early July and will be finishing up teaching the class in another couple of weeks.

You couldn't ask for a better Primary One teacher (equivalent to Reception, I think, in England).  We've known her for a few years now as she was Angus' Key Worker when he was a little preschooler - and that was her first year of teaching too.  In those days she was Miss B but over the summer last year she became Mrs R and we have just about got the hang of the name change!

Some of my current favourite fabrics and colours

We'll miss her and really appreciate that she has stuck things out so close to her due date - lets face it, a class full of four and five year olds must be pretty tiring however sweet they are!  I have my fingers crossed that Katie will be lucky enough to be taught by her at some stage in the future.  So, here's to baby Mrs B - we can't wait to hear if you are a boy or a girl.

Lily loves being outside and is keen to 'help' with whatever I am doing

I realise I haven't really shown many photos of our garden.  It is very small and when we bought the house it was described as a small yard.  It was a miserable space - uneven and broken paving slabs, some bare earth and one camellia in an old sink.  But the house itself ticked lots of boxes and as we were moving into a more expensive area we knew we were going to have to make some fairly big compromises.  A garden is important for me, and the children, but I reckoned we could do something with the 'yard' and turn it into a welcoming and usable space.

Busy nephew and one very sandy welly

 It took a while to find someone who could understand and interpret our idea of a raised deck with a shed below.  Not only does that maximise the space we have it also raises the sitting area so that, despite the lovely old high walls, it is in full sun most of the day (.......that is providing the sun is out, of course.....).

The sandpit neatly fits under the stairs and I pull it out when the kids want to play in it.  The bunting is new and makes me smile whenever I look at it - and it is in full view from our kitchen window.  I have been planning to make some for at least the last two years but somehow other things always seem more important.  So when I saw this cheery lot reduced from Sarah Raven I thought it simplest to just buy it.  And I'm so glad I did.

The camellia was rescued and sits on a bend in the steps.  It isn't the happiest camellia I have ever seen but it is okay and it does flower.  It will come with us and get proper treatment when we are able to move to a home with fewer compromises.

My little flower bed is perfect for hellebores but I struggle to grow too much more as it is shady and the cats tend to uproot most things before they can establish.  But this year I'm going to keep a litter tray just inside the back door in the hope I can grow a wee bit more.  Finn and Angus, mostly Finn, spend a lot of time kicking balls too and being constantly bombarded doesn't help the plants much either.

View from our kitchen window - first floor looking down

The far end of the garden narrows down to a point and, with some wood-chip on the ground, is perfect for the climbing frame and slide.

The little roof just visible at the bottom of this photo is our woodshed.  It runs along the wall of the house and doesn't really take up much space.  Everything looks a bit bare and neglected just now.  I usually empty out pots and give the deck a good scrub each autumn but didn't manage this time (I think little Katie may have something to do with that).  Once we've had a couple of sunny days in a row it should dry out enough for me to brush it all down.  Today I tidied up pots, dead growth and so on while Katie slept and my nephew played in the sandpit.

I'm planning mixed salad and tomatoes for the ladder allotment (my Christmas present from mum and dad).  I'll have a few pots of flowers too and probably some more salad stuff - I always end up finding it difficult to balance the space taken up by pots and the amount of room left for the table and chairs - some years the plants definitely get the upper hand!