Two's company

What a week! A week that's kept me away from my blog and from most of yours too. A week when we had glimpses of Spring and a day when it was definitely Spring. A week in which I spent the day that was Spring indoors teaching ragwork to a group of children. Although I didn't feel the warmth of the sun on my face, the bright and cheery colours that these children chose for their work more than made up for it.




I have done workshops for children before and am always amazed at how unphased they are when it comes to using colour. The brighter the better, the more of it the better too. No caution here, complete abandon when it comes to the box of coloured fabrics. Handfuls were grabbed and played with and ragged and slowly (very slowly) beautiful squares of vibrant patterned ragged pieces appeared.


(vintage threads in my Etsy shop)

There's nothing like those faces of concentration inches away from their work, playing with the colours and relaxing as they get the hang of it. In fact they relaxed so much that the noise level grew alongside their artwork and my mad dash home at the end of it was interrupted by a much needed stop at the supermarket for a packet of yumyums which I devoured in the car park!!



We also had some colour coming into our home. A few weeks ago one of M's oldest friends came to stay. He now lives in France and as a 'thank you' sent me this beautiful vintage advertising card for orange flower water.



Aren't the colours zingy and zappy, it really brought some much needed cheer to a dull morning when I opened it up. So kind, unexpected and thoughtful of him.



Then at the weekend, this lovely little bag of promise arrived for me. The very talented Niki read in my last post that I really wanted to fill up my borders with beautiful flowers this summer.. Well, lo and behold, a beautifully packaged fabric bag full of hollyhock seeds from her own garden. Thank you Niki! So my task over the next few weeks is to watch over these babies and protect them from all the creepy crawlies and paws that are also interested in them- a mammoth job in our garden.



So I have been spoilt, rushed off my feet, tired, a bit of a whirling dervish this past week, but spoilt with gifts from afar. Many thanks too to all the lovely people who have been buying my lavender sachets, I am so pleased that you like them, lots of lovely friendly supportive emails coming my way this week from you, thank you! I'm sorry I haven't been round to all your blogs lately, I'm hoping that I won't be so busy in a week or so - I know for a fact Mr Roses will be pleased to hear that, as my air of distraction is testing even his patience at the moment - I popped into town on Saturday morning and apparently left the front door wide open behind me, Mr Roses fortunately found the cats hatching their great escape plan just in time.



And before I forget, like last year when I got the date wrong, it's time for a celebration. The Ragged Roses are two tomorrow (Tuesday). Two years ago on a very warm sunny Spring afternoon I sat hesitatingly in front of the keyboard and, with Mr Roses egging me on, I pressed the publish button and ever since you've kept me company. Thank you.



As I have been such a greedy guts in the old pressie department this week, perhaps I should share something with you ... How about a birthday giveaway? In the absence of jelly and custard (although I hope that you dear Mrs Custard will be taking part- I can't have a party without you), there has to be some presents. After all, what kind of a two year old party is it without friends and presents? I'll put all comments in a party bag and choose a winner next week. Thank you for keeping me company.