Mum and I are in lockdown together as neither of us fancied a long time spent completely alone, so our world at the moment revolves around Mum's garden and the greenhouse, a real sanctuary.

 So far we have planted two kinds of potato, runner and broad beans, peas, tomatoes and a cucumber, with seeds of courgette still waiting to come up.

 Over the winter I propagated lots of new succulent plants from leaf nodules and cuttings....

 My favourite bed in the garden is one that gets left alone to do it's own thing; there is mint and oregano and chives spreading themselves about, and forget-me-nots, aquilegias, marigolds and love-in-a-mist just seed themselves in amongst it all. The bees and butterflies love it!

 We have three apple trees which are now in full blossom - beautiful!

 I had already set up a sewing studio at Mum's so working there is like a home-from-home, with all my fabrics and sewing machine and thread in place. Cushion production is in full swing,

and this is my latest collection of bags, made from dyed old French linen tea towels.

This is the view I look out upon from my sewing room window; I can watch the tide flowing in and out in the estuary and the sun setting in the evening. 

Apart from missing the company of friends, I confess lockdown for me is not hard to endure, as I am well used to working in isolation at home for much of the time, and I'm enjoying the freedom to make new collections without having to run the shop as well. Mum and I get on very well together and we have a nice environment around us. I know full well that this is not the case for so many people, and I do count my blessings every day.

Wishing you all well

xxx

 Hello dear friends! This is the jumble of wool on my workroom floor where I am spending many an hour whiling away the isolation knitting and listening to the radio. 

It's going to be a cardigan - I suppose I shall refer to it as my 'Coronavirus cardigan' as it will forever be associated with this time. 

Do tell what you are all creating out there, if you are stuck at home too. If you've never tried knitting before, give it a go, it really isn't difficult. And it's a great stress reliever. There will be instructions online that you can download, and wool can be ordered online too. I don't use any fancy stitches, just knit and purl. Start off in just one colour and as you become more proficient, work with a variety of colours and weights of yarn; that's when the fun really begins!

xxx