My first Saturday at home

For the last 10 years I have worked just about every Saturday in our shop. We used to sell kitchens and furniture and have 2 shops so I always needed to be in to take orders. Last Saturday was the final day for our second shop, the furniture has now all been sold and we have everything in our shiny new (and only) shop (you can take a look at photos from an older post here). And I'm not really needed anymore. My more than capable, 'Alisons' (weekend girls who helpfully share a name), can run things without me.
So I have just enjoyed a really normal Saturday, with a trip to a garden centre and Sainsburys and then the afternoon spent tidying my very sorry front garden. This is what it looked like 'before':
Plant pots full of grass and weeds! All my neighbours make such an effort and I have to hang my head in shame as I walk past their perky pots of pansies.
So I worked away for a couple of hours and here is the result:

Doesn't that look better?
Plus some thyme and mint by the front door, nice and handy.

Now some of you might not be that interested in gardening and only started reading this blog because that cute little owl at the top coaxed you in (my cunning plan...).
So here are some more of those.
My little 'mini owls' have been selling really well in the shop. I have only 2 left out of the original 8. I have been spending a few quiet days at the shop (not ALL day, I have to serve customers and do real work too) crocheting 4 more. The bigger pink ones at the back were made with a Sirdar wool called 'crofter' which is a mixture of cotton, wool and acrylic, which means it's quite good value but lovely and soft too. However I think the owls made with my usual variegated 2 ply sock wool still work better and my favourite this time is the one at the top of this post with the really googly eyes.
And for those of you not really interested in crochet either (though how could you resist those sweet little owls?), here are some yummy fat quarters that just arrived through the post.
They came from The Cotton Patch, who always seem to have a really good selection of discounted Kaffe Fassett/Rowan fabrics for sale. These only cost £1.85 each, which I think is a bargain!
Now I have a whole extra day off tomorrow to see what I can make with them!