from here

Library Love...Amity and Sorrow, Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams, Bogwoppit, Coming up Roses...

This month I've been reading...

Amity and Sorrow - Peggy Riley
I enjoyed this book, but it's not comfortable reading.  It's about a woman and her 2 daughters who escape a cult.  You have a horrible feeling all the way through that something is very, very wrong with some of the family relationships, and that feeling is correct.  It's still a good book though, honest.

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweet Shop of Dreams - Jenny Colgan
I liked this little bit of chick lit, about a woman who goes to help her aunt, who is ill and needs to sell her home and sweet shop business to pay for nursing care, for a couple of weeks.  But there are handsome men in the village, and surprise surprise Rosie Hopkins falls in love with the old sweet shop and is a nurse.  The bit I liked though, was flashbacks to the aunty's life in the 1940's.

Bogwoppit - Ursula Moray Williams
I listened to this on audiobook (I was trying to see if I could crochet and listen to stories at the same time, I can't I get distracted by one and lose track of the other) I think I would have preferred to read it myself but the terribly well spoken reader was quite enjoyable.  I liked this children's classic, it has adventure and amusing creatures.  I want a bogwoppit.

Coming Up Roses - Cath Kidston
I got this out for the pretty pictures, but actually liked reading about the development of the company.  And the pretty pictures.

What have you been reading?

How to Make a Vintage Fabric Pin Board.

This is a pretty, and super easy, DIY vintage fabric covered pin board that I made this afternoon.

You will need,

A cork board, fabric, scissors, hammer and drawing pins.

The pin board is from Wilkinson's and cost £2, it's a good one for this project as it has no frame to get in the way.

Step 1.  Cut out your fabric to an inch or so bigger than your cork board.

Step 2.  One side at a time, pull the fabric tight and pin it in place.  Fold the fabric at each corner as if you were wrapping a parcel, then pin in place.  The hammer is for making the pins cooperate.  I also found making a guide hole with a nail helpful to get the pins in (the MDF round the back of the pin board was quite hard - small nails or a staple gun might have been a better choice, but I have neither of those and in the interests of being green and thrifty I decided to use what I had to hand.)

Step 3.  Put it up on your wall.  I snipped a hole in the fabric on both sides to uncover the slot for the nail to slip in, before I put it up.

Ta-dah!

The main purpose of creating this was so I'd have somewhere to keep my McFly tickets safe until I go to see them in September!

Spring Blossom...

Even though it's pretty much summer now, here are some photos of spring-y blossom from a couple of weeks ago...

It was soo pretty!

The View From My Window...Spring 2013...

This is what I've been treated to over the last few months...

You can see my winter photos here.

Busy, Buzzy Bees...

Some bees have set up home in a bird box at Mum's house...  

Only problem is that the box is on a south facing wall, and gets extremely hot on sunny days.  So the bees take it in turns to go and sit by the hole and fan cool air in with their wings.  I really love them.  As it gets hotter and hotter more and more bees come out to help with fanning duty.  (I stole the next two photos of mums facebook, they're taken with her phone, but give you an idea of the busyness!)

They are very loud!  After some internet research we think they are tree bumblebees.

Do you have any interesting summer visitors in your garden?

Yarn Bomb...

Look, someone yarn bombed on the clock in our town square!! Lots of lovely pom-poms!  I just had to take a photo!

Charity Shop Treasure...Embroidery, Piggy Bank and Plant Pots...

Here are my finds from the past couple of weeks...

This piggy bank was 50p from the charity shop! 

See how nice he looks with my other piggy banks!

This is my new favourite...I this little house embroidery on the shelf and wavered a bit about buying it, but when I picked it up I saw the sweet message on the back and had to have it.  £2 from the charity shop.  I am very curious about Candy and Lola, I have googled them but nothing came up.

The yellow plant pot was 75p from the charity shop, it looks like it was something someone handmade in a pottery class.  I finally managed to get myself out of bed on a Sunday morning, in time for the car boot sale today.  I have no excuse really as it's a 5 minute walk from my flat.  This vintage owl mug was 50p and I bought it this morning.

This retro plant pot matches my other speckly/floral plant pots.  'Twas 50p in the charity shop.

Have you bought anything magical lately?

Linking up with Lakota's Ta-Dah Tuesday.

Easy Green Things To Do This Month...June 2013...

Here we are again...a lovely list of easy eco actions for June...

Send a message to your MP as part of Viva's campaign to stop the badger cull in the UK.

Greenpeace have a couple of new actions up, a petition to call for protection of seas and fishermen and a message to ask your MP to support clean energy.

Sign this petition to ask the Indonesian President to protect virgin forests from mining and palm oil companies - destroying habitat for endangered Orang-utans, Rhinos, Elephants and Tigers.

Friends of the Earth are putting a bill board up in David Cameron's home town, to remind him to take steps to help bees.  Add your name to the bill board here.

It's World Environment Day on the 5th June and World Oceans Day on 8th June.

Also wanted to share my new favourite blog with you, Naked Vegan Cooking.  What more could you want!

If you have any ideas to be added to this months list, then let me know in the comments section and if I like it, I'll add it!  And feel free to share any of this info (or the whole post) wherever and with whoever you like!