Catch up and an outing.

Over the last week life has been rather up and down. One day life seems smooth sailing and the next there is a hiccup. Smooth sailing predominated but the hiccup has still to be resolved. My son has been experiencing abdominal pain that was getting worse and finally he went to the emergency department. They took bloods, prodded and poked and finally decided on a CT scan to determine the cause. He waited quite some time and finally asked if they had a time it might take place only to find the doctor hadn't yet ordered it. The triage nurse tried to sort it out but the doctor was busy and in the end my son came home. He still has a lot of pain but will see his GP on Monday morning so long as nothing happens before then.

The smooth sailing is being able to make some time each day to work on some of my projects. The main item I've been working on I can't show you until Thursday as it's for the Out of the dark blog hop. It took more thinking through than I would have liked and so I still have a fair amount to do.

Over the week I've made several more flowers for the Grandmother's garden quilt. I've added the orange flowers to two of the six sides so there is still a lot to do. I also worked out how I will be squaring up the quilt in order to be able to finish it. I have set myself the timeframe of finishing this quilt by April next year. 

This morning I finished knitting the scarf for my grandson. I need to sew/weave all the ends in and I have to add the fringe to it. That will be done this evening and I'll be starting on his hat.

At this point we stopped to have dinner and after dinner I just wanted to chill out and chat with family. We had a good evening and made several plans relating to the bathroom renovation we have underway and also discussions for a holiday. I picked up the scarf, sewed in all the ends and added the fringing while chatting. Job done.

Now all I need is my grandson's head size so I can start the hat.

On Saturday John and I went on a bird watching trip to Dungeness.  Dungeness is an odd area, not least because of the environment. It is described as one of most unique habitats in Britain and it is technically classified as a desert due to the huge area of shingle which includes the beach. The area provides a perfect home for many species of wildlife including plants and rare insects. I'm not too keen on the insects but they do interest many birds. Not only is there the huge shingle beach but there are two nuclear power stations which are now decommissioned, and a large nature reserve. This was our destination for the day. 

Looking across to the power stations.

To some extent this gives you an idea of the vastness of the landscape.

Looking out to sea from the beach. I loved the sky in this photo.

Over the day John and I saw 45 different species of birds and we also enjoyed the plant life. The teasles were good. 

The gorse was flowering well  and had a nice coconut smell.

I've no idea what this plant is but it was cute.

In places there was a lot of interesting moss underfoot.

This is greater mullein and when in bloom has a very tall flower spike with yellow flowers

This cute blue/purple flower is viper bugloss

and this little pink flower is common century

There was also quite a lot of evening primrose.

and never underestimate the daisy, they are such a joy to see.

I don't know what this bush is but the berries where a very bright orange.

It was quite windy so the tall grasses were very busy shaking their heads in the breeze.

I would have like to have collected some of the rose hips but I didn't have anything to put them in and we were on a nature reserve so we should leave them for the birds and animals.

Finally there were some interesting fungi, some new, some old. This was my favourite.

The day was interesting and we had a good time watching the birds. Next weekend we are away and I'm hoping to visit a new to me quilt shop.

Take care

Lyndsey