Pheasant Tea Cosy

Pheasant Tea Cosy

Hot off my sewing machine is this lovely tea cosy!

It was the first time for me using the Pheasant fabric. I have been trying to think of a new project to use this fabric for and came up with this.

With its simple shape and soft peach coloured lining it would look beautiful in any kitchen. The wadding is very thick so it should be a not only lovely accessory but a functional piece too !

This are available to order but there are a limited number available. Every tea cosy will be slightly different due to placement of the birds on the material its self .

What do you think?

XxP&TxX

Grass Green Hare!

You may have seen the sneak preview this morning for a new colour combination I have for the Hare fabric cushion.

I only have a very limited number available to order as this is an end of line piece of material but I think it has worked fantastically!

What do you think?

If you love it as much as I do, please give this post a share so I can be seen!

XxP&TxX

‪#‎green‬ ‪#‎hare‬ ‪#‎patterjackandtweed‬ ‪#‎handmade‬ ‪#‎furnishings‬ ‪#‎countrystyle‬ LandLove Magazine Country Living Magazine

Popcorn Garlands

A family project today at Little Orchard, Popcorn Garlands !

These are so easy to make and the birds just love them. They have proven pretty popular so will be a repeated activity .

Using a needle and thread, we threaded the popcorn to create a yummy garland snack for our feathered friends. This is ideal for all ages, everyone got involved and made their own string to hang.

I managed to snap some lovely pictures of the birds today, but check out this hungry starling at the snack bar !!

XxP&TxX

‪#‎30dayswild‬ RSPB Love Nature RSPB Arne & East Dorset BirdWatching Magazine ‪#‎feedthebirds‬ ‪#‎gardenbirds‬ ‪#‎wildlife‬

A Recycled Bird feeder!

Todays ‪#‎30dayswild‬ activtity was this rather 'unique' looking fat ball holder.

We decided the activity today was going to be aimed at the birds that visit out garden. Recently we have noticed that the number of birds visiting our garden is growing, Partially due to some hedgerows being removed in our village to make room for new houses , the birds have been searching for new homes and appear to have taken notice of the food we have been putting out.

I did not have a holder for these fat balls , so we decided to have a go at making our own!

First we marked out on the bottle where we wanted to cut slots for the birds to be able to reach the food. In hindsight now, we should have cut strips around the top and around the bottom separately to hold the shape of the bottle more once full. But it was very much a trial and error practical activity and we now know for future projects !

Evie ( age 3) found some sticks to act as supports for the birds to stand on so they could reach their lunch better. Together we poked these through the bottom of the bottle.

With a few leaves as decoration to make it pretty , we used Twool twine to hang it from a tree in our garden. We also used some of this twine to pinch in the middle of the bottle as the fat balls kept escaping due to our slight design flaw.

We are hoping to have lots of visitors to our feeder soon. We will keep you updated as to whether it receives our birds approval!

Fat balls are easy to make if you fancy having a go at them, all you need is bird seed and lard/suet. You can add other kitchen scraps such as bread crumbs, bacon rind ( a favourite with robins ) or small pieces of fruit.

We documented our morning in our log book as well ! A well spent productive morning.

XxP&TxX

#30dayswild Dorset Wildlife Trust Twool RSPB Love Nature RSPB Arne & East Dorset

Urban Nature!

Today we had a day out to Bath to explore the more urban side of nature!

We visited The Parade Gardens which was such a beautiful place! With the natural tones of the limestone walls complimenting the gorgeous flowers and trees growing it really is quite spectacular in the June sunshine.

As part of ‪#‎30dayswild‬ , we are aiming to educate our selves and our children on nature in the world around us. Today, we wrote a log book of our findings! Including an acrostic activity where we wrote the words 'Spring' and 'Summer' and found an item to fit each letter. This was a brilliant activity for my eager 3 year old to keep her mind active and her eyes open!

As you can see from our log book and the photographs , we were very busy! When you think of a city the size of Bath, you may think that nature has been removed to allow us to live ours lives. What we found was quite the opposite.

Stopping to look at the buildings, we noticed Ants making their homes in cracks in the pavements, Daisies growing against lamposts in small patches of dirt. Dandelions growing in groomed gardens and window boxes.

Next time you are in an urban environment and find you are surrounded by bricks,cars and metal- have a look a little bit closer and see what you can see living !

XxP&TxX

#30dayswild ‪#‎nature‬ Dorset Wildlife Trust ‪#‎urbannature‬ ‪#‎citylife‬ ‪#‎countrymouse‬ ‪#‎citymouse‬

Feeding the Ducks 

As part of #30dayswild , my aim is to teach my children as much about the world around them as possible. Starting today, with nature in our local area.

A visit to our local town park was a perfect opportunity to explore nature in a more urban environment.

We are lucky enough to live near the New Forest which is surrounded by lovely towns with hidden gems like this little park.

Not only does it have some really fun play equipment for all ages , but also the River Avon runs right alongside it providing a host of nature for us to enjoy! 

In the summer the River here is the perfect place for catching minnows  whilst paddling , or feeding the ducks and seeing their little babies swimming around.  Swans, Dragonflies and Damselflies are also a common sight.

We fed the ducks today and were visited by all these cheeky and rather noisy sea gulls, much to the children's delight.

 If you want to feed the ducks in your local park, did you know  there are many alternatives to Bread. Some of these include: 

Grapes that have been deseeded and cut in half. 

Cracked corn, oats and other grains. 

Frozen peas or sweetcorn that have been defrosted. 

The George Fordingbridge is also perfectly situated to grab a drink from afterwards!

Looking forward to a very urban #30dayswild activity tomorrow!

XxP&TxX

Bloom & Wild Bouquet

Bloom & Wild

One thing I feel completes a room is a vase of beautiful flowers and foliage. It brightens up a room and, let’s be honest- what woman doesn’t love to receive flowers?

My usual experience with flowers is supermarket flowers which do not normally last more than 3 days before they start looking more sad and droopy than cheerful and uplifting!

I saw Bloom & Wild on my Facebook feed and it really caught my attention- initially in a pessimistic view. How on earth can they fit a decent bunch of flowers in a box no bigger than my letter box?

I read the reviews and saw the pictures people had uploaded and knew I had to try these out myself!

After tagging my husband oh so subtly and having no luck, I contacted the company myself and soon ‘The Florence’ bouquet was on its way!

The Florence contains some beautiful fragrant flowers, Snapdragons, Green Bell, Astrantia, Solidago, Bupleurum and a spray of Veronica.

They arrived promptly and sure enough- fitted through my letter box and were safely in my front porch away from the heavy rain we had that day.

The box not only feels like you have received something very special, it looks elegant and feels like you are being given the royal treatment already.

As you can see, I was not disappointed. The inside reminded me of a chocolate box. The same enjoyment without the calories! The presentation of this product is beyond compare.

After taking all the flowers out, snipping the ends off to encourage them to drink the water a bit more efficiently after travelling I actually struggled to get all the stems in my biggest vase! This glass vase is a handmade one I usually save for combing three bunches of supermarket flowers together to make it look full. I genuinely could not fit anymore in there! 

I am super impressed! I have had them for several days now and they still look as fresh as when I took them out of the box. I have been quite poorly this week and these have really cheered me up and given a lovely fresh scent to my living room. 

I thoroughly recommend you having a look at this company. You can send flowers to a friend (or treat your self- everyone deserves the royal treatment) with ease and choose from a truly stunning range of bouquets for proper prices. Unlike many of the leading companies, your money really is paying for flowers- not a brand name. 

Anybody interested in trying out a bunch – Patterjack and Tweed readers are entitled to £10 off if you order within the next 30 days ! Go to www.bloomandwild.com and use the code PV4Y3NZR ( new customers only )

XxP&TxX

Disclosure: All opinions are honest and from my own experience. Photographs are taken by myself in my own home.