Nothing says "summer" for me like a lovely, lush garden and - of course - garden parties.






















I love garden parties, as you can probably already tell from all my garden party enthusiasm on this-here blog.  I love trees that cover you with hugs of shade, flowers that smile at you with their big blossomy grins, and the spectrum of greens that welcome you like a secret garden with fifty shades of emerald. Ha.

So, lucky for me, this month's WI coffee morning was held at Elizabeth's house. I've mentioned Elizabeth's house before, and I promised I'd take photos of the garden. It's a beautiful oasis set just outside the heart of Walthamstow - you'd hardly believe that you were in London with all of the trees, the reservoir and the ducks hanging about.






















We don't get a lot of summer here, so when it does come around we really try to take full advantage of it. It was as if the weather had heard about our tea party plans and decided to send us its very best bout of sunshine, too, which was fabulous.



And what is a tea-party without miniature Victoria Sponge Cakes?






















There was also cherry and almond cake, and hummingbird cake (which was full of pineapple, bananas and other delicious fruit).

















Elizabeth has a lovely bee dress, so when I saw a cross-stitch pattern for a bee in last month's CrossStitcher, I knew it would end up being a brooch for that dress. It took a few weeks, but I eventually found some time to sit down and stitch. The bee is stitched in Madeira silk on a linen blend backing, and the crochet border is made from a special gift I received from the wonderful Anne.


















... and by pure coincidence, Elizabeth was wearing her bee dress!

















This week at our WI meeting we made bunting that depicted Food Stories. Each bunting triangle has a hand-made item of food on it, with a story attached to the back. We went through the stories and had a good chuckle at how funny some of them were. Such lovely handiwork and clever interpretations, too.

















This is Poppy (or Daisy?) - the kitten that almost was. We had very nearly adopted him when Elizabeth suddenly had many kittens in her kitchen, but the kittens stayed together and are decidedly happy in their lovely garden.






















I couldn't resist a quick photo of this rocking chair with its lovely pillows and beach huts. I love beach huts almost as much as I like garden parties. Mm. Doesn't it look inviting?

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things.


Well, there were plenty of raindrops and kettles and kittens yesterday. It was the monthly WI Coffee Morning, but this time we did something different: instead of heading to a local coffee shop extraordinaire, we went to Colleen's House which was equally extraordinaire like a little haven of teatime goodness tucked into the rather beautiful Tredegar area. It had a real sense of magic: just follow the bunting to find the x marks the spot.

















It was raining and pouring. It was, as we say at home, bucketing down with heavy raindrops that prevented me from reading my post-it note, on which I had neatly written out Colleen's address for quick finding. Nevermind, it was easy to find and inside it was warm and friendly; just what was needed on a cold wintery morning for a bit of a pick-me-up.

















This pop-up tea room was to raise funds as a Cake Break for MS.We all brought with our baked goods (mine were the brownies, bottom right), chose a cake stand for displaying, and settled in to a proper tea with cups and saucers. 
























... and milk jugs. I do love milk jugs. They are so superfluous and wonderfully unnecessary; the perfect tea time accompaniment in a world that is otherwise worried about other things. For me, the milk jug is a symbol that everything is, and will be, okay. I treasure my milk jug: it takes pride of place on our mantelpiece.






















Here are my brownies again, just in case you missed them the first time. I had a jam drop cake which is known here as an English Madeleine. It has a sponge cake centre that has been rolled in jam and coconut, and topped with a cherry. Also on that cake stand were beautiful vanilla cupcakes which I didn't get to sample, sadly, but don't they look grand with the beautiful tulips, Clare's Knitting and the tea cups framing them?






















Here is the really-quite-wonderful Elizabeth enjoying a spot of finger knitting whilst also enjoying a spot of scone with jam and cream. Ho Hum. This reminds me: I mentioned kittens, didn't I? And what kind of bloggeroo would I be if I didn't add a bit of kitten to your reading moment now?

















Why hello kitties. I've borrowed this photograph from the EEWI newsletter. Elizabeth's newly-adopted stray cat has had kittens! And she has four lovely fluffballs which all need loving homes. I'm going to foster one of the tabby kittens (ah, well, we'll see which one has more personality when we go and visit) so if you know anyone in London who is looking for a beautiful little catkin of the feline variety, then do please get in touch. If you don't, I'll have to name the kitty and love the kitty and well - let's face it - keep the kitty.

















Despite the hail, thunder and lightning, spring has sprung. These tulips made a cheery addition to our tea tables.

















Just before I left I got completely sidetracked by a lovely magazine called Making. We got to talking about magazines, as you do, and how we never make anything that the magazines suggest. And then this came out of hiding: you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's a bit of quilt with all of the fabric prints, textures and little bits of cotton peeking out.

















Really, it's a beautiful little notebook all covered with pretty paper that is more than just storebought whatnots: the cover is a photocopy of Colleen's own quilt, scanned and printed, and folded up neatly. It was inspired not by a magazine but by a magazine's website (Mollie Makes blog post: http://molliemakes.themakingspot.com/blog/thrifty-thursday-notebook-cover). What a brilliant way to preserve your quilt patterns and to also enjoy them in other parts of your life! Like when you absolutely have to admire your notebook cover as you take notes. Mm, crafty quilty goodness. I've quilted a book cover before but never a whole quilt... it is on my to-do list so (hopefully) watch this space!