Is it just me, or do you have plants too that have changed colour this year?
My bluebells were pink!
My purple aqualegia were pink!
My gorgeous purple rose is pink!
The first thought is lack of certain nutrients but some are in pots, and some are in the front garden, if it were lack of nutrients, it is unlikely that they are all suffering from the same deficiency!
Has anyone else made similar observations, or have any idea what may cause it?
I had my first email of the year through from Blightwatch this morning telling me that in my area, Gloucester, we have had a Full Smith Period!
I am surprised to have this email so early in the year! I 7 years of allotmenting, this is the earliest in the year that I remember a Full Smith Period!
Blight is a fungus that is spread by spores, a Smith Period is where conditions are conducive for sporulation of the potato blight pathogen. on lesions – leaf wetness is also necessary for infection to occur.
“At least two consecutive days where min temperature is 10ºC or above and on each day at least 11 hours when the relative humidity is greater than 90%. “
So keep and eye on your plants!!!!
If affects Tomato as well as Potatoes and also other Solanum.
What to look for
At first it affects the leaves, look for black botches, its a fungus, so light spores on the underneath of leaf below the black spot.
The stalks then get black spots, become putrid and slimy and if it gets to the spuds, they will turn to liquid too.
On tomatoes, the fruit will have brown/black spots.
What to do
If you see the leaves have been affected, remove them and destroy them, check he plant at least every day!
If you see it on the stalk, best to dig up straight away.
Not to be confused with
Now we are in June the first Earlies will be starting to die back, some people confuse the blight with die back, as they have been waiting for the plants to flower and then they know they will be nearly ready for digging up. BUT not all potato plants seem to flower, or at least you may have missed it, I certainly have had earlies before now that I have not seen any flowers on, and they still produce perfect little spuds!
When they start to die back they may loose their colour, becoming yellow, they will have brown patches, as opposed to the dark brown/black that is the sign of blight. They will shrivel, whereas the blight usually makes the plant putrid and slimy.
Some people may now panic and spray their entire crop, I have never used spray, if you see a blue tinge to the plant, you know they have sprayed it! I always liked to grow organically, so was against using any chemicals. But if you look at the price of the spray, and the price of the potatoes in the shop, you might as well try the method above of picking off the infected leaves, rather than panic and spray!
Alternative prevention
My allotment neighbours did not approve of my recent method of growing potatoes, but it is something that my Dad mentioned to me a long time ago.
Last year I did not weed between the potatoes! The weeds grew higher than the potatoes! But, when all around me were suffering from Blight, even my most susceptible potato plants were blight free! Due to the dense weeds around the plant, I believe they acted as some sort of barrier in preventing the spores from finding my potato plants!! And yes, I know spores are very small, and they can probably get between the weeds, but it does seem to have worked!
Good luck!
This afternoon the Blackfriars Priory was reopened after renovations.
Herofest were invited along. 4 of The Crimson Warriors attended – 6 weeks until the next HF fantasy event – too long!
I have now made the main lining for my coat. The coat was on hold as I decided to use leather straps and brass D rings on the bag to put the corset lacing through.
But here are pics of the lining, will now get on and put the straps and D rings in place!
Here is a pic of the back (for Helen 
) now with all the D rings, it is supposed to be little taffeta loops, but customised it with purple suede and added a brass D ring on each too.
Next job to add the front pieces and then put the lining in! But that can wait until tomorrow, Oh, hold on, it is tomorrow! ….. Bed time!
Update (Friday)
The main coat is now together to match the lining, I have just pinned the lining and outer, now to sew all the way around!
Here is the skirt, just about to put the zip in ….
And other plans for today -
finish the skirt
Maybe start the coat
experiment with stitching cogs using the circular attachment on sewing machine
make some beaded cogs
finish some velvet bags
finish the knitted cup cakes (we are knitting little cupcakes for our Party in the Park, they are fat free cupcakes! We think they will look very pretty on a cake stand! The pattern was free from knitters needs, why not check out the shop!)
I can’t believe it is 8 years since I last felt my little baby girl, Catherine Elizabeth, kick inside me 
Had she survived she would have been 8 years old today.
I started making Simplicity 2172 (will add a link soon) last week, it took ages to cut out the paper pattern, ages to cut out the fabric, and today i have spent 6h30mins putting in pleats.
Here is a picture of the pile of pleats.The pleat was measured to a depth of 2 inches, pinned and checked, then an inch underneath in the fold, pinned in place, checked, ironed and then tacked in place.
I am told that it is easy once you have done the pleats, I hope so!
Update – saturday morning
I have now attached the pleats to the skirt, there were too many of them, so I ended up cutting 2 metres of fabric away, I do know where I went wrong though! I folded the pleats wrong! but never mind, I it doesn’t look too bad, and I will know for next time – next time you ask! Well, there might be, if I get some more gorgeous fabric in a different colour I may well go for it again!
Today I need to work on the yoke and waist band, and then it will be done!
I think I maybe should have cut out a bigger pattern, the waist looks like it will fit, but tightly so i may cut out a bigger yoke and waist band today to fit. Also instead of putting in a zip, I may use velcro, it will be so much easier to get on and off then! And I am always getting fabric stuck in zips!
Yesterday The Wild Cherries were making little velvet bags to sell at the Jubilee Party in the Park, some were cutting out the fabric, while another was ironing and another was sewing on embellishments. I was sewing the bags together.
At the end of the afternoon I was sewing together the last piece when my machine decided to play up, it got all jumpy and the needle jammed. I thought it was in need of a clean, so at that point, called it a day.
This morning I took my machine apart and cleaned it, tried it again, still the same problem. Took it apart again, still the same! Then I got an error 5, consulted the manual, it said to take it to be fixed! Hmmmmm.
I took the bobbin out again, tried a new one, rethreaded it, took the top thread out rethreaded it. And it worked! I tried it and tried it, and it worked fine, no problems at all. Hmmm!
The bottom bobbin that I was using was a new one, the one that worked was an old one – conincidence?? Not sure, but I am happy that it is working, and I have things to do, so will stick to old bobbins for now.
Also, I bought a gathering foot at the show, but it wouldn’t fit my machine, so while I was having these machine problems, I thought I would phone up the shop where I bought it to send back and exchange for one that did fit!
Turns out, that the Gather foot attaches in a strange way! You have to remove the bit above the foot, then attach the foot by hooking it around the back and then click the front bar into the normal foot place. DONE!
Ad then to try it out, I had a scrap of calico, tried it, didn’t work, oh joy! (I had changed the settings as recommended on the packet), tried linen, hmmm, there was almost a slight gather, but was more like wrinkles! Tried a scrap of taffeta it worked perfectly!
Ahhh, so, a gathering foot that works, but only on certain fabrics!! And a machine that now works with the bobbin that is in there.
Ding dong, 2 mins ago the door bell went. And guess what? My new ultimate ruffler has arrived. Now to open it and play 
(but not for too long as I have to get on with the skirt and frock coat that I am supposed to be making)
Look at this Bad boy!!
I’ve been too busy to post recently.
I am in the middle of making a Steampunk costume out of purple Taffeta. It took 1 day to cut out the paper pattern, and then 2 days to cut out the fabric, probably around 60 pieces of fabric! I have sewn together a tube of 3 large pieces and a tube of 9 large pieces that make a tube of around 8 metres!
Those pieces are for the skirt. Also I have cut out the interfacing and put it on the yoke pieces. Will continue tomorrow.
Sorry, I am waffling now, but I am so tired.
Hope to pop back soon, and hope to post some pictures then!
