Today I was visited by the Commando Gardeners alias my good friends KC and her husband MR who must be REALLY good friends ‘cos they came to help me get to grips with the garden…no mean feat. They got stuck in right away, 

and soon the moss on the drive was a thing of the past, 

and the shrubs were snipped into shape.

They really (literally) put their backs into it and maintained standards of colourful glamour while doing it to boot! 

The results of all their hard work were stunning. A clean drive, 

beautifully clipped shrubs and dug over beds,

and a cleared and cleaned side path. 

Thank you Commando Gardeners,

you are my super heroes!

Just as we were admiring the spruced up garden (I keep going out to have a look at it) AW called in on her way back from providing Sedbergh with one of the cheeriest libraries in Cumbria. With her she brought a little daffodilly sunshine and tales from her recent trip to Rome (together with chocolate from the Eternal City…heavenly).

A happy little gathering. Me happiest of all…just nipping out to check on the garden….

Back in the room…

Converted to the use of a shawl – remember the weekend shawl? – and having been given some of Linda’s beautiful wool too good for small projects,

I’ve started on a new winter warmer.

From a pattern by Mercy Schwisow, the Long Way Home Shawl can be found on Ravelry. The wrap is easily worked in treble crochet (I think it’s a US pattern so I’ve converted DCs to TRs) with a spine of chain spaces. The alpaca wool is extremely soft and definitely snuggly but it is soooooo fine that it won’t be crocheted in a weekend….so I had better get back to it…..