Preparing for a long hot summer and watering

Here in Norfolk we have already had a long dry sunny spell of weather which means as the fruit and veg have been planted up and starting to develop they have taken up a lot of the day with a hose and then there is the worry of wanting to go off for the day ......
Our very kind and techie son sent as a lovely watering kit this week.

This is solar powered and works with a water butt so will be very eco!

We dug around the sheds and found some of the previous watering kits from our last two houses (probably fitted up such systems 3 times in our various moves!) and got out all the hose pipes and connectors .

The battery powered timer still had power after a year in storage!

We started to plan in all out and after some more work and £20 on extras we should be able to automatically water the entire 60 ft of poly tunnel, greenhouse and 4 hanging baskets and various patio pots. That will save a lot of time and mean we are free to wander off to the seaside!

Meanwhile I have been trying out making bunting. You see so much bunting  around.  It is a very time consuming and takes quite a lot of material. No wonder it is priced quite highly in the shops!  Now I get the techniques I might make some in prettier materials.  This was just some left over terracotta curtain material hanging around from eldest son's first house and some appliqued shapes from some material from my mother's house clearance. I do like to make use of this stuff!  It is cheering up my conservatory - I ran a paint brush over the wooden frames quickly so it is a bit brighter for this summer but it really needs to be demolished or completely renovated.

Retireewannabe (http://frugalinessex.blogspot.co.uk/) asked on her blog what were plans for the bank holiday weekend - mine was to make something for Handmade Monday on Lucy Blossom Crafts blog ( http://www.lucyblossomcrafts.co.uk/handmade-monday.html ).  I have one of May Martin's book and there is a nice sewing box which I was planning to make as a gift. Hope I can find the time!