Yarrow Tales

Closing down.

2011-10-24T17:16:00.003+01:00

I was going to try and juggle the two blogs together, but looking back over my last posts of 2010 and early 2011, I realise that I don't want to and it's too painful to read. In time, I may even shut the blog down permanently. I'm moving forward now and will just be posting from the Studio, which is pretty much what I've done all year anyway.

Thank you to dear friends who still occasionly drop in to visit, but that's it for now from this blog.

Feeling good.

2011-04-25T09:22:00.004+01:00

Since my last, truly miserable post, I have to tell you that life has taken an up-turn. The Easter holidays have been so wonderfully happy and relaxed that it's hard to feel low. Our house has been filled with laughter as we cast aside our watches and meandered through the days going where our will has led us. Old friendships have been renewed for my children and it's been so good to see them laughing and happy as a parade of their friends treated this house like a Hotel :D
I've also been creating magic in the kitchen. These hob nobs were a thank you payment to my lovely son for helping me to glaze our greenhouse.

It was a long and tricky job, but now it's finished and I can grow to my hearts content. I've put a new raised bed in front of the greenhouse and although I won't be able to grow as much as I did at the field, at least we can provide fresh food for the Summer months and maybe even grow a little purple sprouting brocolli, which is my absolute favourite.

Also, dandelion wine is happening :D The recipe is on the Studio blog .

Two new household additions have livened things up a bit too. This is Cottonmouth (a character from Kill Bill), my Son's little kitty. She's pretty feisty and has taken a shine to Manchee who she's stretched out with here.

And this is Piper who is shared between myself and the Moomin . We share most of the same pets, especially when it's time to clean them out, that's when they're mine! Piper is a lot quieter than Cotton, but she's a schemer and pulls some of the funniest faces that we really believe she's plotting World domination :D

By no means least, Manchee has grown into a very handsome doglet. Still not quite an adult but far less of a puppy now.

Moomin and I at the beach with son and friends, who were behind the camera :D

For now.

2011-04-03T18:33:00.002+01:00

For the time being, I'll be concentrating my efforts on the Studio Blog. The main reasons for this are simple. My life is quite sucky at the moment and I don't really want to bring you all down with it, plus focusing on my art is the thing that's dragging me through the days. I don't know how long this time of limbo will last, so I'm looking ahead to the Fairs and Shows that are booked for this year. I so hope that I can start to bring in some financial benefits as my children depend on me to make a safe and happy home for them.
I have another job to apply for and I'm still hoping to one day return to my lovely school. So I'm staying positive and using my days well.

Thank you for still visiting me and I hope you'll drop by the Studio and say hi. Hugs to you all.x

Thank you.

2011-01-29T23:20:00.003Z

I've noticed that despite my lack of posts, my number counter has still been turning regularly.

Thank you to you dear people who still pop in to see if I've anything to say. The words seem to have dried up and I want to have positive things to say when in fact I feel like curling into a ball.

However, I do feel a change coming and maybe have grown a little over the last weeks. I hope so and I have a few challenging projects to deal with which I'll share here with you.

I have some lovely furniture to restore and I'm enjoying a bit of armchair gardening, which is largely about planning the garden for the next few months.

The Studio is still ticking along, but work there will pick up pace so that I can attend the Spring and Summer Fairs to increase my business. I had been thinking of getting a campervan but the prices are just out of my league at the moment, so in the meantime, the car will ferry my work around and I'll have to make do with a tent, haha! It would be wonderful if I could hitch a Vardo to Toffee, but sadly I think he's a little small. It's a lovely image though and maybe I should add him to this sketch I made last year of a couple of traditional vardos :D

Virus.

2010-12-29T13:12:00.001Z

Just a few words to let you all know that my network is infected with a virus and I can't be online for a week or so. Sorry that I've not been able to visit and wish you a Merry Christmas on your blogs, but I am thinking of you all.

I'm at the library typing this, thanking the wonders of this public service :D

Happy Christmas Everyone :D

2010-12-26T21:11:00.003Z

Merry Christmas to you all and a New Year filled with hope and prosperity :D

It's hard to be cross with the weather for long when it presents you with such specactular images. Getting to and from the field has been exhausting to say the least, but I've become adept at steering the car on icy roads and have gotten the hang of it all now, from all the extra layers of clothes to taking a hot flask, a shovel and a bucket of grit wherever I go!

The ponies are happier with the cold weather rather than relentless rain, that just drags us all down! This picture was taken after I'd decided Toffee needed to see the vet. He doesn't look too ill, does he? But what you can't see is that he'd been injured in his boy bits by an over rowdy game with Merlin, EEEK!!! I was given anti inflamitories and anti biotic sachets and yet another scary vet bill! Just as well we had the drugs though as the injury got a lot worse before it got better! He's fine now thankfully (if a little/lot overweight!)

This weather suits Merlin very well, or is it just the hot mashes that I make that he enjoys?

He's such a funny bunny and many people find it hard to believe that he's a stallion as he's just so mellow (although Toffee may have something to say on that score!).

I could watch him all day running around, having fun. He'd rather run and play than stand and eat which I think is due to his overactive mind and of course his extra hormones!

So the snow has given us our white Christmas and more conversation topics than normal. It's inconvenient, cold, dangerous and so magically marvellous that I still love it totally :D Plus it probably made Santa feel quite at home ;)

Snow!

2010-12-04T09:01:00.003Z

At first there was just a light dusting of snow. It was fun and we all had a great time. Manchee rolled and played and ate it as it fell :D

In the garden he thought the floaty stuff was a new game, but at first he just confused.

Foolishly I took a scenic route to the field and had to drive along ungritted roads, muttering and praying under my breath. The views really were spectacular though.

This one is early morning light through air heavy with snow.

And then, when the season is at it's coldest, I go and have all my hair cut off. Well, I'll be wearing lots of hats anyway, so the only time I notice is first thing in the morning, when a hat may look a little odd :D

After the first day of snow, more quickly followed and we've been snowed in for 3days. I have lots more pictures to upload and will probably do a couple of posts on the Studio blog.

We have snow :D

2010-11-30T07:08:00.002Z

I'm smiling so much. I love snow with an amazingly childish passion. As I sit here in my quiet bedroom with the pup pressed against my legs I relish the blue glow on my window panes.
The snow is just a light dusting casting it's magical spell on the World, turning mundane into glamour.

I feel so happy and peaceful and so grateful that the glums have left me for now. Hopefully I can keep them at bay with a bit of realistic thinking. I can't do everything I set myself and it's early days, so I need to be gentle with myself.

I have a slightly tricky journey to get the children to school, with a rather wicked hill to negotiate. If all goes well I'll stop off at the Lake and take some photos. Although there's a strong chance that the other side of the hill will be clear of snow as they seem to have their own micro climate in that town! Either way, I'll take lots of photos to share with you later.

Stay safe and have a wonderful day everyone.

ps. I know that snow can be dangerous and isn't to everyones liking, but in my childish way I just block those thoughts, so, sorry to those of you who don't relish it the way I do!

Thank you.

2010-11-29T23:12:00.003Z

Thank you so much sweet friends for your kind words of support. They reach out and help me more than I can say.

Our duvet day turned out better than could have been hoped for. I ignored the housework and snuggled with the pup and read blogs and books and roared with laughter at French and Saunders on You Tube. Moomin was laughing so hard at the Bjork sketch, well, so was I to be honest :D The children played games and I kept them plied with hot drinks and lemsips.

Later I took a trip to the field and fed the ponies and took warm, milky rice and crackers to the chickens who were most pleased. Standing under a beautiful wintry sky was a balm and I took the time to savour the peace. It was truly heavenly.

Back to a roast dinner and an amazing movie (above) while I did the ironing and sorted school uniforms. The movie was called Origin and is in the Manga style, about trees and the destruction of the Earth. It has a strong environmental message as many of the Japanese films of this genre do and I totally loved it. Not to everyones taste though, so don't buy it just because I love it :D

Just a little picture I took last week while walking Manchee in the woods. He truly is a blue puppy :D He's definitely on the mend now and so will need a good walking routine to get him (and me) into shape :D I love the curve of his back and belly and boy can he run, he's like a rocket!

Time to heal.

2010-11-29T09:28:00.003Z

Some weeks feel like a bigger struggle than others and this last week was one of those. Just as one area of life settles another becomes a trial!

My mind has been dealing with this in the form of some terrible nightmares, one of which was so awful that I took the pup into bed with me to calm my shaking. He thought it was great and in the back of my mind I thought 'rod for my own back'. Not so though. The next night he settled on his own bed and slept right through again. What a fantastic pup :D

I'm spending such a lot of time thinking and processing what has happened that I don't want to go on about it here, but find little else to share, so please forgive me for the infrequent posts.

The children have been laid low with another cold and my body seems filled with aches and pains, so as today is an inset day at school, I've declared it a duvet day. We will snuggle and build our strength while a roast dinner cooks itself in the oven. The pup will enjoy the rest too as he was very sick last night after scoffing something dodgy in the garden!!!

Puppy.

2010-11-21T17:25:00.000Z

The pup is growing and has been for his first walks this week. It's been great taking him and watching his excitement at all the new smells. A very short walk along the road takes an eternity as he has to stop and investigate everything in his path. A quick dash after some swirling leaves takes him into a neighbours hedge, where he finds the scent of other dogs, cats and yes, SQUIRRELS!!!

I let him amble and sniff to acquaint himself with his surroundings, to know what his territory smells like. If, heaven forbid, that he should find himself lost, these are the smells to guide him home. Important days for him. Although, I have also taken the precaution of having him microchipped, so he'll be brought back to us eventually should he run off.

I've also been pottering and clearing up the house. Doing a little decorating and feeling most unwell during the process. I wonder if this exhaustion is simply due to stress, although the children have been unwell this week so maybe there's more to it than that!

I have a slow roast lamb curry in the oven, and a little glass of whiskey waiting for me tonight, so that will set me up for a relaxing evening :D

Did I think it would be easy???

2010-11-14T13:57:00.005Z

A few comforting pictures first!!!

Friday night is traditionally pizza night in this household and this week I tried a slightly wetter bread mixture. Well, it kind of exploded the dough and I had enough to make 3 very big pizzas.

Two for supper and one for the freezer.

They were oh so delicious :D

Now for the grumble, but don't worry, it's only a little one. On that day when my marriage collapsed, so did my dreams and hopes for the future. I never intended for it to end, but now that it has, I'm guarding my peace and quiet as much as possible and every intrusion feels magnified. A weekend of tears and upset has left me exhausted, but thank goodness for my wonderful children and my darling puppy love :D I think maybe that I had thought it would be easier than this!

I'm trying to stay positive and taking each day at a time. I have the Secret and will give thanks for all the special people and wonderful things in the World. I have a lovely joint of pork roasting in the oven, the veggies are prepared and waiting and tonight will be spent writing letters and doing a little sewing :D

Yarrow Tales.

2010-11-13T09:19:00.003Z

A new blog name and a new beginning. I don't want to be hiding any more and feeling like I'm in retreat. I need to begin again and spread my wings as a new part of my journey unfolds. However, this blog will still be left off my profile for most of the time, as I don't want certain family members reading about my new life!

So won't you join me as I discover who I am and where I'm going? I think it could be interesting :D

Amazing.

2010-11-11T18:49:00.000Z

I watched the DVD of the Secret and found it to be amazing. So many ideas and thoughts in my head about giving and recieving the bounty of the Universe.

Being a Reiki Master, the concept is not new to me but it's good to have the message confirmed all the same. It's also worth remembering that the Universe loves balance and if we give of our time and energy then we are able to enjoy the fruits that our World has to offer.

I've been thanking the Universe for my blessings and have only been focussing on positive thoughts. Already it seems to be working as last night, my car broke down in a nearby town. There was no one at all that I could call and I was stranded with Moomin. Out of options I asked for an Angel to help me. We sat in the car for a couple of minutes, and I was just deciding to go in search of a garage when a parent of one of dd's friend's approached and asked if I was ok and that she had jump leads in her car! It's worth pointing out, that this is someone I've never actually met before, and she just noticed that we hadn't left for home when everyone else did. A shocking coincidence maybe??? Well, we got home safely albeit a bit shaken and now I'm left wondering....

The book of the Secret arrived today, and I can see why some people might get the wrong impression. Clearly this format isn't to everyone's way of thinking, but the root idea remains true. How many times have we heard these sayings? 'What goes around, comes around' 'Do as you would be done by' and 'you reap what you sow'. This book is just another way of interpreting those ideals. Agreed, it's dressed up in a new set of clothes and fancy ones at that, but the concept is the same.

So every day I thank the Universe for my blessings, I focus clearly on what I want to achieve and I hope to spread a little happiness and optimism while I'm at it :D

The return of normality and the Secret.

2010-11-09T06:47:00.004Z

Well, I'd been told many times that puppies can be darned hard work and just like having a new baby in the house, but until I experienced it for myself, I wasn't prepared for how demanding it is. Thankfully, I have a good little chap who sleeps a lot and has learned quickly the words 'wee wee' means to head out to the garden.

After being with us for two weeks, he is now settling into a routine and we can all get back to a semblance of normal life. I'm even getting a few decent hours sleep, as puppies hate to be alone at night and don't see the point of wasting great lengths of time flat out asleep, unless it's sandwiched between meals and trips to the garden! Thankfully, Manchee has been persuaded that I actually like to sleep for a long time when it's dark and in return, he gets to sleep beside my bed with a hot water bottle!

As life begins to settle again, I'm finding now that other matters are pressing me for their attention. I'm clever aren't I? I've been distracting myself from dealing with them by having the more pressing issues with the puppy, but no more. I have to think ahead and decide where I'm going and what I want. A series of unconnected coincidences have led me to this book and DVD - The Secret. http://www.thesecret.tv/index.html

Image from Amazon

It's an interesting concept, and one that I've read about before, how this book differs from others remains to be seen. Is it the answer? well, I'll keep you posted, or check it out for yourself. I'll be interested to hear from you if you've read it or have any comments.

A very new month.

2010-11-02T11:00:00.002Z

I've been reading back over my posts for the last month and it seems that my life has changed so much in such a short space of time. My hopes and plans have been turned on their head and I'm facing a whole new road ahead of me. As the new month begins, so does a new phase in my life.

It's been three weeks since my husband moved out and I've been dealing with so much loss, his and mine. We are still friends at the moment, but I cannot see beyond our immediate problems and how they will change us as time progresses. I know he's hoping for a reconciliation but only time and the Universe knows the answer to that one.

Something I do know though, is that I feel wholly supported by the Universe. It's a strange thing to say, I know, and some people may call this feeling faith in God or Buddha or Gaia, but whatever name you give it, it's bigger than my understanding and I feel held and comforted. On the way to a meeting tonight, I thanked the Universe and a great swell of leaves lifted and twirled on the road ahead. It felt like an anwer and my heart swelled with it.

Samhain Blessings.

2010-10-31T08:41:00.002Z

Blessings to you all for a magical Samhain.

For Pagans Samhain marked the end of their year and was a time of reflection on the year past and the one to come. I feel very reflective today and will light some candles and think forward to the coming year and some new beginnings.

A little in love.

2010-10-28T08:38:00.005+01:00

On Tuesday we took a little trip to Devon. Land of snarly trees, magical landscapes

and inspiration. I can see now where some of my blogging friends who live here get their inspiraition from. I'm almost brimful after just one day.

The weather was not kind to us and I lost my way a couple of times adding an extra hour on to what ended up as a 10 hour round trip.

Finally, tired and hungry, we reached our goal, and added a new member to our family. This little guy threw himself at us when we arrived and was just so eager to come away with us, that we knew we'd found our special pup. He's a 'pocket lurcher' which is much smaller than standard lurchers and he is a Whippet/Bedlington cross.

He slept for the entire journey home, only waking at a Service Station to use his puppy toilet!

After a mad charge around the kitchen and a small supper, he snuggled into his new bed,

and stayed there pretty much all night. What a great little dog.

I think you could say that we are all more than a little in love, although Arnie cat is less than impressed. We've kept pup and cats separate for now and the arrangement seems to suit them all :)

Beauty and happiness.

2010-10-21T22:11:00.003+01:00

Sometimes beauty can be found at the most unlikely time. The same could be said for happiness.

After dropping the children at school, I decided to take a short drive past the lake. I almost crashed at the wonderful sight of the mist rising from the lake surface. I parked the car and grabbed my camera.

I fell wonderfully in love with these darling little coots. They aren't much smaller than my hens and are birds that I've so often overlooked. Up close though, they are lovely. Their beaks have the faintest tinge of pink and their legs are an amazing green/gold colour. They aren't just plain black either, their colours are varying shades of grey to black. As I sat very still, they moved around me with a boldness I've never witnessed before rather than the shy and scurrying birds they seem to be.

As I walked around the lake a deep stillness settled within my chest.

I think it was happiness.

It was most certainly peace.

Living with fear!

2010-10-17T09:07:00.003+01:00

After taking the difficult decision to leave my job at the school, I felt that life could return to normal. That I could get back to the person I'd been but had neglected. Sadly the Universe had other ideas and plans laid out for me and my life at the moment is far from normal. When I stepped off the old wheel, I didn't realise that it was to be a totally new wheel that I'd find myself on, rather than a previous safe and settled one.

Most mornings I wake up and feel the fear in the pit of my stomache. I take a while for it to settle, for me to acknowledge it and feel it fully as I ease myself into the day. I'm not hiding from this fear any more or distracting myself with hyperactive excesses. I'm dealing with each individual part of it as I open a dialogue between my reasoning mind and the irrational feelings that threaten to engulf me.
I'm afraid of making the wrong choices, but we can only work with what we know or feel at the time. So choices, made carefully, are simply what they are, neither right or wrong, even though not everyone will agree with them.
I'm afraid of the future, well, so are a great many people, but we all have to move forwards and I choose to do it bravely.
As each fear surfaces, I try to handle it, to calm it with reasoning and rational thought. I'm so tired from the effort but I feel more alive than I have done for a good long time.

I spent some time with the ponies yesterday, calmed my erratic heartbeat and stilled my nerves so that I could carry on with the day. As I drove home, I watched the rain clouds pour over the hill ahead and then suddenly this beautiful rainbow lit up the sky. It gave me such terrific hope!

And then this morning, as I sipped my tea, my darling little Max staggered into the bedroom, exhausted from scaling the stairs. By all rights this old boy should have left me long ago, but I'm so grateful for his company now. Each day feels like his last and each new one feels like a gift :D

I would like to add, that in due course I'll be less cryptic about my circumstances, but for now I'll reassure you that my health is good and life goes on.x

Lovely things!

2010-10-16T13:43:00.005+01:00

My dear little Arnold loves the blue patchwork quilt. He has a little 'mote' by his eye. Some people think these are fairies caught on film and it's more than likely that Arnold has a few fairies around him :D

My gorgeous new glass topped pins in one of my home made pin cushions.

Just a couple of the things I've snapped today with my new old camera!

Pictures.

2010-10-14T22:40:00.000+01:00

At last I have a working camera now. Tomorrow expect pictures :D

Still, quiet darkness.

2010-10-13T06:02:00.003+01:00

I love the pre-dawn darkness, the secret silence of it as the World turns closer to the wakening. In these quiet moments of solitude I sit in my bedroom, lit by a candle, gathering my thoughts to me as I weave together the strands for the coming day. My little piebald cat, old and saggy like bagpuss pressed against my legs, purring so very softly into the patchwork quilt.

The buttery candlelight creates a glamour that no lightbulb ever could and I savour these minutes as I savour my tea. Long, slow sips of magic.

The return of - ME!

2010-10-08T10:34:00.002+01:00

At long, long last I've made some big decisions and it's time now to get on with living the life that is true to me. I feel that My ideals were put on hold for a while as I struggled to reconcile my working life with a life of simplicity. I've discovered a lot about myself and where compromises had to be made which areas of my life I was prepared to change and which things I simply couldn't give up!

Now, however, I've had to leave my job at the school, leave people that I enjoy working with and above all, some very special and wonderful children. I've been so upset but have had tremendous support from my co-workers and a pretty great boss and now can only move forward with hope for a stress free remainder of the year.

I won't stop working though, my direction will change back to embrace my ideals and I'm going to throw myself into my art work. Plans have had to change. Money will be tight, but hopefully not for long too long :D

Bleaurgh!!!

2010-09-18T07:57:00.002+01:00

I'll be honest, the last couple of weeks have been diabolical. I've lost my phone with ALL of my contact numbers (I knew I should have stuck to a filofax!) and my work at the school has been hellish! No ones fault and nothing I can talk about, but sheesh, it's driven me to drink a couple of times!!!

I'm not going to dwell on the negatives though and instead focus on the lovely jams I've been making and the process of pulling the vegetable plot back into shape. There's still a long way to go, but the leeks are thriving and the beans have done well and now it's time to dig up the last stray potatoes and any pink fir apples that have escaped my notice :)

I'll be back later with updates and pictures, but for now I'm enjoying planning a day of wonderful household chores. I'm not being even slightly sarcastic here, I love getting my house in order, with the smell of line dried laundry and a little homemade wax polish. Wonderful :D

Work hard and play crochet.

2010-09-13T22:28:00.003+01:00

Actually, it's only the first proper day back at school with all the children and it's been an emotional ride, I can tell you. I'm badly missing my yr 3's from last year, and they seem so grown up now in their yr 4 classes. I can hardly remember any of the new children other than the very naughty and the very, very good. I'm amazed at the boundless kindness and patience of some of these little Angels and can't sing their praises enough :D The particular child I'm responsible for is an engaging soul, but terribly hard work and tonight I'm totally wiped out!

All I can say is thank heavens for crochet, it's the new rock and roll :D I'm too tired to engage my creative cells, so I can lose myself in some wool craft, and you know what? It's already starting to resemble the item I'm attempting to make.

Every stitch reminds me of my Granny, how I used to sit and be mesmerized by her flying fingers and the growing blanket or squares. I feel connected to her at and remember the love, but more than anything I'm realising the huge amount of respect I had and have for her. She could be quite scarey at times, having only had sons and four of them, she didn't know how to be soft with Grand daughters. She hated my Sister's name and so insisted on calling her Valerie as she thought it a far more suitable name :D She was guilty of the most incredible malapropisms and had me and my sister actually wetting ourselves with laughter as she insisted on dressing my sprained ankle with a crap bandage! She was so very un-politically correct and called a spade a spade and people by every other awful nickname imaginable! We squirmed and we complained and we never realised what a wonderful person she was, with her 'tight to her head' permed curls and her constant shriek of 'EH?'!

She was self sufficient before it was fashionable and we endured such horrors as marrow jam and some home made meat jelly that had us running from her old fashioned kitchen, with it's Butler sink and boiler across the linoleum floor, down the long, long garden to hide in Grandad's greenhouse. He kicked us out as it was his only refuge! She scared and fascinated us by the bucket load and I'll never forget the day I lathered up my face with a scratchy brush and soap and used Grandad's razor the way I'd seen him do it ! I think that was the only time she showed her soft side. My face was bloody all over!!! She had a parade of little dogs and a screeching Minah bird that would yell 'EH?' at us as we tried to sneak off out of the house. She would make a kind of fat pudding for the birds in her garden and when no one was looking the little dogs would scoff it all up and then be sick behind the greenhouse. We never told on them and in return they would snap at us and show their sharp little teeth.

Isn't it amazing that all these memories surround me as I sit and reconnect myself to my lovely Granny through the beauty of woolen stitches and I smile to remember the lovely blankets she made and the money she raised by selling them for charity. She was a wonderful person and it's lovely to remember her this way :D

Miracles and Angels.

2010-09-09T06:30:00.002+01:00

Well I can hardly believe that after my last post my little Max cat is improving! I had the vet booked as Max was so weak and lifeless and then began having little nosebleeds. It seemed the fairest thing to do, even though I really didn't want to. Hubby and children convinced me to postpone the visit and blow me down, but Max started to eat and drink a little. He's still only eating enough to feed a sparrow, but slowly his strength has returned and he's tottering about like normal.

After such a strained weekend of worry, it feels like a little miracle and I'm drawn to look at the Angel I'm painting, a large picture that's to go in my bedroom. I find Angels to be very comforting in a non-religious way and believe so fully in their existence. The weekend was a struggle as we all worried about Max and the return to school and then on Sunday I broke a tooth. It felt like the final straw on top of so many broken things that day, promises, hearts and friendships. I sat at the field and just let it all out. Afterwards I felt so much better and then such a deep peace settled on me. I looked up into a beautiful sky, one of those breathtaking displays of sun on cloud all gold and rose and I felt comforted and truly at peace.

We are on borrowed time with Max and nothing in life is really ever stable, things can change so suddenly, the loss of a job a sudden change in the path you're on. But I was reminded that we're not alone and help is there if we open our hearts and look for it.

My tooth has been mended and other things will mend too, with time and care and a little help :D

Oh heck!

2010-09-04T23:06:00.003+01:00

I don't want to be miserable, but when I am, I try to confine it to this blog, rather than clutter up the other one. Some of you may know that 17months ago, my beautiful cat Max was diagnosed with a terminal tumour in his bowel. Against all odds he carried on as well as he could and confounded the vets at every visit (I'd like to think it was the Reiki, but he's a stubborn little imp). We always knew we were on borrowed time, but now it seems that we've run out.

Most pictures of the children have Max in them somewhere.

He is nearly 19, so I guess I've had more time than many owners get with their pets. He's just been such a big part of my life and the children have never known a time without him.

A nasty cold has taken hold and things aren't looking so good. This picture was taken last week and is how I'll always remember him, cuddled up to me while I type on my lappy (laptop)!

After the storm!

2010-08-23T07:54:00.003+01:00

Eeek, it's been a tough old week. I cannot say how much hard work and effort went in to preparing the Exhibition set up. Juggling art and egos has been tricky and I'm desperately looking forward to a few days rest afterwards.

I need to fit in a mighty clear up around the outside of the house and at the field, as we had a real life 'Dorothy' style storm last night and it's left everything looking thoroughly shaken up! I'd also quite like to take a couple of days out to do some decorating inside, as the house is looking sorely neglected and hasn't been touched since shortly after we moved in many, many moons ago. Then I'm going to sell up and move to Wales, haha!

A couple of lovely days out with the children are on the cards plus an awful lot of knitting. More paintings are swirling around in my head, but these will be for me, for my wall :)

Thin on the ground.

2010-08-15T08:20:00.003+01:00

I'm sorry that my posts here are very few and far between at the moment, but my time is so much in demand! The time I'm spending with the ponies and children leaves me little room for anything else and not much worth writing about.

The veggies are ticking along and I'm leaning more towards a low maintenance style at the moment, haha!
Sadly I lost one of my chickens on Thursday, my beautiful silver sussex, Oona. I think she had an internal prolapse of some kind. She'd had a prolapse before, but it went back in ok, but this time I think it probably twisted as it went back, as her abdomen was so distended. There was nothing I could do, so I tucked her up in a deep straw nest and left her sleeping. The next morning she was gone. She was only a young bird, but I just guess she wasn't as fit and well made as the others. The other 3 have formed a tight knit group and seem to be managing well now. They do feel grief and loss though, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I've had so many first hand experiences of the emotions of chickens!

Merlin has a mare visiting him at the moment, and that takes up a lot of time as I rush back and forth to the field making sure that he's ok. He's still my baby and I'm very pleased to see that he will come to me for cuddles and will even leave the field and be brushed and checked all over. Personally I think he's glad for the break from this demanding woman! It's been a steep learning curve for me and everything has gone really well, although I've had my hands places I would not want to share with you! I will be glad when we can get back to normal though, and I'm missing Toffee terribly as he's had to go and stay elsewhere for the sake of his sanity!

Merlin is behind his mare, who is much larger than he is, but between them, I forsee beautiful babies :)

In and out of love - with my garden.

2010-08-04T06:45:00.004+01:00

I used to be so in love with my garden that it was hard to imagine a time when I wouldn't be and yet the other day I took a long hard look and realised that I'd fallen out of love without even realising it! I guess life can be a little like that, things creep up or away from you and sometimes you hardly notice!

I think the change began with the arrival of the chickens many years ago. I fell so totally in love with them that I didn't mind what they got up to, how many bald patches they dug over or where they left their little 'bombs'. That was until recently, when I found I needed a retreat that I could get to in the silent hours before the rest of the world was up. Somewhere I could nurture my soul as well as my neglected plants.

The garden still has a long way to go yet, but I'm back to loving it and finding peace there and walking barefoot is such a pleasure now!

This is the front border that I've had an ongoing battle with. There is a particular plant that is so invasive that years after deciding to clear it out, I'm still swamped by it's cordlike roots and persistant regrowth! I'm afraid I've even used weedkiller, but it still survives. This Autumn I'm going to spray it again! This is just an example of how dried out everything has become, but some weedy little tomato plants (left over from all of my seeds germinating!) can have a go here and see how they do.

Finally some green beans have appeared, these are the Cherokee trail of tears from Danielle :)

Little Arnie cat in my favourite wild corner.

Here is my experiment corner, how much can you fit in to a small space? Well, the apples are doing well and I have more green beans growing in the tub. The pear and blueberries were a no-show, but under the hedge I have pink fir apples which are a small salad potato and they are well worth fitting in to any space :)

Another giant courgette, which is now the base for a scrummy ratatouille.

Finally some of my herbs, basil and coriander, which I use almost every day in the Summer and it's good to have my own fresh supply. These pots will come into the house in the Autumn and I'll keep them going all Winter if possible.

Finally, my Buddha in the front garden. So peaceful and calming, a reminder to me to stop once in a while and be mindful of the moment.

Flying past.

2010-08-02T08:47:00.002+01:00

The days are truly flying away at the moment. The children and I have made a list of holiday activities to make sure that we fill this Summer with lots of happy memories. Memories have become very important to me lately and making good ones to cherish deep in our hearts has become something of a priority. After my own health scare earlier in the year, and now going through difficult times with loved ones, I've come to believe that strength comes to us in so many different forms. Cherished moments are one of them as are kind words and deeds. I told someone special just last week, that I cannot walk their path for them, but I could hold their hand along the way.

Still, this isn't to be a maudlin post, so I've posted another picture of my funny hen, Tao, whose name conicidentally means the Way or Journey! She is so sweet and affectionate, as is my other black rock hen Tiger. Tiger will run as fast as she can and take off to get to me when she sees me walking through the long grass at the field. It makes me feel great that these funny birds look on me as their mama :)

We have planned a few days out for the holidays and I've just discovered that Jane Austen's house is only a 40 minute drive from us. Moomin is totally in love with the TV versions of Jane Austen's work and so we've decided to take a drive over and spend some time absorbing the atmosphere.

There will of course be the annual pilgrimage to Glastonbury plus a few trips to nearby beaches, I also would like to go to Dorset and visit Durdle Door, which featured at the beginning of Prince Caspian.

I love the holidays and hope to take lots of pictures to share with you all.

Finally!

2010-07-22T22:57:00.002+01:00

At last I have a home grown courgette, and isn't it a beauty? There is another growing on this plant and my globe courgettes have just begun to put in a little effort! Yaay, I'm so looking forward to the annual glut :) I love moaning about too many courgettes and making all sorts of wonderful dishes. It's more difficult in my household as I'm the only one who really likes courgettes and the others are simply perplexed by this annual game of 'waiting for the courgette'!!! I WILL NOT buy one from the shops, but wait instead for my own season to begin. The same can be said of my affair with spinach, I wait and then fall in a frenzy onto the yummy green leaves including them in anything and everything I cook. The waiting makes the food all the tastier and then as I begin to lose interest and start freezing pots of ratatouille the season is over and I make the pots last as long as possible into the winter. Then the wait begins again, but I won't weaken and buy a Dutch, Spanish or (Gods forbid) South American courgette!

Tonight I made a rissotto and even hubby enjoyed it.

He didn't, however, sample my home made stout. Yeesh, it was strong and not terribly fizzy, but I did get the giggles, so there was definitely alcohol in it! I now have a hankering for some steak and ale pie, served with a generous portion of courgettes :)

Getting it together.

2010-07-20T07:15:00.003+01:00

Three hours of digging and planting gave me this unimpressive raised bed, but you should have seen it before! I was too ashamed to take before and after pictures as it was totally swamped with nettles! Now my strawberries have a lovely place to grow and produce lots of fruit! Sadly, the original strawberries were all strangled by weeds. This lot came from a garden center which is an expensive way of starting out, but the plants from the discount shop that I normally buy from, are usually weak and some simply give up and die straight off. There is of course the mail order option, which I've never tried for strawberries, but maybe this year I will. You can get some good deals and if the plants are healthy then it's worth a go. Beside the strawberries I plonked in some left over onions that had nowhere else to go! It's late, I know, but at least they won't go to waste and I could probably pickle them if they are too small.

Mabel was having a good go at helping with the weeding and this bed has just about been rescued from the weeds and just needs tidying and edging.

I think the problem is that I get so disheartened by the dock that pops up in the spring. The roots are deep and tough and this year I simply didn't have the time to battle it all. This year I'll get the beds dug and weeded and then cover them over with cardboard or newspaper to keep out the weed seeds. This worked perfectly when I did it before, but the grass mulch upset the nitrogen balance as it broke down and my potatoe crop failed. It's not rocket science, but to me it's as good as, haha!

Better.

2010-07-17T13:41:00.003+01:00

Thank you so much to everyone for such kind comments on the previous post. I feel truly blessed to have met such wonderful people on line and today I feel a little better. I'm really not one to sit around and wallow, which is why when it hits me, it hits hard!

I have to share this picture with you. I love this little guy so much. Doesn't he look sweet and innocent? Well, let me tell you the following pictures had to be censored and then the camera was thrown quickly aside as Merlin decided that he'd quite like to try chicken for lunch! Poor Mabel flew like an arrow with Merlin on her tail! I leaped between them and somehow managed to grab her mid flight as Merlin ran off laughing, well that's how it seemed to me. Boy is he an indulged pony or what? I really couldn't see any of our neighbours letting their horses get away with such high jinks! Still lesson learned, ponies and chickens don't mix!

Most of the morning was spent pulling the vegetable plot back into shape which is looking slightly less neglected now. We have some strawberries and the beans are making a feeble effort to grow. I think the veg plot gets a little too windy for the beans where I have them and they just seem to have given up! Tonight I have leeks to plant and if I can still stand, then I'll start Merlin on the Parelli program, he needs distracting from chicken chasing, haha!

A piece of good news is that I have another commission for a horse portrait. This is fantastic as I am now officially BUSY! I have quite a few pictures on the go, some for me and some for customers. I also have a little idea brewing in my head, but more on that later :)

Right, I really have to get cracking and finish Bailey's portrait and then another for the Eriskay Society, phewee!!!

Strain.

2010-07-15T10:41:00.002+01:00

Life has been a terrific strain lately and I find myself totally empty of words. My usual habit of throwing myself into hard work has left me drained and I'm just about hanging on. The Studio blog has to be maintained as it's my link to sanity, but beyond that, phew..... So, appologies for such infrequent posts, hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

Perfect day.

2010-06-29T14:55:00.003+01:00

What a wonderful day I've had! I got up at my normal 'silly oclock' to water the garden, to find that a gentle rain was doing it for me. The lawn looked totally shocked at the moisture landing on it and briefly put up a fight against absorbing any. Finally though, the rain did sink in as the grass gave a grateful glurp and accepted nourishment. I made a pot of tea and then wandered around the silent and cool house opening windows to let the in the damp breeze.

An hour later found me frantically packing lunch boxes and sending young ones off to buildings of education. And so I arrived at the field in time to see the rain clouds disperse and with them my mornings plans. A quick change about and I decided to seize the moment and take Toffee for a ride before the day either became too hot or too wet!

It was wonderfully cool under the trees as we set off and it seemed that many of our neighbours were out on foot, taking advantage of the break in the heat. As we plodded down the Beech Hill, which we call the Magic Road, I could hear something big and noisy coming towards us. It was a little alarming that we couldn't yet see it, as this meant that it must be very, very big! It came around the bend and was one of the biggest tractors I could ever hope to meet. All red and shiney with yellow swirly, spikey things for turning the hay. So here I am, halfway up a steep hill, with a steep bank on one side and a massive drop on the other. Did I mention that I ride bareback? Thankfully the driver must be aware of the fear his monster tractor inspires in horses and riders, as he stopped at a wide-ish part of the road. We approached and I urged Toffee forwards, not thinking for a second that he would scramble UP the steep bank! I managed to stop him and turn around but as he scrambled back down the bank, my legs were now around his neck and I was sitting almost in his mane! I hope the driver saw the funny side, I did afterwards. Once back on the road I dismounted and led Toffee past with no trouble at all, despite surprisingly wobbly legs, mine not his! I'd be lying if I said that getting back on was easy!

Finally we continued and our path took us up a steeply wooded incline, parallel to the road we'd come down. It was dreamily quiet, with just the birds rustling and twittering above us. Perfect, until Toffee decided that speed was the only way to proceed and as he took off I slid back and came to rest on his rump. Thank goodness he's a little fatty at the moment, otherwise I'd have shot off the end and probably rolled all the way back down the hill! We came to rest at a gap in the hedge overlooking a meadow and beyond that, Middle Earth. Every time I look at the view, my breath catches and I can see Hobbits and Elves and their homes. Today I saw Rivendell glittering in the far off sun.

Back home and Toffee gladly fell to munching his haynet as i took Merlin for a surprisingly uneventful walk! We simply mooched and hung out together, which was lovely :)

Then it was back home for a coffee and a roll stuffed to overflowing with salad, yum!

Between.

2010-06-26T06:50:00.004+01:00

It's been a crazy, mad week with lots of laughter and a few tears too, although mostly tears of exhaustion.

As I mentioned on the Studio blog, we've been cutting hay for the ponies. I cannot describe the exhaustion I've felt in this heat and I've barely worked at all compared to hubby, who has been slaving away at it until we've cut nearly an acre. How people managed in the past is just a reflection of how soft we've all become. Mind you, they did die a lot younger than us, haha! Unfortunately, after one particularly hard morning, I pulled a muscle in my thigh which then went into spasm. Imagine a cramp that lasted 24hours. I was in tears despite some very heavy painkillers. By the next morning it was beginning to ease off, but has left me with a very stiff hip and a pain in the butt!

In between all of this, I've been preparing for the Mad Hatters Tea Party which is hosted by Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist. It's been a lot of fun and the Moomin has been a great help and does make quite a sweet 'Alice'.

I have to say though, that I'm looking forward to a quiet week of my normal routine. Most mornings I'm up at 6am to water the garden and tend my growing vegetables. It's become a very soothing start to the day and I guard those moments jealously. Sometimes I'm joined by Arnie cat or sometimes Charm, our bunny as we all revel in the coolness before the day grows hot. The vegetable plot at the field has taken a back seat this year, as I've just not had enough hours in the day to handle it. I'm simply going to lay the unnused beds down to fertiliser and give myself a head start into next year. I do have a bed filled with beans and another for my leeks, plus the raised bed has cucumbers. On top of that the muck heap has sprouted various 'visitors' in the form of potatoes and something that may be squash that has grown from composted seeds! So even on a slack year, the field plot has a half decent yield.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and here's hoping this lovely weather continues, but a little rain would be very welcome :)

Kitchen Witch!

2010-06-24T15:42:00.005+01:00

I said I'd been busy this week, making, cooking and nurturing. It has been a lot of fun though and I think the best bit was taking my foraging basket and going with Moomin to raid the hedgerows.

We gathered nearly a basketful of elderflowers and along with some lemons from the shop we decided to make some elderflower cordial.

Arnie suggested I take the recipe from this book! Moomin needed some pringles to keep her going (to the right of the picture).

The recipe is:
24-32 elderflower heads
4 lemons
2oz citric acid
4lbs plain white sugar

Remove all of the flowers from the green stalks. Put the flowers, sliced lemons,citric acid and sugar into a big plastic bucket. Add a litre of boiling water and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Keep the bucket covered and stir daily for 3-4 days, leaving the plastic spoon inside the bucket (not sure why, but I did it anyway).

Strain the liquid and then pour into clean bottles. I sterilise all my bottles and utensils as I think it's a good way to ensure the cordial keeps well.

It is thoroughly delicious served with tonic water and makes a nice squash with tap water. Not sure how long it will keep for, but I would think a couple of months in a cool place.

I also made some lemonade, which is a lot quicker to make. Squeeze the juice of four lemons onto 2lb of granulated sugar. Boil 2pints of water and pour onto the sugar and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and add 2 teaspoons of tartric acid. When cool pour the liquid into bottles and serve diluted with water.

With some more of the elderflowers I melted some shea butter and coco butter in a bowl over boiling water. Added the flower heads and a large splash of comfrey infused oil (which I made last year). After about 15mins I removed the bowl from the heat and when cool enough to handle I drained the oil from the flowers. I added a few drops of benzoin which has a lovely scent and acts as a preservative then poured the mixture into sterilised make up pots. This is a beautiful, healing handcream and is great for chapped hands and cracked heels.

I also made a fruit cake - it was scrummy :)

Turn and turn about.

2010-06-22T07:30:00.000+01:00

Just lately I've had some major disappointments, mostly regarding my art and the direction I was hoping it would take. It's knocked me back, I'll be honest. But like most life lessons, I've taken what I needed to learn and have moved on. It's funny, therefore, that last week I was visited by these two beautiful creatures.

(please excuse the shocking windows!)

Moths and butterflies are symbolic of growth and change - transformation.

I've taken a little time to reflect and think about my life and how it affects those around me. My focus has therefore been on my home and family this week. On caring for those who are always there for me and who rely on me to be there for them. I've been baking and nuturing and have now found the peace I need, that we all need, to live a full life. I'm not sure how long it will last before my workaholic muse sends me chasing my tail again. But for now I'm living in the moment, mindful of each task and doing it well :)

I suppose I'm trying to say that it's good to look for yourself and your true North, but sometimes along the way it's easy to be chasing so many paths that MAY lead North - or not at all!
The Romanies have an expression which amounts to this
'A man cannot ride two ponies with just one butt'

Birds!

2010-06-14T11:36:00.002+01:00

It's a post about birds - my chickens and me, haha!

I went to visit a friend last Friday, who happens to be a breeder of rare poultry. She also breeds hybrids and knew that I'd been after a black rock for quite some time. She dangled the carrot and obediently I ran to view them. I was actually very restrained and only came away with two, despite many of the other wonderful offers she made me. One such offer was of a broody Maran who was constantly hatching any egg that was offered. The result being a brood of mixed origins who would accompany mama hen. I'm still very tempted and have a couple of weeks to make my mind up! One of the chicks is a Poland, which the Moomin is desperate to own, so I'm under pressure! She also wants to start a business hatching quail so broody hen would be useful for that too.

So I'm pleased to introduce Tiger Lilly (the black rock) and Oona (silver sussex). These are easily the fanciest and most expensive hens that I've ever owned and I love them to bits. Mabel is really put out and even gentle Lottie is being mean to the pretty girls. I hope they settle soon, cos jealousy is such an ugly emotion!

And last bird picture is of me in my fancy dress costume for School last week. The occassion was Egyptian Day and I really couldn't throw together anything suitable or even that I would want to wear. As it turned out there were at least 30 Cleopatra's in any case!
So what am I wearing? My best steampunk costume in an attempt to be Howard Carter's assistant/wife! It was a fun day and as there were two Howard Carter's I didn't feel too odd, but Moomin totally disowned me, and one child asked if I'd been riding my horse, hahaha!

Where have I been?

2010-06-11T07:05:00.004+01:00

Actually, no where, haha! I think I've been suffering from an extreme bout of tiredness as everything seems to be soooo hard to do, even finding words for my blog has been an effort. I have absolutely no energy at the moment and my limbs feel so heavy. I think maybe I was doing too much and trying to fit everything in has taken it's toll. Last week was spent catching up on housework and trying to finish some art work and I've not achieved much else. A few days of rest are needed, and then next week, slowly get back into my routine.

The weather change has been a blessing, as it means I can spend a little time inside and play around with some sketches and sculptures. Although, that still sounds a little like work, I know, but at least it's not hard manual labour :) I've been telling a lot of people lately to take time out and be kind to themselves, but I've not been taking my own advice! So instead of going to the market and giving myself a day of preserving to deal with, I'm just going to feed the ponies, then come home and be peaceful.

I'm going to take a leaf out of the hens book, and mooch around. Sounds like a good plan to me :)

Goodbye and hello.

2010-05-29T07:47:00.003+01:00

My last day wasn't as awful as I thought it would be, but it was very tiring. After a while I had no idea who I was hugging as I was constantly mobbed by nearly 70 children! The only time I came close to losing it was when the Teachers gave me this beautiful bouquet. Hand made cards followed and I had to chuckle at all the miss-spellings of my name. I think my favourite was Miss Wiss!

A lovely lunch followed and then a couple of quiet hours with the ponies. So what does an out of work gal do to chill out. Well, she makes cheese of course!!!

Boil a stip of muslin and string to sterilise.

Pour 1litre of milk into a large pan and gently heat to 180c. I use goats milk because I can't drink cows milk. Semi or skimmed milk is fine, as the cream from full fat milk is wasted in the whey.
When the milk reaches 180c, stir in a couple of large spoonfuls of natural yogurt, bio is best, and 6 or 7 drops of rennet. You can buy vege rennet and I've recently discovered that you can make it from herb extracts. I may give it a go sometime.
After a while, the milk will Clabber, that is, separate into curds and whey. carefully slice the curds into chunks to let out more whey and after 15 minutes (or so) bring it gently to the boil to firm up the chunks.

Cool a little (mainly for safety's sake!) and pour into the prepared muslin. Hang the muslin over a bowl to let the cheese drip. You could squeeze the muslin to get the fluid out, but then it gets all sticky with cheese and it seems a bit of a waste. You can salt the cheese and add herbs if you want. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, but it rarely makes it to the fridge here as it's so scrummy!

There are loads of tutorials on youtube and I've probably watched them all! I've not had the courage to use vinegar to clabber the milk as I think it might affect the taste, but lots of people do use it! I've had a go at the mozzarella, without much success, so that's still on my list to try.

The whey isn't wasted, I pour it back into the original pot and make a large batch of porridge for the chickens :)

So as I say goodbye to conventional work for a while, I'd like to say a big hello and welcome to the new people who have found their way here :)

Thankful.

2010-05-27T13:48:00.002+01:00

I'm feeling horribly blue today with no real reason behind it! Well, a poor night's sleep probably didn't help. So here are a few things that I am very thankful for.

Acquilegias are one of my very favourite flowers. There are so many hybrids in my garden, just from two original plants. These here, however are from seed that I snaffled a couple of years ago and this is the first time they've flowered.

Charm, darling little rabbit, just beginning to recover from losing his Dad, Bigwig. He doesn't leave his hutch much these days so I take the dandelions to him even though his door is open all day!

My herbs are looking lush and there are a couple of visiting flowers sneaking in as well.

My darling cat Max, still in remission, very thankful for that.

I've scrubbed the base that the hen house sat on and have replanted my apple and pear trees.

Another visitor on the steps of the Studio. The photo has leached out the colour, but these are a delicate pastel pink.

More changes.

2010-05-25T21:25:00.002+01:00

There have been a lot of changes happening at the Retreat lately. I can see some settled times ahead and actually relish having more time to myself as my contract has now come to an end. Telling the children I work with has been very hard and there have been a lot of tears, not all from them :( It's not a closed book though, and so I will wait and see what the future brings.

In the meantime, purse strings have been tightened and the store cupboard has had another overhaul. It's looking pretty healthy to be honest and as my little tomato plants are bursting into flower and the reluctant spinach has started to fill out, I believe we will not starve :) It's worth mentioning that we are not paupers, but feeding and caring for our children and animals does eat into our earnings, and so frugality goes hand in hand with the luxury of having ponies etc... Someone once commented that as I have ponies, I must be rich. I replied that if I DIDN'T have the ponies then I might be rich!

Sarah at Cottage Garden Studios has been talking about blogging and how much you really know the people you develope a relationship with on line. I agree with her thoughts totally and often wonder why I feel the urge to share the details of my life with people I hardly know. It's something I can't answer easily, I'm afraid.

Anyhoo, as I begin to settle into a new routine, I face the future months with lots of projects to complete, things that were put on hold whilst I was at the school. Some new projects wait patiently in the wings also.

Cramming it all in.

2010-05-23T08:18:00.004+01:00

Despite only getting things planted at the beginning of May, I've just about caught up with the sensible people who plant early. Imagine though how far ahead I'd be now if I'd planted in March!

I took these pictures on Friday and already the beans have doubled in height and the leeks look less like fragile blades of grass. Ugly though it is, my incident tent has made a huge difference.

To the right of this picture are my wonderful Monastic Coco french green beans. They are a heritage variety and are wonderful eaten small and green or allowed to ripen and the beans used in stews or casseroles. They can be dried, but I had limited success with this, maybe due to the jar I used. The beans on the left are the Cherokee Trail of Tears that Danielle sent me, thank you Danielle :)

My own courgettes are taking their time, but have doubled in size since this picture, so not too shabby there. They are another heritage variety called Tondo and are small round globes, although if left, quickly become footballs! These are top right and top left are the exploding cucumbers that Danielle sent me. They are romping away. As you can see at the bottom of this picture, I have a couple of melon plants. I'm surprised and hopeful for these, as I found an old packet of seeds among my stash and just thought I'd see if any were alive. It seems that a couple were, yaay!

This beautiful courgette was given to me by my sensible neighbour, so I'll be eating courgettes soon, despite my lackadaisicle approach to planting! I'll be giving her one of my Tondo courgettes in exchange.

Last week the Moomin and I went to a plant sale and managed to pick up some tomato plants at 20p each, not bad eh! I found the curiously named 'Saucey' and a little bush plant called 'Pomodorro', so along with my heritage plants, I should be well covered for toms this year. That is so long as I can protect them from the dreaded blight! These plants will be truly cosseted! I use an old cola bottle with a couple of holes in the lid sunk in the grow bag to water them. The water gets right down to the roots this way. Behind the grow bag is a Ghoji berry plant that I found at a fair a few weeks ago.

The tray to the front holds my whispy leeks and the one behind has a little row each of (LtoR) normal cucumbers, hot chilli peppers and a no show of aubergines! I'll bang some sweet peppers in there instead and either buy an aubergine plant or quickly try some more seeds.

All in all, I'm on track now to make up for lost time so now all I need to do is clear out the vegetable beds at the field. These are pretty full of weeds and looking mighty neglected!

However, what I'm mostly going to be writing about here is how much you can get from a small space. Here is my raised bed in the garden. It measures approx 3x5 feet and is small enough to fit into just about any garden. The mini cloche is perfect for this size bed and helps to raise the temperature enough to encourage your seeds to put in an appearance. This bed is in almost permanent shade due to a neighbours hedge which actually makes it perfect for growing spinach and mixed salad leaves. They have a much longer growing life due to the shade as too much heat makes them bolt. A few root vegetables will do nicely here too, like beets and maybe celeriac.

This corner is where the hens were and gets a moderate amount of sun. At the moment my mini apple and pear trees are there, but I may try some beans in tubs here too. The beauty of growing in tubs is that if something isn't working out, you can move it to another part of the garden.

I'm off to make some homemade grow bags now, which I'll talk about later. Enjoy the sun everyone :)

Already!

2010-05-20T07:07:00.003+01:00

I can't believe it's Thursday already! Where do my days go? I've had the Moomin home sick for a couple, and I've become lost in a sculpting book that I splurged on. In the past, I've taught myself how to work out the sculptures, through trial and error. But having a book explain how to shape a head or build up a face is incredible. I suppose some of it is common sense, but I only realised that when it was pointed out on a page!

I've become besotted by the beautiful horse above. He's just so stunning to look at, but so far out of my price range that I just gaze at him over the hedge. It's also not simply a case of finding the money to buy another horse, but funding the monthly expenses. It's a no go, so I'll just have to adore him from afar!

My veggies are slowly putting in an appearance, and I'll have another post on simple living, as soon as I've taken a few pictures.

My laptop is definitely on the blink, and I couldn't connect to the net for a few days! Imagine my sheer horror at that. That's when I realise how much I rely on my lappy!

Sorry for the bitty post, but that's how I am at the moment, running from one thing to another and chasing my tail in the process!!!

Giveaway results.

2010-05-15T20:31:00.002+01:00

Here it is! A day later than planned, but all the names were put in a bowl and the Moomin got to pick the winner.

Congratulations to Barbara :)

and because we got carried away and she wanted to pull another name out, Elizabeth Rhiannon gets the runner up surprise :)

Well done ladies, and I'm sorry to the rest of you, but thankyou for taking part. I've enjoyed doing this and will do it again :)

Living Simply.

2010-05-13T06:46:00.003+01:00

In this picture, my garden looks quite big and by the standard of most city gardens, it's huge, but compared to a lot of rural gardens, I'd call it modest.

I'm going to experiment with what I can grow here in a plot roughly the size that I used to have in my city garden. The reason for this is time. To fit everything in that I enjoy doing alongside everything that I must is becoming such a juggling act, so I've set myself a challenge. It is this. Can I live simply while working, either at the school, with my art or training the ponies? Of course I can, but it all takes a bit of thought and planning. There are a lot of bloggers with incredibly productive gardens of modest size who are worth checking out. Leanne of Somerset Seasons and Gretel from Middle of Nowhere are just two who cram a huge amount in to a smallish space.

That's not my aim though, not just to dig up my lawn for potatoes. No, I want to create a relaxing haven in my garden while growing a few delicious crops. At the same time, I'm going to explore all options from buying local to organic foods, the best use of local markets and how to get the best deals from your local greengrocer.

I want to live simply and ethically.

My raised bed is quite small, but in previous years has yeilded quite an impressive amount of food. At the moment it has some spinach that is very slowly putting in an appearance.

I did use to keep chickens here, and this is a picture of my original four. The two new girls however, were such a couple of hooligans that nothing in the garden was safe. As their run was collapsing with age, we decided to move the whole operation out to the field. It was lovely having them around though :)

Recently I bought one of those awful plastic greenhouses. It's pretty ugly and we've taken to calling it the incident tent as it reminds me of those structures that go up around crime scenes! However, it's gorgeously warm inside and I think it's the only way I'm going to get any tomatoes this year. I can't afford a proper poly tunnel and at the moment we haven't the space for one, so this seems like a good compromise.

It's all planted up inside, and there are even a few little shoots beginning to appear.

I actually enjoy standing in this tiny space, planning, planning!

So that's it for now, I've left it late for much of my planting, but there's still time to catch up, I think!

Nettles.

2010-05-12T22:13:00.003+01:00

Have I told you how much I love nettles? Moomin and I collected a big bagful from the field, and I think we may have overdone it a bit! My big saucepan was full and there was still a sink full to deal with.

I sweated a little onion and garlic in some butter

then added the nettles and a pint of vegetable stock.

Next came two small carrots and potatoes. The whole lot was brought to the boil and simmered for an hour. I can't show any photos of the finished soup, because we ate it all before I had a chance to take any.

Next I fried some more onion and garlic with some tomatoes and a couple of spoonfuls of Pataks sauce. I know it's cheating but Pataks are just so wonderfully authentic (and I'm not getting paid to say this!).

A couple of cups of lentils, a pint of stock and the remaining nettles. So that's tomorrow's supper sorted now :)

Website.

2010-05-08T22:52:00.002+01:00

It's done at last.

You can check it out here www.oakmoonstudio.com

Please let me know what you think. I'm far too tired to say much more now as this was a loooong and hard task with a very steep learning curve, having never made a website before!

Tired.

2010-05-04T22:35:00.003+01:00

Gosh, I am so totally wiped out this evening. I've been battling with the website, and although I finally have a page that I'm happy with, I'm still dithering about the header. I've changed it four times today, and even painted a whole new one, which I don't really think I like at all. I'm trying it out on the studio blog, so any comments would be interesting ;)

This website isn't as 'simple' as it's marketed to be, especially compared to the set up on blogger. We have it so easy here!

My job is now coming to it's end and I have very mixed emotions about that. I won't miss the crushingly early mornings but I will miss the children. I'll have more time to focus on my art, but I'll have no money to buy any supplies, however, a couple of modest Etsy sales has at least put that balance in the black! See! A mixed bag for sure!!! I may have the chance to return to the school in September though, so I'm not heading for the poor house just yet :)

After the helpful post on Fairysteps about setting up an on line business (do check it out if your stuck on that treadmill and going nowhere), I've been trying harder with the pictures I've taken. So far I'm modestly pleased and very thankful for her advice.

This is an update for the giveaway, and I think the picture just looks so much better than my normal method of plonking a spotlight over my subject. I've made a Reiki infused pouch (lightly scented) and a tree of life bookmark. The print is mounted and in a protective sleeve.

Right, I must try and get some sleep now, as another early start awaits me!

Gift from a friend.

2010-05-03T22:32:00.003+01:00

I'm sorry, but again I've posted two posts the same. Not really because I'm being lazy, but this time because this deserves saying twice :)

A very few weeks ago I coveted this wonderful picture on Danielle's blog. I planned to buy it as soon as she listed it in her shop. It is of the Goddess Eostre, gently craddling a hare in her arms. I can't describe how this painting touched me, the tenderness and trust between these two creatures. Imagine the absolute joy I felt when I opened a mysterious package to find this painting inside. Thank you Danielle, I'm not sure I deserve such a gift, but thank you :)

Do go and visit Danielle for more gorgeous art than you can shake a stick at, plus beautiful horses galore :)

Other news is that after these lovely pictures were taken of our hens settling to their new life,

finding the best new dust bath in THE WORLD!
My oldest and most precious hen, Freya, (top hen in the picture below) was found sleeping forever in her nest box.

I knew she wasn't right the night before and so I sat with her whilst she slept in the sun and then I carefully put her to bed, where hubby found her the next morning. I'm glad she had some fun and seemed so happy just before flying to new fields. Bless you Freya.x

Beltane giveaway.

2010-04-29T20:22:00.004+01:00

I feel like sharing my great good mood with everyone so I'm going to have a Beltane gift giveaway. Tomorrow I'm going to paint a Beltane picture, sew a Reiki pouch and put together a few things.

All you have to do is leave a comment, even if you've never commented before or for a while. I'm going to run this on both blogs, so there will be two winners. You can comment on both if you like, that's ok :)

As soon as the picture is finished I'll post more details of the actual giveaway.

Edited to add:

Here is the picture I'll be giving away. I've called it 'Dawn' and it shows a Hawthorn tree standing against a dark hill and a dawn kissed sky. The print will be 5x7inches and will probably be a little darker than this picture.

I'll also throw in a Reiki pouch and few little surprise goodies. I'll close the giveaway in two weeks, so that will be the 14th of May. Good luck and don't be shy putting your name down :)

An interesting time of it!

2010-04-29T14:05:00.002+01:00

You may have noticed that I've not had much to say! Well, I had a wee health scare, but after a long and anxious wait, a trip to the Hopsickle has put my mind at rest. I'm all ok now and feeling more like my old self.

I've not been idle though, and I have lots to share. I just need to get the camera out and take a few piccies, so normal service will soon resume.

Hope everyone is hale and hearty, hugs to you all :)

Sewing Sunday.

2010-04-18T08:39:00.002+01:00

I'm sorry guys but in a lazy day moment, I've posted the same item on both blogs. Sometimes I think a cross over of blogs is ok, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, haha!

Ren over at Fairysteps has started a Sewing Sunday Flicker group and today I'm going to join in. Before I get started on my lovely (and expensive) linen skirt, I'm going to have a play with this pretty cotton lawn that was an Ebay bargain.

It was a lttle too bright and new looking, so I gave it a good soak in some strong tea. It's not as dark as I would like, but it's a little muted now and that's fine.

I've cut out a simple A line shape and will sew this up later today after ponies are fed and housework tackled. Pictures of my progress to follow.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

Chickens.

2010-04-15T08:23:00.002+01:00

Wow! What an incredibly busy time I've had of it lately. I've crammed as much into the Easter holidays as possible to try and make life a little easier when I go back to work. My time has been extended at the school, but on a week by week basis, according to their funding. They can't really afford to keep me on, but need me there so it's a case of juggling their pennies. Thankfully I'm still really enjoying the work but it's so clear that the home and field have been neglected. Hence the simplifying of our lifestyle.

I'm almost too ashamed to post this picture, so I thought distance would lessen the blow! The hen house and run are in terrible shape and the run has almost collapsed in on itself. I've been trying to patch it up, but it really should have gone last year. Rather than build a new one, we took the decision to move the hens to the field. The garden is now very tidy, but a little empty and quiet!

We were given a large dog cage last year, which is extremely strong and secure. With the electric fence around the perimiter, I feel that the hens are as safe as they possibly can be. The run is only really comfortable for 3 hens, so no plans to extend the family yet, but in the future, who knows?

They seem to like the new set up, although the sound of the crows had them diving for cover and our resident pheasant isn't too chuffed!

We have the other half of the rabbit run to let them out on the grass for a while when we are in the veg garden and in time I'll let them out to range freely in the paddocks. Again, though, only when we are with them. Foxy is around all the time and doesn't like to stick to times, preferring instead to pop up when she thinks I'm not looking!

We've had eggs from the hens, which I guess is the best indicator that things are well with them, although Lottie did try to lay one on the roof of their house, so she's still getting used to the set up!!!

Later, more of what else I've been up to this week :)

YAAY! My chickens are going!

2010-04-10T12:40:00.003+01:00

No, I haven't lost my mind and become a chicken hater!!! We have finally taken the decision to move the hens to the field, and keep all our smallholding projects together. I'm so excited!

I'll be back later with lots of pictures of the new set up and some wonderful goodies that came in the post. I must stop smiling now, my face is beginning to hurt :)

The odd couple.

2010-04-07T21:55:00.002+01:00

These two boys are funny little fellows! Max stays inside more so that Arnold has to take care of the garden, and without Bigwig around, Charm clearly feels happier having Arnold around.

They are keeping their eyes on each other and I wonder what exactly is going through their minds! One thing is for sure, a few months ago they would have not have been happy in the garden together, preferring instead to skirt around each other.

I'm sure that Charm misses Bigwig, even though they weren't terribly close. He's been allowing me to stroke him more than he used to and he sometimes goes over to see the chickens, even though he seemed to hate them before. I guess we have to adapt and move on and these two seem to be doing just that. Bless them :)

Studio!

2010-04-06T22:43:00.004+01:00

The gorgeous weather today had me fleeing to the Studio as soon as my other chores were finished. Children and ponies were fed, cats were sleeping and hubby was working. Sheesh! It was messy out there!

The after pictures though didn't look much better, so I've focused on a couple of close ups! A lovely, twisty branch that makes me feel happy and gives me lots of inspiration for trees.

My neat stacks of wood, ready to be sanded and painted. Each block takes an age to sand down to a smooth, satiny finish, but it's so worth it. Some of the beautiful patterns are too delicate to paint over, so I'll use the grain to enhance my pictures. I see lots of fairies and goblins dancing across these little blocks.

Happy Easter.

2010-04-04T08:43:00.005+01:00

Here's hoping that Easter weekend finds you all having fun, indulging in chocolate and watching cheesy movies. I had a lot of outside jobs to get done, but the weather hasn't been too kind, so I've been spring cleaning and loving it. It's great when things start to come together, and parts of the house have become a dumping ground for our various projects. Now I've got a little time to sort things out, hopefully things will be put away properly (are you listening children!).

I had a birthday recently and a couple of lovely gifts from hubby were this gorgeous spotted tea pot, which I totally adore, and the Florence and the Machine album. Moomin took her pocket money to school and bought me this fab book, and darling son bought me a hooooge box of maltesers (no picture as they are all gone!). I had a perfect day, but these lovely colours make me want to decorate the kitchen, so that's on the 'to do' list now!

I treated myself to a canvas board and some artists turps, which is meant to be better to use than normal turps. Now I don't know what to do with the board, as I don't want to waste it!

Some fabric seemed to follow me home too, along with a pattern and some lace! I need a long, lightweight skirt, but can't find anything I like, so I'll just have to make one, it looks fairly simple, but we'll see :)

Treacle pudding.

2010-03-31T07:00:00.002+01:00

Finally, here is the recipe for the delicious treacle sponge pudding that I made last week. It's lighter than the traditional suet pudding but is probably just as loaded with calories!

75g butter or marg
75g sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
1 tbl sp milk.
Treacle or golden syrup.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs and add them gradually, I find that a wooden spoon is best for this, as it seems to curdle less. Fold in the sifted flour and then the milk. Beat thoroughly.

Grease a 1 litre pudding bowl and put the treacle or golden syrup in the bottom. Pour in the mixture and cover with greaseproof paper and foil. I usually make a small fold or pleat in the top of the paper and foil so that there's room for the sponge to rise. If it doesn't rise too much don't worry it doesn't always.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and put the bowl into this, carefully. Steam for 30minutes at a rapid boil and then another 30minutes at a simmer. My recipe book suggested the second time should be 45mins to an hour. I find this too long and the sponge can dry out, but to compensate, I leave the bowl in the hot water for 10/15mins or so with the heat off, as I prepare the custard or get the cream and dishes ready.

This can also be made with jam or apples in the bottom of the bowl in place of treacle. Enjoy :)

Oh Pants!

2010-03-30T22:07:00.003+01:00

I can't believe this! Two pets in two weeks. Tonight I found my beautiful bunny, Bigwig, asleep forever. I cried buckets. We've had him a loooong time, about 7years and he's fathered many babies and produced many generations still talked of in the village.

This was taken last August with Charm, Bigwig's son. We will make the most of Charm, and remember all the crazy things Bigwig did, from doing the wall of death around the sofas in our lounge, to chewing his way through the computer cables and narrowly missing death in a more spectacular way.

Fencepost tortoise.

2010-03-28T19:11:00.002+01:00

Now you know I'm not normally one to air my political views but I love this little anecdote/story so much that I felt like sharing.

While stitching up the hand of a 75 year old Devon farmer, who cut it on a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Gordon Brown, his appointment as Prime Minister and his delusion that he commanded the armed forces.

"Well, you know," drawled the old farmer, "this Brown fellow is what they call a fencepost tortoise."
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a fencepost tortoise was.
The old farmer said, "When you're driving along a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's called a fencepost tortoise."

The old farmer saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain,
"You know he didn't get up there by himself, he definitely doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just have to wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place."

I know we all have our views and opinions and this comes a little close to mine, please don't be offended :)

Low.

2010-03-26T14:13:00.002Z

I'm feeling really quite low today. After spending my time this week nursing a poorly hen, I finally decided last night that Leia was not getting any better :( She seemed to be suffering from some kind of paralysis and keeping her warm in the kitchen and hand feeding her hourly, just seemed to be prolonging the problem. I'd noticed that she wasn't eating much or coming out of the hen house over the weekend, but on Tuesday I had to bring her in as the other girls had badly beaten and pecked her. I wrapped her up and put her in the cat basket and waited for the inevitable. By Wednesday she seemed to be rallying, so I began the hourly feeding and watering. Yesterday though saw no improvement and her returning strength just emphasised how incapable she was of moving properly. By teatime she was refusing food.

I know that it sounds crazy, but I couldn't face the thought of anyone dispatching her other than a vet. I can't say that I begrudge the money, because I gave Leia a quiet and dignified end. She has been a lovely pet to our family and deserved no less than I'd give to our other animals.

To cheer me up, hubby took me to the garden center and we bought some grow bags. I'm going to get the vegetable area sorted out over the weekend and plan to make a new home for our remaining chickens at the field. I had wanted to get more chickens, but yesterday made me back up a bit. I can be such a sentimental old fool sometimes!

Later, I promise to post up the recipe for the treacle pud :)

Two in one day?

2010-03-22T15:28:00.005Z

Yes, it's true, two posts in one day. I guess I'm getting over my block then :)

I just had to tell you this as I'm really pleased. We took the ponies out for a walk again today, and I decided that Toffee is probably fit enough now to start carrying me again. I've gained a little weight and he's had a sore back in the past, which is why we've been walking so much. Today he was like a skittish lamb and barely seemed to notice me, although I did leave the saddle off as that can be a bit heavy for him along with my weight compared to the Moomins slight frame.

Both ponies flew along as Hubby jogged beside Merlin and I did my best Gypsy impression on Toffee, which is like a sack of spuds and not traditional English riding, all uptight and neat! Toffee hopped onto the verge to save his feet and before I knew it we were doing a beautiful, rolling canter. My first ever bareback. I'm still on a high now, even after a sit down and a cup of tea :)

When I get back, I'll post the recipe for treacle sponge pudding, just for Julia :)

Edited to add: I'll get to the recipe as soon as possible. I've been busy with a very sick hen :(

Spring.

2010-03-22T06:18:00.003Z

I'm feeling Springy today :)

I spent a good hour yesterday digging over one of the vegetable beds at the field, which explains those mysterious aches in my arms, and then we took the ponies for a loooong ramble in the woods.

I think this is one of Merlin's favourite walks. There are lots of horses in the field below that he can shout at and show off to and then this steep but exciting track up through the trees.

It's such a magical place here. So still and silent, removed from the real World by tall elegrant trees and thick undergrowth, gnarly roots and more than a few faeries.

Toffee found the stoney path a struggle, but he'd follow the moomin wherever she went.

It was late when we got home, but our roast dinner was cooked to a sticky, delicious melt in the mouth crumble and as if I didn't need the extra calories, I topped it off with a home made treacle sponge pudding, yuuuummmyyy :)

Ostara.

2010-03-20T08:31:00.003Z

In the last few months, I feel like I've been so caught up with distractions from the school and fitting in my new routine that I've begun to lose the essence of who I really am. Now, with the Spring Equinox upon us, I feel the need to reconnect with my beliefs and myself.

Ostara is celebrated at the Spring equinox, it's a time of balance, when day and night are of equal length, when Winter is losing it's grip on the World. Spring is waiting patiently to delight us with green shoots and the promise of her bounty. Very soon it will be time to pick nettles and indulge in nettle soup season, one of my favourites. Around the same time, the asparagus will be coming up and we'll be eating fresh greens from the garden.

Despite the heavy rain yesterday, we managed to have a great time. Firstly indulging in a little couch potatoism and then some unenthusiastic housework!

The afternoon found us visiting with some lovely friends who's daughter played the harp as we sat drinking coffee. I didn't want her to stop, the music was so delightful. We then went to see one of their ponies who was in need of a Reiki treatment. He was a joy to treat and I had a very pleasant time with him. The afternoon whooshed by and then it was home for a dinner of sausages.

I hope you all had a lovely day and can feel the approach of Spring wherever you live in the World.

Helper.

2010-03-15T16:01:00.003Z

I had a rare quiet day today. Moomin was poorly and I didn't feel so great either so we spent a relaxed time making art. I had a few things to catch up on, including my Eriskay pony painting, which is over on the studio blog. I finished a few bookmarks and made some lovely (well I think so) crystal necklaces.

I had help from my dear old cat, Arnie, while my even older cat Max kept an eye on the fire all day.

I prepared a couple of pieces of wood and a canvas, and it was blue, all blue!

We curled up on the sofa with my sketchbook and The Labrynth on the DVD. I sketched a few owls and then for fun, some badgers, but strangely, no goblins today!

Finally, just one of the necklaces, a gorgeous banded blue tigers eye, with a perfect little eye at the tip, which is pretty rare. This will go in the Etsy shop, but the price is eluding me, as it's worth a lot due to the rarety of the eye in it, but I'd rather sell it than keep it, as I already have one of my own ;)

The real World

2010-03-10T12:45:00.004Z

The intrusion of the real World is so very vexing! I'm quite snowed under with things to do and not enough hours in the day.

In an effort to declutter and simplify my life, I've actually given myself more work to do!!! But as the saying goes, you can't make omelettes without breaking eggs and so the mundane has been taking over everything else. For a brief moment, last week, there was light at the end of the tunnel, but now I'm back to surveying piles of dross with mounting panic.

How I ever managed to fit in some sewing is beyond me, but I had a commission to fill, and so put on some harp music and stitched Reiki into a little pouch to heal a friend's bad back. The whole experience was very spiritual for me, as I filled the pouch with healing and Universal Energy. It was such a pleasure, that I may well consider selling these in the Etsy shop.

This is the pouch, lightly scented with herbs appropriate to help my friend's back and with Reiki held in every single tiny stitch. I then sat for a while and meditated while focusing on my friend.

I was so pleased with the pouch, I then designed this little book based on a needle book.

It is lined and again filled with Reiki energy, but with no specific issue in mind. You simply write the name of the person or situation that requires healing on a piece of paper, and place it inside the book. The Universe does the rest.

For me now though, it's back to doing my chores. I wish I could magic up a paperwork fairy to help out with my growing stack of papers!

Edited to add: One stack of papers is gone and now the rest can be filed (in the bin, haha!) I feel so much happier now at the prospect of a week filled with artisic endeavours :)

Treats and eats!

2010-03-04T22:46:00.002Z

I managed to get some baking done at the weekend, and used my favourite and best flour from our local mill. When I say local, I mean about 15miles away, but actually, these days that's pretty good. It's quite a heavy, wholemeal flour and I usually mix it with some Allinson's, which isn't at all local, but if I use it straight, then it tends to produce a loaf with the density of a housebrick.

The bread was delicious, burning our fingers and mouths with our eagerness.

A little home made jam and a pot of tea made it the ultimate comfort food.

Later, a visit from some lovely neighbours bearing gifts of French chocolate, wine and

a large sack of 5 cereal bread flour. They are such kind and sweet neighbours, and were very grateful to us for looking after their adorable little french kitty, Mimi, whilst they were away.

I'm so looking forward to making bread with this flour that I may even do a step by step photo experience!!!

lastly, a little note to say that there are a few new cards in my Etsy shop, to celebrate Easter or Eostre or Ostara. Whatever you choose to call it is fine as it's still the beginning of Spring and lets all jump for joy.

Shelfling.

2010-02-28T08:36:00.002Z

Little Audrey is now finished and at the moment takes pride of place on the top shelf of my little shelfling.

She shares the unit with my little felt horse and a gorgeous tea cup that I found in the junk shop. I have a looong way to go though before the shelfling starts to look as full and interesting as Kazzy's.

The weather is appalling today, so it's going to be a stay inside and play day. Thank you to everyone who left such supportive and caring comments on my last post. I'm going to play with my website, while tucking into some homemade bread and jam with pots of tea, to keep me going.

Yukky!

2010-02-25T20:13:00.003Z

I'm sorry that I've not been posting much this week, but I'm just too low to pass on this much fed-up-ness! I think a combination of over work, a crushing routine and poor health has just knocked me off my feet.

All I can do is delegate some of this work and take an hour or two to rest. Whenever I feel this bad, it's good to remember that it could be worse - I could be a milkman, up way before dawn, in all kinds of terrible weather for an ungrateful audience snug in their beds!

Edited to add: Actually, even after half an hour blogging, I'm beginning to feel the return of my mojo!

So sad.

2010-02-22T20:33:00.001Z

I just wanted to say goodbye to a very special person. Darling Renee, I will miss you so very much, your slightly irreverent comments and your hilarious view of life. Tears are streaming as I find I've run out of words. I hope my love reaches out to you as you journey on.

I'm back :)

2010-02-21T08:28:00.004Z

Well, here I am all refreshed and ready to start again. Where did I go? Well, actually, no where!

As part of The Artist's Way, I needed to take a week off from reading books and magazines and to be sure not to fill the space with other external influences like the radio, TV or pc. I decided to take this a step further and had a diet detox and life cleansing week. It was lucky that this all coincided with a half term week off school as I roped the children in and we went for some wonderful walks.

Our best walk was to the Devil's Armchair. It was a very cold day, but gorgeous in the shelter of the hill. We found some vast rabbit colonies under twisty, gnarly hawthorns and I came home with an awful lot of inspiration for future paintings.

My son found peace on the hillside while the moomin and I did some sketching.

Later in the week we visited a friend who lives near to my favourite woods. Sadly it was raining so we couldn't manage a walk on that day, but the bright side was that we got to play with her adorable puppies.

Moomin wanted this one Soooooo badly :(

I found some time to shuffle everything around in the kitchen and ended by putting most of it back!!! This is one of the gorgeous items I bought a couple of weeks ago.

I'm still trying to find a home for this pretty shelf. It actually doesn't fit in many places, and I'll probably have to redecorate to accomodate it! Actually, the house needs a face lift, but that's all in the future.

I learned an awful lot this week. The biggest issue for me is time. I just don't have enough to fit everything in and so some things will either have to go, or take a back seat. First on the list is housework, I'm going to completely ignore it from now on, haha!

I have missed all my lovely blogging friends though, and the first couple of days were hard going, so I'll be looking forward to some time visiting you all soon :)

Retreat.

2010-02-15T08:55:00.001Z

I am on a retreat this week, which means no pc's, tv, radio or books. EEEK! I'll explain all when I get back at the weekend :) Have a good week all :)

I'm getting there!

2010-02-13T07:11:00.002Z

Appologies to all my lovely blog friends for not visiting you regularly. I'm soooo snowed under with last minute preparations for today's pony tack sale, that I've barely had a moment to blog much at all.

The show is in aid of the EPS, the Eriskay Pony Society, of which I'm a member due to my little Merlin being a rare stallion (rare indeed!). So I'm half way through a last minute painting for them plus dashing out a couple of horsey bookmarks. The last thing you want to see, though, when you are already in a panic, is a flashing light on the printer. EEEK, I'm low on Cyan blue and a replacement cartridge is £10.00 just for the one colour! If I order from the manufacturer a whole set is over £40, but that is for six colours! I know it sounds a lot, but I like to use the good inks, as they have a guarantee of longevity and quality, but right now I don't even have time to dash out to buy them. The solution is to print more black and white prints, and then borrow hubby's printer (when he's not looking) for the bookmarks!

I've also been working on my website. Sheesh it's giving me a headache! Getting to grips with the unfamiliar HTML is making me all googly eyes :) Still, slowly I'm pulling something together, and for those of you who already run your own website (one instantly springs to mind), big respect to you, as now I realise that it's not as simple as I first thought!

Right, back to the grindstone now, and hopefully I'll be able to show some nice pictures of my EPS stand at the sale.

Artist Date.

2010-02-10T21:54:00.005Z

I had a great Artist's Date this week and it was exactly what I needed, walking through my favourite woods with snow lightly falling and words tumbling through my head. A flask of tea in my backpack and a note pad and sketchbook was all I needed for an inspired couple of hours.

When I've been with my dear friend, the Woodelf who lives in these woods, we've walked for hours and hours without recrossing our path. The woods are vast and sit in between at least 3 villages.
Starting out, my long path lay before me.

An hour into my walk and the snow fell thicker and the wind picked up. I was looking for Grandmother Yew, but without my map I soon lost the way. Instead, I sat in the warm and relatively dry shelter of a pine copse and wrote a couple of pages of descriptive ramblings.

You can just see the white spots of snow, but not many fell here.

I took a few pictures of myself above the Yew grove, but didn't really want to take the extra time to go down there. I felt quite self conscious and then noticed a large black dog watching me, it's owner a little farther back giving me a very strange look! One of the pictures was very blurry and looked like something from the Blair Witch project!!!

On the last leg of my walk, my path was blocked by the flooded river. This is normally just a muddy puddle, but today it was deep and swift flowing, high above the top of my wellies. I had to find a way around, but it wasn't far to the little bridge and then I was back in the heart of the village and the real World again.

A week of lovlies.

2010-02-06T18:49:00.004Z

It's been a very upty downty week here at the Retreat, but one of the horrors turned into a day of loveliness. I set off for my Artist's Date, which is meant to be a day of inspiration for your inner artist child (as set out in the Artist's Way, which I've mentioned before) and it turned out to be a thoroughly horrible experience.

It would seem that any city, in fact many places, are thoroughly dire in February, and as I entered my chosen place for the 'date', a dark and heavy gloom settled upon me. It wasn't helped as I noticed that an enourmous willow tree that I used to lay under on hot sunny days had been replaced by a block of new and ugly flats. It was such a gloomy trip in fact that I simply turned the car around and aimed for the hills and the woods. I found myself in the tiny and cute village of Westbourne. The Gallery that I'd had my first experience of the snobbery of gallery owners was gone and in it's place was a shiny new shop filled with more lovlies than a cake shop! I cooed and ahhhed over all the gorgeous items and even bought a couple of yummy pieces (photos to follow) and persuaded the shop owner to let me snap a couple of piccies.

How could I choose just one item?

I couldn't, so I chose two!

Today was the exact opposite as the Artist's date. It started out with an unexpected find down a little alleyway in Petersfield. A shop filled with as many delicious delights as above, but at a fraction of the price. Oh dear, I bought another little shelfling!

There were tea pots and cosies in delightful colours and designs. Some new and some vintage,

which was definitely the charm of this shop, the old and new combined.

After a trip around a pine and recycled wood shop, we then stopped off at the wonderful 'Barn'. A haven for all things Gargoyle and Grotesque. This was great, as I want to make more Grotesques and inspiration was here in spades.

Some lovely and some not so!
A tiny Grotesque came home with us, but my heart was with a large Dragon scratching his ear! Maybe I'll go back for him :)

Sadly the day hit a bad spot when Moomin and I had a disagreement, but I know this is because she is going on a residential trip next week and our emotions are running high. Goodness, I'm going to miss her!

So much spam!

2010-01-31T08:48:00.004Z

What a week I've had. I've had soooo much spam, it's been ridiculous. Obviously this blog has been flagged for some reason, but hopefully the new code verification thing will stop this, but I appologise to you all for activating it. I find it a bit fiddly sometimes, but I hope it won't put you off from commenting.

It's been a very tiring week here at the Retreat, and I've often felt overwhelmed, but have to make sure I take some time today to rest up and recharge my batteries. That's after all the washing, ironing and vacuuming is finished, hmmm, I'm wondering how that's going to work then!

I'm still managing to get a little art finished and have listed lots of things on Etsy, so that's been good, actually getting to grips with the business side of my art. I promise to be back with a more interesting post soon, but for now I need to sort out the animals and children as they all need mucking out :)

Edit: I'm nearly finished with all the work so may get a restful evening, happy in the knowledge that I'm on top of everything and then I can take it slower this week (maybe!).

I'm going to have an early night with my laptop and the next episode of Battlestar Galactica. It's ok, I've not lost my mind and it's not the old clunky series, but an amazing remake that I've been hooked on for the last two years.

Blocked!

2010-01-25T13:05:00.002Z

Omigosh! I've been totally blocked this past week or so and have had so very little to say. That in itself has been a shock! A few weeks ago I read a post on Gemma's blog about a book called The Artist's Way. Being an impulsive book adict, I bought it (damn you one click!) and it arrived a few days ago. Well, it's interesting and although I have a few issues with it's statement that art comes from God or the Divine, it's does have some very good points. The Morning Pages are 3 pages that you need to write in first thing every morning. Easy and unnecessary were my first thoughts, but set about them anyway. Well, I wasn't prepared for the surge of anger that washed over me when my alarm went off early so that I could do the pages before my normal routine. I finally gave in and started to write, my only concession being that I MUST have my cup of tea at the same time, rather than doing the pages before anything else.

The result was interesting. The writing is not meant to be technically correct, pleasing or clever in any way. It's a form of active meditation and afterwards, I felt strangely empty and cleansed. I still feel blocked to a large extent but am keen to get my mental and physical house in order. It's true that being back at work makes my normal routine difficult as I still have the same amount of work but condensed into a shorter timespan, but slowly I'll get there!

Now, it's time to tackle the bedroom and create a calm space. Soon I want to redecorate and fancy something lush and gothic!

On another note, I've been getting soooo much spam and rubbish in my comments. I don't know why this has suddenly become a problem as I never had an issue before!

What can I say?

2010-01-19T13:15:00.003Z

Well, there's not a great deal happening here at the Retreat worth writing about! School has resumed and I have a hectic schedule which keeps me very busy and I'm still loving it! The children are so adorable and completely brighten my day with their happy faces and funny ways.

Visitors to my new blog will see that I'm managing to get some painting done and indeed, I've just finished another that will be posted up tonight. Then I'll get my Etsy January Sale sorted and start putting a selection of pictures together for a pony fair that I'm attending in February. The Website is waiting to be put together, but that is my goal to achieve before the end of this month.

At the same time as all this, my fingers have been straying towards my planting diary and I need to plan the vegetable plot for this year. It will be simpler this year, with mainly leeks and onions and some fresh greens and salads as I want to really concentrate on my art and the ponies. This is the year that Merlin will be put to a trap, so I have to admit to some excitement :) (and fear!)

The snow has all but gone now, although we have a little more forecast for Wednesday. Hopefully it won't settle, as it was just too much chaos in our little village and we need some time to recover! I know some of the older people who didn't leave home for nearly two weeks!

Well, that's what's been going on with me, how are you?

My new blog.

2010-01-14T20:34:00.003Z

Thank you to those of you who have dropped by and taken a peek at the Studio blog. I've arranged the posts so that it will run from top to bottom and there will just be a month per page. So if you pop in and think that nothing has happened, scroll down and you'll see the updates, a couple a week, that's all as the backward dates are tricky :)

There's a new Valentine picture in the process, but the trouble is, I want to paint it in so many different ways that I think I need to reign in my excitement :)

Soon, the Retreat will be hidden from my profile, maybe in a week or two, when the website is online.

Edited to add: Ok, it's back to normal format now, as I just couldn't be doing with all the backward dates. I guess I'll be fiddling with it for a while yet!

Last shot!

2010-01-12T20:40:00.002Z

Just in case you're getting sick of the snow, here a last photo. I can't stop looking at the beautiful pictures and am wishing it would stay just a little longer. However, heavy rain is forecast for the next few days, which is soooo depressing. I'd take this lovely bright, cold weather over heavy, overcast skies any day.

So, a last final blast of a great snowball fight :)

And now for something different. At nearly 16, it's so good to know that Arnold still enjoys a good game of 'defend the stairs'.

Sorry this picture is blurry, but boy, he's quick! This game involves tearing a chunk out of your unsuspecting vicitim's head as they pass below you.

I do love this kitty. He's very grumpy and will shred a gentle hand without a moments notice, but is often purring as the blood flows! What can I say, we have funny animals that share our lives :)

I don't want to.....

2010-01-09T08:47:00.002Z

Go out, that is. The wind is fierce this morning and it's warm and cozy here beside the fire and inside my dressing gown!

The sun is showing just a golden ribbon behind the grey clouds wandering towards the village, trying not to look menacing, but coming closer all the same!

I shall make up a flask of boiling water, as the ponies so love their hot breakfast, and then climb into my many, many layers of clothes. I can barely do my coat up over it all, but it has kept me warm so far. I'm just not looking forward to it today, boo! I'll bribe myself to go with the promise of a big plate of bacon and eggs on my return :)

Stay warm everyone and take care. x

The white stuff.

2010-01-08T21:01:00.003Z

Well, we still have plenty of the stuff and it's not showing any signs of going just yet!
I went back to work for just two days and although I could get to the school quite easily, none of the other staff could, so I've been home all week. In a way, it's been quite fortunate as just getting through the days has been quite a task all of it's own.

The journey to the field is lengthy and not without hazard, then it's home to prepare the food for the day. I'm being very careful with our supplies and we are eating a lot of simple foods, like homemade bread, cheese and pickles. Today I made pea and ham soup with the leftovers from last nights dinner, gammon, egg and chips. We have lots of potatoes so I made the chips in the oven, just wedges of potatoes drizzled with a little oil and baked until cooked. Sadly I had to buy the eggs, which sticks in the craw a bit, but my hens seem to be all egged out sadly and this needs to be looked at in the new year. More hens and a larger pen for the old girls to retire happily.

It's easy to eat well with only basic supplies, and those supplies can be kept in bulk, without too much forward planning. I always keep at least four bags of flour, stored in the fridge, a very large bag of pasta (5kg) and the same amount of rice. Add to this a dozen tins of tomatoes, tinned fish and beans and a well stocked freezer, plenty of dried pulses and some tins of dried milk, you have the makings of many delicious meals. Whenever foods are on special offer, I always buy plenty and put some of these in the store cupboard, so I have several jars of pasta sauce, tuna, curry sauce and coffee. There are other blogs covering this subject in greater detail, so check them out and find the system that suits you best.

Don't be fooled by how cute the Moomin looks, she throws a mean snowball.

This is the lane as clear as it's going to get. The roads in our village are all brown and mushy with all the salt and grit making travelling a lot easier.

Our footprints are at least 8inches deep, and it makes your legs ache wading through the heavy, crunchy snow. The Moomin pushed me over in it today and to the right of this picture is a big hole where my butt landed and got stuck!

I love the ripples in the snow here, there was quite a strong wind last night and frost faeries tap, tapped at our windows.

The Apple Tree Man, the guardian of our field.

My favourite picture of our field, so far.

Blizzards!

2010-01-06T20:21:00.007Z

Last night it snowed solidly from the start of my last post and throughout the night. At 9.30pm we got a call from our brother in law asking if we could put him up for the night, of course we told him yes and he brought with him tales of woe. Hundreds of cars blocked the motorways, with people just leaving their vehicles on the hard shoulder and walking to the nearest exits. Blizzards and snow drifts brought traffic to a standstill, leaving so many cars unable to move. A nearby supermarket stayed open as a drop in center and this morning we heard stories of people being taken in by kindly souls, but many more spent a very cold night in their cars.

This was the hill out of our village to the West,

and to the east. Cars left all over the road made a slippery hill harder to negotiate, even with 4wd!

This is the hill down from our lane, with happy children compacting the surface to an ice rink consistency.

Up the lane towards our field is the little church, pretty as a chocolate box on any day, but today, so gorgeous it almost hurt to look at it!

The magical tunnel of trees in the lane heading towards the field.

The trees were so heavy with snow and then just around the corner, outside our field

one of our trees was down and across the road.

It was almost enjoyable working together in the snow to remove the obstruction from the lane. Although, I did have to stop to take some photos of our progress!

Merlin really appreciated his bucketful of warm mash and apples.

Horses nearby were having quite a yar around, and Merlin was very watchful. Our field is about 3miles away from the house, so getting there was quite stressful and wading through the drifts was pretty tiring.

After a slightly nervous drive home through falling temperatures, we settled down with a small whiskey and began to prepare dinner. That was when the power went out. Thankfully I keep a large supply of candles and matches and within 10 minutes cooking resumed. My kitchen looks soooo messy, but in the candlelight I could hardly see it, but the flash shows it up now!!!

We all sat together in the kitchen for a very jovial meal and afterwards the children played board games.

It's been a very tiring, but actually wonderful day. It was almost disappointing when the power came back on, but at least I can now have a hot bath and prepare for another adventure tomorrow.

A lot of people, however, aren't as well prepared as we are, and I'm wondering how long the goodwill will last when food supplies run low. I have one friend cut off, and in the middle of nowhere with only enough food to last a couple of days and our village shops were rapidly selling out of bread and milk as people panicked and bought anything they could grab. The veneer of civilisation is a thin one and actually more fragile than many of us realise. I hope the strength of it isn't tested any time soon!

Narnia.

2010-01-05T20:18:00.002Z

Narnia is outside our window. The fir trees are heavy, branches drooping low with snow. Houses submerged beneath huge mounds of white. The landscape transformed into mounds and hills of cold white, soft stuff.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is on the television and twin images are outside our windows, our landscape changing, merging into a dream world of fantasy and still the snow is falling. Beautiful, but dangerous.

On our way home from the field we watched a van sliding sideways, first left and then right as it crawled the long way up the hill. As we made our way along the road towards home, a car came sliding out of a side road and into our path. Thank goodness for four wheel drive, is all I can say! A nasty crash was avoided, but only because we were careful. I hope others take it easy, or simply stay off the roads. This is the heaviest snow I've EVER seen. Tomorrow I'll take lots of pictures, but for tonight, I hope you are all safe and sound inside your warm, cosy homes.

Yes, it's still falling, getting deeper and deeper......

New Blog!

2010-01-04T07:22:00.000Z

I'm going to be starting a new blog this week, one to support my website. I don't think I'll link it back to this one, as this has become my little haven and retreat, somewhere I can blog without too many worries. I may then hide this blog from my profile, so you will only be able to access it if you have a link or have saved the blog address. This will take a few weeks and I'll let everyone know, as I don't want to suddenly disappear, as I seemed to with the last blog!

On another note, I'm back to school today and have first day nerves again! How funny is that? The weather is suitably freezing with ground frost as thick as snow, and more snow forecast for today or tomorrow. This is only adding to my nerves, as we have to get to the ponies and the children to different schools with only hubby's truck able to cope with the ice. This is only do able if hubby is working from home, otherwise, EEK!

Still the sun is rising over the hill, and the sky is lightening, but not with warm spring hues, but with Winter's cold embrace, like an ice rimmed ocean.

Stay warm everyone and have a good day.

ps, I've had to put comment moderation on, as I've had a lot of spam comments over the holiday, and it really bugs me! So no more of that thank you ;)

Happy New Year.

2009-12-31T10:07:00.003Z

Bright blessings to you all as we are set to say goodbye to another year.

For many people 2009 was a difficult year. Not the worst one for me, but certainly a time of great change, of realisations and a time of growth. I'm not so much keen to see the back of it, but rather, keen to get on with the New Year and the chance to continue growing. I don't believe the recession is over by a long way, and I think that 2010 will find people making huge changes to their lifestyles as the pinch continues to tighten. I wish for our strength as a nation so that we can do this without too much pain or difficulty and maybe get our Country back to what it should be.

Personally my goals are simpler, to be more generous to others, concentrate on my children and put more effort into my art. Plus all the usual, get fit, keep my finances tidy, eat less chocolate etc..etc..etc....

I hope you all face the New Year with great goals and plans and I pray that 2010 is kind to you, that your experiences are good ones and your families prosper.

Remeber this?

2009-12-29T12:05:00.003Z

I think I started knitting this cardigan nearly two years ago, or maybe it was only 15 months, but it feels like forever! I finally finished it just before Christmas and spent Boxing Day sewing it up. I'd planned to wear it to a family get together tonight and tried it on with glee.

Well! What can I say? I look like a giant baggy sock!!! I must have sewed it up wrong, and the tension is different on the different panels so one side is slightly longer than the other. Hubby had a jolly good laugh, and I have to admit, it is slightly amusing. I will be wearing something else tonight and when I've recovered from my urge to throw it away, I'll re-sew the neck line which should pull it all together (should, I say hopefully)!

Maybe if I wash it in hot water it might tighten up a bit! Well, it can't get any worse and if it shrinks too much, then I'll give it to the Moomin :)

What the???

2009-12-28T09:55:00.002Z

I don't know what's going on with my blog today, but after changing a few colours, various page elements have been disappearing! Appologies to everyone, it seems to be the comments now that have gone walkies. I have to get a lot of cooking done today as we are entertaining (well behaved) family later, so I'll try and get it all sorted as soon as possible.

Have a good day all :)

So, how was it for you?

2009-12-27T11:09:00.004Z

I hope you all had a lovely day with time for fun, time to enjoy being with friends and family and time to reflect on what this time of year means to you.

I managed to find a lovely Santa for my fireplace and although he's not a patch on the green fabric one, he did only cost £3.00, and I'm very tempted to paint him green for next year. Or maybe I should just make one, anyhoo, we all loved him with his little tea light tummy and sat beside our Yule log, he brightened our hearth.

A homemade reindeer on the mantle piece along with some fresh ivy and candles.

To the left is my leaping reindeer, a slight extravagance of a couple of years ago, but still lovely, and in the background our little tree.

Homemade Christmas tree bunting. This I totally LOVE and am so pleased I took the time to make it. It didn't take long to make, just some felt trees stuck onto hessian backing and attached to a pretty dotty ribbon. The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm afraid.

Our day went well, with just a couple of very small dramas! Badly behaved (older and absent) family members who should know better and an incorrect instruction booklet with the turkey! Thankfully, hubby and children made up for the family issues and the dinner was just a lot later than intended! I knew I should have stuck to my usual method of cooking turkey, but as this one was so wildly expensive, I wanted to be sure it worked out perfectly! Well, you know what they say about trusting your instincts! Still no harm done, and it still tasted beautifully :) On top of all this, the cold I caught in my last week at school decided to arrive fully on Christmas Eve, but I drowned it with alcohol, so even that had a good outcome!

In the afternnon we took Merlin and Toffee for a late walk and they were Angels too, what a lovely day. I hope you all had a good day too and I look forward to reading about it all as I visit you.

Wishes at Christmas.

2009-12-23T23:00:00.002Z

This post is primarily for Renee but also, for anyone else needing some love or support at Christmas. It's a difficult time of year if you have worries or struggles, especially when all around us we are told we must be happy and rejoice. It's not always that easy to enjoy the season and there is nothing wrong with us if we want to have a good moan, cry or have a thoroughly Scroogy moment (or two). But Christmas for me isn't just about religion, be it Christian or Pagan or any other. It's about giving of our time and our love and sharing ourselves with others and letting them know that we love them.

Originally this painting was for a friend's wedding, but it made me think of Renee as Sarah often calls her a Swan, and the celtic design symbolises our lives entwined. We all touch each others lives when we write on each others blogs and I've discovered a great community of like minded people, some have become great friends that I feel I've known all my life.

Lets send some Christmas love and wishes out to everyone, whether they are friends or not, but especially those who could do with a hug right now.

Fay Wray Angel.

2009-12-22T20:58:00.005Z

As you may know, I've been dabbling with doll making. It's just an extension of my regular sculpting, only with the complication of moveable arms and legs. In the case of these two characters, just arms! Sadly, my first attempts to paint them were disastrous, the air hardening clay seemed to react badly with my acrylics. Fine if I wanted to create little zombies, but I didn't want a scarey Christmas display!

I coated the sculptures with a layer of PVA glue and then the acrylic worked perfectly.
My next dilema was what fabric to use. Did I want a lacey traditional Angel, or one with a vintage feel? Just lately I've been a tad inspired by a certain vintage Mermaid, so this spotty fabric seemed nicely retro.

The Moomin loved the idea of a vintage Angel and so I decided to give this little one a chic and snappy bob haircut. I'm sure it was coincidental, but I've just had my own hair cut similarly!

I added a luscious feather trim to the hem of her dress, and some filmy wings completed my new tree Angel.

I think she has a very 1930's look to her and apart from the fact that her namesake screamed a heck of a lot, when I was a child, I desperately wanted to be Fay Wray!!! Now I have my very own miniature version.

Talking of vintage goodies, these delightful boxes were reluctantly on their way to the charity shop, as I couldn't come up with a use for them. As I looked woefully at my sewing box, stuffed to bursting point with buttons, beads and trims, it suddenly came to me.

Ribbons and trims in the smallest box, vintage fabric and scraps in the middle box, and WIP's in the big box. Then the three boxes can stack in the kitchen without looking messy or cluttered. Perfect :) All I need now are some new shelflings ;)

Merlin's new cloak!

2009-12-20T12:29:00.004Z

Well, rug actually, but it's the right colour and I'm very tempted to paint some twinkly stars on it!!!

He looks very handsome in it, and I think he's almost smiling :)

Like many children, though, Merlin has the habit of trying to look at himself on the camera, as I'm taking the pictures, so many of them are of his nostrils or sometimes just white hair!!!

Toffee always lights up when the Moomin visits him, as she is everything to him.

I had a couple of tears after taking these pictures, as it's like watching myself with Oliver when we were young and nothing else existed in the World other than us two.

and then as I was mucking out, I was visited by a very hungry robin, who hopped around my feet and came very close to my outstretched hand. My camera isn't great at close ups and this little fella was constantly on the move, so it's a bit blurry.

Last night, then, found me mixing robin food into some rendered fat from left over bacon rinds and some home made suet. It was mucky and I had trouble getting the fat out of the pots when it was dry, so if you decide to have a go yourself, use a container that can be hung out with the fat in. Coconut shells or little plastic desert pots would be fine.

Today we are finishing off the Christmas presents and decorations, so hopefully the next post will be filled with all yummy seasonal goodies.

Tomorrow is Yule, so we'll be having a special celebration and lighting the candles on our Yule log. Bright blessings to you all.

Deep and crisp and even.

2009-12-18T06:34:00.001Z

IT SNOWED IN THE NIGHT!

The lower half of the rabbit run was deep with snow and Charm wasn't too chuffed!

The drive to school was pretty hairy and hubby gave us a lift in his FWD truck as it was so scarey.

Merlin was in a weird mood and had been fighting with Toffee and seemed to want to take it up with us! He's meant to be tough, but seems to hate cold or wet weather!!!

Toffee's just happy to have extra hay and feed, bless him :)

Tonight we went to the village carol service around the pond, and stood in the snow wearing hats and thermals. You can just make out the daughter fourth on the right in the pink hat. We sang loudly and one of us, who shall be nameless, had trouble with the right key at the right time and I was helpless with giggles through Silent Night. Oh the irony!!!

Anyhoo, lets get back to Christmas!

2009-12-17T17:51:00.004Z

Somehow I've managed to squeeze in a little painting for some Christmas cards and the best ones I'll use for future cards. I know I'm too late to sell any this year, but I'm planning for next year already! Hey, if I'm going to be controversial, might as well include Christmas too!

I've been making this doll for my daughter. The pattern was for a Raggedy Ann type doll, but there were a few things I really disliked, so I made my own shape legs and arms and have used felt for the face and limbs to give her a warmer feel. Her legs are brown because she was going to be an Autumn Faerie, but now I'm thinking of dressing her in blue and silver, so we'll see. I know I'm running out of time, but this often happens. I was sat up on Christmas Eve once, sewing gifts together!

So very unlike me, but I had to include this gorgeous Santa that we found in our garden center. He's actually wearing GREEN (this is for Leanne, who LOVES green Santa's) and I am coveting him with a passion. I say it's unlike me because I'm not normally so material, but for some reason I'm feeling a bit selfish and would love to own him, but at nearly £40. there's no way I could justify the cost. So lets just bask in his greenness for a moment :)

And moving on to - SNOW! This afternoon as I was driving, I watched great heavy clouds roll over the horizon and then what seemed to be a thick cloud of smoke flowing over the road ahead. As I drove into the cloud I realised it was snow and I could hardly see the road ahead. I got to the field as the cloud caught up with me and caused the ponies to dash about like school children in a snow frenzy.

Actually, unlike the children, they weren't best pleased and wanted their supper already, so stop taking pictures! I know this picture is a bit blurry, but you can see the force of the wind.

Toffee looks like he's taking all this weather a bit too personally.

When I got home I lit the fire and my candles for a cosy evening, supper is in the oven and I'm heading for the bath. Stay warm and safe everyone.

Reply.

2009-12-16T20:32:00.002Z

My reply to the previous post was soooo long that it needed a post all by itself!

Yes, Danielle, I have opened a can of worms and a risky one at that, as I really wouldn't want to offend my blogging friends. I agree that we should be able to share our views at the same time as respecting each other's opinions.

I agree with what you say, Jasmine, with regard to farmers who intensively breed game birds and I know that the cost of shooting is very high for the townies who like to play at it. There were one or two things that I had reservations about, but the welfare of the birds and surrounding wildlife was not a problem. The Farmer I went out with keeps his birds in large enclosures, protected from foxes by electric wire. When the birds are able to fly high enough to escape the enclosure, then he feels they are able to get themselves out of danger. He doesn't release them in one great mass just before a shoot, he lets them range where they will, and so give them a chance to fend for themselves. It's not a case of shooting dumb, senseless birds without a clue, and I was glad to see that many did go their own sweet way on Saturday and we also saw a great many deer and foxes too.

Saying that, he is a businessman and does make money from raising game birds, but the time and effort that he puts into the job is just about covered. I would much rather he, and farmers like him, protect our countryside and use it as it has been for many hundreds of years, than to see the land fall into the hands of the developers, which is a huge problem in our particular county.

Personally, I wouldn't have anything to do with anyone whose ethical values weren't as high as mine, but how can we be sure that the farmers selling to the Supermarkets stick to the claims they make? I bought two hens from a farm that supplies free range eggs to Waitrose and they were most definitely not free range! They were in an equal state to the ex-batts that I've rehomed in the past!

I didn't really want to sound like I'm defending my decision to take my daughter shooting, but I do want to point out that not all farmers are the villains. I appreciate the care that you put into your reply, Jasmine, and I feel that my views are very close to yours. This wasn't a decision I took lightly and after an evening of mammoth plucking and gutting, I've half a mind to rush out to the butcher in future, but I know that I won't and I'll do the same thing again!

So Long!

2009-12-14T06:59:00.005Z

I can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post! The days are galloping away and it's been a struggle to keep up sometimes.

Presents are being made, food is prepared and songs are being sung. The job at school is still wonderful, although I know I'm having an easy time of it due to the Season, and in the New Year there will be more structure to my duties. That's ok though, because I've had the best introduction to the staff and pupils and still count myself very lucky.

As if I wasn't busy enough, I took a whole day out on Saturday to go shooting with some local farmers I know. I took the daughter with me and she was in doggy heaven as she played with all the dogs and plotted and schemed to have one of her own, maybe one day. I have mixed feelings about the day, as some of my beliefs were seriously challenged, but I do believe that if you eat the food, then you should know how it has lived and died to arrive on your table. I overcame many of my doubts and fears a few years ago when I learned to pluck and dress my first pheasant.

I've been a vegetarian and have looked at life from that perspective, I was even a vegan for a few months but found that hard to maintain as many of the supplements we used come from so far away and this conflicted with my wish to cut down on food miles. Without creating a great long post about beliefs and ethics, what I'm saying is, that I've examined my ideals and am comfortable with the decisions I've made. What was very interesting was to see the situation from the farmer's perspective, as they've fed and cared for the birds and see no reason why they shouldn't then eat them. Surplus birds are sold to the local pub or butcher, supporting our village businesses.

I do hope that this post hasn't offended anyone, and I've thought very long and hard before posting it, but this blog is about my life and the things I do, my art and what inspires it.