Sinking and Sunning

Yesterday morning!

This morning!

In all the roaring wind and lashing rain yesterday morning, I cleared out my wardrobe for Spring and Summer - well we can but hope!

But in the afternoon when my husband came home from giving driving lessons, we hunkered down with a few glasses of wine, roast pork and all the trimmings on trays followed by coffee and chocolate and the whole series of Julian Fellowes' Titanic on TV!

How different this morning - kitchen door open, lots of jumpers hand washed and out on the line and a cup of coffee sitting on the garden bench.

Wouldn't we be so bored without our English weather  ?!



The Hand-Crafted Home Fair (2)

Just a quick note to say that it is one month today to my Hand-Crafted Home Fair to be held at Aldwincle on 26 May 2012.

The response from stallholders has been fantastic and I now have only one stall left and so all we will need is a good crowd of customers and maybe some sunshine  ??!!

Hope to see you there.

Bye for now

Ruth

Last Week

This post was originally called "This Week", but there was a problem with blogspot and whenever I tried to type I received an error message, but on investigating I found that they knew about it and were trying to sort it out. 

So far, so good today, and so I hope it is fixed - very frustrating when you have thoughts in your head!!

I think we are all agreed that the weather last week was slightly strange - we were really spoilt in March and now the wet, cold, dull days have hit us hard - but I rushed downstairs in the middle of tapping away on the computer a few afternoons ago - this pic was the result and I love it!



I know that to some people, ironing is a real chore, but I must admit, as long as there is not too much, I really find it quite relaxing either on a miserable day with a bit of Classic FM for company or with the back door open and the birds singing on a sunny day.

Here is my laundry kitchen!

and I am really impressed how, quite unintentionally, my laundry all seems to be colour co-ordinated!

I wish I could relay the scent - there is something really special and nostalgic about the scent of fresh laundry - and it was actually enhanced by the wafts coming from the tumble dryer next door - as, of course, it was pouring with rain and so I couldn't do one of my other favourite domestic things - hanging out the washing in the sun!

On my next ironing session, I hope to have the back door open as we have Blackbirds nesting in our very small garden.  Every time I go out of the door Mum flies away, but I hope she will realise that I am really quite friendly!!

Not sure if the young have hatched yet as cannot see into the nest - although I have tried by craning my neck from the landing window!

Puzzle for the day - can you spot the nest below?

Thanks for visiting and Bye for now.

Ruth.





Babies and Nurseries

Here is one of a series of new projects I am working on at the moment.  A while ago I produced some hand knitted Baby Blankets made up of individually designed squares showing rabbits, footballers, stars, hearts, letters, trains, teddy bears, boats, butterflies and on and on, and now I am making these super cushions using squares I had made and not used and the yarn which I have left.

The boucle yarn is a cotton and linen mix and the second yarn (seen here on the edging of the A square and for the letter itself) is a mix of hand dyed wool and bamboo.  The cushions measure about 16" square and have feather filled pads, and will vary somewhat according to the yarn I have left.

They will be on show at The Hand-Crafted Home Fair on 26 May at Aldwincle Village Hall (see previous post) with lots of other super products and, incidentally, if anyone is interested in a stall they are going rapidly and so don't leave it too late to book.  (Go to http://www.stallfinder.com/ for booking details.)

Anyway, here is the back of the cushion which is made up of a mix of all the colours on the front!

And here is one of the Baby Blankets which began it all + Jake of course!

The HAND-CRAFTED HOME Fair

I know it is still technically Easter and I hope everyone is having a good one, but I now have other things on my mind - first most importantly that my husband of 38 years will be 60 tomorrow!  Oh where has the time gone?

Secondly, as you have seen on previous posts, I like to go to Craft Fairs to sell my wares, but have now embarked on the new project of organizing Fairs myself under my banner of The HAND-CRAFTED HOME Fair.

I will be holding my first Fair, which is explicitly for crafters to showcase their own hand-made wares at Aldwincle Village Hall, Main Street, Aldwincle, NN14 3EL on Saturday 26 May 2012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If the Fair is successful, I plan to hold Fairs at various Village Halls in the area on a regular basis.

The cost is £20 for a 6' long stall, with a couple of complimentary drinks and cakes to help sustain stallholders.

I know, as a crafter myself, I find it quite difficult to find places to sell my products and many fairs only seem to happen in the Spring and then Autumn up to Christmas.

I hope eventually, that I will be able to hold 1 fair per month progressing to 2 fairs per month throughout the year, excepting January.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in taking a stall and helping me to get this venture off the ground for the benefit of local crafters, please contact me via this blog or http://www.stallfinder.com/ for a Booking Form.

Enquiries are coming in steadily and so don't miss the boat if you would like a stall, and if not - come to visit us on the day!

A Little Bit of Farming

I met Richard, a local farmer, in the post office yesterday, while sending off some Britains things which I have successfully sold on ebay following the loft clearout - still a long way to go!

He was telling me that now the grass is growing a bit, he will be turning his cows out into the fields where our most popular walks to the river are - a sure sign of Spring, but he was saying he has already had a crop fail because of the drought and he is worried because we need rain so badly as, apart from the crops not growing as they should, they have put fertiliser on the land, but it will not go into the plants without some moisture and apart from that it will dissipate into the air and so they lose out in two ways.

He has also been helping Norman, a neighbouring farmer with his lambing and so far things are going well - thankfully no sign of Schmallenberg in our area, but he said he hopes the scientists are looking into it behind the scenes as it will not just go away.

A really nice man who is extremely committed and caring of the land and his stock.