Here in rural
Lincolnshire, we have just had one of our big events on the calendar.
Even though I don't have a farm, one feels very close to the land and
celebrating the seasons is important. So lambing time is very special.
Our university has several agricultural courses and the students get
lots of practical experiences. Lambing weekend is one of them. Students
work in shifts throughout 24 hours to help delivery lambs. There are
pens of expecting ewes, very large and woolly, pens of lambs and
mummies, very maternal looking, and a small pen of lambs to be bottle
fed which is a huge attraction for everyone. The public are welcome on
Lambing Sunday. You can cuddle a lamb, sit on a tractor, stroll through
the snowdrops and daffodils and eat wonderful bacon rolls. It's a great
day out. The sound of baaing hungry lambs fills the air, they jump on
the hay bales, sleep in the troughs, get lost with other lambs, but
still manage to find mum for milk. Such a happy day and a great chance
to try out new wellies.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Food for the soul
'There is a
deep satisfaction about making things', Paul Kennedy, historian wrote.
He was talking about Tyneside and the Swaan Hunter shipyard where his
Dad worked, building ships. As a small boy, when a new ship was
launched, he and his friends went to watch. They went to see what their
Dads had made. How impressed those little children must have been. Now
we can't all make such a wonderful thing as a large ship. But we can
make something. So Andrew makes beer in his garage. I have knit several
rather strange woolly jumpers for myself, to the astonishment of friends
and family. Susie made bunting for a new baby present and Katy makes
muffins frequently. So make something today, a birthday card, a cake, a
knitted teddy, homemade, but very special gifts. Unique, treasured and all your own. It's all food for the soul.....
knitted toys at Farnham Woolly Ideas Show |
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Resolutions
This the time
of year when resolutions should be made. So I have resolved to throw
away the bathroom scales. And my resolution has been successful. Now I
no longer see them lurking in the bathroom, daring me to stand on them
when I know they will make me miserable most of the time. So they have
gone. Lovely Grandpa gave me a Christmas cheque and I have spent it on a
keep fit machine. Rowing, jogging, weights you may ask? Well this one
is for use in the fresh air and comes with a lovely basket. And it is
for Ladies. It is a Ladies Bicycle and I can wear skirts if I wish. I
intend to spend lots of time sailing along, gripping the lovely leather
clad handlebars and balancing elegantly on the leather sprung
seat...which is also for Ladies.... With flowers and library books in
the basket and the sun shining, it will be perfect. Now I need to
practice doing that clever way of twizzling your legs as you jump on and
off..............
Wednesday 11 January 2012
A Very Happy New Year
I am very excited as
this year we are going to have a special visitor. She is six months old
and very chatty. She is also the owner of a very sunny smile and
gorgeous chubby feet. She and her parents will be staying for a little
while. I am hoping for a serious amount of cuddling.... And so I have
made a quilt to welcome her. It is from a pattern designed by Ashley, an American young mum who quilts on the other side of the world. You can see her blog here. The
internet is so great for virtual friends! It is a hang out the flags
quilt, a pink bunting surprise quilt. She can use it on our cold hard
floors. I'm so pleased with it and it used up lots of pretty scraps from
the pile in the sewing room. so here it is, a welcome to Lincolnshire
quilt...
PS. I just wanted to show you the quilt I have made as a Christmas present for an elderly friend. It is made from four old woolly jumpers and the back is a lovely warm soft piece of fleece material. It has a very tactile feel and when rolled up, you just want to cuddle it. I hope it will keep his legs nice and warm in the car and at home.
Welcome home quilt detail |
PS. I just wanted to show you the quilt I have made as a Christmas present for an elderly friend. It is made from four old woolly jumpers and the back is a lovely warm soft piece of fleece material. It has a very tactile feel and when rolled up, you just want to cuddle it. I hope it will keep his legs nice and warm in the car and at home.
Saturday 24 December 2011
Christmas Eve
Everything is
finished, Deah and Anya's quilts are posted, have arrived safely and are
waiting under their Christmas tree. We have just enough snow to be
correctly seasonal and enough mince pies to feed an army... Thank you to
everyone who ordered quilts this year, I love to think they are all in
use during the cold weather. Also thank you for all the kind e mails I
have had about how much you like the quilts I make. It's so encouraging!
Some of you have babies on the way , so there will be more quilts to
make next year and my news is that I will be a Granny for the first time
in July - very exciting!
So now the sewing room door is shut. The wood burner stove is successfully lit. Stockings are hung up and tonight we wait..... Happy Christmas everyone.
So now the sewing room door is shut. The wood burner stove is successfully lit. Stockings are hung up and tonight we wait..... Happy Christmas everyone.
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Winter frosts
In between the
wild winter storms there have been several frosty mornings here. Our
poor garden has been blown about by whooshing winds and driving rains.
Some nights I have feared for the greenhouse filled with shivering
geraniums, still bravely flowering. Then there are the early mornings
when frosty diamonds glitter everywhere. There is a raw bite to the wind
and the blackbirds hang around the kitchen door, waiting to be fed.
Walking down the garden one morning, I realised the hydrangeas were
putting on a spectacular show. Three big bushes had gone into colour
overdrive. I was thinking about the quilt I am making for Charlotte and
suddenly there were the colours reproduced in the garden. Each flower
with a delicate rim of icy glitter which lasted until mid morning.
Monday 5 December 2011
The magic apple tree
On Sunday I had
a lovely time in the garden raking leaves. An enormous pile of leaves
is such a satisfactory thing, I felt I had completed a very big job
using a lot of energy. No excuse was needed for that extra choccy
biscuit..... I had worked very hard. The big heap showed I was worth it,
and maybe a third one too........... Sitting with my coffee at the
picnic table, the light was fading, the afternoon nearly gone. I looked
at the apple tree, it was decorated with golden bobbles. Like the most
expensive Christmas tree. The setting sun made the apples glow. It
reminded me that it is time to read my favourite book, The Magic apple
Tree by Susan Hill. She writes about the seasons in her rural home in
Oxfordshire. If you haven't read it, you have a huge treat in store and
you need to read it at least twice a year. I hope you love it as much
as I do.........
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