The Good Old Days

Isn't the weather cracking at the moment? As I walked the boy up the hill to school this morning, I decided it would be a crime if I didn't take a walk through the lanes and into the wood, on a little circular route. It was truly breathtaking - at one point, I stood still and closed my eyes and all I could hear was the birds chirruping away and the bleating of sheep from the fields. Absolute bliss.

As I came back towards the house I passed a farmer unloading his trailer - 'Morning!' he sing-songed, 'Out for your morning constitutional?' And I thought yes, what a lovely old-fashioned word for a walk. A morning constitutional sounds so much more relaxed than 'walk' (which sounds like a bit of a chore to me). Constitutional conjures up an image of a slow-paced, enjoyable amble, taking in the sights and sounds and smells, breathing in the fresh air and generally marvelling at the wonder of such a lovely day. And then I thought, what a shame that we just rush around all over the place these days - keeping fit on treadmills and dancing around our living rooms on plastic boards - when we simply need to step outside our front door and into the fresh air. There you go - a thought for today!

So yesterday I managed to apply Teak Oil to our new garden furniture - we splashed out at the weekend, in anticipation of a lovely summer.

You have to apply oil to it to protect it from the elements.

My next challenge, today, is to try to find some wood stain for the wall seat to match the furniture.

Can I just show-off a bit here and show the garden as it was when we finished the house? My lovely hubby made this whole garden and patio area, and the seat.

Where the dustbin is, is where the patio is now! I could write a book about the story of our house renovation ...

New life

These are just a few of the new arrivals over Easter ...

ickle lamb,

ickle chicks,

and ickle piggies!

Mildred, the sow, gave birth to 20 - yes, TWENTY! - piglets over Easter! Well done Mildred (and also well done George!) Poor old sow, her teets are hanging on the ground! Actually, 3 were still born and 5 were sadly squashed by her - but nature has her way - she only has 12 teets and 12 survived.

And this is a rather funny sign we came across yesterday on our walk - talk about a sign of the times - see the quad bike?!

Not much in the way of creativity over the Easter I'm afraid, due to our soujourn to see the family. I did manage to get 2 out of the 3 girls knitting though, which was a good result. However, the french knitting bobbins for the younger ones were no good - far to tricky for little fingers to master. I lost count of the amount of times I was asked to sort them out - with no stitches left on the pins!

School is back tomorrow, so hopefully I shall return to my usual activities this week. Let's hope the sun keeps shining, eh?

Swap-tastic!

Oooh - today I got a parcel! A rather special parcel, courtesy of Debbie from Dreaming of a Simple Life. We were swap partners in Dolly Dollop's colour swap and I chose denim blue as my fave colour. And as you can see, Debbie has sent me some really lovely things. I love the lacy mat, I think it could be one of her vintage finds. Some crafty ribbons, some cornflower seeds (lovely idea!), a spotty pen, some choccy and did you spot the card? Very appropriate!

And a rather interesting piece of fabric there with irons and teapots and kitcheny gadgets on. Hmm, what shall I use that for?

Also, this lovely tea cosy, handmade of course. And perhaps the piece-de-resistance - this beautifully crocheted cushion, which I assume Debbie made herself - must have taken her ages.

So a big THANK YOU to Debbie - she put lots of extras in there as we were only supposed to swap 5 items, so thanks again for the gifts.

Meanwhile, I've been frantically trying to finish the boy's jumper. Here it is being blocked (on the bed!). I have to admit that it's the first time I've ever blocked anything and what a surprise - when I took the pins out it stayed in shape! Blinking marvellous. I want to finish it before the weekend away because it's freeeeeezing, isn't it? It's actually been SNOWING here today, all day long, not to mention the non-stop rain we've had all week.

Even for 5 days away, the preparations are endless, aren't they? Washing, ironing, airing and packing of clothes. Planning, preparing and packing of picnic/snacks for journey. Presents of the chocolate variety. Cameras, phones and all sort of chargers - don't forget. Music for the car. A full tank and off we go.

The boy will get a nice surprise on Good Friday morning as we set off - his car 'activity' centre is finished, complete with a steering wheel (not shown), binoculars, colouring books, sticker books, pens, and cars. Let's see how long that keeps him going for!

Wishing you all a very chocolately Easter - I'll be back after the break xx

The Allotment

So here we are on our new allotment. It's actually a piece of land that a friend has let us have, in his garden, next to his turkeys, chickens, ducks, bees and pigs ... here's George ...

His 'partner' Mildred is expecting their first litter of piglets on Easter Saturday. Ahhh. Actually, we also have a half share in all these animals.

And here is me, planting up my seeds for the very first time ever. I have to say that, for years, I've fancied growing my own veg and living the 'good life' but have been completely clueless as to how to start out on this mission. However, now that we have managed to secure a plot with our friends - who actually know what they're doing (she grew up on a farm) - it turns out to be easy peasy!!

All you do is buy some compost and some trays, like these (below), then get some seeds and put them in! And water them. We splashed out 20 quid on a pop-up greenhouse too. You just keep them in there until the little sprigs appear and then you can take them out for a week or two to 'harden' them off before putting them in the ground.

I sowed (no, not that kind!) leeks, parsnips, courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins (the boy insisted), purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, onions, sweetcorn - think that's it - oh and the carrots and potatoes go straight in the ground. I've also got some pots to put some herbs in, for the back garden.

And this is our patch (the one at the back).

This was yesterday, but today we started digging it over and preparing it for the seedlings. Ooooh - it's quite exciting really and has made me all of a sudden want to cook! Just imagine, cycling down to the plot in the summer, picking some veg and then coming home and cooking with it! Just call me Jamie Oliver ;)

Now, I would just like to say that my computer asked me if I'd like to change browser, and stupidly I said yes, and now I can't do all the things I used to do. Arrggggh! I don't know how to move my pictures around my blog anymore. MOST annoying. Do not ask me why this picture is to the left. I do not know. But anyway, it's the pop-up greenhouse, full of our seed trays.

I shall try to figure out what is going on in my corner of cyberspace before I return. Honestly. WHY can't they just leave things as they are?

End of Term

Can't believe it's the last day of term today - where does the time go? Since the boy started school, the time just whizzes by - half term, then hols, then half term again. He'll be 5 next month! Where did my baby go?

Anyway. In amongst all the thinking I've been doing this week, I have managed to make 2 dresses.


Well, the blue one isn't finished yet - just needs the frill. They are sort of pinafore/tunic dresses, and I actually wore the purple one yesterday for lunch with the girls. The blue one is a sort of linen mix and a bit more casual than the purple.

Have also ploughed on with the boy's jumper. The yarn is the Debblie Bliss aran and it's beautiful to knit with, although I have had more than a few knots in the yarn. Not good. Am hoping to get it finished for his Easter break, although goodness knows what the weather will be like. It's been wet, wet, wet all week here, although I know it's been glorious in the south.

I have finished my colour swap package! Hurray. Just need to parcel up and send off to the lovely lady behind Dreaming of the Simple Life. We are both taking part in Dolly Dollop's colour swap - we had to choose our favourite colour and then send 5 items by the end of March. Of course, I can't show you what I'm sending yet - but hopefully next week I will be able to reveal!

Okay, I must away to attach that frill whilst I still have chance (i.e. with no small hands getting in the way).

Thinking Cap On

Well I have to admit that the last week has not been terribly creative - at least on the making things side. Instead, my mind has been occupied by various ideas. Am thinking about having an etsy shop. Soooo many friends have said to me, why don't you sell your stuff, but I've always shied away with various excuses. However, I am now giving it some serious thought. I don't expect there's much money to be made, realistically, but it might pay for my obsession and thus remove the guilt every time I buy some lovely wool or fabric. Hmmmm.

Meanwhile, I've had a couple of offers, completely out of the blue. The local BBC radio station have asked me to write a diary for 5 days, just about every day life, to be recorded by me and broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria. Sounds fun - but it's quite hard to pack a day into 45 seconds and still make it interesting and even, hopefully, witty. Will keep you posted on progress.

And secondly, my husband is currently converting a very large house into a B&B - they're having 4 new en-suite bedrooms put in - and hubby has volunteered me to advise on colour schemes, with a view to making the curtains and cushions, etc. Am somewhat daunted by the idea, but on the other hand it will give me a chance to try my hand at a spot of interior design, which might be fun.

So a couple of things there that were really unexpected and have somewhat thrown me off course a little. Luckily, my son has brought me down to earth with a bump. Yesterday was the fundraising Table Top Sale for his school and as I was manning a stall, we got there early. After one hour, my son had managed to accumulate 3 bags FULL of tat - sorry - toys, including this rather lovely statue that he bought for me:

Isn't it gorgeous? To say I was speechless would be an understatement. There is so much I could read into this but I dare not. He proudly told me that he paid 10p for it - again, laugh or cry? As my friend pointed out (after she'd recovered from hysterics), I will now have to display it in the house. I'm still speechless.

Pay it forward

Don't you just love blogging? Yesterday I had a lovely comment from a lady called Meream and so of course I took a look at her blog. She is into all things sewing and creative and lives in the Phillipines - it's so funny to think of people all over the world, sat creating at their machines, don't you think? Anyhow, she had this brilliant idea for a pin cushion tied to your sewing machine - like, doh! - why are all the brilliant ideas the simplest? I literally had to race upstairs and make one, there and then.

And then of course I was all set to make cushion no.2 (above). I am a bit of a hearts addict, I'm afraid, in true country cottage style, so a heart cushion was a certainty. The pictures, as usual, don't really do it justice because you can't really see the red border. I just did the simple envelope button back again, edged in red.

So here are my 2 cushions in 2 days.

But today I fear it's a housework day. The way I do it is blitz it all in one day and then have the rest of the week free - simples! However, I saw a programme on BBC4 last night called Women, which was supposed to be all about feminism, but wasn't. It was just a series of interviews with couples about who does the housework - I'll give you 3 guesses as to who does the most. Anyway, one lady had about 4 kids and was Super HouseWife. She not only planned every meal (including breakfast) but actually TYPED it out into a SPREADSHEET. I was, at once, full of admiration and horror. She also had specific days for each of the household tasks, e.g. wash towells on Monday, wash sheets on Tuesday, dusting on Wednesday, etc. Now that did freak me out a bit. Surely any sane person just looks in the basket and pulls out whatever is in there?

Then again, I bet she never finds herself in the position I am in this morning - in need of an urgent haircut. I expect she has regular, 6 week appointments scheduled in advance for every head in her house. You see there's part of me that craves this sort of organisation and another part of me that refuses point blank to have any part in it at all. I think that bit's the sane bit ... or is it ...?