Nature's colours (and a bit of a sale).

I have been so out of touch with my poor blog and I miss it, so now the New Year is here I intend to get back in the groove so to speak. I almost felt overwhelmed by the thought of writing a catch up post until I remembered that it's my blog and I really shouldn't treat it the way I use to my diaries as a young girl, always apologising on the paper for not writing regularly and feeling the need to relate every tiny detail of the missing days. Instead I shall let things unfold as they choose merely pausing in the flow to say that the festive season was wonderful, the New Year brought the usual feeling of hope and excitement at what may lie ahead and yes, I do have a few Revolutions (Lauren's word from when she was tiny) as I love things to aim for and shall reveal those another day. But what has taken my eye today is the amazing range of nature's colours in this cold month of January.



I have noted on many blogs that January is not popular with most of us, though I must say that I have warmed to it over the years: it often has the most sparklingly beautiful days of iced sunshine with the bluest skies where the sea glitters and the yellow coconut-bun-scented gorse lights up the hedgerows. Of course, there are many bitterly frozen moments of grey and dulldom, but for me it is less so than the shorter month of February. Perhaps it is the hope of the year ahead that makes it bearable for me or maybe it is the contrasting colours so evident in all around.



Mr Davey and I are creating our own works in nature's colours with the knitting bug firmly having bitten us during the recent stint of Christmas present making. Dave knitted Lauren a scarf to accompany the hat I made her (no photos as yet!) and has decided to move onto a little jumper for Isabella, while I am busy knitting myself what used to be called a tank top, but now seems to be a vest for some reason. The wool is called Crofter and has the beautiful shades of charcoal, plum and heather pink running through reminding me of the long shadows cast by the north coast cliffs in late afternoon sunlight at this time of year. The back is finished...



but as ever, my photos don't show the delicate tones in their true warmth. The wool is so soft and tactile



and a dream to knit with; a lovely Christmas present thank you Dave x



But as I said, January is a month of contrasts and yesterday morning saw the river bathed in a golden light as Isabella and I trugded our way to nursery yet again. I have missed this view over the Christmas period as I have spent so much time forming my own chronicles of it with my camera that it now feels like a true friend, one I have neglected a little in favour of other Cornish views for several weeks, but am rapidly reaquainting myself with as life returns to its usual routine.



From the slate and granite tones shot through with ochres and umbers to golds and rose and nutty browns. A change which lifts my heart and warms me through.



We spent a grabbed hour of childfree time in the local wool shop entertaining the lovely people there with our pattern choosing and deep discussions of which colours would be 'right' for Isabella. What I found heartening was the way the shop owner related stories about my eldest children, remembering perfectly their different personalities even though I had not shopped there with them in tow for at least 13 years or so. So funny to think I am still shopping for wool for one of my little ones after all this time.



This wool is again Crofter which comes in so many gorgeous shades. Dave chose this beautiful one with its base of rose pink. lilac and cream. He is doing really well and is finally learning to pick up his own dropped stitches thanks to my bellowing loudly at him!



Time for me to head off now and spend a little time catching up with all of you, though before I go I want to just let you know that there is a little sale on the Christmas Emporium on my website with all things there reduced by 20% for this month: a chance to be incredibly organised next year maybe? I'll leave you with the warmth of the sun over Pendennis Point early this morning before the rosy light changed to steel grey and back again. January - month of contrasts and also, as it happens, the month of my birthday (which I thoroughly enjoyed!).



Happy New Year x

A Little Quiet.

Odd to be back blogging and truthfully I am still very much in the midst of the Christmas break as are most of you no doubt, but I felt a little quiet time here was needed. Not many words, just images from our Christmas which has been just how I hoped it would be: restful, fun, full of family and feasting with plenty of creative moments thrown in. So, first up are some of the handmade gifts I was unable to show before: blocks of pure glycerine soaps cut by Dave and packaged by me as gifts for friends.



Pretty bottles of oil flavoured with garlic, chilli, rosemary and juniper berries with a few bay leaves thrown in. In the background is a large jar of pickled eggs made for Sam who has been asking for some all year!



Walks were taken at Trevaunace Cove in icy winds



where the late afternoon sun caught the cragged cliffs bathing them in cool winter light and casting the battering sea below into deep shadow.



Frozen, we headed to nearby Porthtowan Beach for huge bowls of hot chocolate to chase the chills away.



Yum.



Then out for a last run across the sands as twilight rapidly descended into night.



Well, I think that'll be all for this first foray back into blogging. I must off to scoff one of the gorgeous cupcakes Lucy has made using her new cookery set, book and apron. Truly delicious and I think next year may be the year of the cupcake in this house.



Which one shall I choose?



Hope your Christmas has been all you hoped for.
Bye for now x

Merry Christmas x

Juts a brief line or two to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Our internet access has been a little intermittent (!) hence the lack of blogging and commenting, but I will catch up when I can with you all. In the meantime have fun, eat plenty, drink carefully and much love to you all,

Pip xx

A Perfect Day + Giveaway Result.

Well, I know who won my little giveaway, but before I divulge this information I want to tell you about the wonderful day we had yesterday when this lovely lady came to visit with dear Walter who behaved beautifully putting up with much cuddling, pestering and generally being given no peace, poor chap. Diana came bearing gorgeous gifts such as this...



and these wonderfully scented pinecones which crackled and fizzed on the fire giving off the most amazing light and scenting the room with Christmassy smells. Of course, the packaging was perfect too with all my favourites included: brown paper, waxed string and butcher's string...ahhh.



We also had some of those beautiful paper lanterns which you place a tealight under and watch them float away as you make a wish. I love these and have never been lucky enough to own any, so we are planning to light these on New Year's Eve, making wishes for the coming year and thinking of our lovely friend and her wonderful, generous company. Such a great day of a little alcohol (thanks for the pink fizz Diana), a lot of feasting and a fair mix of chatting, knitting - Lucy, Davey, Diana and I all clacking our needles away around the kitchen table - and laughing. The very best of days (though you were heartily missed and talked about dear Ginny x).



And so, to the giveaway - thank you to all who entered and I loved reading your aims for next year. I will definitely link back to this next December when we can all compare notes and laugh at the notion that we thought of such lofty achievements or cheer each other on for those who actually managed what they said. I may even post reminders along the way to keep us all going. Quite like the idea of that somehow.




I used a random number generator this time to pick the winner and it came up with....

Simone

A Peace Dove Heart will be winging its way to you Simone once you have let me have your address please (email: poltiskofarm@talktalk.net)

Sorry to those who didn't win, but I think I may do more of these next year as I quite enjoy them!



Off to work now. Have a lovely day x

A Little Giveaway.

I thought a little Christmas giveaway would be a nice way to end the week - yay, it's Friday! - but first a catch-up on what's been going on here in sunny Cornwall. Yes, at last we had wonderful, healing, glorious sunshine which bathed the harbour in golden light.



I took these pictures on a very short trip into town with Isabella who has been very poorly. She loves to see the boats and, as I think I have mentioned many times before, is something of a water baby. The beautiful sunlit water cheered us both after being housebound yet again this week. My poor, sweet girl seems to have had one thing after another this winter, but is on the mend now (fingers crossed). I moved into the kitchen for the week with my work and Isabella sat threading beads, keeping me company once she was over the worst and chatting quietly about all things Christmassy.



Orders had flowed steadily in and were tackled in a calm manner. It's amazing how a child with a roaring temperature throws everything into perspective isn't it? Once I would have panicked each time my email inbox revealed another order had arrived - how would I do it with a sick child? What if the order was late? What if she wouldn't let me leave her side? Now I just sit next to her and embroider, count myself lucky that I have orders at all when so many I know are struggling and treat it like I do everything else, knowing that you just work away until things are sorted. No point in the panic really is there? Of course, I might add that it does help that I managed to get well ahead in the stock-piling before she will ill with boxes of cut out goods and embroidered pieces waiting to be put together. Must remember that being organised is a Good Thing!



Other elements of life went on much the same as ever. I am proud as can be to be able to say that I am still making all our own bread and have not bought any since the beginning of the summer holidays. I fact, I would go so far as to say that it is a necessary part of my days now, the kneading and working of the dough being a time for reflection and thought as much as writing my blog seems to be, freeing up the creative part of my mind ready for the day ahead. I'm not saying it is always like that (I am often baking blasted rolls at night because SOMEONE has scoffed the last few intended for lunches the next day - mentioning no names Dave), but when it runs like it is supposed to I can't imagine ever buying bread again. Simple pleasures in providing for your family aren't there?



Life is now back to normal with me re-instated in my seing room and focussing on work once more, but I felt a little fun was needed and so on to my little giveaway. I thought it would be nice to offer one of these Christmassy hearts, the catch being - there's always a catch isn't there? - that you have to tell me one thing you would like to achieve by the end of next year. It could be something craft-based: I hope to start crocheting again, something I haven't done since I was a very young child; it could be something life-changing/enhancing such as spending one night a week pampering yourself or changing jobs or starting your own business; in fact in could be anything big or small that you hope to achieve. My plan is that roughly this time next year I will post a link on my blog back to this post and you will be able to see if you actually did manage what you hoped to. Does that make sense?



Obviously this is supposed to be fun and I do not intend for you to feel like a colossal failure if you haven't done what you set out to do! It just struck me that it could be a lovely and hopefully inspiring way to get something done, and to have a laugh at some of the funnier suggestions I'm sure will arrive. The downside is that you will have to pop over here to let me know which of the four Christmas themed hearts you want should your name be drawn: one of these Peace Hearts



or one of this silvery-threaded pair.



So, that's it - I will make this a quick one with the closing date for comments on this post at 10am Monday 14th December so that I can post it the same day. Usual rules: open to all-comers whether you have never visited before, never commented before (always lovely to meet new people) or are a regular visitor. The more the merrier.



Golly, my posts get ever-longer and for this I do apologise and will try to make them shorter and less waffly in future! In the meantime, let's hope for more sunshine and think about what you want to achieve next year.

Have a great weekend x

Winter Light.

At this time of year when the light is all but gone I find myself drawn to the shadowy blues such dim light produces. There is something quieting, soothing about these tones which makes me feel restful even when I am far from it. It is the sort of light a fall of snow produces casting blueish notes into an otherwise white landscape and there is something so vastly appealing in this for me that I thought today's post would reflect it, particularly as there is a distinct absence of such a tonal range just now with greys and depressingly sludgy colours predominating. .



Ah well, a trip through the photo archives will find cool seas and frost-rimed seaweed.



A row of Butterfly Bags waitng for packaging hangs from the mantlepiece, the mix of almost Scandinavian blues and reds forming a pleasing picture on this dull day.



I love these images of the little ragdoll I made for Isabella last Christmas (she has named her Celia after our friends' little baby girl). Her tiny bloomers with lace-edged legs remind me that my darling daughter Lauren and I fully intend to start a bloomer renaissance as we love them so much! Beautiful shadows are cast by the winter light as it falls on the soft folds.



There is something faintly nostalgic in the soft creamy white of the bonnet with the age-worn tones of the cotton lace, a gift from my Grandmother many years ago and one of many I have as a reminder of this incredible lady.



I am normally so full of moans about the cold, but the endless rain we have experienced over the past few years - sodden summers with low light levels, brief forays into golden sunlight in the autumn only to be thrown back into the clutches of the watery onslaught - have made me think again. I now can cope with the cold, can dress in a multitude of layers which though i find them uncomfortably restrictive on my small frame, do at least keep the chills at bay. What I find hard to remain cheery in the face of is the all-encompassing, never-ending wet which works its way through every bright thought I may have. If I can only remember to look for the beauty hidden behind it all, remember to go out and grasp it in the brief moments of respite to squirrel away in images such as these to draw on when it all gets a bit too much, then maybe the winter months won't seem so bad?



Because there is such beauty there from the starkness of a frost-ridden morn



to the twilight-lit sheltering warmth of my kitchen waiting for the candles to cast their glow.



And there it is.



Have a lovely day x

Sewing and Knitting and Mud.

I think I have been revelling so much in the festive feel racing through blogland that I had sort of missed the fact that the Big Day is actually also racing, ever closer, ever faster. Lucy has just informed me she has eight school days left. EIGHT SCHOOL DAYS!!!! How did I miss that? Of course, there are weekends in amongst it all, but even so. Ah well, I have thoroughly enjoyed my perusing of everyone's wonderful Christmas makes, decorations and feeling of good cheer, so thank you one and all. Now, on to my own little blog and here's today's Christmas Mug Shot




Now, I did promise some crafting. You may remember I had put myself firmly back in the world of sock knitting only to find I didn't like the wool I was using? Well, its garish tones are growing on me as the sock itself moves along. It certainly isn't something I would choose, but I guess it will be good to wear something different by the fireside as I snuggle down for the evenings. This change of mood was much helped along by Mr Davy who announced that he would be happy to wear them if I made a larger - much larger - pair. Lor', the very thought of knitting such long socks again made them seem beautiful to mine eyes. Not sure I could stomach the sight of them on his mannish feet either!



This wonderful piece of pink knitting is my dear Lucy's own. She has been knitting now for a couple of years and has moved on so much just lately in terms of progress. Her tension is becoming better than mine - afraid I am affected by mood and knit furiously when holding an imaginary conversation with someone or there is some action film playing in the background, particularly if we are watching a psychological thriller. The needles fly and although mistakes are fortunately rarely made it does mean the tension varies with the plot! Lucy is the image of calm and can now even work out how to correct some of the mistakes she makes. not bad for an eleven year old is it? (Dave take note, and stop asking me to pick up your dropped stitches please!).



Today's orders waiting for finishing and packaging include some of these Little House Notebooks



and a couple of these Butterfly Bags, one in each colourway which makes for a lovely bit of variety on this dullest of days.



So much rain is falling outside that a cheery boat picture is just not possible today, so I will settle for one of the nuddiness that is Mylor Creek; so beautiful when the tide is out, but Saturday wasn't playing fair with me and the rain, grey skies and gloopiness of the mud made me ever-thankful for the cosy house waiting for me.



Now I am off for a blog catch up with my mug of coffee before starting the real work of the day.



Have a happy Monday x