Wednesday 28 October 2009

A Birthday, Some Hens and All.




Golly, it's so dark here again today. In fact we have had a mix of beautiful sunshine and such gloom over the past few days that I will scatter a few pictures of bright autumnal leaves glowing like jewels to stop the rest of my light-deprived pictures tipping you all into a state of deepest depression.



It's been such a good half term holiday so far with the start consisting of Dave's birthday weekend. Thank you, by the by, for all those birthday wishes which were much appreciated. A birthday lunch with children, girlfriends, boyfriends and friends for ten on Saturday meant that our huge table came into play - a piece of specially cut MDF which is placed on top of our usual table means that we have seated up to fifteen at Christmas and other events whereas we can usually only stretch to ten and that more on the cosier side of comfy. We scoffed a huge vat of beef in red wine, a parsnip roulade (one of my most very favourite veggie meals), cauliflower cheese, roasties, oh you get the gist with a pile of chocolate brownies for Dave's birthday cake, all crispy on top and gooey in the centre...yum.



Our lovely friend Lou gave Dave just the best present in the shape of these two beautiful copper laced maran hens. Now we are known for giving our animals a strange melee of names - I cite Mustang the drake and Fatty Arbuckle the cat to prove my point with past choices including the likes of Discovery, Fitty, J-Lo and The Bishop. I, of course, usually go for the prettier side of things: Marigold, Tansy, Madeleine, etc but Dave and the children definitely err on the side of bizarre. No surprises then that these two dears are now known to us as Oss and Feffer!!!



A quick picture of the acer to lift the spirits. This glows right outside our kitchen window and makes washing up dishes quite a pleasant thing to do.



And as for me, look what I (finally) finished! Woohoo! Awful photographs as the light is so poor and has turned everything somewhat orangey. A frantic knitting session on friday saw the last rounds knit, the last stitches of the Kitchener toe finished. I am most pleased and so thank heavens is Dave who insists they fit and feel like you can't imagine, telling us it's like the sock is cupping your heel.



Ok, fortunately I am used to his ways (!) and can also report that finshing a pair of socks is akin to giving birth in that I am now ready to knit another pair, the pain, sweat and tears of this last pair already consigned to the outer reaches of my incredibly short memory. Anyhow, I have little feet so surely this won't be so bad?



In the meantime I am back to knitting fingerless mitts as Christmas presents; so much faster with this one almost being finished in an evening.



I find something so appealing in photographs of wool. Whether it is a close up of crochet or knitting is of no matter as it is the weaving of fibres which I love, the varying textures making me want to reach out and touch them. So many wonderful and enticing images of such things out there in blogland aren't there?



An image of berries glistening in the front garden for you.



The darker weather which seems to have come in here has made us head off in search of a some light and air. Yesterday we headed over to the north coast to a beach called portreath where the surf crashed in and the wind blew away any cobwebs.



Caves were explored and soft sands



and a cuddle kept me and Lucy warm



until we got home for a cup of tea and a slice of passion cake.



well, a slice or two that is!



And that's the holiday so far. A clean of my sewing room in a while, a walk this afternoon and some knitting tonight are my plans for the rest of today.



What are yours I wonder? x

Friday 23 October 2009

Friday Notes.



Some notes from my morning: sea surging against seaweed and sand, making the sssss sound of this alliteration.



Shadows cast on shingle, pebbles, seaweed, sand, shells



Ropes and reflections.



Such a beautiful morning where boats seem to bask in the warmth of the sun, barely a ripple breaking the soft surface of the river and hardly a breath stirring the leaves on the banks.



And talking of leaves, the acers in our garden are glowing today against the bluest sky.



Fiery and delicate and burnished



Early morning rain drying on a rosy apple



Biscuit and Mustang hiding under the magnolia, patiently waiting for breakfast.



So, that is my Friday so far. the rest of it will consist of finishing this blooming sock, making a cake and cooking, coooking, cooking in between finishing orders...argh! The reason for this list? Well, today is Mr Davey's birthday and I so want to give him the socks as one of his present....maybe.



Happy birthday my Davey; I do love you so xxx

And a happy Friday to you all x

Wednesday 21 October 2009

An Unseasonal Wednesday!



I'm in a bad mood.

And why a bad mood, you ask? Because my free morning has been spent faffing with the website, photography, copy writing and not one tiny teensy bit of sewing.



It is sunny, but the light is harsh outside. Not good for product photographs.



My sewing room glass roof is covered in ash leaves from the shedding tree nearby, thus there is no light in there to speak of - usually this room is perfect; now I feel as though I am in Hobbit-land (or whatever it's called)!



My whingeing will now cease as I take myself off for another try. It will happen and I will manage to get my Christmas section finished before Christmas is over...she says hopefully. Let's have a photo of one of last year's Christmas puddings - well, I did say it was an unseasonal wednesday.



Hope your day is going well x

Sunday 18 October 2009

What We Did.



This weekend we made bread animals



Noticed how beautiful the nasturtiums are, particularly the deeper red ones.



Thought about how overgrown the border in front of the hen pen is, but decided it has an autumnal beauty all its own when viewed through the arching, heavily laden branches of a Cornish Aromatic apple tree. We will let it die down and eventually put it to bed for the long, cold months under a blanket of manure.



We sat on the courtyard with a glass of wine, chatting together and enjoying the sun while Isabella helped me to strip the last of the elderberries into a box for the freezer. Look at the concentration on that face.



We prepared the shallots from the allotment for pickling ready for Christmas feasts of cold meats, cheeses and all types of homemade tangy things!



More gin and vodka was acquired as we decided the cupcoards could do with a few more drinks to keep the chill at bay. Bramble vodkas and sloe gins are now steeping nicely alongside the others.



We also went to Falmouth Oyster Festival and a friend's 4th birthday party; ate a roast dinner, chatted with tom and his girlfriend and had a generally good weekend.



How about you? x

Friday 16 October 2009

A Butterfly Bag in blue.



Christmas must be a-coming judging by the increase in orders coming in, everything from garden door hangings to bags. This is the pair to teh Butterfly Bag in russet that I blogged about a few days ago.



Again it is decorated in a simple flower design on a gorgeous blue, red and cream fabric



with a flapping butterfly to bring a bit of movement. I can just imagine a child flicking the wings to make them flap - well, I don't need to imagine as that is just what Isabella has been doing.



The bags seem to be appealling to quite an age range as Lucy at 11 still finds it cool to have a fun bag and Isabella at 3 manages to stuff hers with as many toys as she can carry! So, that's me for today. I'll just leave you with a Butterfly bag in russet



and a Butterfly in blue



Happy Friday x

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Blissful Sunshine on a Blissful Beach.



Hasn't the weather been amazing this week? We have been making the most of it with trips to the beach after school to soak up that delicious feeling of chilly - not icy yet though - water and shifting sands between your toes



Big sister being pulled by little sister into a slightly deeper and very weedy pool.



Nothing beats jumping and splashing and generally getting wet.



or just hanging out



It's enough to bring a smile to the tiredest young lady after a hard day at school.



Then as the air starts to chill it's home to a tea of homemade pasty followed by sticky brownies - both stodgy, both totally yummy - and the warmth of a fire to end the day



and dream of this...



Have fun x