Babies all the way!

It has happened - Davey and I are grandparents with the first beautiful baby to be born to one of our gorgeous children.

She arrived safe and sound after an awful lot of work from her poor Mamma who did it all brilliantly.

She is perfect and we all love her to pieces.

Welcome to the world little Scarlett Elizabeth and the hugest of hugs to her very clever mummy xx

Sigh..... x

P.S. Off to take our five year old to school now - funny old world isn't it?!!

The Working of Origami & Socks.

I am back once more and the grumps have left me. Thank you so much for your kind understanding in the face of such a misery post! So, what have we been up to? No marmalade was made in my absence - hurrah! Maybe this weekend will see the jars filling the shelves once more. Instead Davey and the children made chocolate and banana muffins with thick chunks of chocolate studded in each mouthful.



They also had a Chinese themed day in honour of the Chinese New Year. Events included making lanterns using origami techniques



A piano and er, an animal I think



and a seal (!!!)



They also made sweet and sour pork and a castle, though not necessarily in that order. The table and floor were covered in a myriad of glitter which I feel is always the sign of fun being had.



I was ensconced in a room with views over Watergate Bay where a group of us watched the surfers and jade green waves drifting toward us, the scene belying teh icyness of the weather which had turned the salt water streams winding towards the sea to frozen images of themselves. Even the cliffs had icicles and typically I had forgotten my camera.



Is it not very beautiful?


And as for me, I am desperate to show you this little intricate piece of knitting.



It is the beginnings of a sock and though my photographs do it no justice making the yarn look chunky when it is in fact fine, and harshly coloured where it is a beautiful, subtle blend of hand painted colours, jewel greens blended with soft lilacs and hints of sulphur yellow, I hope you can nonetheless see the intricacy of the stitching just a little.



The pattern is called the Marie Antoinette Sock and has a lacework patterning of tiny 'bees' around the top and a bee-like design working its way along the calf. It is designed by knitwear designer Ann Hanson and will take me quite a long time between other projects to work on. I am so enjoying working something that requires this level of concentration again as many years have passed since I knitted lacework coverlets and matinee jackets for my babies it seems.



Yes, this will be a challenge, the chart needing me to free my mind in a way that most other knitting I tackle these days does not require. I shall work on this when I need to be distracted and simpler things when I need to let the thoughts drift aimlessly with the moving of the needles. Something for any mood...perfect. And of course, I shall share the progress, though I suspect updates may be slow! In the meantime I am most excited as I have finally completed the knitting of Mr Davey's Hammerhead pullover and am beginning the making up...finally...fourteen balls of wool later...sigh.



Pictures hopefully later this week. I just hope it fits!



Well, I must get on with my work while thinking thoughts of Davey who has gone for lunch at Clarence House with Camilla. Yes, honestly!

Bye for now x

This & That.

Oh the joys of end of year Tax Returns. Yes, yes, I know I should have done it before now, but there are so many other things far more interesting to do aren't there? It could have been worse as I discovered I was almost up to date which had completely slipped my mind. I like a nice bright file to cheer things along, not to mention a cuppa and one of Lucy's gorgeous biscuits.



She made a batch of these last night, informing me that the different sizes are so that you can choose a small one if you are not so hungry - because that happens a lot here! - or a large one if it's a long wait till dinner. Seems good reasoning to me.



Now the weather is improving a little and there are new shoots of nettles growing in the garden I am craving cups of nettle tea with its wonderfully earthy aroma and almost soup-like taste.



I can practically feel the good of this cleansing drink and find it a bit more satisfying than some of the other herb teas, though I also love mint tea made from the new leaves of the peppermint plants just outside the kitchen window. How much nicer it would all seem if I only had this tisaniere I have been hankering after for ages now from Sarah Raven. Isn't it pretty?



A quick visit into the sewing room this morning unearthed these gorgeous fabrics from the piles falling off the shelves and I was smitten with a desperate need for some dressmaking. They were given to me by a dear friend, one of the many who help my fabric fetish along, and they are suggesting spring skirts to me. My mannequin - Myfanwy is the name she goes by and I can hear Diana snickering from here - thinks they would look good on her too and so I really must find a pattern soon.



Well enough of my ramblings and procrastinating. The books must be completed and the form filled in ... oh, hang on, I can hear the ducks barking outside the kitchen window. Better feed them first and then maybe a quick look round the garden to see what's new or perhaps I'll bake a cake or pop the washing on....



Hope you have only lovely things to do today...sigh x

New Pipany products!

Oh I am so excited! I have finally, after sooo much procrastination and uhmming and ahhing and basically doing anything I could to avoid it, put my new stationery range onto my pipany website. At last!



It was a job and a half I must say, but I am so thrilled with the look of them in all their cheeriness that I can't quite think why I didn't get them done much sooner.



The range contains both cards & postcards and are all taken from my photographic images of the things I see around my Cornish home. These are the things which inspire me and feed into many of my designs for my products. Things such as this..



and this..



The cards are available to buy either individually or in sets of three and have been left blank inside for you to add your own message. The cards come in four sets: autumn Fruits, Seeds & Grasses, Skies and River Views



while the postcards have an additional two themes - Cornwall and Seashore - and come in sets of 5.



And of course, as with everything else in my shop, postage is free to the UK! Oh dear, I sound like a very bad salesman..



I will be changing the range fairly frequently as my camera finds new things to grab me on my travels, things I want to share in the hope that you may love them too.



I won't show all the range here as it would spoil the fun, but I would love it if you could pop over and let me know what you think (please be gentle!).



Now I need a strong cup of tea and a biscuit! Have a great day x

(P.s. Kate, Diana has booted me up the proverbial and there will be an email full of mortification winging its way to you later today...sigh x)