Random Week

 Peas!  Our first harvest, and we just got enough for a meal!  Well, there would have been more, but they are just too good raw!  One for the pan, one for me!  Well, that was Luke's way of podding them!

 A birthday present for a girl in Ethan's class, hair slides and grips.  I hope she likes them.  Ethan is such a popular little lad.  Invited to so many parties, and this last one he was the only boy invited.  He took it all in his stride, and I am proud that he still enjoys playing with girls, when many at his age are only playing with children of their own sex.

 We have a bit of a family obsession/dream of hobbit holes at the moment.  Luke is creating one from scratch.  A papier mache balloon, some balsa wood and filler has so far created this.

 Ethan has been busy designing a hobbit hole too.

 With an inside plan too.

 And just to add to the random nature of this post.  I have some new storage for my unspun wool.  Still have half the alpaca fleece in a bag, but this should keep me busy for a while, and means there's a few less plastic bags dotted about the place!

My idea.... revealed

Last week I started working on a gift for a beautiful baby, for his baby naming ceremony.  Blessing Bunting.  Just like standard personalised bunting with his name on the front.

 But the difference is on the reverse.  Each flag has its own little blessing...

 ...hope...

 ...grace...

...love, peace, happiness, joy and friendship.

I was really pleased with the result, and would love to make some to sell. So I now have to think how to market myself.  With it being a personalised service they would have to be made to order.  However, they are ideal little gifts for Christenings, or baby naming ceremonies.  I had also thought I could do short verses on each flag, or even symbols. 

Please bear me in mind should such an occasion arise.

Sweet Sophie

 Two days in a row, we have come home from being out somewhere, and Sophie has loitered from getting out the car.  I have left the front door open for her to come in in her own time.  And two days in a row I have rushed back outside with the camera as she has got distracted.

 I would love to say that the pictures above are the enduring memories of her childhood, but to be honest, it is more likely to be the latter two pictures!!

 Oh, how she loves mud, and soil, and play.  The real stuff that childhood memories are made from!

The Guild Competition

Do you remember this wool? I had earmarked it to make myself a cable bag, but then at last months Guild meeting they announced they were going to run a competition to make a bag which had to be using at least one of the processes within their name ie Spinning, Weaving or Dyeing.  I could have continued with my idea for a cable bag, but as the meeting was a show and tell meeting, I had taken this skein along, and lots of people seemed to comment that it would be good for felting.  So this then got me thinking, and after a bit of browsing on ravelry I have found a lovely pattern for a felted satchel.

I have a year to get this done.  It will be a great experiment, and steep learning curve I feel, seeing whether I have enough yarn etc!  I suppose the good thing with bags, is it really doesn't matter how big they are.  The competition will be a bit of fun for me, there is no way I could compete with the talented women there, some who have been spinning etc longer than I have been drawing breath!  I will post progress as and when it happens!

Keeping busy

 Keeping busy has been the order of the week, and to that effect, there are not many photos!  I have just finished my first attempt at a sock monkey, in readiness for a friends little boys birthday tomorrow.  And as ever, I now have orders for 3 more, for the boys in this family!!

A trip to the farm shop resulted in the usual hefty food bill, topped off with a whole alpaca fleece!!  I enquired the last time I was there, and in the meantime they have been shorn, and I am the lucky owner of this fluffiness, that is so soft you can barely touch it.  Unfortunately I've been too busy to get as far as processing it!

Much time has been spent down the allotment, planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting.  At last, most of the seedlings are in the ground, and things are looking ok (as long as you ignore the big wild patch in the middle!!).  I am hoping that the day of rain we are experiencing today will go some way to repleneshing the water butts.  We are possibly facing a hosepipe ban, and whilst I don't use the tap water at the allotment, it is a useful back up if the waterbutts do run dry, but it would be a long trek with a watering can to the tap and back each time!! 

Sophie is in her element down there.  I am managing a good couple of hours now before she gets fed up, but of course it is made better with the distraction of strawberries and raspberries!!

I also have been tending our garden here, which is seriously neglected at the moment.  Trying  to introduce splashes of colour into the farm yard (sorry, I mean back garden!)

I have also come up with an idea for something to sell.  I am working on the prototype this next week, so will hopefully do a big reveal next weekend.

That's all for now.  Planning another busy week next week, but I will try to remember to take more photos!!

Dreams and inspiration

I came back from Cornwall full of inspiration, having spent time surrounded by such loveliness, as well as seeing many crafted goods for sale, along with lots of examples of renewable energy scattered around the place, I was so excited about getting home and getting started on a few changes. So, whilst nothing has changed yet, life seems to have a good way of slowing you down, I am planning on creating a few items to see if they will sell, as well as trying to make our home a more beautiful place. We have started talking about the possibility of solar panels, and most exciting of all we have a beautiful joint dream which involves land, wood, stream, sustainability, self-sufficiency and a hobbit hole!

Watch this space!

Beach Days

 A week's holiday in Cornwall, in our favourite cottage at Rinsey.  We arrived to a thick sea fog, but that didn't stop us from going and checking out Praa Sands.  We drove down to a carpark previously unknown to us, and we couldn't tell where on the beach we were, it was that thick, and incredibly eery.

 An evening later we went back to Praa sands, this time walking along the coast, with buckets and spades at the ready, and yes, Ethan walked the whole way there with a bucket on his head!!

 A lovely evening walk.

 We ate out every night, and this one evening we ended up at Gwithian.  A surfer hot spot, which was Luke was quite pleased with, and wants to go back there for surf lessons, perhaps for his birthday.

 Lots of pebbles meant we ended up creating a bit of a Zen-like garden.  As well as discussing sedimentary and igneous rocks!

 Along with some sand dunes to explore.

 And finally, what Luke had been wanting to do all holiday, but the weather was too cold!  He spent the whole day in the water! I think next time though, we will have to invest in some waterproof sunscreen!

 Alec joined in the fun too.  Sophie also had a fantastic time in the sea, no photos though, too busy trying to stop my skirt from falling in the water!!

 What to do though, whilst all the children are down at the water with Daddy, and in the absence of knitting?  Find cuttlefish and carve sculptures of course!!

We got up to many more things which will be subjects for subsequent posts.