Atmospheric sunset

Such an atmospheric sunset through our little cottage bathroom window. Gosh, I'll miss this place once we have moved.

Snapshot

With a new year dawning, hopes are high for a better year in so many ways.

My day started today with my usual walk across the village to feed the hens and let them out of their coop. The girls were very chatty today and wanted to help me in my quest to fill in some rat holes that had appeared in their enclosure overnight, pecking at my rubber clad fingers with much enthusiasm!

I then rolled out the trusty bike and pootled off for a short bike ride, my first in many months. The sky was a beautiful blue and there was a lovely nip in the air which made me peddle with much enthusiasm, only stopping to make a fuss of Oliver the golden retriever and to wish his owners a happy new year.

I do so love living in this village!

The afternoon saw us heading to some dear friends for their annual drinks party - I was looking forward to sampling their coffee martinis with much enthusiasm :)

A few hours of sock knitting in front of the fire finished off this chilled out start to the year!

Finally, here's a little snapshot of our cottage's sitting room - yes, DH is snoozing on the sofa!!

Happy New Year to you all :) x

Time and Patience

“The strongest of all warriors are these two: Time and Patience” Leo Tolstoy

 Well, I have been struggling with these two warriors for a while now. However, not all is bad, so I must sometimes remind myself to count my blessings for the friends, family and creatures I have supporting me.

DH has been in France working on our place since June. Patience waiting for him to come home - he still doesn't know when that will be :(

Patience in trying to find work, struggling on this front: interviews (multiple sometimes for the same job at various stages) but no success (yet). I have another interview this afternoon which I would really love, not only because I need and want work but also because it is just up my street experience-wise, as well as with what the company does. A good match!  If I am successful I will of course tell more.

Time and Patience in waiting for Carter to heal and repair. I know that he won't be back to his old self as he's getting older and I try to look on every day now as a blessing. But it's hard. I wish he was a youngster again so that we would have all this time together again - but that won't happen either. I just try and focus on his wonderful character and nature and all of the love he has given us - and we in return - and the lovely memories we have together. And he's still here, happily mooching along, but I worry.

I also sometimes need to give myself a slap around the face and a boot up the backside to stop feeling sorry for  myself and get on with it!  That I will do right now and get my chores done so that I can prepare for the interview and know I have a meal in the slow cooker to come home to, along with a neat and tidy home to bring a smile to my face - well, Carter will do that as I walk in, but it's always nice to have good surroundings to collapse into and pick up my knitting :)

These last 6 months I have been mainly...

Warning - picture heavy post (and very few words) well, don't they say a picture says a thousand words?!?

Since early February I have....



Survived the heavy snow we had... the picture with Carter shows the main lane at the top of our track, totally impassable.



I have learnt to weave on my mother's old Weavemaster 2 shaft loom.

Tried to learn to spin using a scrummy drop spindle I bought (made from walnut and wild olive, mmm the smell!).



Bought an old Ashford Scholar spinning wheel from a woman at my weaving class. They're all enablers, I tell you :)



Knit my first ever shawl - this is Ishbel knit in Cariad Flimstone Bay (aka Posh Yarns Emily) 4ply.


Been over on a solo trip to Normandie to check on the barn...



It was hip high in nettles and thistles - all three quarters of an acre!!!




Taught sock knitting classes at my LYS, Fiddlesticks in Honiton (there's the lovely Barbara in the far right opposite where I'd be seated).



Met Isla, my new great-niece-in-law!


Spent a week with my fossils out in Spain...



... and I cooked too! See, evidence above :)



Whilst in Spain I went to a little museum dedicated to Miro, not very far from my parent's place. It was lovely, and very inspirational seeing his earlier work before he went totally surreal.



I've been growing potatoes...



... and tomatoes in the new little greenhouse (Freecycle is a wonderful thing!)...



... and all sorts of other veg in our raised bed.




I've spun my very first little ball of yarn, this is it all bright an green after I plied it.



Knitting more socks, of course.



Taking this lovely roving (from Wildcraft) and turning it into a couple of bobbins of this...


which I will eventually ply together.



Using my little Scholar (named Maria which I thought apt as it was the name my maternal grandmother was known by - mainly because her first name was very old Polish and chosen so that it wasn't easily pronounced by the occupying Germans in the late 19th century! I also thought Maria was a good solid name with historical roots that just felt right for my first wheel) to spin some lovely BFL/silk roving into a hank of singles which I will use for weaving.


More soon!

Marmalade... no, not the cat!

I've always loved the colour of marmalade: gorgeous tones of orange ranging from silken yellow through vibrant ginger on to scrumptious sienna. Perhaps that's why I adore George so?!


I decided to try my hand at making some Seville Orange marmalade recently, never having made use of my preserving pan in the 4 years I've owned it, I thought it was high time. I've come across a fabulous book from the River Cottage handbook series focusing purely on preserves. This is a great source of information and recipes for all kinds of jams, pickles, sauces... and fruit liqueurs (including my beloved Sloe Gin) so I think I will need to buy my own copy of this and hand this one back to the library for somebody else to enjoy!

For my first attempt I opted for the sliced fruit method where all the chopping is done at the start of the process (squeeze the juice from 1kg of oranges and slice the peel including all the pith). The peel is then soaked overnight in the juice plus 2.5 litres of water and then simmered in the preserving pan until tender: about 2-2.5 hours (until pan contents are reduced by about a third). Add 75ml of lemon juice (I cheated and bought bottled) and 2kg of demerara sugar (although white sugar will do, I like the darkness the demerara brough to the mixture). Simmer until all the sugar has reduced - if you don't the sugar will stay granular within the marmalade I am expertley informed - then boil rapidly until setting point is reached (about 20-30 minutes but could be more). Et voila - marmalade.





And it tastes yummy :-)

I then went on to try the whole fruit method where the chopping is done after you have simmered 1kg of fruit for a couple of hours. But I made the mistake of trying to cook Sunday lunch at the same time and missed the setting point and ended up with a preserving pan of black treacle which had burnt to the bottom. Not good. I've soaked and soaked the pan, to no avail, Steve very kindly used his engineering prowess to sand it all off and regain a nice shiny bottom (the pan of course... not me!). I was going to add some whisky to this second batch but I may drink it now instead as I think I may have missed the Seville season now for this year. Well, there have to be some perks!!

Minimalist Monochrone or Characterful Colour?

I am always surprised at how a few hours can change your outlook - here, our vista: look at how the landscape has changed in just the space of 7 hours. The picture of Carter by the dilapidated garage was taken at about 9.30 in the morning yesterday, and the following image was taken at about 4.30pm the same day. Such colour in the second one as opposed to minimalist monochrome of the first.


I'm thinking George the cat doesn't like snow! This may be the first time he has experienced it - actually, I'm pretty sure it is as he was about a year old when we homed him last April and snow hasn't been seen down this part of Devon for a few years. Poor chap, he really hates it when I launch him into the white wilderness a couple of times a day to do what he has to do... and then shut the door quickly so he doesn't come back in (bad, bad mum!!) - I'd rather that than a litter tray in the house (or worse).


This morning, much has frozen so it is becoming lethal underfoot - we may still be housebound for another day.

Striding on...

Yes, I have finally tidied the mess that is my head - aka my studio! Just didn't quite get round to posting the pics. What do you think? I certainly feel much calmer and more organised now my surroundings are less of a tsunami.

We had a little snow earlier in the week and I bemoaned the fact that it wasn't enough. Well, it is said that best you be careful of what you wish for... we've been hit four square here in our little corner of East Devon. We are well and truly snowed in as even the 4x4 cannot get up the track onto the main road (ha - the lane we call the main road is nothing like a good old council cared for A or even B road and will never see the flashing lights of a snow plough!).

Yesterday evening, driving home at around 11.30pm from work, the journey took me 50 minutes rather than the usual 20. I decided to take a different route that usual to avoid the high road from Sidmouth to Honiton and drive via West Hill and use the A30.

After spinning the car around before even getting to the A30 (and then deciding I had best lock the front hubs to get full 4x4 - doh!) I gracefully allowed a snow plough to take the slip road onto the A30 before me, being the generous soul that I am ;-) Even he had trouble. The entire 12 mile journey was done at between 10 and 20 mph from door to door and I have never been more grateful to have the old jalopy as I was last night.

Home safe and sound, thank goodness.

But it's excitement! Luckily we have electricity (better than about 22,000 homes in Devon today I gather), heating oil, wood for the stove and food in the freezer - and hiking sticks to use whilst walking the dog, who is loving every chilly minute of it!

Enjoy these images....


Looking back down our track towards the house:


Where our track meets the 'main road':

Carter loving it - and standing in the middle of the 'main road'!

Disorder & Chaos

You know how you feel when you've had a good sort out at home or in the office and everything has a home and all looks nice and welcoming? Well, this is my chaos at the moment in my office/studio....


World War III, in Devon! Although, I hate to admit it, but it has been worse. No wonder my mind is in such a mish mash with a real lack of inspiration or true creativity. I daren't show you the picture of the doorway, as it has all the washing hanging on airers to dry - oh, okay, here goes... Well, actually, Blogger is so blown away by the mess that it won't allow me to put up another image!!

Plan for the weekend: sort out the studio and bring some calm to the whirling in my mind (or at least attempt to) ... working towards my hopes for the year.

How is your head and the resulting chaos or calm?

Welcome

We have a new addition to the family!

Welcome to our, as yet unamed, lovely ginger boy - he's extra special as he has extra toes... locally known as a Dorset Thumb Cat the technical term is polydactyl and is supposedly common in the South West of England, South Wales and in New England. Polydactyl cats were considered to be lucky on board ship, which is perhaps why they are relatively common in New England with the link of the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth.

Anyhow, this little chap is about 2 years old and was sourced through the local branch of the Cats Protection League in East Devon. He was named 'Garfield' by the vet who took him in, but we're not keen on that name so are trying to think of alternatives.

He is a lovely pusscat, with a lot of purring to do - hoever, after the initial bravado of a new home, he's a little nervous especially of Carter and loud noises. To be expected no doubt and hopefully he'll settle happily soon.

Tired Bunnies

What a great picture – my two most precious boys, tired out! Don’t know why, neither had done much :-)

Resolutions

I made none!

Over many, many years I continually make resolutions (some not for New Year, but hey, why should that stop me?) and generally don't stick to them (hence still needing to lose weight many years on.... So this year, I decided to not make any resolutions. Inspired by Brenda's comments on this subject in her podcast I know I am not alone - her suggestion is not to make resolutions, but decisions and actions. Very sensible.

So, my decisions:

1. health
2. happiness
3. creativity
4. organisation

My actions:

1. joined the gym full-time (not been yet as I have a really stinking cold still)
2. now, this could be the difficult one as you can't force yourself to be happy - so still working on the actions for this one
3. have jotted lots of ideas in my notebook and will tackle some of them this weekend
4. in progress! The house is far more tidy now thanks to our chums visiting for new year forcing us not to be ashamed of the mess, but I still need to organise my clothes and the paperwork in the office.

I'll let you know how I get on with my non-resolutions.

What were yours?

Happy New Year...

... to you all! I have so many ideas whizzing around my head that you will see a hugely eclectic mix turn up here during the coming months.

From craft creativity to writing to house renovation to my own health and well-being, many strange thoughts will turn up to help me straighten out my little grey cells (you can tell Poirot is on TV this evening!).















The first picture of the year is of a large shallow bowl I made a few years ago, stoneware with a matt glaze - I was experimenting with these glazes for a while and I love the matt texture of the finished piece which is far from perfect I will be the first to admit. The bowl contains a few pieces of driftwood found locally at Branscombe and Budleigh Salterton - nature provides many things of beauty to show us simplicity is sometimes the key.

Here's to a healthy, happy and creative 2008!

Bye Bye Darling Girl

Last Tuesday, as mentioned in my last post, PC took her last little journey. She was very very tired and, although it was an incredibly tough call to make (always hopeful that she would rally through and improve) she wasn't able to stand on her own and we knew the time had arrived. We'd hoped her little body (which wasn't much heavier than a bag of sugar at the end) would make it's own decision and that she would go in her sleep, but this wasn't to be. I held her in my arms throughout and felt I had done my duty by this feisty little treasure of ours who has been with us for 12 years - we found her in a scrap yard and took her home, the vet at the time thought she was anything between 4 and 8 years old. So our little girl could well have been 20!

She wasn't an angel by any means, but that was part of her appeal :-) She ruled to house with a very loud voice - so much so that Carter, when he arrived nearly 6 years ago, was too afraid to even look at her (and she was the size of his head!) and it was about 18 months before he was brave enough to sniff her... Irreplaceable!

But somehow, even though it's so sad, we are relieved for little PC and can stop worrying about her now. Carter's missing her and has become very clingy - difficult to do when you're a clingy golden retriever anyway ;-) Having a 6 stone dog trying to get on your lap in the constricted space of the caravan is funny to witness!

News on the home front:: we should be moving towards the end of next week. I have some more photos which I will upload in the next few days - and it was fabulous to see the old farm buildings all demolished and lovely golden gravel laid in their place: a ray of sunshine!

Thank you all for your lovely comments, I never think about who is reading my ramblings, but I very much appreciate your thoughts.

TTFN.

Temporarily out of action...

We have been homeless for nearly 4 weeks now, home has been a static caravan behind our local pub (not good!) hence the silence on the blog front, my apologies. I'm accessing it from work at the moment so, ssssh: don't tell :-)

Before all our possessions went into storage, I kept some to one side for our creative team to use for photoshoots for new product. A bit of an ego boost when you see your favourite items used in professional photography. Here's my favourite, showing my beloved grandmother's hand-stitched quilt (English pieced, using old dresses: some I just about remember her and my mother wearing: there's even a fabric or two from my sister's and my dresses too!).























We hope to be in the cottage (sorry, should call it farm as that's the official name) by the end of the month but it will only be the three of us: Himself, Carter and me. PC is failing with her kidney disease and we have made the very difficult decision to take her on her last journey this evening. We're very sad. More another day.

Hope Springs Eternal

Well, no blogging for a week - intentionally - as I was hoping to have news of the cottage to tell you about.

On Wednesday we were distraught as the owner of the property had set the price too high for our budget. As of last night, we have renegotiated and the Bella Casa is ours! A few week's wait will be worth it as it is such a beautiful setting. I know you don't live in scenery, but the old adage of 'location, location, location' really does apply. So many possibilities, so many plans, so many dreams. I hope I don't wake up - if this really is a dream.

And here is another beauty: the un-named tulip planted last Autumn (un-named because I threw away the label accidentally after planting!). Isn't she a charmer - you have to smile when you see this firework of colour.

Bella Casa

Isn’t she sweet? Definitely a she: curvy, inviting, work-in-progress…!

Fingers crossed, if all works out, this may be our new home. Set in the hills above the Otter Valley in East Devon, this traditional Devon cob cottage is a real gem – I think the local council have forgotten about her as she’s not listed (best to keep schtum, eh?).

Only two bedrooms, with most of the living space downstairs, there’s lots of potential – so much so that I can’t wait to get my itchy fingers stuck in. Carter loves it too as you can see.

The front and back views are a little topsy turvy as the view of the front door is now the back, and vice versa. I suppose originally the access would have been from the bottom of the valley, up the lane (which is now a bridleway) rather than from the top of the hill, off the tarmac road for 200 metres of dirt track. I’d love to find out the history of the place… but, first things first: let’s get it!