Uncle Wiktor

A sad goodbye to my uncle, Wiktor, today. A man I didn't know well at all - families can be so strange.

Four years younger than my father, his brother, he died only three weeks after the diagnosis of stomach cancer. Now buried at Highgate Cemetery in London.

Poor Dado. Poor Irena, Wiktor's wife. So sad.

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!

New Start :: 2009

Well, the start of a new year brings with it many new ideas, hopes and thoughts.

Being inspired by Project365, where a photo is taken every day and posted online (either Flickr or a blog), I didn't want to be tied down by this and will take the concept and rework it into something that suits me. Perhaps that should be my aim for the coming year: don't try and change myself to fit into other people's expectations but allow me to come to terms with my own character and let it shine.

I plan to use my blog far more this coming year, not by giving myself the challenge of daily blogging, but you never know how it will turn out!

My hopes for the coming year...

... develop my writing outlets and have more work published in magazines...
... enjoy my many skills: cooking, sewing, knitting, painting, languages, animals...
... see our project in France develop into something resembling something more than a barn...
... try to maintain (and better) my health, both physical and mental, and not wallow in self pity that I haven't achieved unachievable goals (have you spotted that none of these are stated as resolutions for 2009?)...

Let's see how these outlines shape themselves in the coming months.


First finished project for 2009: Winter Cottage Mittens, my very first pair, from a kit purchased from Posh Yarn, hand-dyed scrummy yarn and pattern developed by the lovely Dee from Posh. The pics are of the just finished mittens, not blocked so a little lumpy until I pull them off my hands to wash and block them!

I love mittens. I recall a bright red pair, with a cable down the front and a crocheted string to hold them in lace attached to my coat, from my childhood. I loved them and, in a recent conversation with Mamo, found that I was very young when I had these (knitted by her fair hand) so they must have struck a cord to stick in my memory like this.

I feel these won't be my last mittens this year - any pattern suggestions?

Chestnuts roasting by the open fire...

Corny old song lines always get to me.

Although this isn't an open fire, and certainly isn't a chestnut, I'm pleased with these socks which I presented to my brother for his recent big birthday. Although his reaction was a little underwhelmed, once DH had proudly shown him his own handmade socks (on his feet, lilttle love) my bro realised that this was a labour of love and something money couldn't buy.



I forget that non-knitters, and people not subjected to living with a knitter, just don't get the time and effort that goes into a knitted object. I like to say that a hand-knitted sock or scarf is like being wrapped in love!

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 :-)

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.

Yummy gorgeous - want one...

Isn't this sweet? Can I have one pretty pleeeeeease?

We looked at a cottage not far from our current home and the nearest neighbour is Combe Farm stud, who breed beautiful Arabs. Having owned one for nearly 10 years, which I had to sell before moving to Devon, I always feel a tad tearful when I see such beauty.

Arab horses run in my blood: my grandfather owned an Arab stallion which he rode during his duties in the Polish Cavalry in the 1930's - the only army who would tackle the german tanks on horseback! My mother has memories of being placed on the stallion's back at the age of 3 and being extremely frightened. I, however, seem to go the other way: if frightened by an animal I love them even more... Many a scar and bruise to show for this (fingers crossed no broken bones as yet).

I'm horseless at present, having promised Himself that I wouldn't get another until we have our own land... I did have my fingers crossed though, does that count?!

Two Generations :: 65 Years Apart!

Isn't this a wonderful sight?







Grandmother :: granddaughter :: 65 years apart :: what a wonderful, heartwarming sight!















The look of utter concentration, and I hope pleasure, on my darling niece's face is a pleasure to see. And what's even more lovely is that I taught her to knit only an hour or two prior to this photo!

Make's me feel all warm and ever so slightly tearful....

Happy Birthday Mamo!

I wish I had a relevant photo to post to support this, but none available on my digital stuff (will try to find one for you). My mummy's 74 today, I wish I could be with her to spend the day, but she lives in London and I'm hoping to see her later this month.

Makes you realise how important family is at times like this. I watched two episodes of Jane Eyre last night on the BBC (am I the only person who hasn't read this classic - I was in my rebellious phase at school when we studied this text - as I didn't know what to expect of the storyline and was gutted when Rochester produced his first wife!?!) and seeing the tale unravel of Jane's lack of family made me stop and think I was very lucky to have both parents and all siblings around, albeit far away.

Anyway, love you Mamo and see you soon! xxx