Networking - that must be the secret

So I wondered why it is I could not think of 6 people to tag for the recent meme. I thought I would consult the masters, so I checked out how good kharma bunny got tagged, that led me to Leigh, and then to Cheryl, and then I realised - I just am not very good at networking!

So sorry to be the weakest link in the meme...

But it's good to follow other people's networks - Leigh and Cheryl both have some great things on their blogs. It's great how many talented people are just a click away.

Winter Solstice

So, today is the shortest day of the year - and what is the view from my kitchen window?

Rockpool

So what's with the daily posts? Well: sick child, work deadlines met, main Christmas activities on schedule - it's a weird time, so I am making the most of it.


When I went to Harrogate in October, I discovered Shibori. To most people this means a dye resist technique. But before the dying is the pleating and stitching - and this is the part that captured the hearts of my mum and I. She is doing stitching on beautiful, ivory silk. I decided to try felted shibori.

So I knitted a rectangle in pure wool. Then pleated and clamped and also tied in glass pebbles. Then I did hot and cold hand felting. The result was a lovely textured piece with lumps, bumps and ripples. The colours inspired me, so I couched threads, added some metallic fibres, and beaded away to produce this...






I am going to call it rockpool, and intend to mount it on a board (but what colour background do you think? Cream? Or painted sea blues and greens?). I am really pleased with it. It's quite unstructured, and for me, uses a nice variety of materials in unusal ways.


Here is a picture of the whole thing... as you can see, it is an uneven shape, but that suits the idea of a rockpool I think.

24-60 hours

That is the estimated period from 1st sign of symptoms to recovery for winter vomiting bug, which landed in our household at 3:00am this morning! So we had all last week off school with fevers and coughs, and this week we managed 2 days at school before sickness and the dreaded 'd' word (all Mums will know what I mean).

So I am glued to the settee as my little chap won't let me out of his sight, while he moans and tosses and turns, and periodically "chucks".

Still, the time can be put to good use. So I have started on NEXT years Christmas cards!!! I am exploring a holly motif and seeing how many different ways I can do it. I did glass paints on acetate this morning, and will try that textured fabric paint that you make bubble up with a heat gun tonight. I have also got some embossing powder that I had long forgotten about, a holly punch, and lots of green and red fabrics and threads - so it could be fun.

I promised to show the citrus filled organza bag from a couple of posts back, so here it is...

Also here is a Christmas table decoration that my little boy made while off sick last week. It's a cheese spread carton covered with glitter, with Christmas cake decorations stuck in, and snow made from dessicated coconut. The coconut looks really good, and smells nice too!

It's all about me!

Good kharma bunny invited me to do her tagged meme. She also asked what a meme was. So I did some investigation... in blogs it tends to be a list of questions you have seen somewhere, and decide to answer and post. However, apparently, the high-brow explanation is "a unit of cultural information that represents an idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and is subject to mutation and adaptation" (that sounds like Chinese Whispers to me).

However, the way I think of it, is that these lists always seem to be things to reveal about yourself, so I think a meme is really a me-me, as in the title: "It's all about me!".

Anyway this one is six weird things about yourself... so here goes...

1. I often dream about celebrity chefs, especially Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.

2. I skipped school only once in my life: to go and see the opera La Traviata. Not even my Mum knows that.

3. I like potato waffles and the skin off roast chicken, both covered in salt. I think it is because overall I have a low fat, low salt diet, so every now and then my body just screams at me "go on... do it!"

4. I studied psychology at university, yet I am a sucker for self improvement books.

5. I once went to a fancy dress party as Clint Eastwood. My husband said "you're brave!".

6. My husband and I met when we were joint presenters on a 5 day training programme. Does that make me the teacher's pet? There was some good chemistry on the course.

Actually, not sure that these are weird things. But they are not things I tend to tell people every day!

Oh, and I am now supposed to tag 6 other people. Afraid I can only think of one who has not been tagged already so here you go In The Pink

Does it count?

Well, not exactly a making moment... but we had our family Christmas party yesterday. There were 12 of us and I did a huge spread of all home cooked food - even the bread was home made. My spinach and rice balls also made a re-appearance on the menu after 10 years absence (well, they are VERY fiddly to make!).

It was a lovely do, and thankyou to all who came along. It felt like a sort of milestone for me, as it marked the end of three weeks' work, one of which was spent with a little chap off school sick.

Anyway... I was asked for my recipe for the glaze I put on the turkey so here it is:

1/2 jar crab apple jelly (or you could use cranberry)
Grated zest of one orange
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Heat and reduce slightly in a pan, pour over the turkey for the last 20 minutes of roasting. Yummy!

Small boy is back at school today...

Merry Christmas to everyone.

PS What is black and blue and yellow all over? Answer: Me falling down the cellar stairs while holding a bowl of custard.

Iridescence

I have just completed my final home made Christmas present! (Actually this completes all my Christmas presents, except for the one that Amazon worryingly keeps informing me has been further delayed. I ordered it at the beginnng of November, and the delivery estimate is now 21st Dec... do you think it will come in time?)

Anyay, back to the home made one. This is a decorated organza bag which will be filled with a selection of clove studded citrus fruits. My little helper is in charge of decorating the fruits, and I have had fun using some of my purchases from the Harrogate exhibition. I took some fusible (peacock green) and non-fusible (bronze) angelina fibres, and heated them over a rubber stamp to fuse them and imprint them at the same time. I then cut out the leaf shape, stitched it onto the organza bag, and then had some fun adding some beads and tiny bells. I am not very experienced with beads, but am quite pleased with this attempt.

Hopefully the sight and scent combination of this present will go down well.

Christmas Traditions

The good kharma bunny recently asked about people's Christmas Traditions. It seemed like a good thing to muse upon for a few minutes.

As kids we were allowed to have chocolate digestives for breakfast on Christmas day, and a glass of "Rise and Shine" (do you remember that powdered orange juice drink...).

The traditions we have now for my family are to go to church on Christmas Eve for the Christingle service. However, disappointingly, this year the service is set for Dec 10th (too early for me!!! but we will still go).

Also, to chase out in the garden looking for a glimpse of santa leaving his last parcel of Christmas morning before he goes off for some sleep. Last year my husband excelled himself by leaving a lump of horse manure and half a carrot on our flat roof, and taking my little boy up a ladder to see the evidence that Rudolph had been by!!!!

Also having the only little boy on the planet who adores brussel sprouts makes our food traditions very interesting! I try to make our focus exciting vegetable dishes... and we always have something unusual like guinea fowl rather than turkey.

We have yet to manage the local tradition of pork pie for Christmas breakfast!

Do you believe in angels?

Small boy let loose with digital camera... 'nuff said!

What would an arborist keep in a pouch?

I have made this pouch/wallet as a Christmas gift for by brother in law (shhh!!).

I am very pleased with it as I had no pattern, and so had to plan and design it all from scratch. It is made from knitted hand dyed linen in a nice muted acid green. It is lined with plain linen cloth and the pocket is made from a nice oak-leaf patterned fabric. The colours and pattern seemed appropriate given his profession.

I am very smug to be able to announce that this completes my Christmas present list, and so now I can lean back and relax until the big day. Oh, except for the piece of consultancy work that I just won this morning. (Hoorah!).

Silk baubles

Earlier this year I fell in love with recycled sari silk, and have knitted with it to create a hat and bag, and also to use as embellishments in other projects. I love its chaotic structure and myriad of colours. It looks fantastic when washed and wound into balls...

I wanted to do something with this image, and finally struck on the idea of sari silk baubles as an image for Christmas cards. Here is one of the first batch. I am playing with alternative versions...

Harrogate Stash

At the beginning of last month, I attended my first proper hobby exhibition - the Embroidery and Fashion show at Harrogate. It was great - so much to see and try So many people happy to talk and tell you their inspirations, techniques and materials. I don't know what to say about it, so here is a picture of my purchases. I also bought lots of dissolvable fabrics and texturising products... so there is much fun to be had.

I have not managed to try any of them out so far, but am looking forward to playing with all my goodies.

Funky stripes

I have made another journal cover as a gift.

This one was knitted, but I found I had to line it with fabric otherwise it curled at the edges.

Next time I'd knit it wider although with it being quite tight it makes the stripes curve nicely. It is a mixture of hand dyed linen and sari silk. The colours are all very acid - it makes the whole thing look quite fresh I think.



I have also had a "refresher course" on sewing machine basics from a very good friend of mine. So the darning plate has been fitted, the foot removed, and freeform machine stitching here we come. We've still not addressed the frustrations of sewing with metallic thread - but it never hurts to leave some bits to be done by hand.

Operation Christmas Child

This year, my family is supporting the Samaritan's Purse charity by taking part in "Operation Christmas Child". This sends a small Christmas box to victims of war, poverty and natural disaster throughout the world. http://www.samaritanspurse.uk.com. Last year Samaritan's Purse in the UK sent out over 1.18 million gifts to children across Eastern Europe and Africa.

We have packed a box for a boy and a box for a girl. There is advice on the website about what to pack and it is very humbling to see what items will bring so much benefit and joy, for example:
A cuddly toy,
A toothbrush, toothpaste
A wrapped bar of soap and flannel
A notepad, colouring book
Picture books
Pencils and pencil sharpener, pens and paper
A set of crayons or felt pens
A hat, cap, gloves, scarf
A small ball or tennis ball
A puzzle e.g. small jigsaw
For boys: a toy car, truck, passenger plane or similar item
For girls: jewellery (e.g. pair of clip earrings, make-up or hair accessories)
A greetings card or a photo of yourself
Sweets
Small musical instrument

There is also a video showing children receiving the parcels last year. It is so little to do and amazing to see it can bring such happiness. My little boy has helped me choose and pack the items, so he can understand what it is to give something to someone who has so little.

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Viva Bob the Builder!

I bought what I thought was a fun and interesting yarn back in the summer. Patons Splash ("fun and fresh").

I knitted it into a wraparound belt with wooden bead fastening using the pattern: k1, *yf, k2tog, *repeat to last stitch, k1 - simple I know, but a nice little project. The pattern is nice enough and vaguely lacey...

But on completion, all parties agree that knitted up it looks like knotted string woven through with old tights. So technically OK but aesthetically a disaster! Infact so bad that I cannot bring myself to even sew on the beads!

Looks like an inspired bit of recycling! A big disappointment! Let's hope the next project works out better!

So on an uncharacteristally personal note, here is my little boy dressed up as a puppy in an old blanket and my slippers.... aaahhhhh!!!

Progress

This week I have progressed a knitted wallet I am making for my brother in law, made a knitted outer layer for a new journal cover that will be another Christmas gift, started a knitted beaded belt for myself, and painted our back door. (spot a theme?)

Pictures will follow...

I am adjusting (slowly) to life without my little boy at home... now he has started school full time the house seems so empty, and it is hard to see just how much he has replaced me with his school experiences. Many thanks to good kharma bunny for being so... well she knows.... such a good friend...

My sister has joined me in blog land (http://twoknightsandmaidens.blogspot.com), and my fav. big cousin has been reading my posts! He promises/threatens to leave comments. That's a bit scary!

Journal Cover

I am hoping to give mostly handmade/homemade presents for Christmas this year. One of the gifts I have thought of making is a journal with a hand stitched cover. Many people I know are creative and so I thought these would be good for their notes, ideas and inspirations.

I am trying to choose a colour scheme/textures/motifs to suit the individuals for whom they are destined. Here is number one.

I have to give credit to the Lutterworth Embroiderers' Guild for being my source for a fine array of threads and fabrics, most of which I buy at their annual extravaganza.

http://branches.embroiderersguild.com/branchdetails.php?id=LEIC30 . The next extravaganza is on Sat 11th November - it really is worth a visit.

Finished article

Here is the card now in its finished state. I added a little red embriodery thread and a couple of red sequins. Also the background card helps tie it all in together.

I have also found the darning plate for my sewing machine so now hope to try a bit of freestyle machine stitching on future couching projects. I have collected various metallic threads for a Klimt inspired project. Sounds impressive anyway!

Couching

I am trying to make a birthday card for my wonderful husband. I wanted to try out some couching and decorative stitching techniques and to use a variety of scraps of ribbon, threads and beads.

Here is the result so far. Although I am pleased with each individual part of it, it does not seem to work as a whole, and I think it is because all of the colours blend into the hessian background too much. So later today I shall try to jazz it up with a few contrasting elements. I will post the results so that the comparison can be made.

Rustic Angels

Here is another of my Christmas card designs. I know it is early, but if you have to make a significant number of homemade cards, then you need to start early. I have made 4 of these angels so far.

Tie a tassel using metallic thread, then separate and tie the strands to make the body and wings. Make a small padded face, embroider face and hair details. Add beads and sequins for decoration.


Detailed instructions can be found at:


http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/projects/angels/index.html

The other reason for making these now, is I am trying to use up hoarded supplies so that I can make fresh, guilt-free purchases when I go to the embroidery and fashion show in Harrogate on the 7th October (http://http://www.ichf.co.uk/fashion/index.php.

Oh, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing is my favourite carol.

Commemoration

The past six years have seen a large number of deaths in our family, culminating this year with my maternal grandmother's death. This has saddened us all, and to help us through the process, we have decided to have a family commemoration day each year on the 1st September.

I have collected some memories of various members of the family, and we intend to use them to celebrate and commemorate the lives of those we have lost. We hope to add to this set of memories each year, ensuring those we have lost are remembered. Here are the first set of memories...

Nell Simpson who decorated her home each week it seemed, always finding something new, be it candlestick holders,curtains or a toweling bath panel. Always giving a little gift to visitors, sometimes the things she made at her craft classes. Her charity work at the Red Cross which brought her so many friends.The most with it person always keeping up with trends.

A table full of treats for high tea, and picnics on the beach unpacked from stripy shopping bags, her enormous iron framed bike. Being madly fascinated by the students who lodged with her. Drying our hair by brushing it infront of the gas fire.

Edie Stabb's afternoons spent telling us as children, about events she had attended in Ceylon so vividly told, one could almost feel the sunshine and atmosphere. Knowing I had a singer uncle who had cut records in Ceylon made me feel good, and uncle who was the Chief of Police in Ceylon and an uncle who was forever as a child through some illness. Knowing that my mum was a very important person in her family doing the family sewing, helping the children, making ginger beer and teaching sign language to other people in the family to enable them to speak to a carer in the family. A little girl adopted by her family and called Topsie, Topsie was tone deaf and droned little songs she had learned eg Row row row your boat gentle down the stream. This was not appreciated by the family at 3 am in the morning. Grandmother Mirim and Grand father Walter were rocks in the family.

Her Sunday wig and lipstick, her amazing house (High Street) full of nooks and crannies and hidden treasure troves behind the attic walls, how impressive it seemed that she had a traffic warden for a friend. Having chocolate mousse gravy because she ahd given the packets from the cupboard to play shops with, and the wrong inners had been put back into the boxes.

Frank Stabb who always gave the girls some money to buy a gift when we visited. The dolls house and desk that he gave to them. He thought on each child equally. Days spent at the sale room or in his shop on High Road West, walking about with care as there was so much stuff in the shop. Recanting twentyfive year old Port for him, he gave us a bottle it was wonderful.

His Morris Minor called Art, listening to Radio Caroline in the mornings, his big bars of milk chocolate that he would share with us, finding out how much he wanted someone in the family to be a nurse.

Maureen Teece, who had a leatherette pinifore dress made for her niece when she was two, making her a swinger. When she presented a wonderful Wendy House to the girls. Like her mother she was offered managerial positions which she was not able to persue. She did successfully run her own salon.

An introduction to 'exotic' chalet life, sorting the hair rollers into the right sections of the trolley in her hair salon.

The time she and Roy Teece sold every thing they owned to start up a Smithy, Roys trade, and the disappointment when following an injury to his hand they had to close the Smithy. Roy giving us a tune or two on his organ he was so musical. He loved company and to discuss cars and curent events with the males in the family. Roy helping Michael to construct an electric guitar the wood was oak and it was very heavy.

Beryl West who used to look after anyone in need, the tea parties at her house on Douglas Avenue when there was always a kettle on the simmer on the fire. Family always came first with Beryl. Parties for the grown ups too many of them.

Mending daisies for me when I pulled their heads off, her glamourous sun bathing on sunloungers. Being scared of the fact that they had foxes in their back garden at Douglas Avenue.

Alan West who loved children and gave love openly. He also put a bet on any horse who's name was in the family. He never told us if he won though.

Always cheerful and cuddly, taking us to the waterstand at the caravan site, never understanding why we had to wait to go to the beach. Going to the family day at the sugar factory.

We would also like to remember Ted Browne, Margaret Browne, John Browne, Paddy Mahon, Dan Egan, Molly Egan, Bridie Kenna and Martin Gleeson.

When my husband and I married in June 2000, all of these people, save Frank and Ted were with us. We are so sad to have lost them, but also so glad to have them in our hearts and our memories.

Family fun

Generally, 'making moments' are a communal thing in our house, so hot on the heals of my last post showing my card making efforts, here are those of my little boy. Usually, if I am honest, his efforts put mine to shame (and this is no exception)... so I hope you enjoy:

(i) Valentines day (foam hearts and glitter on an aperture card)
(ii) Robot (an early representational piece!)















(iii) Snowman (cork and potato print with glitter and toothpick accessories!)
(iv) Guiding Star (taking advantage of his love of cutting things up into tiny pieces and then rearranging them, (in this case last year's Christmas cards) - OK I had influence over the shape they were glued into but even so....)

Wrapped around your finger

It has been a difficult couple of weeks in our household with illness and unfortunately death striking across the family. There have been a lot of emotions flowing which I hope to capture in some form as gifts of condolence and comfort to my nearest and dearest. These items hopefully will show here before too long, but in the mean time, here are some cards I made in more quiet times.














The first is one (green and gold on cream background) is called frosty lawn, which was made by cutting up strips of fancy fabric, and knitting them in randomly with a rather nice green speckled yarn.

Next is starry night (on blue background), which was a lovely petrol blue mix yarn of very varied texture (can't you tell I am not very good at this by how poor my descriptions are!) Just straight knitted into a largish sample, then sewn onto a backing cloth, chopped up, glued down and star shaped embelishments added.

Finally (stripey on black background) is a yarn wrapping technique using my extensive "neutral tone" (no... not beige!) stash, which I have rather grandly called 'Snow on the Charnwood Hills'. Of the three I like this best, followed by frosty lawn.

Anyway, they have started my homemade christmas card collection (not bad for August!).

Baubles, bangles and beads

Here is an update on the plaster of paris and chocolate tray project...

My boy and I filled the tray with the plaster, left it overnight to set, then the next day we turned them out and sprayed them gold.
Then the fun really began as we pulled out our mighty selection of glitter, sequins, stickers and beads. I think they look pretty good, and will definitely grace our home at Christmas time.

I'm quite keen on this plaster modeling as an activity for children now. There is stirring and pouring to do, then the waiting (good discipline for them!), then pressing out from the moulds, and then the final decoration. I think we might be making a series of bespoke fridge magnets next!

Summertime blues

I have a young son who started school this year - this is our first summer holiday period, and I am really enjoying having him back at home every day. I know it is sometimes difficult to keep children entertained during the very long summer break, but so far we have not had any difficulties.

This is our next project...


I love this photo because it makes a very mundane item into something very interesting. This is the tray from a box of chocolates. They were very nice chocolates :-) and the tray reflects their quality in that it is much more sculpted and robust than the normal cellophane trays you get. So apart from photographing it, we plan to fill it with plaster of Paris, turn out the individual pieces, file them, spray them gold then decorate them with sequins and beads and use them as Christmas decorations. (Yes, I know it is only August, but actually everyone I take into my confidence and tell that I am already hatching Christmas plans then confesses to me that they are doing the same thing!).

I imagine that will keep a small boy entertained for most of an afternoon. Watch this space for the results!

Dressed for bed!

The home makeover shows always make a big thing about dressing a bed, and it is true that when they have finished with their mountains of cushions and swathes of beautiful fabrics, the beds and bedrooms always look wonderful.

Well, here is my attempt at dressing the bed in our guest room. The oversized cushion is made from the detachable arm cushions from an old settee. The fabric was given to me by my Mum. I made an envelope type flap for the closure. This is secured by some large wooden beads (rescued from one of those bead car seats) and some nylon cord made into loops (yes I do find it difficult to throw things away as I always have a suspicion that they will come in handy one day!). It is really lovely to sit up in bed leaning against this big cushion while reading.

The tulips beside the bed are silk flowers again given to me by my Mum. Every couple of months I drop some essential oil (currently frescia) into the centre of each tulip, then when the sun hits them they release a lovely scent into the room.

I keep meaning to find a band of blue material (perhaps petersham band perhaps?) to sew onto the bed cover, but I have not got it together to that extent yet! Anyway, I was very pleased with this little sewing project for the home.

Tagged people

At last... here are the 5 people I have tagged. I wish them luck...

Gabriella
Lisa
Chrysti
Jane
Amul

Fantasy tag list

OK, I did the real tag list (see below). But then, I finished putting my little boy to bed, got supper ready for my husband coming home from another week working away from home, and I got to thinking about my fantasy tag list. So here is my top fantasy item from each category (tagged people still to come tomorrow):

Handbag: Passport
Purse: A love letter
Fridge: Champagne or Apsparagus (or both!)
Wardrobe: An original beaded 1920s dress (and the figure to wear it!)
Car: luggage packed for a trip on the Orient Express or Trans Siberian Railway
Desk: A letter annoucing a mega payrise

"So I awoke, and behold it was a dream!".

Tagged (for my sins!)

I have been tagged by goodkharmabunny. This lead to yet another frantic Internet search to find out what it means! On my way I finally understood what a "meme" is thanks to the Pariah. This Blogging "ritual" is as strange as any, and with all its own jargon set to confuse us poor simple souls!

Anyway, on to the point - the tag.... It follows a standard format, so anyone tagged by me, now has to provide answers to the following questions:

Name 5 things always found in your:

Handbag/purse:
Shopping list
Money/credit card
Pen & Paper
Gooey lollipop for emergency situations with my little boy
Toy car or motorbike (for the same reason)




Purse/wallet:
Coins (usually small denomination!)
Toy library membership card
County library membership card
Receipts
Business cards (well, you never know...)



Fridge:
Opened bottle of dry white wine (unoaked)!
Mature cheddar cheese (or if I am lucky goats cheese)
Tomatoes
Selection of seasonal veg from my local organic farm or the farmer's market
Full fat milk for my little boy




Wardrobe/closet:
Pile of gardening/work clothes (on the floor)
My two pairs of ultra sexy shoes, protected in their boxes
My latest going out outfit (not worn enough) - currently black bootleg trousers and a black embroidered chiffon tunic top( - very 70s!)
Long skirts (ankle length - it's supposed to leave things to the imagination!)
Tailored blouses/ladies shirts - I am beyond tee-shirt days!




Car:
Map of the British Isles
First Aid kit
CDs (Currently Scissor Sisters and Arctic Monkeys)
Suntan cream (min factor 30)
Water


Desk:
Photos not yet put in albums
Cup of tea (maybe hot maybe cold!)
Spare toner cartridge
Notes/references for my latest project
Pile of bills



Five people to be tagged coming tomorrow when I have collected their URLs!

Forever my baby

After my little boy was born, I eventually got around to putting away the baby clothes. However I found that there were some I just could not put into the suitcase in the attic. These were mostly the items I had chosen to bring him home from hospital in, but also a couple of items given by friends.

As my baby grew and became a toddler, it was lovely to see these little scraps of cloth and remember how small he had been. I hit upon an idea that made it possible to have these clothes out and be able to fondly remember them every day - I made them into a "rag doll".

The head is a large polystyrene ball covered in flesh coloured felt, the body is simply the baby grow, with gloves sewn to the cuffs to make hands, and booties to the legs to make feet. The babygrow was stuffed with fibre filling, and all openings were stitched closed. The outer garments were then put on the "baby", and his first little shoes finished off the ensemble to give a life sized, 3D reminder of my baby. I deliberately kept the features very simple.

This really is a simple way of making rag dolls, and providing them with removable clothing.

Obviously, having had a little boy, I don't have much call for making dolls or dolls clothes. But a few weeks ago, I came to the rescue of a Barbie doll in distress. I am a volunteer at our local toy library (http://www.natll.org.uk/). We had a Barbie play set and doll donated. It was a beautiful airline set, and I think Barbie was supposed to be the stewardess. However, despite an enviable selection of luggage, poor Barbie had no clothes. It was felt that the set could not be loaned out either a) with no doll, and especially b) with a doll who had no clothes. Any way a few snippets of printed material, some elastic and a piece of ribbon meant I was able to provide Barbie with a sun dress. A very basic little outfit, but it did the job. I really enjoyed making it, and am now on tailoring duties for any dolls who need a new wardrobe at the toy library!

Empty nest

The blackbirds have successfully flown. They left our garden a week ago, but hung around in the surrouding trees for a couple of days. They have doubled in size and now have most of their adult plumage and also their tail feathers. Since we came back from our holiday, the bigger of the two has been seen feeding on the ground, accompanied by the ever vigilant parent. The smaller has been seen scuttling in the undergrowth. It is so lovely to see them around, and to know that there is a good chance one of them will nest in our garden next year.

I feel very privileged to have been so closely involved with them. It made me notice a lot more about our garden, and also blackbird behaviour.

Here are two pictures that evoke memories of my time as part guardian of the chicks. The first is a courgette flower, which reminds me of the hungry beaks of blackbird chicks held open for food.

The second is evidence of the blackbirds availaing themselves of our cherries.

Blackbird singing....

A departure from craft posts, but for the last 3 days my caged minutes have been taken up with little critters. We have blackbirds nest twice a year in our honeysuckle, and this time the chicks decided to leave the nest early. Barely able to stand let alone fly, they landed on our patio on Saturday morning, and we have been looking after them ever since.

The parents are still feeding them, but this is a big cat community (no, not big-cat!) - so we are on constant look out. We have put out water, and fruit, and the parent birds (mostly the male) are doing a great job of clearing our garden of insects in their quest to feed the hungry birds. My just planted out stocks have taken a battering, though. They were grown in, and planted out in peat pots, and the adult birds have managed to root out two whilst searching for worms. Each night, after the parents have gone to roost, we herd them to safety behind a big plant pot, and block each side so cats cannot get them, then one of us is up at 4:30 to make sure they can get out before the parents are back to feed them.

They are beautifully ungainly, with big wide mouths, and curious eyes. They hop all over our patio and are getting more adventurous each day. We have 12 steps up from out patio to our main garden - this morning one was half way up the steps. Soon they will be ready to fledge for real - their tail feathers are just starting to grow. I think I will miss them.

Tonight as I type I can hear their chirps and cheeps. A lovely backdrop to the end of a lovely day. Another excuse for a small piece of verse, this time from Joseph Addison: "I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs."

I was also caught by this one by Wallace Stevens (13 ways of looking at a blackbird): "I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after."

This Old House

I live in a very old house. Knowledgeable folk suggest it dates from about 1720. This old house has very old doors, and these old doors create some mighty drafts.

As the purpose of this blog is to help me remember what I spend my caged minutes on, I would like to wax lyrical about door curtains. Since I got my sewing machine 2 years ago, I have managed to make 5 door curtains to help keep the house snug and warm in the winter. It's a very ordinary pass time, but one with practical purpose and benefits that I see and feel every day, so I feel I should be justifiably proud of these door curtains.

Most of the door curtains are made from old window curtains. Inevitably they are too short, so I have to join them, which I do with a kind of decorative pleat. It is a big heavy job, especially as I line some with a second layer of curtain material, and in one case an old wool blanket. Here is my favourite fabric that I have used for a door curtain. I estimate it takes 3 hours from start to finish to make a door curtain, so in all that accounts for 900 caged minutes spent on this little enterprise.

I couldn't finish without a poem about curtains... (this blog is also rekindling my love of poetry). This is by William Cowper:

Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups,
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in.