Middle of Nowhere

Ribbon delights

2012-01-26T13:51:00.000Z

When you are lucky enough to snag a gorgeous old chocolate box for a song, the only thing to do is to fill it with lovely things. Shall we put a sparkling cobweb collection of organza ribbons in the top tray?

And underneath, more sumptuous satin ribbons - all perfect for little circus ruffs for small circus toys.

Because you can never have enough beautiful ribbons. Or vintage chocolate boxes.

See you ducky!

2012-01-23T15:27:00.006Z

January seems to have been sucked into a black hole - as I write, I am finally organised for my first (two day) needle felting workshop in Bath and will be away for three days; I'm feeling homesick already. As the trip must be done by bus and train, I am packing two rucksacks full of supplies and hoping it won't be too heavy. My nine pupils will spend the first day making this little duck, designed especially for the session, and I am expecting them to bring some prep work for their own designs, which I'll be helping them with - should they need help - on the second day. It will be a learning curve for all of us, and hopefully jolly good fun. See you on the other side, duckies!

Three for tea

2012-01-18T11:01:00.006Z

Last week, two lovely visitors, Jane and Katie, popped over the county border from Winchcombe for tea, cake and chat. Partly business, mostly pleasure, it was my first time of actually meeting Katie Morgan, apart from chatting on Twitter and reading her blog. (Whoever said that the internet is killing social life? I have no time for such ill conceived nonsense). Katie is as fascinating as her blog suggests, I could have spent all day listening to her. She had brought along a beautifully restored antique clock dial - restored by herself, as that is what she does, alongside many other things. At the moment she is restoring a 1938 fairground Waltzer (a phenomenal job) - Katie's website is crammed with the gorgeous work she has done and is now working on. Well worth looking at if you are interested in painted Romany wagons, fairground and narrowboat art.

Copious tea and very chocolatey chocolate cake (not made by me) kept us going for several hours as we discussed the Winchcombe Wool Festival which Jane - of the Winds of Change Gallery - is heroically organising. It will be held in April and last for three weeks, celebrating the long history of this historic wool town and the modern legacy of British wool. I will be doing a needle felt workshop towards the end, (date and price to be confirmed). So if you are in the Cheltenham area, watch this space; it will be limited to about six places. I'll be announcing the final arrangements here and on my Facebook page.

As it's been a while since I bought my two Matt Grimmitt mugs which are in the top picture, I treated myself to one of his lovely slipware bowls. It's a pourer, so is perfect for beating eggs. Matt often has work for sale on a certain well known auction site, and the best way to find out when he is selling is to follow his Facebook page here.

I like to think that perhaps, 150 years ago, similar country pottery was once used in this little cottage.

Studio changeover

2012-01-11T17:56:00.006Z

In a moment of brief madness, I looked at this corner last night and decided to Do Something About It. It looks fine at a glance, but there is a problem; where I used to have easy access to some of my favourite source and reference books, my way is now blocked by a tower of two printers, with two large vintage chocolate boxes on top.

I have crammed this room with almost as much stuff as it will take, without the central beam underneath the floor collapsing. That beam has held this little place together for over two hundred years, but I don't think it's ever had a load as big as this. However, there was all this wall space behind me, taken up by a large notice board which I barely use -

About an hour later, it got to that stage where you wonder why on earth you ever started and sob quietly in a corner hoping it will go away.

But we got there, eventually and I squeezed a little more book space up that wall - room for my lovely new Christmas books, as well as my old darlings, now easily to hand.

(I am sure there are people like me who click on photos to have a closer look at titles)

And I even had enough space over to hang one of my own artworks up - now that IS a novelty!

Double cupcakes

2012-01-07T09:18:00.014Z

My last order before that thing called Christmas was for a set of the cupcakes which appear in 'Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes' - and are of course, my blog header. The new set is of course, a little different to the original, because it is almost impossible to re-sculpt a design 100% perfectly.

Cupcakes mark one

Cupcakes mark two

They all have my logo ribbons underneath.

And signed tags.

Although my order list for larger toys is going to keep me busy until April/May (depending on anything else which may happen inbetween), I am trying to make smaller, 'budget treasures' -such as Santa - on the side. To save costs, these will be offered on my Facebook page first (or you can contact me directly if you hate Facebook) and will be around £65/70 ($100/110 US) plus postage. It's going to be first come, first served, and I hope to have four little things nearer the end of the month. I'm also storing needle felt archive pictures there, and work in progress, so if you want more needle felt bumph or the chance to get a little toy, please *like* my Facebook page.

Gretel Parker

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Out, about & inside

2012-01-03T18:38:00.012Z

I love this time of year - everything goes back to normal and my world can putter on, but with a whole shiny new year to get things done in. We don't really go in for Christmas - Andy has to work (even on Boxing Day this year) and I prefer to work - but we took a couple of days off at New Year and drove out and about in the comfort of The Wheels. Had a quiet lunch at the Farmer's Arms, a great family pub in Guiting Power.

It is a rare thing in the upmarket Cotswolds - a normal, nice pub with a comfy atmosphere. No posh gastro-anything, no minor celeb chef serving pickled pheasant with pineapple. We like it. And it serves great local Donnington beer - for me the passenger that is, the driver had a nice ginger beer. (A tip for tourists in the Cotswolds looking for a traditional pub - find a Donnington Brewer y one, all the ones we have been to are excellent)

It's all a bit dull, blustery and rainy here at the moment, so I have been driven around and parked about, so that I could do some (very) rubbishy landscape sketching. Snowshill is a favourite area for big fields and lowering skies.

Despite the gloom, the landscape is still stunning, especially over the Wiltshire Pewsey Downs. Sweeping and mystically atmospheric in all weathers, even on a murky day.

My favourite clump of trees; I can see it from all angles on our summer circular walk.

Spot the Wiltshire White Horse winter sleeping on the hillside.

Silbury Hill manages to camouflage itself very snugly into the surrounding countryside. To get an idea of how big this amazing prehistoric man-made mound is, the tiny little light to the middle left is a car headlight, on the road which runs past it.

As is tradition, I had a big studio tidy, ready for the new year. I have another full order sheet and am ploughing my way through a big list which includes some very remorseful and late emails to friends around the world and explaining why I didn't do a Christmas card this year. I don't deserve you, I really don't.

Updating my website is proving to be several days worth of work in itself; I'd rather be needle felting, but I can't punt for new illustration work without a decent website. Oh dear me, it is a very dull job indeed. By the way, a little tip; if you are like me and have several piles of *stuff* taking up floor space, simply amalgamate them into taller piles! I am quietly proud of this flash of genius.

What isn't dull at all is organising my first needle felting workshop which is happening later this month - two days of private tuition down in Bath with nine people. I have never been to Bath before, so it will be a very big adventure.

Santa

2011-12-24T14:41:00.006Z

Santa - 'Santa Claus' - an alternative name for 'Father Christmas'

Santa - A girl's name of Spanish origin, meaning 'holy'.

Santa - a small needle felted dog, just four inches tall. Santa and I would like to wish you all a peaceful Christmas, however you celebrate it and thank you for your company; my world would be a much poorer one without my blog friends, silent or otherwise. Santa says - 'rrruff!!'

A Cotswold Gallery

2011-12-21T11:13:00.011Z

We have acquired the winter use of a vehicle and it has transformed our lives; the aim is that Andy won't risk life and limb on the motorbike when it is icy and snowy, on his long commute to work. But it also means that we can get out a little more in the bad weather, when it's just too darned cold and wet to go on the bike. Previously I have rarely ventured out much at this time of year, rural public transport being too costly and there are limits to how far I can get on my bicycle.

I've never lived with a car of any kind before, apart from a few years with my foster parents. However my cantankerous foster father made a particular point of not giving me lifts anywhere, even on dark evenings, which can be hazardous for a teenage girl. It didn't kill me, but it made me even more aware, if I needed it, of how little he cared for me. So this is an unimaginable luxury and I am enjoying every single minute of it, while it's here. I can actually sit back in the warm and look at our gorgeous Cotswolds, in their winter splendour, in comfort, while sucking a sherbert lemon. Which you can't do on the back of a bike.

We were headed over to Winchcombe, as I wanted to visit a couple of Twitter-friends. We arrived just as a rainbow was disappearing into this historic town, which nestles snugly in the landscape, surrounded by wooded hills and on the doorstep of the stately Sudeley Castle.

Firstly I visited Bob and Carol at Sprogs, which is the best toy shop in the Cotswolds. No tatty plastic to be found here, just well chosen, beautiful toys and gifts for every age. I stayed chatting for them for ages (poor Andy!) and managed to do a little business there as well, so a return trip in January is arranged. My next visit was to see Jane and her newly re-furbished Winds of Change Gallery, who is featured in the current BBC Homes and Antiques magazine. I've met Jane before, last summer, but haven't seen the gallery since the change over.

It is gorgeous. Jane has exquisite taste and has created a stylish, clean but comfortable setting for the lovely arts and crafts collection, much of it local.

Although it is a modest size, there is a feeling of lightness and space.

This wonderful rocking horse (with a real horsehair mane) was painted by local folk artist Katie B. Morgan and carved by her father. Katie is a traditional fairground and gypsy wagon painter, amongst other things and her website is well worth a look if you love this kind of work, as is her interesting blog.

Andy was very taken with this hand crafted ladder back chair -

And I am saving my pennies for a Woolsoft 100% British wool cushion - maybe for our next house, if we ever get there.

Jane provided coffee with mince pies and we stayed for some time, discussing this and that, making a date for another meeting soon, when I hope to meet Katie B. Morgan too. Jane welcomes browsers and visitors, so if you are local to the Cheltenham area or nearby, (or even just passing through) do stop and say hello. Winchcombe is a vibrant town, with two great butchers and a nice variety of shops and pubs, with some stunning local walks and the famous Belas Knap Long Barrow just up the road.

The short afternoon was darkening and we began our journey home, back through the quaint High Street of Winchcombe town.

Catching the last fragment of winter sunshine which brings out the soft richness of the neutrals in the landscape and bare trees.

Later in the week I also made time to cut a new block of my 'Little Hare' design. as the old one was a bit battered. I seem to have re-learned my rusty printing skills, as to my amazement, I printed off 30 or so near perfect prints first time round and knowing how popular the first one was, I've put some of them *here* in my Etsy shop again, at the same 'under a fiver' price.

Outside looking in

2011-12-14T17:19:00.002Z

The wonderful thing about keeping a sketchbook is that you can tell it secrets that you would not tell anyone else. Whether anyone else understands what is inside, or even likes it, is neither here nor there.

Nothing but needle felt

2011-12-09T15:10:00.009Z

I feel I ought to make some kind of apology for my blog being about very little but needle felt - however, that is what my life mainly consists of. I don't go out, don't do the cinema/eating out/shopping/concerts/whatever most people do. I tend to stay in my overcrowded room working and hope to earn a bob or two along the way. I did manage to update my shop recently and have stock for the first time ever. Sparrow Hill Cottage was snapped up within seconds though.

I have two teeny tiny toadstools left, gift boxed and tagged - and am happy to add clips at no extra charge, for pegging onto trees and wotnot.

My new fox and polar bear brooches were also bought at once, so I'm offering them again as custom orders, with a four day lead time, each one taking a day to make.

Nobody loves my crow brooch! Andy hates it. Maybe he's right.

I have four robins up for grabs -

- and just two Silver Pine danglies left -

And for the first time in two years, I have desk top calendars, at the same price as they were two years ago.

None of these things are as desirable to most people as a Kindle, an iPad; or a new pair of fashionable shoes, (none of which I possess). I like to think that they will last a lot longer and are a heck of a lot cheaper as well as being 100% handmade.

Bracken hare

2011-12-06T13:42:00.009Z

December's hare is called Bracken and he is going to my very first male customer. In nearly four years of needle felting, all my customers (apart from the odd one buying for his lady love) have been women.

Bracken is definitely a 'chap'; he is heavier in build than Willow and has big paws to 'box' with. There is a great little home video of boxing hares here.

I read somewhere that hares take on the colour of the earth where they live. Last Sunday we were over the border in Gloucestershire on a cold winter walk. There were three orangey tinted hares grazing - this is a terrible photo, but they are actually a long way from us, and my zoom was struggling.

This is the field next door, beautifully ploughed and glowing copper orange in the weak sunlight, not unlike Bracken himself. So maybe it is true; all the hares I have ever seen have matched the earth of their area.

The Fibreworks & a giveaway

2011-12-03T09:41:00.004Z

The other week I popped over to the nearby market town of Chipping Norton, to meet up with a fellow blogger/Twitterer, Cristina Colli. She has the most gorgeous lifestyle and interiors blog with exquisite photographs that put my snaps to shame, appropriately called 'Positively Beauty' and she was showing me the new wool and haberdashery shop on the block, The Fibreworks.

I can remember this little shop in other guises, but it has never looked as beautiful as this. Light, airy and yet cosy, it is a treasure house of lovely and unusual yarns, with a well lit bay window area, where you may sit comfortably to knit or browse one of the many craft books on sale. Claire and Lesley, the shop owners, are always on hand with advice and help, should your latest creation be proving a challenge.

I don't knit - craft and needle felting being my 'day job' five day a week at least, I shy away from having a crafty hobby. But the wonderful wools on display were almost enough to tempt me.

I did lust over the pretty haberdashery section though and invested in a couple of thread winders, with the noble intention of beginning to tidy my tangled thread box. The shop (despite the absence of people in my photos) was bustling and humming - Chipping Norton needed a shop like this.

I was actually there to talk about doing a needle felting workshop there next year; I am already booked to do a weekend course down in Bath, this January for a private group. After some discussion we felt that starting with a simple thing such as a flower brooch would be a good three or four hour project for beginners.

We haven't decided on a date yet, but if you are in the Chipping Norton area and think you might be interested, do contact The Fibreworks, we should hopefully have sorted a date out soon. Their blog is here with photos of the various workshops and happy crafting customers they have had in the short time they have been open.

Here is Cristina, asking advice about some hand warmers she had begun at a knitting course there. Claire and Lesley give everyone a warm welcome, so do pop in if you are local or even just passing through. Chipping Norton is a really great little town with a wide variety of independent shops and a bustling atmosphere. You might even bump into me if I've winkled myself out of my studio.

♥♥♥GIVEAWAY♥♥♥

There is a review of both of my Puddletown Tales books (featuring my needle felt toys) on the UK Handmade blog, and a giveaway of one of each titles. To enter, you need to click here to visit the blog and answer the simple question. I'm also adding a signed postcard and pin badge with each one. CLOSES TUESDAY NIGHT DEC 6TH UK TIME!

And finally...thank you to the Cuteable blog, for giving my Teeny Tiny Toadstools a mention!

The Great Mushroom Hunt 2011

2011-11-26T09:21:00.000Z

I have barely left the fug of my studio in almost two weeks, needle felting like a thing possessed. Last Sunday was misty and murky and I needed a change of scenery, so we decided to pop over to the woods, to see if there were any mushrooms around. We have had so little rain that the fungi season has barely happened. The woods are beautiful at this time of year and everything was slowly dripping as if nature herself was quietly weeping.

It is a very late autumn, but at last the leaves are tumbling and things are bedded down and dying back for the winter. The trees take on a dishevelled witchiness.

We met a woman with a nice Red Setter dog and stopped to chat - she said that not only were mushrooms out in number, but she had seen lots of those 'red ones with white spots' in a particular corner which we know. A few days ago, she had met the chap who collects edible fungi for the nearby and oh-so-upmarket Daylesford Organics; he thought he had found some Chanterelles, which we have never spotted here. But there were plenty of things to look at - some good sized Wood Blewits which I wanted to pick, but Andy claims they are too woody for him. As I only had two paper bags, I left them where they were - these two were the size of a tea plate, about 7 inches in diameter.

The fun of mushroom hunting (and taking copious photos) isn't just about finding edibles, but finding out more about unknown types and trying to identify them later - such as these pretties, which I think are Grey Milkcaps. The clue is in the name, but I didn't know that until I got home. Next time I'll try breaking a cap to see if it leaks 'milk'.

These little fellows were hiding in the undergrowth, just a couple of inches tall - I hesitantly think they are some kind of Scalycap.

Joy of joys, we found another Penny Bun, or Cep. It was absolutely perfect; this is only the second one we have found and they are the best, so delicious!

Penny Bun 2011

It was growing very near where we found our first Penny Bun, last year, a tall chap with a fat head, easily identified.

A proud moment and a text book example. Although something had been nibbling at it, it was still a good size.

Penny Bun 2010

Last year we also found a Death Cap in one of our patches. It seems silly to say this about a toadstool, but they really do seem to have a sinister feel about them. This is last year's specimen -

Death Cap 2010

And growing in the same area, this year's specimen - (even the other mushrooms and toadstools seemed to give it a wide berth, growing far away from it).

Death Cap 2011

Here we also found several Shaggy Parasoles - these are darker brown ones and best when younger, before the caps get leathery. These can cause gastric upsets in some people, but we've eaten them before and our only problem has been wishing we'd picked more! Their gills start to turn pink when they are picked, which is a good way of double checking they are what you think they are.

As usual, Andy found Puffballs.

Did we find the copious Fly Agarics - or red ones with white spots as the dog lady called them? Oh yes! Lots, to my joy! Make way for fairy toadstools (but don't eat them: the fairies don't like it).

Personally I can't look at enough pictures of Fly Agarics, as you may have gathered. But, onwards and another great edible find; a Matt Bolete in very good condition - often the slugs have got at them and they are useless.

Further on, a near relation, the Red Cracking Bolete. My first wild mushroom at the tender age of 11 was one of these; I found it in the woods, identified it in my little book, double checked with mum and fried it myself. It was delicious and I became hooked on mushroom foraging. Even though this one was a bit nibbled, it was still good enough to gather.

One last mystery - this clump of oddly textured, gelatinous looking toadstools. Can't find them in my books or online.

If you look closer, you can see that they are bleeding a clear orange liquid. from the stems Most odd. I will not rest until I discover what they are.

We ended up with two bulging bags of various mushrooms, which was far more than I had anticipated.

The short afternoon was already closing in and it was not even three.

Time to head home.

One last delight, the jewel-like Spindleberry, my favourite wild shrub.

Once home with a pot of tea, everything was checked in our 'bible' - Roger Phillips 'Mushrooms'. Not only matching up pictures, but reading the descriptions, what they look like when cut, habitat - just to be absolutely sure, even though we were pretty certain of most of them. I fried them all up and we had them with bread, eggs and bacon.

As I am writing this several days on, we obviously survived.

A bit tangled

2011-11-15T15:51:00.004Z

I have not dropped off the face of the earth - just getting my head down and working, trying to cram in some extra bits and bobs around my orders. Making some robin clips, (it has been two years since I last made some). Pardon the state of my threads box, I keep meaning to sit down and untangle them all but I never have time.

Willow (who was last seen having her head cut off in a very undignified way) has long since left for her new home.

And now the next hare on my order list is patiently waiting to be finished.

I hope to have my shop updated sometime this week with the four robins, a miniature landscape and three animal head brooches (I am so happy with these, they are quick and rather sweet, if I say so myself). If you are not on my mailing list, do drop me an email to be added, as things tend to go very fast.

Garden round up

2011-11-03T16:02:00.001Z

It's been a funny old gardening year. Started late, because of various distractions. Andy took a garden sabbatical (I think he was traumatised from the demise of our polytunnel) so I had to see to it all single handedly, in spare moments. And, at the risk of destroying any illusions that we live in a tranquil, rural paradise - we have been living next door to this;

The bush in the left hand corner is in our garden and the strip inbetween is our neighbour's garden. It began in late spring, and our little old terrace of cottages shuddered and shook as the wrecking ball demolished the ugly 1960's retirement home which had previously stood there. All day, nearly every day (even at weekends) since then, we have lived with the accompanying noise of big diggers, industrial tools, shouting navvies, chainsaws, drills - well, the usual cacophony. So time in the garden has been infrequent and as needs be.

But despite all that, we've had a pretty good year. Picking funny little harvests and wondering how to bung it all together.

Eaten string beans when we wanted. Lots of them.

Custard squash were a triumph: what a great little vegetable they are - and when they are young, can be eaten skin and all. If you store them, then just cut them in half, roast them and scoop them out of their rind bowl.

Potatoes were meagre and very disappointing; we have had barely any rain here all year. I tried to keep them watered with my bucket - no hoses here - but it was a sparse result.

So the garden quietly slips into scruffy dishevelledness. A few things linger, thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, but it is time for a winter rest.

Oh, but tomatoes - the tomatoes excelled! The seriously cold snap must have killed off any blight we had lingering, and they have thrived.

All the plants are now stripped back to stalks and fruit. Despite a night's frost last week, the plants are still strong and healthy.

And I continue to pick ripe tomatoes in November, which is extraordinary.

I also like to leave green tomatoes to gradually ripen indoors - they will last into late November at least, just left to hang.

We are still living next door to a building site, except that now some of the houses have been built - which means that this time next year, we will have new neighbours. The time to move has definitely come.

But at least I still have some last nasturtiums to enjoy.

Halloween treats

2011-10-30T15:10:00.009Z

Earlier this month I went AWOL on my orders again and made a little Halloween mouse, who is already well settled in her new home. It was my first attempt at a ruff; much spitting and swearing (well, mild cursing anyway) ensued, as I fiddled about with unruly ribbon.

And then, just as I thought I'd cracked the perfect technique, I thought of a better way of doing it and had to re-do the whole thing again the next day.

But we got there in the end. Her head and arms are thread jointed and moveable.

The heart I always put on my toys was popped onto her tail end.

I like ruffs a lot and now that I've worked them out, they'll be making more appearances. I searched for the perfect name, and found a miniature type of pumpkin called 'Baby Boo' ,which was just right.

By happy coincidence, the kind person who was taking on my fat little Halloween mouse, also sent me an unexpected present, which arrived just as I was about to post her off. Photo opportunity of course!

My first and only Halloween decoration, a sparkly glass pumpkin half which is now dangling with my best treasures. (Thank you again to the gifter!)

And here she is in her new home, suitably surrounded by other festive decorations, saying hello to Griselda the goose witch - quite scary to think that I made her two years ago.

Luckily Baby Boo had already left by the time this awesome hoard of American candy landed with a hefty thump on the doorstep - an incredibly generous box of sweets from lovely Sooz, who knows that we like Dove Promises and Jellybeans and threw *just a few* more things in as well. Had Baby Boo found them she might not have been able to fit into her mailing box.

Headless Hare

2011-10-25T17:05:00.006+01:00

Happily, this doesn't happen very often, but occasionally I get halfway through a piece and realise that it is wrong to my original intention. As with this pre-ordered hare, Willow. Yesterday I realised that her arms were going to be too long for her body; cutting the arms down, as I did, didn't help. She needed more neck length. She was looking too tubby anyway - more like a rabbit than a hare. Only one thing to do...find the big scissors...

(If you are Janet of the Empty Nest, you might want to look away now...)

Cut off her head. It gives me a rare chance to look at cross section of one of my toys and see how densely it's been worked.

So the neck extending begins.

Once the wool is taking shape, I can hold the head on with a spare felting needle so that I can work on her more easily, in my hands.

About two hours after I cut her up, she is looking much better, but the joins are still weak and obviously showing.

So I tightly wrap some braces round the weak areas and needle them firmly -

- then carry on patching and smoothing. I also added more at her back, so that she didn't look too oddly tall.

After about five hours, I have a shape I am happy with and pop some black headed pins in her, so that we can say hello at last. Her proper glass eyes will be added later, but I like to have my toys looking at me while I work on them, so pins will do for now.

Much better - see the improvement? (You can look again now Janet).

Shorthand Sketches

2011-10-20T19:22:00.007+01:00

I had reason to sift through my many Moleskine sketchbooks in search of little landscape roughs this week. I usually carry a pocket Moleskine around with me on my walks and often stop to scribble something down. It's never anything wonderful, just a form of shorthand, catching the design which I've spotted in a part of the landscape.

I understand my notes, though I don't know if anyone else would. Very often I'll draw them in a frame. Even though I've only started lino printing again recently, I've never stopped designing print ideas, knowing that one day I'd find time to recreate them. Some of them are very small indeed - this one below is about 5 cm/2" wide;

Sometimes I can *see* a whole colour print as I sketch and make notes accordingly.

Sometimes my notes come right out of my head and are so garbled that not many people except myself could work them out.

This one below is actually an idea for a decorative mount with corner vignettes - hot air balloon (really) in the top left corner, lost balloon in the top right, trio of trees bottom left and solitary house bottom right with winding path. It is the crudest of notes, but to me it makes perfect sense. Had I not quickly jotted it down, I would have forgotten all about it.

At other times - if I am waiting for something - like a bus - l can be painfully neat. All the observational drawing feeds into doing believable imaginative work.

These notes have turned into more stylised designs - it's like banking ideas for a future date.

Even if they start out quite realistic.

Here's a more natural sketch, but still making a feature of the curved frame the old beech tree trunks make.

I can often remember the exact moment I drew something, and what the weather was like, even if the sketch is many years old. These were drawn from life but with a definite view to make into lino prints.

I used to be painfully shy about my rough sketches, many years ago, but now I don't care what anyone else thinks - scribbles they may be, but their practical use is just a first step towards the finished product and for that reason, they are priceless to me.

Monsieur le Roitelet and the Birds

2011-10-12T16:51:00.008+01:00

Nearly everything I buy comes from the internet; the village has a couple of food shops, but that's it for anything useful to me; I don't drive and what buses there are, are infrequent, expensive and take a long time to get from A to B. Buying something like good paper, which really needs handling, is a problem.

However, handily, there is a brilliant paper merchant Paper Resources, literally just down the road from us. So in search of some really nice papers, I popped in to see them. Unlike a lot of paper suppliers, they are more than pleased to sell small amounts to individuals and the choice is fantastic; hence I emerged with a decent amount of gorgeous smooth, specialist papers, for about ten UK pounds, all handpicked by the merchant and myself, with much deliberation, including a wodge of hard-to-find Mohawk paper from the USA. Happiness!

So commenced another round of remembering how to print. Lino printing seems to be a bit of an ugly duckling in the art world - not regarded as sophisticated as etching, more akin to stamping or potato printing. However, there is a bit more to it than that. For a start, to get a really good, smooth print, the ink has to be rolled just so, the paper chosen to go with the ink viscosity and then the actual rolling of the ink onto the lino block is in itself a delicate operation, to get an even surface. I don't want edges on the print, so it mustn't be too thin or too thick.

That up above is a nice vintage Speedball brayer, which I was trying for the first time; I'm going to stick with it from now on as the roller is nice and densely soft, making the ink go into the block better than the harder rollers on my other brayers. I roll the ink out about an hour before using, to let it harden a little and get the right 'tack' - then it is rolled out thinly and again on a tray and then on a glass slab, until it starts making the right kind of light hissing noise. And only then it is carefully rolled onto the block, checking it from every angle to make sure that all areas are covered evenly. I look for a velvety surface like this;

To minimise ink getting where I don't want it, I use a mask while I'm inking up the block. The bed of the proof press I use has also been carefully raised up with various layers of paper and card, to get the depth of impression I want - even slipping a single sheet of newsprint underneath makes a difference.

And then yet another mask, for the actual printing.

The paper is held into place with a bit of tape, but I also like to hold it down lightly with my thumb as I make the first pull across, to stop slippage and misprinting.

I do two 'pulls' - quickly but carefully, not taking the roller off the paper, or it will slip minutely and give a double, blurred impression. It's a single, smooth movement and often goes wrong for me, with the first practise pulls. Here we go, with the first - the impression showing through.

And after the second pull. Now you can really see the deep indentation. Taking care to remove the paper so that you don't smudge anything, you peel the print from the block...

Breath a sigh of relief, as this time it came out well.

A now familiar sight in our little front room-cum-print-studio. Much has been discarded over the three hours of work and out of this lot, only a handful were deemed good enough to put in my shop.

Printed on the gorgeously smooth Mohawk Superfine heavy ivory paper, there are 14 copies of this printing of 'Monsieur le Roitelet and the Birds' for sale here at a princely £5.25/$8.

I'm really pleased to have managed that many, as it's a vast improvement on my other print runs and I think I'm getting back into the swing of it at last, after an 18 year break. Less bodge, more hurrahs.

If you are in or near Oxford, Simon of Paper Resources is going to be selling similar packs of paper at the Fine Press Book Fair on the weekend of 5/6 November at Oxford Brookes University, details here. I may well be going myself, to look up some old friends and seeing what's new.

(PS - There is a reason why my little man is called Monsieur le Roitelet, but I'll let you Google that one yourselves).

Hereford Cathedral

2011-10-07T11:37:00.016+01:00

This week we had a little day trip over to Hereford, part of the Welsh/English border counties area where we hope to move next year. Visiting Hereford Cathedral was top of the list of things to do in our short time (as we had caught the train out). It is smaller than one of our local favourites, Gloucestershire Cathedral, and the stone is darker - a pinky, shadowy sandstone, unlike the light limestone we are used to in the Cotswolds. We were given a very warm welcome and there were so many interesting and quirky features, not the least being this wonderful - chandelier is the only word for it - poised like a halo or abstracted crown of thorns, above the crossing. Looking from this point towards the High Altar and far beyond to the Lady Chapel -

- and seen from the side, with a crucifixion painting just to the left which I instantly recognised as a Craigie Aitchison and later found that it has been loaned to the cathedral by the Jerwood Foundation. I'd love to see this area at night, when it is illuminated.

Prayers are said every hour, which is a welcome little spiritual breathing space.

Another familiar British artist is represented here, these three tapestries by John Piper. I found it quite difficult to get really good shots inside; it was as if the dark stone absorbed the light and colour.

Rather tickled to see the attention to detail here - behind the High Altar, a sight not often seen - the backs of angels.

I've never seen so much painted stone and wood, especially in the Lady Chapel -

We have, it seems, been a nation of animal lovers for a very long time - many of the great and the good have a companion situated at their feet and it's often a dog of some description.

Albeit sometimes headless.

Just off the Lady Chapel is the Audley Chapel, through which you can just glimpse the superb modern stained class windows made by the great contemporary artist Tom Denn y, whose work we have also admired in Gloucester Cathedral, as seen here. It was actually heaving with admirers, despite this snap, so I left it for another day.

What I love about our cathedrals is that they are, on the one hand, vasty deep and magnificent - after all, they were built to be all about power and statement, both politically and religious.

And yet there is also such exquisite detail;

- and in the tiny, confined space of the Stanbury Chapel, dating from the late 1400s, it is almost claustrophobic, as if one were sitting inside a carved seashell.

Finally we wandered down the cloisters, where we noticed the unusual carved wood ceiling supports. And a few cobwebs.

And at the end, a neat pile of odds and ends of salvaged carvings, most of them look medieval or earlier to me. Not that I'm an expert.

I can spot a foliage man head in there...

We didn't look at the famous Mappa Mundi, because it would have cost £6 each and as ever, we are counting our pennies. But we should be living close by one day, so it will be a special treat for the future.

I am aware of how inadequate my photos are, for expressing the sheer magnitude and majesty of this wonderful sacred building, but happily there is an excellent 360 degree virtual tour of Hereford Cathedral, which can be accessed through the left hand menu on their home page here. Full screen recommended.

Thank you Mollie Makes!

2011-10-03T18:42:00.005+01:00

I've been subscribed to the gorgeous and uber-trendy 'Mollie Makes' since its launch; I allowed myself a tiny twinge of smugness when issue one sold out within days and began appearing on a certain well known auction site, selling for silly money. The publishers seem to have got the design and content bang on the button with the trend for crafting, vintage and blogging - I look forward to my monthly copy arriving with the same excitement I used to reserve for my weekly and much loved 'Bunty for Girls'

However, knowing what I did, I was even more eager to rip this month's copy from the hands of the terrified Postie (before he could ram it into the letterbox) - allow me, if you will, a little preening - look who is on page ten - look, look look!!! Ooh, are those one or two of my little things featured there?

Talk about headless with excitement.

(Boastfest over, thank you for your indulgence).

Little Gems

2011-09-30T12:56:00.008+01:00

Inside my kaleidoscope

Our one round yellow courgette from 2007

Common Blue butterfly, rather faded and tatty

Pool/snooker chalks at the pub

Watchful rooster

Skulls and sweetpeas

Ladybird nestling in dead squash leaf

Medieval fragment, head of Christ (probably), safely niched away at the top of a window at Sandford St Martins Church, Oxfordshire.

Eggs & new prints

2011-09-27T13:50:00.013+01:00

The Cotswolds are looking particularly beautiful at present - the landscape seems ever so slightly blurred at the edges, as if seen through a misted glass. We are also enjoying a spot of 'Indian Summer', so collecting eggs is even more enjoyable than usual.

Marjorie and I don't often venture out of this side of the village as it leads up a very long and steep hill, which we find ourselves obliged to puff and push up. However, there is an excellent source of eggs nearby, from the Barrington Farm Estate. If you are driving to or from Burford along the A429, you are literally seconds away from it and I do recommend trying them out. (They sell double yolkers too).

The metal 'egg box' is a little austere, but it's more jolly inside. Self service here and an honesty tin.

We always buy the seconds. They are an absolute bargain; two dozen lovely free range organic eggs for £3.20 - who minds if they are a bit wonky and mismatched? (Feathers are free).

Returning home is easier. Downhill all the way and glorious views of our patch.

Then an industrious afternoon trying some new lino blocks.

Rather familiar looking little landscapes - no prizes for guessing where I get my inspiration from.

I'm still very much at the 'remembering how you do this thing' stage and there were many rejects. But I did get a handful of saleable ones - House on the Hill and Autumn Fields. Each is under a fiver - and you can't get two pints of beer for that nowadays. Not down here, anyway.

I also pulled more hare prints but the block is becoming a bit over used, so out of many printed, I only have two more to offer - and huge thanks to everyone who bought the last batch - you cleaned me out in three days! (EDIT - Hare prints now sold out - thank you!)

Happymess/happiness.

Three Little Maids

2011-09-20T14:58:00.006+01:00

It's that time of year when I deliver my contribution to the yearly Teddy Bears of Witney catalogue.

Only one edition this year, and a bit different to my usual style. I thought it would be nice to have a basic kitten design and call them after sweets, depending on what colours they were.

So this is 'Sherbert Lemon', always my favourite sweet. The design seemed faintly familiar and at first I was worried that I'd inadvertently plagarised the ubiquitous 'Hello Kitty'. (Which of course, I would never do, having quite strict morals about that kind of thing).

Then I traced it back to a toy painting I did back in 2006, 'Koko With Checks' thinking at the time what fun it would be to actually make this in real life.

A little later I used the basic shape again for a Christmas card, 'Angel Cat'.

And then I dug deeper, linking all this to some little Japanese dolls which I picked up for pennies when I was about 16-17. I'm so used to them that I'd almost forgotten about them, but they've obviously lurked in my creative subconscious.

I didn't know until a few days ago that they are Kokeshi dolls and are MASSIVE! Not in size, but in popularity and collectiblility. One is quite old and has a single baby doll inside her. She is my favourite. Or maybe he?

The other two also vintage, but more recent and have two nesting dolls inside. None of them are signed and I'm certain that they are simply mass market items, not the really valuable artist kokeshi.

My own 'Kokeshi Kittens' also have heavy, wobbling, heads and are a devil to stand upright. But they do, with a little care. Just.

Printing little hare

2011-09-15T22:00:00.002+01:00

I have been trying to organise my working days so that I don't spend it needle felting all day, every day. Love it though I do, I have many other things I want to produce. So I have been trying to take at least one day off per week to do something else. Time to unearth the old proof press, which has become swamped by books and magazines.

Time to find the little lino block of a hare I cut sometime in the winter and the block inks which I bought a few years ago and have barely used. Still in perfect condition.

A patchy first pull, but remembering that it takes a few inkings for the block to saturate with ink I do some more on test paper. The quality improves.

And with a bit of sweat and swearing, progress is made. Nice thick paper which has been saved for such an occasion is finally utilised. The eagle eyed long-term readers of this blog may spot the fabric hanging on the other side of the beam - yes, it is still there, my fabric stamping efforts from - goodness me, March! What happened to the time?

Some of the prints even come out moderately well. (Considering it's been a very long time indeed since I last did this).

At the end of the afternoon, everything is mopped down and replaced. It is as if the flying print-room had never existed. Except of course, for the long washing line of drying hares.

Later, a few of the best ones are popped into my Etsy shop, at pocket money prices. Just to see if it's worth carrying on with.

Wanda the White

2011-09-12T12:22:00.001+01:00

Although I have an ever growing toy order list, I try to sneak in a new design every so often and have been meaning to make a white mole ever since Milly appeared, who was bought by my friend Janet of 'The Empty Nest'.

Wanda too made her Etsy debut, but was only on stage for about a minute before being snapped up.

So she set off on the long journey to America, where so many of my little people end up, to join Milly.

And here they are, photo kindly nabbed from Janet's blogpost, having tea in a most civilised manner. It's delightful to see them brought to life, though I do rather envy them, as I would love to sit down with a cup of tea and chat to Janet.

Seven snippets

2011-09-09T18:56:00.001+01:00

I take hundreds of photos a year. Literally hundreds. I know I'm not alone in this; my digital camera has turned into the most efficient sketch book of all. I carry one of those around too, but for instant recording, my camera is my third eye. Quite often I intend to blog something or just post a photo to Flickr, and more often than not I don't, as there is no time. So with some difficulty, I've trawled this year's archives for just seven favourites, starting at the top with a huge Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar - about 3 inches long and a bit cross at being caught by one of the cats. (Also comes in pink and green)

Andy at a very isolated but lovely pub in Shropshire, the Bottle and Glass pub complete with friendly collie dog, real fire, excellent beer and local sausages on the menu.

Musician from Eynsham Morris, playing at one of our last cricket matches and beer festivals a few weeks ago.

Divine fragments of Medieval stained glass in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow. Do click on this for a larger look, they are rare and exquisite; can you find the owl head?

One of the 'golf balls' (actually a radar dome) at Clee Hill, Shropshire - they look so lonely and alien, and when the wind whistles through the wires, it is as if they are singing to each other.

Some of the wonderful topiary at the churchyard of St Mary's church Painswick; the entire grounds are crammed with these shaped yew trees, some made into covering for the paths, others just standing alone or in pairs.

Less ostentatious but possibly my favourite snippet of these seven; a newly shed robin's egg found on a walk in mid-summer when the earth was dry and cracked.

The last fete

2011-09-06T15:54:00.012+01:00

Well, not the last fete ever, but the last one of this summer. Not the most spectacular of events, but something to do on a Saturday afternoon.

Bric-a-brac stall

Pug dog

Comfortable

Who are you?

The book stall

English Setters and fan club

Noble nose

Weimaraner

Three generations

A fine moustache

Old boys

Vintage car

Gentle giant

The car of my dreams!

Little Hare

2011-08-24T14:02:00.013+01:00

Several weeks ago one of my collectors asked if I would consider a hare commision. Oh dear. I have been trying to design a hare ever since I took up needle felting over three years ago and have failed.

As shy and hard to catch as the real creature itself, I have been unable to visualise a satisfactory toy version, despite it being one of my favourite animals.

But I've broken the hare curse at last! Maybe it was because someone actually requested one, but I finally saw how it would be done. He has glass eyes, a waxed cotton nose and thread jointed arms -

Even underneath, where it won't be seen, attention to detail is paramount.

At my client's request, he was named Harris. Of course, now I've cracked the hare code, I have all manner of similar characters in mind, but they will have to wait until my present orders are fulfilled.

I get many enquiries about when I am going to update my Etsy shop with more needle felt things; I seem to work mostly to order now, but I have two little toadstools looking for homes and who knows when I'll have time to make more...

I am having another 'Puddletown Tales' book signing, this time in central Oxford, at Waterstones bookstore on the corner of Broad Street - very soon! In fact, this Saturday the 27th of August, 1.30 - 4.30. If it's possible for you to make it (and help me break the last record of one book sale) I'd love to see you there and put names to faces.

Raggy rainbows

2011-08-19T09:38:00.005+01:00

One of those little chores which gets side-lined for months - washing the stiffness out of new fabrics. I am not one for bright, busy, decorative patterns; exquisitely simple prints are joyful to me.

This one is my very favourite - I bought a whole metre of it and almost bankrupted myself, just in case I never found it again. It's style number 31944-4 in the 'Cat in the Manor' range from Windham Fabrics.

But they all looked lovely once they were hung out to dry.

Raggy rainbows.

While I was playing Mrs Tiggywinkle, I tea stained a length of poplin too.

Spot the cat - not in the manor, but in the strawberry patch.

This blogger has an awesome amount of gorgeous fabrics - makes my stash look like a drop in a puddle.

Little Flourishes

2011-08-12T21:21:00.006+01:00

A few years ago I was able to rescue a small letterpress studio - which caused a little bit of a problem with where to put it in our tiny cottage. The type cases ended up stacked up various walls and the printers are safely wrapped and stashed in my kind neighbour's stone shed, all waiting for the day when we move somewhere bigger and I have more space.

Anyhow, I was cleaning the spider webs from our front bay window and was idly looking through some type chests when I found an undiscovered stash of decorative flourishes.

Aren't they lovely? And I didn't even know I had them!

Llandudno

2011-08-09T16:36:00.014+01:00

Returned from a break over the border in North Wales. Against the odds it barely rained (for Wales, at least). While Andy went off yomping and scrambling over mountain-y things, I amused myself. This day I was dropped off at the pretty seaside town of Llandudno, where I had a very passable time pottering about and taking photos. Firstly I quickly sketched the beach from the pier, as I had a new Moleskine sketchbook to break in.

I am very much at home in old-fashioned seaside resorts, having spent much of my childhood living by them or day-tripping at them in Devon and Somerset. And I like what other people sometimes regard as 'tacky'.

And I do love a nice pier, even on a damp, grey Welsh morning.

It did rain a little. I retreated to the town and found the charity shops. When it stopped raining, I was just in time to catch the end of this traditional Punch and Judy show, run by the Codman family, which has been performing here since 1860. The original Codman, a circus traveller called Richard, carved the first set of figures from driftwood gathered on Llanduno beach. It was extremely funny and stuck to the proper story (no PC nonsense here). Punch outwitted the hangman and did his best to outwit the Devil himself. Hurrah!

Smiling broadly as I popped my coins into the collecting cup, I realised I was now very hungry and headed back to the pier for fish and chips.

I took my feast over to the beautiful wide promenade where people were strolling and sitting, a happy atmosphere of people on holiday, the elderly enjoying the sea air and invalids being wheeled about - very gentle and relaxing. I even heard a local group of lads decide not to play football on the beach as there were too many people around. How refreshingly considerate.

I had to eat swiftly and economically as the seagulls are always on the prowl for food and are quite fearless, striding up and squawking in a bullying tone, demanding titbits with menace. They got nothing from me - fish and chips is a rare treat and one of my favourite meals. Afterwards, I spent a couple of hours drawing thumbnails - not 'pretty' sketches to be ooo'd and aah'd over, but little observational exercises to keep me amused and to register details in my mind.

Llandudno pier looked magnificent in the distance - actually, much of the Llandudno sea front houses are quite lovely, beautifully maintained hotels and bed and breakfasts, painted in ice cream colours and with their names painted above the entrance in Welsh and English.

I think perhaps the happiest people that day, apart from the children, were this elderly couple who had their chairs right at the sea's edge; I am sure their feet were in the waves.

A Couple of Swells

2011-07-28T18:12:00.013+01:00

This is a much loved character, Mr Lavender, as he was back in 2008. He travelled a long way to a gallery for an exhibition and failed to sell for the princely sum of £65. (He has since doubled in price). He later became a part-time actor in the second 'Puddletown Tales' book, 'Peggy's Lost Pennies' as a toyshop owner.

By then he had aquired a smart new waistcoat.

I was asked by one of my regular customers if the original was for sale. As none of my Puddletown people are going to be sold - unless things get really bad - I offered to make a copy. So, Mr Lavender the First -

- and Mr Lavender the Second.

He is a little smaller, but has the same kindly, humorous look. Now he's about to bring pleasure to his new owner, who is delighted with him - which is always nice.

"We're a couple of swells

We stop at the best hotels

But we prefer the country far away from the city smells

We're a couple of sports

The pride of the tennis courts

In June, July and August we look cute when we're dressed in shorts

The Vanderbilts have asked us up for tea

We don't know how to get there, no siree

No, siree.

We would swim up the Avenue but we haven't any lake

So we'll walk up the Avenue

Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue

Yes, a walk up the Avenue's what we'll take."

(From 'Easter Parade' by Irving Berlin)

No more fairies

2011-07-26T09:04:00.003+01:00

I had more or less forgotten about these two watercolours; they were in my first little exhibition in 2002, when I first discovered that people liked what I did and wanted to buy it. This pair are actually studies for a larger nursery commission.

They are also some of my last forays into fantasy subjects - I find my interest nowadays is returning back to the real world and painting what's in front of me.

The pixi and gnome were sold at the time but the purchaser never collected them, despite my best efforts to contact them, so they've been languishing under my desk for years. Time for them to move on to someone who will appreciate them more than I.

BUY YOUR OWN PIXI OR GNOME HERE!

Garden resurrection

2011-07-21T15:03:00.015+01:00

Long term readers may remember that the heavy snows at Christmas and my neglectfulness caused our lovely polytunnel to implode. It was quietly heartbreaking and we didn't get round to clearing it until April. Andy dismantled it and I tidied up the debris. Our little back garden looked desolate. But I sowed a patch of broad beans, just over there to the left, covered with netting. Because you've got to really, haven't you?

Sowing seeds and sorting out the many winter casualties took some weeks, due to other commitments and lack of motivation; it looked as if the broad beans might be the only veg we harvested this year. This sparse looking snapshot was actually taken in June, not so long ago.

Gradually things got planted and repotted, pruned back and rescued. Our small yearly harvests will be late, but just as welcome. From here, it all looks somewhat weedy and jungly. And it is true, there are things growing where things shouldn't be - apart from pesky weeds, there are tomatoes in with the broad beans, thrown up from seeds dropped by the tomatoes in last years polytunnel harvest. The strawberries take care of themselves and grow everywhere, eternally fighting with the twitch grass and Clover's big ginger bottom which regularly sits on them.

I always forget what thugs squash can be - these *little* patty pans needed tying back, before they swamped the dwarf beans.

So I've forced them up and back with string and poles, to give the beans a chance. And finding another rogue tomato growing between the bean rows!

Tiny patty pan squash, just an inch or so wide.

Then the beans were given a bean frame, and the tomato plant growing amid them was carefully replanted to it's own spot nearby.

These two humongous, lovely lettuces are from the 'cut and come again' mixed salad leaf bed sown in this patch last year. Now they are grown up lettuce and ready to be picked.

This rambling patch of green is a hugger mugger potager of salad, courgettes, more dwarf beans, tomatoes, chard and the odd rogue potato. Despite the close planting, everything is doing well.

Almost time for non-stop courgettes.

Hiding somewhere in there are our first wax beans - just a few more days.

For the first time ever, I resisted the urge to plant a zillion tomato seeds; we bought a few various ones from local table tops and the rest are simply 'volunteers'. 'Gardener's Delight' is living up to it's name and look, oh joyous day, there are actually ripening tomatoes! After years of blight, this is a marvellous thing.

They are placed around a raised bed of peas, which are not doing as well as I'd like, considering they were grown in our own compost, but after a week or so of rain they are coming on.

As I left it far too late to purchase special potato seed stock, I reverted to my childhood method of simply planting old shop spuds which were sprouting. They're doing very well, in trenches and one batch in a sack - my first time at trying this. I'll be interested to see which method has better results.

This is one of my 'Blair Witch' charms, to look after the garden; one hare's skull and three portions of what I think are badger spine bones - could be deer. (If you think that's bad, never look inside my pockets...)

So although it all looks a bit disorganised, this is really a densely packed living larder.

I even have a fairly respectable pot herb garden again, and of course, sweet peas and nasturtiums. Can't do without those.

And finally the broad beans are ready. This is a really great variety, Suprifin, which I'll definitely be planting again. Just in front are three 'volunteer' tomatoes from last year - popped up in the ground and were shown mercy. Variety unknown, but probably Brandywines.

Deep in the bean patch, I am so pleased! Lovely big pods, heavy crops and plants just the right height; nice and tall but not too tall, so no staking required. Perfect.

Picking our first crop the other night, I was very glad that I'd mustered myself to rescue the remnants of the garden. This is why we do it.

It just wouldn't be summer without a few homegrown treats.

Little stone feet

2011-07-17T18:28:00.008+01:00

Last month I took Marjorie over to the village of Oddington, eight miles away, to explore what I had heard was an amazing feature in the little church there. It was indeed amazing, and warranted an entire post to itself. If you want to know what it was, I have blogged it here at 'my other place', Cotswold Peeps. However, before I discovered the mysterious treasure, I found the most beautiful pair of tombstones outside.

One looked to me to be Jacobean, by the decoration; formal stone foliage -

- and a floral motif, looking very much like the kind found on old tapestries and needlework of the time.

This one however I have since found dates to 1690, making it of the Restoration era.

The poor dear has lost her face at some point, but she must have been of some importance and wealth to warrant such a memorial.

I don't know why, but I found myself deeply moved by her little stone feet poking out - almost a tender need to cover them, feeling as I did when I was small and feared dangling my feet over the bed for fear something would grab them.

Doppelganger

2011-07-13T18:55:00.001+01:00

'Don't worry old chap, not much longer to go!'.

Another week, another radio appearance! Back briefly on Radio Oxford, with the lovely Jo Thoenes, available on the BBCiPlayer until July 19th, blethering on about this blog. Fast forward to about 2.20 minutes in, after the 'F1WAG'.

RADIO OXFORD INTERVIEW

Cricket Tea

2011-07-11T15:56:00.008+01:00

I suppose it eventually had to happen, after 14 years of avoidance; this Sunday I served my first cricket tea. Ring out all ye bells! Although, to be fair to myself, there are very good logistical reasons for this, one of them being our midget kitchen. This photo was taken standing in the back door. Note the two ring table top cooker (no heat control on the plates) with bungee hook to hold the knackered door closed. It can only be used with the inside door shut. Cooking in a cell would be more fun. I daresay our landlord could find a space crunching solution and get a normal sized oven in, but he hasn't bothered so far...nor to provide a fire extinguisher. (Mind you, where would he put one?)

As you can see, there isn't a lot of space and most of it is taken up by cupboards/sink/fridge & washing machine crammed into an area the size of a large broom cupboard. Things get placed randomly wherever there is a gap, hence the washing powder in the pile of mixing bowls. Anyhow, I managed to get four cakes baked on Friday. By hand of course, as there is no room for a mixer. The other problems are that we live 15 miles away from the home ground and only have a motorbike to transport everything over. Tea for a minimum of 24 people is a lot of tucker.

However, Andy took the cakes over to the clubhouse on Saturday, as he was playing that day too. I stayed at home, made two trays of flapjacks, began the quiches and then caught two buses over to the village, to deliver the bread. After a frantic rush on Sunday morning to make egg mayonnaise, cook chicken, make buttercream icing and another quiche, we strapped a chiller bag to the bike, got the rest into a rucksack and the topbox and set off. The club kitchen is a luxurious palace compared to ours - look at all that space!

I had about 3 hours to prep, so I put my little radio on and set to work with some nice classical music in the background. Four loaves worth of sandwiches to be made up, four cakes to cut & one to decorate and various crisps, pies, nibbles etc to be plated up. Should have been fine.

As it happened, we had a bit of a batting collapse and a panicking Captain Andy ran in, to see how it was all doing. A frenzy of cutting & plating commenced, and I barely had time to take photos of my beloved cakes - flapjacks, lemon drizzle, fruit cake, cherry & almond loaf & an iced mocha - before they were whisked out to the tables.

Overall it went very well, though the quiches were superfluous. The chicken stuffing sandwiches were a hit, but I was disappointed that my cakes were barely touched. The oppo team was half made up of (literally) children, and it seems that 21st century kids eschew home baked goods in favour of more nibbly, snacky things. The older chaps dug in well though.

It was all over after 25 minutes and the big clear up began. As I was putting the last mugs away, feeling somewhat frazzled and a bit glum, my lovely friend Debs (she who lent me her house for my book launch) arrived, to give me a chilled bottle of cider she'd brought down especially. True friendship. And she ate cake - with relish. As the afternoon drew on, the tea remains were dug into by supporters who did appreciate an old-fashioned cake or two (one heroic old chap had 6 platefuls). And I don't know if word had got out about my disappointment at non-cake-eating youth, but some of them came and ate cake after the match and thanked me for tea. Which was nice.

After the match, we repaired, as normal, to the marvellous Queen's Head for customary after match chips and mayonnaise. And a beer. Duty done - for the moment. And a boxful of cake leftovers to keep Andy happy.

Brushes from Heaven!

2011-07-07T01:53:00.000+01:00

So the other day, I was in our little village library, when I was offered some free paint brushes. As it happens. Apparently some local arty type didn't want them anymore and for reasons I can't quite fathom (perhaps intended for the library fete stall? Which sells only books?) had passed them on to the library. Who, knowing what I do, suggested that I might like them.

Did I ever! My heart at that point literally thumped a bit faster. Investigations found plenty of sables and some unused hog hairs - most of them were used, but I don't mind not having to wear a brush in (it's a bit like fountain pens, they are better when they are not minty fresh). More brushes than I could afford to buy in one go, anyway. And they even came with their own pot.

A more blatant sign from the Universe that I need to start painting again, after a ten month break, I cannot imagine.

Mr Lavender at the match

2011-07-02T19:20:00.011+01:00

Frequently our British summers are capricious and it is as likely or not I'll pack a jumper or two to take with me to a cricket match. Not the other week - Sunday last was a bursting-out-all-over-heat-filled blue & green scorcher, almost perfection and at one of the nicest grounds I have had the pleasure to visit, Sandford St Martin.

Mr Lavender came too. He enjoys a bit of cricket, so long as the sun is out and there is a nice tea.

Despite the gorgeous surroundings, Mr Lavender, Andy's mother and myself decided to do a little exploring; too tempting a road to resist and there was a glorious poppy field on the dege of the ground.

The village itself is not directly in our patch - Sandford St Martin is a plush little place on the other side of Chipping Norton.

Prosperous looking even by Cotswold standards. We are in serious commuter belt here, handy for the cities of Oxford and London, making house prices *interesting* despite the quaint rural appearance.

Mr Lavender had a thigh high view from my combats pocket.

At last though the sun got too hot for me; Andy's mum is a lizard and can soak it up all day - I am made of frailer stuff. We were back just in time for tea and Andy smuggled a plate out for us. It was the best tea I've had in many a year, if not THE best. All home made and the softest, moistest, plumpest Victoria sponge imaginable, like a mother's welcoming lap, just begging to be dived into.

Somewhat over-full, we read the latest Jeanne D'Arc Living (which matched Mr Lavender's colours) and watched what turned into a very tight and exciting match.

But despite the best efforts of young Sam, Andy's top weapon, things did not go in our favour. Poor Sam was 99 not out and missed his century.

We lost, but it was a good, sporting match - jolly nice team and all that. And a tea to die for. Hopefully a fixture to be repeated.

Teeny Tiny Toadstools

2011-06-26T13:24:00.003+01:00

A new line! Teeny Tiny Toadstools - they do exactly what they say on the box, as it were. Looking rather quaint against this gorgeous vintage fungi book which my friend the lovely Emma sent me last year as an unexpected birthday present.

They are teeny.

They are tiny. (Or at least, very small, but that doesn't trip off the tongue as easily).

And, they *only* take a day or so to make. So I can sell them for less than my larger toy creatures.

Two were snapped up at once. There was one left until this morning. Not any more.

I was really touched by the lovely comments left after my last pity-me blog post; what a sweet company of readers I have. I really am more thick skinned than I appear and was soon back on my feet, if a little tired. It's been a funny old year and I seem to have done a lot of organising for one thing or another. So Andy whisked me off for a reviving mini-break in gorgeous Shropshire, to look at old churches, stunning landscapes and to check out the house prices...

A mostly uneventful day

2011-06-20T12:08:00.006+01:00

Well, that's another one to chalk up to experience. Saturday was my book signing day - the lovely people at Teddy Bears of Witney had given over a whole one of their windows for a display of my books.

And in the long back room where the child-safe bears live, I had the top of a glass display cabinet for the Puddletown toys, where they sat very happily. I also had a digi-frame set up, showing previous work.

One crucial thing I did learn as the day went on was that I should have put them on the two lowest shelves because of course, they are not at child height and the little mites had to crane their necks to see.

I set my table up at the back, with everything I needed, including work, as I didn't expect to be overwhelmed with crowds of adoring fans.

I was not disappointed. I was not overwhelmed by crowds of adoring fans.

Several people came in to see me over the six hours; stayed to chat about various things, admired the toys and books. I very much enjoyed meeting them all and one lady who has read my blog (*waves if she is reading this*). One person came in specifically because she had heard my radio interview and felt a connection, having had a difficult childhood herself - we exchanged details and if the day had been meant for anything, it was for that, so I'm glad.

The shop sold three books in total, which works out at half a book every hour and I sold enough pin badge/postcard combos to cover my bus fare and have a much needed pint. I felt more sorry for the shop, as they had gone to so much trouble on my behalf.

I'm tough enough to take it - the next signing is being planned in Oxford. Hopefully we may sell more than three books this time.

Radio waves

2011-06-13T09:23:00.007+01:00

Just in case you've been on another planet - or not linked to me on Facebook or Twitter - I was interviewed on Radio Oxford last Friday, as part of the promotions for the Witney Book Festival (17th-19th June). I was in a state of complete trembliness and discovered what it meant to be dry mouthed with fear.

Not that I need have worried - Jo Thoenes, the afternoon presenter, was simply marvellous and soon had me at my ease - or at least, as much as I was ever going to be. The interview flew by as she asked me about my early life, my books and how I got to be where I am. To my relief I didn't fluff, stall or swear and more importantly I got all the plugs in for the Witney Book Festival and of course, my signing and exhibition at Teddy Bears of Witney, next Saturday, 10am-4pm.

My lovely friend Debs heroically ferried me about that afternoon and took photos. I had intended to take in some 'Puddletown Tales' characters to show Jo, but silly me, I left them in my studio at home. Thankfully Debs had her pig, Apricot, who came to be the star and I also brought in a work in progress - afterwards giving a flying demonstration to the nice programme producer who looked after us.

I have even been asked back, should I have another book to promote (*crosses fingers and prays to the Gods of publishing*). The interview - half an hour long in three parts - is available to listen to for four more days on the BBCiPlayer (so if you are coming to this after the 17th of June, I'm afraid you're too late!). To find me, fast forward to about 1.08 in the programme, after the wonderful Percy Sledge.

Interview clip here

After the interview we were all thrilled to find a message on the Radio Oxford Facebook page from Janet in America - which was lovely, and like having a little bit of her there with us.

When it rains at cricket...

2011-06-08T16:26:00.007+01:00

...as it did last Sunday, one retreats discreetly to the clubhouse (should there be one) to get on with other things.

Planning a new line of little needle felt toadstools -

- while in a very grim but British way, the light but persistent rain does not stop the afternoon's match. Some even choose to watch it outside.

Tea, I am sad to report was disappointing in the extreme. I was smuggled a few little things, but there were no proper sandwiches and no cake! The tea pot was not refilled and the brew was insipid. Bizarrely, there were big plates of fruit, on such a cold, wet day. In abundance. And were largely left.

Andy is Sunday Captain at the moment and had a bit of a bowl. The arm is repairing though still painful - not that you would know from this;

Just a reminder, should anyone be interested, I will be on BBC Radio Oxford with 'Jo in the Afternoon' on Friday June 10th, from 2pm (UK time) talking about my books and myself. 2pm in the UK is five hours ahead of New York/East Coast time, so about 9 in the morning for my American friends. Do check this out for yourselves though on an online site, as I get a bit foggy about teccy things like this.

A sweet bouquet given to me yesterday by visitors to my studio

Patchwork quilts & birds

2011-06-04T19:29:00.002+01:00

While Andy was breaking his arm on the cricket boundary a few weeks ago, his mother and I were doing some lunching and sight seeing in the village - East Hendred. The village itself is an architectural feast which I've explored several times when we've played over there, but that day we ventured into the tiny museum where we found a large and detailed early Victorian quilt, in remarkably good condition. The fabrics used in (what I believe to be) the postage stamp design are simply gorgeous and in remarkable condition, so for once I will cut the waffle and let them speak for themselves -

Is it not beautiful? Stupidly I was so involved with taking macro shots I forgot to take a photo of it in situ. Not seeing the wood for the trees as it were.

Patchwork Birds

Sometime back whenever, I finally conquered my fear of making birds and started a series named after Cotswold villages;

'Little Tew' has flown off to America now, but Bibury is still on Etsy here and available to one loving home...

(Andy arm update - very much improved; thank you for the good wishes everyone! Motorbike is being ridden and cricket is *sort of* being played; his one handed batting innings is going to go down in our club's legends).

Evolution of a little black dog

2011-06-02T09:00:00.013+01:00

Some weeks ago - pre-party mahem - I finished an order for an *old* blog friend (old in terms of knowing her that is) Rachel of 'Slow Lane Life' who wanted a little version of her sweet black Labrador Florence. I don't often take on pet commissions, preferring to concentrate on toys, but for her I made an exception as she said more or less to do my own thing. Even so, Florence the small did end up looking very much like Florence the large...

From fluff to basic body took about two hours, sitting in our weedy back garden in the sun. Later the all important glass eyes and nose were added -

- and positioned.

We were going to have a scarf, but it spoiled her pose and hid her graceful neckline.

So a slim collar ball was substituted instead and a ball provided a place for the heart I put on all of my animals.

Did Rachel and big Florence like the result? You can see here, when the two met, at a discreet distance.

Events update

I am taking part in the Witney Book Festival and will be on BBC Radio Oxford with 'Jo in the Afternoon' on June 10th, from 2pm talking about my books and life. Then on June 18th I will be selling and signing my books, at Teddy Bears of Witney, demonstrating the craft of needle felting with the Puddletown Tales toys on display, so if you are local, do drop in and say hello! (Unless you were at my recent teaparty and are sick of the sight of us!)