30.7.09

Blowing away the cobwebs



We have found a new walk, almost on our doorstep. My cold (not helped by getting caught in a shower) needed a final nudge to send it on its way. It's given us a whole new aspect of our village, somewhere over there, in the middle of the greenery. It was a blowy day, and a fledgling bird of prey was testing its wings. Andy thought it was a kestrel as it was quite small and had a similar flight pattern. I thought it was a buzzard, because of the markings and lack of grey hood on it's head. We Googled images and emerged even more confused. Any expert opinion (as opposed to our amateur guesswork) is most welcome.




Naturally there had to be a picnic. And a picnic needs a view. Ideally there should be fizzy pop, boiled eggs, Mr Kipling cakes, and rolls or sandwiches. We were greedy and had sausage rolls as well. Don't forget the Maldon sea salt for the eggs. (Andy's knee is not compulsory).





If it seems as if I spend a lot of time going out for walks - well yes, I do. And we are lucky to have so many on our doorstep. My life - in the summer - is pretty much compiled of needle felting, walks, watching cricket matches and little domestic things, such as cooking and tending our veg patch. In the winter it is the same, but without the cricket or the veg patch. Much of this is from choice, but I have no disposable income, and all of these things are free or cheap. It is quiet, but it suits me; it makes up for the first twenty four years of my life, which were - well, not exactly ideal, by a long chalk. Some people see their childhood and youth as a golden time in which they had their happiest time. I was not so lucky, so I am very appreciative of what I have now, and bless every day in which I have Andy and the small things of life. Which are not so small really.

Rather like my cucumber - what a whopper!



24.7.09

Butterflies & Summer showers



My walks and cycling have been curtailed for some weeks, thanks to something I did to my ankle (not sure what but it stopped me going anywhere far) which took forever to get better and then getting a nasty little cold. But yesterday, after days of patchy rain, the sun shone and we went across the border to one of our favourite circuits. We had the usual quiet adventures which make us happy; ogling an empty (and gorgeous) old stone house and imagining what we would do with if it were ours...spotting fat brown trout in the crystal clear waters of a stream...finding a Victorian bottle bank on someone's land, naughtily trespassing to investigate and the ensuing disappointment of discovering it all broken.




However, these little joys were eclipsed by the proliferation of butterflies, enjoying the muggy heat. This estate leaves strips of 'scrub' for wildlife and they are havens for once common species, now sadly not-so-common. I haven't seen so many butterflies in one place for a long time, and set about 'catching' them - in the nicest possible way.


PAINTED LADY

RINGLET

SMALL TORTOISESHELL

PEACOCK

CLUMSY IMITATION


Today I was not so lucky with the weather. It was nice enough, when my trusty/rusty old bike, Hercules and I set off for a quick jaunt round the lanes.




We are so close to the county border that I can switch in and out of Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire within a few miles of cycling. By the time I was in Gloucestershire, the monstrous dark clouds which had been glooming behind me, finally caught up and the skies opened. Not much to do except keep pedalling. The clouds chased me all the way back into Oxfordshire.




Despite being soaked through, I still enjoyed the contrast of the brightly lit landscape against dark skies. By the time I was nearing the woods, there was a bit of thunder and lightning thrown in, for extra excitement.




Had to get off to walk round these puddles. The holey tree on the right is what we call the 'hornet tree' - where we once watched the goings on of busy hornets, and a couple of years later found the remnants of honeycomb which had dropped down the trunk.




Drenched as I was, I felt a pang of sympathy for the farmer trying to cut his hay; like me he must have started when the sun was out, and like me, he'd been caught out.




The wind decided to get up, and if anything, the rain came down even harder. I cycled the last couple of miles home soaked to the skin and water almost blinding my eyes.


Naturally, by the time I was back in the village, it had stopped.


16.7.09

Mr Five Wickets



Although England are doing their very best to stuff things up and let the Aussies keep the Ashes, in other parts of the country,** things are looking a little more fiery. Last weekend, Andy took five wickets in quick succession in a league match (so now we no longer languish near the bottom). It was a joyous occasion, though I heard a very rude comment indeed from one disgruntled batsman as he sulked off, dismissed. It was unrepeatable in polite society, so I won't share it. Co-incidentally, the T.Gherken just above him is the chap being roundly (but amicably) abused by our lot in the little video I posted a few weeks ago.




Despite the poor opinion of his victims, Andy came in at number nine in the bowling table this week. He was also headline news in the back pages of the local gazette, though they spelled his name wrong and that is not him in the photo. And I discovered for the first time in 12 years that he is a seamer, which shows how much notice I take of anything.




In the midst of the hurly-burly I managed to combine a few of my favourite activities; bit of beer, bit of chat with friends, bit of cricket watching, bit of needle felting...




One little chicken on it's way to America...




One little chicken on it's way to a birthday girl...




One little five-wicket-taking match ball, snaffled for posterity.




**EDIT - apologies to England, you played a blinder this afternoon.

10.7.09

Menagerie

SOLD


Do I still needle felt? Of course I do. It's my job; without it I have no money. I have tried a little experiment of making several things over a month and re-stocking my shop all at once. But I think I'll be going back to just popping things up for sale as I do them: I really missed what we used to call the 'retail buzz' when I worked in a Real Life shop. And my blog starts reading like a domestic bliss magazine.




I didn't get as much made as I hoped, it's taken me a while to get back in the swing of things after my mammoth trade order but I'm back in the zone at last and even started making inroads into my commission list. The shop which I am supplying wants more one-offs; they anticipate selling out of the ones they have as soon as their catalogue is published (which is flattering). So I need to clear my commitments.


SOLD


I've started making everyday little clips and ornaments which 'only' take a day or so to make and that I can price affordably; I had to raise my prices on my larger animals, just so that I wasn't working for myself for sweatshop rates.



SOLD


My geese take at least 3-4 days to make. It's hard to explain why unless you know how needle felting works. There is a lot of putting on and taking away. The final smoothness that I like takes hours of minuscule poking and trimming. I am often asked *how* I get the finish that I do (merino wool is very hairy and fly-away). There is no magic answer; just patience. It is, after all, a craft; I think sometimes the word has lost a little of its meaning nowadays.



SOLD


I've also been using my new-ish (Christmas present) wire twisters; oh how I love them! They came without instructions, so I had to trial and error, until I found a You Tube video demo. But the possibilities are endless, and they are so very pleasing to use.

SOLD


Thankfully, things are shifting steadily. My dwindling store cupboard breathes a sigh of relief; I can go shopping again.



8.7.09

Gingerbread

This is not really a blog post, just a fully blown boast-fest. May the gods of baking forever burn my pans for such pridefullness. Against the odds I have managed to bake the perfect gingerbread cake.


We don't really have a kitchen, just a tiny square matchbox about the size of a small entrance hall (we don't have one of those either). The original cottage was a one up one downer for farm labourers, and all the cooking would have been done on a range in the main fireplace. Naturally the last thing on our landlord's mind when he inherited the cottage was to provide adequate cooking facilities. (Or adequate anything really). So for the last seven years, I have baked, roasted, fried and grilled on this. If the kitchen door (just seen right) is open, you wouldn't even know we had a cooker.




In fact, this is the second cooker we have had here; I killed the first by using it. I think I'm going to kill this one too, as it is a rickety tin-box with heating elements. The knobs claim that the two hotplates go from 1 to 5, but they lie. There is only one temperature and that is hot; unless it times out and you have to wait another five minutes for whateveritis to start cooking. Now the fan oven seems to be going the same way and to my eternal shame I burnt a fruit cake the other month. So it is a minor miracle that last night I produced a perfect pillow of gingerbread.




Even though I dickered about with the recipe, from my old trusty 1950's Good Housekeeping book. (First port of call for everything).




I made a half and half mix of black treacle and golden syrup, put in less milk and baked it using only the bottom of the oven heat. It rose slowly and majestically, a big bronzed belly of a cake with barely a crack in the top. Overnight it has gone slightly sticky and a big slab has mysteriously been cut from it. Not me. I don't even eat the stuff.


3.7.09

Visiting the Hermitage



I don't often take my rudimentary mobile phone out with me on walks. Good job I did yesterday though; we were over in the woods for a little impromptu picnic, when I received a text. Rima and Tui of the Hermitage were passing through West Oxfordshire in their gorgeous home, en route for Wales and would we like a cup of tea if they could find anywhere close to park up?





Yes. Please. We had our picnic, deep in the woodsy undergrowth, and by the time we got home, it was time to go out again. There was some initial confusion on our part, which took us halfway to Banbury before a phone call ascertained that by taking the scenic route we had completely missed them, only 10 minutes from the village. But eventually we found the famous van, parked on the edge of a nearby scenic A-road. Rima and I have known each other for over four years now; pre-blog days. We met at a gathering of illustrators, on one of my rare trips to London, and have been friends ever since, having a shared love of things-on-wheels.




It was Rima who looked after the cottage and the cats when we
went to Greece, just after I'd started this blog in 2005, and I blogged about it (in the days when my posts were often short and sweet, instead of lumbering behemoths like this one). What a long way we have both come since then.





When everyone had said hello, we somehow got our tall bulks up the little ladder and were swallowed up in the cool, dark cocoon. Tea was made. Even on one of the hottest days of the year, there is always a place for a nice cup of tea. Chatting began and undiluted admiration for one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. I have to confess, that apart from wanting to meet Tui and see Rima again, I was aching to see for myself the home they kitted out themselves, setting off on their travels last December, having seen its progress through their blog.





Not the largest home, not the grandest, but absolutely wonderful and crammed with treasures.




A place for everything and everything in its place.




Our familiar patch, looking like a little green jewel through the porthole.




Rima and Tui are a brilliant team of artistry and musicianship. Rima is one of the finest, most original painters I know, selling her prints through her Etsy shop.




Tui has another incarnation, as musical artist Orla Wren. I am not even going to attempt to describe his delicate work (apart from that it is extraordinary). I suggest - strongly - a visit to the Orla Wren Myspace page, to sample his incredible creations. Or visit his website, where you may recognise the artistry on his latest CD cover. Everything he needs to make his music is either in his home or outside in the natural world.




Time ticked on, and we knew they had a long, slow drive to Wales ahead of them.




We said cheery goodbyes and zoomed off on our two wheels back to our own dear little (firmly set in the ground for 245 years) nest. I am far too fond of being in the same place to wish for their lifestyle, and yet it is a wonderful thing to have friends who choose to live their dream, no matter how tough it can be.




Rima and Tui are always on the lookout for friendly places to park up in. It's not easy being on the road, and it's nice to know you are heading for a warm welcome and safe, quiet corner, instead of a fume filled service station. If you do have a small patch which could be spared for even just a night's rest, they can be contacted via their blog; what they do, in here.