Up Uffington

Up on Uffington White Horse Hill, skylarks sing their hearts out as they bounce and soar over the dramatic curves of the landscape. The views across the county of Wiltshire and beyond are vast and wide.

Light constantly flickers and changes, like rippling water and fresh, clean winds whip away any fragile spring warmth, leaving you almost breathless once you reach the top. Looking down, there is Dragon Hill - look closer, at the tiny figures sitting on it and the snaking road creeping up the slope.

White Horse Hill is rich with wildlife and we kept company with three types of birds of prey; buzzards, a red kite and a kestrel. A pair of ravens were croaking away below in the valley. Andy stalked the kestrel, hiding in a ditch upwind to sneak closer and got some nice zoom shots - this one was super, just a bit blurred, but I admit to being a little envious of him catching it taking off in flight, something I've never managed.

Below the horse, to the left, is a stunning natural valley formation known as 'the Manger', where the white horse is supposed to feed on moonlit nights.

Naturally, one does not actually walk on (or even near) the horse. It's survived since the Iron Age and deserves some respect.

It's one of my favourite monuments. Although I have yet to work out how to get a full picture of it - the usual view is from the ground.

But from above, it looks like this (taken from an old postcard). Makes you wonder how the Ancient Britons created such a perfect design, best seen from the sky.

I've been quiet recently, due to various *things*. One of those things - which I'm thrilled to be able to share at last - can be seen in a sneak preview here. Busy spring and looks like being a busy summer!

Little ballerina

Jetting off already to her new home, this is my latest hare - somewhat more feminine than Harris and Bracken.

She is named after Gelsey Kirkland, the American prima ballerina. I'm not a ballet buff and I'd already mostly made her when my lovely customer asked for this name. Would she resemble her namesake?

When I did some Google image searching, I was pleased to see that they share the same poise and haughty nose-in-airness - true divas of their art.

Her shoes are worn out from too much dancing and...

...instead of putting my usual needle felt heart motif on her, I simply incorporated a 'gold' heart charm into her pearl bracelet. I seem to be veering towards making little clothes now, rather than needle felting them, something I've not been keen on in the past, but this tutu worked so well (simple as it is) that I'll be trying it again.

I have another workshop locally, on April 7th at Chipping Norton, at the hugely popular Fibreworks, details on their classes page here. Starting off with something nice and quick we will be making little birds, as featured in my Puddletown books. Limited spaces!

A spring in my step

It is exactly a year since I took up the first serious, regular exercise in my 44 year life. Trying to fit jogging in around work and everything else is not easy, but I do make it a priority. It's something I have to force myself to do and I can't say I enjoy the actual experience, but I do feel great afterwards. One of my proudest moments was when I managed to do over three miles without stopping. It's not much compared to 'proper' runners and took me months to achieve. But for someone who has never been at all inclined towards physical exercise and who is not athletically built for it (I have had clunky knees since I was a teenager and have to strap one knee up with two bands before I go out) - I think I've done alright.

As you can see, I'm never going to be a willowy stripling, gliding effortlessly along - I'll always be a slow old dobbin, plodding along, slightly red in the face. It will always be a challenge. But I do it, because it's made me so much fitter, so much happier and to anyone of average health, who thinks they *can't* do it - start as I did, jogging for as far as you can go (not very far in my case), rest, walk and take off again when you feel ready. It's amazing how quickly you build up fitness and your heart and mind will thank you for it. However I'm not promising it will be easy.

I don't normally jog in these glorious fields - I tend to stick to our village lanes, but spring has arrived in the Cotswolds and so we turned our walk into an exercise session, hopping over the county border to the Salperton estate, where I proceeded to do a few stints of 'plogging' and fast walking. Not a bad place to workout.

On the way home, (tired but virtuous) we passed through Little Barrington - one of the sweetest villages in an area crammed with sweet villages.

It's a huddle of cottages clustered around a large green, but has the chocolate box appearance expected of the English countryside. This comes with a hefty price tag, as does all property in the Cotswolds, which is why we are on the move. We're just not wealthy enough (or wealthy at all) to stay here.

(Is it safe to say Winter is over?)

Ladybird/ Ladybug

I very rarely take on custom commissions and to be honest, I was a bit doubtful about taking this one on, as I couldn't immediately *see* it in my head. Although I've done normal ladybird designs before (such as the one above) this was for a standing figure and I got a bit of a block about it. When I finally sat down to sketch it out, I almost gave up - my first effort looked like a children's version of the 'Creature from Planet Zog'. Adding a face seemed to help.

Then I remembered a poster called 'Fairy Bake Day' I produced for an educational magazine, seven years ago.

I don't like it much now, but it did have these characters in it and my problem was over. This reminds me of trips to town with my mum when I was little and being allowed to choose a cake for tea as a treat.





At last I'd found a design I could work with.

She was a bit of a challenge, not least because I've never made anything with a humanoid face before. Despite the wonders of the internet, I still tend to go to my own books for reference material. She was going to be a bit 'Downton Abbey'.

And although I initially struggled with the concept, I was relieved to find that she was, in the end, a successful design. And my customer loves her. She - the ladybird, not my customer - is about 5 inches tall.

Whether she is a ladybird or a ladybug - that's up to you, depending on which part of the world you are reading this from! But she is definitely a lady.

Needle felting news

Introducing three circus friends, wee darlings sitting four inches tall. Custard the Clown. (*SOLD*).

Dear little Santa, my Christmas dog - *SOLD* to my amazing furniture painting friend.

Crystal - now *SOLD* (Thank you!)

I was going to be absolutely silent about my two week 'disappearance', but as I was devouring the new and oh-so-beautiful 'Mollie Makes', my heart skipped a beat. Look - under the 'make it' section - click for a larger look. Ooh! That's me, that is, listed in the next issue with my first ever 'making' article. Golly. (That's not me pictured looking slim and glam on the bed though, sadly).

Finally but not least, for anyone living in the Cotswolds/Cheltenham area, I am making two appearances at the Winchcombe Wool Festival. Like most of the Cotswolds, the town was 'built on wool', the earliest record of this being from 796, yes, 796, before the Norman Conquest of 1066) and my friend Katie B Morgan has written the most interesting article about the town and the festival, which, if you love history, heritage, the Cotswolds and craft, is a must-read.

Rams in the Cotswold Hills, resting after a busy season

I'll be demonstrating needle felting at the Winds of Change gallery from 11am till 4.30, on April 14th and later in the month holding a 'Make a Sheep' workshop, on April 27th from 11am till 4.30. Spaces are limited to just seven, and I think one is gone already. We'll be making a needle felted sheep with British wool and there will be a prize for the best sheep, of a family ticket to Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park (of Countryfile fame), which is just up the road from Winchcombe. Price for the workshop includes materials and lunch. And my undivided attention, of course. Contact Jane at the Gallery for prices and availability.

Click on poster for more detailed image

Talking of winds of change, it looks as we are finally moving to pastures new - in fact, a whole new county. For the first time in many years, I am not planting spring seeds.

Horses & unicorns

'Horse Girl wants to be a Unicorn'

The past week has seen a cosmic collision of my computer going mad and a wonderful new opportunity arriving with a very short deadline, which equals a black hole down which most of my time has been sucked. Very much cheered by selling one of my last paintings - rather poignant, as it was one of the last personal pieces I did before needle felting took over my life and soul.

I've been creating versions of these little Germanic toys for many years now, and they are a big feature in the collection I designed for Gisela Graham, which should be in the shops next autumn.

The toy unicorn painting is now on its way to America, the last one in a trio - they live on as a card set, in the shop here.

(Computer is fixed after several days of stress and fiddling. Once I've beaten this deadline, things can go back to some kind of normal. Hooray!)

Riddle Solutions

Apologies for the lateness of the draw and riddle solutions - after posting my brain teasers last week, I succumbed to an anonymous, head-clouting winter lurgy and am only just up and doing again. So, here we are with the answers; relax, the world can breath easily again.

RIDDLE SOLUTION

My first is in Plumage and also in Pyre, (the letter 'P')
My second is in Host, a Heavenly choir (the letter 'H')
My third is just nOthing, your pardon I beg ('O' or zero, both are 'o' shaped)
My fourth is in Embers in which sits an Egg (the letter 'E')
My fifth is iNk, as seen on this page (the letter 'N')
My sixth in Inferno, a fiery rage (the letter 'I')
My seventh is a cross (X) that is every man's mark (an 'x' being the commoners way of signing their name, if they could not write)
My whole is a flame which will light up the dark (the final clue to give the word)

answer - PHOENIX.

HAIKU

White angel gliding
Grace and beauty on water
Flip, flap, flop on grass.

Of course it was a SWAN - so graceful and dainty when swimming and such a clumsy waddler on the ground. To read a simple introduction to the form of the haiku visit this site - my version is a mere stumble in the dark compared to the people who write them properly, so for a better understanding of this fascinating art, just Google 'haiku' - and prepare to be amazed.

(All swan photos taken by me at nearby Kelmscott, home of the great William Morris)

Very well done to everyone who entered and nearly everyone who did, got it right. However, much as I love you all, there is only one calendar to be won...and the name drawn out of the hat was...EMA! Well done, the calendar will be on its way to you next week.

The roll call of honour to everyone else (blogs included where known, let me know your blog if I've missed you)

'Prickly Pinecone'
Bonnie of 'Love your Place'
Andy's mum - well done Mrs M, answered by text within five minutes.
Frances of 'Fairy Lanterns'
L from 'Amongst the Oaks'
Cathy of 'Down a Dusty Lane'

Jo M

Caroline of 'Uniqart'
Gemma of 'Sandy Floorboards'
Ember of 'Kindred of the Quiet Way'

Diana of 'The Qi Papers'
'Luna'
Frances of 'City Views, Country Dreams'
Terri M
Lynette N
C of 'Land of Sticks'
Mary-Beth of 'Fragile Earth Stuffed Animals'
Jean A.

It was lovely to hear how many people enjoyed tussling with the riddles; I may have to make some more up.

Old riddles

One of the small joys of keeping things (I prefer the term ''treasurer' to 'hoarder') - is finding bits of your old self, maybe in the form of writing. Today I have found two old riddles I composed many years ago; one is a traditional spelling riddle, the other in haiku form. I am not, I hasten to add, claiming to be an expert in either forms.

RIDDLE

My first is in plumage and also in pyre,
My second is in host, a Heavenly choir
My third is just nothing, your pardon I beg
My fourth is in embers in which sits an egg
My fifth is ink, as seen on this page
My sixth in inferno, a fiery rage
My seventh is a cross that is every man's mark
My whole is a flame which will light up the dark



HAIKU

White angel gliding
Grace and beauty on water
Flip, flap, flop on grass.

Email me the correct two answers via my blog profile to go in for a drawer to win my very last 2012 calendar as a prize! (Email answers only accepted). If you can only guess one, do send it in, just in case nobody gets both.

*CLOSES WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEB 15 12 MIDDAY U.K TIME!* (well done to all the correct answerers so far)