At Venus Pool

Since getting out and about, I have found a new, nearby refuge. Venus Pool is a 20 minute cycle away, a bird watching reserve with hides dotted about and rich in all kinds of wildlife. It is here that I go when I need that 'thing' which I can only get from tramping about in the green.

There is a new area of woodland opened up - it has been well over a year since I was in woods and I had almost forgotten how deeply they touch me. These woods are cultivated; a far cry from my old woods in the Cotswolds, which nursed remnants of the ancient Wychwoods in their heart. These are more Rivendell that Mirkwood, but to a thirsty soul they were bliss.  

Returning, down a long, straight track leading towards an oak tree.

 Buttercup fields glisten in the sun.

  

There are blowsy, overladen hawthorn trees lifted straight from a Samuel Palmer painting.

 There are strategically placed seats, just where you want them. With views.

 Naturally, the Wrekin overlooks it all. It is never far from the background.

 On the way home, I see the potato crops are starting to show through.

Little Woolies & workshops

Two Oxfordshire workshops this month, the first at a new venue in Bampton, Folly Fabrics - a vibrant, cleanly laid out shop in the heart of Bampton - which Downton Abbey fans may know is where many of the Downton village scenes are shot. (And yes, they were filming for a new show when I was there, but I was working!)

Folly Fabrics are my third supplies and kits stockists and it was lovely to walk in and see everything displayed beautifully alongside my book.

Sharon had made specially themed cakes and biscuits with pink bunnies adorning them. There is always cake at Folly Fabrics and Sharon is a fabulous baker. Too adorable to eat? They were scoffed, anyway!

 Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The next day I was back in my old stamping ground at Fibreworks Oxford, with a smaller class - only three, but it was nice and cosy. Birds were made.

And here's a few things I managed to make inbetween everything. The cat is sold, the fox was a gift, but I still have a couple of the little stump hares in my Etsy shop.

My next workshops are in July - at Chipping Norton Fibreworks on Friday the 18th making Candy Buns and back to Oxford Fibreworks on Saturday the 19th July, making this wee house on a hill, which can double up as a sweet pin cushion. Both shops are also stockists of my kits.

I'm always on the look out for nice shops to stock my wools and kits, so if you know of any, please let me - or them - know. I aim for nothing less than world wide domination.

Getting back in the saddle

 

It's taken me a long time to get my lovely push bike (Marjorie) out and about. The day Andy surprised me with her was one of the happiest days of my life, to know that he loved me so much - as I loved him.

Since he died, even though she is my only form of transport  - and the nearest shop being two miles away - I haven't been able to face riding her, a unbearable reminder of what precious thing I have lost.

 

But this spring I felt able to get her out of the shed and dust her off. Brian-next-door pumped her tyres up for me and we have been having little adventures, finally exploring the gorgeous landscape around us.

We're never far from a view of the Shropshire Hills.

We even found an egg honesty box a few miles away. 

It's hard sometimes, to allow myself to enjoy all of this, knowing that Andy never got the chance to see that we made the right choice after all. How he would have loved it.

 

Shropshire is proving to be more uppy and downy than the Cotswolds, but Marjorie and I are learning to tackle the hills.

 

 It's nice to see my little cottage with its cream chimney stack, nestling in the landscape as we return home.

Little Easter Goose

One small grey goose waddled off to a new home.

Walter.

 He really is very small indeed...

There are still some spaces left on my May 10 chicken brooch workshop at the Fibreworks Oxford. If you'd like to keep me company, please contact the shop via the website.

Candy Buns and giveaway results

Back at the Fibreworks Oxford, trying my Candy Buns pattern on a group of never-before needle felters.

I was really pleased when a few people asked if it was ok to tweak the design - going off piste is great!

They were a great group, so much so that they were my first workshop to finish early.

And now my kits (also available in my Etsy shop)  are on sale there, along with my packaged needles. So if you're in Oxford, hop like a Candy Bun over to the Cowley Road if you want one and say hello to lovely Tasha and Lotty. 

Five days is a long time to be away from home. Someone was glad to see me.

 

 And now the bit you're probably been waiting for if you entered the giveaway. Using a random number generator thingy, the winners are - 

Louise Peers

Dara Carey

Leonor

I will do your best to contact you directly, but if I haven't, please email me via my blog profile.

Thank you so very much to everyone who took time to comment and those who bought the book anyway. It briefly went to number two in the Amazon.com craft list. Sales are good, but your kindness is wonderful. 

My book and a giveaway

Last year, the most terrible of my life, also saw one of my life ambitions fulfilled. With ghastly irony, the offer from Harper Collins to commission my first needle felt book came just two days after Andy died, in January 2013. What should have been a joyous occasion was like ashes in my mouth. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered any more.

Yet this book was part of my future survival; I was left rudderless and precariously positioned financially. Somehow the mortgage had to be paid, the electric bill, the water rates, the council tax and now it was all down to me. So having been given a deadline extension and much sympathy from my publishers, I began designing the first patterns in March.

Believe me, when you have lived through your worst nightmare, when you have howled into the snowy night for your love to come back to you,  dreaming up cute toys seems like a monstrous irrelevance. And so the years of professional working kicked in and I immersed myself in making the best book I could, under the circumstances.  

Somehow I found the strength to get this book finished by summer last year, despite having to take a break to organise Andy's woodland burial. I worked seven days a week, 8-10 hours a day. I often found myself crying as I sat alone in my studio, just me and my felting needle. But I did it. And in the end, I rediscovered my love of toys, as I surrounded myself with more and more of them.

Most of the designs were new.

Some were old favourites, like the Roly Poly robin, who I've made many, many times.

And I was able to include a good section on techniques, including how to sew in eyes and how I get that firm, smooth finish people are always asking me about.

I also wanted to produce a book which had more challenging  patterns in - there are plenty of 'simple' needle felting books out there, and while I do have some very easy 'roll it up and stab' patterns, such as the Rainbow Mice, there are some more tricky designs for seasoned needle felters to get their teeth into. Over the space of four months, I produced a heck of a lot of creatures.

Although it is great to finally have my own needle felt book out, the person I wanted to do it for is no longer here. So these two lines are, for me,  the most precious part of it.

"This book is dedicated to the life and dear memory of Andy Macauley, 1971 - 2013. My Forever Love."

I have three signed copies of my book to give away - if you'd like to have the chance to win one, leave a comment here so that I know who you are, and I'll do the draw next week, when I return from my workshop at Oxford Fibreworks. I'll also pay the shipping costs to wherever the winners are in the world. so all you have to do is enter and keep your fingers crossed!

If you don't want to leave it to chance, then it seems to be available in major book shops all over the place, as well as  Amazon UK and Amazon.com. It's also available as a Kindle edition and iTunes. Harper books in the USA have also published it, so my American friends should have no problem in sourcing a copy. I do hope that people like it.

*GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED NOW!*