Brrrrr, Fidget, and a Big Cheat

It's grey and freezing cold - again. We tried to go for a walk today, but it was hard going. I took a few photos on the Blaise Estate, but they look too gloomy to post.

It's been an odd week, we're currently without a sofa! The new one arrived, and although we had measured everything carefully, try as they might, the delivery people could not get it around the angle of our stairs.

We had ordered the new one from John Lewis. (UK readers will know their reputation, we are huge fans). They were really helpful in sorting out a new order for the slightly smaller version, but, the design has been so popular it will not be here until at least the end of the month! Unfortunately, we had already arranged to get rid of the old suite. So out have come the camping chairs, which are actually very good for me sitting and stitching, but not very relaxing!

On the plus side I am spending a lot more time in my art/craft area, and we're now seriously thinking about converting it from a bedroom to a studio/sitting room, as it seems silly to keep a huge bed which is used very infrequently - and I really would love the space! I have started painting again, and have recommenced my course. I just agreed a date with my tutor to submit my first assignment, so I have until the beginning of March. Wish me luck!

As I've no nice pictures this week - I'm going to cheat, and do a"flashback" back to last autumn. I didn't have time to post about this before my pelvis decided to go awol again.

So here we go, back in time, (cue suitable music, and a montage of attractive pictures leading into....)

Our weekend away in the lovely county of Somerset. Beautiful scenery, wonderful wildlife, and a visit to three, count them, three, stunning, historic places.

The first stop on our Grand Tour, was a gloriously sunny Saturday at Montacute House, a fantastic Tudor mansion with the most beautiful gardens


Just look at the ‘pudding house'! These were set into opposite corners of the East Court. The nickname is from Tudor and Stuart times, when parties would retire from the Dining Room to enjoy their dessert in the splendour of the grandest part of the garden. Gorgeous! I wanted to set up home inside.


Oh, yes - for the Jane Austen lovers among you- part of "Sense and Sensibility" was filmed in the gardens.


The house contains a beautiful sump work casket, from the late C17th, and the Goodhart sampler collection (collected over 32 years by Dr Douglas Goodhart, whose passion for collecting wasn't shared by all his family. His children would shout ‘Drive on, Daddy, drive on’ whenever they passed an antique shop in the car!) I had a wonderful time looking at all these marvellous old textiles. Sadly I can't share photos as the Trust has a strict "no photography indoors" rule in order to preserve and protect the interiors and artefacts.

We went on a walk through the estate and climbed this folly on St Michael's Hill, to see the amazing views.

It was a long way up with no handrail, not good for those with vertigo, but so beautiful from the top!

An early start on a grey and drizzly Sunday meant we were the first visitors to enjoy the beauty of Tintinhull Garden. It was so quiet when we arrived, there was a flash of azure blue - a kingfisher enjoying a fishy breakfast from the ornamental pond.



Although the rain persisted we travelled on to see Lytes Cary Manor, the former home of medieval herbalist Henry Lyte who wrote the famous 16th-century plant directory, Lytes Herba

It's an absolutely beautiful house from the C14 and 15th. Such a shame about the rain, which was now lashing down with a vengeance, so we couldn't explore the wider estate, but just near the car park is this wonderful old dovecot!


Roll on better weather. Hope it's much nicer wherever you are!

On the subject of Blogs... and a little ramble....

First of all, thank you to all the kind people who have begun to follow my ramblings this year.

I've been reflecting a lot this week, as I've (virtually) dashed around visiting many blogs, about what attracts us to stop and make the decision to follow someone. I've seen so many creative and generous people participating in the OHOW giveaway, it's impossible to talk to them all, but, every now and then, there's a little sparkle that tells me I have to follow them on their journey. It made me think about all the different blogs I follow and how diverse they are. Some are:

• inspirational, or
• provoking and stimulating, or
• practical and instructive, or
• quirky and fun, or
• magical and spiritual, or
• just plain off the wall!
  

and some are a mixture of a few, or all of these!

I make it a rule that I try to comment regularly on the blogs I follow, and I want to - as most of the owners have become good on-line friends! When I first began blogging, I actually used to worry about leaving comments. I'd often read a post and all the commenters would seem to know the blog owner really well, so I'd be anxious about saying anything! I remember how thrilled I was when I got my first comments, actually realising that some kind people were interested in what I had to say.

Nowadays I always comment when finding a new blog to follow, as I've discovered, whether you have one one follower or 500, getting feedback and establishing links and relationships are such an big part of what we do. It's especially important when people are starting out. I know lots of people are silent followers, maybe some of you reading this, so next time you add a new blog to your list, do think about saying a quick "Hello"!

I decided to have a bit of a "blogspring- clean" and sort out a new background, but I'm not quite happy with it. I like the layout , but I can't decide on the background, or if I want lots of things in my sidebar, or less? My last wallpaper was pretty, but probably too pretty! I keep looking for inspiration. Some people's blogs are full of stuff and I think they look wonderful, others are empty and elegant, and I like that too. I suppose I'll have to keep playing around until it falls into place......

Even though most of my spare time has been taken up reading blogs, I have managed to complete the next piece of my project, which is - a winter aconite being visited by a (very hopeful) hover fly!


I woke up today in one of those moods where you can "quarrel with your little finger", as my mum used to say! I've been indoors too much. After a week of grey gloom, it was a beautiful day today, although still very cold. Thankfully, Andy stopped me doing chores and sent me off with my camera. Ah, he knows me so well! I was desperate to go for a walk, and so climbed the hill to the Kingsweston Estate to look for signs of Spring. The house looks stunning on these cold bright days.

I rushed to this patch of colour - but it turned out to be some beautiful honey fungus, bad for the tree, good shot for me.

It was so peaceful, with hardly any others around, so much so, that I surprised someone in the woods, and managed to get a quick snap.


I found these lovely seed heads of Traveller's Joy in the sunshine, still clinging on from the autumn -

but below, at my feet, the leaves were still dusted with silver frost.

Finally, in the gardens of the house I found my first bloom of the year, enjoying the burst of warmth - a little garden primrose.


My spirits were lifted, and I returned home a happy, skippity, bunny. ( "Thank goodness", says Andy!)

One World One Heart - Giveaway

I just heard about this event, which is masterminded by Lisa Swifka, from Jenna Louise at Quiltcrazygal and decided to join in. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and also, I've never done a giveaway yet, which is really shocking! This seemed a good way to begin, and hopefully make some new friends into the bargain.

So, I am giving away 2 books - Cloth Dolls by Brenda Brightmore, which I mistakenly bought 2 copies of! It's full of wonderful characters, more traditional in style, beautifully made and wonderfully explained, a really lovely book. There is also the Encyclopedia of Machine Embroidery by Val Holmes, which I bought to try and improve my relationship with my machine. Well, that didn't work! But that is no reflection on this brand new, never been used (apart from the initial flick through, with me making "ooh, that's really clever" and " how interesting" noises!) book which is chock full of machine embroidery related tips and good ideas. I'm back with my trusty embroidery needle in hand.

I would also like to seek a home for poor Mrs Heffalump and her little son Sunshine, who are so very bored - as they have been wrapped up and put in the cupboard since they were "born", and are desperate to find someone to love and look after them! Could that kind person be you? They would be so grateful.


To re-home the Heffalumps, and add these 2 books to your craft library, all you have to do is to leave a comment on this post. It's that easy ! Please be sure you have a working blog, or if not, then do leave your email address when you comment - so I can let you know if you are the lucky winner! The Ride completes on 14th February at Midnight GMT when the winner will be drawn.To find out more, or join in, please click on the logo on my sidebar. There are some amazingly talented and creative people taking part!

So do climb on the Magic Carpet, and enjoy the ride!

Thanks for dropping in, and good luck.

Spring is coming.....

At last! Today the birds have been singing, the buds are beginning to break and I saw catkins on the alder tree. I felt really joyful and excited, it's been such a long cold winter, it's wonderful to have the thought of Springtime coming soon.

Yesterday we had a treat and went out for a quick lunch at my favourite place. I'm still on my non- wheat, yeast, sugar etc, but I had my check on Friday and things have improved hugely. I'm also feeling so much better, I have tons more energy and I'm not sleeping so heavily as I was. It's great to feel so positive and I intend to keep it up!

Renovation news - our new sofa arrives on Thursday (hooray!) and on Friday we are off to sort out the kitchen flooring - when it's completed I will finally be able to post the kitchen pics.

It's been a busy week at work again, but I have kept on with my stitching and designing and here are items 4 and 5, ivy berries, and my favourite so far, the robin's nest with blue speckledy eggs on a hand painted background. That was so much fun to do, I really want to use more of the couching threads to create some other textures later. I've also had fun trying to give some of the pieces an antique look, and today I've been trying out new background ideas. I'm using another new stitching technique for the piece I'm currently working on, and I'm loving the challenge.

































I promised Elizabeth at Sew in Love I would post details of the book which has inspired me to try something new and here it is! Embroidered Flora and Fauna
by Lesley Turpin-Delport and Nicola Delport-Wepener. Mixed media techniques for hand stitchers ( regular readers will know I still have a slight fear of my sewing machine!). These ladies (mum and daughter) are so clever and inventive, they have really inspired me to do something different with my designs. Lesley is based in South Africa so the subjects in the book are native to that country, but the techniques can be adapted very easily.

It's keeping me out of mischief, anyway!

First bad, then very good...

It's been quite a week, I did mean to blog on Wednesday, but I was just too tired after long days at work and walking home in the snow. Then came the dreadful news of the Haitian earthquake, and the horrors of the devastation that has been caused. Melissa at Ardea's Nest has been reminding everyone about taking action to help if you possibly can.

The week did end on a happier note as I had a great start to my day today. My beautiful bear brooch, which I won last week, arrived from Kim at Witchmountain. It's gorgeous and smells beautiful too, as it's filled with lavender. It was so beautifully packaged, I didn't want to open it. If you haven't visited Kim's blog, please do, it's inspiring!



This afternoon I went for lunch with my friend Wayne who is an artist. He had an invitation to a private viewing at the Royal West of England Academy, and invited me to join him. Wow - amazing building and wonderful art. We wandered around looking at ever thing with a glass of wine ( just a very small one for me!) I enjoyed myself so much I have decided to become a "Friend of the RWA", which means I'll be able to go to all the exhibitions, plus lots of other benefits, like workshops, lectures and visits. Lots of inspiration to be had!

I'm still stitching and here is the third piece, an early orange tip butterfly.

Cold. cold, cold...

I am sitting here wearing two pairs of socks (1 thermal) and furry slipper boots, thick jeans, a long sleeved top and 2 jumpers, and I'm still cold! Actually, the living room is lovely and warm, and I'm going to go and curl up there in a minute.

The freezing weather is set to go on for at least a week with more snow at the weekend. Today I didn't get much creating done as I was catching up on chores. Went to my kinesiologist in an attempt to get my health sorted for this year and I have candida albicans again (which I thought I did!) so no wheat, yeast or sugar for me for a while! Still it makes me feel better, and I'm determined to take care of myself a bit better this year.

Tomorrow will be a curl up and stitch day, I think. My new project is going well, here's the second piece:

A little blue tit.....

The next two pieces are drawn and ready to work on, so I have plenty to keep me busy. Oh, it is fun to be stitching again!

"I'm so excited," and cold......

" and I just can't hide it" as the song says. I am the proud winner of a beautiful bear brooch giveaway from Kim, a very talented textile designer and artist who's work I covet, and who's beautiful and descriptive blog "Witchmountain", makes me yearn to be back living in the wilds of the beautiful British countryside again.

I never win anything! So I am "chuffed to mintballs". Thank you so much Kim.

We woke up to 6 inches of snow, it's snowed nearly all day, all the schools are closed and the buses have been suspended - which in a big city like Bristol is not great. But, it looks beautiful, and has transformed everywhere into a winter wonderland. I've been working from home, which I do quite often - thank goodness for technology!


This is the centre of the city today with Bristol Cathedral looking very wintry. (Courtesy of the BBC Bristol website!)

The weather forecast says it will be -7 degrees tonight. Now I know some of you live in parts of the world where it gets really cold, but for us namby pamby British South Westerners that is serious, "curl up on the sofa, under the blankie with a hot water bottle" weather! Tomorrow will probably be very icy, think I'll stay in and do some stitching!