Blog

Just recently I’ve rediscovered my love of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I was around 8 when I discovered it the first time round. The brilliant illustrations of Arthur Rackham were the first thing that attracted me to the book. A talking Badger, Mole, Rat and Toad – totally appealed to my childhood fantasies! My favourite character was Badger, he always seemed so wise and all knowing. Not at all like Toad who always seemed to be totally scatter brained and a bit of a cross cross-dresser (remember the washerwoman episode?)
I’ve done a bit of searching around regarding the illustrations for the book. There have been over 50 different illustrators down the years. These are my favourites –

A big regret a couple of weeks ago was finding a vintage copy of the book in London and not buying it! What was I thinking! Still I’m sure I’ll find another copy somewhere and it’ll be the only thing I’ll happily break my New Year Resolutions for. Did you know there’s currently a  First Edition on sale at Abe Books for £12,500!!

Over the years I’ve managed to take a few photographs of these cute protagonists and these are two of my favourites. This is Ratty who in real life is a Water Vole. In the second pic if you look carefully you’ll see a small droplet of water on the end of Ratty’s nose!

I wonder how these dear little animals have fared during the recent flooding of so many riverbanks here in the UK.

So this is an animal themed post once again. I’m sure I must be the long lost love child of Sir David Attenborough or at least distantly related to Chris Packham. I actually met Chris Packham once when he judged my photo of a Blue duck the winner in a WWT photo comp. Not only did I like him because he picked my photo he was genuinely funny and had some great tales to tell about the naughty nature of the Blue duck. Apparently one in a territorial fit of rage grabbed his trouser leg and wouldn’t let go. I’m sure there are a few women also eager to grab his trouser leg!

Maybe I should add ‘Meet Sir David Attenborough’ to my list of goals for 2014.  I’d probably let myself down if I met him and mumble or dribble or giggle uncontrollably or curtsey. If anyone reading this could get me into his holy presence I would be very grateful and I promise I would take Social Skills lessons prior to the meet! I wonder if he’d like one of my animal tea cosies????

Slàinte Mhath xxx

 

I prescribed my self a giant dose of colour saturation today. I’m fed up with grey skies, muddy grass and beige borders. So I took myself off to the local garden centre for a coffee, free wifi and floral eye candy and I wasn’t disappointed. The Polyanthus were amazing, so vibrant.

 

 

 

And then I found these two little chaps in the corner. So adorable.

 

 

And these were so tempting, but I resisted. I loved the Bunny peeking out.

 

I’ve also been making my own colour therapy blanket. I chose two main colours for the flowers – Fuchsia and Orange. Totally clashing but they make my eyes happy.

 

 

I’ve made all the squares and now I’m in the making up process. I’ll edge it in Fuchsia and Orange as well. More pics to come when it’s finished!

 

Slàinte Mhath xxx

This time I’ve fallen for Casper. I’ve been meeting up with him for the last 2 Sundays and there’s been a lot of cuddling, kissing and whispered words of love. Okay, he’s a cat! You’ve probably guessed that straight away. He is one of the latest rescue cats at PAWS Animal Sanctuary. His owner couldn’t afford to pay vets fees and as a result his teeth were in terrible condition. PAWS took him to their vet and the poor thing had to have them all out. But as you can see in this very short video I shot he certainly isn’t feeling sorry for himself and is recovering well.

I would love to have him home with me but I think Tabikat might have a go at this gentle giant being another boy cat etc. I shall have to ponder that one.

Also I thought I’d mention The Cinnamon Trust. It’s a British charity that looks after the pets of elderly people if they have to go into hospital or care. If the owner dies the charity will also take in the pet and find it a good home. I think this is a brilliant idea as I see so many cats at PAWS with the words “Owner Died” on their case notes. I didn’t know about this charity until Stacey at PAWS mentioned it today. I looked it up and was really impressed with the work they do. Virginia McKenna and Sir Paul McCartney are just 2 of their Patrons. Worth a look.

A look at my latest embroidered notebook cover. I’m in to frogs now and I thought this design would be fun to do!

I’m pleased with how it turned out. Methinks a Gecko next!

Slàinte Mhath xxx

Two days into 2014 and I’m sticking to my No Buy policy, so only another 363 days to go!

Thought you might like to see my Christmas cushion that I finished a couple of days ago. It would have been finished in time for Christmas if it hadn’t been for a nasty bug that laid me low for over a week. I had a lot of bits of red and green yarn left over from various projects so I gathered them all together and crocheted up a cushion cover. I needed a 12” square cushion pad to go inside but only had a 16” one in my stash. So I opened up the sides of the 16” one and took all the stuffing out. I cut it down to 12” size,  shoved the stuffing back in and re sewed the seams. And voila a custom fit cushion pad with no money spent on a new one! There is some excess stuffing that I couldn’t squeeze back in so I’ve saved that for stuffing the little Woodland Creatures that adorn the tops of my tea cosies.

 

Just after Christmas I was given this deeply traumatized little chap.

I’m about to perform surgery on him and restore his vision.

There’s nothing sadder than a broken and unloved teddy bear. I’ll let you know later how we got on post op.

 

Slainte

 

 

Linda xx

 

I’ve thought long and hard about committing to this. Basically for all of 2014 I will not be buying stuff, at all, nothing, nada – gulp!

 

 

I’ll be afflicted with empty trolley syndrome. There’ll be repercussions though,  Amazon’s profits will drop drastically, Ikea will have to lay off some of their lorry drivers and Appliances Online will be sending me a get well card. On the other hand my postie’s bad back should improve loads and I look forward to seeing him happily skipping down our road with a virtually empty bag.

 

Painting by Karen Hollingsworth

 

There are rules and exceptions to them –

Food and drink for me and pussycats and local wildlife – allowed.

Petrol and cut price rail travel – allowed.

The odd cup of coffee when I’m writing in internet cafe – allowed

I’m allowed to buy craft supplies for my business and if my laptop blows up I can get a replacement as it’s needed for my writing.

I’m not allowed to buy craft supplies for personal use though and if I want to make something I have to delve into my sizeable stash. The exception to this is my crochet flower afghan, I’m using up odds and ends of wool for the flowers part but I need white DK wool for the background so that’s on my permitted list.

 

All books will be borrowed from the library in person (no paying 60p a time in online reservation fees).

No clothes buying either as I have loads in my wardrobe and if I get a little bit more exercise in 2014 I can drag out the ‘one day I’ll fit into this’ clothes box from under the bed for even more choice!

Definitely no more buying of vintage sewing patterns – this is going to be a hard one to keep and there may be tears (lots). I’ll just have to make stuff from the patterns I already have.

 

 

No sweets, packets of biscuits or great big door step sized scones oozing thick melting butter and fruity jams. No I will simply turn my back on them (who am I kidding?).

A bit of a stern year ahead, but I do plan to have fun on the cheap in my own weird and wonderful way. And the reason for this adopted frugal lifestyle? I’m building my own beautiful little eco house, off the grid and as self sufficient as I can humanly make it!!

 

Slainte

 

Linda xx

This year I’ve resolved to stay away from the High Street and not do any Christmas shopping in big name stores like M&S, Debenhams etc. Instead all my Chrissie pressies will either be handmade by me or bought from independent craft artists and sellers. I’d rather support a small business where the goods are well made and unique in style. For instance I’ve just bought something via a fellow Brit crafter – (can’t say at the moment what it is as the recipient of the pressie reads this blog and it’ll spoil the surprise). It arrived beautifully wrapped with a lovely little card. A small business owner who obviously takes pride in her work. Beats the pants off a cardboard box and miles of paper stuffed inside from Amazon, who I am sure will be sending me a get well card this year as I haven’t spent a single penny with them.

 

 

As a recipient of handmade gifts I love that the maker has thought enough of me to make something that he or she knows I will like. You can’t get that on the High Street. Actually you can’t even get parking on the High Street these days. My local council’s parking charges are so ridiculously high that they are doing real damage to small trader businesses.

 

So many family owned shops have disappeared over the last year. All those unusual quirky little shops gone for good and what we have left are the stores selling uniformity. Yuck, what a nightmare! As Ray Davies once sang “Here come the people in grey”

 

From the film “Metropolis – 1927”

So why give your local little one man or woman band business a try this Christmas and support someone’s dream. It’ll be a much more rewarding experience than filling the coffers of the Fat Cat Factory owners who don’t give a damn about products or people.

 

Slainte

 

Linda xxx

Yesterday I took myself off to our local RSPB reserve for a bit of a wander with my bins. I’m impressed with myself cos I normally forget them and leave them on the kitchen counter. I think I might have picked the wrong day to go a visiting as there were hordes of people on the reserve – could have been a club outing. Probably about 5% of them were actually interested in the wildlife. I cannot for the life of me work out how groups of people all walking around a wildlife sensitive area with all the latest scopes and bins hanging off their bodies and gabbling at the tops of their voices expect to see any birds at all.
Or going to the other extreme when you are on your own and about to pass another single person when that person will put their head down or look into the distance and totally ignore you (I was dressed normally and wasn’t wearing anything scary – honest). Weird – I always give a cheery hello to everyone I pass. Had two of those yesterday.
Anyway despite the gabblers I managed to see some beautiful Teal wildfowl, loads of Canada Geese and Lapwing.

Pic Courtesy of UK Nature Blog

The deer were out in full force as well

But the icing on the cake was the sighting of a Peregrine falcon sitting high up in a tree overlooking the wetlands. She’s been a resident at the reserve for a couple of years now and this is her favourite spot. Sadly I didn’t have my long lens with me, so had to be content with looking at her with my bins.

Of all the birds of prey photos I’ve taken over the years this Peregrine pic is my favourite. That hooked beak is lethal!

Off now to make the tea and get cleared up before Amazing Spaces comes on – steady now Ilona!!!!

Slainte

Linda xx

The dictionary definition of Inertia is “the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest”. Just substitute the word ‘blog’ for ‘body’ and you have the previous state of this blog!

I think it was the shock of having another birthday that rendered me immobile/unable to write/find Windows Live Writer on my laptop. On my birthday I sat in a lovely garden with the sun shining on my face and basically that’s the last thing I remember – all is a blur since then. But now back on track. The first thing I did was catch up with Mean Queen’s brilliant blog. If you ever want an example of how to get off your backside and live a full life then read her blog. I don’t know how she fits half of it in.

Re the Birthday Giveaway, Sue you are the winner! So if you’d like to email me with your details I’ll send the little Kitty clutch off to you xxx

Tabikat is still with me and is thriving. For a cat that lived on the streets during the early part of his life, he is extremely good mannered. He’ll sit and wait for permission to jump up on my lap and at feeding time he sits patiently for his food. My other three that I’ve had since kittens jump all over the place and will sit on me without a by your leave. Lily has taken to trying to sit on my hands whist I’m typing. She is currently sitting on my right wrist as I’m writing this.

So chuffed with finding a 1960’s dress pattern the other day in a charity shop. All parts are there plus the instructions. Cost 50p. Yippee.

 

 

I find it amazing that something so fragile as a tissue paper sewing pattern has survived for 50 odd years.

 

I’ve recently started to watch George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces on C4. Such a brilliant programme. It features people who have built or converted incredible places to live and work. It’s well worth a visit to C4 to catch up. My favourites are The Cube, The Hive Haus and The Owl Shelter (this one was on last night’s programme).

 

 

Must dash now – just about to do something vaguely Steampunky!

 

Slainte

 

Linda xxx