Visitors and things....

 

I have two little visitors to my workroom this week, Lottie and Lily; they have come to stay whilst the rest on their family has a little holiday.

They're a most charming and entertaining pair who love company and a conversation, especially if it results in something to munch on :) They are keeping me company for the rest of the week.

Apart from that, I have been trying to finish clearing out and am down to one box now, which is a relief; then I have to start going though everything little by little again, as is the nature of keeping belongings under control. However, my visitors have instigated a change for the better, unexpectedly.

Having invested in a craft table - 6 feet long by about 3 feet wide - I realised that I might not find it as useful as I had thought because it would be too big to fit into my workroom. That thought remained until I had to get it out for the Guinea Pig cage and suddenly realised that because I could store some items under it, it would fit quite well as I had a gangway all round it. I lose my open space but a table to put things on when I unpack my fleeces etc is, in reality, far more use. Hey-presto! I have somewhere to do other things too! Admittedly, I need a couple of small blocks of wood to clamp my equipment to but the table is hefty and sturdy enough to use wool combs on as well as other things.

Having recently been to Yorkshire to learn how to use the English Longdraw method of spinning, it is now my duty to keep practicing, that is, once I manage to wash the fleece I am working on (Hampshire Down) sufficiently and make a good Rolag. The quality of each stage very much depends upon the quality of the process that precedes it.

As regards other making, I have only finished one other item recently and that is a Rainbow item as part of a Weavers, Spinners and Dyers project. I have decided not to finish it the way I originally intended and it will remain a bag, not a wall decoration. 

It is made of handspun wool, each colour plied with white and it's lined with white silk. The button is a large crystal. My thinking was that the rainbow is refracted white light, hence the white lining and the button, which can, in certain lights, flash with colour. The little knitted loop visible in the first image will be removed. I have no idea what I will keep in it. 

A while ago, I also managed to finish a cushion cover that I began knitting a long time ago.

It's very satisfying to get something else finished. It turned out to be quite a long project because I didn't like the way the Fair Isle was knitting up. I think this is because cotton has very little stretch in it and was unforgiving of my perhaps not to good technique. Still the recipient liked it, which is the main thing. (It was made from a kit designed by Lynn Turnbull of Gwennol Designs. She can be found on Folksy.)

It is the Guinea Pigs' teatime now, so time to finish this post. More soon....

As time goes by.......

It's been so long since I left home for anything other than a walk, I have to look at the calendar...I think it was mid-March to go to the Surgery. Since then, time seems to have gone by very quickly, as many people I have spoken to, agree. It is quite natural to believe time would drag, being confined to home and, if lucky, garden. I can't account for it. Perhaps some people are finding time drags and I just haven't spoken to any of them.

Apart from sitting outside in the sun, (with a coat on - the wind is really quite strong and chilly at times), Zooming, Skyping plus a bit of FaceTiming with family, there's been a bit more Tech usage because of ordering things online but as I find it tedious after a while, so not that much more than usual. I've made a tiny dent in my 'Mending Mountain' and have finished a Ballet cardigan.

There's been quite a lot of baking.... mainly biscuits of one kind or another....

and bread, both whole wheat and Sourdough..

(The rather incongruous pear is there to show someone that I have made a smaller loaf than normal.)

A few cup cakes..

...by way of a 'birthday cake' that could be shared when not able to get together to celebrate.

Meanwhile, too, Easter has come and gone..

No Simnel cake this year, either for Mothers' Day or Easter because I couldn't get any Marzipan and didn't have enough ingredients to make any. So, it was just Hot Cross Buns. 

There's a lot of bird activity in the garden, including a pair of Blue Tits (or Great Tits?) that appeared to be nesting in the box on the side of the shed as previously mentioned. At one point, there were a few days when this knocking could be heard on the roof of the bird box.

That stopped and now, there don't appear to be birds coming and going any longer but we've not looked so far in case we disturb them. I think the time is coming when we have to conclude no one is in residence now and take a look. We spend what seems like a small fortune on bird food but it's lovely to have so many birds around. I would like to set up a bath or some water provision for them but it has to be elevated as we seem to have quite a few cats around. I recently shooed one away that was stalking the bottom of the hedge, which seems full of Sparrows. Last week, there was a Jay hopping around the lawn - the first one we've noticed. It was good to see another kind of bird. Bumble Bees and Bees in general are more in evidence too.

Veg/fruit deliveries have resulted in us having Wild Garlic to find something to make into. 

We haven't used it before, even though I have walked through large expanses of it. We looked up some suggestions and ended up putting it with mushrooms in a Risotto, which tasted good..

Making Pesto and I tried pickling the flower buds.

I don't think we are the only folk to be using this either, as I have seen photos of meals and products others have made. Having a food box one hasn't chosen gives catering a new dimension, which makes for interesting and refreshingly different meals.

It's time to do something other than write now, so I will save other things for the next post. I hope this finds all who might read this safe and well. 

Times of Change.

This is a corner of Rutland Water. At the beginning of March, when we went to stay nearby, we didn't realise how lucky we were to get away from home. The weather was fine for the whole three days, during the day and the sun shone but the wind was so cold that it was impossible to sit outside or for me, anyway, walk far. It made a pleasant break, however.

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Now we are a few weeks down the line and everyone is being asked to keep themselves at home. So far, the weather's been dry with lots of sunshine (where we live, anyway) and this is currently, a warm, dry Easter, which doesn't often happen. We are lucky to have a garden to sit in and everything seems to be putting on a growth spurt. Our garden is a work in progress but despite having few plants at the moment, we have lots of Bumble Bees - and others too, some of which we can't identify for sure. The birds can and do rely on a good supply of food and throughout the day, lots of little ones occupy the old hedge at the bottom of the garden and visit the feeders when the larger birds are away. Sparrows squabble and Blue Tits and Robins flit about. We have a family of some sort of Tit in the bird box this year, too, which is very pleasing.

Try as I might, so far, I haven't been able to take a photo of the incumbents and neither of us have managed to completely identify with kind of Tit it is. At more of a distance we see and hear the resident pair of Buzzards, although I once say one sitting on the fence in the garden, too.

Some of the plants, mainly the potted ones, are looking good.

It looks as though we are going to have a good crop of Lemons again this year.

We both try to get out for our daily exercise. I am a bit limited in where I can go because I can't walk far and I can't use the car to go anywhere else for now.  The verges are showing the effects of the weeks of rain we had before this drier spell and are very churned up in parts but there are still Primroses and Bluebells and quite a few clumps of Dandelions - not as many of these last as I have seen in past years, though, I fancy. There are lots of Lambs hereabouts too.

Time now for tea....so more another time.