New Beginnings April 2009

Today I would like to catch up with the elements of Spring right with us every day.

The eggshells we found in the garden the other day: light as a feather and thin as paper yet firm and strong. One white and slightly larger, one pale blue- not duck egg as it's NOT a duck's egg but very similar... And our collared dove has finished his/her brooding:is eother of these one of hers maybe?

Every day when we walk Pippa we see the lambs: when they are close by - I usually don't have my camera!- and when they are in the distance I have it so apologies for the blurry images.

They are a reminder of many lovely afternoon and evening walks watching them gambolling about.

Where's my mummy???......

Where? And Jack fast asleep here at least 2 weeks ago now, has started a new life in Woodstock under the name Ricci and has an older dachshund to play with all day named Rodney. We wish him well and I'm quite sure he's very happy there.

And finally : our friends have been using an incubator and some of their eggs have hatched: these are all chickeny chicks but different varieties of chicken. They very kindly let me snap a quick :'' aaaaaah ''photo for you to enjoy!

So raise your glass of water, juice or wine or Pimms and toast with me:

Here's to the JOYS OF SPRING and all the new life and happiness it bring.(s) CHEERS!!!!

A Wonderful Walk in the Chilterns-Beginning of May

On the May Bank Holiday weekend it was such lovely sunny weather that we took a family walk on the Saturday but I forgot my camera and we enjoyed it so very much that I did it all over again on the Sunday when the weather was slightly less sunny....

We park at Kimble and walk up a steep-ish hill labelled as ''The North Bucks Way'' by a signpost.
You can just see Pippa up ahead raring to go! She absolutely adores this walk!!!


There is fabulous grassland and wonderful BIG trees, all kinds including ancient oak trees....

Isn't this green just heavenly? All tones of lime and leaf green, so sooo many many greens.....

A tree struck by lightning I guess.....

We climb a small hillock at the top the view is AMAZING!!! Miles and miles all around can be seen: gloriously green Buckinghamshire. I think the little yellow flowers are cowslips?

It's heavenly up here: I must remember to come here OFTEN! It's only a 15 minute drive and then a 15 minute walk...

Pippa is sniffing out all those rabbits.....

At the bottom of the hill we turn left towards the hilltop with the two trees seen below: If continued for far enough it takes you across the Chequers estate and down a hill into Ellesborough. We saw lots of rabbits on the way: I could not let Pippa run free but she was happy at the end of a 5m lead, leading the way!

Such pretty blue flowers: not sure what they are. Not forget-me-nots but what?

This one below looks like the bee orchids that I used to see when walking in the South Downs in Hampshire many years ago... Pippa was pulling the lead so it may be a little out of focus.

It took 4 attempts as it was as she decided to lick the camera lens as I was trying to take a photo.

When we had reached the steps that lead down to Ellesborough we turned back and walked a loop across the chalklands savouring all the lovely views on the way. To the right:

And to the left:

And back on the right:

I'll get all WI at this point and feel like singing ''Jerusalem'' or something from the Sound of Music: I'm feeling so very very HAPPY!!! Views,sunshine,countryside,exercise,fresh air,good company all combined into a fabulous euphoric combination. The path stretches ahead and you just want to keep on walking...
The eventually there's a right turn and Pippa is looking quite tired now, her tongue is almost on the ground despite having had several long drinks of water. She starts hinting by lying down and refusing to walk on.

The path leading back down is spotted and we descend. There's butterflies: white with orange tips or fluorescent yellow or white. Many bees too especially among the blue Borage that form seas of blue along the sides.

I have a bee picture to load with some more pictures to be loaded another day. Aren't these just GLORIOUS?!!Beautiful brilliant bedazzling blues.

Contrasting with these lacy fragile whites....

And then we reach the car and drive home. Exhausted, content, happy,inspired,rejuvinated, invigorated and resolved to keep walking EVERY weekend from now on: different walks from the OS map of the area I was given- well I bought with a gift of funds- for my birthday.

Easter 2009 retrospective catching up

It's been a while and a lot has been happening but I wanted to just catch up with all the textile-y things that happened over Easter as well as all the puppy- stuff!

I thought I'd start with a picture- I made this a while ago now admittedly -which is nicely floral and of a tiger lily which I would have had for my birthday ..... It's to tally free machined no computers or embroidery machined involved whatsoever- simply DRAWING with my sewing machine needle.....

Also I absolutely LOVED my anemones as above: aren't those colours just scrummy?!!!

My hyacinths were out very early and very blue but not as much scent as expected this year or maybe I just had too much blockage due to the early start of the hayfever season???

There were narcissi too and they lookes so good in my jolly blue jug!!!

OH NO! You'll be disgusted at my scrumped up cottons- well they were just washed but I was NOT going to iron them just for the photo as I DYED them over the EASTER weekend.

I decided it was a weekend all about death and dying and resurrection: AND VOILA! I joined in by dye-ing some new pyamas and thus resurrecting them for lots of loving wear later on.....

These are the only affordable pure cotton pyamas I could find and they were cheap but UGLY so I washed them and then dyed them in the washing machine. I have to have pure cotton woven pyamas as it alleviates my eczema.....Knitted cotton just isn't the same as it never gets to feel as ''cool or cold'' as the finely WOVEN fabric.


So beware the ugliness, here are the ''before'' pictures: owls and stripes...

Just before Easter I also quickly crocheted a pair of baby bootees for the sister of a colleague who's having her first baby: a girl!
Easter and SPRING are all around us and it made us VERY EXCITED to find that a collared dove chose to set up her nest on our fence in a bush just outside the kitchen door.....

She let us walk past and even ignored a barking Pippa but when direct eye contact was made she flew off for a few minutes... Can you see her? I didn't want to disturb her- or is it he? There were two distinct doves taking turns on this nest.

And here are more nests: this time less functional more decorative, celabratory and fun! Bunnies and chicks galore as we decorate the house to celebrate Easter.....
Remember my carrot tops? Here they are in mid April growing and cheering us all along in their feathery greenery.

There was more dye-ing done than the pyama variety too!!! I had acquired on impulse- happens a bit too often according to some who must not be mentioned- some 20 balls of cashmerino wool- OOOOH SOOOOOOOO SOFT ABSOLUTE HEAVENLY SOFTNESS- but they were not really ''my'' kind of colour and they were bought for a blanket or a jumper but then I could not get to grips with it as : well....COLOUR means such a lot to me. Now this blue ain't bad as blues go but it's very very PALE and I don't do very pale very well......

There's a lilac too and that was worse: a greyed apology of a colour,'' hint of depressed lilac ''I'd say.

So I decided to try to dye it: I left a few messages on Ravelry and got advice on using KOOL- AID but I have not had much luck in the blues/pink spectrum with this although I did get a few nice greens and a red/orange mix with a started kool-aid pack last year......

I had a very old packet of FUSCHIA Dylon Cold dye in a tiny circular tin and used this. It dyes 500g so I used half the tin and dyed 2 skeins. Tap hot water into a plastic bucket, add washed wet wool in skeins, add vinegar and stir continuously for 10 minutes then sporadically for another 45 minutes, drain rinse till the water runs clear and then wash it in Stergene.

I turned the balls into skeins for dye-ing with my skein winder- set up in the garden above. And below as it happens....

The pale bue one I dyed with the new Dylon packets : it was a plastic packet called Ocean blue ( hand dye)and I used 10 g of the dye powder in 100 ml of very hot water, then added this to a bucket of 1.2 litres of hot water and added 50 g of salt. Stir as before, add wet washed wool in a skein.

The wool in this case was Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK. JUST 1 BALL: ie 50 g.

Here's the before- lilac and AFTER: PINK OR MAGENTA!!!

And here's the blues before and after!!!

Alltogether now: balls and dyed skeins- I think they look together now? What do you think?

Here's the machine dye for the PJ's.

This is what you do: dye into drum and cover with LOTS of SALT.

VOILA!!Resurrected bright jolly pink pyamas!!! The only things that refused to dye were the buttons- duh- and the piping.....

And the owls have all turned pink also: all in the same lot!Ironed this time and ready to wear!!!

HOW'S THAT for a resurrection?!!! That was some of the time at EASTER in 2009......

( the rest was fully occupied with the puppies!!!!)