… tiny… tiny .. made the old fashioned way using a tin lid as a pattern. And then I didn’t have enough so I had to make even more…. bit of a miscalculation. Note to self : remember to double check the adding up……

So, if a group of geese is a gaggle, a group of crows is a parliament (not forgetting that a group of Ramblers out in the rain is a ‘Misery’) what do you think the collective noun for a heap of yo-yo’s ought to be ? All answers gratefully received…… I’d like a smile.

(I haven’t really lost it - it’s just it’s Friday and there’s a definate shortage of chocolate around here!)

Have a good weekend and stay warm!

So, I thought I’d share this absolute blast of colour and outright cheerfulness.

It’s an excerpt from a new magazine that Amy Bulter has put together, which she calls her ‘Fall Look Book - Fashion Afield!’ which you can download for yourself and see what it has to say. Link. You’ll have to scholl down a little to find it.

Whilst I was nosing browsing around I noticed that under ‘Free Patterns’ there’s a button called ‘Me Holiday Crafts’ (that sounds so like my local dialect I felt embarassed typing it!) and listed here are some interesting projects, given that Christmas is doing that sneaky thing of creeping up behind you! There are patterns for napkins, felt stockings to hang, Snow Mum pillows, which look gorgeous, a christmas tree forest and patterns and designs for cards and bows and …… loads of things.

Not particularly linked to yukky weather, the lack of light or to Christmas is another, link I thought I’d share. It’s a free bag tutorial from ohfransson. It’s called a ‘Margaret Sling Bag’ and I just love the shape of it. The pattern is a downloadable PDF which is great. Potentially a gift idea for some lucky person? or maybe just for yourself? ‘Ohfransson’ is a fantastically busy, active, and crafty blog if you haven’t come across it before. Loads of inspiration to be found there.

Well, look at that! Would you believe it, it’s stopped raining and the sun has come out! Perhaps now is a good time to go to the Post Office before the weather changes it’s mind again.

Pretty, don’t you think. I won it from Christine Sews blog. She has just taken that brave step into selling her bag creations on her own website. Go take a look.

The bag is made out of gorgeous upholstery weight fabrics which compliment each other perfectly. It’s lined with with a pretty, flowery cotton and has a magnetic snap closure. The handles are faux leather. I always admire that about Christines creations her way of mixing and matching fabric. It’s beautifully put together. Quite lovely.

So, this Saturday after dropping children off at various club type meetings I can retreat to our favourite coffee shop and watch the world go by for a few peaceful, tranquil uninterrupted minutes and be the mysterious woman in the corner with a very distinctive bag.

So, thank you very much Christine.

Certified copy of attestation - joining the Reserves for six years service.

Arthur Edward Raymond Peacock

This is the friend who had fun with his mates…. “we have to go bathing at half-past six in the morning and the waves dash into your face….”. played practical jokes and complained of six to a tent “…there’s hardly room to move…”

This is the son who wrote home to his Mum and Dad.

…”I can’t tell you when we shall come back, I don’t think it will last long, but I suppose we shall stop till it is done. Of course there’s nothing to bother about…..

… who sent love and kisses to his younger brothers. The reserves were amongst the first to go.

Like so many countless others this young man never came home from the fields in France where the poppies grow.

His were the parents who wept. His was the mother who never again locked the front door … just in case… in desperate hope that it wasn’t him.. her first born son.

These and many like him are the ones we should remember

Any ideas? It isn’t one of these lovely little lavender bags from here and it isn’t part of these fascinating kitchen diaries many of you are participating in at the moment. No. It is a ‘tea temple’ from teapigs. How evocative a name is that? Does it conjure up wondorous, rich and exotic images of China, Japan the mysterious east?

It’s a beautifully made little thing for what is essentially a tea bag. Silky to the feel and the aroma is amazing. Just look at the light reflecting off of it. (Yes - we have sunshine. Horray!) I wish I should share it with you. (The tea and the sunshine.)

This is a herbal ‘tea temple’, ‘Super fruits’, and it could almost double as a herbal drawer sachet. But no, I’m compelled to do the cruel but rightful thing and pour boiling water over it to get the true benfits of this health giving tea. I quote “Good if you’re feeling: Slow and lifeless. The antioxidants in our super fruits will help stave off “Squashed Hedgehog Syndrome” (i.e. “feeling run down” – get it? Sorry).” (copyright - www.Teapigs.co.uk) Is husband dear trying to tell me something? Should I be offended or flattered by his concern? Yes, I’ve been struggling along this week, but how romantic is it to be accused of “Squashed Hedgehog syndrome”?

The entire Teapigs website has an informative, energetic and fun feel to it. It has it’s own blog for ‘tea fans’, where it all gets more serious and you should see the gadgets they have for making the tea in. Not just you’re Aunty Edna’s big brown teapot I can assure you.

(image copyright - Teapigs.) Eva solo teamaker - it comes with a wetsuit(?) For the pot you understand. Not the user.

The varieties of teas are intimidating interesting too. There are the usual candidates; jasmine, darjeeling, english breakfast type teas but are you brave enough for ‘chilli tea’ (”This tea looks light and innocent, but hiding behind the delicate Ceylon is a zesty orange and a surprising chilli kick” ( - from Teapigs)),or how about ‘chocolate flake tea’ ? The herbal teas sound just as enticing. This one smells good enough to be dessert.

The best news for me is that you can buy them online. So I may just treat myself, afterall who wants to go through life with something as awful as ‘Squashed Hedgehog syndrome”?

.. there are these and these….

These patterns are designed by ‘Melly & me’, otherwise known as Rosalie Quinlan and Melanie Hurlston, who happen to be sisters and who both have quite a background in quilt design and stitchery. Their bag designs have pretty patchwork details, buttons (love buttons!) and little bits of embroidery (nothing too arduous) which add interest and texture, making them just a little bit different. If you wish to see more of what they get up to, ‘Melly & Me’ have their own blog which is an active source of ‘crafty’ inspiration and activity ( a lot of sewing, fabric, quilting and ‘crafting’….)

The patterns themselves are printed on paper ( not tissue) and include pattern pieces, fabric cutting instructions where appropriate and making instructions (absolutely appropriate!).

Requirements, listed on the pattern sleeve, detail what they’ve used to make the bag, toy, or quilt so that you can reproduce exactly what they’ve made or of course use your own fabric favourites. Some items use quite small fabric pieces so they may be a way of reducing that fabric stash you’re hoarding (you are aren’t you?) and have something beautiful instead. (Or an excuse for more fabric!)

I so need that monkey.

Just look at these soft toys, aren’t they the kind of toy which children fall in love with forever. I’ve spent so many (intensely stressful) hours retracing steps to find my childrens’ lost but deeply loved ‘cuddlies’. They’ve turned up in supermarket drawers, on stiles. I think we even tied my daughter’s ‘doggie’ to her when we boarded a ferry once. Can’t remember what we tied her too … Happy days!

Well, after I’d added all the names into the ‘bowl of possibility’, this is what popped out…

So, congratualtions Andrea . It you e-mail me your address, I’ll get this sent off to you.

… I really enjoyed this little swap so thanks for joining in and I know it’s a shame everyone can’t win. But I do have an idea for a next one, which I’ll post at the end of the week. So, if you feel like a bit of sewing drop back then.

And I’ve been tagged - twice, once by Judy of Maccabags and once by Chris of Kiamyka and these are the rules;
The Rules:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.

Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So - 7 facts about me.
(nervous laugh - will you ever speak to me again… Are there seven things to say about me?..)

Well, I love walking in the mountains and I’m terrrified of heights.

I’ve walked Hellvelyn and across Striding Edge, complete with its’ gravestones remembering those that have perished there. Perilous drops on either side, a stupidly narrrow path with inconsiderate spikes of eroded limstone sticking up. If the wind were to get up, you’d be in a seriously bad place.

So, walking in the mountains is fine. It’s bridges that give me the heeby jeebies. Those narrow, high bridges that are like a pole strung across a river - gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
A misty day in Yorkshire. That might look sturdy enough but you just wait until you get to the middle…. It’s got plans…!

Second fact;

I love growing things, especially food because I like eating and an allotment always means a glut doesn’t it? So, then there’s the opportunity to share the produce of your green fingers with other green-fingered folk.

I’ll probably never have an amazing garden though because I’m not ruthless enough to rip out the flowers when they’re mostly past their best or getting a little leggy. I like them to fulfill their destiny of dying for themselves as nature intended.

Third;

I find people fascinating. Fascinating for themselves. I really enjoy the company of people who are a little bit flexible in their thinking. People who can conceive of other ways of doing things. You see I really like a good old chin wag and setting the world to rights and you can’t do that with someone who has already decided what the answer is …. it’s just no fun!

Fourth:

I’m named after a grandmother clock that belonged to a great aunt!

Five;

I loathe slugs, snails and anything slimy looking. They lurk in the worst possible way under the lid of the compost bin and it’s disgusting!

Six;

I love ancient places. I like the connection to folk past. There’s an old seventeenth century grammar school near to us and it amuses me that some of the graffitti etched into the walls/desks are from the 1650’s. Boys - (girls weren’t educated in such places then), haven’t changed. It’s only the layer of technology that makes us different. Basically, as humans we’re the same now as all those folk before. I like that link. It’s humbling.

Seven;

I can get lost anywhere! Yes I know that sounds stupid having admitted to loving walking out in the wild places. But, you see I don’t go alone, so that’s o.k.

When, my son hit five years of age he’d already learned to navigate me to his friends houses and back again. He knew that if I got there o.k. I’d struggle to get back.

It’s an affliction … I need a GPS to make it to the next town…. well almost.

… now it’s no good hiding behind the sofa because you know that I’m going to pass it on don’t you?

This is always the difficult bit. So, hoping that you’ve not already been tagged I’m going to tag Indigo Blue, MarmaladeKiss, Sew Love to Sew, Incy Wincy Stitches, 23BeechHill, Cloudhopping, and blu-shed because I enjoy all your blogs and would like to know a little more about you. What you do now is of course entirely upto you….

Stay warm! I’m off to leave comments on your blogs. Speak soon.

That’s the kind of relationship I have with this
Barefoot Roses

It’s a beautiful old fashioned, blousy rose print and to me it always says ‘Grandma’ - my grandma. She used to love this kind of fabric print.

So, with a little bit ot sewing time I’ve made this -

it’s a simple little drawstring pouch. I used both the rosy and the polka dot fabrics, and pieced them together with the a soft pink fabric inbetween the main pieces, highlighting the pinks in the roses.

It’s a bit ot a sewing departure for me. If I make pouches, it is usually the zipped kind. But this is pretty, girly and pink….

It’s simply quilted with a cross-hatch design in a pale pink thread, which I thought would add to the old fashioned/vintage appeal of the fabric and the pink was again to draw attention to the roses.

I used the polka dot fabric as the lining and a narrow burgundy, velvet ribbon for the drawstrings. (Oops! I’ve hidden them a bit with the beads - I think I got a bit carried away.) Again, I thought the velvet has an old fashioned, opulent feel.

There - that’s without the beads

The beads? I raided them from my daughters dressing-up jewellery stash just for the photo. I’m trying to improve my photo’s and this is my attempt at creating a mood! (I need to sneak them back before she gets home from school! or I’ll know what mood means!). They probably were my grandmothers beads …. unintended realism?

What do you think to the bottom?

It’s a pleated, folded arrangement. Quite nice ? I’m thrilled that it turned out as well as it has.

Enjoy your weekend.

Behind the tree is a wall. A much older wall…

Over the wall is a field, an ancient field..

That field marks time…

The Romans must have walked this way down to settle by the river. The Normans too, signs of their harsh overlordship are all around. All gone now but the field remains.

Can you spot the tractor?

During the harvest the farmer toiled. Working late into the evening.

Now the field looks like this. But wait. What’s this? Now, the animals and the birds that live there are exposed.

The foxes trot behind the wall. The same route back and forth, hunting the rabbits, chasing the pheasants. Making unearthly screeches into the night. Muntjac graze their way across to the fields beyond.

Tawny owls hang out in the trees that line the field boundary and the wall. Busy, chatting and calling to their owl friends every evening now.

Hares bound along great ears flopping. Fascinating creatures.

The year turns ……

Autumn is such a beautiful time but alas the winter follows too quickly behind.

But, every autumn is the same once the harvest is in - the spiders, HUGE spiders with hobnail boots look for somewhere warm. Yikes!

Then there’s mice. They too seek out somewhere warm to hang out for a while.
“Husband dear have you , got your lunch, your bag? and have you got the trap!?”

What should a true country person do? Do they turn the little mice into kebabs and hang their little pelts over the fire place? Not much eating on a mouse is there?

So, the dear little critters get forcibly re-located over to the next county to build new lives for themselves.

They don’t need a passport, they don’t need a work permit. (Will there be a border dispute with Bedfordshire?)

We’ve tried releasing them over the wall…… but I’m convinced that they ‘home’. Now, they get a car journey and a new field to explore. A second chance, they can’t stay here.

What terror lurks at the bottom of your garden ?