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Another excellent day in the allotment. A kind friend made me these beautiful boxes and I’ve had fun filling them with worm speckled home made compost. I must have missed out on the mud pie stage of my development but I’m making up for it now.  I do wear my Marigolds thought, just to prove I’m an adult.

Water, water everywhere

What is this weather like?! July, and you need head to toe waterproofs to put a foot over the door. But no flooding in my area and for that I am grateful.

The allotment is fairing remarkably well.  I lost my big daddy courgette to crown rot. No other casualties worth mentioning. I have a day of the triphids green pea crop and a very acceptable sweet pea crop. I have beans coming out of every orifice and a rather shy purple sprouting broccoli.  Who knew you could grown coriander outside in Scotland? Amazing!  As is my thyme collection.  Nothing like having thyme on your hands…

In the polytunnel my tomatoes collapsed for lack of support.  I hadn’t realised that innocent little tomato seeding would become a tree.  Fortunately I have two others on which  boughs of miniature yellow tomatoes are beginning to form. My lemon grass and ginger sprout merrily next to some rather bedraggled chilli plants.  Seemingly they like to go to bed dry whilst their bed mates, the tomatoes, like to go to bed wet.  I’m with the chillies, every time.

I’m not really up to speed with what to plant next. After lifting my rusty garlic, which survived surprisingly well, I dug in lots of mature horse manure and popped in some Florence fennel.  This is supposed to be a voraciously greedy and aggressive feeder. Looks so innocent when you see it rotting on the supermarket shelves.

On the subject of horse manure, I have a wonderful source in a riding stable nearby.  Beautifully rotted over many moons and starred with many wiggly worms.  All I have to do is go shovel shit. A bit like being at work really…

Keep right on to the end of the road…

Walking is my all absorbing passion these days.  I would say old lady style walking but the 80 year old ladies I have walked with can run rings round me.  Beginner walking perhaps?  Meaning if a slope is any steeper than the disable ramp into the library I will be descending it on my bottom.  (The bottom shuffle was a technique I perfected as a child.)

Like most pastimes it is advisable to dress appropriately.  Definition of appropriate dress depends on with whom you are walking.  To sensible people it means comfortable, wind and weather proof.  to the Jones it means the correct labels.  Fortunately I am never able to keep up with the Jones so they can’t read my labels from a distance.

My good buddy The Limping Cyclist posts a view from her bike on her Twitter feed.  I am a reluctant photographer but I intend to give anyone who is interested a view from my walk……starting soon.  Not soon enough unfortunately because yesterday’s walk took me through magical, dripping green fairy dells on the Island of Bute.  Next time I’ll have my Hasselblad with me.

Ooops, pardon me for label dropping.

Turning my fingers green

I've been Rambling up many a hill since I spoke to you last and even made myself a water bottle holder.  That's been my only sewing project although the workroom had been tidied with a bit of a dress making spree in mind.

What has been taking up most of my time is my new allotment.  All raised beds so no digging.  People plant very picturesquely in anything that will hold some soil.  All manner of bags and totes.  I planted in my knitted plastic bag last night.  Plenty of holes for drainage.

I took over an existing bed of tomatoes, courgettes, beetroot and onion and have added some leeks and lettuce and planted out my tatties (Scottish potatoes) for Christmas in patio bags.  I was bemoaning the fact that wooden fish boxes no longer exist and a kind friend made me one.  I planted some herbs in it although it as very shallow, this being the nature of a fish box.

I am a complete novice to this lark but the joy of allotment gardening is the community and the shared knowledge.  I’m down there every night at the moment, hoovering up as much knowledge as I can.  My dear, sweet partner keeps pointing out to me that it’s not brain surgery, nobody dies if you get it wrong.

Tell that to the courgettes!

You are old, Father William,”

You are old, Father William,” the young man said,
“And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head –
Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

I’ve been tidying my workroom in preparation for making this jacket. I can almost see my work table now.  It will happen soon.

The design doesn't make you gasp at it's fabulousness but it's the construction I'm interested in.  You can wear it upside down.  I've just made a cardigan like that out my head.  Thought if I had these pattern pieces I could raid my scrap box and maybe combine with knitting and make all manner of weird gear.  Going to make the straightforward version first with some fabric I 'acquired'.  Very lovely light wool.  Must have cost a fortune!  Found it in the scrap box at a quilting group I went to briefly.

It has exposed, bound seams which is something I’ve never attempted before.  Lots of Utube help available of course.  I also have a fabulous old sewing manual, Singer Illustrated Dressmaking Guide.  It has line drawings of elegant ladies in day dresses and says things like ‘….ragged edges are inexcusable.’ 

But mon Dieu!  Today ragged edges are de rigueur!

Not half the woman

I was rummaging about in my collage box and I found these photocopies of the back of a stitched piece I made and sold years ago.  An arrangement where they are not perfectly matched spoke to me about the situation I now find myself in, a member of the chronic pain gang.

Not complaining, just saying is all.

The photocopies are pretty tattered.  I’m going to see if I can re-copy them to clean them up.

Every brick in the walk

My little mono chrome children are sitting high on a brick wall.  Arguably it might have been a smart idea to prepare the background first but don’t you just hate smart ideas?

I tried to Bondaweb everything except their legs.  That didn’t work.  So I Bondawebbed the leg free bit and laid down some ripped fabrics.  Then I Bondawebbed the fabric I was applying rather than the background and am engaged in cutting it free hand a fitting it around the legs.  Seems to be working after a fashion. 

Next step is to place a sheer fabric over the wall, stitch it down and burn it back.  Plenty of scope for disaster yet!

Welcome to my cabin

Been having a patchwork moment as a gift for my sister in law. My good buddy Sandy may recognise some of these fabrics as she generously donated them to my stash.

This little exercise has made me go read some of my quilting books again. My two current favourites are about stitching to dye and painting quilts. This is where I would like to be heading.

Danger Woman at Work

I’ve been stitching this afternoon. (Swoons in amazement!).  I must have started this last year.  You’ll recognise the first two kids from the blog header. There is an exhibition which happens every year.  It’s like Christmas.  You'll find me running about the week before as if the fact it falls on 25th December was news to me.

Same deal with this exhibition .  It falls on the same date every year the precursor to which is my  headless chicken routine.  Perhaps I need to the sound of deadline whooshing by to inspire me?

If, like me, you were a child of the 60’s in the UK, please tell me what was the name of those brown sandals with the thick crepe soles all the children are wearing in the photo I’m working from.  Ah,those were the days, when you had a choice of one shoe (or rather two shoes, one brand).  I think they were Clark’s  Sun-i-pat sandals, or something along these lines.  If anyone can confirm I'd be obliged

Hot Buttered Seaglass

Pancakes loomed large at the recent sea glass workshop.Earrings were the focus of the day. We made necklaces last time and most people were wearing theirs. Nice to complete the set with a pair or earrings.

The pair thing was a bit of a challenge. Every tried to find two bits of identical broken bottle randomly abraded by the sea over many years?

Personally I’ve always been a fan of odd earrings.

My favourite canal

I’ve been having root canal work done on my teeth.  I hate dentists but I love MY dentist.  Hhhhhmmm, Freudian!

Off to teach a seaglass jewellery workshop this morning.  Should be okay.  No chewing involved.  Not unless someone has forgotten their scissors.

Saw a great tip for cutting wire the other day.  Think it was the Crochet  Crowd vidcast  The tip was to cut your wire with your nail clippers.  Saves trashing your scissors.  In fact I believe this could be the self same implement my dentist used on me yesterday.  Maybe he left them in there? 

Open wide.

Beads!

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You don’t need me to tell you times is tough right now.  I’ve taken to making a lot more of my own jewellery for my little shoppee and I do love buying gemstones.  My good buddies took me to the Edinburgh Bead Fair for the first time recently where I spied some irresistible Picasso Jasper.  Large beads as a rule are too heavy to form a necklace in the normal way but one stone on its own can look stunning.  Each one of these looks like a little landscape or seascape………to me, but obviously not to the person who drilled them.  The result is I have quite a few landscapes and seascapes rotated at a 45 degree angle.  Horizon vertical instead of horizontal. Guess that it makes it the verrison?

Was wondering what to do about my gemstone dilemma when this book came to my attention.   I’m teaching myself how to attach a silver bail to the stone,  bringing the horizon back to a less dizzying angle.

I run workshops about how to wrap sea glass with silver wire.  I have one happening this Saturday.  So far I haven’t offered any of my wire wrapped jewellery for sale.  I’ll be interested to see if it takes anyone’s fancy.

I’ve finally managed to get Livewriter to work properly and insert photos for me.  Maybe this will revitalise my blogging life which has faded to a shadow of it’s former self.  Unlike me, I’m pleased to say.  I’m fit as a flea, or at least a flea with a sore bum.  After investigating the world of chronic pain I realise I am extremely fortunate and much blessing counting is called for.   Red or grey?  Whatcha reckon?

Never enough tea

Don’t you find? Never a tea cup big enough for your requirements?  I like one I can bathe in.  Even if it is only  up to my waist.  Cheers!

Here come the girls

Hot Stuff!

Okay, I promised you the down on capsaisin cream. In the UK it's a prescription drug but I see you can buy it from Amazon.com and other places I guess. I thought the Amazon site was interesting because, as with books and the like you can scroll down and read the reviews. They range from best cream I ever tried to the work of the devil which should be banned.

It certainly has a sting in the tail, or my tail anyway. It comes in two strengths and you only need the tiniest amount. It seems to be doing nothing at first bit it's a gradual build up. If you overdo it, watchout!

The other evening I was lying in bed having liberally applied the cream. The whole area was on fire and despite my best efforts to ignore it, I finally had to get up at midnight and have a bath to get rid of it.

I'm persevering though. Something is working for me and I feel better every day. Can't swear it's the Capsaicin. I think it has a lot to do with the idea of taking back responsibility for your own health.

I do realise how hugely blessed I am to be in a position to be able to do that.

A bit rusty

I'm trying to establish a mindfulness practice. Trying not to go through the day on auto pilot. To be aware of my thoughts. To be aware of my posture. To be aware of my breathing. But I have so much to do, how can adding to my burden help? Believe me, it can.

My fly's eye is trying to capture all I have to do in one glance, making it seem impossible. Instead
I'm going to consciously breath my way through washing the dishes. Until that task is completely finished, nothing else exists.

I can lazer focus in on my knitting to the exclusion of all else. Five hours to knit a glove seems like pretty good going. Five hours of focusing on chores would release me from the mess currently blocking my creativity.

I know it's do-able, one breath at a time.

Maiden Voyage

A chilly but beautiful sail from Largs to Portavadie on the west coast of Scotland.

Bring on the straw

I've became foster mummy to a spinning wheel this week. All I know about spinning wheels is that they enable men of small stature to turn dried grass into precious metal. Thought that might be a plan, given the current economic climate. Only problem is, it's broken.

Well not really broken. Just slightly wounded. Its real mum uses it for decorative purposes only and lends it out to amateur dramatic groups (!). Therefore a few bits have fallen off over the years.

Frank Herring to the rescue. The wheel is a basic Ashford single drive. I learned this by watching a series of Utube spinning videos until I found one that looked like mine. Frank Herring, gawd bless him, provides a maintenance kit containing all the missing bits and I have sent for one. It costs £11 odds and contains a new drive belt (piece of string) and guides (cup hooks). See? The gold from dross thing is happening already! It's just happening for Frank Herring. But that's only because he has more spinning wheels than me....at the moment.....

I also had some girlies round for messy play. We mono printed with acrylics and wallpaper paste on calico. Great fun! You spread the gloopy mess on a sheet of acetate (or similar), scrape patterns into it and lift then off with the calico. When dry, you can mask areas off and repeat the process with another colour or pattern.
Its the 'when dry' bit I'm not so good at. Hence mine looks a little more oganic than planned. One girlie described it as 'very sixties'. Yes, well, so am I.

Taking my hat off to Laura Reavis

We had a great knit night tonight. Two new ladies showed up and we crocheted preemie hats. How cute does this look sitting on my swift? Look a lot better sitting on a baby's head I guess. This is from an original design by Laura Reavis. You're welcome to use it for charity crafting. It's called Creative Preemie Hat

Did I mention I'm in the process of kicking my painkillers? It goes well but sleep goes completely. All I want to do is eat and part-aey! (and crochet-aey). Looking forward to the days when I happily slide off to bed at 9pm. Won't be long now!