Good Vibes

I thought I would post what we have been getting up to. Seeing the outdoors might perk up anyone inside. 

On Saturday we went to the house build and did some outside tidying up. I had to try and think of the long game and not push myself physically as much as I normally would because at present I can't see the Osteopath. We all moved old tiles, breeze blocks and broken bricks into piles which the original builders had not used or thrown down from the scaffolding. There is a reason for putting them in piles - more on that later this year.

On Sunday we went to the cabin. We have a log cabin in the field and in all honesty I have not been in there for about 18 months and we knew it needed airing especially the beds. We changed all the furniture around, emptied the cupboards then swept out all of the spiders. 

We used to focus around a low coffee table in the middle of the room which was great went the girls were little but now we have bigger chairs and a round table in the centre. 

The girls made their beds into dens and unbeknown to me had filled their bags with things they wanted to have in their 'dens'. Their favourite books were displayed for all to see.

We went to the pond to do some pond dipping. We saw baby water boatmen, nymphs and huge lumps of frogspawn. I thought I had lost my 12 year olds interest in pond dipping and then she caught a large adult smooth newt and her childhood enthusiasm returned immediately.

We played cards, stoked up the fire, wrote in our nature diary and read it all the way back to the start laughing at the little pictures with funny spellings from when they were little. It was delightful.

I managed a few rows of little boy knitting. My current project on the go, a boys tank top in gifted/thrifted yarn.

The girls and I had decided to sleep there because they wanted to do some star gazing and knew that it was going to be a clear night. We did not know at that point that we would have restricted movement coming for the following week so it felt good to do something special. 

It was a truly amazing experience. We wrapped ourselves in blankets, lay in the field and saw 32 shooting stars!!!! A memory I will hold forever.

We woke at 6am and the thermometer in the cabin said 3 degrees. Brr! We lit the fire again to get dressed and have breakfast. We were home by 9am ready for home learning but it felt such a great way to start the week. 

I know we are lucky, very lucky to have another place off grid to go to - we were well and truly isolated. I hope the photos cheer a few of you up. I have of course done some crafting this week too along with going to work in school but more on the crafting next week.

Stay Safe. Love Jo xxx

Woodfolk

This blog is about what I make but I think you may have come to realise we are a pretty resourceful family all round. Today I want to share with you my bloke's project over the winter which has started to come alive now that it is Spring.

This is actually the end product. A tidy stack of wood to burn on the log burner at the cabin. 

There was a little investment present wise for this project when I bought him this helmet for his birthday last August and he purchased some new tools. 

He went on a hedge laying course to learn how to cut the base of the wood but leave enough for the sap to rise in the Spring to form new growth. Three places were booked: one for him, his brother and his dad. He was very excited about it in the run up to the weekend course - he even washed his boiler suit!

This is the hedge before laying. It had grown into a full row of Hazel, Holly and Field Maple trees over the years but really needed to be a hedge to stop it restricting traffic on the road. 
Plenty to practise his new skill on.

You can only lay a hedge between October and February because of nesting birds and of course encouraging the wood to regrow. Here it is after many weekends of work, taking a photo in the same spot as the one above.

So I am no longer a weekend hedge widow. Work has stopped and he is pleased to see the Hazel is throwing out new shoots. Hooray!

We can all talk knitting here but my bloke has talked hedge for a long time now. I don't mind, I like someone with a passion for 'their' thing, what ever it might be.

The light can now get through to the base so look at these lovely cowslips - a childhood favourite of mine.

and whats more but a few more of these little lambs, this one is still damp.

Thanks for looking...at a hedge! Jo xxx

Still doing this...

and always will...it is getting less this time of year but it still keeps coming and feeding us...

It is funny because if all the things I make and do, this is the one that blows me away the most. Growing our own food and processing it ourselves will never leave me as one of the most wondrous things I do with my time.

You want to see how proud I am this season?

 Parsnips next... we'll be glad of a change from courgettes! And the next generation of gardeners? We've got that covered.

Happy Harvest Jo xxx

Busy at showtime

Thank you for all your comments on the barbie dress, I nearly didn't post it because I thought it insignificant but I'm glad it triggered such happy memories for people.

So, onto the weekend, it has been fun packed and hectic and of course involves some craft. First up was our local veg and craft show on Saturday.

My entry into the limerick competition.

The girls enjoyed making vegetable models. I mean look how happy this girl is...

Yes, you have seen it correctly, it is a poodle made out of cauliflower! She came second and was thrilled.

We won lots of certificates and the whole family entered a range of competitions.

As soon as the prize giving was over and we had collected our exhibits at 6pm we dumped the stuff at home and raced to the cabin at the farm. We didn't want to miss sleeping over this weekend with all the mild dry weather we have been having.

We celebrated our day with Bloke's second prize apple wine and the children had a fizzy 'wine' too.

Then we had to eat Bloke's second prize courgette cake.

While waiting for the fire to heat up the girls and I opened our prize money. Didn't I mention prize money? £1 for a win, 50p for 2nd and 30p for third prize. Whoooo! They thought they were rich with £2.50 each.

Sometimes you get toasted marshmallows just right...

I reminded them not to burn their lips on the hot marshmallows and as I turned around I saw them cooling them down like this - it amused me.

I left my new bookmark at the cabin as I enjoyed reading Big Sis's nature journal. She records all the wildlife she has seen every time we go to our cabin, she looks them up in the reference books we keep there. We bought her the journal for her birthday. She wanted me to cover up her picture of a frog - I loved it but she didn't.

  

So a little bit of everything: crochet, wine making, baking, learning and ultimately on Sunday afternoon after a long walk with lovely friends, some relaxing in a deck chair. 

Hope you had a great weekend whatever you got up to. 

Jo xx