Monday, May 16, 2011

For The Rhythm Of Life Is A Powerful Beat

Helloooooo and welcome to a new week.

Today started off frosty but sunny and quickly turned to cloudy with fog around the place.
Certainly had me fooled into thinking we were in for a lovely day,

I cranked up the wood stove and put a ham hock and split peas on to cook away.
Pea and ham soup is a favourite in this household and the last few years my hubby has made it but I've done the job today.
Fingers crossed it tastes just as good as his does otherwise..........

The washing is hanging on the clothes horse in front of the heater and the towels are on the line. Sometimes the excitement of my day to day life is overwhelming, hehehe.......

The sewing machine is back in action and as you can see by the photo I have been busy cutting out circles (some more 'circly' than others.....) from felted woollen jumpers.

They look like gambling chips from a casino in their little stacks.........


Pin them together and start sewing............
Believe it or not they make lovely, warm scarves as they are made from wool.

Wrap it around your neck a couple of times, loop it, tie it in a knot.
The options are almost endless.
The colours in the pic are almost spot on.
They remind me of beautiful little Blue Wrens.

I have to say this is not my clever idea but if I remember correctly I saw this in a Better Homes and Garden magazine some time ago and without doubt there are other crafty types who also make them.

I have one in a different colour way that I made about 3 years ago.
I love it and wear it often in Winter.
I did think perhaps it was time to retire it but after wearing it out on Saturday morning and receiving 2 compliments within an hour, I have decided it's not quite ready to go into mothballs.

The above scarf isn't finished just yet, needs a few more circles sewn on, so no final pic.
I'm preparing for a market this coming Saturday and I think scarves and fingerless gloves/wrist warmers may be a good seller.

So guess what I shall be doing this week?






Cutting out things from felted woollen jumpers can leave you with a lot of teeny, tiny scraps. I hate throwing them away, so pop them in a plastic bag to be used on other projects.
Sometimes I just need a small piece to add to a soft toy .
But the size of the scrap bag is growing and I have ideas swirling round as to how to use some of them up.
I like the idea of a scrappy, patchwork type of project, so shall keep thinking about it.
Hopefully something wonderful will spring to mind before my work space is taken over by my scrap pile...........


Alot of time was spent by the heater over the weekend as it was very chilly.

No. 1, has taken it on himself to keep the heater glass clean, no arguments from me.
So today he was sitting on the little stool with newspaper and a water spray bottle scrubbing the glass.

Easy peasy, scrunch up a piece of newspaper, spray the glass with water and wet the paper. Dip the scrunched paper into the cold ash in the heater and use it to clean the glass. The ash acts as an abrasive which doesn't damage the glass but help remove the build up of black film .

Mind you if it's baked on over a long period of time, more elbow grease is required and there's no guarantee that you will remove all the buildup but it's lovely sitting back looking at the logs burning.


After spending some time out and about on Saturday it was nice to get home to the warmth.

There's something I love about wintry Saturday afternoons .
The photo was taken about 5pm, it was cold out, warm inside. The football is on the radio, not that I'm a huge fan but keep my eye/ear on it just to see who is winning.
There are clothes drying by the heater, cat purring on the couch, the boys are out No. 1 is playing at a food and wine festival nearby.

It's quiet, it reminds me of Saturday afternoons in Winter when I was a child.
Back then I found them cold, boring and downright dreary I guess, but I love this time on my own now.

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Now, I have a favour to ask all you lovely ladies.........

I have a mystery that needs to be solved before it does my head in........
So grab your Deerstalker and pipe and read on.

You see, I found the website of a lovely artist in the UK, she makes beautiful jewellery using silver and beads.
From what I can remember, she doesn't have a blog or an etsy shop, you commission a piece.
Anyway, viewing some of her lovely necklaces , I spied one that had a Badger engraved onto it, she also engraves Hares and other creatures in her work.

She was having an exhibition somewhere, but I can't remember where and her website doesn't show up in my history for some reason and believe me I have looked until I went cross eyed.
So I haven't been able to track her down yet, but I am working on it. I thought some of you super sleuth Sherlock Holmes types might be able to help me out.

If you come across someone who does this type of thing, would you mind emailing me a link or commenting, I would certainly appreciate it.

Thankyou

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Well, blogger certainly gave us the run around recently, but all seems to be back in order now. Wasn't it frustrating not being able to post comments etc?

So to those who commented on my previous post and then were deleted by Blogger thanks for the comment I managed to read them all before they disappeared and to those recent commenter's thank you as well, always lovely to have you stop by and say 'hi'.

Well, I better finish off the soup and see how it tastes, throw another log on the fire and check the washing. There are windfall apples to be cooked up and the last of the tomatoes too.

Can I stand the excitement?

I hope your week has some excitement in store for you.

Whatever it brings I hope you have a good week and thankyou so much for stopping by.

Till next time, take care,

Claire X






9 comments:

  1. Hi Claire,
    Your felted wool circle scarf looks very pretty? I don't believe I've seen anything quite like it before. A "Sweet Birdy Love" original. That's the best thing about home/hand made, originality!

    If your No. 1 isn't too busy, would he care to visit our house and clean the glass on our wood heater too? :) Tell him there would be a nice hot cup of tea or coffee, a latte if he wants as I have a machine, and homemade cakes or biscuits to devour as there is always something in the biccie tin or should I say plastic container. Biccie tins seem seem to be so much more appealing don't they than plastic? I'd love to use one, but I fear hubby wouldn't appreciate the lack of an air tight container. :(
    Your 5pm photo has me thinking of cold, cold weather. It just has that look about it and the long shadows scream winter. Such a pretty view though.
    Have a lovely week, happy crafting and wishing all the best for your stall on the weekend. Wrap up and stay warm.
    Anne xx

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  2. Hey Anne, unfortunately I can't claim credit for the scarf, I saw this design some time ago in a Better Homes and Garden mag. I think it was.

    Am sure you could twist No. 1's arm to come and clean your wood heater door, but if you try the above method I'm sure that will make a difference.

    Weather report at this stage isn't looking too flash for the weekend so fingers crossed we will have to wait and see.

    Time to put another log on the fire,

    Claire :}

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  3. Claire, I love the colours in your woollen scarf - gorgeous! It looks so cosy by your heater. Would you believe it, after all the hot weather we had in April - it feels like Winter has come early - in May - cold winds! Good luck with finding the blog site - wish I could help!

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  4. I hope your stall is a sell out with all the cosy things you're making.
    I'll have to remember the cleaning with ash tip when we light our stove again.

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  5. The happy farmer always makes the ham soup here....we could do with some, the weather has been complete pants. May is turning into a wash out. Love your heart shaped scarf, good luck with the creations. I don't think I have come across the jeweller you are looking for but her work sounds lovely so do share once you track her down.

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  6. Hello Claire,
    I'm happy to back in Blogland and it seems I picked the perfect week to be away. I hear Blogger was full of gremlins last week.

    Love the wool scrap scarves...must make some of those. I have tons of felted sweaters!

    Ok...you got my attention with the ham bone. I am well known for my ham bone soups. Split pea, Navy bean and Lentil...Yum!!!!

    My friends know better than to ever throw a ham bone away..I'll take it.

    Things have been very wet around here...lots of rain and storms. I have never seen the landscape so intensely green. My photos look photo- shopped.

    Great shot of the mountains.

    I hope you find your jewelry lady....I'll look around GoogleLand for you.

    Cheers!

    janet xox

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  7. I can almost smell your soup simmering away on the stove. Ummmm. Have fun making your crafts for the shop this week! I love cloudy wintery days, because they make me feel like baking cookies or reading book or something else good like that. I hope you find the artists website soon... it is so frustrating when you lose someone.

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  8. It isn't Silverpebble, is it? Just a thought...

    Speaking of which, thank you for tonight's dinner inspiration - and could you use some of your scraps as stuffing? I use woollen felt scraps with wool stuffing for my softies (HATE THROWING SCRAPS AWAY!)...

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  9. The scarf is lovely, and I love the simplicity!

    I wish that I could help to solve your mystery, in fact the jewelry sounds quite wonderful.

    Blessings, Debbie

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