Saturday, 2 May 2009

The A crop palace Part 2

Maggie's Half Dozen Henhouse from Flyte so Fancy (www.flytesofancy.co.uk) with larger door specifications incase we want to have Indian Runner Ducks in the future! Can't recommend this company highly enough, we have been delighted with everything we have bought from them.







All stones are broken and levelled, a good use for the 20 years pile of rubble by our garage!



The concreting begins.....



Backwards and forwards to Homebase ferrying bags of concrete to mix...




That evening we had dinner with friends and one of them said "I've got a cement mixer, do you want to borrow it?" WHAT!!! The job was finished on Bank Holiday Monday without the backache and in less time!





Friday, 1 May 2009

Julie went to see a farm e i e i o..and on that farm...

Today I got to go to a farm, a real farm, a farm with cowpats and country smells. My friend Ava, "determined to make a farmer of you" took me with her whilst she inspected the cow's eyes....apparently, they can jab themselves in the eye whilst eating grass and it can cause injury, so regular inspection is necessary. So armed with wellies (not green ones) I strode alongside her whilst we climbed the hill across her land to find them. Most were Aberdeen Angus, she informed me....I just saw wary eyes and much wee and poo coming out in fountains from rear ends....which held a strange fascination if only for a short while....

The calves were cute, especially the sucking on udder one, and I wished I had brought my camera. I did however have my mobile,and it was, as I was looking for the camera setting, that I trod in the cowpat which apparently Ava has never done despite having a field full of the stuff!

The most amazing sight of all, for me was the farmhouse....oh my word, okay, the words "Money Pit" come to mind, but the personality of the place, the wide windowsills that you could sit on like a benchseat, the leaded windows, the Arga, the woodburning stove, the farmhouse kitchen....lots of interesting little cupboards and shelves for jams and jellies. I would be in my absolute element...so dream a little, I did and then came away praying that her vision for the place would one day come into being, God willing and all that!

It has been a good start to the Bank Holiday w/e. I am hoping to put my Craft room to good use and finish repurposing (a new word I have learned from other Simple Living blogs!) a torn kingsize duvet cover into a single one with two pillow cases. I have measured and cut and plan to complete that in the next day or two. Another item from the mending pile out of the way!

Yesterday, I bought a wicker basket for my knitting projects, a bargain at £2.95! I am learning that you have to get these items when you see them in Charity shops as they don't stay long. I have been getting frustrated with my knitting bag as it has so many pockets that I spend ages trying to find my scissors, sewing needles etc delving about in its deep recesses! So the bag will be used for transporting in case of w/es away and the basket can stay at home where can see eveything at a glance...and it has a sort of sentimental charm about it.





On yet another trivial note, and this is going to sound absolutely mind numbing information, I made the momentous decision today (no really it's pathetic...)to throw away my "second skin"... my old thin worn out jeans that I love so much because they are so comfortable whatever weight I am. They feel like part of me and I wear them a lot, okay partly because they are one of the few items that actually fit me at the moment, but also because they move with me and well, I don't know what else to say...anyway...this week I noticed a tear, not huge, but a tear in the upper thigh area where thigh is herniating out is not pleasant...even if I have lost 2lb this week (yay!) Added to this, I had tried on a pair of jeans in a charity shop yesterday which were in better condition than the ones I was wearing (the fact that they were size 14 and I couldn't do them up was another issue to deal with) So the decision had to be made...this morning I wrestled with the "should I keep them for gardening?" NO, remember herniating thigh, not good...could tear more and that would really put the chickens off laying...So now, here I sit in my low slung (not a good style on me!)black jeans with my belly resembling Eglon King of Moab after the sword ordeal....

So if you have lost the will to live, at this point, I apologise, my next blog will show manly men doing stuff with bricks and cement...A crop palace Part 2. In the meantime I am going to learn how to weave on a cardboard frame...bye for now!!!!

Saturday, 25 April 2009

Knitting dishcloths is addictive!

I know,I know, I hear exclamations like "What's the point?!" and "You're knitting what?!" but I have to say... there is something very satisfying about washing up in hot bubbles with a soft absorbant cloth, somehow you want to slow down the pace of life whilst looking out at your washing blowing in the breeze...(you're not convinced are you?!) Well I'm happy in my little world where simplicity reigns...or at least "is coming to the fore!"

So here are my first attempts:












I bought this book at the Bath and West "Creative Crafts" show yesterday. I was really hoping that there might be some Peg Looms there, but looks like I shall be ordering one online as there weren't any to be seen. This book helps to further whet my appetite. I would to have a go at stick weaving too.




I found this child's loom in a charity shop recently. I still can't quite work out how to thread it correctly, but at some point I need to have a go! I have the designs in my head, I just need to get on with it (between dishcloths!!) The instructions (circa late 60's,70's) suggest that I may be able to find "small remnants out of your Mother's wool-box and make many pretty things"! So hey ho off I go to Mother's wool-box!




I have decided that I would like to organise all my Creative/Craft items in one place. So the Craft Room is born! It doesn't look much at the moment, but I couldn't resist taking some early photos! When it looks more "lived in" I will take more! It is going to be brilliant not to have to clear everything away when I have finished for the day! The pasteing table will appear for the photo album/scrapbooking at some point as well! As you can gather, I am just a little excited!




My ribbon Box




I love seeing my needles all sticking up like this! I've been wondering what use to put this tall vase to!

A crop palace Part 1!

Preparations are afoot! Our new exbatts have no idea that a few feet away from where they are being temporarily housed. a new structure is about to be erected, a palacial
residence, thanks in part to British Airways who paid us to catch a later flight whilst we were were staying in Athens recently. The name Acropalace (At-hens International) just seemed to fit somehow!








First Dick and Ramzi had to clear some branches. I was told that I "wasn't really being very helpful" because I would gasp audibly every time Ramzi ventured along a branch which creaked ominously...





Now I know why boys need men in their lives! Mothers want to protect and are always telling boys to "be careful", "don't do that you might fall" etc. Boys need to be daring and if they fall, they have to learn to pick themselves up and carry on. I do wonder what sort of boys we are raising when so many fathers are out of the equation. There is a whole lot more than can be said on that subject and I must not be drawn!

So anyway...I made myself scarce... That was a few weeks ago!

This next photo has been taken today and shows where Dick has measured and levelled the ground ready for the bricks and then, at some point in the future, they will mix up some cement and the base will be ready for Stage 2, building the Acropalace!





Monday, 13 April 2009

I went to the library and look what I came back with!




I just couldn't resist it...and then I realised that I hadn't brought a bag to carry them all back to the car in. The library have stopped giving out plastic bags for those of us who get carried away so I just had to go to Denners and buy some half price wool and ask for "the mother of all bags" to carry everything in! The lady was very obliging!


The "Country Rag Crafts" book (top right) had me diving into my recycling and retrieving an old red T shirt and some denin shorts of Chris' that he know longer needed. Out came the scissors and long strips of 1-2 cm wide strips, some cut on the bias (ooh err) which in no time were wound up into balls ready for use. "For what?" I hear you ask, well, the book is full of suggestions and I am inspired! It takes recycling to a new level..."oh no", I hear you groan.....

I won't go into what I am discovering in the other books, I will let the titles speak for themselves.......and no comments about the Vinegar one!!!!!

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