Filling in some blanks

It seems strange to me, sending out these posts without explanation or introduction.
Who am I?
Who are you?
I am not asking deep philosophical questions here! But I can't help wondering a little about those who read my blog. And, I feel I need to be grounded in these pages, grounded in some history and in truth.
My aim is to tell you about my creative life but it I feel the need to do the telling in some context. I am no writer, bet you'd guessed that already, and storytelling is definitely not my forte so here are vignettes to fill in some blanks:-


Ramblin' Randall and I took a river trip on the Wye. This was before the invasion of the Hairy Herberts when life was peaceful. We camped on the river bank in a very primitive site with just a stand pipe for water and a portaloo for ablutions. We had a small corner all to ourselves and had campfires at night and slept with the tent flaps open drifting off to sleep under a starry sky. Bliss. Until......a group of young lads,travelling down river, set up a tepe next door.....hit the local pub hard....and the portaloo even harder..... Capiche! Still,I never take my porcelain amenities for granted now.
That's what we do for fun.


For a couple of years we lived in Somerset. On a small, small holding. And we raised 6 orphaned lambs. More starry nights observed as we got up every 2-4 hours in the early days with each lamb to feed them. These two cuties were ewes. Mardi on the left and Belle on the right. For reasons beyond our control we had to leave and come back to Hampshire and trust these two to the care of a farmer. Their fate is unknown. And it breaks my heart.









We rescued 22 battery hens some of whom were in sorry states. This one sports a kind of Vivian Westwood style wrap to cover her chilly chest. Made from an experimental piece of knitting that didn't quite work out as planned. All 22 adapted to life in the green and sometimes the mud with great gusto. My first experience of hen keeping and I fell in love. Great characters. One day I hope to have more.

Loving it.......

It is a very happy happening when someone loves something that you have made. Yesterday
I sold the pixie cardigan, to a very nice lady, who, I was relieved to note, did look rather good in it. It is doubly satisfying when the garment seems to love the buyer in return.  I would always find a tactful way dissuade to someone from buying if it was not the case. It isn't just in the best interests of the customer that the item looks good on them but also in my own. I think that my creations are lovely just as objects in themselves....wouldn't make them otherwise but, on the right person they have life. And I feel happier seeing a match made in heaven, or perhaps not in heaven but in my studio/shop.




The sun shone brightly today which brought more people out and I had a pleasingly busy day. Making, selling, and trying to take photographs for my newly opened Etsy shop and for this here blog.
The Etsy thing is really interesting and encouraging. Not sold anything on there yet but people have 'favourited' items and so far the cat brooch is a clear winner.

The three drawers in this white dresser are full of old, disused, lovely cutlery....



every now and then I have a wind-chime making session and use the pieces like this......








I love putting a new twist on forks and spoons. Quite literally in many cases .........these are always popular and it's always the bent pieces that get the most positive comments. Although taking a good photo of them is a challenge, as yet, unmet!








Another popular item.

These little  bags are  a cute way of using up scraps of fancy yarns. They are about 6cm square and hold a single cream egg or Lindt teddy. They are ideal for Easter gifts or just for little girls who love a bit of bling. Quick, easy and fun to make.
For the handles I use necklaces that I buy from car boots and charity shops, the sort that are solidly strung as opposed to beads on a thread. You can cut the length you require and use in a multitude of ways.










Today is a day for catching up on paper work and then for catching up with family. One I love and one I loathe. No prizes for guessing which is which.
But somewhere in all of that, plus dog walking and meal making, I will carve out a little time to play/make/ create something. My sketchbook is filling up with ideas.
Happy Sunday.