autumn equinox...

... the balance of life

enjoying the fruits of our labours

harvesting and thanking

a happy time of the year

as i pick blackberry gems from

prickly stems

and eye up sloes to add to gin

  

this time is special

no expectations

no wonder of weather and bbq's rained off...

...again

i love autumn

cool mornings with bright sunshine

woolly tights and warm jumpers

the hollow sounds of a wood pigeon

and the smell of wood smoke from the chimney

i love it all

free food harvested from the hedgerows

give way to jam chutney and wine

happy happy autumn

xxx

handmade cushion...

...from start to finish

i have completely handmade this sweet cushion

this was the first fleece i was very fortunate enough

to be given

by a kind friend

i sorted and washed it

i carded the fleece

and hand spun the yarn

and crochet into a cushion

i even made cushion pad

i am pleased with my efforts and loved working

with real wool

from a sheep that i see

from my workshop window

woolly miles was almost zero in this case

i have given it to my kind fleece giving friend to say a

big thanks

i love wool spinning

there its official!

see me at the llandovery sheep fair next weekend

where i will be helping my spinning group

raffle the rug that i helped weave

all proceeds to

kidney research

xxx

pembrokeshire hols...

...here's some snaps from our

lovely few days in fabulous

pembrokeshire

a beautiful part of the world

we packed up our lovely little 1960's

sprite 400ci caravan

and headed for st brides bay

the very same place we honeymooned

2 years ago

jessy taking this relaxing holiday thing to a new level!

the view from our caravan, st brides bay

 jessys 1st ever swim, full marks she was brilliant
with a little encouragement from jack

brrr its cold in there...
i am a sheep dog,

is there a field we can play in

instead of this cold wet stuff...

we all had a great time

xxx

artist in residence...

whilst we were at solva woollen mill

 we were lucky enough to meet a truly talented lady

jackie morris

she was signing her beautiful books that she both writes

and illustrates

an amazing imaginative artist

her books are full of meaning and wonder

and are a delight to read

her illustrations are

magical

we purchased 'the ice bear'

a story of loss and decisions

 but ultimately

 love

have your tissues at the ready!

it is beautiful

it was a pleasure to meet her

a great person with a wonderful spirit and an imagination that holds

no bounds

...one can only wonder of the stories waiting to be told.

xxx

solva woollen mill...

...just had to be visited during our holiday 

in lovely pembrokeshire

solva is the oldest working woollen mill in wales

opened in 1907

the water wheel was lovingly restored

by the owners tom and anna grime

and a sweet poem to its sentiment

we received a warm welcome

one that can only come from a family run business

the owners have done alot of work restoring the mill and shop and

added a lovely tea rooms too

beautiful old weaving equipment grace the shop and tea rooms

this is an old jacquard loom

and one can only marvel at its intricacies

old bobbins take on the new role as shop display 

all of which make for an interesting informative visit

and if that wasn't enough

the looms of today can be seen weaving their magic

to produce wonderful rugs for the likes of our very know HRH The Prince of Wales

toast and the landmark trust 

to name but a few that this unique woollen mill weaves for

we had a great visit and one that i can really recommend

thanks to anna and her team for making us feel most welcome

best wishes for the future

xxx

new chick...

...on the block

can you see our new addition?

21 days to the day

we have ourselves a newly hatched chick

mum and chick doing really well

it is truly amazing to see how our hen mothers her chick by pure instinct

chick is a delight

hatched by her mum

no interaction from us

except to keep mum fed watered and warm

and here we have a little new life

this will be henrietta

to replace our lovely hen we sadly lost to the fox

if she is a he, its henry of course!

looks like he is thinking of making a break for it already!

baby chick is sooo cool

love love love

xxx