Short days

Winter sunrise through the woods.

It amazes me how much life has changed in just one year. Our days used to be defined by the time on our watches, now it seems we plan our activities according to the hours of daylight. The chickens rising and bedding down starts and finishes our working day. The summer days here are really long and often it doesn't get dark until nearly 11 o'clock at night and conversely, the winter days are extremely short. Just now we have to wait until 8:45 for the day to get started and our outdoor jobs need to be finished before it starts to get dark at 3:45pm.

 

As we had hoped, we managed to get our new front door fitted before Christmas, it looks very smart and hopefully the cold drafts in the hall have now been banished. Unfortunately M was unable to save the old stained glass window as it exploded into a thousand bits.

 

Look what we found in our woods, a little antler. Jess and Finn were very interested in it but M managed to get hold of it first. We keep looking for the second one in the pair but no joy just yet.

  

A week or so ago we dug up all the willow cuttings we had put in one of the baths about a year ago. There were also a few elders which I had stuck in when we trimmed our newly planted elder plants in March. We couldn't quite believe it but there were 45 willow plants in all and these are now dotted around the woods. I potted up the elders to give them a little protection over winter before being planted out next spring. I'm really chuffed with my little group of oaks and hopefully they too will find a permanent home in the new year.

Dreary days lead to crafty adventures and M has been busy. He has cut and dried willow before soaking it to try some willow weaving and the result is a beautiful willow wreath adorning the Wendy house.

  

He also weaved a little cone before picking some winter greenery for an indoor arrangement; he is so creative.

 

The best I can do is buy some little indoor plants, I love the look of a poinsettia at Christmas. I also decided to get a small Christmas cactus which has loads of buds, hopefully we won't kill it before it blooms - we've never been particularly good at keeping house plants.

 

Some lovely hyacinths complete the windowsill picture.

One final note on the chicken front: due to the avian flu restrictions they are now enjoying their enforced confinement in the byre where the wild birds can't get to them or their food and water. Roll on the 6th January and a return to normal scratching around, free range, in the chicken yard.

Wildlife camera (Video)

More Camera video

I just couldn't wait to show you this video so this is a really really short post.

We did think that we had more than one barn owl residing in our byre. However, we were overjoyed to see this video today which captured both of them, together. We have no idea where they live and if they are a family, oh it would be wonderful to see some little owlets. 

Christmas is Coming

Christmas Decorations

Christmas doesn't officially begin in our house until December so this week we gathered together all our decorations and started the job of adorning trees. We have always added to our pot of decorations each year and when we first got married we would choose one new bauble each. In recent years we have made decorations which have arrived in a variety of forms.

   

Mum bought me a kit to make a silver bauble where pieces of material are folded and then pinned into a polystyrene egg. It was quick and easy to make so I got some more material and made another in bright green and red.

   

One year we embarked on a Fimo modelling clay session and had a lot of fun making labels for all our presents and a few decorations with the obligatory glitter glue of course. Having a huge stash of buttons meant I could make a few little button Christmas trees, very quick and easy to construct.

Decoupache is a fun way to decorate and at this time of year M's NOEL is always on display.

   

A little while ago I posted a picture of the wooden owl M made and mentioned he was also making some Christmas decorations. Well, tah dah! he made these lovely little snowmen who are now sitting comfortably in our tree.

He was having a lot of fun and made these larger snowmen and a Santa Claus for outside.

  

Don't they look wonderful and the Wendy house looks all Christmassy too.

About a year ago I bought this Kirstie Allsopp kit but as we have had such a busy spring and summer we never got around to trying it out.

Until, a couple of weeks ago M decided to cut some logs and try making some little tree hangings.

 

And another little NOEL which looks great under our light arch. I'm feeling a bit guilty as I have yet to contribute to the decorations this year but I still have a couple of weeks to add my own touch.

So the trees is up and looks very pretty although this picture really doesn't do it justice. We just need to complete the picture with a couple of presents and we'll be ready for the big day.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Crafty beginnings

Needlework

For as long as I can remember my mum has knitted, crocheted and sewn, she is an amazingly crafty woman who will try any kind of craft at least once. I have yet to reach her skills levels in any craft and for many years my only form of crafting was needlework, mainly cross stitch. I had planned to tell you about how I've recently embarked on new crafts but I got a bit carried away in a period of reminiscing and found lots of my old projects. So I thought I'd indulge myself for a few minutes but I'll keep this short and sweet.

 

These were the first cross stitches I ever did, I can't remember quite when that was but I was probably about 11 or 12 years old. They were little kits that really didn't take too long to complete and got me used to working with an embroidery hoop.

This was the first big needlework picture I completed and mum and dad very kindly got it framed for me. It was a wool tapestry; as a child I always loved having this on my bedroom wall and it now hangs proudly in my little craft room.

I have always done cross stitch in fits and spurts, becoming obsessed with it and then leaving projects for months and sometimes years before returning to them. I have quite a few which still haven't been framed and to be honest I'd almost forgotten about them. I love elephants and really enjoyed this cross stitch (again another kit) and maybe one day it will hang on our wall.

 

Sometimes I find it difficult to complete some projects and found these little kits which took no time at all to finish, long before I got distracted by other projects.

This was one of the most difficult cross stitches I have ever done. Instead of counted cross stitch it was printed on cotton and was so time consuming trying to find exactly where the needle should go. I did finally get it finished but perhaps I should have ironed it before taking the picture.

One of the nicest cross stitches I have done was one of the county of Worcestershire which I gifted to a lovely couple on their 40th wedding anniversary, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it framed.

 

I started a couple of cross stitches a few years ago and they have become a bit of a standing joke in our house. One was an engagement picture which I bought when we got engaged and another of Venice where we spent our honeymoon 12 years ago. Unfortunately, as you can probably tell, they have been folded up and kept in a bag for quite a while.

 

Hopefully one day I may find the enthusiasm to get them finished. I'm embarrassed to say that I also found another few half completed needlework projects which I had forgotten about, including this long stitch wool tapestry. I received a beautiful cross stitch of a black Labrador for my birthday last month and can feel the urge to return to my first ever form of craft. Obviously I have lots to catch up on and get finished off.

Wildlife at Night (Video)

Wildlife Camera

A few weeks ago we noticed that some of our hedging plants were being eaten by something. The hedging was only planted in the spring and although it has become established and is growing well it is still quite short, some of the plants are only a couple of feet tall. The hazel and plum were the main targets and they seemed to be eaten from the lower branches upwards so we ruled out deer activity. In an attempt to discover our intruder we bought a little wildlife camera and I thought I share a little post showing what we caught on camera (you might need to expand it to full screen to see it!).

You can just see a pair of eyes at the bottom of the picture where the branches are moving and then a hop hop along the hedge line. Yes, it looks like our culprit is a rabbit. Hopefully it won't take too much of the hedge so it will grow next spring.

We also manage to get a couple of pictures of our local fox, another very good reason to make sure the chickens are locked up safely at night. Finn did spot the fox one day who seemed pretty surprised to be challenged by a black lab in the field and soon legged it.

M set the camera up in the byre to see if we could capture some footage of our barn owl. The video isn't great but he/she is definitely in residence. Hopefully we'll be able to get some video of the deer in the woods soon.

Winter arrives

Cold days.

After a very mild Autumn I think we were caught out with the early arrival of winter weather; snow, hail and very cold days have arrived.

The woods looked lovely with a covering of snow but unfortunately it meant that any thoughts of gardening had to be put on hold.

I think we'd almost forgotten how cold this old house could be and so there was nothing else for it but to light the fire. It never takes Jess long to notice when the fire is lit. To be honest I love having the fire lit and snuggling up watching a good film or drama. We eventually managed to finish watching Dickensian and War & Peace, both of which we had recorded ages ago.

 

At the very end of October we headed off to the SECC in Glasgow to visit the joint Crafts for Christmas and Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts shows. We had a great time and it was so easy to get to by train. Although we didn't buy very much we couldn't resist this absolutely gorgeous bowl by Muggins Pottery and the funny piggy salt and pepper set (can't remember the name of the seller) where the salt and pepper comes out of their snouts. There was also the wonderful stand by Beth Currie, she produces beautiful hand crocheted jewellery which is definitely worth a look for that very special and unique gift.

 

I think the pigs were slightly confused with their first experience of snow and were running around very excitedly. Unfortunately after it melted we realised that their enclosure was becoming pretty waterlogged. They didn't seem to mind the mud too much but we were worried about the effect of constant wetness on their feet and so started to look for alternative accommodation. Also after M's face plant in the mud it was getting difficult to walk through the area, sadly I didn't have a camera to catch the moment of him lying in the mud being nuzzled by Ginger.

 

Although part of the byre roof is missing we decided that we would be able to make a dry area for the pigs inside along with access to an outside grass area. Jess and Finn were slightly bemused at losing part of their paddock but needs must. We were dreading trying to walk the pigs to their new enclosure but with 2 buckets of food they followed us. Yay, we had a major pat on the back after this as we had visions of them running off around the woods.

 

It took a wee bit of getting used to but they settled in quickly and the nice new grassy enclosure was completely de-turfed in 24 hours. After a few adjustments to the sleeping area they can be found cuddled up together snoring away in the afternoons.

One of the best things about rainy cold days is that they become our craft days and M has been very busy. He has made some Christmas decorations but as Christmas doesn't officially begin in our household until Dec I'll save those photos for later. However, he did also make this charming owl who is now very much at home in our garden. I have been knitting but I'll come back to that at a later date.

I mentioned a while ago how we are fortunate to have so much wildlife around us; well, this little fella somehow found his way into the kitchen. I didn't even spot him at first, I thought it was some grass/dirt (not that our house is that dirty!!). M noticed him and it was lucky that I hadn't stood on him, funnily enough the dogs hadn't even investigated him. M was very brave and relocated him back outside again.

  

For us November is always a very important time for remembrance and so we went to our local church for the Remembrance Day service. It was a wonderful service with numerous poems and writings from past servicemen and a very important message of learning from the past. The organist also played the Last Post on his trumpet which was beautiful and always brings a tear to my eye. After the service we stopped at the local war memorial. We have passed this point many times over the last year and never been to see it. The gardens are so well tended, always full of beautiful flowers and the standing soldier is always freshly dressed at this time of year.

We had an attempt to harvest our sweet potatoes in October but decided they needed a little longer and this was our harvest. Not the most spectacular display but oh they are so tasty. It hasn't put us off trying them again but I think fewer plants to the pot and an earlier start may produce a bigger harvest.

With a birthday and wedding anniversary in November and another birthday just after Christmas this is always a busy pressie time of year for us. This year M bought me the complete collection of The Good Life, it is loosely what our lives are based on but hopefully without quite so many disasters. If you've never seen it then it's worth lighting the fire, snuggling under a blanket and spending a few hours giggling - it's good for your health.

I nearly forgot to say massive congratulations to Andy Murray for finishing the year as World Singles number 1 with a magnificent win at the ATP World Tour Finals. Also huge congrats to Jamie Murray (sorry, couldn't find a photo) for finishing as World Doubles number 1. (There are some great pictures posted by their mum on the BBC News.)