Some images and thoughts right now.

Spring has arrived on the common, and the dance of the wildflowers has begun. One of the first stars of the show is the lovely Cowslip, waving gently in the breeze. This is the reason I carry my camera everywhere. It's a light camera and I have a special camera bag, which looks like a normal shoulder bag, it's padded and keeps my camera safe. It has room for my phone and purse too. So I am never without it!

The more I learn about editing, the more I realize I have to learn. Now a days, I only brighten the photo a little and increase the contrast a touch. Sometimes I use a filter, and sometimes, as in this picture, it's just fine as it is. The light and the moment I wanted to capture are all there. The camera I use for blogging is a Canon EOS 100D. Now this is not a sponsored post in anyway, but it's a great simple little camera and I just wanted to tell you...  

When you walk somewhere almost everyday, you get to see the subtle changes and feel the joy at new happenings in your familiar territory. A emerging wildflower is happy sight. Blossoms, spring leaves, meadow grasses, the colours of the sky. The moody greys and the bright blues. And the views...It's all so lovely. Clean air, friendly dog-walkers, good vibes, it's truly kind of addictive...and the dogs...it's just the nicest place for them.

 . 

Sometimes I find a sunny spot on the slopes, to sit, out of the wind and take in the view. I try not to sit on thistles.... Occasionally enthusiastic dogs will come hurtling down the slopes chasing a ball, before it's lost down the hill.... But a sunny, quiet moment, lying on the ground in the spring sunshine, is magic.

At home, I caught this shot, as the sun went down and shone it's pinky light across the valley, onto the trees. The cabin is there. The other day I saw my sweet cabin lady wondering around putting little twigs in the ground around the Cowslips, so the guys who mow the grass will see them, and mow around them.

The cabins were already here when I arrived. Probably about fifteen years old now, they are not well insulated, but they have woodburners and character. First I thought I would run them as a B & B....that was 10 years ago, and since then they have had permanent dwellers in them the whole time!

If one becomes available, I might list it as a Airbnb. I watched the tedx talk of Joe Gebbia, the founder of Airbnb recently. I had a look through the 200 or so in my local area, which was slightly voyeristic,... but interesting to see what's out there.

Crafty and creative updates:

I have had to do some more visible mending on my jeans...the other leg decided to tear too. I thought I would catch it quick before it ripped all the way across. It's got a patch underneath now as well so it should hold up.

Talking of clothes, I recently got out my two bags of summer clothes. Seeing them in their see-through bags, all squashed together and old, leaves me feeling as though I might want to give the whole lot away and start again. I can see things which never really fitted right, or that never got worn for whatever reason. So I have decided to not open them yet and think about it.

Am I really brave enough to just let them go, without opening them.... And how will I find the new fresh feeling I am looking for? how do I want to shop and where do I want to spend my money?

Foodwise: I have discovered Papaya, and that it's very photogenic, and I love it. It's great for making smoothies, with banana, and almond milk, and for breakfast. Yum. I find myself just still wanting to eat warming, comforting food, like baked potatoes, every night... I need to feel full and fed. I've been reading about raw food and vegan food. But I'm not quite ready to take it on yet.

I've been walking by the canal. I feel drawn here now to have my dose of boats and water. It's very relaxing to watch the canal boats chugging up and down.

There has been some pink sunsets.

Some cloud wings appeared.

Some pink daises on the lawn.

I enjoyed the sunlight in my messy kitchen:-) haha...not so pretty, but look at the light coming through the curtain...The paintwork is a bit tired but it's homely in here and I like it..

 And new makes: a pile of wristwarmers, just ready for the.... summer!

I am working with a new kind of wool. They were just gorgeous to make.The pattern is a closed shell stitch, which I had to work out how to crochet into a round. It worked. I'm happy with them. I used the gorgeous hand dyed wool made by the Indie wool company Fyberspates. Each ball made two sets of wristwarmers, I'm pleased to say, and thankful because, oh the price...! The colours are incredible and you can read more about them in my Etsy shop, if you would like.

So I have to say that as I have written this blog post....stopped to walk the dog, eat breakfast, make tea, open and close windows, that I have felt everything opening up in my mind that I wanted to talk about. As though it were a concertina of things which were originally squashed down and now have opened up, drawn in some air and made a tune.

I feel better for having brought them here and shared them with you. Such is the mystery and wonder of blogging....have a good week :-)

♥   

Spring (almost) making and cleaning

Pink and yellow tulips

Blue lagoon wristwarmers

I moved my desk to a new angle, so I can see out the window and in the room.

Crocus wool and new tiny bunting

 I like my new eco cloth.

A quick and easy lunch, mozzarella my new favourite

Tulips

Crocus wristwarmers. This wool is so lovely. I'm dreaming about it:-)

So nice to have a clean window screen

I took the car for a clean. That feels good.
Blogger has decided in it's ultimate wisdom to not to let me add any more text into this post, only captions!...so I will leave it just with  photos today and save the text for another day. I'm not going to stew about it being  screwy with me, I'm just going to move on. Hope your week is going well :-) ♥  

hello again

outside my front door - leaves in the sunlight

It's nice to post a new picture here. It's a relief, I kept popping in and seeing the same picture, and you know what they say, that change is good. I  hope I'm emerging now with the spring. When I go away from my blog, it's like going on a journey, even if only virtually. I take my little suitcase and explore high and low until I discover new things, and new inspirations. I find something new in myself. Probably something which has always been there, but I often need to see it in the mirror outside first. Sometimes it's something I don't like and often it arrives at the same time as a new and shiny impulse. Like being shown the new and the old at the same time. The urge to jump ship is huge. Other continents wave at me like sunny, beckoning friends. To find the new perfect life which surely awaits, just over there. The one where I don't have to try to untangle myself and burst out from places where I feel suffocated. I think we often arrive at the new, still dragging our old and worn out patterns and behaviours behind, like crazy tin cans on a 'just married' car. As we try and shake and kick them off, we realize that they were the vehicle that brought us here, and should probably be honoured. Indeed.

 Happy spring friends,

♥     

on a spring morning....

apricot jam today

I thought I'd pop in and share a few spring like things happening here. But first I wanted to say how excited I was about yesterdays eclipse. In Gloucestershire we saw about 85% totality. I watched from my front door step with the teen. We were lucky and had clear skies. I was so excited as it began and you could see that first 'bite' beginning to show. I was willing it to go further and see that corona but we would have had to get on a plane for that. The air noticeably cooled down and I thought the birds seemed a bit confused. There was a cool, strangeness in the air. We saw the smallest arch of the sun at 9.30 and then the moment passed and the sun began to appear.

I dashed to teen to school at that point. Fortunately he goes to a place which is flexible like that. I was so glad to have that memory with him. Apparently the chances of seeing an eclipse from the exact same spot is once in every 375 years. So to be on our doorstep was great.

I thought the day seemed quite magical. Afterwards I went up on the common to walk the dog and had several excited conversations with complete strangers all united in our experience. It was also full moon and the spring equinox too.

The garden called me yesterday. Oh yes it did. It said,"how about you just pop out here for ten minutes a day and do a little tidying here and there. Turn off those screens, put down those hearts, forget about photography and just be out here where none of that matters". I thought I'll leave my boots by the door and the wheelbarrow on the ready and just do that, like a meditation. Sometimes I try and pretend I'm thinking in my head and life the way it was before all the technology appeared. Do you every do that?! It's quite hard to touch on that place now because it's just become a fundamental part of who we are.

It's easy to get over-whelmed. I can feel the push of new ideas emerging and quite a pace of things happening.

It's good to keep that grounded I think.
I hope if you had a chance to see the eclipse that you managed to. If not we all 'experienced it' in  our consciousness anyway!

So Happy Spring.

♥

L i V i n G

Dear people, thank you for coming here, for reading and for leaving all your lovely comments!
It is much appreciated. I am enjoying myself!

I've been wanting to introduce you to this series;- Every now and again I have a collection of 'living' moments, which build up in my 'living jar', and I would love to share them with you here.

***

So every so often, with a nod towards infusing life with the cheerful, the positive, the uplifting and sometimes a glimpse of the familiar, the thoughtful and the 'what is....', I will show those here.

Just lately I have been enjoying these LiVinG moments,

* still enjoying the pretty colour of the Ranunculus petals, any advice about how to store the seeds and when to sow would be appreciated.

* learning what's edible in the hedgerow, inspired by Hesta and her wonderful Alys Fowler doll! She's even made her little dog. Haven't seen the new book yet though.

* in heaven wandering through the pink frothy sweet smelling apple blossom.

* following my own path. 

sometimes me and life can get on just fine but increasingly I find my self walking my own path.

* remembering I brought this pretty wool and considering making fingerless gloves even though it will be summer!

* creating a bird display on my mantle, inspired by the empty blue bird shells found around my garden.

being reminded life is so fragile. 

* just adoring my little dog, she's waiting for a treat, can you tell!?

* finding fabulous vintage(?) sunglasses while out thrifting.

* receiving a neighbourly gift of seedlings, lettuce and courgettes.  

* looking through a childrens set of affirmation cards and realizing they're great for adults too!

* * *

I hope you will enjoy this way of me sharing the snipits from my daily life. I will still be sharing my 'creative makings', and a 'feel better outside' series, together with some more ideas for features and articles. I want to share the things that inspire me, tell more about how and where I live, oh and there may be the occasional shop news too!

Phew this spring energy! Have a great week,

remember to have some you time too,

Heather

X

spring days and a give-away!

This weekend found me enjoying soft blue skies, a gentle breeze and sunshine. The earth feels like it's beginning to warm itself, the ground feels like it's softening. I walked along with a spring in my step. It's still blimmin freezing mind, but with the six or so different layers I'm wearing and some sunshine, it's really rather nice.

My mud encrusted boots have been exchanged for something soft and spring like, and so I really am springing along now. Feels good. The ground feels softer and more yielding.

On easter sunday I watched kites flying on the common. I think kite flying would make a great easter sunday tradition. If you have a breeze and hill you can't go wrong! That said, some of them were huge and looked like they needed a bit of mastery.....  

At home you can see that the easter hare (old and much loved) has brought chocolate and goodies.

The basket was for my teen, who of course also had a big chocolate egg. I must have done something right as I won myself a spontaneous hug! not bad for someone who's actually not that keen on chocolate! I think he realizes the easter basket is just humouring me. I found it in the attic. It's been washed although a little mouse has been nibbling at the ribbon I think!

Other march delights, cupcakes! Here's the proof I made them, all gone now.

***

And so we are into April. I starting my blogging journey last April, it's almost been a year now. I have been making spring garlands and I thought it would be nice to have a spring give-away. I wanted to say thank you for following me on my little adventures and creative endeavours! So if you would like a spring garland to decorate with, wherever you are in the world, leave me a message at the end of this post.

Speaking of crochet flowers, have you seen this wonderful Brazilian lady Lidia Luz, who makes the most amazing bright crochet flowers and decorations. Her pictures are full of light and colour, in the most positive way. You can see her pictures here and also here. I love the way she uses real flowers and icons in her work, it does feel as though her mission is to bring love, peace and light through her work. 

I hope April brings you good things. Don't forget to leave a message if you would like to enter the give-away. I'll pick a name out the hat in a week or so.

  

until then, have a good week

Heather

X