making....a difference

to two battery hens has been a joy...think they were one of our best Christmas presents ever...such asmall thing to do but such a big effect to them...here they are after we went to pick them up...sad and scrawny...

and now...feathered up...plump...fluffy bottoms...smart tails...happy pecking about just like the other girls...so friendly they love nothing better than pecking your feet and chatting to you...its amazing how they just know how to be proper hens! tho' friend Phil's girls had to be taught how to go up a ramp to bed!

...just little brown hens but they give us such pleasure...and delicious eggs...here's Isabella

 and Emilia..she's the chatty one

making a difference...doesn't the lovely weather do just that? sun still bright and sunny here...but colder...got my socks and woolly hat back on...the garden looking more green with each passing day...with flowers to delight and cheer...bit of a yellow theme...spring seems to be mainly yellow and blue to entice the insects I guess...I love bulbs...they're always a surprise because I forget what and where I've planted them!

  
making a difference...DON'T FORGET we can all make a difference to the earth by turning out our lights tonight at 8.30pm if you're in the UK...get the candles out and snuggle up on the sofa...support WWF's Earth Hour tonight...

and I'll be making a difference to my studio this weekend...workshops starting again verry soon so I need to get ORGANISED...hip hooray for making and creating and getting other people to get in touch with their creativity too! lots of lovely NEW workshops to tempt...come and get creative in a beautiful Cumbrian village! for more info go to Making at The Studio...and in the meantime have a wonderful weekend xx

 

i

making ...the most of everything...

mm glorious sunshine...warmth...birdsong...roaming chickens and cats...a feeling of spring if not summer in the shorts and summery dresses and skirts in town...

where to be?? inside doing house'loving'...tidying...washing...washing up...admiring the dust collections...looking dimly through the streaky windows...or enjoying all that nature offers us in the great outdoors...doing VIP activities...ie. Very Important Paperwork and Planning and Tea Drinking...in the 'outside' office...with some beautiful books to savour as I plan workshops...all this in no socks or cardi...careful now...and please note the essential SUNSHADE!!

and a crafty moment or two in the studio...there's something sunny and Easter-y in the air...so I neeed to do some fabric playtime...

 

time to get out the cottons and flowery prints and ginghams and vintagey embroideries...to feel my way into creativity because now my wrist is getting much better...with healing going well...I have made a very wonderful discovery...I can SEW!! I can even thread a needle and use my hand to stitch a little...I can carefully cut a little...and as long as I don't overdo it I can use my patiently waiting sewing machine...it feels fantastic to be truly in touch with making again...even in a small way...happiness is in small things...

hope you are enjoying sunshine too xx

handmade is always best...

for Mothers' Day...a loving gift beautifully crafted by daughter mine... with a hint of Joe Browns philosphy on life and shopping...indulging her current passion for bondaweb...and a clever eye for fabric...I love it!

  the message is clear...

 

and

 

 how easy is that?

hints of spring...a warmish day ...full of sunshine and flowers...birdsong in the slowly greening hedges...breakfast and lunch outdoors...hanging out the washing...chickens round my ankles..heaven is here...right now in this very moment as I stop to just be...

 

wherever you are... whatever you have to do today...just stop and be and breathe in the air of spring....

time to wake up to Spring...

...and seek out some colour...after winter drabs it's so fabulous to see bright colours.... grey days are banished as the sun comes out...

loving daffodils inside and out...and a delicious new Country Homes magazine just happened to come my way...so I  can indulge my visual desires...for loveliness and inspiration...and how well it looks with my handmade gift from my dear friend Jaqueline...just the right shades...apparently it's a pan holder...so useful but far too lovely to use...so I hang it in the kitchen for all to admire...

and here's how to do Spring 1939 style...I think we can all use some of the lifestyle tips here...all calm elegance (where's all the 'stuff'??)...strange to think it comes from just before the start of WW2...perhaps wearing long gowns and draping oneself on a sofa may come back...something to which one may aspire...

 

 

don't you just adore this cute spring ensemble..not sure yellow is my colour...but I could do the pouty lips...and such temtingly naughty red painted nails...

 

...and then something for the man in your life...or is this a pattern so you can knit such a man?? not that I need to as I have husband of patience standing by to attend to my every whim...tra la (he just doesn't realise...)

 

I have been down to my studio, to feel my fabrics and test out what I can do....ooh it does feel so nice to be in there...I so need to get making and sewing and stitching and...

 have you come across &made...Andrea Lord was awarded best new maker at Contemporary Craft Fair 2011 not surprisingly...here's my gorgeous funky pincushion handmade by her ...I love it!

 

such yummy soft fabrics, threads, pins, buttons, scissors...just awaiting my touch to transform them into something even more lovely...

small delicious notebooks are always so enticing to a girl...in which to write secret thoughts...or keep little momentoes of the passing days...or perhaps a stash of cupcake recipes to tempt and delight...

and talking of cupcakes and baking...after daughter mine baked scrummy chocolate cookies and mmmmelting moments last week she filled her delicious tins with deliciousness...aren't they adorable designs...

love and inspiration is all around..you just have to open your eyes, open your mind, stop a while...

hope you have a wonderful weekend...this early morning sunshine is full of hope...go outside...smell the freshness of spring...listen to the birds...maybe plant some seeds...enjoy!