Around the Garden

It is a beautiful sunny day today, and I wanted to capture some of the growth in our garden..

This is a kauwhai tree ( pronounced ko-feye)

The bright yellow tubular flowers are rich in nectar, and are a favorite for the Tui birds..

I put a bird box I made for the sparrows ( from a design off the RSPB website). So far we've had a male sparrow visit regularly for a look, but not much else..

Pretty blossoms

The lemon tree is heavy with fruit, and they are the nicest lemons ever! So flavorful, and juicy. There are new blossoms on there, and a few tiny green lemons coming..

The peas are growing well. We'll soon have some for dinner...

I bought a propagator for the seeds, and they are loving it in there! There are marigolds, and gypsophilia, and herbs in the pots.

We have a bean!

These horrid paper wasps eat the base of the flowers to get to the nectar rather than pollinating the flowers properly. I don't like them at all.

And here are the first potato plants emerging in front of some oats.

The garlics doing well...

And some freshly dug soil ready for more plants.

It is good to feel the warm dew on my toes....

The cherry is starting to bloom..

And here is the remnants of the duck's nest under the bathroom. We missed their departure, but all eggs have hatched...

Things are certainly moving along here in the warmer weather!

Feels good to be outside.

Springtime changes from the car

I spend a fair amount of time driving these days. I don't enjoy it at all, but where we live we just have to drive  a lot. 

I love this time of year, the changes everywhere...

So I thought I'd make my journey home a bit longer than usual by taking pictures of various places that I enjoy to watch as I drive past....

I took these few pictures last week. Most trees are still bare. Those are the hills where the sheep come from...

Hawthorn and jasmine in that hedgerow, that haven't properly woken up yet...

More bare trees

I really like this oak tree overhanging the road here.

It has grown more on the side overhanging the road, and you can see that where it has a few leaves opening, they are over the road too. Perhaps it is the warmth radiating from the tar that is speeding this side of the tree up.. I don't know.

And today I went to my harp lesson, and as I got out of the car I was struck by how surrounded I was by beauty, the flowers, the new growth, and the bird song from all directions. It felt a bit magical.

And these are some pictures on the way home today. So many more new fresh green leaves are opening on the trees...

Beautiful big oaks in the distance..

We have a family of very brave plovers living at the bottom of our road. The parents are extremely protective. So protective that a couple of years ago we accidentally squashed one as it tried to defend its family from our car wheel. We were certain it would, and had moved out of the way. But no, it was brave to the last, and it was rather upsetting.

So here are this year's two chicks, running away from me, and almost fully feathered.

The adult moved away. Very sensible.

I'm glad they have done so well.

And everyone is enjoying the company of Thomas..He is growing so well!

Calf club day is creeping closer!

In the style of Tasha Tudor..

I recently got a book from the library called the Private Life of Tasha Tudor - what a lovely book!

Beautiful photography, and such an inspiring woman.

She lived very simply, and self sufficiently, in the ways of the 1830's or thereabouts..

Anyway, she had a shawl on in some of the photos, and I looked on revelry and found a lovely pattern for a shawl like hers.

So I'm knitting up my corredale into a shawl for me, very simple garter stitch and some funny beginning thing on each row.

The corredale isn't as soft as I was hoping, so best not make something for the children in it!!

I was not sure about making a shawl, are they a bit old fashioned? Probably, but maybe in the upcoming warmer weather it will be nice in the evenings.  I'll just make it and see...

Pots, lots of funny little pots!

So I went to potting today and brought home my first pots. I didn't anticipate how much they would all shrink in the kiln, about 1cm in all directions, but anyway, here they are....

These three were supposed to be espresso cups, but they dried out too much while we were on holiday for me to put handles on them, so then they became beakers for the children. I made them into hobbit houses or something...

These two were a bit interesting, as I put white slip over the brown clay, and then did finger swiping to get a liquid-like effect. It worked well, until I but a barium glaze on the bottom half which didn't really show the movement so well...

First efforts!

Wonky pot with green glaze over brown clay pot with white slip on the inside, and green glaze over brown clay and my first pulled handle....

The jug was supposed to be a mug, but it went a bit wrong, so then became a jug.

This was ash glaze on the outside, and white glaze on the inside. 

Funny cup, which strangely is my favorite to use, hence the coffee in it...

This was supposed to be a mug too, but it went wrong, so became a small bowl. I like the swirl.

I really like to see the finger marks on my pots, and refuse to smooth them out as I'm supposed to. I love them all!

More to come soon hopefully!

My new wheel

Well, just look at this! This is my new wheel. Its an Elizabeth 30 from Ashford, and it is just so amazing.

I've been saving up for a while now for a new wheel. My other wheel was bought second hand for $50 with bobbins, lazy kate, niddy noddy and a flick carder (quite a good buy really), but like so many spinners, the time comes when you need a really good fast wheel.

Most people in my spinning group have Majacraft wheels, very compact, tiny wheel, double treadle and easily portable, and expensive. But I have always loved the traditional styled wheels from fairy tales and the like....

As I have improved my spinning, I can naturally spin faster, and I have found I'm treadling like crazy on my traditional wheel. 

So after much talking to spinners, research on the web, and gut instinct I went for this beautiful wheel.

Look how big it is! My Traditional is a 24", and the 30" just looks massive. I still haven't got used to it!!!

It is made from native beech wood by the Ashford factory here, and these ones are supposed to be a special edition. I love how blond the wood is right now. I think it will darken with age, just like my other.

Its a double drive, which is new to me, but seems to make so much sense. It can also be used as a single drive too.

And here is what I'm spinning on it...

It is fairly fine corridale at 27 microns. Its is a blend of white, and fawn and light grey, which I think is going to knit up with a tweed look. Here is the first skein. I actually like it when the colors are all blended into a camel color...

I might make myself something this time. Maybe a shawl to just keep the evening chills away. We'll see....

Just had to share!!

 I think I might be a seasoned spinner now I have more than one wheel tee hee!

My old wheel fits in the car really well, so I will use it at spinning group. How I love beautifully crafted items....

Spring at home..

Things are starting to get busy here! Yesterday I spent over an hour weeding the garlic patch, and filled a hand trailer of weeds. Some are just the normal sort of weed, but being surrounded by grass farmland we get loads of grass weeds. The grass used here isn't regular grass but a tetraploidy variety - an absolute brute as a weed. Four times as vigorous (at least) and four times as big.

Last year I lost some garlics to the grasses choking the growth. But I got to them quickly enough I think this time!

Also there have been lots of plants doing very well. The leeks have suddenly burst into growth, so we are enjoying them every day...

..and so too are the broccolis. I'm using the leaves left on the plant after eating the florets previously, to use in a soup/stew thing. Very tasty!

And Thomas is doing so well! Our youngest is still a bit frightened of him running up to him for some attention, so very gently he is getting to know that Thomas isn't going to eat him or whatever, by feeding him through the fence.

He really enjoys to take part!

Also the kitchen has been rather busy too, here's some applesauce, and some yogurt.

I love natural yogurt that I make, as it is so creamy compared to the pot stuff, and has a much richer flavor  without the bitterness. I like applesauce on top too!

Good things...

Baby Thomas, our orphan lamb

Here is Thomas.

He was going to be 'snowflake', but as he is a boy our little girl decided he might be a Thomas instead.

We just picked him up today, but the farmer thinks he may be about a week old as he is so big, and timid.

Either way he was a stray all day, and so we have the opportunity to raise him.

Most orphan lambs will be ram lambs, as they are generally larger, yet weaker, so are more likely to have been difficult births, and so get rejected.

There were tears when she found out he was a boy! Oh dear! But now he is very loved even so.

The boys want one now, so I've said if they ever get another, we'd be grateful.

As you can see he is in a jumper. The last thing I want is for him to die of cold, but as he is so big, it already looks small. He would naturally snuggle up to his mother for warmth, so a jumper is nice.

He is a really good feeder. We'll start him on six small feeds a day for now. How luxurious compared to human baby timetables!

Welcome Thomas!