Category Archives: craft

four years

Posted on by

lamb

garlicfogOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAduskdeck sunsetOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAlola lambOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERApatch sunsetOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERArainbowsheep lightOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAsheep sunsetsunrisesunset bird

I’ve finally made time to write what’s been happening over the last year and a bit, and I guess you could say that 2019 was mostly the year of plantings. We planted out the Autumn Grove, Bee Hive Corner and a scattering of pretty trees along the boundary of our property, plus a stunning feature tree in the back yard.

The Autumn Grove is down the bottom of one of our paddocks, it’s the lowest point on our property and probably the size of an average house block of land. Eventually, from our house we will be able to see a riot of autumn colour tree tops, in oh you know, a decade or two. Some of my favourite trees went in, Sugar Maple, Golden Maple, Coral Barked Maple, Tulip Tree, Scarlet Oak, Black Tupelo, Claret Ash, Golden Amber, Himalayan Birch, a Macadamia tree, and half a dozen Red Maples. Just above the grove, in the sheep paddock but sectioned off for protection, a Forrest Pansy, Chinese Pistachio and Golden Ash. In another paddock on the other boundary side, a Persian Ironwood, and in the backyard our feature tree, a Golden Elm. We purchased this one quite advanced so we hope to enjoy its shade and magnificence in just a few years.

Growing, enjoying and selling flowers has always been part of the plan but this year the need to be surrounded by flowers was overwhelming.  I began a planting of Roses, around  20 odd, mostly David Austins, many long time favourites, a couple of must have roses I had in my last garden, and a few other heavenly scented, delicately coloured beauties.  Inhaling the incredible perfume of a David Austin Rose has no match on those modern varieties for me. I know the new varieties are better cut flowers, last longer, have longer stems etc, but for me half the beauty of a rose is the scent. I’ve had a nice time experimenting with the petals and made my first rosewater recently. I keep it in the fridge in a spray bottle and I can’t tell you how refreshing and addictive it is to spritz my face after getting all hot and sweaty in the garden. A pure delight! A white waratah and a couple of Grevilleas also went in along with some native flowering shrubs I can’t recall the name of right now. I’m new to natives as have always leaned on classic cottage styles but I am enjoying getting to know some natives that are better suited to our wild extremes of weather. Selections are based firstly on beauty, but flowering for bees and cut flower viability are carefully considered also.  And anything in the ‘can take gale force relentless winds’ group are immediately promoted to the top of the list.

Our one large sheep paddock has been split into four, and Charlie built another shed for the sheep. We designed the split of paddocks so each shed can be accessed by two paddocks, therefore ensuring our sheep have shelter no matter which paddock they are in. And boy do they love those sheds, in the wind, rain or beating hot sun, they seek shelter in them regularly. Just recently we completed our own little ‘cattle race’ although it’s likely not well suited to cattle, possibly not strong enough. Instead it’s suited to our needs, for sheep and hopefully one day, a couple of alpacas. We harvested two of our own lambs for the freezer last spring. It’s quite an intense process raising our own meat, confronting and questioning, reassuring yet heartbreaking. We’re doing our very best to ensure these animals live their very best life here even it means that life is shorter for some of them. We had only one lamb born last year and we just returned a loaned ram from down the road. He’s been here making friends with our girls in the hopes we’ll have more lambs born this year. After the heartache and tough times we endured the previously in regards to the sheep, this last year was smoother. Apart from the odd escapes resulting in severely pruned trees and roses, it’s mostly been a lot easier being shepherds this year. Either that or I’m just getting used to it?

The orchard has provided us with some fruit this year, albeit modest harvests, though I suspect this will change next year as the trees mature that little bit more, after all they were only 3.5 years old this summer. The older fruit trees around the house gifted us many baskets of fruit. Not as many nectarines as last year but still plenty, along with blood plums, apricots and cherries. Jam making was in full force over summer and the jam cupboard is once again bursting at the seams. Just how I like it! And alongside the jam cupboard, and above it, and beside it, is our garlic harvest. This was a bumper garlic year even though I didn’t plant as much as I had hoped. There’s hundreds and hundreds of bulbs and I couldn’t be happier! The patch has struggled mostly due to the weather still, the tree belt around it is growing but it’s a way off before it can protect the beds from the winds. Despite this we’re still having great success growing herbs, and things like garlic, rhubarb and strawberries don’t seem to mind it either. This year our tomato plants are super healthy and coping ok although we’ve not really had enough warm weather to ripen the big ones yet so hopefully autumn will shine her warmth on us for a little longer. A few other bits and pieces like zucchinis, cucumbers, silverbeet and swiss chard have been good this year.  One self sown pumpkin has been an absolute star growing in the compost bed, completely neglected, and it’s produced 17 decent sized pumpkins! I planted around a dozen pumpkin plants, Queensland Blue, Butternut and Kent, and so far will probably only harvest 3 pumpkins from the lot! Mother Nature really does know best and next year I think I’ll take heed and plant my pumpkins directly into the compost bed.

Over in the orchard, we have a section of land that will one day be home to beehives, but first we have to build them some shelter. So we planted a couple of blue gums along the boundary, 3 crabapples, a Bay tree and half a dozen red maples. I hope to add a couple of Avocados soon, all of which should provide enough year round shade, sunlight and food, for us and the bees. Of course the bees will have the orchard and veggie/flower patch and we were quite selective in the trees we planted around the patch as a windbreak, ensuring many of them will also provide food for them. And then there’s my plan to wildflower everything. For the beauty and the bees! Well not quite everything, as that would get a little too snakey for my liking, but the Autumn Grove, and the tree belts that surround our property. One day, in many years, this little hill will become a biodiverse haven full of flowers and trees and fruit and veggies. And apart from my two beautiful children, I feel like that’s the next best legacy I can leave behind me, hopefully after I’ve enjoyed it for many years of course!

Speaking of my very best work, an update on the kids. If you know me you would already know about the new business Kiandra & Ross launched. If you don’t know about this, and you like coffee, then it really is your lucky day! Check out Hills Coffee Co and order a bag stat. The beans are carefully selected and roasted to perfection and it’ll be very hard, near impossible, to drink any other coffee after you’ve tried it. Not only is the product amazing, there has been a great deal of care to ensure the coffee is ethical, meaning farmers get a fair price, and it’s grown with care for the land, plus the packaging your coffee will arrive in is either biodegradable or compostable. And you’ll be supporting a small business.  What’s not to love? Last year Brian returned from his big trek after almost two and half years on the road. He covered so much of Asia during this time but a significant amount of time was spent travelling India on an old Enfield motorbike. He jammed so many dreams into this adventure and unsurprisingly came back with a head full of new ones and the determination to achieve them. Another trip is on the horizon, and this one is going to be longer than the last with a motorbike that’s more suited to the travel, so he’s busy working and saving to make that happen. I believe it’s going to start in Africa, and at last conversation will pretty much go around the world, give or take a few countries!

Finally I can’t complete a yearly update without mentioning craft. I completed my huge Confetti Blankie around mid year and am still thrilled with the final product. It’s beautiful and warm and cosy and we sleep under every night. After I finished it I kinda lost my craft mojo though. I think I burnt out on such a big project. I’ve dabbled in a few things since, sashiko, sewing, crocheted bookmarks, and have spent a bit of time working on perfume blends and skin care serums too. I’ve just not got consistently back into it where I’m crafting something every night again. I’m sure it will return, in fact I feel it will soon and I can sense that creative urge stirring, I’m just not sure what form it will take.

Well that better do for now. There are a few other things I was going to mention but I might actually pop back and do another blog post on them. Or not. We’ll see.

 

I do hope life is treating you kindly, that you are treating you kindly, and that your loved ones are safe and healthy x

Advertisement

life on the farm january 2017

Posted on by


























Well hello there! It’s a new year full of hope and plans and dreams as we ricochet into our first year anniversary on the farm. Summer has been pretty full and Christmas and New Year’s feels like an age ago already. Really to be honest, I’m quite relieved that we only have 1 month and 1 week of summer left. I’m still a little nervous that we’ll run out of water, either for us or for the garden. So far so good as we’ve had a decent amount of rain but I’m still wary and am pretty conservative with my use of it. The water isn’t the only reason I’m ok about summer nearing autumn. Flies. Hundreds of trillions of billions of very friendly sticky flies. I know that comes with living in the country surrounded by cattle farms, and I’m not complaining, I’m just saying ‘bloody flies’ about 68 times a day and feeling like I’m going to battle every time I walk out the door. Long sleeves, buttoned up high collar, sunhat with mozzie netting, not for the mozzies but for the flies, and ready to wave arms furiously. Everyone requires a thorough pat down before coming in the house for fear they’ll bring in freeloaders riding on their back. It’s been quite a shock to get used to the sheer volume and friendliness of them I’ll admit. I did just purchase some ‘fantastic stuff’ according to the farmer down the road, who was recommended it by the pea grower down the road. It’s a natural product with rosemary and cedarwood oils and is pretty pongy so the flies approach you then supposedly just stop once they hit your awesome new waft and move along to their next unsuspecting victim. I’ll believe it when I see it. Here’s hoping. I was feeling optimistic and bought the big jar. Will keep you posted.

Apart from fighting the fly army there’s been lots of other stuff happening too. Sadly my 6 month sabbatical has come to an end and I’m actively job hunting everyday. I can’t believe how fast that went, yet at the same time it seems like ages ago I was doing that daily 3-4 hour commute to work. We’ve got stacks done to the farm during that time including planting the orchard and establishing our veggie garden. There’s still a couple of garden beds we’ve yet to plant into, but boy have we managed to eat some produce out of it already. It’s really incredible how much food you can produce from a patch of land in 6 months. Apart from seedling gifts from family and friends, everything was planted from seed so it seemed to take forever to get started, but now we are surely reaping what we sowed. The first cucumber yesterday, I have a baby rockmelon and hopefully more to come. Plenty of carrots and some Parsnips. Spring onions, onions and golden shallots. Peas, snow peas and now the beans have started. Lots of different lettuce, spinach, and silver beet. Radishes, radishes and more radishes. Some raspberries, blueberries (about 9 actually!) and stacks of the tastiest strawberries you’ve ever eaten. Thanks Dot! Sweet and ripe through to the centre with a perfume that is positively heady.

Of course we’re so lucky that our lovely previous owners had the foresight to plant a lot of fruit trees and we’ve enjoyed the juiciest cherries and what I would call a delicious glut of apricots. I even had a go at preserving them in my brand new out of the box fowlers vacola preserving kit. Alas it wasn’t to be, by the time 24 hours ticked over I knew the jars hadn’t sealed so it was into the pot to stew them into a thick apricot sauce. All 12 size 20 jars of neatly packed halves, each half placed one by one to make for the prettiest jars. It’s ok, I’m over it now. Most of the sauce went in the freezer but I did pop some into a smoothie (yum) and even more into a mix of blended rockmelon, lemon juice and sugar syrup, of which the ice cream maker converted into the most refreshing sorbet. I’ve made a couple of batches of jam, one apricot & vanilla bean and one apricot & plum, with the plums also from our tree and a few from our neighbour down the road. I’ve found myself in the kitchen a lot more since not working and am really enjoying that time. Picking and washing the produce from the garden takes time and can provide surprises… I found a frog in the sink water whilst washing lettuces once– don’t think it gets much more organic than that.

There’s been a little craft here and there, a beanie for my Dads 70th birthday and I’m still knitting my hoodie – it’s slow going. I’ve had a go at making my own liquid soap using this recipe but changing the essential oils and the oil base. I could only get my hands on macadamia nut oil not vitamin e at the time and for the essential oils I used Lemongrass & Tea Tree for hand soap and Rose Geranium & Patchouli for the body wash. And I’ve made my own spray deodorant using this recipe but again changing the oils – I used Lavender, Myrrh & Spearmint for me, and for Charlie Cloves, Patchouli & Peppermint. No nasties and this recipe contains some good stuff that our bodies need – Magnesium oil. I’ve found it very effective but a little stingy if used after I’ve shaved my underarms! Overall I’m pretty thrilled with both these products and next on my list is laundry detergent. Mostly I just want to reduce the amount the unknown-to-me-chemicals that are about in our everyday lives.

A good portion of my time is spent in the garden, tending and watering and planting and ripping out and mounding and netting and harvesting. How lucky am I right?! I’ve had a couple of bouts of feeling unwell and after a few days of not being in the garden I get that yearning feeling to get back out there. Unless it’s stinking hot. Or it’s a bad fly day. Or the wind is that wild it takes all your strength just to walk from the house to the patch. Then I choose indoor chores like making deodorant or jam. With air con. Thank goodness for air con.

I’ve been enjoying listening to some new podcasts, mostly gardening, homesteading, permaculture types as I like picking up new tips and tricks and feel so inspired listening to how other people manage their land and look after animals and grow produce. Our neighbours flock of sheep are now out in the big 100 acre paddocks so we don’t see them much anymore. Although a couple of times when I’ve been in the patch and Lucy happens to be in the paddock next door, I’ll call her name and she’ll come running over for a pat and maybe some fresh silver beet leaves. We’re not really any closer to getting our own livestock but I think we’ve figured out what we’ll get when we do. Sheep. We need to set up some sort of water trough for the sheep before we do and we still need to work out how many. Then when we can fund a nice little safe chicken house, there will be chooks. That’s probably the main goals for the farm this year, sheep and chooks. Aside from increasing production in the veggie garden and the million little things that need doing.

So that’s me all caught up, now I’d love to hear from you. Can you tell me what’s happening in your life and where you are from so I can get to know you lovely dear reader?

May the cool breeze blow gently your way on a hot day and the flies nowhere to be seen.

Ps. Marathon post, if you read this far you’re a gem x

life on the farm december 2016

Posted on by
















So the best of intentions to write more often here doesn’t mean it happens. The last few months have been a whirl of sowing, planting, weeding, mowing, mulching, digging, baking, hand feeding Lucy, job hunting, Chrissy shopping, visits to Melbourne, and possibly way too many hours gazing out at our lovely hills and valley. As the grass on the hills grows long it takes on the appearance of a green ocean when the wind brushes over the top of it, pushing and swishing it in all different directions, flowing like grassy waves up the mountain. It’s totally mesmerizing and can draw you in before you know it.

Since I wrote you last three new lambs were born. The first arrived not solid black like they usually do, this one had all these zig zag patterns over his coat, so we named him Ziggy. Within a day the next lamb arrived, and this one just stuck to Ziggy from day one. They are best buds so we named him Iggy. Then when the Moto GP was being raced not far from us, the last lamb of the season was born. He’s a real little racer so we named him Duke. Well Ziggy, Iggy and Duke are the new little gang in town and love to race laps of the paddock with Lucy and the Twins but mostly just hang out together, often play fighting over the newly named Lamb Rock. There’s really nothing funnier that watching a lamb bounce, spin 360 degrees and land slightly awkwardly.

As you probably know, the warmer weather brings with the snakes and I had myself a terrifying incident involving a large black one and the ride on mower and a lot of swearing. Both of us were frightened out of our minds and retreated back away after discovering each other, needless to say it’s created a rather anxious vibe when mowing that particular corner and any other spot along the fence where the grass next door is long. Our lawns are mown within an inch of their lives, short short short is how I like it and the snakes don’t, so I mow for many hours each week and Charlie brushcuts for many more. We did get the last of the first stage of works completed which was impeccably timed as it involved removing all the huge overgrown snakey flax plants from around the house. Like I said, timing couldn’t have been better, had the snake incident happened before we had the flax removed I think I would have been too scared to walk in and out the front door!

We have finally started eating out of our veggie garden, fresh organic lettuce rocket and spinach salad anyone? The next lot of radishes are nearly ready and soon we’ll have parsnips, carrots and beetroots too. We’ve had a few snowpeas and sugarsnap peas but hopefully a lot more to come. Coriander is coming along nicely, the birds have loved the strawberries (!) and the spud fest will be here before we know it. Onions are booming and the cucumber and zucchini seeds have just sprouted. A few precious tomato seedlings are in and I’ve got a heap more to plant when they get a little bigger. In the heart of the veggie patch I planted a mixture of flower seeds that are designed to bring in the beneficial insects and we are experimenting with composting our grass clippings from the veggie patch and can’t wait to see if it’s going to work. It’s all very exciting and so rewarding now that we are picking our homegrown goodies for dinner.

I’ve found it tricky trying to squeeze in craft time, I guess spring is a busy time in any garden and that compounded with the work we are doing still getting ourselves set up, along with the general upkeep of the orchard & veggie garden and the mowing has kept my days very full without even looking at my craft projects. But I am progressing very occasionally with knitting a jumper, which will probably be a bit ugly as I wanted to use up a particular type of yarn I had, and the colours together, well let’s just say I wouldn’t normally put them all together, but I needed all them to make the jumper so it will mostly likely be a farm / gardening jumper. I crocheted some sweet little garlands and I have also started to make my first ever patchwork quilt. I used up all my favourite precious bits of fabric, some of which I’ve saved for years, but really what’s the point of having them if you don’t use them? So I chopped into them and I just love the colour palette that evolved. I remember reading this wonderful post and absolutely loved the way Alicia created this quilt, no prior planning or pedantic placement of fabrics/colours, just cut, barely or not measured, and sewed randomly together. Reading the story of how this quilt was put together totally gave me the confidence to give it a go myself, I thought all quilting had to be so precise and that’s not really my style. Anyway, after a big day sewing all the strips back in October, I’m yet to get back to it! Everything in my craft room is exactly as I left it – sewing machine all set up, swatches of fabric laying everywhere, strips hanging from the wardrobe (making access to it a little challenging), and bits of cotton all over the place! I am hoping to get back to it very soon, probably when the grass growing starts to slow with the summer heat and lack of rain, less mowing more sewing maybe?

Given my track record of late, I’m not sure if I’ll be back here before Christmas so I’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukah, or have a great end of the year, whatever it is that you celebrate at this time. I hope this year has given you more joy than sadness, more laughs than tears, and that wisdom and kindness keep you company throughout the coming year. Thank you for popping in here, taking the time to comment, and following along this little blog, I’m really honoured that anybody reads this at all, so thank you.

Sending Peace Love & Harmony to you x

woodland blanket

Posted on by












Finally I can show you this crocheted labour of love blanket! It’s been quite tricky making something so big and not being able to show you before now. A long time in the making, this blanket begun life back in June 2015. I knew it was going to be a biggie so I gave myself plenty of time to make it, I just had to finish it for my sister’s 50th birthday in August 2016. Little did I know when I started it, that by the time the wonderful 50th birthday event rolled around, I would have been through a rather big year of change myself.

All the hexagons were crocheted in my old home, Dove Cottage. Then I packed all those little hexys into a big box and there they stayed until almost all of the other unpacking was done. Crocheting the hexys together and the boarder, was done here at Harvest Moon Hill. I guess there’s something comforting about that, with the upheaval of a big move like the one we did, it was like falling back into an old friend being able to pick up this blanket and keep working on it in our new home. Occasionally out on the deck overlooking our lovely hills, and then as winter drew close, in my favourite chair by the fire.

It was a pleasure to make something so special for my sister and I really enjoyed the lengthy process. I loved having this big project at the ready for whenever I had the crafty urge, chipping away at it, little by little over time and watching it grow. And apart from making a few beanies and some wrist warmers, I’ve found it really hard to get stuck into another crafty project. I’ve started plenty, but I’ve unraveled all of them. Oh the hours of making I’ve unraveled, it’s disheartening at times. I seem to keep landing at this point in the project where I’m not happy with it. I keep thinking the next project will be ok, but I’m yet to find it. Do you ever go through creative periods like that? Where you’re just not happy with anything you are making and find yourself back at square one all the time? Of course now I find myself spending so much time ‘researching’ the next project (scrolling pinterest/ravelry/instagram #’s) that I’ve got no time left to actually start something. And by the time I’m ready to start it next time, I’ve changed my mind. Ah well, I’m just trying to go with it at the moment, I guess it’ll pass… eventually.

Wishing you a healthy creative mojo and a happy birthday for whenever it is!

PS. Happy Birthday Sis x

PPS. Pattern details: It’s been so long that I can’t be positive but I’m pretty sure the pattern is the same as my ‘hexy make up wipes’ pattern, but continued for more rounds. I used all 8 ply yarn with a mix of pure wool or pure alpaca or a wool/alpaca blend.

knitting sheep

Posted on by







It felt like I hadn’t really been crafting much lately but then I realised that I’ve made three beanies in the last month or so. One pure wool chunky knit for Charlie to double up with his pure baby alpaca beanie on the super chilly days. Both of these beanies were made with the ace “Farmer Boy Beanie” pattern from the lovely Kate at Foxs Lane. Thanks Kate, this is my go to beanie pattern now! Plus I’ve made two Baable Beanies. And I’ve cast on a third! Such fun to knit something like this and watch the image appear as each row grows. It is a pretty easy pattern to follow, even for the pattern challenged like myself, I managed to make it without one single #%$@&*!!%!! moment. I think I originally spotted the beanie on pinterest but have tracked back to find the creator of the pattern here. Thanks for designing such a cute pattern Donna!

The beanie with the darker richer colours is all pure wool, and the lighter shade beanie has a mix of pure wool and pure baby alpaca yarns, including some of my special baby alpaca I brought back from Peru. I didn’t have the same ply yarn the pattern requires, so I knitted the lighter shade one first, with 8 ply not 10 ply but used the needles recommended for the 10 ply. This produced a nicely fitting beanie, but not surprisingly it was a little too loose in the tension. The darker shaded beanie was knitted with 8 ply and finer needles, 3.75 for the rib and 4 for the body, and it turned out perfect! Lovely tension and a great fit. The whole gauge and swatch thing isn’t my favourite part of knitting, kinda does my head in to be honest. In fact I think that contributes greatly as to why I feel a bit antagonistic towards patterns. So I just do what I usually do – fluff and bluff my way through till I land where I’m happy. Not the most efficient path at times but that’s the way I roll.

I love that the Baa-ble beanie has Suffolk Sheep in it, with those being the sheep that roam around our home. It feels like I’m knitting exactly what I’m meant to be knitting. I guess I’ll have to find an Angus Cow pattern next. And just as I typed that two ducks flew by the back door, so ducks too!

May you never drop a stitch in a tricky spot x

my sabbatical

Posted on by


























So don’t hate me or anything, but I’ve just begun a 6 (ish) month long sabbatical. Well, long service leave actually… but then truth be told I’m also officially unemployed after being made redundant due to a recent company merge. So long service leave, redundancy or sabbatical, call it what you will, but I choose sabbatical as it feels like a happy word and brings with it thoughts of retreat, holiday and time out… and that is kinda sorta what I plan to do with this time. Redundant on the other hand, not such a nice word, but in reality it was my choice. A new job or the opportunity to take my long-awaited hard-earned long service leave. It really wasn’t too difficult to decide, in fact I felt a bit like it was fate and the decision was already written in the stars… or sheep or cows or something. I did have plans to leave my job in another year or two anyway, and find something closer to home, rather than continue indefinitely with the 3 hour (at best) daily commute. I’m going to stretch out my long service leave and see if I can make it last double the time, hence the approximate 6 month time frame. Hello budgeting, meal planning and ultra conservative living!

To be totally honest I’m beside myself with a mixture of excitement, exhaustion, joy and overwhelm. It’s been a huge year of change for me, I’ve left my home of 19 years and moved far away (well around 100 odd k’s away) from my friends and family. Now after 14 years at the same job, I’m on a sabbatical and at home full time. It’s a lot to digest. But I’m so happy and have that awesome and rare feeling, that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be in life right now. I’m keen to tackle the ridiculously big list of things that needs starting in order to convert our paddocks into a productive farm. I want to invest some time in Charlie’s Stockman Leathercraft shop. I’m ready to spend some serious time crafting and possibly reopen my poorly neglected and too-long-on-vacation shop. I’m going to dust off my sewing machine and get stitching again. I’m busting to spend some reading time with our wonderful collection of books, full of teachings on practical self-sufficiency and practiculture. I plan to write a little more here, it’s something I enjoy enormously but find it hard to justify the time. In fact, I’m looking to make peace with time, it’s felt like my arch enemy for so long now, but I’m hoping these 6 months will unfold at a gentle pace and we can become friends again.

In other news, the two baby lambs are even more adorable than ever. They hang out together and play in the paddocks, running and bouncing and looking like they smile even for the camera. I’ve renamed Big Ears to Bouncer, didn’t want to give her a complex about her ears, and the new littlest lamb is Buttons, you know cute as a button and all. There’s also been another lamb born, sadly her mother didn’t make it so she has been hand reared by our neighbours (the real owners of all these sheep, although you’d think reading this that they’re mine!) with much love and care. To the extent she wore a nappy and slept inside during her early days. I know – just the image of that in my head makes me smile. They have named her Lucy and she is so very sweet and friendly, and actually let me get really close for a photo and pat.

The wrist warmers started out as this pattern, but I got really confused (it’s not hard!) around the thumb bit so I veered off pattern and made up the bit from the thumb up. They are not as nice as the original pattern, but still I’m pleased with the outcome. And in pure baby alpaca yarn they are so light and soft and warm and in time for the chills of winter. (my missing pairs still haven’t turned up)

So tell me, if you have a moment, what’s your best budget-friendly, gluten free, dairy free, recipes… ha, don’t ask for much do I?

May time be on your side x