Saturday 31 January 2009

January draws to a close.

We went for our last walk of January this morning. It was a very cold wind so we wrapped up warm . We called in to see the swans , who we have named Caesar and Cleopatra . Not very original but this elegant pair deserved elegant names . They came out of the water to greet us looking for tit bits but all I had were dog treats so I gave them a few of them . Next time we'll take some thing a bit more edible for them .Here are the pair on the bank surrounded by the ducks .
Caesar let me get up really close for this one . He seems to be saying "this is my good side "

Isn't this just gorgeous. My partner at the Secret Santa we had at Christmas at S'N'B , told me I had a bit more to come when she gave me her gift . Well this is my ' bit more ' fabulous blended batts to spin of alpaca , silk , tencel and angeline . It's dyed and carded by Daniela ,who strangely enough is my partner in a spinners swap on Ravelry . How spooky is that .
Talking of carding . My darling DH has promised me a drum carder for my birthday in March ,
then I'll be able to make lovely batts as well :0).
I've bought a new toy . A three tier electric steamer buuuuuut not for steaming food . It's for...
steaming hand dyed fibre and wool. It's great . I can steam 600grms at once and while it's steaming I have time to prepare the next lot .

These are the results of my first steaming session . Close ups of the individual colours can be seen on my Shop Blog I have just upload the pics .
And today I have had the first sale from my Blog Shop . Yeh! things can only get better .
Lastly.
Imbolc Brigid in the blogosphere poetry slam
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading .WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009WHERE: Your blog .WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid .HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favourite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more than 300 blogged. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.
I heard this from my friend Ambermoggie I will be posting my favourite poem on Monday to celebrate Imbolc / Candlemas Day .

Monday 26 January 2009

This and That

It's over a week since I last Blogged Ohm. Very remiss of me but there's not much been going on .I've been hanking wool up ready for dyeing and doing a lot of other prep work for my other crafts so not much to show . We've been having our usual walks and keeping an eye open for Mother Nature to waken up . Have you noticed how the days are lengthening , it's still quite light as I write this . It won't be long before the first buds start to appear , can't wait . I I have got a bit of something to show you however . I posted a pic last week of my Blue Faced Leicester, that Artis-Anne had swapped me , on the wheel . Well here it is all finished and Navajo plyed. I'm getting quite addicted to this method of plying , you get a lovely effect . Think it's going to be a pair of socks .
I've been doing a bit of dealing as well . I had a load of Rowan Chunky wool that I will never knit now ,as knitting chunky sets my shoulder off . So I put it on Classifieds on Ravelry . I did quite well . I swapped the wool above for ten balls , I sold two lots of ten balls and I sold my, now defunct, umberella swift ( that's a skein winder ) Not bad at all , the money has gone into my piggy bank for Wonderwool Wales :0)

I've been spending a bit on E Kemps website as well . This my friends is a absolute bargain . Kemps have been selling Patons Jet , wool /Alpacac mix for 69p a ball , it should have been £3-95 a ball , I just could not resist . Me and DH are having a knitting fest all of our own . Nice warm cardies and jumpers .
This is going to be our new veg plot . DH went out in the back yesterday supposedly to cut back the shrubs over the arbour ready for dimantling it , next time I looked the whole lot was down . It's a start though . He says he'll do it as and when the weather is nice , that way he won't get over tired . Another can't wait , load of fresh veggies . Watch this space .
And this week the entry forms have started to arrive for all the shows , things are starting to buzz again .

Saturday 17 January 2009

Wood and Wool

Conversation with Papa Bear last week. Me " I need some new coasters , paint me some , em please".
PB " What do you want painting in them "
Me " Multicoloured daft sheep "
PB " OK "Here they are , multicoloured daft sheep , aren't they cool . I particularly like the leering purple one on the bottom left , he he !
Conversation with Kevin ,our tame wood turner, just before Christmas . Me " Can you make me one of those thingies that you slip your DPN's in to stop the stitches falling off when your travelling about with your sock knitting ". Kevin " OK ". This morning he brought it round and it's perfick . It wasn't that dead easy the threading was a bit of a struggle but it's great and in my favourite Purple Heart wood . He also made me a spindle , now I need to learn how to use it .

And I've been spinning. This is the luxury Blue Faced Leicester Artis - Anne dyed for me before Christmas and it's like spinning butter. I intend to spin this as fine as I can then Navajo ply it to keep the colour together . I'm trying to spin at the moment instead of knitting as I'm having trouble with my shoulder and I didn't do it any good knitting two Starsky Cardies back to back in chunky yarn for my sons . So no more chunky yarn for me .

Friday 16 January 2009

I do like to be beside the Seaside , especially in Winter.

Another picture heavy blog . Yesterday we went to see the Moggs for lunch and to take Amber some yarn for hospice knitting . It was nice to see them again as we haven't seen them since just after Christmas when they came with Artis-Anne and her DH.
As usual we had a really good natter .
After lunch me and Papa Bear decided to carry on into Morecambe and go for a walk on the prom. It was bitter cold but we wrapped up warm . We headed towards the Stone Jetty as we could let Meg off to stretch her legs . The tide was in but it was quite dull so we couldn't see the Cumbrian Mountains .
On the leeward side of the jetty all was calm.
But when we got to the other side it was a different story . It was very windy and the waves were battering the beach . We decided to carry on round with the intention of walking to the Battery Hotel .
As we got further round , past the Midland Hotel ,the wind was whipping the waves up . It was fantastic . I love being near the sea especially in Winter , it's the wildness of it .
Another big wave .
The sea looks like it's boiling . Look at the whirlpool at the top right.
I don't think you would last long in there if you fell in .
What a contrast to our visit there in September when I took all the Sunset picture.
Unfortunately we didn't get as far as the Battery as it came on raining but I enjoyed it all the same. Hope you like the picture .

Monday 12 January 2009

What a busy afternoon

I've not done anything exciting since last Tuesday . Had quite a nice rest , pleasing myself what I did . The weather's been up and down , very cold, wet, sunny . It's not known what to do .We went for a walk this morning down our usual route . All the ice has melted and has caused a huge amount of water to drain off the land .Usually you can't see any water draining off but today there is a small torrent pouring off the fields.
We went to see if our beautiful swans were still on the lake and as you can see they were. We are hoping they have taken up residence and will breed this year .
The Cob very kindly posed for me .
As did the Pen .
We are going to have to think of some nice names for them . Any suggestions .
The rest of the day has been taken up with taking photos of yarn and bags to upload to my new BLOGSHOP
I've set up another blog as a shop window for my yarns and bags etc . You can purchase things from there but only if you live in the UK as I can't take cards , cheque sales only . Why not take a peak :0).
Finally I have got off to a good start with my weight , losing three and half pounds . I don't expect to lose that every week but it's a start .

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Fabulous Winter Walk

First a warning , there's lots of pics.
We'd decided to have some days out this week. So this morning despite temperatures of
-7 degrees we set off for a walk up Rivington Pike near Chorley ,
once owned by Lord Leverhulme , of Sunlight Soap fame. It is now owned by United Utilities and has the reservoirs that feed Bolton it's water.
It was bitterly cold but once we got walking we warmed up and we had a flask of hot coffee to have when we had a stop . It had been snowing up on the moors and the views were breathtaking. First high view. Unfortunately the reservoirs aren't very clear.
Meg amongst the heather . She had a wail of a time .
The top of Rivington Pike with the tower.Our goal for the morning was to get to the top
Half way up .
I think Meg could be saying " Hurry up you two I'm nearly there "
The appropriately named Winter Hill . This is where our tele signals come from.
We did it . This is the tower at the top of the pike . Not sure if it ever had a use .
We stayed for a rest and had our coffee and a biscuit. It was quite warm in the sun . Though we were wrapped up warm with several layers on .
This is the view from the very top . You can just make out the reservoirs . Somewhere in the distance is Blackpool Tower.
Going down . It was a bit precarious going down these steps as they were icy . Meg just flew down of course .
Me and Meg with the Pigeon Tower in the background . This is one of many follies Lord Leverhulme built .
It's a fascinating place to explore . There was once Japanese gardens and terraces and even a zoo. The bungalow Lord Leverhulme built up there is no longer there but in the Summer you can see where it was and even see part of the ballroom floor .

Part of the terraces. There's millions of steps to climb up and down.
In the previous pic we were walking across this bridge.
The path to the bottom .
At the end of the walk we went to the cafe near Rivington Barn and had hot tomato soup and coffee . And boy were we ready for it .
Then we looked round the little gift shop and I found these . I've just started collecting crystals so I was thrilled to get these an boost my collection .
A very nice end to a lovely day out.

Sunday 4 January 2009

Belated New Year Greetings

A rather belated New Year Post , the reason being I've been One Degree Under. One of my Mum's favourite sayings when she wasn't feeling 100% . And that's just how I've felt , not proper poorly but decidedly not myself. I went to bed a 9-00pm on New Years Eve thinking I was coming down with the flu or something but it never materialised . whether I've had some sort of bug or just been overtired I don't know. Any way today I felt much better so we drove out to the coast for a walk along the prom.It was quite nippy but it was good to be out in the fresh air . We had a good hours walk .
Meg enjoyed herself , running up and down the sand dunes . there were lots of waders out on the estuary but unfortunately the binoculars had got left behind so we couldn't identify any of them.
We've decided to take a week off before getting down to making things again. With entertaining family and friend over Christmas we haven't had much time for ourselves so we are planning a few days out over the next week . The decorations came down the other day and Christmas got put back up in the attic for another year so normality is returning to the Den.
I've not made any New Year resolutions as such but i am going to TRY and get my weight under control. There's a thread started on one of the Ravelry Groups to lose 26 lbs in 26 weeks ,as that is how far Woolfest is away , so I'm joining in that . 26lbs would bring me down to my ideal weight again. I'm far to ashamed to put what my weight is at the moment but I'm going to put a progress report in the side bar of how much I'm losing. Feel free post encouraging comments , I need all the support I can get :-)