Autumn Productivity

I've had very busy morning and i think it has to do with the Autumn Equinox giving off loads of energy and the fact that the Moon is waxing which always makes me want to be creative . So this morning I was creative in the kitchen . I made 24 , 1 pound ,jars of piccallili and 12 , 1pound ,jars of pickles . Not all for us I hasten to add , my darling children will be round on Sunday to see what's on offer :0) .
Then as I still had some yeast left from my bake the other week i made 9 pounds of flour into bread . These bread rolls are destined for a coffee morning in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Nurses at my friend Christian's . We are going to knit squares for comfort blankets .

Fresh loaves in their swanky new breathable bags from Lakeland Ltd .

I've got enough bread to last a few weeks now , and when that's gone we are going to indulge and get a breadmaker .

Now a little bit of Gin progress . I now have the gin in these fantastic jars I got from our local Matalan . They were only £3 each and are perfick as they have a seal on so no evaporation . I have made 4 litres of Sloe and 1 litre of Damson.
This week I have also spun 200grms of fibre into yarn . Plyed another 400grms and I'm half way up a sweater knit in the round for myself .

Hmm I'm quite out of breath now and I'm going to have a sit down and brew.

Positive thoughts for Bobby today.

Bobby needs major positive thoughts , prayers , healing Karma today .After an MRI scan yesterday it has been decided to operate and take a biopsy .

He goes into theatre at 9-00am British Summer Time .

I leave him in your thoughts . Thank You X

Autumn Equinox / Mabon

Mabon Greetings to one and all . Well Autumn officially starts today . There has been a nip in the air in the mornings for the past week or so and you could really smell Autumn creeping up .

As usual I have decorated my hearth to reflect another turn of the wheel . Oranges and golds to symbol the turning of the leaves from green .
A hearth full of cones and nuts , natures bounty.

And the bower is filled with berries from the Rowan and the Rose with oranges and Cinnamon sticks to finish it off . It all gives a nice warm glow of an evening when we settle down to our crafts.

Talking of natures bounty . We went a walk on Sunday and collected a load of Sloes to add to my already bulging stock of fruits . These were not destined for jam but Sloe Gin .

This is how you make it .

Take one pound of Sloes and prick them all over with a needle or cocktail stick . If you have them get the children to do this they'll love it .

One litre of Gin . It doesn't have to be expensive . I just get the cheap stuff .

Eight ounces of caster sugar .

Put the whole lot into a Rumtoft or a glass container big enough to take everything , then give it a good stir. Stir it every day for a week until the sugar dissolves . Then seal your container and put it somewhere dark and leave it for at least three months . The longer the better . After that strain the liquid off and bottle it . Very nice on a cold Winters night. You can do the same with Damsons and at the end make a pie with the fruit . Delicious with ice cream .

The next few weeks will see me making all my jams and pickles and storing them for the year ahead . I've probably said this before ,I love this time of year . I've got a freezer full of fruit and

I've been out today collecting all the ingredients together to make pickles and piccalilli . I'm just awaiting a delivery of jam jars then i can get cracking :0)

And Time Goes by.

Why is it about this time of year i want to start having a clear out. Every year as soon as I get back from Cumbria , after a few days rest i have to start sorting things out and chucking out the dross collected over the past year . Maybe it's because I'm getting ready to hunker down for the Winter that I have to do this strange thing in the Autumn. Anyway the back bedroom and the woolroom got the chucking out treatment this week and I know where everything is , for now at least. I had a computer table to dispose of so like a good girl I took it to the local hospice shop and whilst there looked for a bookcase , which i duly found . I also found this little beauty........ My very own Captain's chair. Whilst at Annie's last week I used her captain's chair to sit on whilst I spun and it was so perfect for the job . I HAD to have one . I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it . Actually there were two so I got the other for DH .

As you can see "Perfick "
I can spin for hours now in comfort :0)

Been knitting as well . A lovely little shawllette . It was destined for the stall but I really like it soooo........

I've been busy all afternoon updating the Blogshop with lots of goodies . the pic above is just a taster . 100% Merino in a choice of weights and in my new Winter Solstice range of colours ideal for warm hats and scarves .

Lastly a little udate about Bobby.

Alas my darling brother is still unconcious and there is very liitle change in his condition . I have been to see him several times and when I've been he's had his eyes open . When i speak he seems to know I'm there so I'm holding on to that . Several tests and scans have proved inconclusive and the specialist is at a loss at the moment as to why he hasn't come round . Please dear friends continue to send your positive thoughts , prayers and healing Karma in the hope that like Rip van Winkle he'll wake up from his long sleep . X

Now as I've been at this computer since 2-00pm and it's now 7-00 pm I think I deserve a large glass of something and to put my feet up .

Wha ho !! I've just noticed I have gone over 10.000 visitors to my Blog since I started keeping a check in Jan 2008 . There are a few more as I've been Blogging since Oct 2007 Nice though :0)

A few days in Wales ( Pic Heavy )

We have just spent a very pleasurable two days in Wales with Artis-Anne and her DH ,Tony .

It was just what the doctor ordered . It was so lovely to see them again , as we hadn't seen them since Woolfest . We set off early and went by way of Llandudno and as you can see the weather , in the words of Pa Larkin in The Darling Buds of May , was Perrfick .

Blue skies all round
A clear view of Great Orme

There was even a yacht race to watch as we ate our lunch.

Little Orme at the other end of the prom .

This was the only seagull on the Prom and we named him Poirot as he had the same mincing walk as the great detective .

We reached Annie and Tony's just after one and got a great welcome.

This is Tony with all the dogs who are keen to get his toast .

Annie doing what she loves best .

Isla and Skye , Meg's new friends .

Annie and Tony took us on some fabulous walks . It was great getting out in the fresh air for a change . Luckily the weather held all the time we were there .

Little boats in the bay .

" See That "

Lovely Welsh mountains .

Row of stone cottages.

The river was full as it crashed over the waterfall.

We had a great time with them and was a real treat after the past few horrible weeks we've had.

Annie is a fabulous cook and made sure we were stuffed full :0)

It was two days spent in very pleasurable and comfortable company and came to an end all to soon . We've promised to go back and it looks like we may spend our hols in Llandudno next year instead of the long journey down to Devon .

We Haz Sunshine Yeh!!!!!!

As the title suggests the Sun came out to play this morning and it was so gorgeous we simply had to go for a long walk so off we went to Rivington for a walk round the reservoirs . This Comma butterfly was enjoying the Sun as well .

A sign of climate change here . About 15 years ago you wouldn't have seen this butterfly up here . Apparently if you drew a line between the Mersey and The Wash this species never came above it .
There are some lovely old houses along this walk .

Blue Skies

I love the silhouette of this dead tree against the sky.

Fishing in the reservoir

Looking right down the big reservoir.

It was so good to be out and feeling the Sun on my back after the past few horrible weeks . It makes me feel like doing things so after I've finished this I'm going to blitz my workroom .

I've been enjoying my R&R after the trauma of Cumbria . I've been spinning ( Bliss ) and doing a bit of knitting and generally chilling out . We are off to Wales at the weekend to spend a few days with Artis-Anne and her DH . Another dear friend who I have met through Ravelry . This online community is great I've met such a lot of interesting people . My eldest says it's like Facebook for knitters .

I'm going to update my Blogshop over the next few days . I am hoping to get an Etsy shop up and running soon I just need to get my head round it . Till then there will be new yarns and stuff in my little shop. Right grab black bags and head for the workroom :0)

I'm Home ( and never been more glad to be so )

Cumbria Tour 2009

We are back from Cumbria and never been more glad to walk through our front door . I thought last year was bad but this year took all the gold medals for being bad . The weather has been atrocious and being in a caravan it magnifies it a hundred fold . I don't think we've had a single night of uninterupted sleep .

We lost Appleby Show due to me having a Megraine through lack of sleep but it was a terrible day and apparently was a wash out.

We lost Brough Show as I had to come home to see my brother but it was terrible etc etc

We lost Ennerdale Show as the weather was terrible etc etc and the apparently the tent blew down .

We managed to do Patterdale Dog Day and acctually took some money . Yeh

We managed to do Grasmere Sports and took even more money Yeh !! but it rained none stop from 11-00 a. m. So much so that we decided not to do Keswick Show . As you can see from the pics below it was a good decision . This was the straw that broke the camels back . Mud .
Rain

and a lot more mud .

These pictures are care of Ann Bowker a Lakeland Photographer .

It's been soul destroying and has left us with no option but to give up on the shows in Cumbria . We are far to dependent on the weather . We came home early in a storm but as we got over Shap on the motorway it stopped raining and by the time we got home the sun was shining and for the first time in ages we were warm .

We did manage one day out when it stayed dry for a few hours . This is Castle Howe ,a magical place . Apparently it was the last place in England where Faeries were seen . I can well believe it as when i was walking round something kept buzzing in my ear and it wasn't flies or bees .

DH and Meg in the quiet hollow .
I didn't even bother to take my hundreds of photos this year as they would have all been the same . Wet and dismal .Unlike my promise of last year we will not return.

Fibrefest 2009.

We came home half way through our Cumbrian debacle to attend Fibrefest in Devon . Unfortunately for us it was a none event and takings were very low . If we decide to do it again it would have to be included in a holiday .

There was one highlight though the B&B we stayed at Barleycorn House.

To say it was excellent would be putting it mildly and would recommend it to everyone . There was even a Bonio biscuit put out every day for Meg . Along with her own water bowl and towel . The pic is of the view we had from our room . We also had a lovely Saturday night in the B&B lounge with Gemme , Sarah , Julie and Rachel . Girls from our SnB also down for Fibrefest . We spent the evening knitting and singing along to the Mama Mia DVD .

Bobby .

Last but by no means least my brother Bobby .

He is still hanging in there after nearly three weeks . I went to see him again last night for the first time since I got back , though I have been in touch with my sister-in-law everyday for updates on his condition. The doctors say there is little change but he seemed more reasted and had his eyes open for quite a while ,whilst I was there . I am SURE he knew I was there .

Please continue sending positive vibes / Karma and prayers as I am sure they help. If you are not a Blogger and wish to get in touch my email is info(at)laalbear(dot)co(dot)uk replace the words with symbols. Thank you to all who have left comments up to now .

In Conclusion.

August has not been a kind month at all and I was glad to see the back of it .

I am now going to have a rest from shows as I am completely drained and very nearly broken . The next couple of months will be filled with what I want to do . Walk , knit , rest and most of all spin and Blog of course as there is the small matter of a Status Quo Concert to blog about . Isn't there :0)