Wreath making🎄

During the first weekend of December we gathered around newspaper covered tables and we crafted many wreaths.  For ourselves, for friends, for colleagues and for family. 

Food was shared and there was so much - the table groaned beneath plates and despite our best efforts, the left overs were shared out and sent home to be eaten later.

By the end of a wonderful day of cutting, snipping, chatting, eating, tying and tweaking, between the ten of us we had made 15 wreaths.  Our home smelt gloriously of wood and pine - quite heady and spicy.

Then, later, once our guests had gone, the house quiet, left over foliage and fripperies put away we cradled mugs of tea and toasted our toes in front of the fire.

It had been a good day, a very good day, made the more special as we'd not been able to celebrate wreath making for the previous two years and it was wonderful being able share food and friendship once again ❤️❄️🎄

Completing the circle

It could be said that 2021 has been quite a ride - a complete sea change in fact. It was incredibly difficult to choose a photo a month so, rather than trawl up and down until I saw what I wanted, I have chosen at random the first one that catches my eye and have written about that one  .... 

Top left - January : I started a new job, as head gardener in a walled kitchen garden as part as a charity which works to help with people's minds and mental welfare. It has been a steep learning curve, not just how to manage a large vegetable garden so that it produced a steady flow of fruit and vegetables to the cafe and for sale rather than a series of gluts, but how to manage volunteers, meet their needs, teaching them new skills, making use of their existing skills base, form a community and a safety net whilst getting the best from them - I am still learning.

Top Right  - February : I, on a whim, sort of 'sashiko style' stitched my work trousers all down the left leg. Why? Well why not? It does sometimes start a conversation, which when meeting someone new does help break the ice.

Bottom Left - March : Although we walk all through the year, March really kicks off walks that are further afield.  This particular walk resulted in a rather muddy and wet (but very happy) dog,

Bottom Right -April : A good month for walking,  gently balmy days, camping, once again a happy (and usually muddy) dog.

Top Left - May : Wild camping as often as we can, we walk along pathways strewn with cow parsley. The light levels are clear and bright and days are warming while nights remain chilly.

Top Right -June : I'd decided to allow the garden to gentle 're-wild' and for a brief few weeks in June, it was beautiful, romantic, flower filled with birds, insects, frogs and hedgehogs. However, it was not long before it became not so much 're-wild' but down right savage so required a bit of a machete job....

 

Bottom Left - July : Warm and wet. Sunny days that warmed me to the bone and rainy ones that drenched me in equal measure.

Bottom Right - August : Dusky hot days melted into sultry evenings with the most glorious sunsets

Top Left - September : The call of wild camping and walking had us revisiting places we love, sharing them with Moss who delighted in swimming in rivers and the sea, walking in woodlands and along the coast line. May have to take her back!

Top Right - October : The mellowing of the seasons, softened the light, made things feel reflective and contemplative. 

Bottom Left - November : I tentatively dipped my toe into the loom-weaving waters and was dragged off into a delight of weaving. The rhythmic movement and the gentle building of the woven fabric really pleases me - I know I need lots more practise and I have been experimenting with reasonable success - I shall certainly be playing with this a whole lot more!

Bottom Right - December : take today, this misty early morning photo brings the circle around back to January when I started at the walled garden.  I wrote - this year has been quite a ride and a rather good one.

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Don't think you have reached the end of my waffle just yet!

I have just one (or three) more photographs to share with you - December 2021 to me will be forever linked to festive wreath making, the pictures only show about half of what was made .... 87 in total to be precise ... a mixture of wreaths made by myself (44) and the rest made by participants of the wreath making workshops.  

It has been a busy month.

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Sunday reflecting

The house has been full of voices the last couple of days with the boys and their girls joining us for our annual wreath making day - it was non existent in 2020 and this year it had been downsized to just a bare minimum of family and special friends; to be able to have a small part of our yearly tradition felt rather special.

With quite a few folk not joining us, I was busy making a number of wreaths - which I have to admit was rather hard to rustle up the enthusiasm I usually have - it seems I have made so many this year that the novelty has well and truly run its course... I also wanted this to be a lovely day because last year was .... well - last year didn't really happen, did it?

However after several mugs of tea, mince pies, gingerbread cake, gingerbread, lots of catching up and a constant background serenading of festive songs - I got there in the end!

Another very special part of this day is the arrival of a gingerbread chrimbly tree - where squeaks of delight and oohs and aahs of appreciation could be heard as it landed in the centre of the table with a flourish!

It is this plate of tasty sculpture that really makes me feel like the festive season has begun. And what makes it even more special is, it is part of my boys festive build up and and once they'd grown up and brought home their girlfriends - they delighted in sharing this tradition with them too. It also amazes me how quickly this plate of biscuits are scoffed - with the larger pieces being torn into large chunks and carried off triumphantly!

Nearly all of us had more that one wreath to make and if I have my calculations correct - I think, by the end of the day there were  15 or 16 made - so we were rather busy!

The pile of greenery both on the table and beneath it certainly looked impressive however I had to ask Himself to brave the dreadful weather outside and gather more as we soon depleted it.

The house smelt gorgeous - citrusy conifer, spicy ginger, mulled punch, mince pies, pizza, baked potatoes,  cinnamon sticks, crusty bread, quiche and nut roast.

In the evening, after all had gone, we sat quietly recovering around the fire, Youngest and his Girl quietly finishing off their wreaths, Eldest and his Girl reading on the settee and the weather howling around the house in a foul temper - I decided that despite this year's wreath day's build up being quite hard work - it was worth it - really worth it x 

Weaving stories

 I've been playing .....

A little while ago, I'd accidently (oops - suspect my finger slipped on my keyboard ) purchased myself a small loom weaving kit and finally today was the first time I was able to get my hands on it and actually play!

The instructions it came with were a rather lost in translation, so I did a bit of online research and after realising where I'd gone wrong with setting up, I stuck the kettle on and got stuck in!

And I like!!

I like A LOT!

I loved the movement of each row as it builds up and the gentle growth of fabric from woollen thread. It is definitely a slow craft - a mindful, methodical and rhythmic craft and while the weather outside was foul tempered and miserable, I was engrossed and wanting to learn more.

I have since knotted the fringe and trimmed it a little shorter, soaked and blocked the mats and I am on with making the next two...... ! 

My chosen colours, all in pre-shrunk 100% wool, are a lovely tweedy grey, chocolate brown and a soft sandy shade. However each mug mat has a different pattern. The edges might be bumpy and my tension still needing practice however seeing the completed mug mats made my heart sing. I may have mentioned that I am enjoying this ... A LOT!

Right - this is the final  #moreblogvember post for November 2021. There is this myth that it take 21 days to form a habit (where in reality it is nearer 66 days - so two months of blogging just might be enough) we shall see.

#moreblogvember

And here is one I made earlier

 

No - don't worry we've not experienced a time jump straight to December however we did make four in the end. They were part of a staff workshop I gave to show how to make wreaths. The real workshops will be starting soon (end of November). 

Next week myself and a colleague are off to a neighbouring park armed with secateurs, a flat bed truck (I am not joking) and a council park keeper to cut ourselves enough foliage for fifty folk (not joking about that one either) to make wreaths at our workshops..... 

I am now going to lie down in a dark corner to compose myself.......

#moreblogvember

Blogtober day 31 - you are a STAR!⭐

Today is the final post for #blogtober2021.

When I started I was a little unsure if I had enough waffle to fill a month of posts and I would falter. I did miss a couple of days and I did write some rubbish - no I wrote a lot of rubbish - so if you have read and commented throughout October you deserve a medal or at the very least a pat on the back - thank you!💜💙

This weekend was rather brief and very full - working on Saturday certainly put a dent into the enjoyment of having Eldest and GF over as they seem to leave as soon as they arrived but I am not complaining** - it was lovely having them stay over (** well I am complaining but only about having to work on the Saturday!!)

We went to see DUNE and we seemed to be (apart from one or two of the staff) the only ones wearing masks in the cinema foyer. I was also surprised how few folk were watching.  We were however, 'entertained' by the gentleman sitting IMMEDIATELY behind us (in an empty room that holds 180 people) as he sang loudly, fortunately tunefully, to the Beatles tunes in the lead up to the adverts and trailers.  He did give up on the film after the first hour as did a family of four quite young children. There was almost as much action in the cinema as there was on the screen! Did I enjoyed - yes, coz I love Sci-Fi - especially the epic trilogy type (cue Star Wars) and yes because we go out so infrequently that doing this was  'epic' in itself. 

The weather has been atrocious today and when there appeared to be a small window of relief we wrapped up after lunch and attempted a quick dog walk. As we reached the highest point just above the village we could see more rain rolling in rapidly so we decided to cut short our walk and only just got back in time before it began to absolutely throw it down. Strangely enough despite it raining hard, there was sunshine and a glorious rainbow.

So, once home and dried off - we made origami stars from old maps. It was lovely, just us (and a humpffing dog as she felt short changed over her reduced walk) and a couple of mugs of tea. 

Now it is dark, the weather is miserable, no chance of mini monsters, ghouls and witches braving the elements - rather glad as we have battened down the hatches - don't fancy any visitors tonight.

Right, enough waffle, I am off to the kitchen to cook - not sure what, I'll just have to open the cupboard and see what I am inspired by .... 

And if you have got this far - thank you for sticking it out and thank you for all your lovely comments!

#blogtober2021

Blogtober day 30 - nearly there!

Another silly busy day and once again I am curled up on the settee (with a now empty mug of tea) having just written the work's blog post - so please forgive me for just copying and pasting it in - I don't have the brain power today to be 'witty and wordy' (well,  I am not often ever witty, although I know, I can be wordy!)

So here goes ... The Santa's grotto check list....

• Elf on the Shelf  ...... ✔ well - two actually - double trouble!
• Garland ...... ✔
• Stockings ...... ✔ (one either side of the roaring fire!)
• Gifts ...... ✔ wrapped and tucked into the stockings
• twinkling lights - on the garland   ...... ✔
• More twinkling lights around the room - work in progress
• Festive tree ...... work in progress
• Back drop ...... ✔ well the back drop has been measured and cut, needs a bit of sewing and decorating before it is ready to hang
• Back drop support wires  ...... ✔
• Comfy chair for Santa  ...... ✔
• Snuggly rug for Santa's tired feet  ...... ✔
• Paper tree workshop materials collated and packed ready for next Thursday
• Pebble painting pebbles boxed up, brushes found, paints and paintbrush rising jars collected for the Wednesday session
• Sticky stars, 'gem stone jewels', ribbons, string and scissors sorted
• Origami stars made ...... ✔ well, a start was made, more need to be crafted then we will have such a magical place for Father Christmas's grotto.

It was a bit of full-on day with us all busy getting on and doing things, cutting, snipping, folding, gluing, drawing, measuring, wiring but by lunch the bulk of the grotto set up was done. You may wonder why we are being so early in our preparations - the Garden Team are about to transform into the Chrimbly Craft Team and we need to make sure we are ready to go go go and hit the floor running!

Thank you Molli, Sharon and Dylan for your help and input - I am now going to lie down in a dark corner!🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏻‍♀️🎅🏼🎄🔨

Samhain blessings from our house to yours

Blogtober day 28 - Izzy, wizzy, let's get busy !

This morning started off wild and tempestuous and as the day went on it worsened! Not surprisingly we all managed to find work indoors.

We are prepping for our festive (gah) workshops coming up - they start next week. On the list of 'attractions' we are starting with two sessions of pebble painting, then I am leading three workshops making chrimbly tree decorations. 

The week after that kicks off three weeks of hosting festive wreath making sessions. In between that we are decorating the 'Coach House' (our place of work) building Santa's Grotto (twice) as well as creating items for sale for the Christmas Market.

So far we have wired seed pods and dried flowers, lightly sprayed foliage (dried) silver, red and gold, made willow wreaths for bases, stamped labels, cut ribbons and sorted out the workshop space.

Succulent and cacti planters have been made, wooden shelving and display units made and painted - all being prepped for our Christmas market.

We are still eight weeks away from a certain date and there is still so much to do!!!

All this activity is partly why I missed yesterday's post - I was so knackered when I came home I fell asleep on the settee 🙄😄

#blogtober2021

Before I set off ...

Yesterday (Monday) was a delightfully quiet one after the last few weeks and weekends shenanigans.

Work has been busy both physically and mentally. As part of grant awarding bodies criteria, we have to achieve certain 'tick box' requirements to fulfil our part of the agreement. So, there have been sessions of teaching both volunteers and public as well as our apprentice alongside the normal gardening sessions. This will alter slightly as the weather turns and there is less gardening on offer. Over the autumn months and leading up to December (can't bring myself to say the festive c word), I'll be running crafting workshops where we'll be making decorations, wreaths as well as wintery garden advice. (find me a dark corner please - I need to hibernate)...

So, to sit quietly with a crochet hook in hand............. working on my latest hat was bliss. A double strand of Alpaca DK, it is thick and weighs 'a tonne' so there better be at least a week of really cold weather to wear this one! I tried it on this morning and it was like wearing a close fitting duvet.

Last week was our wedding anniversary and as is 'tradition' I completely forgot and when Himself presented a beautiful bouquet of Gerbera daisies, yellow and orange roses, yellow lilies and Hypericum berries with a card - it brought me to tears. He is a keeper🧡💖💚. Now a week later the flowers are just beginning to fade, but not enough to throw, so I have tidied them and freshened their water. I want to get a few more days from them.

In between the heavy showers I tried to garden - my own - but was chased by the rain into my greenhouse where I potted up some of the smaller succulents and cacti from my collection. They are such quiet little fellows, not screaming for attention or needing constant cossetting and I do love their stoic determined growth - I use them at work with those folk who don't see gardening as 'their thing' but do seem to be drawn to the simple honesty of these plants.

Eventually I ran out of greenhouse jobs and when the rain eased off a little, I escaped back to the house and switched the oven on and baked a pile of oak leaf shortbread biscuits. As usual, they did not last long.

Pan seamlessly appeared whilst I was in the garden and vanished as secretively and then reappeared when I returned to the house. Her now ever present company albeit on her terms is still something we are getting used to. It still feels special.

I am off to work shortly, however, looking through the window it is looking far from appetising, but as long as the rain holds off, I'll be fine, so if you'll excuse me, I better get ready.

What are you up to today?
Are you also working around the weather or are you safely ensconced somewhere indoors with mugs of tea keeping warm and dry?

Have a lovely Tuesday xxxxx

Edited to add: it rained............. all day, I got wet and had to change fully twice - sigh.