Category: Home life

Courgettes did well this year

C

Read more

Meditation – do I care?

Mediation – do I care? Only you know the answer. And if you don’t, then today’s the day to find out.  Contact me, to join a group of genuine caring ‘woolies on zoom for Coffee this morning  or *Meditation for the Curious this afternoon, 31st July 2020….   11.00am :   Here’s what Father Lawrence Freeman, the […]

Read more

garden shed

Garden shed has been cleaned out. The poor thing is collapsing, the workbench is 2 inches lower at the back than the front;  it never used to be like that! It is over 30 years old, the centre part of the floor has given way, so nailed a board over the gaps for safety.  The […]

Read more

Dyeing for new cushions

Dyeing for new cushions. ‘Time for a change’ I think so dye some merino rovings to match the chairs. All that needs to be done now is card it into rolags, spin it, ply it, skein, wash and finish it, roll into balls, warp up a loom to fit exiting feather cushion pads, weave it, […]

Read more

Need or want?

Need or want – in these tricky times I have come to realise the difference between Need and want.  Wilbarston Shop has everything I need. So do supermarkets, but there, the things I need are not as obvious. On display are things I might want, but dont need: e.g. orchids, out of season fruit and […]

Read more
Beautiful Rolags

Lady Day in Lockdown-Freedom to just Be

Today is Lady Day, traditionally the day peasants were hired and tenants paid their rent. Also, in Medieval times, no-one was ever allowed to leave their parish; absconders were pursued and punished. Travel was never an option in those days. But the same sun shone then as it is doing now on this, the world’s […]

Read more

Gift of Spinning at Christmas

Gift of Spinning at Christmas is often overlooked. Without spinning Jesus,Mary, Joseph, shepherds and kings would all be naked.  Apart from hide or felt, I can’t think of a way to make clothing without spinning. Even domesticating animals requires rope – i.e. spun or twisted fibre, for tethering and fencing. Spinning must be the most […]

Read more

The Joy of Socks

The joy of socks is all-embracing. Someone asked me the other day if I ever wear anything I have spun? Well Yes,I do. And so do lots of other people too. Mostly it is socks; from the joy of spinning, through knitting and wearing them or, better still, giving them to someone I love to […]

Read more

Toadstool art yarn

Toadstool art yarn is named after some fungi that appeared this week in my stable yard. When Mary arrived for knitting yesterday she would not drive over the fungi to park in her usual place: ‘It’s so beautiful – I can’t bear to drive over, and spoil it’ she said. The colour of the fungi […]

Read more

messing about on the river

‘There are long boats and short boats and ALL KINDS OF CRAFT…’ I am moored at Warmington Mill where there are all kinds of craft as the song goes; I have never seen anything like this craft*in the foreground. The pilot, who built the top part of this amazing feat of engineering, from a redundant […]

Read more

Pothole outside Spinning studio

Pothole outside Spinning studio is very dangerous and took out a front and back tyre of the same car this last bank holiday weekend. The county council’s method of dealing with this hazard is astonishing…

Read more

Robin in the greenhouse

Robin in the greenhouse nesting in a bag I left on the staging during the winter. There are five white, brown speckled eggs in a beautiful nest made with only a beak. And we spinners make a fuss about making yarn when we have two hands and a host of technology to help us! Clever […]

Read more
twill weave

Twill weave

Twill weave, my house-pigeon must like twill weave – here he is inspecting two of my oldest rugs dating from the late 1980s and still going strong. I have not seen pigeon for several days now – nor found feathers or remains in the garden so hoping he has made a success of his bid […]

Read more
nature's best

Nature’s best

Nature’s Best Nature’s best things are virtually free – this plateful was picked this morning.  I planted the Conference pear tree at the millennium along with a vine and a Brown Monkey Turkey fig – they continue to give me free harvest every year and every year the bounty seems to be more plentiful. What better […]

Read more

A moment of enlightenment

A moment of enlightenment. I bought some new picture lights and decided that I would put them up myself – but will stick to the knitting in future…  I did put one up – it was not easy, I needed three hands and being up a step ladder that was a bit wobbly gave me […]

Read more
Life changes

Life changes

Life Changes Life changes and change is about the only certainty in life – and with bereavement comes massive change. And unexpected pleasures. I commissioned this headstone from the Cordazzo Kindersley workshop in Cambridge. It was fixed in place on Monday 21st August. It brings me enormous pleasure.  The stone is perfect, my final act of love. It is […]

Read more

Socks with meaning

Socks with meaning make delightful gifts and now is the time to start on knitting unique Christmas gifts. These socks are called Meadow and knitted with my own art yarn. All yarn has basic elements which can be used in the design process; these are fibre, spinning method, colour and yarn structure. The fibre choice […]

Read more

Colour in spinning

Colour in Spinning and weaving was the theme for Wednesday’s Summer School this year. I love colour. If I’m feeling a bit low I turn to my dye box  – its far healthier than popping a pill. The results of our dye were so luscious one wanted to eat them…still better than popping a pill. […]

Read more

Messing about on the river

Messing about on the river was idyllic on Saturday. took my three youngest grandchildren from Titchmarsh Mill to Wadenhoe on the river Nene. Grandson was pilot and very good at it too. A lovely green dragon fly settled on Bronwyn’s knee – but flew off before she got time to take a picture. We caught […]

Read more

Mme Gregoire du Staechelin.

Mme Gregoire du Staechelin is blooming in our garden – much to our delight and joy. She has not been pruned or interfered with for three years and obviously likes it that way…Now that I have retired from working for the nhs and work at my Spinning School full time which I love doing, I have ‘time […]

Read more