Category Archives: Higgins

The Joy of Open Studios

Could there been a better day taking part in Open Studios? I don’t really think so. The sunshine has been glorious and the sky blue…

…the butterflies discovered the flowers on the courtyard and kept us entertained all day……and Higgins had a bath, specially!

The Studio is still looking astonishingly tidy…

…and we’ve had so many lovely visitors.

A lady from Yorkshire demonstrated tatting…

My best friend from Art School came with her husband and friends (and there was soon as much noisy laughter as there ever was when we were studying together!) Lots of local friends arrived to find out what we get up to and old pals from way back arrived to surprise us.

We got rather too excited when we discovered that two of our visitors ran a circus! And that he was the clown and she was the Ringmaster!

The clown really loved Higgins and I think the feeling was mutual so for a short while Higgins running away to join the circus was definitely on the cards.

And Emma from Silver Pebble came with her family and stayed and did crochet and finger knitting which was lovely…

When eventually every left to go home we sat on the verandah and ate strawberries, clotted cream and chocolate cake and agreed it had been a splendid day all round.

If you’ve ever wondered about taking part in Open Studios yourself, and it happens all over the UK,we would both thoroughly recommend it. Yes, we make sales but its much more than that. People are so interested in what we do and how we do it and it’s great when they go away enthused to try something creative themselves.

And there is still next weekend, so if you are in the area and would like to visit you can find out all about us and the rest of the Two Rivers Trail of which we are a part right here.

Hope to see you then…x

Box of Delights – The Results

Good Morning! I hope your morning is as beautiful as ours is today…
Very frosty first thing, but gorgeously bright and sparkly.

So it’s a good day to be awarding prizes. Firstly I have to say thank you again for the wonderful comments, it really has been heart lifting, and makes me feel another 500 posts may well be possible. I wish I could write to each and every one of you but there were 100 entries!

And I always feel bad when I do a giveaway because I can’t give something to everyone so I decided to add in four extra runners up to spread the delight a little further. In the past I have used my trusty helper to draw a winning name. We used a basket once…

…and of course the hat…

…but it involved a lot chasing around to find out who’s name actually came out of the hat…

…and it’s awfully damp and spitty. Also, there were so many this time…

…that I used the Random Number Generator which involves no chasing, and no chewed paper. So without further ado, and a big drum roll I am very pleased to announce that the winning number was 96 and the Box of Delights goes to Pennie, in East Sussex. The four runners up are number 14 – Sue Cambell in Alabama, number 15 – Cindy Wilson in Canada, Number 46 – Toffeeapple of Buckinghamshire and 48 – Linda Thorpe of Norfolk.

I shall share the runners-up prizes as I create them, it’s sparked another idea! Thank you all again for taking part.

And thank you too for all the supportive and concerned comments regarding our adventure with the fire last week. Everything is tidy and soot free in the room now and I’ve pinned a dust sheet over the fireplace as we await builders’ estimates. It’s not going to be a quick job, alas, Higgins and I are both snuggled under blankies in the evening now!

See you soon…!

The Year in Books

I mentioned serendipity in my last post, as that is what led me to a blog I hadn’t visited before, and a project ‘A Year in Books’ which is just what I need to rejuvenate my flagging spirits.

I’ve written before about my book habit, but over the years I’ve bought more and more books to feed the creative side of things, practical stuff, craft books, cookery books. My fiction reading has dwindled to 10 or 15 minutes a night in bed. Dozing off after a few minutes means that I end up rereading the same paragraph over and over trying to remember what is going on.

One of my decisions about slowing down and living in the real world a bit more was to put down the smart phone and pick up a book. This was why when I visited Penelope by the Sea on her lovely blog, L is for Love, I found she had discovered the perfect incentive on ‘A Circle of Pine Trees’.

Laura has created a reading project, nothing unattainable, of reading and sharing a book a month over the year. It can be shared on her blog via a linky button, on Instagram or Pinterest, a great way to find recommendations for new authors and books. All the details are in Laura’s post here, if you are interested in joining in.

My book for January is the latest Mark Haddon, which I bought on Liverpool Street Station on my way back from Aimee’s graduation a month ago (and hadn’t looked at since!) …

I made a start this morning in a packed hospital waiting room. Much better to get stuck into a book than fuming about my appointment being an hour overdue! So thank you to Laura for devising the idea, and for Penny for pointing me in the right direction…

Meanwhile, unlike so many other places in the UK, we had a glorious start to the day so I wandered round the garden with Higgins to see what was going on.

The snowdrops are nearly up!

There are primroses…

…and tiny miniature cyclamen…

…and still at the end of the garden, a rose is blooming…

Higgins, meanwhile still dives into his bed to hide when his coat is put on and he knows he has to go for a walk, however bright the sunshine!

Thank you for all the encouraging comments on my last post. It seems I’m not alone in feeling a little jaded, I think a lot of us are experiencing post Christmas burnout!

Onwards and upwards….see you soon…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Fourteen

It’s Day Fourteen of the Christmas Countdown and I’m all behind! With spectacular bad timing I’ve come down with a stinking cold and my carefully planned run up to Christmas (lots of scribbled notes on scraps of paper) has rather fallen apart. The cards are yet to be written, and my only decorations to date are the Christmas cards which other , more organised people, have sent to us. Still, not to worry, Christmas will happen whether we are ready or not and I’m sure if I can spend enough time this weekend steaming my head, drinking hot lemon and honey and cuddling Higgins (who is an excellent hot water bottle) I’ll be fine.

Higgins in Hot Water Bottle Mode

Day Fourteen in last year’s Advent Calendar was Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and I made these from last year’s Debbie Bliss pattern, you can read about it here. Little jumpers seem to be quite popular as Christmas tree decorations, these from Ravelry are cute…

littel jumpers - Christmas Countdown Day 14

Berroco Design Team

…and I love the embellishments on these…

little jumpers Chrismas Countdown day 14

Braybrook and Britten

This teeny tiny cardigan from Bugknits is just amazing. Follow the link by clicking on the photo to see more views. I just can’t imaging knitting something this small.

Bugknits

This little set is very sweet, but with no pattern I can track down…

However, if you would like a change from jumpers, how about these adorable mittens from my blogging friend Mrs Micawber?

Mrs Micawber

or some cute little socks from Little Cotton Rabbits…

Little Cotton Rabbits

I hope this has given you some knitting inspiration, I’ll be back tomorrow… See you soon…x

Norfolk November Skies and a Rosy Glow…

Hello! I can’t believe it’s taken so long to get back here for a catch up. I must say the new look for the blog is really growing on me now, and it seems to sit much better on a phone or tablet.

Last weekend Two Rivers Trail Christmas Fair was AMAZING! We couldn’t believe how many people came, there were cars parked all over the village, with people having to walk for half a mile to get to us! The Planet Penny Stall looked like this…

..although I don’t think many people managed to stand back to have a look at anything! If you would like to see more, all the photos I took of the day are over on the Two Rivers Trail website where you can see some of the beautiful things from other members of the Trail.

I actually thought I would have a quiet week catching up with things, but it’s been anything but, and so busy I’ve struggled to find time to even get out for a walk with poor little Higgins…

He’s not impressed!

So in the spirit of a breath of fresh air, here’s yesterday’s walk which took place when the sun came out after a miserable gloomy start, and the wonderful Norfolk November skies came into their own.

You don’t get long after lunch for walk at this time of the year, do you? It does mean being treated to a wonderful view of the sunset as we head back home. Note the mud! Glorious isn’t it?

Ending just after we arrived back in a wonderful rosy glow.

And talking of a ‘Rosy Glow’ I’m going into boastful mother mode again, Last night elder son Thomas won a second award for one of his children’s books, The Pets you Get at the Brilliant Book Awards! Proud? You bet I am!

Adrian Reynolds, the illustrator, you may well have met before with the Harry and the Dinosaurs stories, which have been made into a popular TV series.

Since I often turn up here with a book review I have no compunction at all in recommending ‘The Pets you Get’ as an excellent buy for Christmas!

And now, I have a ‘cunning plan’ for December on the blog so I’m off to see if I can make it work! And it’s December tomorrow so I better get going…

see you then…x

Sunshine and Shadows…

Having lost the label I’ve decided this is my Sunshine and Shadows Plant! I’m sure someone out there will know the proper name but with it’s bright sunshiny petals and gorgeous purpley leaves I think my name really suits it! I do know it likes to be a bit damp, and that’s been real headache this hot and sunny summer. The lawn has pretty well given up.

I don’t water the lawn, do you? It seems to bounce back as soon as the season changes and between Higgins and ‘his’ boys (who are coming for a visit very soon, cue much excitement!) it’s never going to be a bowling green. I’ve just about managed to keep the pots and tubs going, the veg garden and my ‘Sunshine and Shadows’ Plant. I say the veg garden, hmm… this year I’ve managed two bowls of strawberries…

There’s what is shaping up to be an enormous pumpkin…

and so far, two runner beans… What a good thing Tim is away so I don’t have to share!

It’s been quite busy on Planet Penny over the last week or so thanks to the Rainbow Mice appearing in the Australian craft Magazine, Homespun…

It’s amazing to think there are little Rainbow Mice running around all over the globe!

Recently several people have bought more than one pack of the Rainbow collection of yarn with throws and blankets in mind and this has concentrated my mind on something which has rattled around for quite some time. I wrote last week about the problems of being ‘Just the One‘ and never having enough time, or pairs of hands to do all I want to do, and one of those things is to make a big enough crocheted piece to work out what sort of area one pack of yarn would cover, in granny squares or a ripple. And this has held me back on an idea I’ve had for ages, because I kept thinking it would raise the unanswerable question.

But I’ve decided, stop faffing around, Penelope, get on with it and see what happens!

So, and this is where the Sunshine and Shadows theme appears again, I’m readdressing the Planet Penny Colours from either end of the spectrum, and making up packs which would be perfect for making cushions, throws, baby blankets etc with a more defined colour palette.

Put together Aubretia, Delphinium, Cornflower, Eggshell, Aqua, Jade and Apple and we’re in the shady woodland end of the garden…

…and meanwhile Rose Red, Gerbera, Petal, Peach, Marigold, Buttercup and Lime reflect the sunshine and heat on the terrace…

The packs are the same size, but with 2 balls each of the seven colours in the Sunshine or Shadows colours and they are going in the Planet Penny Etsy shop today…

I’d love to know what you think and if anyone has made a throw, cushion or similar with their Planet Penny Cotton I’d love to see it, and to know how big it is! I’m going to be working on a baby blanket because not only have I got my prospective Grannification next year, my niece is expecting this month so baby things must done! My crochet hook will be smoking!

And speaking of baby things, this week I made these…

I’m getting very excited!

This week I’m linking up with Handmade Harbour do call over to find lots of handmade lovelies to admire!

I’ll be back soon, have a lovely week…x