Tag Archives: dachshund

Autumn Planning – looking ahead

Hello…and Happy Sunday!  I hope the weather is being kind wherever you are.  Here in Norfolk we are presently bathed in beautiful Autumn sunshine, which is trying very hard to dry up the huge downpour an hour ago.  But it’s warm, the doors are open, Higgins is sunning himself and all’s right with the world…well on Planet Penny anyway.

Looking back over the blog I find I’m usually a bit moany around this time of year and I realise it’s not the autumn I don’t like because it can be beautiful.  The colours and the angle of the light.  The misty mornings and sparkling dew on the leaves.  It’s looking ahead to the lack of light that lowers my mood.  I find it really hard when the sun sets ever earlier rises later and later, and the clouds don’t lift all day.

So I’m autumn planning,  determined to find lots to do, and lots to share and to try to keep motivated this time round.  I hope you’ll join me!

So here’s a little glimpse of what Higgins and I have been enjoying on our dog walks this week…Mini dachshund in autumn planningAs you can see…he’s just a blur!

So many gorgeous colours and textures…Autumn Colours - autumn planningWe’re going to keep enjoying it for as long as we can! Autumn sunsetSo, coming up, I’m going to show you some cosy knitting in a fabulous autumn colour…autumn planning - knittingand an irresistible fabric purchase from my favourite shop, Arts Desire.

And on Friday I shall be taking part in a Blog Hop with Sew and So …here’s a little clue!Autumn planning blog hopI’ll leave you with some winners.  The TWO lucky winners of the fabulous crochet book from this post are Susan and Julie.  I wish I could send everyone a copy though, thank you all so much for entering the competition.

And if you didn’t win the book, there is still a chance to win the lovely Happy Crocheting bag on the newsletter.  Just subscribe via the yellow button below to take part.

See you soon…x

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Guest Post: Higgins and the Pawsome Box

Higgins miniature dachshund reviews his Pawsome BoxHello!  Higgins here.  It’s been sooo long since mum let me loose on the keyboard but I really wanted to tell you about my Pawsome Box, cos I love it when I get my very own post.

(Mum gets soo grumpy when I open hers.)

Pawsome BoxI had to give it a bit of a chew and a thump about to get in, but when I did it was PAWSOME! Pawsome box contentsThere were TREATS!  treats for Higgins the miniature dachshund from the Pawsome BoxThere were TWO bones! And some more treats, a lead, and some wiping things to make me smell cleaner (Hmmph!  I smell lovely already!)Higgins and Pawsome BoxI LOVE the stripy bone…it squeaks!Stripy bone(Well it did, until I had a little accident) but I STILL love it…Toy from the Pawsome boxAnd the other bone I can just chew…and chew… and chew…Higgins jumpingI thought this was just for me because I’m special, but mum says ALL the dogs in the WORLD can have this treat too because there is a special code from the lovely Pawsome people to get a discount.  So I thought I’d better tell you all so that my doggy chums can have some post too.

You just have click here to find out all about the Pawsome Box and use this discount code ukbtswem when you buy.  

It’s my birthday next month… I’m not hinting or anything, mum…..MUM?

Midsummer! and a Festival…

It’s hard to believe we’re now halfway through the year and in this little patch of Norfolk we were blessed with a warm sunny weekend in which to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

We are just back from a Midsummer Festival which took place just down the road from us at How Hill, a beautiful spot on the Norfolk Broads.  You might just remember me taking part in a craft fair there a couple of years ago.

How HillThe aim of the Festival was to celebrate the success of the Truly Local shop in the small town nearby, so of course all the stalls, producers and businesses were truly local too.

Truly Local Midsummer FestivalThere was such a lovely atmosphere, we bumped into family and friends, and a great time was had by all, including Higgins!

He was particularly helpful when it came to testing the deliciousness of the beefburgers…

mini dachshund2014-06-21 19.54.542014-06-21 19.55.24What a look of sheer bliss…

Then of course he had to sort out the washing up after icecream…

Vanilla…

2014-06-21 20.05.59Mint Choc Chip…

2014-06-21 20.06.01…and that icecream cornet, surely the pointy bit would go to waste otherwise…?

2014-06-21 20.16.42There were more stalls than I can mention individually, but these are the ones I know you would like to hear about…

It was great to meet Rachael of Foxglove and Gingersnap with her snazzy stitching.  I only knew her through Facebook, I love meeting up with my cyber friends in reality!

Foxglove and Gingersnap

… and Sue Maton of The Mercerie We only ever meet when we haven’t got time to talk properly! She has so many gorgeous things to tempt knitters and crocheters alike…

The Mercerie

The Mercerie Crochet BlanketPaul Williams, one of our Two Rivers Trail-ers was there with his wonderful wooden creations…

Woods World Wide(I now have a dinky little board made from a local fallen tree, exclusively for me to slice lemons on! G & T, anyone?)

And a  brilliant, serendipitous find, Ros Arrowsmith who makes beautiful ceramics with which I have completely fallen in love…

Ros Arrowsmith Ceramics

Ceramics by Ros Arrowsmith

Ceramics by Ros ArrowsmithI particularly love her quirky lettering style and giant handles.  It’s good to find something so fresh and different.

We finished with a walk round the Secret Garden, where my camera started complaining about it’s dying battery.  You can get a little flavour of it here… so peaceful and calm.Secret Garden How Hill, Norfolk

The visit concluded with tea and cake, what could be better?

Back home I’ve a new project on the go, a spin off from last week’s Needlefelt Workshop, and a commission to complete, so I’ll be back soon with photos.

I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend too, see you soon…x

(now where’s that gin and tonic…?)

It’s Raining…It’s Pouring!

After a mostly bright and sunny three days for the first weekend of Open Studios, today we have a deluge!  The water butts are overflowing…

Raining

… the back yard is flooded…

flooded yard

…and the few steps from the back door to the studio are enough to get soaked through.

srudio

I tried to work out there but the rain on the roof is deafening so I’ve decamped to the dining table with the laptop where I am typing with one hand because I have a very worried little dog trembling in my other arm. Higgins hates the rain, hates the wet, the noise and the possibility of thunder too, one supposes.  Anyway he’s stuck to me like a limpet all morning and just wants to sit on my lap ’till it’s all over.mini dachshundAs you can imagine, the last week or so has been really busy, first getting prepared for Open Studios, and then opening the doors and welcoming people in.  So I haven’t managed to personally thank everyone who left such lovely comments on my last post, but I do thank everyone for such supportive messages.

The studio is now a display area and you can imagine just how much stuff I’ve got squirrelled away all over the house to make enough space!  As usual Kit is sharing the space with her beautiful prints…

Kit Calladine Prints…and we have lots of other things to look at and hopefully to inspire people…

Planet Penny Studio

…with of course our little Meeter and Greeter at the ready!

Planet Penny StudioHiggins is quite convinced that Open Studios is actually the annual convening of the Higgins the Miniature Dachshund Appreciation Society.  He greets every visitor with complete rapture, and by the end of the first day was utterly exhausted…

Miniature Dachshund asleepWe now have a few days to catch up before it all happens again next weekend.  If you are local, it would be lovely to see you. There’s a lot else to see on the Two Rivers Trail, (you can find out more on the website) Printmaking, textiles, painting, woodcarving, feltmaking, spinning, beautiful alpacas…

Alpaca in his wedding hat - Burnt Fen Alpacas…and of course, Higgins…

miniature dachshundSee you soon…!

 

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.

mini dachshund

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.

mini jumper Christmas Countdown Day 14

Bugknits

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

Christmas Countdown

Pinterest

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

beadedmittenornament2

Mrs Micawber

or some cute little socks from Little Cotton Rabbits…

socks

Little Cotton Rabbits

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

Thank you…

I’ve got to start this with a great BIG THANK YOU!  I’ve been overwhelmed by the the lovely messages, kind thoughts and helpful suggestions after my last post.  I’m working my way through a list of things to investigate!  I’m feeling much better now I’ve come to the end of the course of antibiotics.  I struggle to keep my brain functioning rationally at the best of times, and adding fogginess and gloomy spirits to the mix was not not helpful.  However, I’m much brighter now, I’ve just got to keep a tight rein of myself and not go galloping off after the next exciting thing, wear myself out and go SPLAT again.

It’s heart warming to know there is a big supportive network of kind people who really want to help one another, even though we are very often half a world apart.  There are plenty of negative things to say about the internet but this can only be a big plus.

We’ve been really lucky here in Norfolk to have had some beautiful weather over the past week or so.  It’s very uplifting for the spirits and I’ve tried as much as possible to get outside.  Higgins has helped of course although he gets a bit impatient with the pace, and my inclination to stop with the camera or pick blackberries.

higgins on the footpth

walking Higgins

acrossfield

Autumn is a lovely time of year, but it’s overlaid with sadness that everything is coming to an end, which is why I prefer the optimism of Spring.  But the autumn light is fantastic, misty in the mornings but golden later in the day and the night sky is spectacular.  And I never tire of photographing the richness of the hedgerows, and the warm glowing colours of the berries…

hedgerow berries

yellowflowers

red berries

blackberries

seedheadsIt’s been pretty noisy in the early mornings here.  Not traffic, although there’s been quite a bit of farm machinery on the move, but Greylag  Geese.  It’s lovely to see (and hear) them fly overhead, but I’ve never managed to get a reasonable photo with my little camera. The past few days however, they’ve been congregating in the neighbouring field…

morning fieldAnd despite the limitations of a compact camera the zoom didn’t let me down…

IMG_2128

greylag geese grazing

Worth hanging out of the bedroom window for!

Planet Penny hasn’t been completely neglected through all this though, I’ve had the crochet hook on the go on and off, and a two very large boxes arrived the other day full of yarn so I’m very well stocked.  It’s just as well the nice young man with a van is happy to carry them into the studio because I would never lift them myself.  They will sit there now until I’ve found places to stow all the yarn packs and I will treat them like a roundabout!

Planet PEnny Yarn

I’ve added half size packs to the Planet Penny shop, seven balls of either the Sunshine or Shadows shades suitable for smaller projects…

Planet PEnny Sunshine and Shadows yarn

And, and I have a question to ask…Would you like White?   Last year I tried a small quantity of white yarn, Snowdrop, which I sold as a Christmas pack with patterns, do you remember?

Christmas CrochetI tried to buy more because white is such a good background for the rainbow colours…

crochet circles crochet balls…but the dye batch was wrong and I wasn’t happy with it.

Now a new batch is available but if it’s the right bright white I will have to buy a whole case of it.  Before I completely fill my little cottage with yarn and move into the garden shed I thought I’d better see whether there’s a potential market for it!  So do let me know so I can do some forward planning.

And that, for  now, is it.  I’m off to put my feet up and peruse the weekend papers with a cup of tea, while Higgins and Henry fight over my lap (Henry always wins too, poor Higgins!)

I’m linking up this week with Handmade Harbour for Handmade Monday, do call over to see all the crafty makes there and I’ll be back soon I’ll be back soon…x

 

 

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