Category Archives: Nature

Merry Christmas to all….

Well here it is…Christmas Eve. I have Nine Lessons and Carols on as I type, ‘Once in Royal David’s City’…

This won’t be a long post. I haven’t time to write it really, and I’m sure you won’t have time to read! I just wanted to share a few photos and thoughts before the big day. The snow has mostly gone now, but it has been beautiful…

Higgins has loved his walks, it might be cold but he’s not wading through mud…

I finished the last bit of pre-Christmas preparation a little while ago and iced the Christmas cake. It was a little problematic as my eggs were bigger than Delia’s and my royal icing was rather sloppy, even after flinging in the last dregs of all the icing sugar in the house. I spent quite a while scooping up what was running down the sides and returning it to the top until it started to set. Not my finest acheivement, visually, but I don’t suppose it will affect the taste!

There something familiar about a small figure dressed in red surrounded by snow don’t you think?

It only remains to say, have a very Merry Christmas all you lovely people out there in Blogland, the ones who have faithfully left the comments which mean so much and to the other readers I haven’t met yet, maybe next year? It’s been such fun to meet you on line, and also in real life, lots of love from Higgins and me xxx

P.S. I have some photos borrowed from my sister which made me laugh so much I can’t resist passing them on to all for a Christmas giggle…

…and finally…

(no Higgins…I tried, he ate the hat!)

Splash of Colour – November

Better late than never, they say, but I can’t believe it’s Friday and I haven’t managed to post all week. Higgins and I have just got back from our walk, and the rain has started so I can sit down without guilt while he sleeps off the exercise (and the obligatory bath, well he is very low slung!)Emma over at Silver Pebble feels just like me about winter, but has come up with a ‘cunning plan’ to keep the Winter Blues away. She has invited fellow bloggers to post a blast of colour at the beginning of each month between now and Spring to keep our spirits up which is right up my street (although anyone who has been visiting Planet Penny for a while now will know I don’t really need an excuse to get colourful !)

I need a bit of cheering up now though. We’ve had a tiring, noisy but ultimately great weekend with family and now they’ve all gone home. The little boys, one four, one nearly five and one six year old very nearly ran Higgins’ legs off and he had so much fun. Although he was puzzled, very puzzled about the blue stripy human puppy which every one wanted to cuddle. It made exciting squeaky noises and was, allegedly, very nearly as cute as Higgins but wasn’t allowed to play.

Tim has gone back to work for two weeks and it’s just me, Higgins and Henry. There’s been a lot of sleeping but lately he’s been looking at me saying, “I’m BORED!”

So, November colour…Well, there’s been a lot of orange about…

There’s been sunshine too…and pink… I found a strangely speckled dahlia…

What do you think? I like my flowers to be a true clear colour on the whole, but I don’t want to sneer at it’s brave attempt to carry on flowering.

But orange? I am generally heard to say,’I don’t like orange, but…’

I’d run a mile from any clothing in orange, it would make me extremely miserable. But a blue bowl full of clementines, now that would make me happy. Nasturtiums? I love them. Pot Marigolds. Pumpkins. Autumn leaves. Terracotta tiles. I’m sure you can add to the list. And the book that is making me happy at the moment, and adding an extra splash of colour is Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts en Provence. It’s full of orange, and I love it!

One day, I will make one!

So every time the mud outside gets too much I shall escape to the sun and Provence and dream…

Back in the studio, someone else is getting a colour fix, but he’d better not eat those cushions!

I'm not chewing...I'm not!

I shall be back next week with my latest colourful cushion, another fair isle which has been progressing rather slowly. Have a lovely weekend, I hope the sun shines where ever you are and if you are celebrating Guy Fawkes Night, enjoy the fireworks!

Drippy, soggy weather…

…hasn’t helped the general mood. Is it the same where you are? I have been cheered however by setting the laptop wallpaper to show a slide show of my blog photos. I didn’t really think when I started blogging what a bonus to general life it would be. I record so much more than I would have done without it, and my photography has improved enormously. Watching the changing display on the screen brings back lots of little moments I would otherwise have forgotten about. I know I really ought to get to grips with Flickr, but after a little tussle over passwords and things this morning I’m afraid I decided to do something more rewarding…Ironing, anyone? Mmmm, perhaps not!

Also, having a blog focuses the mind on getting on with things, and I have been beavering away at a tutorial today, for the white cotton Christmas Bunting which I hope to publish very soon.

Higgins doesn’t like this weather AT ALL and even though we’ve got the fleecy jacket out again, he just feels silly.

It actually makes a huge difference being able to wash the jacket rather than bath Higgins after every walk, but I haven’t convinced him yet!

Oh, and I’d like to share this with you. I’ve noticed on other blogs other pampered pets have gorgeous little knitted, crochet or even patchwork blankets. And you’ve probably noticed that my own pampered pooch doesn’t. This is why…

This was once a cushion cover…

I’m going to end with a couple of cheery pictures, little unexpected bits of flowery happiness, just the thing for a dark, wet and windy evening.

Who would expect to find something as beautiful as this in a Little Chef car park?

And this jolly pansy graced a table in the couryard of a St Leonards coffee shop…

Hmmm…I think I need to change my coffee brand…

Taking a Break…

…and taking advantage of a lovely day Higgins and I went for a little hike. I also wanted to test out my new fingerless mitts. The first pair I made were the largest size and are just a tad loose, my hands are long rather than wide. I used the pinky colourway of the wool I bought last week, it’s really pretty.

A much better fit, the middle size on the pattern which you can find on Ravelry, and of course, even quicker to knit.

It’s quite hard to find quiet places to walk amongst all the arable land in our bit of Norfolk but a lot of the fields have unploughed verges…

… and in places there are maps of the permitted footpaths.

Eventually we came to the lane leading to our local broad. Did you know I live on the Norfolk Broads? It’s a area of waterways linking large shallow expanses of water which are thought to be ancient flooded peat diggings. The only way to see them really is by boat, the road network scarely links up with it at all, but we have a small broad in the area which is isolated from the river system and is protected for the wildlife.

I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been there for years, you know how it is when you live near something. However, our little womble took us to the end of the lane and it looked very inviting…

…at the end of the lane we found this…

At the end of a small boardwalk is a reed fence panel overlooking the broad which acts as a hide for bird watching…

There’s a footpath running round part of the broad which we will explore another time, but time was getting on and it was time for Higgins supper…

This morning I had a lovely surprise. Isn’t it exciting to have a present when it’s not Christmas, when it isn’t your birthday, and you really aren’t expecting anything. Lovely Sarah, who won the pom poms sent it as a thank you. It was beautifully wrapped in a recipe with a letter on flowery paper, and a sweet crochet flower to finish it off…

… and inside…

…a notebook and pen, bluebell smellies for the bath, and a dear little fairy cake brooch which went straight on, it exactly matched what I’m wearing today!

We’ll be taking another break soon. Higgins and I are going to the seaside. I’m not sure whether I will be able to post much over the next week or so, but there’ll be plenty to see when we get home again. I’ve had lots of lovely comments and also questions about some of the things I’ve been doing so I will be doing my best to answer questions, and also to get to grips with some tutorials, zigzag crochet and the white crunchy bunting to name but two…

Look out for a postcard from the sunny (I hope) south coast of England!

See you soon…

Town and County

I’d already been thinking about Town and Country life when the latest Selvedge Magazine landed on the door mat this morning. Isn’t it strange when that happens?

Last week we stayed in North Somerset for a couple of days visiting family and even though I left there when I was a child I still feel I’m going ‘home’. I love the hills, and the meadows. It seems so green after living in arable Norfolk where the fields are so often ploughed and brown. But I’m also very fond of Bristol as a city and we were lucky to have a beautiful day for a quick visit, and a trip across the river on the ferry to walk around the new development of what used to be the docks.

I love that row of icecream coloured houses perched precariously along the edge, don’t you? I do have an ‘If I win the lottery fantasy’ about buying an apartment just here, very streamlined and minimalist, and trotting off in the evening to a sophisticated little bar before moving on to the theatre. Spending sunday mornings on one of the boats that have been converted into a restaurant reading the papers over a leisurely breakfast and popping off to Bath in the afternoon for a cream tea.

It’s very modern…

This is the Planatarium. Could it be a planet for Penny?

The pigeons always make themselves at home…

The facilities don’t seem to be so good for dogs. Don’r show Higgins…

We also visited Bath, not for a cream tea, but lunch.

I love the warm golden look of Bath…

One day we’ll get there with more time to explore. I rather wanted to go lion hunting. There were apparently 100 lions all over the city to discover, decorated by various artists and groups. These were rather elegant…

But my heart was won by this one…

Isn’t he just fabulous?

Love the curled lip, all that’s missing are the blue suede shoes!

Back home, the lovely weather is over and we’re back to dog walking in the mud.

But there’s lots to see here too. Free food…

Beautiful colours…

A very brave poppy!

And these delicate, amazing toadstools…

So where would you rather be? With what you know about me now can you see me in a minimalist apartment without my mountain of yarn, and textiles and books and stuff? Nope, me neither!

P.S. Tomorrow is the day of the Pompom Bunting Draw from this post. If you are quick there is still just time to leave a comment and enter!

Something for the Nature Table

Did you have a nature table at Primary school? If I am ever transported that far back in my mind, it’s usually something to do with Autumn that does it. Golden leaves, acorns and nuts, strange fungi (usually popped into a jam jar for safe keeping) an old discarded birds nest… Well, I know we are not there yet. Heavens, it is still August, just. However the weather doesn’t seem to think so and when Higgins and I went for that walk the other wild and windy afternoon my nature table contribution slapped me round the head! I think I was lucky that it wasn’t the whole branch!

I’m really, really not ready for Autumn shades yet, are you? I’ve been popping in and out of other blogs I’ve just discovered and there’s a lot of crochet going on in gorgeous colours which is cheering me up no end.( Have a look here and here to see what I mean) I’m SO close to finishing my blanket now, just one last square to go. I’ve got a bit of a handicap tho’…

…Henry thinks it’s ready to use NOW!

So I’m going to pop off now and get that last square finished before I try wriggling the rest of it out from under Henry to finish sewing up…

Now where did Tim put the leather gauntlets?…