Category Archives: Nature

Reasons to be Cheerful

I can’t believe it’s that time again, time flies by so quickly! I’ve just looked up when, officially, Spring starts in the UK. Not that I’ve found the definitive answer, the Met Office say it’s the 1st of March but historically it’s the time of the vernal equinox, 20/21st March. I think it’s best to let nature decide, and we’ll just watch!

But it’s not far away, and so I’ve decided that next week will be the last Reasons to be Cheerful Linky for a while, as I started it to get us through the winter gloom. Not that I shall stop looking on the bright side wherever possible, Planet Penny is supposed to be jolly place to visit!

So I’m going to share my own Reasons to be Cheerful this week, and hope that as many of you as possible will join in for this week and the next and we can finish on a high.

Firstly, there were flowers, Valentine’s Day flowers, flame coloured tulips, frilly orange roses and lilies, such a lovely surprise…

Despite the cold the seeds I’ve sown in their mini propagators are beginning to germinate, always a moment of magic. If you are interested in my garden project for this year I’m keeping a note in The Garden Dairies, with weekly updates on the drop down menu at the top of the blog. Nothing much is happening just yet, mind you, but it won’t be long!

And yesterday I had a small parcel, which made me very cheerful…

Sometimes you see things you just can’t resist, and this was one of them. Over on Fan my Flame, Gina is on a mission to raise funds for an exhibition and has started a project, putting little books in altered match boxes. You can read all about it here.

Anyway, one of the had my name on it! And this is it…

Alice in Wonderland, a teeny tiny Alice in Wonderland, in a matchbox…

She is just exquisite, so tiny… Don’t forget, a matchbox is only 2″x1.5″ or 5cm x3.5cm, and even enlarged here, the details are perfect.

Gina is making 50 little books in altered matchboxes, for the incredible price of £10 each, no matter how intricate they are. If you visit Gina’s blog you can follow the project, and see whether you fall in love with a matchbox book like me!

I hope you’ve liked my little dose of cheerfulness this week and I do hope you join in by adding a link to your blog on the Linky below, or in the comments. It’s always lovely to hear from you…

See you soon…! x

Silent Sunday

Reasons to be Cheerful – Hearts and Flowers Bunting

I really should have written this yesterday, a glorious day when the sun shone and I was feeling bright and positive, very ‘hearts and flowers! Today has been a ‘tupperware box‘ day, and I’ve been as grumpy and growly as Higgins with a new bone.

I will get out yesterdays photos and try to talk myself out of the glooms…

The day started beautifully, and despite the low temperatures managed a slow thaw during the day. I spread bird seed under the cherry trees and had a lot of visitors, chaffinches, sparrows, tits and a robin, three blackbirds and to my delight, a song thrush.

Also a mystery guest, slightly bigger than the thrush and blackbirds, and rounder with feathers in shades of grey. It didn’t get close enough to see properly, and I only managed these slightly grainy shots with the zoom…

Anyone got any clues? (Edited to add: Celia, of Purple Podded Peas, has enlighted me…A Fieldfare, thanks Celia!)

We went for chilly walk…after a disagreement about wrapping up warm to go out…

and despite the fact that by 4 o’clock it was freezing fast…

It was still very enjoyable…

and in the evening I made lots of little crochet flowers and leaves then sewed them together with the hearts from this pattern to make a Valentine’s Day garland. What do you think?

So I hope you’ll join in with some reasons to be cheerful to dispel any negative thoughts floating around. I must finish to get ready for this month’s Knit and Stitch meeting, that should cheer me up!

So do join in via the Linky below where you can leave a link to your blog, or by using the comments list. It’s always lovely to hear from you.

See you soon x

A Snowy Handmade Monday

If my Silent Sunday photo was the day before, this was what those clouds were heralding…

(and if you look closely you can see someone has made a little bow wave!)

Funnily enough, after the early morning excitement, Higgins was NOT very enthusiastic about a walk later on in the day…

But he soon got into the swing of things…

…and definitely appreciated the coat in the end!

So there’s been a good excuse to linger indoors and do a bit more crochet. I had a lovely book for Christmas which is full of inspiring things to make…

…and had some fun with these…

and in the spirit of re-using containers, and as excuse to use this fab ribbon…

I gave a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup a whole new lease of life!

I started on a little something for Valentines Day…

…and if you’d like a pattern I’ll be putting one on soon.

I’d also like to share some other little handmade lovelies which although are designed for Easter, are much to pretty to hide away. One of the wonderful things about the blogging/making world is the new friends you make. People you would never otherwise have met. I had lunch with one of these friends last week, a couple of hours of frantic chatter, comparing notes and trying to fit everything in! Gabriella and I both had stalls at the Pick’n’Mix Market last year, run by another blogging/maker friend Lisa of Bobobun, you might remember this photo of the Moobaacluck Stall. So I was so thrilled by this present from Gabs…

I don’t think I have enough handles in the house!

So now it’s time to join in with Wendy’s Handmade Monday over on 1st Unique gifts, where you’ll find all sorts of yummy things going on! It’s well worth a visit!

See you soon xx

A Reason to be Cheerful? It’s February!

I don’t want to wish the year away, but I’m never sorry to wave goodbye to January. There’s an optimistic feeling to February, an anticipation of Spring, even when it bitterly cold and wintery.

I have to work a little harder at being cheerful this week because Tim went back to work yesterday, so Higgins, Henry and I are keeping the home fires burning while he’s away. It’s good for me that, in Tim’s absence, I have to do more Higgins walking, even when the weather isn’t very nice, like yesterday…

Back at home, exciting things were happening in the garden. My gardening gurus were giving the whole thing a once over, clearing out ‘ground cover’ plants which have been threatening to smother us in our beds (and have certainly smothered quite a lot of pretty plants in theirs…) creating fixings for over enthusiastic climbers and generally getting things into shape for Spring. They also mostly finished off what I had started in the veg patch, which has always been my responsibility, so I’m still on target there for when the weather starts to warm up.

The excitement for Higgins was the appearance of long lost toys which have lurked in the undergrowth for months. He didn’t know where to turn!

Another cheerful thing has been the arrival of a wonderful piece of equipment. I’ve been wanting for ages to dye some more yarn, (you’ll remember the adventures I have with dyeing here and here) but I’ve struggled to prepare the undyed yarn. The yarn arrives in 100gm hanks and I dye it in 25gm mini hanks, in the microwave. A while ago I bought a winder, not the beautiful antique one I would have preferred at a vast sum, but a cheap and ~~cheerful~~ annoying one, which has never, ever worked properly. There was no where I could easily attach it, every time the yarn got tangled it fell off etc. etc… And the whole winding thing just became such a time consuming back breaking faff I just haven’t bothered.

Until it was mentioned to my friend Bill. Kit (my buddy and partner in craft) is married to Bill, and Bill, apart from being an amazing artist, a builder of cars, and all round good egg, does like a challenge, even a little one like making a wool winder.

So I now have a be-yoo-tilful wool winder or ‘Swift’, made of mahogany, which will sit on the table and twirl merrily as I get the wool ready for the dye…

And today, as you can see from the photos of Higgins above, has been glorious…

if very cold.

I had hoped to have finished a new project to show you, but I may have to squeeze in another post instead! Instead I shall add the Linky on the end, and hope that you have some Reasons to be Cheerful to share. And if you haven’t got a blog, you can still join in via the comments.

Looking forward to hearing from you…

see you soon ! x

Reasons to be Cheerful 11

Hello! It’s very cheerful here on Planet Penny…a blue, blue sky and bright sunshine – a perfect winters day. And when Higgins and I went round the garden this morning we found these little lovelies optimistically anticipating Spring…

They are probably being a little too optimistic seeing as we’re not even in the middle of January yet, but I shall enjoy them while I can!

And I have my usual post Christmas bunch of daffodils which I have to welcome the New Year. There’s something so fresh and hopeful about the delicate lemon/yellow and green after the bright colours and rich decorations of Christmas. They’re not quite open yet…

…so I’ve got it all to look forward to!

Can you see those spools on the the top of the dresser? I bought them at the Knitting and Stitching show last year and forgot to show them to you. They were empty when I bought them, but it was an ideal way of showing of some ribbons, tapes and bindings I’ve had in my stash waiting for the right moment to star…

The top two and the far right one are some I found in France and wrote about in this post, the blue and white stripe bias binding is made from a favourite shirt of Tim’s and the seashell ribbon was tied round a birthday present. This way I can enjoy them even though I haven’t actually made anything with them yet! (I can’t remember the name of the company I bought them from at the Show, but I’ve found them for sale via Not on the High Street from Jane Means)

And the other thing which has made me happy is a little rabbit. I don’t really knit animals much as I love to needlefelt them, but yesterday I discovered a bag of sample wool…

and this Debbie Bliss book which I’ve had for years…

click image for info

As I discovered it while I was looking for my mislaid sock pattern (which I needed as I’d got to the point of turning the heel) I abandoned the search, grabbed the most bunny coloured wool and some needles and created my own version of a Debbie Bliss rabbit. (I know, what a butterfly brain!)

I’ve used vintage mother-of pearl buttons to attach the limbs and shirt buttons for the eyes so he wouldn’t be suitable for a little one, but I think he’ll be staying with me for the moment!

So that’s what making me cheerful this week, how about you? Do share your thoughts by adding your blog to the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, leaving a comment. I really appreciate all your comments on every post and always read them. If you are linking your blog, don’t forget to link back to Planet Penny so we can really spread a little cheerfulness!

And now I’d better get back to looking for that sock pattern….

See you soon! x