Little Dreams

Sorry I seem to be so behind in the blogging world these days and I've missed all your blogs so much.  To be honest apart from being very busy, I'm lucky if I get anywhere near my laptop as the kids have discovered a maths game site and of course the Moshi Monster craze has taken over here too.
I would love to promise that I'll be popping over to you all in the next few weeks but I know that I'm going to be so hectic that there is no chance that it will happen!!  Work is finally progressing at quite a fast pace with the new floor down, the electrics sorted and a new ceiling going up at the start of next week.  Then the real fun will start........the decorating!  Oh I so can't wait.  I have all the paint colours picked and wallpapers chosen to spruce up some of the furniture.  And I've got some little things like cushion covers made for the chairs and sofa but no curtains yet.  I'm still unsure about what curtains to make as all the windows are a very strange size so I've decided to wait and see what it the whole studio looks like when it's all decorated.

As you can see, I've been doing a little bit of stitching again.  I decided that I needed a bag to carry around my knitting in.  Like I really don't already have enough of those!!  But this is a very lovely kntting project in gorgeous squishy Debbie Bliss yarn that I am absolutely loving at the moment.  I so needed to take a break from all the crochet for a while because it was causing tremendous pain in my hand and arm.  The weight and size of my Granny stripe blanket not helping matters at all. Anyhow I'm babbling now so back to my bag.

 The second that I saw this thick cotton fabric in newspaper print, I knew just what I wanted it to be.  It was a delight to work with and it's so strong it's just perfect for bag making.  I wanted a real wow contrast for the lining and I had some of this black floral material left over from a skirt that I started (and yet to finish) during the summer.  Maybe it's just my taste but I think that it works well.  When I started I hadn't intended to mix the fabrics for the pockets, it just seemed to develop that way.  When it was all finished, I realised that the bag is just as good turned inside out.  So now I have two looks in just one bag.  Yippee.

This is the reason for all my excitement about my sewing of late.  Meet Cissy, my new sewing machine.  My gorgeous hubby decided that he would buy me an early Christmas present.  As I was in dire need of a sewing machine, it was ordered online and it was delivered just two days later.  I love her enormously.  I have always wanted one of these machines after trying out some others belonging to friends.  They are so user friendly even for a sewing twit like me.

I was like a child opening up the parcel and the first thing that I did when I got her out of the box was to give her a great big hug.   I called her Cissy as this was my Mum's nickname as a child.  It's something that I've always dreamt of owning but because of the cost never thought that I would. My Hubby said to me, "you see it's the little dreams that matter because they can sometimes come true!"

And you know what for once he's right!!  The sewing machine and the progress on my studio be simple little things to other people but all these things matter a whole lot to me.  To see an end in sight with Studio Benny has me bubbling up inside with excitement.  I can just see myself sitting at my workbench with Cissy stitching happily away while the dog sleeps in her bed next to a small fire in the stove and the kids playing with their toys at the other end.

What are you dreaming of right now??
Rosie

AWOL

I went AWOL lately from blogland due to an ickey uckey virus that absolutely knocked the wind out of me. All that I seemed to be able to do was sleep.  I felt like I should have gotten down on all fours, drawn whiskers on my face and pinned a tail to my bum because I was living just like the cats in our house.  On my better days I managed to get a bit of stitching and sewing done.  I was feeling very low through all of this time because it was taking so long to pass but now in a strange kind of way I've realised that it has helped me a great deal.  I've been having a bad pain flare up since May due to my severe insomnia but all the sleep that I've been getting lately has broken that fatigue-pain cycle for me.  Slowly I feel like I'm getting a little more energy every day and my pain levels are beginning to drop at last.  Granted I am now writing this post at 2 am in the morning but I'm just a little giddy over something exciting that's happening tomorrow.  Well it is for me anyway!!

Yippeeee  I just can't wait!!

I've got a few crafty pieces finished in the last while but i never got around to showing them to you, so here goes.

After working for so long on the granny stripe blanket, I needed a break to something different.  I wanted a quick project so that I could at last see something done and totally complete.  The blanket at the mo feels like its taking forever to finish.  I found this little beauty of a pattern in Inside Crochet and it just hit the spot.  I just don't know what it is about me and doilies right now but I want to make lots of them and in lovely bright colours too.  Maybe it's because I'm just not quite ready for the winter that's knocking on the door!!

Sorry for the poor photo here but the light was not too good the afternoon that I took this picture....I know, I know that doesn't excuse the creases in my cloth, what can I say only sorry again.  I've been wanting to try making notebook covers for a while now and this was my first attempt.  I must say that I really enjoyed it and I learned a hell of a lot in the process.  I know that I'm certainly going to be making more of them.  Look out in your Christmas stockings everyone!!

I went to a patch work class the other day and one of the first projects was a rag cushion.  I'm so loving how it turned out.  It's a simple but very effective design and such a great starting point for a learner like me.  My biggest fault is that I'm not very good at cutting things precisely the right size and this class is perfect for me to learn this.  I'm really looking forward to the rest of the classes to see what will be coming next!

This little baby I made quite a while ago but forgot to show it to you.  It's one of my favourite things that I've ever made.  I love how it's not in any way perfect, nor did I worry if it wasn't.  I love the mix of colours.

I love that I finally managed to do buttonholes on a sewing machine.  I love the unexpected bright colours of the back.  And I love that it's the first cushion that everyone goes for when they sit on the couch....even the dog!!

So that's all from me now.  I hope to catch up on some blogs in the next few days.

Rosie xx

PS  Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post called Like Minded People.  They were so lovely to read.  Sadly though I had to delete the post due to spam that kept popping up in the comment box.  But thanks again, I so enjoy reading all your lovely thoughts and comments.  They really help me to get to know you better.

I Love.........

I Love the sight of my Avoca blankets stacked on the table, after being taken out for airing, ready for the winter.  The colours vibrant and cheerful to brighten the darker months ahead.  We bought the blankets when on a family holiday and the kids picked out the colours that they loved the most, Lucy the yellow and green chevron and Patrick the blue and white.  They remind me of one of the best family holidays that we have had and so I treasure them all the more for that.

I Love the label on these blankets and that it says "Weaving a Hug".  These were handwoven in Avoca in County Wicklow and even though they are pure wool, they are still so soft and are perfect for the sensitive skin of the smaller people in the family.

I Love to watch the stars at night, lying in the grass with my kids at my sides wearing only our pyjamas and fluffy slippers.  We may shiver or end up with soggy bottoms but it is worth it for the fun and laughs that form everlasting memories.

I Love to laugh and laugh heartily.  The type of laugh that shakes you to your very core.  I'm not ashamed to laugh while sitting alone on a train and reading a funny book.  Or to laugh along with the kids while we walk along the street singing silly songs or making up daft stories.  I love to laugh until my eyes water and my face hurts and I have to hold my stomach muscles together.  Laughter is truly the best medicine.  Worries ease.  My pain seams a little bit more manageable and all with a little giggle whenever my funny bone is tickled.  People are too reserved to let themselves go like this and they really don't know what they are missing in life.

I Love that my children tell my mother that I am a big kid just like them and that they prefer me that way because it makes me so much more fun!! 

I Love jazz music with a passion.  This is Dinah Washington and I first discovered her at the age of 14 and I've never looked back since.  I remember buying a collection of her songs on an old second hand cassette and listening to it on a battered old walkman.  Remember them??  So while my classmates were listening to Blur and Oasis, I was listening to the jazz greats  like Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Nina Simone.

I also love opera and classic music to calm or inspire me and I listen to it at times like writing this blog or sitting sewing or knitting at quiet moments.  My parents loved classical music and it was always playing in our house.  Actually there was normally different music playing in every room of the house.  I was great introduction to music from an early age.  I will always associate Maria Callas with baking with my mother on rainy Saturday afternoons.  Wonderful memories.

I Love to dance.  I will dance anywhere that I hear music that I like.  I don't care where it is or who is looking, which can embarrass my friends and family at times.  But who doesn't love a great dance?  When my body allows, I will put on some music on in my house and turn it up really loud and totally loose myself in the rhythm and tune.  And it is infectious, you know.  After a few minutes, I will be surrounded by my kids and sometimes their friends too.  It never fails to put me in a good mood!

I Love to read and have done since I was a child.  I loose myself totally in the story and get carried off into different worlds.  Reality eases into the background and becomes irrelevant at that moment.  The words become my reality to the point where I no longer feel like I am reading at all and the words just seam to pass effortlessly into my mind. Whether it is a detective story, a comedy or a biography, it makes no difference to me. I get sucked in every time.  My all time favourite authors would have to be Daphne Du Maurier and Oscar Wilde.

I Love sitting on the couch on a Saturday morning with my kids and watching children's telly.  All three of us, four if you include Molly, in our pjs wrapped up in a big woolly blanket with only three pairs of stocking feet popping out from under it.

I love the dark, intense aroma of my first cup of coffee in the morning.  It is an instant wake up and reminds me that there is a fresh new day ahead of me.

I Love how smells can instantly trigger warm memories.  The smell of a roast chicken brings me right back to my childhood and of Sunday roast dinners.  The smell greeting us at the door as we arrive back from the family walk in the forest.

I Love my little kitchen dresser.  Like the old woman of the roads in the poem, I have always dreamt of owning one with delf speckled white and blue.  I may not have the delf but a few years after moving into this house, we finally bought the dresser and I started about filling it with teapots, cake plates, flour crocks amongst an array of other things.

I Love Germany.  I love the people and the lifestyle that they live. I cherish my winter visits to my brother in Munich.  My brother makes it feel like a home from home for me.  I just wish that I was able to spend more time with him there.

I Love my stack of pretty fabrics that sit in the box in the corner of the kitchen.  I often take them out just to look at them on days that I need cheering up.  Their colour and patterns filling my head with inspiration and fresh ideas for new projects.

I Love to sit on the river bank and watch my husband when he is fly fishing.  The grace of the rod and line sweeping through the air as he casts the fly on the waters surface and whips it off once more.  It is a mesmerising talent to witness.

I Love how my husband supports me in my illness without any whimpering or complaining.  He just gets on with it and makes family life run smoothly.

I Love to see fresh flowers on my kitchen table.  Whether they are from the supermarket or from the garden, it makes no difference to me.  I just want to bring a little of the outside in to our little home.  Brightening and cheering in one simple placement of a vase of a few graceful stems.

I Love the sea.  I love it more than I could ever put into words.

I Love the vibrant ever growing Granny Stripe blanket.  I love feeling the weight of it on my knees as I add row after row of colour, dreaming of how it will look when it will be finished.

I Love that my 9 year old son comes to me when he can't sleep and asks me to lie beside him in the bed and hum to him.  Only one tune will do and that is the one that I've hummed to him since he was a baby cradled in my arms.

I Love Molly the dog and her ever so gentle nature.  I Love how she waits for a space to sit beside me on the couch and as soon as one of the kids make a move, she jumps up like a shot.  She pushes herself up against my legs getting as close as she can and rests her little head on my knees.

Most importantly of all, I Love my little family and all the fun that we have and the memories that we create together.  We laugh, we cry, we may even fight at times but all that matters is that we have each other and that we are happy.

Whenever I am sad or down or feeling upset about my pain, I'm going to look at this list to remind me that I have a lot to be thankful for.  I have a lot of special people in my life that make me very happy.  We have only one life and it is too precious to get caught up in all it's stresses.  It is important to take the time to cherish the ordinary and make it extraordinary. 

Warning! Bogger Alert!!

  This is Studio Benny as her now stands.  Sad and abandoned.

All the internal walls have been removed to make one big open space.

Unfortunately we found some of the dreaded rot in the floor so some timbers will need to be replaced.

And this is the cause of the halt to all work............Turf!!!!  Bloody Turf!!!!!

When I was a kid I used to tease my friends because they had to go to the bog and work on the turf with their sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper and their little bottles of tea.  Now I'm stuck in the middle of the bog and married to a man that's absolutely obsessed with the stuff.

When we were on holidays he missed it so much and talked about it most days, to the point where he was actually getting into a bad mood towards the end of our time away. Needless to say, the bog was the first place that he visited on our return!!

After 12 years with my sod obsessed husband I've gotten to know a little of the process and the passion that is put into this stuff. This year, after many summers begging from my husband, I finally agreed to venture into the bog to help with the work. All in the hope that work resume on Benny quicker, you understand. I'm not turning into a bogger at all. I'm too much of a townie for that!!

There is so much work into getting this turf home for fuel for the winter.  It needs to be cut and let to dry.  The weather is closely watched in case rain washes the sods back into the ground.  Then it needs to be picked off the ground and stacked in order for the wind to be able to dry the turf further.  This is called footing. After a few weeks of drying the sods will shrink and the footings will probably need to be rebuilt.  Another few weeks of good weather and they will be ready to bring home.  This could take up to four evenings.  Finally the turf will then need to be clamped.  This is what you can see in the pictures.  They are stacked in such a way that the rain will run off the sides while still allow the wind to breeze through it.  After all that work it's not surprising that they call this Black Gold around here.

People are very protective of their turf and their right to cut it.  It's a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation.  But the EU have decided that this tradition should be stopped to save the bogs and I can understand that. But when you see the massive machines that the big companies use to strip the bog for commercial fuel or for compost for gardens or to burn to make electricity, then I can also understand the locals fury and refusal to accept to give up their rights.  What is cut by hand for domestic use is only 1% of the damage that is done by the big bog companies but there is no plans to stop this.  Surely a law that is passed should be applicable to all!  Go figure.

Something relaxing after all that.

As I've probably mentioned before, I'm quite often up at dawn to see the sunrise and listen to the dawn chorus.

I was delighted the other day to finally capture a stunning sunrise.  The sky looks as if it was on fire that morning.  It was a glorious start to the day.

Thank you all so much for popping in and reading all my mad ramblings.  I love your comments so much.  They really do make me smile.  And a big welcome to all my new readers too.

Rosie xx

Peace And Tranquility

After a very stressful and difficult week, we decided that since the salmon were running, it was time that a little break from normal life was called for.  So we packed up the camper and headed to Easkey in Co. Sligo, for a final trip away before the kids return to school next week.  I have posted about Easkey before, saying that it was my most favourite place in the world and that is still the case.
When we arrived we parked in our usual place right along the coast next to the rocks.  From here the sea can be deafening at times when the tide comes in and the waves beat against the rugged rocks a mere 7m from the camper.  The picture above is what is visible from the right hand window of the camper. It is the wildness of the sea that makes here the only place where I can find true peace and tranquillity.  I can empty my mind and just let it go with the ebb and flow of the tide.

I love to sit on my favourite rock with a cup of tea in my hand and the dog leaning close against my legs, face into the sea and let be free from any stress.  I close my eyes and let the wind carry me up high into the sky like the gulls where I can soar and glide with them in the powerful Atlantic winds and watch the salmon waiting in the bay for the next high tide so that they can swim up the river and return to their birthplace to spawn.  I can hear the waves beat below me and feel the fresh salty air in my lungs.

People I know have come here with their kids and returned to tell me that it was boring with nothing to do and no proper shops in the tiny little village.  But if they just opened their eyes it is all here for the taking. Nature in it's rawest from.  The ocean on one side, the mountains towering behind, a beautiful river running down the centre and some of the friendliest people I have ever met.

The men in the family head off to the river to chase the elusive salmon and sea trout, hoping that this will be the day that they will catch the big one on the fly.  Myself and Lucy head off down the coast on our bikes with my camera in hand ready to shoot.  We walk the cliffs and rocks and search for fossils, which are in abundance in this area.  We also have started a new collection of sea glass this summer and this is proving to be a lot of fun as it is much harder to find in this around here.  We have all been very competitive to see who could find the most and who had the biggest array of colours.

To say that I find this place magical would be a major understatement.  I love being this close to nature and what I love even more is that my kids adore it too.  As soon as the summer holidays start, they begin to beg to visit here and we do come as often as we can.  Our hearts break for it when the end of the season comes in September knowing that we will not be returning until the following May.
We have been coming here for about ten years now and every time that I visit, I fall in love with it even more. Can you tell??
Rosie xx

PS  The only thing that I would say about sleeping in a camper so close to the sea means that I could literally wee for a national team!!!  The sound of all that water!!

Miss Forget-Me-Not

I wanted to write this post to say thank you to a very special lady, Stephanie of millefeuilles.blogspot.ie.  In June of this Year, I contacted Stephanie and asked her if she would make one of her beautiful hares for my daughters eight birthday.

She asked for me to describe Lucy and all that she liked and disliked so that she could get a picture in her mind of who she was making the present for.

We chatted back and forth over the coming weeks and I felt so naughty keeping a secret from Lucy.  She has a knack of getting people to tell the truth!!

I waited with my nerves on edge for my phone to ping with the first photographs of this little beauty. When it finally arrived I found that Stephanie only sent me a picture of the dress.  I was so impatient with excitement at this stage, I felt like I was fit to burst!   But Stephanie was being a little on the cruel side and made me wait a whole day more and even at that only sent me one picture at a time.  You meanie Stephanie!!

 
With each and every photo I fell in love with this hare more.  I loved all of the little details that made it so very special, the embroidery, the beautiful material for the dress, the little handbag, the lace finished bloomers and of course the sweet little face.
Now all I had to do was wait for it to arrive for Lucy's birthday.

When Lucy opened the package, she screamed with delight. I know my daughter and I know that she really does appreciated anything that's handmade and that she will take great care of it.  She instantly bonded with Miss Forget-Me-Not and I found it very hard to get some pictures of her because every time that I picked her up to take some piccies, Lucy ran over and took her back off me!

My husband sings an old Irish song to Lucy now when he sees her playing with the hare.

The daisies and the roses 

are blooming round the spot

where we parted 

and she whispered

"you'll forget me not".

So thank you very much Stephanie.  It was a real pleasure working with such an incredibly talented lady as you.  You made something that I know my daughter will treasure forever.

Rosie xx

Yummy Crochet!!

Dont you just want to dive into this!
This big basket of yarn has brought me a lot of pleasure of the last few weeks.  The bright colours have cheered me in the most stressful of times and just the thought of sitting down to crochet with it was like an instant sedative.
A couple of months ago I decided to buy an Attic 24 pack of mixed Stylecraft yarn for a blanket for Benny the studio. (Work on Benny has been severely held up due to turf!!! Very frustrating indeed).  I don't normally ike using acrylics but I wanted something that would be tough and durable and easy to wash as it was going to be used as a throw for the kids couch in my studio.  I must say this has totally won me over.  it is so easy to work with and soft to the touch.

I have not altogether stuck to Lucy's pattern and changed some of the colours and removed others that were in the pack to suit the studio when its finished.  The only mistake that I made is that I think that I may have made it a bit too long!!  I decided to make it 300 sts on the foundation chain as I need it too cover the couch.  Ehh but too much there Rosie!  Now the blanket measures a whopping 2,5m.  Hence the reason I could only get some if it in the picture!!  But I'm thinking now that in the winter I can always bring it into the house and use it on one of the kids beds to keep them nice and snug.
 For such a plain pattern it is totally addictive.  I can never wait to chose the next colour and I love seeing all the different combinations coming together.  I quite often have wrecked the heads of the family asking "what colour will come next?".  I think that they are just picking the first one that their hands land on at this stage, just to shut me up!!!

Over the last few evenings I have noticed how the nights are closing in faster and faster.  After such a long winter, it has seemed like the summer months have just not lasted long enough.  It saddens me to see the long nights returning so quickly after the glorious weather that we've been having.  I have loved this hot weather this year.  It happens so rarely here in Ireland unfortunately.  So I just couldn't understand why my kids hated it so much.  They hid in the house and cried that it was too hot to venture outside until the evening.  What?? I remember hot summers as a child where my parents would bring us swimming every day whether that was to the coast or to the nearest river or lake.  We were all good swimmers at very young ages so that was the one passtime that we all did together.  Fun times.

One other thing that I've loved most about this summer is that my garden has blossomed brilliantly and the bees and butterflies have been attracted by all of the different smells and colours.  Just sitting in the garden stitching and listening the the hum of the bees busying themselves has been pure heaven.  The unmistakable perfume of the sweet peas wafting through the breeze.

The white sweet peas here are a perennial plant and are unperfumed but are perfect for cutting.  They are more robust then the perfumed ones and last longer when brought into the house.  I like to mix them with the pretty, delicate blooms of regular ones.  It has brought me so much pleasure to bring in posies of flowers from my own garden and display them on the kitchen table or windowsill.  They have been often given as gifts too to family and friends when we visit, tied with pretty ribbons and wrapped in pretty tissue paper.

My other favourite in the garden has to be my lupins.  I have quite a few of them in quite an array of colours.  I love how the blooms last so long on them and they just keep flowering all summer long.  I have sat for long periods just watching how perfectly designed that the individual flowers are to accommodate the bees in their job collecting pollen.  As the bee lands on the bottom lip of the flower, that is the darker pink triangle at the bottom, the whole bloom opens out to reveal the golden treasure inside.  The bees finally hurry off home with their legs and tummy covered in a thick fur of sweet pollen.  Isn't nature magical?

Anyway must pop off for now.  Chat you all soon.  I have something very beautiful to show you.
Rosie xx