Community Beauty. Summer 2011 : 4

Just off the pavement, a community project.

Marking the place where people gathered to swap stories, hear news and collect water.The village well.

Now a place to sit and reflect.

Or run round and round and round, chasing those fish.

And trying to catch that frog.

This Moment - Summer 2011 : 2

This moment, inspired by soulemama.

Summer on a plate.

The gift of knitting

Knitting to me is a complete pleasure, the best legacy my beloved Nana ever gave me.
There has always been the means to knit, yarn and needles tucked away somewhere throughout my life, even in my teens when a project was left on the needles for months, years and normally finally finished by my Nana.
I remember my first "go it alone" project, using the brightest colours and the wonkiest of stitches, a pinafore dress.I felt so very grown up, purchasing the yarn from a shop in Portland, Dorset and settling down seriously to a project with someone so special in mind, my new God daughter.I was 17 and the pride on my Nana's face when I showed her my first finished project, stays safely tucked in my heart.
Knitting has helped my through some tough times, given me purpose and healing.
The joy of creating to welcome a new life, a birthday celebrating toddler, a girlfriend, a family in need, friends, family,strangers is a gift, a true gift, one I cherish each and every day.
Recently, I passed on my legacy at The Mother Camp, sharing the knowledge given to me.I passed out Nana's needles to knitters, new and those that just needed reminding how to and together we created a blanket for a lovely couple, who were handfasted at camp.A true community effort, sparked, inspired and enabled by Mrs Ethel Joan Head, my Nana.


Poncho for a new little girl, perfect for baby wearing.

Yet another Pickle pattern.

And a bigger one.

Little socks, in rainbow colours for new little feet.

Summer 2011 : 1

Life threw us some spanners and some rainbows, so blogging was put on hold.

The Spanners - A week each in hospital for K and I, different times and reasons.
My stay led to ear, throat and chest infections.
A week in Kuala Lumpur for N working, semi good for him ( well he was
working ) and very bad for me, fresh out of hospital.

The Rainbows - A day of Nurturing at http://http://theredthreadmotherscircle.blogspot.com/p/nurtured-family-nurtured-earth-2011.html
Weekend of fun in the Forest of Dean
Mother Camp in Yorkshire
Barefoot Festival
Celebrating 18 years of marriage

These events have all been wonderful, inspiring, revitalising, the true rainbows though,have been the people, friends old and new.
Time to sit, hold hands, laugh, smile, cry, listen and be.
Seeing children, growing, changing,blossoming.
Watching new friends, festival for the first time and seeing them indulge in every henna tattoo, face painting, glittery thing going.
Looking at my Love and knowing I did good.

Our garden, yet again, does us proud, Mother Earth, shares her bounty so willingly, even with us lazy, neglectful gardeners.
We topped up with a box of plants from Rocket Gardens http://http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/?gclid=CK7u8sOksKoCFQoe4QodYVCqLw when we realised we had far too many bare spots.


And now we harvest, potatoes ( in our pjs of course ! ) courgettes, basil, lettuces, rocket, beans, peas,tomatoes, cucumbers, so many riches.
We make plans, thinking of storing, ready for the Winter ahead.
But mainly, for now, we sit back and marvel, give thanks and enjoy.

Summer Love to all x

Suffolk Sunshine

What a treat, a week in Suffolk.

A week of sailing boats, crabbing off little bridges, fish and chips, delicious ice creams, some vintage shopping, running through fields, watching hares, rabbits and birds, feeding swans, stacking pebbles and so many more simple delights, my list would be endless and all flavoured wth the best of company.

A truly magical week.

This Mama knits and this Mama sews.

Chicks finally arrived for our spring nests.

Bamboo face cloths for birthday friends.

Dolls for the Woodland group fund raiser.

And then along came the dinosaurs.

This Mama is sewing and her boy is loving it.

At the Tea Party

Sunday afternoons were made for The Blooming Great Vintage Tea Party.
Spending time with friends.
Getting your hair done, who would have guessed how much a victory roll suited me.
Learning new dance moves.

Admiring all the fabulous dresses and hats.
Singing along to ukele bands, blushing at a very daring hoola dancer and toe tapping to an amazing accordian player.

While drinking pots and pots of tea from lovely china cups and eating plenty of cake.

Roll on the next one.