Tales from the Fairy Glade

Are you sitting comfortably, then I will tell a couple of tales. There is a family that live in a small cottage, on a country lane surrounded by woodland. They live a simple life growing their own food and keep a few hens. Does this sound like anyone you know..well it is me actually. Living as we do in the country we are invariably visited by the local wildlife. Since getting the hens we have attracted the attention of the local fox population who have put young, tender chicken on their menu. We have lost 3 birds and have disturbed Mr Fox on several occassions thus averting more attacks. On one sorte he actually had Marmaduke in his mouth. A bonk on the head with a broom was enough to make him run for is life and saved our handsome man bird.

wikipedia

It is hard because we are sharing their environment, (note that I say we are sharing their habitat and not the other way round). I firmly believe that they have as much right to be there as we have. It is just such a shame that we are at odds with each other because they are beautiful animals. At great expense we have now installed an electric fence which, fingers crossed, seems to be working and the foxes have kept a low profile. That is until yesterday at breakfast. As I sat there at the table eating a fresh laid egg I was aware of movement out of the corner of my eye. There in the corner by the chalk pile was a fox sitting there looking at me looking at him. Within a few seconds he was joined by another one who sat beside him and looked at me looking at them! It was one of those special moments in time and would have made a smashing photo if I could have gone out without disturbing them. They seemed perfectly at ease and on checking later it looks like they have dug out a bit of earth and made themselves a little den.

Several days later I did manage to take this rather poor photo whilst Mr/Mrs Fox was asleep. Couldn't get close enough but he is the brown blob in the middle of the picture!

The second tale involves a collared dove having a bath in a rut in the lane that was full of rain water. As I approached in the car, I slowed down and assumed that said bird would jump out of the way..like you do! Well, not in this instance. She cocked her head to one side and stared me in the eye. Literally stared me in the eye, and in my head I could hear her say; "just you wait a minute whilst I finish my bath", and so I did. I sat and I sat and she splashed and preened and splashed somemore. She eventually jumped out, shook her bottom at me and then flew into the hedgerow, and that was that! So wish that I had got my camera with me. Good job it was a country lane with only little old silly me at the wheel. There are those who would have driven over her and the some who go so fast that they probably wouldn't have even seen her!

A bit of help please, I note that when I click onto photos that I place in my blog, they do not come up on a seperate screen like those on other blogs. Can anyone advise what I am doing wrong. In the case of the fox piccy, if you could click on and then enlarge the photo you would see the fox more clearly. Dev X

Weekend Weather

There is a definite chill in the air now, especially first thing in the morning before the sun rises over the hills and early evening when it disappears behind them again. I woke up yesterday to a fine mist laying in the valley that shrouded out my surroundings, making them invisible. The sun was pale and watery and lacked any real warmth initially.

All was calm and still. The sun rose higher in the sky chasing the damp curtain away to reveal a bright blue sky the colour of cornflowers. Small pockets tried to resisted the suns rays but to no avail, and by 9 am there was no doubt that it was going to be a beautiful day. The lawn glittered like a crystal carpet and the flowers and shrubs were decorated in equal splendour.

A truly beautiful autumn day. Hope you all had a lovely weekend too. Dev X

Nature's Harvest

Lets me talk you all for a walk around the lanes where I live. It 's a cold blustery day, (no change there then!), the sky is leaden and full of huge angry clouds blowing across the landscape below. The wind rushes through the trees making it impossible to hear anything else. No bird song, no traffic on the distant valley roads, nothing but the wind. There is rain in the air as always and that faint metallic tang that forewarns the approaching thunder.

The fields are barren now, their harvest gathered between the storms. We have had a rare, dry and fine weekend and the combine harvesters have been working until midnight. Their steady drone could be heard and the occassional headlight glimpsed through the hedgerows and on the dark hills above the valley.

There is beauty everywhere you look and the hedgerows have some of the finest jewels on display.

I once read somewhere that the more berries there are on the trees, then the harder the approaching winter is going to be...not sure if that is just an old wives tale... but there sure are some heavy crops out there.

Tonight we will light a fire and draw the curtain for the first time in ages. The wind is on the increase and the rain is coming down fast, but inside all will be warm and cozy and a hot chocolate is top of the list, along with my book as mentioned in my last post. I have a lovely new notebook and pink pen and I can feel a few lists coming on. Dev X

Christmas is coming!

If you only buy one book before Christmas (yes I can hear your collective groans, but it is on its way whether you like it or not!) to inspire you in your crafting then it has to be this one!

I had never heard of the authoress, Tone Finnanger before hand, although the snails in my previous post are designed by her. I was browsing on Amazon for some inspiration for homemade gifts and came across her books. Well, I have never oohed and aahhed so much. Each page you turn over is total bliss, from the page layouts, the designs and the colours etc. I simply couldn't put it down and read it from cover to cover and then some.

These angels and pixie dolls are adorable and look relatively simple to make. She even has a list of stockists at the back of the book to help you locate the same gorgeous fabrics that she had used.

Most days I just open it randomly and drool over what I find there like these wonderful Babushka dolls:

These sweet little hearts:


And these adorable boots to hang on the tree, or wherever.

I cannot decide what to make first! What a fantastically talented lady she is and I wish that I was on her Christmas List!

Dev X

p.s. Just an observation but I was wondering if my blog is interesting enough? Why, well my number counter shows that 68 people visited me after my last post but I only received 8 comments and that seems to be the norm f0r most of my posts. I obviously love hearing from my "regulars" but what about the rest?

Autumn Sunflowers

It's official, Autumn arrived at 12.30 on Friday morning, I stepped out of the office and there it was, a split second in time when all the elements came together in an instant. The sun was shining, but lacked any real warmth, a pile of golden leaves swirled around the car park in the breeze which carried a faint smell of damp and decay and bonfires. It was a fleeting moment and then it was gone, blown away but imprinted in my mind.

The drive home appeared normal, and it may have been my imagination but... was there was tiny change in the colours of the leaf canopy? Almost invisible when looked at face on, but from the corner of the eye a slight fading perhaps? A hazy sunshine, the caw caw of a rook loud and unatural and slightly disconcerting. He obviously knows.

At home the garden is still verdant from all the recent and continuing rain. But there are signs, red rosehips, crab apples, seed heads and elderflowers that seem to have ripened overnight! An then there is this:-

Majestic is the only way to describe it. 7 foot 2 inches of pure summer sunshine, but peel away the centre buds and the seeds are formed and starting to ripen.

Isabel has fed and nutured this beauty for weeks now from pushing the seed into a damp pot of earth, to the planting in rich soil and the magic ingredient, (which is a carefully guarded secret!) She has watched it grow as high as herself and then overtake her on it's way to the blue, blue sky above.

The seeds will eventually be shared between the chickens and the doves and all the wild birds that visit the garden. A few will be saved for next years plants and then the main stem will be chopped and composted and it will gradually rot back into the soil from whence it came, a full circle of life and death as nature intended.

Here our thought are now turning to Halloween and all that entails. The lovely Heidi has arranged a vintage swap so if you are interested then contact her. I am also toying with the idea of my first blog giveaway as well, not sure what to actually give away and when to do it, but watch this space anyway!

Dev X

Rainy Days

Well, as the summer is almost non-existant in this part of the world at the moment, it has spurred me on to get some serious crafting done. It is actually rather nice to sew when the wind is howling and the rain is lashing on the roof of my garden room. Outside maybe horrible but inside it is warm and cosy and I have the radio for company. I began by going through my bags and boxes and pulled out a few projects that have been on-going for a while now. A strange sort of fever overtook me and before I knew it I had plugged in the machine and was off at a rate of knots that have eluded me for a while now! So here for your perusal are some of those items that have languished in them there bags:

This is my little fairy doll, her name is Pansy. She is made from scraps of pretty cotton fabric and felt. Her wings are made from vilene and she has some old fashioned beads on her belt.

On the shelf next to her are these adorable little snails. The pattern was sent to me by my dear friend Iris. Check out her blog and see her designs.


I purchased this Sarah Lawrence book after a fellow crafter brought it to our class a couple of weeks ago. I thought that the brooches were so much fun and I have a large selection of beads. I bought the faces direct from Sarah's website, www.craftynotions.com. She also has an article in the June/July edition of Stitch Magazine that is published by the Embroiderers Guild.

I love these ribbon girls and will have a go at them next, but below is the one I made using beads.

Lastly, having made Isabel a bag a while ago, I had this fabric and decided to make one for myself. It isn't quite finished yet but I wam pleased with it so far.

Finally, on the subject of bags. You may have caught a glimpse of this in the picture above.. yes it is the next design in the Tesco/Kidston range..I know, fab isn't it and who knew that there were more to come?! I couldn't believe my eyes when I went into my local store and saw it. And, guess what..there are at least another 2 coming in October.!!!!!!!!!! Yippeeeee!

How can you choose between them, they are all so bloomin gorgeous!!

Furthermore, LK Bennett have brought out this little stunner, which I absolutely love and it is free with this months Instyle Magazine..Yep it's free and fab and just the right size for my knitting. I am in bag heaven at the moment..who else shares my passion?

I will end on this happy note and advise you to go to Tesco now, this minute, 24 hour shopping darlings, because numbers of each design are limited and when they are gone, they are gone, so don't tell yourself that you will get it next week, because the chances are I will have bought them all up! Dev X

Stormy Weather

I woke this morning around 4.30 am, the rain was coming in through the open window and splashing onto my face. Now, several hours later, and nothing much has changed. The wind is roaring in the trees and making the washing line outside my window hum a magical tune. The rain continues in a misty, cloudy sort of way, you know the kind that penetrates right through to the skin. Luckily for me my canine friend Hamish hates the cold and the rain, thus saving me a trip around the lane.

Having said that, usually I find a walk in the rain very pleasant. I love the smell of the wet vegetation and the only sound being the raindrops on the tree canopy above. Today though I am tired and feeling the need for hot chocolate and magazines and snuggling under a blanket on the sofa. The first roast dinner in ages because it has been so hot recently and catching up on all my favourite blogs of course.


The photos are just general ones and the sky is most certainly not blue. My camera is broken two weeks after the guarantee ran out...how does that happen?! I was told that it is not worth repairing and I would be better of putting the approx repair costs of £100 to a new one. What is that all about I ask myself? Boo Hoo and Aaargh in similar amounts..so frustrating.