I have been away a while again, the reason being I am sick sick sick. It has been a major struggle to keep up with general daily chores, let alone the bazillion other commitments I have made, and my blog, swaps and Flickr 365 project have been woefully neglected. It is such a horrible feeling to be so behind with everything :(
I have a pile of washing that is threatening to challenge Mount Everest in height, and the ironing pile, bah, let's not even go there...
Anyways, so much to tell you, and so little time, I will be back soon with all the news as soon as I can drag my sorry ass out of bed long enough to take photos and write it all up, but in the meantime, I wanted to share a little project the children and I did a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't feeling so yuk.
A couple of years ago, we went to the Fairy Fair in Norfolk, England, where we learned to make the cutest fairy wands, and we have been addicted to these ever since.
We normally make them using everything au naturel, sticks from the garden, feathers and what not, but the children received a lovely craft package from their grabdmother, containing an assortment of vibrant pom pom's and bright pipe cleaners, so we had a little fun with these instead....
Instead of sticks, we collected some branches which had fallen from our Willow tree, they were a lovely yellow colour and super pliable, so we braided them into a long wand. Wrapped the lower end in pipe cleaners, which were glued into place to secure them, then threaded pom pom's and pretty foam shapes on to string to dangle from the end.
The point was decorated with a red felt heart for Amber and a felt flower for Hazel, secured in place with more glue and pipe cleaners.
Both the sproglets then decided what kind of magic their pretty new wands would be blessed with (water and moon magic) before skipping off to enjoy some magical mischief.
Needless to say, they played happily all day with their new wands. I tried to follow them around with the camera to get some more shots, but was politely told to "Get lost" as I was interfering with the flow of magic :)
Yes, I am a bad bad bad blogger, I have been away far too long, and for that, dear readers, my sincere apologies.
I am afraid I have been rather unwell, and in the last few days have slunk around the house in a constant state of nausea and misery, oh how I hate being sick :(
The good news is I am now feeling a little better and in light of the absolutely amazing weather we have been having, I have been spending a great deal of time outdoors.
I have never witnessed a February like this in my life, aside from in Spain as a Child, but that doesn't count! Certainly in England, we were never spoiled with such beautifully sunny and warm days, so it really is quite a treat, and look who are rearing their cheerful heads in approval....
The first daffodils! I am still in awe that we have flowering daffs in February! Ah the promise of spring is in the air!
So, feeling unwell, I parked my sorry ass outside in the sunshine, and whiled away many hour over a cup of tea and a bazillion back issues of Country Living magazine (of which I have too many to count), it has been a very peaceful few days, alas, as always, reality beckons.
I have got horribly behind with my creative pursuits, including swaps, but there is nothing to spur you back into your creative flow quite like receiving some treasures in the post!
This morning I was delighted to receive these beautiful, beautiful little girls...
Oh how special I felt unwrapping these lovelies!
The first is from Wendy in NL, isn't the beading work amazing? I am super envious and must know HOW does she get the beads to lie so perfect like that? My beading is always so wobbly!
I adore the colours of this dotee, and truly appreciate the many hours of loving work that clearly went in to making her, thanks so much Wendy!
The next little beauty is from Dot, how honoured I am to have a Dotee from the Dotee queen herself, I shall treasure her always!
I LOVE the pretty fabric Dot chose, and as with all her dotee's the embellishments are to die for, I really must pick her brains and find out where she gets them, I especially love the little bell at the end of the tail, FankOOoO Dot, you're a star!
Both Wendy and Dot sent me some beautiful beads and trinkets for me to use in future projects, they are both so very very kind, much love and thanks to you both, you really cheered me up with your adorable little dolls!
I am still mid way through the dotee I am making for Queen Dot, now that I am feeling a little better I hope to have it finished soon, and will be sure to post pics here as soon as it is complete, it will of course be an extra special Dotee, being as it is for the Queen of Dotee's! :)
You might well remember me mentioning we had a new home for the goats...
Indeed, they SHOULD have been collected over a week ago, but between Carla and myself we have failed miserably to find a trailer or a car suitable to tow it, so, the goats are still here, also enjoying the sunshine...
It was quite a mistake to not arrange delivery in a more speedy and efficient fashion, because the goats, as if sensing their fate, have suddenly taken to behaving themselves, well, actually "behaving" is perhaps a bit extreme, lets just say they have been a LOT better.
For a start, they seem to have learned their names, and come when called. Which is extremely handy when I am elbow deep in soapy water, washing dishes, and happen to glance out of the window and see the goats meandering down the lane. Now I can bellow at them to come back, from the comfort of my washing antics, and in they trot.
Also, they seem to have a new found respect for the hounds. I am not sure what happened, because Willow previously got rather stubborn about being chased back to his field by the dogs, and Littlefoot refused point blank to budge an inch.
At some point all hell broke loose, resulting in Nala being stabbed in the leg by a well placed horn, and for a while, there seemed to a be a ceasefire, the goats roamed freely once more.
However, I can only assume Nala has since reciprocated with a very nasty bite (though of this I can find no evidence), as Willow now charges back to his field with just a clap of my hands - the signal to Nala to give chase, and is out of sight before the dogs have even had a chance to register what I have asked of them.
So, behaving goats has resulted in much feelings of guilt and anguish over packing them off to Carla's, maybe they can be trained after all? Simon, who threatens to shoot them every time they knock something over or appear at the window, has been plotting and planning several possible ways of containing them on a permanent basis, where as I, cruel cruel woman that I am, have steadfastly refused to co-operate, they WILL be going to Carla, just as soon as we have figured out how to get them there....
I Finally finished the second winter dotee and sent both little ladie's off to their new homes today. It was particularly hard to part with these two, I especially love the second one I did.
I found a little scrap of blue and cream linen in my fabric stash and so this one is more wintery in colours than the last, and I gave her sleepy "I need to hibernate" eyes, which I LOVE.
I also wanted her to wear a scarf so I gave her a skinny neck and I really like this shape.
I hope they will be happy and loved in their new homes, now I am all fired up to make some more and I certainly have plenty of Dotee swaps to keep my crafting hands busy.
Ambear did this lovely drawing today, I wanted to share it with you. She really loves arty things and clearly has talent. I love how she did the hair on this little girl, I might embroider this image on to something, I think it is really pretty. Children's drawings are so refreshingly simple.
The sproglets are just dying to have their own pony, and with Spring looming and one very large field that needs to be grazed, we are certainly considering getting one now. I love riding and would love to teach my girls, but money is tight right now, so we have come up with a little family project to help raise some funds for a pony, all will be revealed soon!
Also, I was asked in the comments on my previous post what that quilt was behind my dotee... It is actually a wall quilt I bought in a charity auction last year, I paid a small fortune for this, far more than I planned, but I knew I just had to have it, it is so vibrant and beautiful and the colours make my heart sing. Sadly, I never found out who made it. I am still waiting to get it framed.
Here are some photos, you can see bigger and better versions in my Flickr.
Thank you to all of you for coming to read my blog, I love reading your lovely comments and get a real thrill when I see how many of you have taken the time to come and visit and say such nice things.
I am so glad I joined the world of blogging, it has led me to meet some wonderful, inspiring people, and I never cease to be amazed by the incredible kindness I am shown and the talent I find in your own blogs and photos, fankoOOo fankOoOO fankOoOOo!
