Last of the Summer Sun

The day's are getting shorter, there is a crispness in the air that wasn't there before, and yet it's balmy, and we have had no rain. Today there was a lovely warm breeze and sunshine all day, so we all trooped outside to bask in it, whilst it lasts.

I am drawing a winner for the Skitchbook tomorrow, so get your name in the hat and leave a comment, if you haven't already.
Happy weekending to you :)

Hazel's Budget Bedroom Makeover

At last, I have taken some photo's of the Hoozel's bedroom makeover.

Hazel was very clear about what she wanted, Cath Kidston prints, vintage inspired decorations, lots of handmade goodness... my budget couldn't stretch to the former, but I did have some Cath inspired curtains, which we dolled up with some polka dot tie backs, hung high like the bow on a little girl's dress.

The floors were painted white, quite hastily I might add, add's to the rustic charm?

The sewing machine has hardly been out of action, I made most all of the cushions, the bunting, the lampshade, the polka dot pen pot, the drawstring bags, all in pretty fabrics from my stash, chosen by Hazel.





The Ikea malm chest had it's drawers covered with pretty fabric's, and the wardrobe was a lucky find on ebay.















I picked up a plain drum lampshade at a carboot sale, and covered it in patchwork squares and hung beaded dangles all the way around, before attaching a poom pom trim. All the beads are glass and each dangle is different, it took a long time!





The Hoozel is most delighted with her new space!

Hacked

Hazel's bedroom is receiving a budget makeover. So the dull Ikea malm chest of drawers got hacked, I am not sure why they call it hacking when you revamp Ikea furniture, it sounds so naughty...anyway, the flooring got attacked with a paintbrush (modelled by our frequently naked in the summer heat Bear)...



and, lot's of handmade decor is underway, so much fun!



sprry for the fuzzy photos, these were taken on my phone, more (less fuzzy) soon!

The Walk

The Bear likes to take a walk most day's. He wears his sister's boots and his favourite witch's hat.



His first stop is Saffie the horse



Then maybe a little rest





Then the searching begins....



it can take a while to find the perfect rock





Finally.....



Off he goes, carrying it proudly aloft



To show his friends, the cows. He shouts them from the fence, "Cow! Look! Cow!"



Today they are too pre-occupied to say hello, he is a little dissapointed





So he throws the stone into the field, for them to see later



and hat in hand, home he goes



Collecting a little something for his sister on his way



I am merely a casual observer on these walks, carrier of discarded hats and occasional hand holder. He leads the way, chooses the route, and decides when it is time to leave. My little explorer, and friendly one, he does love those cows so.

Moon Visitor

No one is sure why a moth is driven to light, it is thought that it navigates by moonlight and in the absence of moonlight, she looks for the next best thing.

Even at the risk of losing her life, the moth is determined to follow her moon lit path.

The moon is her mother, and she will follow her at all cost.
She is vulnerable to harm, but she keeps going....

This elephant hawk moth flew through my window and settled upon a lampshade, mesmerising.

Raspberry Thieves

We have some rather lovely Raspberry canes at River Cottage, beside a sweet little blackcurrant bush. I was most pleased to make this discovery after moving in, being as we consume vast amounts of raspberry jam, and nothing tastes better than the homemade variety.

However, there are trecherous raspberry thieves on the loose. Each afternoon, upon our return from work and nursery, I visit said canes and find them quite bare, when only the previous evening I had spied plenty of sweet raspberries, almost ripe, and thought how lovely it would be to pick them the next day to make some jam.

I have looked about for possible culprits. Wee ones in tow, we looked for tracks or sneaky clues which may lead us to a vast haul of raspberries. Alas, no tracks or clues were found. Boo and Bear assure me it must be rabbits, because they are greedy animals and like raspberries very much. My wee ones even stand right beside the canes, guarding them from further ambush.

I commented upon their surprisingly red moustaches, but was assured this was merely a clever guise with which to deter said greedy rabbits and other beastly robbers of raspberries, and nothing at all to do with the actual consumption of raspberries, as one might first conclude.

I think they must be right about the rabbits, for right at the top of the canes just a few raspberries remained, and we all know small rabbits cannot stretch so high. So my single bowl of raspberries and a few blackcurrants made just 1.5 pots of jam.





The strawberries are ripening nicely too, now the sun has arrived, but Boo and Bear offered to guard them aswell, just in case the berry thief should strike again. I was assured that rabbits do no like tomatoes or peas, so these should not require guarding. Thank goodness for that, and for little guards!

* To make jam, weigh the (any) fruit and boil wih equal weight in sugar, when a set is achieved (a small blob of the jam on a plate wrinkles when pushed with finger), decant into sterilised jars and consume spread on warm buttered toast or stirred into hot porridge. Simple!

In Bloom

Last year nothing flowered, we had a short wet summer. It was our first summer at River Cottage and I was so dissapointed with the lack of colour in the garden, so imagine my surprise when June came around this year, and there are roses abound, and many lovely wild flowers too.

What does one do with a garden full of roses and wildflowers? Well, aside from sit outdoors getting drunk on their scent all day long, we bring them indoors of course.

The Accidental Cow Whisperer

The cows keep escaping from their field, the land on the farm is a public freeway, so walkers and cyclists passing through are not very diligent about closing the gate behind them, and the cows are opportunists, though they mostly just linger outside my house. This causes mass panic as everyone on the farm gathers, whips in hand, trying to co-erce them back to their pasture.
I decided to show them how it's done, no whips, just trust. Fortunately, Simon had his phone to hand and captured it on video. You can see "my cow" getting a little kiss from me. I know nothing about cows, but they seem to like me. Apparently I am a natural cow woman, it doesn't sound very becoming does it? :)

In the wild...

The flowers are the prettiest, don't you think?

Visitors

Little grey friend all fluffy and cute,

Scampers about in his little grey suit,

Gathering nuts and other tasty stuff,

hiding it away ready for when there's not enough.


Hanging upside down and doing all sorts of tricks,

Getting into feeders the birds' food he nicks,

Running amuck all over the place,

Such a loveable rogue, such a loveable face.


Some say he's a pest and should be got rid,

But not our friendly Squirrel heaven forbid,

He lives his own life and is entitled to that,

He just needs to watch out for the big neighbours cat.



We love to see him and all his grey mates,

They visit us daily and empty the plates,

We don't even mind if he scoffs the lot,

There's plenty more in the bird food pot.


How would it be if he stopped coming to feed,

We won't even mind that he has a little greed,

He's always welcome on our feeding tree,

There'll always be food for the birds and for he.


You keep on coming our fluffy little friend,

We'll make sure you don't meet with a nasty end,

And come the Spring when your family grows,

Bring them as well and we'll be glad it's us you chose.

- Author Unknown

Isn't he a darling? This is actually one of the babe's, one of three, who visit our bird table each day. They are young enough to be less shy than their mama. Our bird table sits right in front of our dining room window, so we have breakfast together, the squirrels and my family of 6, and dinner, and at weekends, lunch too!

Happy Weekending to you :)

Moo Beginnings

I've never really cared much for cows... that's to say, of all the livestock I would love to have (some day), cows never really featured much on my agenda.

Our garden backs on to open fields, being bang smack in the middle of a working farm means there are many cows, it's nice to see them from the windows, to hear their gentle moo's as I pass by, they seem nice, and gentle, but did not inspire much of a reaction from me, until...

Our landlord took down several large trees from the rear of our garden, I wouldn't normally condone such senseless tree slaying, but they were fast growing leylandi, ugly, and they blocked out sunlight and views, so they came down, and behold, the cows, can now lean right into our garden.





Something quite unexpected happenned.
The children like the cows a lot, this isn't so surprising. However, there is one cow, she looks different from the others, the same sweet Jersey eyes, but somehow different. They don't care much for treats, they don't like to be touched, but this cow, she is different.

She hangs around long after her friends had moved to the other side of the field, she bows her head low so I can tickle her ears, I like this, she has a little heart shaped tuft atop her head, it makes me smile....



I arrive home from work, and there she is, waiting....



Now, I can call her over, a quick whistle or deep moo, and she turns slowly, watches me for a while, then ambles over, slow, calm, patient...



She doesn't have a name, just a number... I toyed with the idea of naming her, but she isn't mine to name. I toyed with the idea of making her mine...
but what does a family do with 20 litres of milk a day? One can only drink so much milk, or eat so much cheese and cream, and she might get lonely. I even bought a book about keeping cows. The timing is all wrong, but it has opened up a new vista, one with cows in it, some day...

but for now, she's still here, I will miss her when she is gone.