Snow & excitement in Lincolnshire!

The past week has been quite an exciting one & that is nothing to do with the snow! I do have to admit to getting a tad excited when the snow did arrive , but I am so over that now! I want a non slippery walk with my dogs & No1 man on an afternoon  & to not have things I love doing cancelled because of the snow & cold weather.
You want to know what else I have been excited about? After far too many years dithering, I returned to an art group. There is a wonderful gallery nearby called Lincolnshire  Gallery & on a Monday morning , they hold an art class. I went along with a friend & we had such a lovely time.I came away feeling as though I will eventually be able to produce something worthy of calling art. Everyone was so friendly & welcoming . I feel full of inspiration ! I am going again tomorrow even though it is snowing heavily outside at the moment.
Below is a sketch I did at the class in 10 minutes. It surprised me what I could achieve if I really pushed myself.

Our new DSLR cameras arrived this week as well. Mr T & I are now learning to use them & I am certainly  looking forward to producing some better images for this blog at least. I have been wanting one of these for some years now so this is a real treat. They came just at the right moment too with all this beautiful icy weather. I got some pretty shots & they were only taken in my garden! 

 This is the tip of a Ceanothus shrub caught in the ice.

  Bejewelled spiders web .

Mr Robin on his daily business collecting seed from under the bird feeders.

 Maisie caught on the windowsill!She is so naughty!!

 Across the fields looking towards Holbeach. The trees are entrapped in ice , making them look spectacular in the sun.

I hope you have had a great week as well.
I will be back with some more creations I have to show you very soon.

Getting organised

Over the holiday period I hardly did any crafting. I am always knitting , so I feel that somehow doesn't count.
Mr T has started to volunteer for Age UK. It has a secondhand furniture outlet nearby at Fleet & he helps with the collections & deliveries of furniture. I went down to meet the team that work there & of course I came home with some furniture I needed! I was so pleased with my find of some very sturdy shelves for £35 & an oak nest of tables for £25.

Craft room before major tidy

All this buying was necessary as I was in a real muddle with all my stuff in my craft room. I have so much stuff (as we all do) that I had no where to put it. The shelves have been so useful & along with a set of drawers that my MIL gave me for Christmas last year, things are just a bit tidier & organised in my room.Above is the before picture.

Craft room after tidy.

I still have things to find homes for as you can see!

My new shelves, home for a small portion of all my art supplies, sewing threads , buttons , ribbons & yarns.

Here is the after shot. I still have things to put on the walls, shelves, wall hanging tidy, clock & hanging rails for my pots. You can see how much better it is now & I have my computer here now as well which will be so much more practical.

I have been knitting a new bag for myself. I splashed out on some Noro Kureyon to make this bag. I am so pleased with it. It did take a while to sort out all the colours which I split into sections so each round of shells would be of a similar colour range.There would have been a lot of ends to sew in but I wove them in at the back as I knitted. This has been a very satisfying project. I just have to knit a border around the top of the bag , felt it & I think I may add some leather handles after I have lined it in some pretty fabric.

I used five 50g balls of Noro yarn & had just a small amount left after. It is great for using up small oddments of wool.
I will keep you posted on the finished article. Lets hope I can find some lovely handles to finish it nicely.

Clutter & clucking!

Today has been a lovely spring like day. Early this morning I saw my first hare. It was a long way off in the field opposite the house. It was racing around in the sunshine ,zigzagging its way over the ploughed field. The sun was catching & glinting off its fur as it darted around & was quite stunning to see. It has inspired me to get on & have a go at some more felting & create a doorstop as a hare looking up at the moon. I really must get to do it before I lose the image in my head.
The house seems quite empty now with all the Christmas decorations put back up in the loft for another year & all the presents tidied away. The family have all returned to what they do & I am going to get on with transforming the house. I have one more room to tackle which is the lounge. It only needs a lick of paint to freshen it up & to hang the new curtains I bought last year. Maybe I will find my mojo & get it done in a few weeks time. I must admit I do struggle now with my back & it seems to take me so long now. I used to be able to paint a room in a day before I hurt my back.
I spent some time in the garden this afternoon. The sun was so lovely & to be out in the crisp air was very invigorating. I let the chooks have their first roam around while I was there & they so enjoyed it. Maisie & Grouse were not so happy about being shut in the house while the chickens strutted about  but that's just tough!
Archie Rooster was in his element , especially when he found some worms in the flower bed I had turned over for them . What a gent he is , clucking away to his girls ,signalling to them there is food & letting them get their fill first. So sweet to see.
I actually got some Box bushes planted today & if it doesn't rain tomorrow , I may be able to get some Lavenders in. I thought the soil would be too wet , but its not so bad. I shall be sowing my chilli seeds this week & get them started inside. I am so looking forward to spending time in the garden this year. Lets just  hope for some good weather.
I have not been able to take any photos this week. My camera ran out of battery & my smart phone has gone off to be mended again. Lets hope Virgin can sort out the issues I am having as I really like the camera on my phone & use it a lot.
For now here is a Hare picture I quite like.

Hello 2013!!

Hello my lovely readers.
Thank goodness 2013 is finally here. I have to say the last month of 2012 was a really busy one & I had no time to stop & post on here.
 I am so looking forward to this year. I hope lots of happy things happen & I can finally get my head around what I am supposed to be doing & get creative again.
In December , Mr T & I realised some wishes we had for a while. Our children unexpectedly were all together for Christmas & we got our chickens!! These were our Christmas presents. The best ones we could ever have. No 2 son came home a week before the big day & No 1 & his lovely girlfriend , flew in from Vienna just a few days before. We didn't know this would happen until just the week before they arrived. It was lovely & I fed them all with so much home cooked food, I think we must all be at least half a stone heavier.
We had a great week all together. Lots of shopping , exploring local towns & villages that none of us have seen & getting to know the locals in the village pub! The whole family went to collect our new chickens. We have bought an existing flock of Araucana's . Archie Rooster & his four hens, Annie Aggie, Blue & Bella. We were so lucky. A friend of mine was looking for a new home for hers as she hadn't been able to give as much time to them as she wanted. We fitted the bill. We all went to collect them the day after Boxing Day & their neighbour loaned her trailer for the move of the house & run. The house is an Omlet Cube. Very posh & so easy to transport as well.
In no time , with the help of dear friends husband , we had them all installed in our garden & clucking away happily. We have since been rewarded with the laying of two lovely green/blue eggs. They are still in my egg basket as I am hoping for a third one & we can all have one to eat before No 2 son goes back to Sussex for college tomorrow.
I couldn't be happier with our flock of Chickens. Even though we have a cock , he has a quiet crow & hopefully the neighbours wont whinge about him. We do live in the country after all!!
I haven't taken so many photos as I usually do as my phone has been on the blink & sent back, I find the camera on it much better than my usual Samsung digital.We are going to treat ourselves to new cameras , but as they will be digital SLR,s , we are taking our time over choosing them.

These are three Gingerbread houses our friends made when they came to stay for the weekend. We had a lot of fun!

 

 Archie Rooster with his girls.

 

 Mr T & the boys

 Trying to play the Master edition !!

 Our first egg 31/12/2012

 Second egg laid 2 days later is on the right.

Compared with a standard bought free range large egg.