Raindrops on Roses

And cobwebs,

And flowers,And leaves

Today I feel as if I should write a poem of thankfulness for this rain, soaking everything thoroughly and giving a drink to the perennials and plants newly planted.

All week I have weeded and mulched, planted and pruned,

rain is just what I wanted. Perfect and lovely.

The Navajo Way

There is always something new to learn, and an elderly friend once told me that she didn't consider it to be a good day if she hadn't learnt some truth, fact, skill or technique before she went to bed at night.

I certainly agree with that, and today at the Creative Fibre Group I belong to, we learnt how to ply from one single bobbin instead of two, which is the way I have always used for too many years to count.

I couldn't wait to return home to have a go on my spinning wheel, and that is what I did this afternoon instead of working in the garden.

It was most enjoyable, Uncle Alan came to visit and sat for a couple of hours recounting his war stories again to me. He only needed a couple of prompts from me and I was transported back in time to 1942, in Italy....Mussolini, partisans, and a love affair with a beautiful young Italian woman ... Mary...the love of his life.

He doesn't usually wear his war medals on a random visit, but he wanted a photo with them to show to a young relative.

Well, back to the spinning..........

The 2ply version...my usual way.

Now this is the Navajo way of plying, using one single.

For me this navajo way of plying and making a fibre was extremely exciting. it involves a technique of making a chain...just like finger crochet.

My first attempt wasn't as even as I would have liked, but I know the next bobbin will be OK.

Today I have learnt the Navajo way AND some fascinating family history!

A Walk Around the Garden

The last few days have been glorious and I have been working hard in the garden, weeding and mulching and planting out perennials for the summer months.

The flowers are soaking up this warmer weather and so am I.

Making a Basket

Over the last three thursdays I have had a fun-filled time with a special group of friends. The three of us have learnt how to make a woven basket.

Our teacher is a weaver and a basket maker and comes from the USA. She put all her tools and cane, knowledge and skills at our disposal and today I have the finished result......

The design is called a Penland Pottery Basket .

We dyed the strips of cane and braided them into the basket once we had made the frame.

This was the model that we tried to match ours to,

The bottom of mine

the inside of the basket,

and it manages to perfectly match the colours in my kitchen....funny that !

Knitting a Unicorn

Our granddaughter Esmae adores unicorns, and she has done for several years now. She is quite obsessive about her love, rather like her cousin Arlo, who has a similar fixation on trains.

I know that if I am to be in their good books and be a wonderful "Supergran" then I should continue to feed these little obsessions. :-)

That is why I stayed up until the early hours of this morning putting the finishing touches to this little chap.

Ian thinks that he looks more like an "Eeyore" than a unicorn. He certainly does have rather a sad, but resigned expression. His one redeeming feature is definitely the handspun wool he is made up with. The wool was beautiful to spin and knit, so the little unicorn is very, very soft and cuddly and smells delicious. I won't be able to hand him over to Esmae's waiting arms until I have knitted a mermaid and a mouse for her little sister....aargh, I don't like knitting toys, or rather I don't like the sewing together and stuffing bit !

Not Another Sock !

As I was getting into the car for an hour long ride yesterday evening, I had another sock moment, which meant that I had to race back inside the house, go to my much drooled over stash of wool and rummage around until I found what I was looking for. ............

which was a beautiful big fat ball of Noro Sock Yarn in bright wizard-like colours. I had originally purchased it from a little wool shop in Battle in East Sussex in the UK, when we visited there in July.

Because I knew I would be a passenger for at least a couple of hours over the weekend, I gleefully cast on for another sock, leaving Esmae's unicorn and Tristan's Cobblestone pullover behind...aah it felt sooooo good!

Knitting socks is the ideal travel knitting when you are sitting in a car for long periods, or boring committee meetings, well actually you don't even have to be sitting, you just need both hands free !

The lovely lady that sold me the wool in The Battle Wool Shop said that "this colourful wool is reputed to be able to produce a pair of socks and a pair of gloves...all from the one skein!"

I am not sure if mine will, I am making the socks extra long. There might be enough left over for fingerless mittens though.

Penguins

The other night I was driving home from a rehearsal in town. We are now rehearsing for Carmina Burana and I was very tired and a bit cold, and thinking about my bed and my pile of library books waiting for me. Our little town is beautifully lit up at night with twinkling lights strung up in the plane trees along the main street and my eye caught the reflection of a blaze of orange in the bookshop window..

This morning I went in to have a look at all the penguins that were being promoted this week.

It brought back a nostalgic memory, as a small child I remember my parents and Aunts and Uncles reading these much loved books.

English seaside summers, flasks of tea and fruitcake, my Grandad burying threepenny bits in the sand for me to dig up, polo mints, tiny Union Jack flags for the sandcastles, Punch and Judy shows, deck chairs, white hairy legs with the trouser cuffs rolled up, orange penguin books ( with NO pictures) stuffed into bags with knitting and warm cardigans, and hankies, oh, and the slightly sicky smell of the inside of our Morris Oxford on the way home.

They first came into being in 1935 and sold for sixpence each. Read all about their early beginnings on Wikipedia.

Of course I couldn't go into my favourite bookshop and come out empty handed and I chose this beautiful classic.

I thought it was a very good buy at $12.95 and I was given a bag to carry it home in. How lucky was that!
I've always loved penguins.