October photo hunting...

When I first saw Kathy's list for this month, I thought it was going to be a relatively easy one; in fact I had a couple in the bag within the first day or two and then... A combination of working long hours and lots going on has seriously cramped my opportunities for photo scavenging and most of the hallowe'eny ones eluded me completely! 

So, again, incomplete list I'm afraid - seriously short on imagination, I think my creative mojo is exhausted for the moment!

I didn't manage sunset (believe it or not, I don't think I have managed one night back from work before dark this month), something eerie, witches hat/broomstick or heritage but here are the rest...

Crunchy leaves

The light in the woods near to us was lovely at the weekend and, although you can't see it so well, the ground is strewn with fallen leaves.

Golden (1)

Golden (2)

Ok, this month's cheat category! I couldn't decide between these two, so you have both. I thought the dandelion was an unseasonal splash of bright golden yellow, but liked the golden light through the much more seasonal autumn leaves.

Fog or mist

Can't remember if I've already posted this photo? This was early in the month with the sun just coming up through thick early morning mist.

A river

This was a pretty river from my brief trip to the Derbyshire Dales.

Black cat

Next door's cat obligingly appeared on their roof of their shed and this photo was snapped with a telephoto lens hanging out of the bedroom window!

Candlelit

Pumpkin

Or pumpkins! We have a great market in our nearest city and these beauties were brightening up the pavement.

Graffiti

This is not a pretty one to finish with but was the only bit of graffiti/street 'art' I saw this month! Not a very arty specimen! Just through the arch was a really lovely park in the pretty town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch so this was kind of a surprise.

Off to have a look and see how others have got on this month!!

Oh just one more photo to end on a nicer one to look at...

Really enjoying the King Cole Riot! Its lovely and smooth, no snagging or splitting and makes lovely soft, drapy fabric. One Christmas pressie completed and another in progress (oh and the ripple sort of on hold again...oops!) - more of that another day!

Sx

first quilt reveal...!!

At risk of being excessive - this is going to be two posts in the same day! Mainly because I feel a need to keep on top of the things I have queuing up to post about and I am away in London for the next couple of days so know I won't have a chance again til the end of the week, by which time I expect there will be something else! I know that sounds a bit mad but I expect you know what I mean!!

Also, this felt like a completely separate thing to the last post and I wanted to keep them that way for clarity...so...on to quilting!!!

It's done!!

This is my first attempt at quilting, inspired by lots of gorgeous examples around blogland. I had been thinking about it for some time and had most of the fabric stashed away for 'when I had time'. Then I decided to just get on with it, with the idea of giving it to a friend who was moving and had been having a bad time.

I'm quite pleased with the end result; ok, should have made it a bit bigger for a double bed, and up close and personal some of the finishing is not perfect (how do people get their corners to mitre perfectly back and front? or do you not bother with that?!!) but overall I'm happy with it.

My only problem is...

...having helped my friend move house the week before last, I now realise this goes with nothing that she has!!! She has a houseful of muted purples, and browns and blues and I think this brightness might look out of place! Worse still, it might just get folded up and put in a cupboard and not used and I'm not sure I can bear the thought of all the work that went into it and it not being used!

Sooo...my dilemma is...do I give it to her anyway? After all, the idea was to give her something made with love for her new home... Or do I keep it, because I like it and it fits in here?!!!

I'm erring on the latter at the moment with a view to collecting the 'right' colours to do another for her - does that seem unreasonable?

I'm tempted to have a go at a quilt pattern I found in this magazine...

The light was a bit rubbish so I didn't take a photo but it has strips of large patches in different sizes - very effective.

I'd never seen this magazine before and it got me very excited! Lots of lovely ideas for projects in here!
Might have to sneak this one in now and again!!!

And one last bit of news for tonight that I just have to share because I'm bursting with it...! Results day finally arrived for my MSc dissertation today and I passed! This last 3 years, studying part-time (with no study leave and no let up at home) has been such a challenge that I can't quite believe its come to an end. I feel as though I have learnt loads and finally (I know this is ridiculous...), finally, I can put to bed my rubbish A-levels and think I must have a reasonable brain after all!!! Yay!

I just can't quite believe my Dad's response was 'what next?'!!! Life, crochet, friends, reading...all that stuff that I've had to squeeze in round the edges!

Til next time then
Sx

mid-month photo and October in the garden...

If you visit here regularly you'll know I've been taking a photo of my garden on 15th of each month to try to get a feel for the changes that happen through the year. I've tried to take it from almost the same place but have to admit that has probably drifted a bit because in January I hadn't anticipated the amount the trees would grow over the year! I am not feeling very inspired by this little project as, to be honest, I realise now that, at least from a distance, my garden looks pretty samey much of the time! So I've tried each month to add some snippets of colour or interest from around the garden and, because I'm not very good at letting things go part way through, I will persevere until the end of the year!

October 15th was bright and crisp and surprisingly difficult to photograph! The sun was very low in the sky and from the house, casting long shadows down the garden which made the light have strong contrasts.

The leaves have gone from several of the trees already and much of the borders are looking a bit tired and tatty. I am working with the theory that its much better for the insects to have somewhere to hide out in the cold weather so am not going to go out and tidy until the spring! I get much more pleasure out of the wildlife than pulling up weeds so it can just stay as it is!

There is a bit of colour out there still...

The late September burst of heat has meant that almost all the tomatoes have ripened this year. Given the huge glut of plum chutney from earlier in the year, probably good we don't have a glut of green tomatoes too!

The sedums are always good value...

and the creeper and the holly berries add a splash of red to brighten things up...

From the bottom of the garden the sun was just beginning to appear over the top of the roof and the sun was streaming down...

I'm not good with this time of year. I hate the approach of winter with its dark mornings and evenings and am permanently cold. It makes me feel as though I'm meant to go into some dormant state somewhere until the sun comes out again (this could be 6 months in the UK!). But when I look at these pictures I realise that even on the cold days there is sunshine and colour and that lifts my spirits. This year I am going to try very hard to look for the lovely bits to keep me going - there are things I love, candlelit evenings, crisp winter walks, snuggly blankets, warming winter soups, family time... I just need to keep reminding myself its not all grey and cold!

Sx

Derbyshire dales...

Thanks for lovely comments on my last couple of posts - seems there are a few people out there enjoying the rippling fest that is going on in blogland at the moment! I feel encouraged to keep going with it!

A couple of weeks ago I managed to escape for a couple of days to Derbyshire, partly to visit son 2 who is living and working just south of Derby and partly because I had a burning desire to walk up hills! I know that sounds a bit daft but when you live in East Anglia hills are in very short supply and, for me anyway, nothing beats that satisfaction of getting to the top of a hill/mountain. I love that sense of achievement, combined with the feeling of the world spread out beneath you. Even small peaks have this effect on me, it might be just a valley or a small patch of countryside beneath me but it still takes my breath away for a few minutes (or maybe that's just my lack of fitness climbing the hill???!!!).

Unfortunately, this was the week the weather was just beginning to turn and so it was a bit grey and windy but undeterred I set off at 8am when S was heading off to work and was in the Dales and walking by 9am.

Not the most auspicious start to a footpath...

However, I set off past the gents and the path soon opened out...

It really wasn't a difficult path to follow but very pleasant through a gentle valley and through young woodland...

...past a bubbling stream...

The odd sheep gave me a cursory glance as I walked past...

Believe it or not, this bit was steeper than it looks...!

I had to stop at the top of this bit for what is known in our family as a 'tactical gawp'!! Once I'd got my breath back I followed the path into a track that passed a derelict barn...

and then this wide spread of countryside appeared...

Not dramatic, in the way that the Lake District or the Scottish Highlands are, but very easy on the eye all the same, even with grey skies. I don't think the photos really do it justice.

More animal life...

Isn't the brown one in the middle pretty?! (or is that just me?!!)

Just as I was beginning to hallucinate about tea and cake (essential component of any good English walk, I always feel!), this appeared, with a sign just out of shot that said cafe!!!

This is a Jacobean mansion, which for many years now has been Hartington Youth Hostel - and made a great cup of tea!!

I had a bit of a dilemma at this point as, according to my little book of 'Circular walks in the Derbyshire Dales' this first walk should have taken about 5 hours. I was sipping my tea ten minutes from the starting point at 11.30 so I think this was something of an underestimation! I do like to stride out and feel I've had a proper leg stretch but I don't walk that fast!! A quick look at the OS map and I decided to head a bit further North and satisfy that 'Up' itch! So back in the car and up towards Macclesfield to walk up a little peak called Shutingsloe. 

I took the approach from the South East, from a little village called Wildboarclough from where you could see the hill across the valley...

This was a short sharp walk - the top is only just over 500m, but you are rewarded with great views across Cheshire and even in the rather bleak skies that day it was worth it...

It was sooo windy up here, I could barely keep on my feet or hold the camera still! But it certainly blew a few cobwebs away and was just what I needed.

The next morning dawned brighter but very cold - one of those crisp autumn mornings - so I just took a quick trip into Ashby-de-la-Zouch before heading back across to Norfolk. This is a pretty little market town and lovely to walk round early. The light was lovely on the castle...

and the fallen leaves were glowing in that low Autumn sunshine...

And... to top my couple of days, I found a very cute little crafty shop with some yummy yarns so it had to be done...

This is King Cole Riot DK - a wool and acrylic blend - and is just so soft and scrumptiously squishy. I have Christmas presents in mind and bought a pattern (I think this is the first time I've ever bought a crochet pattern, other than the odd book)...

I have a couple of people in mind for these scarves - perfect projects for the next couple of train trips to London I thought! Will let you know how I get on! 

I have loads more to share but feel this has gone on long enough! Will try to catch up with myself over the next couple of days - I have this months garden pics and some finished objects to share with you, plus update on the rippling...

Ripple update...

Not sure why but the photo of my Big Ripple Blanket seems to have disappeared off my last post. And, irritatingly, I can't find it again! I'm sure its somewhere, filed in a folder called crafty pics, or colourful pics, or home pics... The trouble is, when I file things away (virtual or otherwise) it makes perfect sense to me at the time - its only later that the brain fails to engage with the filing system...

Anyway thought I'd post a few photos of my very slow progress on the ripple...

9th January 2011, things started quite well! By 15th January, I had got this far...

Then I sort of lost my mojo for rippling, got sidetracked by other things and suspect it wasn't much bigger when I took this photo in April...

Little bit more rippling in June, but it was way too hot really to sit outside with a blanket on your lap!

Thing went a bit dormant for a while again then just lately I've picked it up and given myself a bit of a talking to! Spurred on by Heather and Lucy's Ripple-along, I'm determined to get this done!

This was todays photo...

It is already quite big and heavy, but I really wanted it to be a Big Ripple Blanket and cover a double bed so...onwards!

Heather and Lucy's flickr group has loads of lovely ripply photos so if that's your thing...

Happy rippling!

Sx