Saturday Morning Cycle

On the road for 7:15am. Dry when I set off but surprisingly it then started raining. (I am being a little sarcastic here)

On my way to the reservoir again to see if I can get round it and home for 9:30.

Cows always wonder what I'm up to.

A fairly unusual sight round here - a field of gold, in this case it's barley.

Made it right round, no problems. A good route, to be added to my list of ones for doing often.

I saw a couple of birds of prey, kestrels I think. I also chased a sheep for a while, it had escaped from the field didn't like to let me past as is their way.

Look, blue sky!

I did choose the worst part of the day weather-wise. Later on the sun came out, I went for a walk with the pram (and N!) and gathered some of these...... which I have now made into my first ever attempt at jam. I used a microwave recipe and it all seemed quite straightforward. I'll test it properly at breakfast tomorrow.

The weather today and Fairy Tales

Our kitchen windows face west giving us a fine view of the incoming weather.

This morning we had lovely blue skies above but rain was forecast yet again. Here come the clouds!

Some random garden moments while making the most of today's sunshine:

A & N playing on the grass. The area in the foreground is is planned to be turned into more veggie patch space by next year.

Only the second ladybird I've seen this year

I don't know what this flower is, it was part of a seed mix we scattered in various places in the garden but I neglected to keep the packet.

The pebbles from our summer holiday are still on the picnic bench. When damp you can clearly see the fossils embedded in many of them.

Following on from my last post where I use other people's beautiful artwork to brighten up my blog, here are photos from another favourite illustrated book. This time it's Fairy Tales and the artist is Jane Ray.

First, some owls; these seem to be developing into a bit of an obsession for me.

Hansel & GretelSnow White

Another gorgeous book I think.

Last night, after looking at Jackie Morris' illustrations for the Barefoot Poems book I visited her Starlight Starbright blog which follows her work for her latest Barefoot book. It begins in February 2007 and I read the blog from start to finish. It was an absolutely fascinating insight into her work as an illustrator, I thoroughly recomend a look - if you've some spare time then get yourself a cuppa & cake and settle down for a great read!

As for today, it's now evening and I'm about to head out for my craft night (hmmm, new needlework cushion cover or ongoing knitted teddy project... ) the rain clouds have well and truly arrived, I may get a little wet, again.

Hand in hand, on the edge of the sand...

It's amazing what you can find while doing the weekly shop these days.
Yet another owl top for A...
...complete with an irresistable cat toy.

The Owl and the Pussycat is a favourite poem. I attempted to recite it to A, but started getting a little muddled by the time I reached the piggywig so I had to go and look it up. I'd bought The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems a while ago. It was intended as a future gift for A but I think I'll just keep it as a family book. The illustrations by Jackie Morris are outstanding. It's truly a gorgeous book.

Here are a few more images from the book.

Not only is it a joy to look at but the selection of poems "create an exquisite collection that traces our journey through life from birth to old age. Along the way, the works of some of the finest poets in the English language celebrate all kinds of human experience: the wide-eyed wonder and adventure of childhood, the magnificence of the natural world and the animal kingdom, the mystery of love and the tragedy of war."


I finish with a couple of photos of N sporting his new hat, as promised.

Vintage Finds

Summer returned today.

While A was at nursery N & I visited our nearby big town. There are several good charity shops there that I like to visit fairly regularly and today we had quite a fruitful trip.


A hand-knitted teacosy and an embroidered placemat. The teacosy made a rather fetching hat for N when we got home (though it is to be used for the teapot - we're not that cruel!). I'm not sure what I'll do with the mat, however it's pretty and was only 49p.


I then got a fantastic tablecloth for £2. It's beatifully embroidered with orange toned flowers.

It needs a clean and an iron but will look smashing on my round garden table whenever I have some civilized company round for outdoor entertaining (ha, we can dream!)


I actually bought these lovely little brass angel candle holders at the car boot sale from a couple of weeks ago but haven't got round to photographing them till now. They were just £1 for the pair and I managed to get candles to fit from good old ebay. I'll put them by for Christmas.

Selkie by Gillian McClure is a beautifully illustrated children's book that was just 50p. I've not read it yet, I just bought it based on the lovely seal pictures:






Then a trip to the poundshop...

... to stock up on some bulbs to plant soon.

We still had some time left, so we visited the abbey.

I have played in a couple of concerts here quite a few years ago now but have never visited as a tourist.

Fantastic doorway.

Just a tiny sample of the many lovely woodcarvings inside.



Beautiful stained glass.

It was a bit of a rushed visit as N was starting to get a little fed up. I'll definitely be going back again soon.