touching, funny, sad, weird, sweet

~ The Beauty and I finally washed her shells from the beach



~ I admitted to myself that after seven years of it being on needles I am never going to actually knit sleeves. So it's a tank top vest-thing (and finally is being worn by one of my children, which was its' whole point to start with). It looks like exactly what it is but never mind I can live with it :)









~ The hens are laying, this is a good thing as I was on the verge of murder (or murderous thoughts at least) after wondering for the zillionth time when they might earn their keep. Incidentally even though I am not keeping any sort of tally, they are WAY behind on that score, they'll never repay their debt incurred so they owe me their lives... mwah-ha-ha...





~ I am knitting a Pebble Vest (from the Thrifty Knitter), my first and am gloriously and carelessly way behind everyone else who knits and blogs online who have made handfuls. It's for a friend's as yet unborn newborn and is in a merino/bamboo mix yarn by Colinette; Mardi Gras colourway. It looks very hippy when knitted up but never mind, it's soft enough that this can be ignored.



~ I bought another friend this skein of deep orange wool for a present, it is much more orange than this pictures shows. I like it quite a lot so I wonder if she will actually receive it :)



~ She wanted to mop, so we mopped.







~ She is still the best of friends with King of the Cats; George. They often share chairs.



~ We did the table top art thing which is quite well liked here. What I like is to see how differently they all do it and how it kind of reflects bits of their personalities - Felix in pencil, a tiny detailed careful drawing. Isaac thinks for a while, gets an idea, carries it out, is finished and moves off to do something else. Esmé uses lashings of whatever medium I set before her, spreads herself far and wide and encroaches on everyone else's space (and sometimes patience). For thriftiness I use wallpaper lining paper and usually turn it over and use the other side or else I snip out select bits and use them later for decorating birthday cards and such.













~ I have a cold. But I am loving this clean crisp dry coldness outside, such a welcome change from the perpetual damp so far this winter. I was able to hang out washing to dry, first time this year, watched the chickens peck about and Esmé singing, pushing the swing and running all over. Then the frost came (nothing actually dried) the washing looked all magically dusted.





~ There are actual snowdrops all over in the garden and other bulbs poking up. Momentous signs that life is still going on. One minute I look and think, wow, the next I am all, oh well of course; that's what happens. But mostly I am all, wow. I feel overawed sometimes that I am the only person that sees these particular ones (is this perfect display really just for me?). They are hidden and wild and beautiful.





~ I watched this film last night, Paris, Je t'aime it was very good. Touching, funny, sad, weird, sweet. Sometimes you want to read a few short stories (I like Helen Dunmore ones for this urge), film wise this is a good choice. But it's mostly subtitled so if you knit whilst film watching (as I do) and don't speak or understand much French (as I don't) you may not get much kitting done (I didn't).

true love

swansea bay

I think every colour in the spectrum is right there: mid-winter Wales



Swansea Bay, drizzle and delight, all mixed in. We were the only ones there (it seemed), which means our shell collection is now hefty.

















The Egyptian Centre was quite a hit





Mummifying





Descending to the underworld





In the land of the living, The Beauty scribbles furiously; rubbings of a stone (with my help holding paper).

kiss me, I am not broken

Kiss me,
I am not broken
the words that tumble from their mouths
or are written on paper
are not true
I am whole
and perfect
I will roll through the misty dunes
suck on blades of grass
and push my hands deep in to the wet sand
you can find me
if you really look
the same as ever
better,
because I know things now
that you have never had to dream of
you may argue with me, I give you permission
I will not shatter into a million pieces
no matter how far I fall
like I said,
I am whole
and totally perfect

a salute to the dawn

Sometime in November The Fox took our cockerel. We like to think he was protecting his ladies, he always did fuss about; circling them and running over when one called and clucked. He would stand guard over any food or tasty morsel and call until they came running - letting them eat before he did. He crowed in the mornings, a strange moaning sort of crow, not anything sprightly or 'normal' sounding, but still, he had character and we all enjoyed his oddities and strutting body. He stuck his neck out one to many times, apparently though, and met his fatal end. The fox then picked off the ladies one by one until with only three hens left (one grown chick from our summer breeding session and two mothers) we finally locked them up in their smaller run.



Yesterday we brought home a new Cock. He is splendidly handsome and massive, with large black tail feathers and a rich green-petrol sheen. He is utterly hen-pecked. He had to leave his last home as every hen and duck in the place tried to kill him (weird... and why?). So although he looks brutish he is very timid. He seems to think he is human rather than a bird and spent the day running from the hen-run and skiting down to huddle near the front door. After two months Cock-less (ha, sorry, couldn't resist) I totally forgot that they wake you up rather early with their crowing. Wow. This Man has the most amazing trill. A proper throaty crow. I sat up in the half-dark-morning light and listened enraptured for a minute and lay back down, turned over and sighed back into sleep, smiling. Um, or tried to. He just continued to crow non stop ALL DAY and put an end to more sleep for me. Maybe he feels lost or something but, whoa, he is NOISY.



I do so like the Life Force that moves such a creature to salute the dawn like this so. So thoroughly each and every day. To feel the pull of the sun, the forces of life, the earthly-day stirring and to raise one's head to sing out. Tr, la la. I'd do so too (in theory) only I like my bed far too much to get out of it.

My dh is always well and truly up by the time the cock crows, in fact as we all rose today he was in London. I find these sorts of feats quite astonishing on his behalf. Where? I ask into the phone all fuzzy headed still at 10am with PJ's on.... London you say? Or Scotland? Really? It's like he is telling me he is on the moon or something. I'd scratch my head and mumble so all the same if he did. London seems about as far away and foreign as the moon sometimes to me, here, mired in mud and thinking about soup, play-dough and hens.... although obviously it's just a quick train ride away... or something like that, I never quite know..... I'll ask The Man when he finishes chopping wood... and don't I just love that too! That one minute he has on a suit and has a mobile in his hand and other such nonsense that I know little about and the next he is wearing work boots and has an axe in hand. Lovely. Amazingly though this time of year he is rarely at home in daylight hours, which means I had to actually show him a photo of the new Cockerel. Which is kind of odd. Still after the weekend no doubt they will be on intimate terms.



Inspired by this cuteness here and here I made The Beauty a little suitcase filled with play-dough tools and a new chunk of turquoise play-dough. I love making play-dough, it makes me feel like I am a Good Parent (at least for the five minutes of making anyway). She certainly likes the importance of having everything assembled in one place rather than us trawling through the play kitchen and real kitchen for all the bits she usually requires. I am going to keep my eyes open for bits and pieces in charity shops such as costume jewellery and belt buckles and other odds and ends to add in too.





As you can see I have also been painting up lots more tiny dolly's. They are very nice to hold, a good weight and smooth texture. What can I say other than I can be easily satisfied (which is a Very Good Thing no doubt). They are just like these I made earlier (and now I sound like a Blue Peter host). I now need to sew more little pocket/bed wraps for them. This is the sort of thing I think even adult females would like to have. I certainly pop them in and out and arrange them often enough. But probably I am just weird.



Inspired by the artful parent I cut random holes in several sheets of paper, some tiny circles, some rectangles, some off centre squares (took me about 30 seconds in total for all) with the idea of drawing to incorporate the hole somehow. The boys took to it straight away.





The Beauty and a friend threaded some monkey nuts for the birds.



At our friend's house there are some lovely views, we go each week nearly and I love looking at their 'treasures' outside on a table.


















Indoors I attempt the impossible - trying to read with a girl on my knee... :)