Of green and growing things...

What a week it's been. The vintage and handmade market is over and done with (Hallelujah!) and I'm slowly recovering from the sheer effort of producing prints, making lists, packing boxes and lugging them up and down from the car.

Good Things about the experience:

Meeting a few people who follow my blog (including Sarah from 5 Ladybird Lane)

Spending time with my fellow makers and sellers

Being approached by a gallery in the Lakes who'd like to stock my prints (!!!)

Eating some delicious brownies and macarons.

Bad Things about the experience:

Falling over on Friday afternoon - yes, I was sober - and making a complete mess of my knee

Selling lots on the Saturday and taking very little on the Sunday, which meant overall making the most modest of profits

People taking sneaky photos of my work on their mobiles when they thought I wasn't looking (what's that all about?)

The lugging of boxes from the car and back. Many trips up and down a hill, across a footbridge and along an icy path.

So I've decided not to do that particular venue again. However, I will be here next month. It was recommended to me by a lovely couple selling handmade birds and little houses, so I'll see how it goes.

I've done two fairs now and both times have been situated alongside Chris. She's a florist and has a great eye for vintage vessels which she uses as planters. Old biscuit tins, flour bins, vases and pots - all planted up with bulbs and herbs and succulents and flowers. This time around she had fritillaries and ferns too. She always draws a crowd and it's not hard to see why.

I've had my eye on these wall hangings since the previous market. There are two of them. They're the sort of car boot sale find I dream about.

The picture above also shows some artwork I did recently for Jen, who writes the Little Birdie website and blog. We met when I stayed in the Yorkshire Dales with a group of bloggers and we really hit it off. She's starting a collaborative project called Gather. Harvest. Feast which celebrates local and seasonal produce, so I was happy to create the illustration for her logo.

In other news: Jay and I have volunteered to help clear up the school vegetable plot. No, it's not a cynical move to try and secure Joe a place there (I submitted my application for that months ago). 

He goes to playgroup there on a Monday afternoon and the mum who runs it told me the plot's been very neglected. So we stepped forward and are sharing the overhaul with another parent. It's only a hop, skip and jump from the house so we basically go along at the weekend or in the evening and do a bit then leave a note in the journal which resides in the polytunnel.

I made my first visit there yesterday. Joe was with his grandparents and I thought I'd have a look and assess things. Of course, I ended up weeding one of the beds (above). Plenty of caterpillars, grubs and tiny snails were removed along with a LOT of weeds. My hands were filthy by the end of it.

It's a shame the place has been let go, really. There are signs it was once loved and used.

The rocket's happy enough though, as is the parsley. But it does need a lot of attention. It'll be a good place to take Joe during the holidays as he'll be fenced in safely. Although when Jay took him there on Saturday he kept messing around with the water butt and turning the tap on.

It seems that flooding the bathroom a few months ago hasn't put him off.

The weather's still pretty changeable but we're getting some lovely sparkly mornings. Washing's being hung out and the first lamb has arrived. I'll take a photograph as soon as I get the chance.

The forecast's not looking great for tomorrow but I'm still taking Joe on an expedition. We're going collecting wild garlic from the woods and some nettle tops for soup. I need to up my iron intake. Looking through the pictures of the school veg plot I noticed a clump of them growing in a raised bed. So I'll harvest those (providing I remember to take gloves this time).

Everything seems to be about plants, flowers and gardening at the moment. Which is how it should be, I suppose, at this time of year. The outdoors keeps calling.

Jay gets up at 6am for work each day and often goes out into the garden with the camera before leaving, so this last photo is one of his. Shame I can't add the cockerel crowing but trust me, sometimes I could tape its beak up. It wakes Joe who in turn wakes me. A lie-in would be a wonderful thing.

 Have a great weekend... Hope you spend some (or most) of it outdoors.

Changeable

Crazy weather. Rain, sleet, sunshine, gusty winds.

It's a season of changeability and contrasts; one minute you're out digging in the garden and the next you're curled up indoors again with the lamps on.

I've been feeling a bit changeable of late too. Nothing deep or profound; just little things I'm noticing. Quite trivial really. Like suddenly liking (craving, even) foods I always steered clear of in the past. Goat's cheese. Parsley. The former has really surprised me. I'm not a fussy eater but I really disliked the flavour of it for years. The latter - ditto. And now I'm treating it as a salad leaf in its own right.

Like I said, trivial.

I'm also getting very much into the printmaking side of my artwork. I still love making detailed drawings and watercolours but right now it's all about ink and rollers and pressed leaves.

My standard uniform of jeans has evolved a little too. I've always liked the odd dress or skirt but I bought some trousers - not smart, formal ones but a khaki pair and I like them a lot. Despite them being a bit big. Or maybe because they are. Next stop: elasticated waistbands? No, not really - although there are few things better than woolly tights or leggings if you're lounging around of an evening.

Anyway... the garden is slowly starting to take shape. Jay's worked especially hard on clearing and wall-building (there are a lot of stones and it made sense to re-use them). Joe follows closely behind at all times. He basically wants to be his dad. It's heartbreakingly cute to watch.

I took a woodland walk last week, alone and on the lookout for things to bring home and press. There isn't too much about just yet for that. Slim pickings.

But along the waysides and in the woods, there's a lot going on. The wild garlic has arrived. The bluebells will be next. Birds are singing and nesting and flitting about.

Joe and I regularly go out for a walk - sometimes just out of the garden gate and through the fields. Sometimes into the village and around the churchyard. He likes to sit on a bench like a little old man and comment on the clouds and the headstones.

We find out in a few weeks whether he's got a place at the village school. He should; we live probably a hundred yards from it. He wouldn't even need to cross the road. And I didn't put a second or third choice on the form - not out of complacency, but because he only turns four on the 29th August and will be so little when he starts. The next closest school is pretty big and he wouldn't know anyone who goes.

So if it's a 'no' then we'll end up having to appeal. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. 25 places, 12 applications from siblings of current pupils (yes, I've pestered the head teacher in my panic). She was reassuringly, well, reassuring.

We're still well-stocked with Easter eggs and various chocolate animal parts. There are more to come this weekend. Not that I'll be around for most of it. 

I enjoy the meeting other sellers bit of craft markets but the run-up and 6am starts and driving and loading/unloading is pretty tough. I do it alone as Jay has to stay home with Joe. So please don't think me a miserable sod for looking forward to next week when it's all over.

I've been printmaking today while Joe's at preschool. I'm going to frame some of the ones I'm happy with, then do an inventory of all the stock. And that'll be it for actually making stuff. Between now and Saturday it's all about making lists, packing boxes, checking emails, sorting out a float and painting the pegboard I bought for my display. 

Our incredibly late Easter holidays start on Monday. Two weeks of Joe and me, no craft fairs to worry about for a while... I'm really hoping for some dry weather.

And that'll be a great excuse to escape into Pinterest and look up outdoor play ideas. I already have a miniature treasure hunt planned using matchboxes. He'll love that. And so will I.

See you on the other side!

P.S. I'll be here if you're anywhere nearby...

March

With seaside visits, handmade markets and Easter it's been an eventful month. So, lots of photographs and a list of goings-on from my little corner of the blogosphere. This March has seen us:

Visiting garden centres and farm shops for food and inspiration...

Planting things in the first cleared bit of the garden. Wild or native trees and shrubs (blackthorn, hawthorn, dog rose)...

Eating with family. Lamb on Easter Sunday followed by a layered rhubarb dessert (homemade ginger biscuits, stewed rhubarb, whipped cream)...

Laughing at the things Joe comes out with. And wondering where his turns of phrase come from, particularly beginning his statements with 'I expect...' or 'I'm afraid...' He sounds quite gentrified. Although he spends a lot of time with his finger up his nose too.

Watching Gardener's World, The People Versus OJ Simpson (I know, I know) and a really good 3-part series on Queen Victoria's children.

Experimenting with more printmaking.

Enjoying spending time with Joe after preschool. There's a little play area at the local farm shop which is elevated and a complete sun trap on a bright afternoon. He makes friends with the other little people there; I sit and watch as he plays on the mini tractors and the slide.

Worrying about the next handmade market in two weeks. So much to do, so little time, hence:

Writing a lot of lists, and

Using my diary more than ever before. Also:

Regretting just how much chocolate I've eaten lately. Easter egg for breakfast did seem like a good idea at the time, though...

Observing the garden coming to life. We have lots of bird activity - mostly blue-tits, goldfinches, starlings, sparrows and robins. And the snowdrops are giving way to muscari and miniature daffodils. The hellebore and Fritillaria Imperialis are flowering and the magnolia buds are getting ready to open...

Hoping for better weather. A few blue, hazy days have since disappeared and the gloom, gales and rain are back...

Remembering my mum. And missing her. Particularly as I was preparing the family meal on Sunday and gazing out of the kitchen window, wishing she could join us all.

Trying a new approach to wellbeing. I've been diagnosed as 'borderline' underactive thyroid, which would explain a great deal. I have to go back to the doctor for more blood tests in a few months, but in the meantime I've had a few consultations with a medical herbalist. I'm a great believer in homeopathy and the whole 'You are what you eat' philosophy. Although herbal medicine does taste beyond horrible.

Baking seasonally. Not for me (I ran out of gluten free flour) but for others. Easter spice biscuits. I made the dough, my niece cut the shapes out and everyone but me got to enjoy them...

Reading a new book: The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell. I'm only just at the beginning so the jury's out just now. But I did, regrettably, finish The Victorian House: Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed and am now hungry for more books on domestic life during the last century-and-a-bit.

Needing some more space to work in...

Tiring of my lovetolerate/hate relationship with Facebook. It drives me mad, all the pointless and inane stuff people post on there. And if I want politics I'll buy a newspaper. But is it a necessary evil if you want to run and promote a business of your own? Sigh...

Coveting nice things for the garden. Mock currant bushes, a rocking bench on which to escape into a pleasant trance, a shed to prettify...

Waiting feverishly for that oh-so rare combination: a sunny day with no Joe around, so I can paint some furniture outside. Mustard and teal and an almost grubby shade of pink.

And:

Looking forward to April. Well, once the next craft fair's over and done with. We've got two weeks where preschool's closed for Easter (it's a very strange holiday year) and I'm praying the sun comes out and the mercury rises.

The next post will be shorter, I promise.

Have a wonderful April.

The Colour Collaborative: March: Egg

I've been thinking about this month's Colour Collaborative post for a little while now. And suddenly Easter's almost upon us, with the egg hunts and the chocolate and the crazy preschool holiday schedule.

Ordinarily, I think about eggs in terms of eating them. Joe loves them scrambled. I always have them in the kitchen for baking or pancakes. We're fortunate in that a few doors down, there's a farmyard where we can buy eggs laid by the very hens that strut about outside our garden gate. The eggs are huge with orange yolks.

I also think that eggs herald the retreat of winter and signify for me the lengthening days of spring. All that nest-building and birdsong... It's enough to gladden the heart, even on a old and grey day.

We did an egg hunt in the village church on Monday. All those little foil-covered treats hidden in the shadows amongst the pews. The little ones loved it. Pink and blue, yellow and green. And at the end (just in case they hadn't had their fill of chocolate): a big Cadbury's egg each in that unmistakable purple packaging.

Personally, I'd prefer the real thing. Eggs from wild birds with all the marks and spots and subtle shades Nature has given them. I'm fascinated by illustrations from old books of bird's eggs in all shapes, sizes and hues. Those in the photographs are actually quail's eggs which I blew a few years ago. So not quite wild, but pretty nonetheless. And incredibly fragile. I tried painting them pale blue but only have watercolours and it won't adhere. Maybe this Easter's project could be dyeing some instead.

Don't forget to visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts, just click on the links below.

Annie Cholewa

Gillian at Tales from a Happy House

CJ at Above the River

Jennifer at Thistlebear

What is The Colour Collaborative?

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.