#thirty seven

I told you there was a lot of crochet!

Number thirty seven

is a doily

#thirty six

There's a lot of crochet at the moment!

I made this shawl for

my neighbour Charis.

She loved a similar one 

I made for myself,

so now she has her own.

I love the muted colours

with just a little pop of bright.


I used this pattern
with a few changes to the border
as I was short of wool

http://www.thelittlebee.co.nz/patterns/sunday-shawl/

This morning I've been
listening to
Fleetwood Mac
and wearing my Stevie Nicks skirt

#thirty five

My friend Becky

is here on holiday

from South Africa

and we are all so excited to see her!

At home she has a gorgeous caravan

that she and her husband Richard

have rescued and restored....

...and every caravan has to have

a crocheted blanket!

I adapted this pattern from Drops

http://garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=6231&lang=us

So this is number thirty five

a gift to Becky x

This is a cushion of mine

the material is from Birch Fabrics

and the design by Jay-Cyn Designs

#thirty four

My two favourite lifestyle magazines

 arrived in the post yesterday,

Oh Comely and In Clover.

In Clover promotes 

offline interests and slow living.

The photography in it is stunning.

I can't wait to get cosy-comfy on the sofa

and have a browse at the dreamy pictures.

http://www.readinclovermagazine.com/about/

Oh Comely is also lovely 

and a bit more quirky and fun.

I am very proud to be able to list 

my make number thirty four

as a photograph I took 

which has been printed in 

Issue 25 which is all about weather.

They asked for photographs

of clouds that look like something.

Mine is the pale one

on the top row of the left-hand page.

It was taken from my kitchen window

and looks like a bride with her veil billowing in the wind.

http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/

Listening

It seems like ages since I wrote a blog post,

so hi there, hope you are all ok.

I've been doing a lot of listening 

this last week.

Mostly programmes on Radio 4.

Soul Music, which told the tale

of the origins of the folk song

Scarborough Fair.

The Simon & Garfunkel version

is one of my favourite songs.

Folk of the Pennines,

a three-parter which speaks to people

along the Peninne Way

and included singing by Kate Rusby

and the writer/poet Simon Armitage.

There was a lovely programme on BBC4,

Dawn Chorus.

The sound recordist Chris Watson

filmed birdsong at three locations at dawn.

It was lovely and so peaceful to listen to.

Another thing I've been hearing

as well as the real dawn chorus 

from all of the birds that live around my house,

is the screeching of foxes in the dene.

I have been woken twice in the night

by blood-curdling screaming.

It took a while to realise what it was,

 I think it is Mrs Fox calling out,

I don't think she'll find a fella that way,

she sounds like a fishwife!!!!

So its been a busy time for my ears.

I'm listening to the Fleet Foxes album

Helplessness Blues

while typing, its seems apt!

The merry, merry month of May

Today is the first of May,

May Day, Beltane.

I didn't get up at dawn 

and wash my face with dew

but I did

sow some Honesty seeds

and pick a few

Primula Auricula

flowers to press.

The Honesty won't flower

until next spring,

but that is something

to look forward to

and then I can dry 

the beautiful seed pods