Away …..

…… just getting some sunshine on a family holiday :-)

more photos when we get home.

Things that made me smile this week….

……. making a present as a thank you. I love making these clip bags as they are so useful for so many things,

eating lots of good food over the Easter break with friends and family  - tabbouleh today for lunch,

C's breakfast dippy egg - she is now back from Leipzig and it is lovely to have her home for a while,

eating loads and loads of purple sprouting broccoli fresh from the garden,

feeding the pig at my friends farm,

 watching the seedlings grow,

being so excited by the figs starting to appear on the fig tree I was given for my birthday last year  - the plant is in the green house and I had to put a sheet as a backdrop to get a photo as it is very bright today

finding violets in the hedgerow on our walk ….

 ….and these lovely young ferns emerging.

Hope you have had lots to smile about too.

'Jamaica Inn' on the TV

Back in October I blogged about a town nearby to where I live being used as a film set for part of the new BBC adaptation of Jamaica Inn. Well, on Monday evening (21st April) the first part of three episodes will be shown on BBC 1 starting at 9pm. I don't know how much of our town will be featured, but it will be good to watch and see!

This is how the town square looks on a normal day - used as a car park and there is a lovely market on a Thursday…..

…… and here it is again during the filming

I've booked my place by the TV for tomorrow night to watch!

Happy Easter

Crochet catch up and a sunny walk

A little update on my crochet endeavours. I'm really getting my confidence now and trying out new patterns. I saw this pattern on The Sewing Wren, where Jay had used the blocks to make a little bird - go have a look it is really cute. I just thought I would see if I could manage to make this African flower hexagon pattern, and I'm so pleased with my success!

I'm still enjoying making the other squares for a blanket and the pile is slowly growing - just picking up the yarn and hook when I have time.

The weather has been so wonderfully warm these last few days I've been trying to get out in the garden and out and about with our dog. We have had a couple of lovely walks on a nearby fell. The larch trees are looking a lovely fresh green as they start to get their new needles.

We had some very inquisitive sheep watching us on our upward climb...

 It was just so nice being out in the sunshine, with the curlews calling and hearing the bees buzzing - there did seem to be a lot of bees around for some reason. I'm not sure what this little bird is, but we got very close before it flew away.

….and then finally at the top, where the walking is much easier. Beanie must have traveled miles, far further than I had walked. He just loves to run and run, and I love to see his ears flapping as he goes - once the bracken starts to grow you only see his head and ears appearing every so often as he runs.

He always makes it to the top before me!

This photo is for M as she is missing her dog now she is living away.

Then back down again from the top, looking into the valley towards the village of Barbon.

I hope you are enjoying the sunshine too, or having warm autumnal days if you are in the southern hemisphere!

Little Lambs

Just back from my friends farm where we were feeding the orphan lambs. She has quite a few this year - they are so tiny, and very bouncy and climbing over each other to get at the bottle. This little one was very sulky and wouldn't join in the fun.

I love this time of year!

'Felt Through Contact' - Viltkontaktgroep 20 Years On

This is the current exhibition at Farfield Mill, which is on until 21 April.  I actually went to see the exhibition a few weeks ago - Viltkontaktgroep is the Dutch Felting Association formed in 1991with ten members and now there are over 500 members who meet twice a year in different parts of the Netherlands.

Swine - Ditty van der Elst

Farfield Mill is the only place in the UK hosting this exhibition showing the work of 53 of the members of Viltkontaktgroep.

Dress - Charity Van De Meer

There is a wide range of items on display from wall hangings, pots, ball dresses, curtains, jewellery showing all sorts of felting techniques.

To the West of the Sun - Elly Poldervaart

I'm just showing a few of the pieces I enjoyed - but there are many other inspiring pieces.

Open Space in Woods - Adrian Salome

Hedgehog - Ditty van der Elst

Large Wall Object No 5 - Kitty Korver

Durable Coat - Karin Goeman

Worth a visit if you are in the area.