Friday, December 21

the changing year



Although the solstice is not until tomorrow, the evenings are imperceptibly longer. Sunset was 3.31pm today - on the 19th it was 3.30pm.



These are views from the back of our garden, showing the lower slopes of the hill behind our house, and looking south-west towards the distant Black Isle (below).


Quilting

We have had a heavy frost all this week. This is currently in my hoop, and keeping me cosy by the fireside. It is a baby quilt with 35 4-patches made from a single charm pack - the 4-patches measure 3.5"square as I have to cut off the edges before I start. I wanted the sashing to be heavily quilted, but what I have done is too busy for my liking, and I have some changes in mind for the next 'round'.



'Under the Stars' came out from its resting-place a couple of weeks ago, and I quilted a diamond pattern in the borders. I had put the stars in two of the corners last year, not with a great deal of success. It's difficult with a hoop to keep the 3 layers evenly stretched in the corners. Next time I will use many more pins! Now I need to remember where I put the binding fabric...

Friday, December 7

Anticipation...

This very large parcel arrived for me today. A Christmas present from R!

I had to open it, to make sure the contents were OK.


Inside I found a large quantity of this:

one of these:


some books and odds and ends, and...


One of these!

It's a Christmas present, I can't use it just yet. But I can read the instructions.

...maybe I could just practice treadling though? When no-one is around??

Thursday, December 6

New Cooker



This is our new cooker. I've been meaning to post a photo for a while now. It is a refurbished pre-1970s model which we had brought up from somewhere near Birmingham, I think. We have had a few teething problems, but are getting on top of them now, I think. It burns (guzzles) oil, which is generally a bad thing - but we will only run her for 6 months of the year, and will change to a different fuel when it becomes available locally. Having this thing running makes a huge difference to our house. It was rather miserable here last winter. This year, for a few reasons, things are much better.

Oh and she makes great tasting food!

MeMe

Veronica tagged me.

And I'd hoped to slip under the radar!

Let me see:

4 Jobs I Had

1. Played in a string quartet when I was at school - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Scott Joplin and that sort of thing. We weren't terribly good, but made some pocket money (it seemed a lot to me at the time) playing at weddings and other events. My first job!

2. Strawberry picker. This was the summer I left school, in the Scottish Highlands, far from home. It was a lot of fun. Later that summer I went to Kent to help with the hop harvest and pick apples. That was fun too.

3. As a student I had a summer job for a couple of years in a hotel in the highlands. It was on the far side of a loch from the local village, and you could only really access it by motor launch. It was a small hotel; 8 rooms, and at one point I counted 12 staff! Not including the proprietors! I had various jobs - dishwashing, doing the rooms, cleaning the kitchen, serving the pre-dinner drinks. I was even entrusted with some kitchen tasks! (chopping parsley, whipping cream, stirring porridge, making toast, baking cookies and cheese biscuits if I recall). This is where I learned about what would, this year, eventually become my cooker (post to follow).

4. Hospital doctor. Less said...

Right, I've had enough of the meme! And I'm sure I'd get even more boring as I go on...