In the spirit at last!

I was beginning to get a bit worried that I was just going to mope around mumbling 'Bah Humbug' over Christmas as I have not had any festive spirit in me for weeks now. I dont know why as I love Christmas and the feeling you get on the run up to the day. Maybe its because I just feel as if I have been rushing from one task to the next with no time to enjoy all that festive joy thats been floating around or maybe I am just getting to become a grumpy old bag!

Well today I thought, come on put out some decorations (I had not even bothered to buy a tree!) and went up to the orchard and chopped off a few of the old apple tree branches that are covered in lichen, stuck them in a pot and got going in a very half hearted way. Then I thought why not put some fairy lights on them and delved into the tangled mess of wire and lights in my christmas bag. As I pulled them out of the bag and they clacked together the smell and noise of them brought on a rush of joyous spirit, yipee at last I feel like christmas, who would have thought something so simple would spark me off! So now I am madly decorating the house before its too late.

I had this little doll in a box and who would have thought she would look so cute on the back of a little old bear.

Latest painting, does look a bit christmassy.

Nearly finished the mantle in the sitting room, a few little gaps to fill still.

Put some of my collection of toy animals on the tiny shop I bought from Liz in the spare room.
A row of little dollies, now on sale in The Sea Garden.

And heres to wish you a very Merry Christmas with love and joy to you all. See you all next year!

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.

I went for a walk on a winters day. Although the sea is a big draw for me, I still in my heart am a country girl and I love nothing more, especially in the winter, than to wander round the lanes around and about near our home. The sky was dark grey when I started out, the clouds reaching down to the land but as so often in Cornwall it all changed in a moment and the sun broke through shining through the last of the autumn leaves.

So here for you to enjoy are a few of the lanes of Cornwall, with a few little treats on the way.

Snapped Up

As promised, probably a lot sooner than you expected, here are a few of the lovely things I snapped up at Shepton. I was amazed to find another little fox terrier on wheels the same or a little smaller than the one Niky bought from me for her darling handmade bears to ride on. I have done a little restoration on him and still need to find a bit of black wool to re- stitch his nose, his little friend the lamb is a bit loved but still cute.

I just love push along and pull along toys especially horses, isnt the little one a darling? Mrs Henny is a bit worse for wear and does not cluck when her wheels go round any more and her wings dont flap to good but she is such a decorative little thing.

I saw this dolls bed and although it is not all original and I suspect the headboard is the base of a mirror I could not resist it and have made a mattress and pillow for it and used a piece of an antique worn out quilt as a cover that looks just right.

A wonderful dolls wedding dress on its own little hanger, lovely shiny silk with tiny pearl buttons all hand stitched.

Another great find, sold as prints these are original fashion drawings and paintings by a lady called Phyllis Russell spanning from 1900 to 1930, a very good hand did these and just wonderful that they are one offs, it would be great if some of the dresses were actually made.

A bit scruffy but very nostalgic print in that wonderful schoolroom style.

This is a brilliant find. This quilt about the right size for a single bed is unfinished and I should think, just been kept folded up in a drawer till now. Its lovely just for its bright little patches but the best thing about it is on the back. The paper templates are in the main still all there and made up from what looks like very old kitchen accounts, each piece has snippets of lists for bread, milk, butter and so on. It is a real piece of social history and I am in a dilemma as to what to do with it......any suggestions?

I am hoping to have a little table at the V&H Fair on Sunday squeezed between Gertie and Christine, but now have far too much to sell so if you see me just ask for what's under the table!

Give away Winner

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay, I forgot that I would not be home on Sunday after staying away for the weekend at my brothers after going to the Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair, which was BRILL!

No pics on this post just the name of the winner of the give away. After writing all your names on bits of paper and screwing them up I put them in a bowl and set Boris on them to choose one. He was quite happy to play with the little balls of paper and the first he clawed out of the bowl was..............Becky of Sweet Cottage Dreams, a lovely lady from across the pond. Email me your address Becky and your little gift will be on its way to you. Sorry everyone else (especially that ****** woman from Bath!), I just wish I could send you all something.

Will post some pics of the lovely stuff I found at Shepton ASAP, I just wish I had unlimited funds when I go there as I could spend, spend, spend.

Still here with a Give Away!

Here I come again, naughty me, I have spent too long blithely skipping over the hills, not a thought of blogging in my head and here we are a month since my last apologetic posting! The last few weeks have zipped by so quickly and we have gone from summer to winter with the nights drawing in and the woodburner now being regularly lit, much to the animals delight. And here again last week was Mr Crows birthday, this time his 50th!!!! Eeeek how did that happen we still feel about 20! His birthday dawned bright and cheery and we had a day out exploring a little corner of Cornwall we had never been to before.

Only about an hours drive, just down from Torpoint is the sweet little village of Kingsand and Cawsand which merge together. Its not very big but the tiny cobbled streets and funny little clock tower on the beach are really charming. This time of year its very quiet as most of the houses seem to be, like many picturesque places in Cornwall, holiday homes. So we wandered around and sat in the sun watching the navy ships coming and going out of Plymouth.
Just around the coast from Cawsand is this really tiny chapel right out on a little bit of land sticking out into the sea with amazing panoramic views all round. In the picture below you can see Whitesand Bay where the cliff is studded with wooden shacks which would nowadays be called holiday chalets. I dont know how long they have been there I assume it was from a time before planning, some you can see must be around the 20s era and a lot have been done up to be modern dez rezzes. We only drove by and did not stop but hope to revisit for a better nose about someday soon.

The camera battery ran out so I did not get to take photos of Downderry, Portwrinkle and Seaton all villages along this lovely bit of coastline. But maybe I will be able to show you them soon.

I have done a couple more paintings, 'Walking the Dog' and 'Picking Apples' and I now am pleased to say that a gallery has offered me an exhibition, the first of many I am hoping. It has been great fun messing around with some new techniques.

And now, a little bird tells me, I have a give away. I hope that you will find it acceptable, two hand made items by myself.

The first is this little collage in an old tart tin to hang on your wall.

The second a bracelet of Suffolk Puffs with mother of pearl buttons.

To have a chance of winning just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be announced next Sunday the 21st November. Good luck everyone!

Here I am!!

Yes I'm back! After hiding in the cupboard under the stairs all this time I have decided to come on out and join the blogging party once again! Sorry I have been gone so long, I cannot believe that I have not been on here since July, I dont know why, no real excuses and I am ashamed to say that I have not really looked around blog land either so have not seen what all my lovely bloggy friends have been up to. But I spent yesterday catching up with all your doings and boy you have been busy and doing some exciting stuff!!!!

Well what have I been up to? I left off just before the Homespun Fair which was a great success, a lovely day with lots of customers but my favourite bit as usual was chatting to all my lovely fellow stall holders, it is always so nice to see you all and I am always sad that we do not have more time to just sit and natter!

You may have noticed that Gertie and I are organising a little Homespun between Christmas and New Year, it will be just for the afternoon and we are looking for stall holders so if you might be interested pop over to the Homespun blog to find out more.

Daisy spent most of her summer on the new bird table.

We had a busy summer but found time to get out and about. We decided that we would visit a garden each weekend who took part in the National Garden Scheme for charity and we went to some wonderful places that you would not normally be able to see and its a wonderful way of nosing round peoples gardens and houses and of course they always serve cake which is always a bonus! Here are just a few pics of some of the marvelous gardens we went to, I can recommend it as a summer past time.





Went to many car boot sales finding things for Christines shop, always an enjoyable past time.

A lady who came on one of my courses gave me these lovely price tickets, I just love the 'correct fashion' wonder what that was?

Recently I found these, a lovely old dolls pram and a sweet cot with a wonderful mattress, dont you just love the pics of the old toys?

But mainly this summer I have been trying to 'Focus' on my painting. I love to do so many things and it has been hard for me to really get on with anything of late as I keep side tracking myself into other projects. But we all know what happens when we spread ourselves to thin, nothing seems to get going so I have tried very hard to push all my other ideas aside and just paint and it has been wonderful! I am playing around with a few new techniques and researching American Folk Art and Naive painting which has been a bit of a passion for me for a number of years, trying to bring some of these qualities into my work. Its not everyones cup of tea I know and will maybe have a limited appeal but I feel like I need to follow my heart on this and not just do what I think people will buy. And I am glad to say that I have been selling a few pieces this summer in a gallery nearby and am hoping to be taken on by a few others soon, so wish me luck on that.

Here are a couple of paintings, the first is my more 'what sells' style, second one of my new pieces, quite large for me at 3 ft x 2 ft but I enjoyed every brush stroke! Its called "Reaching out" and its all about saying sorry and rekindling love and friendship. Much as I am hoping to rekindle my friendships with you all after being away so long, Sorry!

And there will be a give away on the next post, which wont be to long away this time!