Remembrance Day

Lest we forget.

Photos courtesy of
this site.

Sewing progress.

Well it's been a very busy weekend as my grandaughter visited with her parents and auntie. I finished the above dress just in time and she has taken it back home with her , probably for Christmas. Although, it did look quite big, so which Christmas I'm not sure! The pattern was for 7 -13 lbs and as she is over 8lbs now no doubt she'll fill it out soon.
The weekend was taken up by visiting lots of relatives; her great grandma and aunties. Everyone cooed and smiled at her and she behaved in an admirable fashion , no crying. She even managed to sleep through the Latin Mass at church, not a peep was heard.So good and so beautiful!!!
The house seems very quiet now they have all left but they will all be back at Christmas , so we are all counting the days!!
Tonight is my sewing class, as my skirt (photo to follow) and the above dress are finished I am going to use left over material from my skirt to make a baker boy cap. That's the plan anyhow, we'll see how it goes...

On the farm in November.

Tupping Time...

The breeding season on the farm has begun again, with the start of Autumn comes the start of tupping (mating) time, which means the tups (rams - male sheep) are let off with the ewes (female sheep), which will hopefully result in lots of lambs come next spring.

The first step (a bit like making a cake if you will!), is to buy any stock needed to replace elder members of the flock. September and early October hosts breeding sales at local markets, or marts as they are known to farmers, where tups and breeding ewes of varying ages are offered for sale.

In November the Swaledale ewes (see top picture) on the home flock from previous years are then examined for their suitability for breeding. This is done by checking their teeth because this gives a good indication of the animal's age, little or no teeth means no more babies for them.

The general condition of the ewe is also taken into account, whether they are physically robust enough to maintain their position in the breeding flock. If not they are taken out of the flock and sold.

Now it's time for the tups.

We put ours out with the ewes on November 4. This means they will begin to lamb on or around the April 1, 2010. The outcome of running Swaledales with Bluefaced Leicesters is a hybrid animal/lamb called a Mule.

The photos above show the horned ewe, three Leicester tups, which have mainly white faces, and a number of Mule lambs about 5 months old.

Once out in the fields together over the winter, they are checked daily with supplementary feed given to them to keep their energy high and help them through any bad weather. The farmer is also looking for any signs of lameness in the sheep which would delay or prevent the tupping.

Here's hoping for good weather next April!

Christmas cooking.

These last few days have seen me toiling over a hot stove, well not really, but I did get all my Christmas puddings cooked. There were three in all , one for each of my daughters away from home and one for this household.
I use a recipes that belonged to my husband's grandma and it usually turns out well, so 'fingers crossed'!.

I thought I would share it with you ----

Dark Christmas Pudding.
This recipe is for a 2pint basin

4ozs. sultanas
4ozs currants
4 ozs seedless raisins
2 ozs mixed peel
4 ozs soft dark brown sugar
4 ozs fresh white breadcrumbs
4 ozs cooking apples(after, peeling and grating)
3 ozs shredded suet(vegetable)
3ozs self raising flour
1 quarter teasp. salt
1 half teasp. cinnamon
1 teasp. mixed spice
1 large egg
1 quarter pint of milk and rum mixed
1 level teasp. of black treacle.

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients, add the apple.
Bind the mixture with the egg, rum and milk mixture then add another small glass of rum.
Beat well till fairly wet and sticky.
Steam for about 5 hours in a 2pint basin.

Between now and Christmas I will 'doctor' the pudding by brushing the top with rum and then recover each week.
On Christmas day itself I usually reheat by steaming for another hour till piping hot.

Goodbye October.

Even though there has been much hype regarding Halloween, it has just dawned on me that today is October 31st.
The countryside is changing rapidly now, leaves are falling quickly and the nights are so much longer now the clocks have changed.So before we begin the Winter I wanted to share photos of the past month; the colours and beauty of Autumn.

Photos courtesy of
this site.

Anniversary and baby dress.

On Tuesday we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversay. Can't believe it has been so long I can still remember little details --- when my 3 yr old neice jumped in the car to accompany us on our honeymoon!! Anyhow this October 27th was spent quietly , we are going to have a celebration meal when the rest of the family visit. In the meantime our three daughters all contributed to a wonderful present --- a delicious hamper, as seen in photo, it contained chocs(notice the past tense there!), preserves , a fruit cake and biscuits all from Fortnum and Masons. Thankyou girls.

So to keep my fingers off the chocs I have finished my skirt and am now starting to stitch a dress for my grandaughter.See photo above, the version I've chosen has short sleeves and I am making it in white broderie anglaise and hopefully I'll find blue velevet ribbon to make a sash. Here's hoping it turns out well!

Musing Mondays.

This week the topic is all about notetaking ---
'Do you take notes while reading – either for your reviews or for yourself? How/where do you make these notes (on the page, post-its, scrap paper, notebooks etc)? '

I always have a small pile of stickers or post-its nearby when I read. These are used frequently to highlight certain lines.These then are copied into blog posts or just to discuss with the family. In this way I feel as though I am broadening my horizons. A book is not just words on a page --- it can be a great learning experience.

More discussions can be found
here.

Weekend viewing.

The house seems quiet since my grandaughter left, not that she was unduly noisey but we do miss her.With no baby entertainment we resort to the remote control --- television at the moment is not thrilling, apart from 'Strictly' and 'Doc Martin' so we have been viewing 'A Horseman Riding By' dvds, borrowed from a friend.
The book of the same name(which I haven't read)is by R.F. Delderfield who also wrote 'To Serve Them all my Days', another t.v. series shown in the 80's. Whilst I adored to 'Serve them' this box set of the 'Horseman' I found a little slow in places. It follows the life of a country squire returning to his English estate after the Boer war. His dealings with farm tenants are varied and at times humorous, his private life stressful. Once settled back in England the estate continues as before but on the onset of World War 1 the tenants and the squires lives will never be the same.
Nigel Havers stars, although he was probably in his 20's he looked about 12, and far too young for the part. Amongst other actors was Prunella Ransome, who was excellent in her role. I have only seen her in one other role that was as Fanny Robins in 'Far From the Madding Crowd', now there was a fantastic movie, one I highly recommend!
Any good viewing in your house lately?

Guess who came to dinner...

No not Sidney Poitier, but my grandaughter Martha. Martha arrived with her Mum on Tuesday and left today. We have had a wonderful time. She really is beautiful and so alert. Watching t.v. she loved to follow the sparkling lights and when carried around the rooms seemed to take in all that could be seen. The house seems lost without her , but she is making a return visit in a couple of weeks with both her parents , we all can't wait!!!
The photos show her with one of her devoted Aunts.

Calling all textile lovers...

On the country channel tv. there is a new series highlighting all the pleasures of textile art and design.It is broadcast on Sky 171(My Channel), but if like me you don't subscribe to Sky , it can be watched free on the computer, the channel can be found here.
I think I did register free a few weeks ago. The series started last Wednesday at 7pm, this programme discussed Fabric painting and was fascinating. It is repeated throughout the week but can be viewed anytime by typing 'Talking Threads'into the search box.
The programme has it's own website here.

Sewing class

Here is my latest sewing project. I have done most of the work so far in my sewing class on a Monday evening. These are held in a nearby school and with an average of 6 people we all get lots of individual attention from the tutor.
The pattern is an out of print McCalls as seen in the photo, I'm sewing it in a polyester/viscose/wool mix and I'm going to line it . A straight A-line skirt , it is a pattern I have used often.
Unfortunately it doesn't hang particularly well on the 'dummy' . I bought this dress model in the 70's when I did have a discernable waist however as the years have passed my skirts need to be pinned to stay on the model as my waist has enlarged considerably. Oh dear, well that's marriage and children for you, at least they are my excuse, lol!!!
The class has taught me much, one aspect of dressmaking I had not tackled before was the placement of an invisible zip(as seen in photo). These are sewn into the garment in a completely different way to the conventional zip and I do think they look much more professional.
My Monday evenings have been so enjoyable as well as sewing the socialising aspect with like minded people has been great.

Booking through Thursday

THIS IS THIS WEEK'S TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION ----

We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

Oh dear, I'm afraid I can't remember the last time I did any weeding , in the book area I mean.
I am a terrible hoarder where books are concerned, I have some of my daughter's books from 20+ years ago. I SHOULD have a good clearout as the book shelves are taking over the house, but please don't expect that soon, lol!!!
More weeding can be found here.

Teaser Tuesday

This is what you need to do to join in ----

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is mine

'I was struck by his beauty although I did not realize it then;all I knew was that I wanted to go on looking at him. His face was pale; his eyesthe most startling dark blue I had ever seen; and his fair hair curled about his head.'

page 14 'The Miracle at St Bruno's' by Philippa Carr.

More teasers can be found here.

Sam's Letters to Jennifer.

'Sam's Letters to Jennifer' by James Patterson.

A novel by best selling author James Patterson.
This book intertwines the lives of two people, a grandmother and her grandaughter.
Jennifer, the grandaughter is a journalist and is called to visit her grandmother who is very ill. Leaving her hectic life Jennifer bundles her cats in the car and travels to Lake Geneva to Sam's hospital bed. On the journey she reflects on her own life and the tragedy that has befallen her of late.
On reaching the hospital her vibrant grandma was much changed,

'She had always been so strong, almost never sick, always the one who took care of everybody else --- especially me. ...
'Sam had always reminded me of Katherine Hepburn, and we's seen all her movies together...'

When the initial shock of Sam's health has registered Jennifer finds herself staying in Sam's house and there she finds many letters waiting for her to read . letters that will both shatter some of her illusions but also strenghen her resolve to build up her own life after what seems like an unsurmountable sorrow.

This is the first 'James Patterson' book I have read, I enjoyed it in part but felt it was slow in places and it did not have the 'wow' facter that I expected. One sentence that did make me smile was the mention of Katherine Hepburn as my own dear grandma always admired the actress .

National Poetry day.

National poetry day in the U.K. Here is one of my favourites -----

HOME

by: Anne Bronte (1820-1849)

HOW brightly glistening in the sun
The woodland ivy plays!
While yonder beeches from their barks
Reflect his silver rays.

That sun surveys a lovely scene
From softly smiling skies;
And wildly through unnumbered trees
The wind of winter sighs:

Now loud, it thunders o'er my head,
And now in distance dies.
But give me back my barren hills
Where colder breezes rise;

Where scarce the scattered, stunted trees
Can yield an answering swell,
But where a wilderness of heath
Returns the sound as well.

For yonder garden, fair and wide,
With groves of evergreen,
Long winding walks, and borders trim,
And velvet lawns between;

Restore to me that little spot,
With gray walls compassed round,
Where knotted grass neglected lies,
And weeds usurp the ground.

Though all around this mansion high
Invites the foot to roam,
And though its halls are fair within--
Oh, give me back my HOME!

A Stitch or two...

Thought you might like to see my latest stitching. An embroidery kit from Rowandean , I bought it a year ago at a Needlecraft show. It was very easy to do with all the threads sorted for me. The piece at the bottom lefthand corner is worked on organza and then trimmed close to the stitching. I like this effect and will now decide on it's outcome ---- a card or a picture? Time will tell.

I have also begun dressmaking classes on Monday evenings at a local school, my aim is to make a winter skirt. It is going well but I'll keep the details for another post.

Teaser Tuesday

So it's Tuesday again -----

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!


'Our marriage had been an act of defiance, Charles' way of putting his thumb in the Stanford family eye. I was twenty-two years old, but I felt that my life was over.'

page 50, 'Sam's letters to Jennifer'. by James Patterson.
More teasers can be found here.

' Timber...'

This was the sight that greeted us this morning, in fact at 5am. we heard the crash. My husband went to investigate and by torchlight saw the devestation. We were forecast high winds and being in an exposed spot we do get our fair share of gales but this was not expected. It was lucky that the sheep were no closer as it really would have been a terrible disaster. Most of it is cleared away now as my husband has been busy with the chain saw most of the day. There is one consolation there will be plenty of wood for the Rayburn stove and fires during the Winter.

St. Therese of Liseaux

Yesterday we spent a wonderful day visiting the
Carmelite Convent in Darlington.This was the day when the relics of Saint Therese of Liseaux were arriving and were venerated.
Saint Therese spent her religious years in the carmelite order in France. Her relics are
touring England and Wales till October 15th.
As the casket arrived from a church in Newcastle there was a guard of honour from the Royal Dragoon Guards. The Carmelite sisters (seen in cream cloaks in the photo) had worked hard in decorating the convent and a shop selling rosaries, medals and books was available.
It was a priviledge to attend the convent and to be able to pause at the casket and pray. As this venue was not publicised nationally, the public were made aware of the visit by word of mouth and although many were there we did not feel pressurised to keep our visit short. In fact my daughter and myself were able to pray at the casket twice . Many people purchased roses which were later laid around the casket or taken home for loved ones who could not make the journey.As the day of the visit was St. Therese's feast day
The carmelite sisters at the convent were very hospitable and had produced a delicous array of refreshments.
This was a truly spiritual experience , one I would not have wanted to miss. This day, October 1st was the feast day of St Therese, so it was extra special.Memories of the day will stay with my husband, my daughter and myself for a very long time.

Saint Therese of Liseaux pray for us.

The Wandering Prince.

The Wandering Prince by Jean Plaidy.

This novel follows the life of Charles II. It begins in the time of his exile, a time when he fled England, and in so doing slipped from the grasp of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell and his henchmen had executed Charles' father, the late Charles I, his mother Henrietta Maria had taken refuge in her homeland of France and her youngest child Henriette was smuggled out of England to join her in France by Anne Villiers , a lady of court.
Two of Charles siblings, Henry and Elizabeth were both captured by Cromwell's men and imprisoned in different castles around the land, Elizabeth died but Henry escaped and eventually joined his mother in France.
Charles visited France and Holland throughout his exile.His older sister being married to the Dutch Prince he thought safety was certain. When returning to England he met Lucy Walter who would become one of his many mistresses and bore him a son, James .
Charles' favourite was his sister Henriette or Minette as he named her, she was a young child during the early exile years. The story is told through both Lucy and Minette's eyes. Minette eventually became a prominent figure in the French court , whilst Lucy was to end her days in desolation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Minette , Lucy and Henrietta Maria were all displayed as strong characters in their own ways and all showed a great fondness for the rakish 'Wandering Prince'.