Just in time….

 to get my only blog post in for 2021.

Made a lot of felt and then ..

Made a lot of brooches. 😍

I used to make ceramic mushrooms at college so I thought I’d just give them a go and they’ve been a great success.  I’ve sold a lot of brooches this year which has been very useful as we’ve had car repair bills and dog-dental-bills. 

I have a lot of super loyal and generous followers on my Facebook page who already know all this! 

Unfortunately this hasn’t left me much time for making larger pieces, so I’ve nothing much to show on that front, but each little brooch has been a distinct and unique  work of art.

I’ve read a lot of books, 43,  but not as many as last year  for obvious reasons.

  I also decided that’s it’s ok to give up on books you aren’t enjoying and I returned at least 10 to the online library unfinished.

The stand out book of the year for me was ‘Piranesi’ by Susannah Clarke  

It enthralled me. It’s weird but wonderful  

Via the U3A, I rang handbells weekly and played croquet, and occasional table tennis, went on social outings and went to the drawing group alternate weeks.

When there were social distancing rules we rang the bells outside, near a fishing lake  

This proffered trout was an unexpected bonus for one of our ringers one day. I might have snaffled it but I was walking 2 miles home in blistering heat, up a steep hill  and I don’t think it would have been very nice. 

 

I tended to my Mum’s needs (a lot) and tried hard to be patient, and took her to many many appointments  

I had my cataract operated on , my ‘second’ eye.

We managed 3 nights away in Northumberland and two in Malvern  our Scilly Isles holiday was postponed again and we hope to go in June  

Our usual Ireland break at the end of February was cancelled but we are hoping to go in 2022. 

However I have to consider my Mum who relies heavily on me and lives alone. 

We almost lived outside during the Summer and I enjoyed the garden particularly when it came to my70th Birthday  when we could socially distance outdoors and we clung to the shade it was so hot .

I like this 70 th Portrait of me because there’s no visible chins but one and my hair is no longer coloured. 

Most of our family are men! 

We had a toast to ‘absent friends’, my dear Cousin and my Sister in law who both left us recently and are greatly missed. 

But the best thing….the very very best thing of 2022, was this little sausage. Born mid October and delighting us. 

I didn’t think all the fuss people made about their Grandchildren was real but believe me it is a wonderful thing even though I’ve had to wait until the Grand old age of 70.

That green blob is an enormous stegosaurus my husband bought him for Christmas  

He is a wonderful little man and gives us hope and purpose. Seeing him is like having a ‘fix’ I think.

And he loves his Uncle Fin! 

So, just before 5.30 pm on News Years Eve I’ve got my blog post in. 

I wish everyone a happy and an especially healthy 2022. 

And if you haven’t….

GET YOURSELF VACCINATED. 

XXXXXXX

Blogging n the Time of Covid 19 Part Two

We returned from Ireland and by the end of the week we were in Lockdown. But not me...oh no! I am the official Gofer. I had to endure these scenes which I’m sure everyone is familiar with, but I had to show my Mum why I couldn’t quite get everything she wanted from the supermarket.

My husband is over 70, my Mum is 92 so it’s down to me even though I have type 2 diabetes. I am quite fit and my ‘numbers’ are good so I hope I’m not at risk. 

My mum was in a state of anxiety and panic for the first three weeks, but seems to have made a complete recovery but is lonely. She goes to the local shop every day for a newspaper, which is probably not a good idea, but I think she’d go mad if she didn’t. 

She has no internet so that’s the only contact she has with the outside world apart from phone calls. 

Anyway..what have I been doing?

This collage is from quite a few years ago and you can see that there are one or two virus like shapes there. 

I thought I’d make a topical one just for fun, this may remind you of something! 

This brooch received a lot of comments on my Facebook page and some people wanted to own one. 

I had also been thinking of the food bank missing out on all the donations because people were so worried about getting enough food for themselves, that they couldn’t also buy extra to donate.

I usually take a bagful to church , as do others, but there’s no Church either. 

So..I decided to make a number of brooches , to fill in my income gap ( as my teaching has been cancelled) and to donate £5 from each sale to the food bank. 

                                       I sold them all immediately and had a long waiting list. 

So two weeks later I made another huge number. 

This time, I was able to donate more than £100 each to two hospices, who are also experiencing income drops. 

I felt useful, I felt creative and it kept me upbeat and motivated. 

But then......

Someone made an unpleasant comment on my photograph, and I got an ‘angry’ emoji too. 

I realise that the Corona virus has had a devastating effect on many hundreds of families, and that perhaps my brooches were in poor taste. 

So I stopped. I still get requests so I may do a few quietly and list them in my Etsy shop. Of course, they’ll have to be more expensive to accommodate Etsy fees but that’s how it has to be. 

The weather has been amazing and we have taken full advantage of the lovely area we live in. We are lucky to have a variety of walks nearby. 

We have Moorland 

And farmland

Tracks both high and low

We can look down from the moors onto our village and if it’s clear, you can see the sea and Blackpool Tower. 

We find old ruined farms above the woods. 

And peaceful spots with reeds. 

The woods are lovely now , full of bluebells and new leaves. 

The grass verges have been beautiful

Full of wildflowers, 

But even the lockdown didn’t stop the Sports club strimming them. 

Very sad. 

So to counter that we’re encouraging weeds. Aren’t these gorgeous?

Also gorgeous too are these Aldi ranunculus, well they were until the recent cold wind. 

It takes my garden a while to burst into bloom but there’s joy to be found in colourful leaves and the blue of the forget-me-nots. 

We have our own bluebell patch and they look amazing with the euphorbia. 

This blurry photo fills me with joy. Once I only saw these in a museum showcase but now they come to the garden. 

Global warming? 

Now I’m sewing in a different way. 

I’ve tried and tested various patterns and this seems the best. 

I’m just waiting for a delivery of elastic. 

A couple of years ago I read ‘All Among the Barley’ by Melissa Harrison. 

This was my favourite passage and I think it means more in theses days. 

Let’s look forward to a better future.