Sparkle!!

Frugal Friday - waste nothing

Even little bits and scraps of yarn/wool can be utilised; I made these crochet popppies this afternoon: I will add to them as I get more bits of red and black to use up, then they'll be on hand for a project. Another ongoing one is blankets; this one is squares of small quantities of yarn knitted into strips for a blanket, to be added to as time and scraps allow. There is no excuse, ever, to waste anything. Everything has a use.

Wool winder

This is one of my favourties, just packed it away after winding the bluebell yarn I dyed the other day. It's quie old, I reckon from the 1940s or so, maybe a wee bit later, but it's a pure pleasure to use

The colours of spring

Freshly picked this morning from the garden - blue, yellows , whites and greens.

Of frog's meat and gooseflops

This was taken from Dorset Wildlife Trust's spring magazine. I love learning the old coloquial names of plants and flowers, often associated with their uses/pwers/places, etc. This was the dozen the DWT came up with: Bugle - Ajuga reptans: Cuckoos, Herb-flower,Honeysuckle,Horse&Hounds Bluebell - Hyacinthoides non-scripta: Blue Bottle, Cuckoo's Boots, Goosey Gander, Grammer Greygle Cowslip - primula veris: creivel or crewel, fairy cups, hodrod orholrod,odrod,paigle, tisty tosty Foxglove - digitalis purpurea: Coventry bells,  deadmen's bells, fairy glove, fairy hat, gooseflops, pop-ladders, poppy or poppy dock, thimble flower Yellow horned poppy - glaucium flavum: bruiseroot,goldwatches,sqat or squatmore Cuckoo pint/Lords & Ladies - arum maculatum: Arrowroot (Portland), bulls, cows and calves, devils and angels, frog's meat (leaves), lady's smock, parson-in-the-pulpit, poision fingers, starchwort (Portland), wake robin, white and red Red valerian - centranthus ruber: bounding bess/betsy, convict grass (Portland), kiss-me-quick, KIssing Kind (Portlad), Lady Betty, pretty Betsy, Princeof Wales feather Meadowseet - filipendula ulmaria: goat's beard, queen-of-the-meadow,summer's farewell, sweet hay Stinking iris - iris foetidissima: gladdon, filed lily, roast beef plant, spourgewort(Purbeck) Devil's Bit scabious - succsia pratensis: angel's pincushion Great mulein/Aaron's rod - verbascum thapsus: Aaron's flannel, bunny's ears, donkey's ears, fairy's wand,hare's beard, snake's flower/head, soldier's tears Early purple orchid - orchis mascula: adder's tongue, candlesticks, ducks & drakes, fox stones, giddy gander & goosey gander, grammer Griggles & granfer Griggles, Johnny Cocks, lords & ladies, regals, single castles (Porland), soldiers, soldiers jackets While I realise the importance and significance of the latin names, I really do prefer the local ones!  It was lovely to read thsi articel. I knew a few of them already, but have learned a lot more now, and it's a good way of keeping traditions alive. What about he flowers where you live? Do you know of any local names? (photo from http://barcrofthall.co.uk/WildFlowers2011.aspx)