Simple sentiment for a loved one gone

Rest In Peace The days will always be brighter because he existed. The nights will always be darker because he's gone. And no matter what anybody says about grief and about time healing all wounds, the truth is: there are certain sorrows that never fade away until the heart stops beating and the last breath is taken. I'm unable to credit the words as I hve no name to attach, but wanted to post it a it's a lovely siple tribute and might help someone. (image from http://www.truelovedoves.com/page002.html)

Sometimes you just have to go for it.............

- and suffer the consequences later! I wrote about this on  my Knitten blog the other day, the beautiful Shetland wool kits from the Shetland Heritage Shop http://mrsl-knitten.blogspot.co.uk/ The kit arrived this afternoon - speedy delivery -  was only sent off from Shetland yesterday,  yet managed to arrive in perfect condition just before 2pm this afternoon. Can't beat that at all. This is it: Inside the box: Nice clear pattern, with good large graphs for the Fair Isle itself: The colours of the wool are exceptional and very beautiful - madder, indigo. auld gold and fluggy white - who could resist knitting anything at all with a wool that goes by the name of fluggy white? So for your money you get a beautifully presented kit comprising of this very special wool, a set of top quality needles, instructions and pattern and a very pretty calico bag to keep your project in. Not only are you buying a knitting kit though;  you are buying a little piece of  history encapsulating a huge amount of knowledge and skill gleaned from over many years, helping to keep a vitally important Scottish craft alive,  and supporting a rural business in these hard times.  All for £30.95 including the PandP. When you factor it all in, I personally think that's a real bargain. However, temptation is strong, and I am well known for my woolly weaknesses in the traditional Scottish knitting department. The other three kits in the series should be arriving at the beginning of next week. I hope I can do them justice.

Pear harvest

Not been a good year for fruit.................   just saying! This is it lol

Livestock update

Thought it about time, so took the camera up with me this morning; everyone fit and well, thriving, sitting about enoying the sunshine and laily snapping at any passing insects! Goats are doing well, gave them a big pile of artichoke stems to munch their way through   Muscovies snoozing in the late sunshine       Ducks various; the little white one asleep is Jesus (named before I got him) - he's still doing well at 15 years old and has survived both a fox and a badger attack, bless him :)     The other ducks seemed to be a bit camera shy lol   My Lemon Brahma, Liz Lovick - a gentle soul     My Silver Laced Wyandotte, Elizabeth Zimmerman, feisty and noisy lol   Finally, some of the wee Scots Dumpies; as far as I can tell, I've been extremely fortunate in that I am left with 4 hens and one cock bird - looking at is tail and the fact that he is the only one crowing. They're in a separate house and run for a short time, then will be let out into the main run with the rest of the hens. My cockerel needs a name, so will need to get that sorted out soon :) The Shetland ducklings will go up to the sae and secure greenhouse tomorrow morning, after a bath this afternoon and a thorough dry out for them - ore room, change of scene and they'll be able to splash around in there. They're quite grown up now, feathered up well and very striking looking in dinner jacket black and white outfits. No idea of sexes yet with them, time will tell. Pics to follow next time :) So, livestock sumary: 2 goats, hive of bees, 2 Muscovy ducks and 1 muscovy drake, 3 Runner drakes and two Runner ducks, one Call drake, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 1 Lemon Brahma, 2 Silver Dorkings, 1 elderly Maran, 1 feisty wee black and copper coloured hen, 1 Cotswold Cream Legbar, 5 Scots Dumpies and 4 Shetland ducks. Must be room for a couple of wee sheep and pigs, surely? ;) lol

Hopping

Finally got around to separating hops from vines this afternoon; they'd been in for a while,so have dried out nicely and are ready for storage. These are in a fine mesh nylon straining bag - the top will be knotted and the bag hung in the cool store room. I'm just about to order some malt extract, so brewing will commence when I return from my holidays. Looking forward to a good supply of winter beer for the long evenings :)

The road to hell...............

..............   is paved with good intentions.  I was full of good intentions to declutter some more of the kitchen and 'sort stuff out' again this morning; nothing too arduous, mainly craft stuff and wool, get it put away and tidied and to make sure I know what I've got.  All going to plan, coffee finished, then................... ........the postman arrived. One of the bits of mail was a book, which I'd actually forgotten I'd ordered for literally pennies from Amazon or Abe, can't even remember which........... It's this one - a non-fiction account of a ten day visit to Dumfries & Galloway  by Americn author Liz Curtis Higgs and her friend.  Well, seeing as that's where I was brought up, I had to read it didn't I?  Lots of great details about places I know and love well. Like real life for me, the interest is in the day to dat details of ordinary folks' lives rather thn the grand historic gestures, and there's plenty of this sort of ovservant detail in this book to keep me happy. She visits Benny Gillies' bookshop in Kirkpatrick Durham, where I lived; his home and bookshop is next door to where my granny lived, and I knew Benny and his wife Lyn, and have had books from him. I recognised the Reverend Bill Holland too as I went to school with one of his daughters. A joy, for me, from start to finish Yes, I  sat down and read right through it, stopping only to make and drink a cup of tea.  I now need to get on with what I intended doing this morning, but what a lovely way to spend a dreich Saturday - albeit unintentionally ps the postman also delivered  Sea Change by Mhairi Hedderwick, but I've hidden that! lol

Starting to bite?

I think it is now, yes, the efffects of global warming and climate change are becoming apparent at the supermarket checkout and food shops apparently http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2012/oct/10/food-price-rise-uk-crop-harvest Bad in some ways, good in that it might finally wake folk up to what is going to happen in the really not too distant future. Sadly, this was all being discuused over 30 years ago, back in the 70s when I was growing up and just becoming aware of ecology/environment/food/global issues. Seems we haven't really moved very far forward at all. I am trying to do all I can to build resiliance into my life in all sorts of ways - storing seed, buying bulk grains and flour, keeping a well-stocked store of everything, (not just food) saving money, etc.  I predict tough times ahead, not an 'end of world' scenario (well, not yet anyway!), but tough, globally,  in our daily lives of just putting food on the table, getting enough water for our needs and yes, basic survival. It's scary stuff, but I won't be the one with my head in the sand. Your kitchen table might look pretty, but you can't eat Kath Kidston mugs and a cupboard full of gadgets. It's time for priorities now, in all areas of home life. What will you do?