Unbought Delicacies: My little bit of Shetland

Thursday, 31 May 2012

My little bit of Shetland

If I can't get to Shetland quite yet, there are a lot of things I can be getting on with meantime. Yes, a bit of whimsy perhaps, but good and useful fun, and not out of place in the way I live. I am determined to get Shetland hens and breed from them, likewise Shetland ducks. You never know, one day I might have room for ponies, cattle and sheep too, all distinctive Shetland breeds thereof. I grow Shetland Black potatoes and am starting off Shetland Kale; I have discovered there are other tatties I can grow too I hope, and will get hold of some bere (barley) and aits (oats); I spin Shetland wool and knit/weave with it; I have dozens of crofting books/Shetland books; next step is to subscribe to the Shetland Times; I have the esate agents all bookmarked too. It's like a working storyboard/wishlist/throw it out to the universe type thing for me - I do what I can in the fields I'm interested in to keep the dreams alive. One day :)

Shetland duckling

1 comment:

Down by the sea said...: We dream of moving to Devon and do the same as you bookmarking estate agents and dreaming - hopefully one day it will happen! In the meantime I will enjoy the great county of Dorset and all it has to offer us.
We are off to visit the Highlands of Scotland and Skye in a few weeks time, we have only been to Scotland once before and only got as far as Edinburgh.
Sarah; 31 May 2012 at 20:24

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Thursday, 31 May 2012

My little bit of Shetland

1 comment: