Bustle along over to Bustle and Sew!

Just to say that I'm having a draw for a free giveaway over on Bustle and Sew. Here's the post .... why not mosey along over and enter for your chance to win the Dormouse Tea Cosy to keep you pot nice and snug on these cold winter afternoons!

Alice in Wonderland comes to Devon ....

Here in Devon I'm feeling a bit Alice in Wonderlandish! My National Trust magazine told me that Disney are creating a new film version of the story and that some of the scenes are being filmed at Antony, a beautiful 18th century house not too far away from here. (Sadly Johnny Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter did not visit Cornwall ...) The dreamy image above is taken from the magazine - but my favourite bit was always the Mad Hatter's Tea Party ....

I always used to feel very sorry for the little dormouse being stuffed into the teapot and just lately have been creating with a dormouse theme, both knitted.....


and applique ....

The teacosy above was one of the working projects for my book which will be published in the spring. In this design the dormouse hasn't quite made it into the teapot, but is comfortably settled in a rather pretty teacup instead. The cosy is my favourite vintage linen of course and the teacup is appliqued feedsack fabric. The embroidery is really straightforward: straight stitch, lazy daisy and stem stitch.

To thank everyone who's visited my blog over the last few months I'd like to offer you the chance to win the teacosy above. I won't ever be making another one and won't be offering this design for sale, so whoever wins it will receive a real one-off! If you'd like to enter the draw (it's free of course) then please leave your details in the form at the top of Bustle and Sew. If you already subscribe to the newsletter then I'll enter you into the draw automatically. Everyone who enters will receive a free pdf pattern to work the little dormouse.

I'll close the draw at midnight (GMT) on Valentine's Day and will let you know the results very quickly afterwards.

A bad dose of the sniffles

When feeling like this ......

Keep warm ....

Drink lots..

Gentle activity ....

And you'll soon feel better!

No snow at Salcombe!

Snow, what snow? No snow here!! Sorry the rest of the UK is cut off from us, but we're enjoying some (relatively) warm sunshine here today.

The car's thermometer told me it was 11 deg C in the sunshine as I drew up in the car park at Snape Point, just above Batson Creek. We set off down the track ...

The hedges had been trimmed and below us in the valley a bonfire smouldered, but we didn't go down to investigate. I love this walk, normally we trek right around the point, but it's been so wet lately that I decided to stay on the track. The views across Batson Creek to Salcombe are beautiful and so I kept stopping to take photographs ....

Which made Ben very impatient. He doesn't see the point at all.

You can just see the bottom car park at Salcombe on the left in this picture, with all the masts of the boats that have been put into winter storage. The pontoons you can see are crammed with boats during the summer season.


Salcombe was bustling though, we could hear traffic and the sound of hammering from one of the workshops. I didn't take Ben down to the creek as I knew the path would be pure liquid mud. Here in Devon we do very special extra-slidey mud and I've ended up on my bum more than once in the past. With a drive home and a visit to Morrisons en-route I didn't want to be walking around covered in mud, so I refused to go down through the gate.


Instead I took this very artistic (I think) photo looking out to sea. Looks like a holiday brochure!

"Ha!" says Ben, "I'll take my revenge. If Mum won't take me down to the creek then I'll wallow in this muddy puddle instead."

And he did! The end.

January brings the snow .....

January brings the snow..... makes your feet and fingers glow.
Makes those newfies feel so good ... walking in our frosty wood.

Ben and ..

Amy (this one's rather good, I think) She looks very wise (which she isn't!!)

"Are there wolves in these woods Mum?" "No, only big black bear-dogs!"

Soo pretty - and so unusual for us to get snow here in South Devon.

Our House

Found this poem when browsing - describes perfectly the situation here at Coombe Leigh.

The Month After Christmas...

'Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
"Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
~Author Unknown

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!