My Granny Magan

As another Mothering Sunday rolls by, I feel a sadness that 

my Mum is not here to buy a card or a present for.

I think of past Mothering Sundays ..... from the simple church services we attended with our mum when we were small, with the small bunches of flowers tied with ribbons, laid out on the pews......to the later tea parties at each others houses, toasting fruit bread in front of the log fire......and special cakes made by one or other of us......walks in anemone filled woods......to the gift-giving and making our Mum feel special. 

She was.

As mentioned in previous posts
http://freshwindsgarden.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-granny-magan.html

 I learnt a lot of my crafts from her....sewing, knitting and embroidery. We also shared a great love of gardening. Interestingly, Mum`s love of gardening began when my Dad died and she took it over. Up til then it was his department. That`s j
ust how it was.

Mum indoors cooking dinner and looking after us and Dad in the garden planting and growing.

And she was a good gardener.

Champing at the Bit

I am beginning to champ at the bit. 

We woke to lovely sunshine but after doing yoga and eating breakfast it disappeared!!

The plan was to get to Freshwinds and start some of those last winter jobs such as emptying the compost bins or having a bonfire.

I had to be satisfied with making my seed list from the Kings catalogue......always good value. 

But the total soon added up. Ha ha. 

My cousin Joanne, (she of Lorne Hill Quilts on my sidebar) nominated  me for the Art Challenge on facebook.

Since I keep my facebook friends group very small, I thought I would post the crafts on my blog, as she has done.

Joanne and I share the same Granny Magan, and she was such an inspiration to me as a child with her embroidery and her crochet.

I think she may warrant a whole blog post.

Well here are my latest crafts....you may have seen some before.

Day 1

Bunting made from an old outdoor tablecloth, patchwork pincushions made from scraps and tiny patchwork bags, again using all my floral scraps.

Day 2

 

The blue patchwork dog was made using scraps of Liberty fabrics given to me by Patsy, who is over 90 years old. The hedgehog was a Xmas present kit from my nephew Toby and his wife Amanda. And the Scottie dog was made with some old tartan fabric that`s been around for ages.

Day 3

Some of you may remember that it was Anne who introduced me to sock toys. I have never looked back.

Day 4

 

New arrival expected in June, so plenty of knitting and crochet going on from the great aunts and grannies. 

Fingerless gloves using scraps of bright wool.

Day 5

As it`s the last day, I have posted 4 pieces.....Paddington Bear, nursery rhyme characters, another crochet blanket and another patchwork blanket in case it is a girl.

All in all a great challenge which I`ve really enoyed.

Thank you for nominating me Joanne and thanks to my dear Granny Magan for her patience and enthusiasm. 

Sea Glass Sunday

It was a cold day, but we were determined to go for a walk at Pett Level after being in all day yesterday.

The sun was shining and it was glorious.

I didn`t want to collect shells today but there are still 

100 shells every few steps.

I decided to collect sea glass. Sea glass has been in the sea for some time and it`s sharp edges have been worn down by wave action.

When I was about 2 years old my Aunty Doreen took me for walks on the beach at Hastings and she told me that if I looked carefully, I would find treasure on the seashore. I always considered the sea glass to be that treasure. We collected it as children, but don`t remember doing anything specific with it.

But all that is going to change.

On our walk we met up with Robin who takes our exercise class in Pett Village. She told me that when her children were small they collected the sea glass and put it in glass vases.

That`s what I am going to do.

I really needed my glasses on, but here is what we picked up today.

It sparkles in the sunshine, just like jewels.

It does look lovely in a vase.

I will be collecting a lot more.

Amongst our multi-coloured pebbles, it is often quite difficult to see these birds. They love to be on the shore line.

They are called Turnstones.

Further along the shore, we came across this.....

I`m not sure if it`s a barrel or compass jellyfish, or perhaps neither.

We didn`t touch it anyway.

Stash Busting and More

Because I am a crafter, I use all kinds of fabric and all kinds of fabric seems to come my way. Last year I was very lucky to receive a lot of unwanted fabrics. I have never said no!! Up til now I have viewed with envy those Pinterest boards that show shelf upon shelf of organised fabric, in neat serried ranks and scorned those who wonder who it is that has time to do this. 

Well It`s ME folks. I have got the time and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Here are the advantages.....

1. You know what you`ve got

2. You know what you`re short of

3. You can pick out what you need without having to go through every box.

4. The same type of fabrics are all in the same place

5. You can sit right in front of the fire to sort it out

6. You get lots of crafty ideas

7. It takes up less room

It did involve quite a lot of ironing and I did burn a hole through two layers of my ironing board. However this did give me the opportunity to make my own ironing board cover from old curtains. It also involved many trips into the loft.

I started with my small pieces of cotton. They are folded into 

7 x 7 cm bundles.

The boxes were £1 each in Poundland. They have lids.

 

Next I sorted the bigger bundles which are in 14 x 14 cm folds. These bigger storage boxes came from Tesco and were £11 for 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going through my scraps, I was inspired to make a few things.....lavender bags, tiny lavender pillows and tiny patchwork bags.

I also made bunting from my sisters` pyjamas and an old outdoor tablecloth.

I moved on to the loft, where I store much more.

Velvets, curtaining, silk, brocades, larger pieces of cotton, denim, glittery, plaids etc etc etc.

This quilt is for a Moses basket.....some very small scraps used here.

I treated myself to these roses....reduced in Tesco to under £5....beautiful.

And here is today`s fire....our new woodburner helping to clear all Steve`s unwanted wood and keeping us toasty into the bargain. With snow outside it was lit quite early.

Now all I have to do is keep my fabric in its present state.

She Seeks Seashells on the Seashore

Ever since I was a child, I have loved shells and no matter where I go in the world, I will be looking for shells on the beaches. I have even dived for shells and I`ve carried conch shells back from St.Lucia in my luggage. Doubt if that would even be allowed these days.

Our local beaches: Pett Level, Rye Harbour and Camber, have been awash with shells this winter.

I have collected them every time we`ve visited, with a view to trying out some new crafts.

This week we went to Camber on a very cold, wintry day.

You can see Fairlight Cliffs in the distance.

Despite the cold, there were many people out and about and afterwards we warmed up in the Green Owl for a rather nice lunch of home-made soup, warm rolls and cheesy chips.

www.thegreenowl.co.uk/

The shells were lying in drifts across the undulating sands.

These are mostly tellins which crunched under our feet as we walked.

This is what we picked up between us. As you can see it is mostly cockles.

At home after a good wash, I began to arrange them in groups for photographs and I spent a very enjoyable half an hour trying to identify them. Some I have always known such as limpets, razor shells and oysters, but many I`ve never bothered to find out.

So here is what I found.

 I used this website to help me...

www.uksafari.com/seashells.

I also used this book which we`ve had for years...

Ray Ingle`s "A Guide to The Seashore."

 

Bean Tellins (Tellina Fabula)

Cross Cut Carpet Shell (Venerupis Decussata)

Common Whelks (Buccinum Undatum)

A Whelk has the ability to attach itself to a limpet, bore a hole in the shell, through which it pushes its proboscis and rasps away at its victims flesh. This is conveyed back to its mouth.

Rayed Trough Shells (Mactra Stultorum)

Common Cockles (Cerastoderma Edule)

Prickly Cockles (Acanthocardium Echinata)

When cockles come in on the sand they are often found still joined. 

If they roll in on shingle they usually break apart.

Great Scallop (Pecten Maximus)

Razor shells (Ensis Arcuartus)

The inside and outside of Oyster Shell (Ostrea Edulis)

Think this one has been in the water for quite a while.

Common Mussels (Mytilus Edulis)

Common Limpet (Patella Vulgata)

Limpets are an unusual sight washed up on the beach. This is because they are well-adapted to shore life, due to their shape and their ability to cling on to rocks. It is a measure of the strength of the recent storm,s to find this many.

Slipper Limpets (Crepidula Fornicata)

The book provided some very interesting facts. Slipper Limpets live in piles. At the bottom of the pile are the largest and they are females. At the top of the pile are the males, and in between are the creatures which are changing from male to female. Most intriguing.

I can`t wait to begin some of my new crafty ideas, using my glue gun.....a Xmas present.

This link should take you to a lovely way of displaying shells. I even have the printer`s tray.

www.pinterest.com/pin/504332858246344483/