Hear all about it!

I've recently been circulating posters and flyers for the knitting and stitching club I started up in July last year.

It's taken me ages to come up with a design I liked as I'm not into doing stuff on the computer but also seem to have issue with every drawing I've ever done! Collage and the trusty photocopier helped me out in the end and I am pleased with the result.

The pub landlord kindly agreed to display one in the window and we have had three new attendees from just that one.

I like the idea of finding out about things via posters, flyers and pamphlets, it's nice in the digital age to have a more traditional approach, makes it feel like you found something secret and special.

Fly away home

I had the window open this morning while I was drying my hair and lo and behold almost straight away in came the first lady bird of the year!
It's a title no doubt given to many lady birds but she is definitely my first. I wonder if that causes a lot of friction on the lady bird scene? 'I was first in 2009 I tell you' 'No I was, a farmer told me so' 'Well I was the first this year' 'No Ethel was, Miss P said so on her blog'......

...anyway, here's a picture of her. A happy accident as the camera focused on the view beyond the glass so she looks like a really big bird sat on the telephone lines.

Happy L Day.

I thought I'd share a bit of Cumbrian folklore with you for the day of love tomorrow.

This heart shaped wood grows along side the motorway near Tebay and it always makes me smile and think about love whenever I see it.

There are lots of tales about it's origins, some say it was planted as a memorial to a young soldier who was killed in the first world war, others say it was a farmers way of expressing his love for his wife.
A lot of people think that it stems from 'star crossed lovers' from rival farming families who committed suicide. Some people also think that it represents the middle of mainland Britain.

The woman who now owns the land claims, rather crushingly, that the heart shaped wood isn't actually heart shaped at all, and that is was originally a forest plantation set up in the mid 1800's, and that is all that is left of the original plantation.
Whether it be man made or accidentally created by nature, I still like to think of it is as a grand romantic gesture created by someone or something.

Postal surprises!

I just had to tell you about the fantastic surprise I got in the post today from Lisa and Dan. Love the way she addressed it to Mummy Vanessa-that's me!

Lisa and Dan became a Mummy and Daddy in December to beautiful baby Margot. Inside the box was a lovely picture of them before Margot's arrival (Lisa's bump looks so neat) and lots of baby clothes, mitts and some heart burn sachets (Lisa swears by them for the third trimester)

What a stash of goodies, just this morning I had been thinking about all the new born sized things we needed to get in ready for July and hey presto it all arrived via a very kind friend (well and a curly haired postman). The coloured grows were dyed by Lisa herself.


I'll leave you with a recent picture of Margot sporting a hand appliqued grow in homage to Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic. Thank you Lisa, Dan and Margot for the parcel x