She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for

I saw this via Treehugger and thought it was too beautiful and moving to keep to myself.

Back from Cornwall

We arrived back yesterday night after a wonderful week camping in Bodmin in Cornwall. We stayed at South Penquite Farm, which is where we stayed last time and had a lovely time. The site is a working farm with lots of eco friendly features, like the solar heated showers. The weather was a bit iffy and wet for some of the week but we had a wonderful and relaxing time in spite of it :)

We paid a return visit to Restormal Castle in Lostwithniel on the first full day and then visited Looe in the afternoon. The castle was amazing and it was so nice to see it in the sunshine.



The next day we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan just outside St Austell. The Gardens are absolutely enormous and it took us a whole day to explore and we still didn't get to see everything. We picked a great day to visit too as it scorching hot and the trees and gardens made for some cool shady spots.

The Jungle


The Fruit & Veg Gardens






We then went to St Ives the following day and had a good day checking out the latest collections at the Tate Gallery and then going onto the Barbara Hepworth Gallery. I wasn't overly taken with anything at the Tate but loved Barbara Hepworths' work. I wasn't familiar with her before the day so it was really interesting.

We also visited Bodmin town for a spot of shopping and visited Boscastle on our last full day. The weather was a bit of the blowy side so we had a wander round the Museum of Witchcraft. It was fasinating and well worth a visit.

Boscastle

Update from the Plot

I've just got back from a couple of hours down the plot and it was lovely. I'm completely knackered and stung both arms on stinging nettles but it was worth it. There was loads growing and I was able to harvest a lettuce and loads of raspberries :)

By request of my mum here are some pics from the plot :)

Raspberries


Lettuce


Something had been having a good nibble of one of our lettuces so I figured we'd better getting eating them too.

Sweetcorn


Only about half the sweetcorn I planted survived and they are all looking a bit small, but I'm sure they'll be fine. I might try planting them in regular pots next year instead of peat pots to see if that's were the problem is.

Potatoes


Onions


And courgettes


We also have tomatoes and chillis growing at home so it won't be long before we're nomming loads of tasty dinners :)

Feeling Green (in a good way) :)

I've been feeling so chuffed this evening - our local Green Party candidate won a place in yesterdays elections and now has a place on the council \o/ I've voted Green for as long as I could vote (nearly 20 years) and it used to niggle me when people used to say 'its a wasted vote' and 'why bother'. It may have taken a little time but it definitely wasn't a waste. Well done to St Albans Green Party for all their hard work :)

I'm also feeling extra happy as I got my yearly butterfly fix today. I went to see the latest developments at Butterfly World and got to see some of the most beautiful butterflies. I always think there's something really magical about butterflies. They are all so beautiful and delicate. I took tons of pics so here's a few of my favourites.







I could have kicked myself on the way back - I'd seen that there was an Atlas moth about but looked all over for him/her and saw no sign of it. If you're not familiar with them, I think they're the biggest butterfly - about the size of a horse (well, maybe a slight exaggeration!) - After leaving with no sightings I found out it was on the ceiling the whole time. I should have looked up! Doh!

Finally, on the subject of butterflies, I also finished another painting. I'm not totally satisfied with it - the butterflies feel a bit flat :/. I may go back and tweak it later but here it is in its current form.

Beautiful Timelapse

I saw this via Treehugger and thought it was so beautiful I had to share it. Its a timelapse showing the Milky Way in all its glory and was taken by the photographer Terje Sorgjerd and was recorded on El Teide, Spains' highest mountain.

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Feeling Swirly

I've been suffering a touch of crafters block the last month or so, so I've been playing around with Polyvore and zentangling .

I've always loved spirals and swirls and they feature regularly in my art and crafty creations. Here's the little collection I put together in polyvore to inspire me.

Swirls & Twirls by kathakana featuring murano glass jewelry

I'll also post some pics of my zentangles in a day or two so you can see what I've been coming up with. I've been producing them as ATC (Artist Trading Cards) so they're pretty small at just 3.5" x 2.5", but that makes them very easy to produce and I've already done a few this evening.

I've also been down the plot a lot over the last few weeks and have got tons done. I've been mostly digging and weeding. I also planted some onions and courgettes and have tomatoes, chillies and lettuce started on the window sills. Its also been really warm and sunny the last few days so I've also been making the most of that too.

Looking out for our planet

I spotted this on my reader today via Treehugger

Its a beautiful and v v short animation to remind us why we need to be kind to our planet.

Crocheted cuffs

I've been having fun and getting back into crocheting again. I've been having a go at making some crocheted cuffs and have been using some of the inchies I made before Christmas and using them as details on the cuffs. Its also giving me an opportunity to use some of the buttons I made last year too. Heres the first one I made. I'm pretty chuffed with the results :)




I've also been reading a lot too and I'm currently reading Maya by Jostien Gaardner. I read Sophies World last year and wasn't majorly impressed considering the hype it got but then read the Solitaire Mystery and loved it. I also read Through the Glass Darkly by him just before Christmas and that wasn't all that but Maya seems far more along the lines of the Solitaire Mystery and I'm enjoying this one far more. I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.

I've also been down the plot at the weekend. I mainly wanted to pick up the seeds we had stored in the shed and just assess any snow damage. I was pleasantly surprised. All the weeds seem to have been pretty much killed off so there's a lot of tidying to do. Most of the veg and herbs we had growing over the winter seem to have survived. Even the Strawberries weren't too bad. They'd got a bit water logged because we'd left them in a tray but once I tipped the smelly water off they looked okay. I can't wait for a few dry weekends so we can get down and do some digging and planting. Roll on Spring :)

Brrrr

Went down the allotment today to empty the compost and it looked so pretty. It was totally deserted and the snow was so thick. I took a few pics and spotted little paw prints across our plot. Obviously allotment cat has been visiting in our absence :)

Buzz buzz buzz

The plot is buzzing with life at the mo so we've been spending extra time down there. We've left the leeks to go to seed and the flowers look really beautiful. The bees seem to be appreciating them too :) Our raspberries are also producing tons of fruit this year so we've been nomming lots of raspberries straight off the plot. They make a very tasty snack when you're down the plot working.
The onions are looking good. Even the new ones I planted the other week from spare onion sets that some kind plot owner left out are also coming up. Hopefully that will keep us in onions for a bit. The sweetcorn is also coming along nicely too but that will be a while before they are ready to eat. We're also giving Spinach a go too this year so we're looking around for some yummy recipes to use this in. I'm thinking of giving Saag aloo a go :P Also the Sunflowers are all flowering and they look amazing. I love the way they all turn themselves to face the sun. Theres also something really happy about sunflowers too which I love.
The plot is also teaming with life too. As well as tons of bees I also spotted loads of ladybirds, grasshoppers and butterflies. I even saw some Small Tortoiseshells which has made me smile :) They were laying loads of eggs on the stinging nettles at the end of our plot so we made ourselves a little unpopular with our neighbour by not trimming it down but it was well worth the hassle. They look lovely.
I've also been working hard on 3 crafty swaps. I've sent of the earrings I made Tara for the Earring swap. Hopefully they should reach her in a week or two. I've also nearly finished making stuff for Kiddo for the Tiny Swap. I'm really chuffed with how the bits I've made have come out so I want to get on and finish that one this weekend. I'm also gradually getting bits done for the Spooky swap. So far I've made 4 things and the goal is 7 so thats going well too.
I've also made my friend a birthday pressy too :)
I've also picked myself up a second hand copy of the new Professor Layton game so I've been glued to that too :) Within a week I'd clocked up about 10 hours on it! I was chuffed with my purchase of this though as I was able to pay for it with the voucher I'd got from Computer Exchange when I traded in a few games last month.

Sweeties \o/

I got my sweeties on Friday from Rhibi in Australia for the Sweetie swap we've been participating in on CO&K. So far they're all yummy, especially the raspberry and white chocolate bar which has unfortunately now disappeared :P
I've also been crafting away for the Newbie/Vet Swap which I'm participating in as a Vet. So far I've made a few bits and I've been really enjoying feeling a bit more creative. I've also retaken a lot of my product shots for my shop so feel free to check out the preview on the side bar. I think they're a really improvement so I'm pretty pleased with myself.
I'm reading another Bill Bryson book now as well as I'd finished A Walk in the Woods. I'm now reading a Short History of Nearly Everything (I think thats what its called). It's absolutely amazing. I'm already about half way through it and have been reading about the planet and the progress science has made in understanding the universe and our own planet. It's fascinating and really inspiring.
I was hoping to get down the plot today but the sky looks really grey and miserable. I was hoping it would clear up but its not looking overly hopeful right now and its already a quarter past four. I wanted to get down and continue weeding and plant out the pansies. At the moment they are spread around the herbs and onions in their pots where I would like to plant them. We also wanted to plant out the Sunflowers and they're on the windowsill at the moment and have grown loads since last week.

Cat Therapy

I love Bank Holiday weekends. They seem to go on forever :) In spite of the rain we had a little party this weekend for my bf's bday. We started at 1pm and finished about 1.30am, so it was a bit of a late one.
Today we went down the allotment and I did loads of weeding. My legs were killing me by the end but it was great. I took the Pansies down too and have put them in position so I can plant them out when we go down next weekend. We also got visited by both allotment cats too which was the best bit. We can't keep a cat where we live so we love topping up our cat stroking time down the plot. The ginger tabby is called Hastings and we've been seeing her since we took over the plot about 3 years ago. The black and white one is new and only been visiting for about 6 months. We think he's quite young as he's quite kitteny still. It was stalking mice and Hastings and even my bf's leg at one point.
The oregano has grown loads since I was last down. So too have the leeks and onions and I was weeding between the onions today. Our bulbs still haven't flowered yet but the dafs look pretty close. Our parsnips are also really big now and probably pretty close to harvesting :)
I've also joined up with two new swaps this week. I've joined the Newbie/Veteran swap as a Vet this time so I'm working on that. I'm also working on a Journal Swap too. I just need to send out my T-shirt refashion as thats practically done. I'm enjoying all the extra crafting. It keeps me inspired which I like.

Spring has Sprung (fingers crossed)

I've just come (well a couple of hours ago) from our allotment and spring is definitely looking like its here \o/. The raspberries have lots of fresh shoots and don't look like giant, dead sticks and the lavender looks like lavender again, rather than a pile of dried twigs and our neighbour had daffodils and tulips flowering. Our bulbs appear to be a bit more laid back and don't even appear to have buds yet but that's fine. They'll be flowering soon. Unfortunately the weeds are also back but, well, ho hum you can't have it all. Also weeds are only weeds because they are growing somewhere you don't want them to grow. They're also incredibly tough and often quite beautiful so I shouldn't be too hard on them.




I've also been making more jewellery bits and bobs. I'm making some sweet inspired bits for Rhibi, who I'm partnered with in the 2nd round of the sweetie swap. We've set a limit on ourselves as we are both on pretty tight budgets so I bought a fivers worth of goodies yesterday and thought I'd make some other bits and bobs to add to it. I didn't seem to have my mojo for the first round which is a bit of a shame but hopefully Rhi will like what I've made. I've made jelly snake (except made from fimo) pendant and earrings and a lollipop pendant and a rainbow beaded bracelet.

Good posture, zentangles and pretty flowers :)

Finally got my posh new chair from sit kneel chairs yesterday \o/. Its very posh with purple seat and kneeling pad.
The idea is that rather than slouch in your chair you sit on the top pad with your knees resting on the bottom. It forces you too sit more upright and with a much better posture. The tough bit now is getting used to it. Yesterday I was sat on it for a couple of hours but ended up with a bit of a backache. I don't think you realise how bad your posture is until you try and change it but my back will get used to its new chair. And its a nice bright purpley colour so you can't really go too far wrong :)
I've also been keeping up the zentangling so by request here are a couple of my attempts.


Not exactly ready for the Tate but I've been having fun doing them :)
Also I have bought myself some more seeds for the trough that we keep out on the balcony. This year I have gone with labelia, sweet peas and morning glories. They are all pinky, purpley, bluey colours so they should all look pretty together and the sweet peas and morning glories should climb up the railings and look extra nice :)
Hopefully it will look as nice as last year and we'll have something pretty to look at when we sit out on the balcony.

Lights off

On Saturday 27th March at 8.30pm the WWF will be asking people to switch off all lights to demand action on Climate Change. To find out more check out the website.

Beads, Spiders and the Meaning of Life

Just before Christmas I spotted the coolest invention online, its a spider-friendly spider catcher :) Our shed at the allotment appears to have become the local hang out for the spiders of Hertfordshire. As a result getting anything in or out of the shed has become a bit of a delicate operation involving long poles and some, not so child friendly language. In fairness to the 8 legged ones they are appropriately dressed for the allotment and can be found wearing boots and heavy coats (well thats what it looks like to me!) so they maybe planning on helping out with the work. Nevertheless, I'm not their biggest fan but don't want to kill them. This little invention was therefore met with delight. It also bought back some memories of growing up. My dad is of a similar mindset and has come up with numerous, ingenious ways of catching our little and not so little visitors. I therefore thought I had to get one for him too, so one has winged its way to him too for his birthday (along with chocolate). Here's a little glimpse at the device.

Anyway, thats spiders.....
Also this week I've kind of fallen of the wagon and been buying beads again. In my defence though I haven't bought any for ages so I'd been strict until now with my bead diet. My favourites so far are a toss up between some glass beads I bought from a vintage store and some pretty ones I have got from Beads Unlimited. As well as those I've bought a load of different coloured wooden beads. I'm looking forward to having a proper play with them tomorrow and hopefully making some more jewellery for my shop.
I've also been reading loads recently. After finishing A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian I have now started and almost finished Sophies World by Jostein Gaarder. My mum bought it for me a few years back and I started it but never finished it. Its an amazing read and I've been totally engrossed for the last few days. Its written as a kind of mystery centring round a 14 year old girl in Norway and her meetings with a mysterious philosopher called Albert Knox. In amongst the story is Sophie's journey through the history of philosophy right from Greek times to almost present day. I love philosophy and studied it at A-level and uni but I have never come across anything that has been able to explain it in such an accessible way. Its brilliant. I can't wait to find out how it ends :)

All Organised :)

Spring is obviously in the air as I have been tidying and sorting the last couple of days. My task of the today has been to sort out all my art and craft stuff. My boyfriend picked up some nice shelves from our local Emmaus to store it all on so I'm pretty pleased with how its all looking.
Before I used to have all my art stuff in a big box under the bed and my beads where in a box beside the sofa and my sewing stuff was near where I sit and the wool was stacked up by the back wall along with my bag of fabric. The fabric still needs a home but everything else has fitted really well.
Over the last couple of weeks I've also been trying to be a little healthier and have been trying out Graze. They are a UK based, online company from which you can order healthy munch. You select all the stuff you like the look off from their enormous range and they will send it out to you on the day you choose. It gets sent through the post and fits through the letter box and costs just £2.99. So far I've been really impressed and I've tried a few bits and bobs that I wouldn't have tried before.
I got an email today from the chairperson of our allotment committee telling us that the plot has been flooded. Usually it floods down by the river when we've had a lot of rain but this time the entire plot is effected. My bf went down to investigate and our plot is under a couple of inches of water. The shed looks fine though and we're sure it will drain away. We've looked on the bright side and have taken the view that at least its better than the other year when we had no rain and we lost tons of veg as we just couldn't water everything as much as they needed.
We probably need to be starting a few things off indoors about nowish so I'm hoping to pick up some onion seeds to get them going. We've also been given some seed potatoes too.
Last night I also went out to my first Meditation group in over 2 years. It usually clashes with work but I've got a week off this week so I thought I'd give it a go. The group was small but I really liked it. It was nice to try out some new techniques and do it with others. Also I'd forgotten how nice the environment was and how comfy the big cushions were. With a bit of luck my hours will change a bit in the next couple of months so I'm hoping to make this a more regular thing.

Fishy Wishies

I had my first ever visit to the London Aquarium last week and it was lovely. So calming just watching the fishes swim around and do their thing. The sharks were a little on the scary side but I am pleased to say that I managed the Shark Walk, where you walk over one of the shark tanks on thick, reinforced glass. Initially I was worried that all my sweetie eating would be my undoing and I'd crash through the glass into some sharks waiting mouth but this didn't happen :) Phew! Although they're not exactly pleasing on the eye there is something oddly fascinating about them. Luckily there were no enormous sharks like those you see on telly but they were still sharky enough for me :)
I'm also having a bit of any experiment at the moment with some tartan fabric I picked up ages from the YMCA Charity shop. I only paid £2 and there was masses of it so I'm having a go at making some trousers out of it. I'm using an old pair of combats to make a pattern from and so far so good. I don't know how they're going to turn out but its a bit of fun and I quite like bigger projects. When I was younger I never had the patience to sew something bigger like clothing. I always used to get over excited and rush it so they didn't come out particularly well or very wearable. I'm quite happy now though to take it gently and I know that if I take my time the stitching will be stronger and look much better. I'll post a piccie if they turn out okay. I might even be brave and post one if they don't :)
I've also had my first go at Blanket Stitch. I found a tutorial in a sewing magazine I got ages ago and I tried it on a lion pin cushion I'm making for a swap. I quite like how its come out and might try using this again. At the moment I'm sewing on the lion's mane and thats proving to be a task and a half. I also keep finding little bits of yellow wool stuck to everything :)
I'm currently reading a couple of books at the moment - one on my DS at night - Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy and during the day I'm reading How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgekinson. Both quite readable although I haven't got into the first one properly yet. How to Idle is perfect train reading on my way to and from work and I'm pretty impressed how much I've got through already.

Zzzzz

Had the most enormously long and tiring journey yesterday to Dorset. The snow just ground everything in the London area to a complete standstill so we ended up sitting in the services at Fleet for about 4 hours as there was no point going back on the roads just to sit in traffic.
Finally arrived at our destination at 2.15 in the morning feeling tired but a bit too wired from all the coffee on route. It was so great to lay in bed though and uncrinkle my back :)
Today much better though. After an huge lay in we went into town for a yummy lunch and to pick up some food. We also sat by the sea feeding a couple of ravens raisins. They were beautiful looking and had the funniest hop/walk. I did try and take a few piccies but unfortunately Windows isn't playing ball at the moment so I can't get any of my pictures of my phone :/
Plans for this evening include nothing, probably an epic spod and some nethack :) Possibly a bit of White Fang later too but I haven't got properly into it yet so not sure. It was also a bit close to home last night with all the snow. We bought blankets, water and munch though so we would have been okay.

Brrrrr +1

V Brrrr today. We had our first snow of this winter and even though it turned to rain pretty soon after it stayed really cold all day.
Making some more date & walnut rolls tonight. First for a long while but we've run out of bread and I'm extremely low on funds at the mo so I thought why pay someone to make it for me when I have all the bits to make it myself. I need to pick up some more wholemeal strong flour though as I've now used up all of mine. I also need some more yeast as I'm down to my last little packet.
Regarding the last post about my yummy veg stew, I found that my boyfriend had taken a piccie so I thought I'll pinch his and show you all that. The plates and bowls are made by him during his pottery classes and the stew is my handywork. I think Kingsmill may have made the bread. To check out his photos follow this link :)
I've also been reading away and have finished Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde the other day. That was completely different to what I was expecting but still pretty enjoyable. Not as good as Sherlock or some of the other classics of this type. Frankenstein was amazing and Dracula is one of my favourite books. I'm now reading White Fang, which other than knowing its got a wolf in it, I knew nothing at all about it.
Apparently 8 shopping days to Christmas. Thankfully I have done all my shopping, although I'm still waiting for one to turn up by post so I can wrap it and repost it out. I've managed to make a few of my christmasy bits. I've made all my gift tags, some of my cards and some bits and bobs for pressies.
I'd like to have a go at making more next year but may have to start making about September time.