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Category Archives: craft

Swaps, Cherries and A Spider

A brilliant trade happened today! One of our choir friends runs the lovely cafe at Chapelporth, renowned for its Hedgehog ice creams, Croque Monsieur and homemade Flapjacks. She and her staff, who have just been allowed to re-open, were in need of some masks so several of her friends have made some. R came this morning to collect the three I have made and brought us some of her delicious Flapjacks.

Chapelporth Cafe Flapjack

SeaSalt fabric masks

Another lovely choir friend does extra bits of shopping for us and today found a big box of cherries, a bargain!

We found a very small green and yellow spider on the Peony today, busy spinning a web.

3 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on June 23, 2020 in Chapel Porth, Cornwall, garden, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing

Tags: Chapel Porth cafe, flapjack, Seasalt fabric

L R Knost, Sewing and Gifts

08 Jun

A friend shared these words today and they strike me as very pertinent. They are the words of award-winning author, feminist, and social justice activist, L.R. Knost who is the founder and director of the children’s rights advocacy and family consulting group, Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting.

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”

Be that light.

I have been sewing hard for a week, making two little fabric books for a friend’s one year old son. We’ll deliver them to their doorstep tomorrow.

A dear friend called by today with some shopping and we sat in the garden for an hour or so, catching up and being together (in a socially distanced way!) Lovely J brought with her some scones she had made this morning with a pot of Cornish Clotted Cream and a beautiful posy of Suffragette colours. What a gem, what a very thoughtful and much needed gesture of solidarity and friendship.

Cornish cream tea

Lavender with Love-in-a-mist and Philadelphus

5 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on June 8, 2020 in baking, friendship, Kindness, Photography, picture story books, Postaday2020, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: Beatrix Potter, love, Peter Rabbit

Bee, More Masks and Greenham Women

22 May

The bees are busy, we are glad to see. This one was moving around all the Lavender pots.

Our eldest was due to come from Exeter for a couple of hours this afternoon to fix my Beetle. In exchange I made her a couple of fabric masks. I had not anticipated how hard it would be to see her but not be allowed to hug.

My spirits were lifted by a wonderful zoom session this evening, Greenham Women singing songs of the time, all led by my lovely choir leader, Claire. In between singing the songs, people shared their stories of being at the various gates, all given colours and each with a very distinct personality. A couple of the participants had been there with their Mums as very young children. One Mum and daughter were there together from their different parts of the UK; participants came from allover the country and were really inspiring. It was a brilliant session.

Posted with permission from all the participants

7 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 22, 2020 in community, environment, History, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing, singing

Tags: Greenham Common

Bee Day, A Bee and Some Masks

20 May

It is World Bee Day today and we had some in the garden where we have been working most of the day as the sun has been shining again.

I’ve finished one set of masks for the Barcelona branch of the family -one each for Mum, Dad, LiveWire no 1 and twin LiveWires 5 and 6. I expect you can tell which fabrics the little ones chose. I hope that, having chosen their own fabrics online from our local shop, Redruth Sewing Studio, they will be willing to wear them. There are other fabrics to be made up in the next batch.

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 20, 2020 in Grandchildren, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: Redruth Sewing Studio

Bias Binding, A Thank You and Unknown Plant

15 May

The masks that I am now making need bias binding so I raided Mum’s haberdashery box again and found it full of treasure – of course – lots of different colours and widths, some brand new like this one!

A thank you card arrived today, such a beautiful, happy card with a painting by Carl Lawson entitled “The Boy With The Knot ” Thank you, Ti, it’s lovely.

Our walk often takes us along Church lane where the wild flowers abound. This one has grown so very fast, now at least 3ft high but I don’t know its name. It looks like Angelica but that may be a fantasy!

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 15, 2020 in Beauty, environment, friendship, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: "The Boy With The Knot ", Carl Lawson, Made in England

Three Trunk Tree, Hedgerow Flowers and Scrub Caps

04 May

We love this moss covered tree with its three trunks as we go up the lane to the Flat Lode Trail.

Cornish hedgerows are so lovely in Springtime.

I’ve sewn 24 buttons onto the scrub caps (for the wearers to attach their masks and so avoid the soreness that elastic can cause behind the ears) and they are now ready for collection.

1 Comment

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 4, 2020 in Cornwall, Cornwall Scrubs, environment, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing

Tags: Cornish hedges, Cornish lane

Another Lane, Bird Song and Sewing

02 May

We walked early today and it was absolutely delightful, flower filled lanes and sunshine and almost silent except for the beautiful bird song.

For a couple of hours this afternoon I sat in the sunshine, pinning and tacking the next six scrub caps. Machine sewing tomorrow and they’ll be almost ready for collection.

10 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 2, 2020 in birds, Cornwall, Cornwall Scrubs, environment, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing, Uncategorized

Rain, Sewing and A Lane

28 Apr

It rained in the night and the garden seems delighted! I spent most of the rainy day sewing and completed my first six scrub caps. Our walk was short, just along the lane where we foraged more Wild garlic and dodged a shower.

5 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on April 28, 2020 in Cornwall, Cornwall Scrubs, environment, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: Lovers' Lane, raindrops, scrub caps

Sewing, Sheep and Clematis

24 Apr

My next project is sewing scrub caps. I’m trying to do the same process on each cap in turn to save time. Here they a have all been pinned and two have been tacked. I’m hoping to get them sewn tomorrow. The weather’s been so good that I’m gardening much of the day too, today planting the Sugar Snap Peas and potting up the Kalettes (Flower Sprouts) that I have brought on from seed and prepping the box for them with shovel loads of compost.

The lambs spend much of their day being really sedate, just munching away at the grass near to their mothers and then suddenly, they all gather and race around the field, jumping and scrambling and leaving their mothers munching and murdling at their youngsters. It seems the lambs have reached their teenage ‘years.’ I have not managed to video them yet as their moments of madness are sudden and brief. Here is a peaceful video for you, full of birdsong.

Another Clematis has come into flower, Huldine, very pretty with its touch of green in the white and its purple centre.

7 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on April 24, 2020 in Cornwall, Cornwall Scrubs, environment, garden, nature, Photography, Postaday2020, sewing

Tags: Clematis Huldine, Spring lambs

Isolation, Walk and Sewing

21 Apr

The poet, Kim Ridgeon has written very movingly about isolation. Like me, he worries about those whose views, in isolation, are just bricks and graffiti, who have nowhere beautiful to walk and he expresses that so clearly. He feels he wants to do something, as we all do, and here he is, doing something – writing poems that touch our hearts and set us thinking. I thank Kim for the permission to share his poem with you here.

Our walk today took us across the railway line and along some lovely lanes with the gift of open skies. We are so very lucky.

I feel the same need to ‘do something’ and though I write for myself, my gift right now is being able to sew. I have made eleven scrub bags which will be collected tomorrow and sent to wherever they are needed. Although I am a political animal, I rarely show that here but I have very mixed feelings about being an amateur sewist doing my bit along with everyone else in the national movement to sew scrubs, caps and bags when our government has let the side down so very badly. NHS and other care workers are dying for lack of PPE. Clapping on Thursdays is good but proper funding over the last ten years would have been much better.