I’ve made myself a beautiful scarf and matching fingerless gloves for singing at outdoor gigs over the winter months.
Fingerless so I can still turn pages if I need to.
I can’t remember where I found this poem but saved it to share sometime so here is is now. I especially love the last three lines. 
One of my favourite shops in town has started to stock wool and I went in today to see the new shelves – lots of gorgeous colours!
I couldn’t resist buying some very pretty multi-coloured wool and am now thinking of what to make with it!
I like to bake a big dishful of whatever, have some for tea and freeze away several potions so that we have ‘ready meals’ always available for when we don’t feel like cooking. Tonight it was a big dish of Moussaka. .
A few weeks ago, a lovely friend saw the poster below, advertising a play that had been written from one of my Dad’s novels – The Fate of Jeremy Visick
Stage Struck and The Fate of Jeremy Visick
I saw the play last night and was moved to tears by this production. The interpretation of the story, the bringing up-to-date of elements, the cast – especially the two amazing 11 years olds who played Matthew and Jeremy – the music, the use of technology, the very cleverly designed set all combined to make an unforgettable evening and one which my dear Dad would have been so proud to know about! I sat there almost bursting with pride that all those people were there, on stage and in the audience, because my lovely Dad had written this story! Thank you to Judith Nicholls and to all involved. Let’s hope it can be put on again. It deserves a much wider audience.
I made a Turkey and Leek pie for dinner tonight.
Turkey and Leek pie
I visited the display of my glass in The Craft Collective while in town on Saturday! I’ve up-cycled  lots of the bits of sea-glass, earrings, bracelets and other beady bits that friends have given me and have lots more for the next series that I have started already.
Inside The Craft Collective
My first eight pieces
Happy St David’s Day to my friends and family.
Mini Daffodils for St David’s Day being blown about in the breeze
I am so excited! I have, this afternoon, taken eight of my glass pieces to The Craft Collective where they are now on display  and for sale!  I will show you a photo tomorrow when I visit the shop and try to be cool!
The Welshman, Dylan Thomas, is one of my favourite poets. Here is ‘Fern Hill’, a particular favourite.
Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
In the sun that is young once only,
Time let me play and be
Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.
All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
And playing, lovely and watery
And fire green as grass.
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark.
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
In the sun born over and over,
I ran my heedless ways,
My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace,
Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
In the moon that is always rising,
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea
I am so enjoying my Glass workshops with Lisa Macfarlane! Today I went for something without a template and created a design that I am delighted with. Here are the pieces with their copper foil, awaiting the solder  and tomorrow, when I can photograph it against the light, I’ll show you the finished hanging piece.
Beautiful pieces
Other people made some lovely decorations too. Click on the image to see the whole.
Outside, on the wall of the car park, the multi-coloured Ivy caught my attention. It’s a bit fuzzy as I took the photo through the windscreen.
Ivy
Another fabulous creative morning making glass ornaments for Christmas with the lovely Lisa Macfarlane. I made another Angel this time, in Suffragette colours as I did last year. I love the others too – a Father Christmas, a Christmas tree and a VW Beetle! Maybe next time I will attempt one of those!
From today’s Glass Class
VW Beetle in the making
We are going to friends for dinner tonight. M makes her own jam (so I can’t take along homemade jam), flowers make her sneeze (so we can’t take along flowers) so I made her a gift in the Glass Class today.
Quite small, just 2″x2″
This was my fourth glass class with Lisa Macfarlane. This one was making Christmas decorations. Last year I made an angel and this year, for a very special friend, I made a Nisse. Wikipedia explains – “A nisse, tomte, tomtenisse or ‘tonttu’ is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is generally described as being no taller than 90 cm, having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour.” There was no red glass available so I chose bright green and showed the flow of his beard with wires and purple, white and green beads the relevance of which I know my friend will recognise.
The pieces made by other class members were also delightful.
Products of our morning’s work
I know you read the blog, Ti, so it won’t be a surprise when I bring it round for you  but I thought you might like to see it now!
Emerging from the class at The Craft Collective, the wind had been busy and Fore Street was littered with golden leaves.
Autumnal colour
It’s the third day of the Book Challenge that I am doing elsewhere. Today I have put up the cover of The Book Thief, no comment, no review as the rules say. Do tell me books that you have loved in the comments.
The Book Thief
Months ago I put my name on a waiting list for any one of the Stained Glass Christmas Decoration workshops at The Craft Collective in Redruth and had forgotten all about it until I had a phone call this morning saying there was a place for me! Just look what I made! I am so delighted with my quirky Suffragette Angel!
My Suffragette Angel, about 12 cms tall
We had a brilliant teacher, Lisa Macfarlane, who taught us all the techniques and encouraged us all to make our individual Christmas decorations. I’ll be looking out for another course to develop these new skills.
All the decorations made today
This afternoon I went into town to The Craft Collective as I had heard that they were going to be knitting pink Pussy hats in preparation for any visit by POTUS No 45. As well as the ticket buying wool, pattern, needles and unlimited wonderful snacks, more than half of the money was being collected for  Cornwall Women’s Refuge. You can find out more about the charity here. http://www.cwrt.org.uk/ What a pleasure to spend a creative afternoon with like-minded people!
Coming home I was delighted by our own front garden!
Our eldest daughter is with us for the weekend for her birthday so I have cooked up a storm, the main course of which was spectacular and delicious. It is Yottam Ottolenghi’s Duck with Blackberries, Ginger and Star Anise and it went down very well! We had the Duck dish with a mash of Carrots, Potato and Sweet Potato and some Crispy Garlicky Kale.
I discovered a new shop in town today, The Craft Collective, where most things have been made in Cornwall but not all – there were some gorgeous African buttons made by Thalia-Mai Nero.
I have shown you our Welly Dogs before but I love them so much, here they are again! Made by David Kemp, they are really called the Tinners’ Hounds and were fashioned from miners’ boots and then cast.
Walking home I found ferns on a wall, and a lone lost bloom on the path.
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