Missing presumed having a good time..

Blogging obviously hasn't been a priority in my life ...Missing presumed having a good time Knitting, sewing, veg gardening, foraging, cooking/preserving/brewing produce have been my favoured activities this year. Cupboards are well stocked with chutneyand jams. Wine has been bottled and there are still demijohns bubbling. And now I have another interest? hobby? passion? I was lucky enough to be given 3 Zwartbles fleeces so wool has to be spun or felted.

DH has bought me a beautiful Turkish spindle hand crafted by Enid Ashcroft, a wood turner in the North East of England. Shaft is beech and spindle is yew. Could take me some time to spin all that wool . . . DH has said he'll make me a wheel but that may have to wait until next year when he retires. I'm still mastering the spindle and there is a lot of wool to sort and card...so if I'm missing

Life happens

OK , I said Friday would be blog day but...life happens.
I had lots of bits drafted for Friday but was away from pc all day and happily weary by time got home.

Online friend I met through Freecycle is victim of *!* !* builder who has left her house uninhabitable. She was in deep despair so DH & I went over to see if we could do anything to help. Work had started on 6th December and was supposed to take 6 weeks. It has been worst winter for years but that is no excuse for the standard of the work .

When I started listing what we could do to help I thought Blimey! We do drystone and wetstone walls, paint, wallpaper, move furniture, lay carpets, cut trees, hedges, fencing and... more. Well, at our age we have a lot of life experience...

We've never built or added extension.. we live in a flat.
When telesales used to cold call about patios, DH used to say
"That would be lovely", listen to schpiel then tell them that we live in a second floor flat and the sunny side is over the main road ...they never failed to laugh! :-)

Lovely to meet a real friend and we spent 2 days working on garden and moving stuff inside to help family get back home...and we brought half a hundred weight of rhubarb and some lovely fresh eggs home!

Today they have meeting with building surveyor, building control and ...the builder if he turns up. So I'll be thinking aloud about them all day...and awaiting the news

And I'm thinking "Who do we know with building skills?"

Oops..too long..been busy

Where did the morning go ( a favourite Robin Laing song) ...and the months...oops 2 years
Been busy with life of course
Growing things
Learning things
Knitting things
Good times , bad times,
Happy times, sad times
I've decided that Friday is blog entry day..but not tied to an hour as my life isn't like that.

Cold day again.The veg garden soil is so cold. I've cloched peas and beans planted out after raising in lounge. Frosty nights this week..and soil is dry as we have had little rain in April.

Charlie Thorpe advised putting cabbages in cold frame said they will be ready in 6 weeks.Those are about 4 times size of outside ones...he does have over 40 years local growing experience.
Got another frame to build..winter's dreadful weather meant such jobs weren't done..before courgettes take over the lounge.

4 year old chilli plants thriving and cropping at south facing windows..

Music night tonight ..Eric Bibb http://www.myspace.com/ericbibb

What a night..Eric is a sublime top class musician who cares and gives so much. I'm sure every member of audience and staff at Queen's Hall went home with a happier heart.

We didn't take camera and John remarked that he didn't need a photo as would have the picture of Eric's happy smile and caring handshake in his head forever. Eric got out of seat where he was signing CDs and said " We will pose so that the whole world will see us together" put his arms round both of us and I still feel my cuddle from Eric Bibb in his purple silk shirt!

And I will have news of knitting in my next post..