The Constant Gardner

Today, the sun came out, from hidding behind the clouds, and i sat in a friends garden, whilst she and Martin, weeded and tidied her small plot between them. the birds were singing, good company, knitting and carrot cake , what more can you want in life! 5 Goldies. It was Clair's garden not ours, and i missed the fluffy tails, wet noses and general mass of golden fur lying all over the place. In our own garden Lilly has been helping us to re-arrange the plants. Martin is trying to put a roof on the veranda of my garden room and Lilly has been helping. As well as the mud she is now covered in blue paint, the colour of the wood, and the door is now decorated with paws prints. Tumi, her best friend has blue strips as does Simba, i think there is more paint on them than on the door. With the amount of soil and pots that she has moved in and out of the house we have now named her the constant gardner. Over the last two weeks, life has generally been a little slower. martin has finished University for this year, so he is catching up on house hold maintance. I have recently finished crocheting a lilac shawl for a friend, plus a red modular shawl for my self.

The modular shawl took a bit of playing with so I am pleased it came out as well as it did. We had an away day to Bursy St Edmunds to the new wool shop there, called Wibbling Wools. What a lovely lady and what a lovely shop, and yes I brought home some lovely sea green marino sublime wool. It's been a good week for yarn, one of my swap pals sent me some lovely treats including a small wind chime, bag, needle savers etc and some hand dyed lace weight for a shawl. On thursday, I had Lunch with my silk painting group in one of their gardens, Filo pastry stuffed with feta cheese, champagne, 3 salads, pancakes etc 3 cakes and cream, I waddled out. Later in the week I had coffee with another set of friends, home made short cake, raspberries and cream. again in her garden. Thank goodness they were end of term do's, I now have the summer to try and loose the weight I put on. Life with Goldies and 1 cat, is never dull, this week Simba, went with me to a friends to see her puppy Alfie, a little spaniel, so that he could teach him what males to. We were in fits of laughter as the wee little thing, followed my lion off a dog, watching how he walked, sat and weed. Simba took it all in his stride, strutting his stuff. It was so comical to watch. Lilly has learnt the run down the garden, hoping over all in sundrey, they leaping and twirling in the air, running back and doing the whole thing again. Missy has learnt to move our the way to stop from being squashed. She has also developed a liking for my drinking chocolate and taken to woofing when she thinks I should be in bed. Still the day draws to a close and I have that new wool to knit. Bye

UK swaps ( Ravelry ) Information

UK SWAP (2) INFORMATION


Ravelry ; Goldenneedles

Crafting
I knit, crochet, silk paint, embroider, felt, spin,textile print,patchwork and quilt
I like to make most things, but not socks or baby things
My favourite project is one with texture, beads, buttons and colour
I like most of the natural wools, silk, cottons etc, I love hand dyed ones, and textured yarns
My least favourite wools harsh acrylics
As above, I also spin, silk paint embroider, tapestry, quilt, patchwork
Yes I knit in public, I carry around scarf’s, bags, etc
Gifts, any hand dyed yarns, beads, buttons, wool winder, silks threads, sea cell yarn, posh yarn

Favourites
Favourite colours are those of the sea, turquoise, blues and rich jewel colours
I do not like black, white , orange or many of the baby pastels
I love roses, rich oriental smells, flowery smells
I pamper myself with rich body butters and bath salts
I have to be careful what I eat, I have Crohn’s disease
I like both tea and coffee
I listen to audio books and have just discovered pod casts

About me
If I were a yarn a would be a deep sea coloured posh yarn to be made into a soft silky shawl, to cover someone in a warm soft textured reassuring hug or I would be a vibrant silk, glowing like an angel in the night sky.
Cambridge
I have lived here for most of my life, but I have lived in other towns
My favourite places in all the world are Egypt, morocco and India
If I could visit any where in the world, I have 2 places, the Taj Mahal and the Amish in the USA
My other hobbies include travel, theatre, reading , I love historical detectives, my 5 golden retrievers, nature, visiting museums etc, gardening, cinema,….

Themes
My theme is an Eider duck paddling on the River Cam, the colours are not those I would normally usually choose, but I loved the ripples of reflection in the water. The colours are subtle, with a hint of a silk shine on the ducks face. The neutral colours of the buildings in the background have a calming effect, but are textural in substance. Martin, took the photo whilst acting as an extra in the film the Golden Age, the duck refused to keep quite whilst they were filming. All the costumes, other than the queens were also made of natural colours.

Allergies
I have to be careful with foods
Other wise I am ok with most things

Other information
Hand made gifts are lovely
Other interests include angels, dragonflies, myths, sunflowers, texture and colour , the sea, mythology and nature of all kinds
I have 5 golden retrievers and 1 cat
I have only done 1 swap before
I don’t have a blog, so it makes no difference if I send to one with one or not
I will be around most of the time required
I live here all year

Goldenneedles

Close encounters of the furry kind.

'' You may drive a dog off the kings high chair, and he will climb into the preachers pulpit; he views the world unmoved, un embarressed, un abashed- Jean Le Bruyere.

Today, the first day of blogging i find myself thinking of a hundred and one ways of skinning a golden retriever to make into gloves and bags, before us lies a minefield of devistation,paper,threads, wood, earth, material wool,the odd pen or two. Five goldies come rushing up, tails wagging, 4 of them saying it wasn't them, the 5th saying I have played interior designer again. Lilly the 10 month old puppy looks at me with her big brown eyes, my heart melts, and thoughts of dog skin gloves disappear. Life with Martin, 5 Goldie's, Simba, Missy,Merlin,Tumi and Lilly, plus a tank of 4 large fish and Sophie the cat, is never dull, messy, but never dull. we all share a little house, filled to the roof tops with books, wool, material and various other interesting things. The mini ark of 4 legged friends keeps us on our toes, feeding,walking (Martin does that) fussing, grooming and helping at whelping times. We love them all to pieces, the big fella, Simba in particular has got us firmly under his fluffy paw. When we have time, I play with a variety of textile media's and martin is a mature University student studying IT. We also travel when we can, go to the theatre, read, watch TV, listen to audio books and enjoy life.

In this blog, I hope to be able to muse on life, show my current projects, share the furry adventures, my love of poetry, prose etc and meet fellow life traveller's.

Lilly by the way shows no remorse at her creative abilities, 4 new threads, a book and several other bits have died, never to be used again. Instead, she has climbed up by my side, wet nosed and waggy tailed, to supervise what I am writting here, just in case i should write anything negative about her.