Looking back

It is nearly two years since I have written in this blog.  That is largely or entirely because I have been addicted to Facebook for the past few years!  There is far more interaction, response, it is more instantly rewarding, and I do like instant gratification!  Uncle Maurice has just died, aged 99 and nine months, and I knew I had posted a blog or two about him.  I have therefore been looking back at some of my posts.  They represent an interesting recap of some of the things that have happened, my craft work, and my thoughts.  I could have left  out the 3 beautiful things posts though, nice idea, but a bit long winded.

I feel sad that my lovely uncle has died, and cross with him for depriving the family of a happy get together for his 100th birthday!  However, he was ready to go, he had not been fully  aware for the past two years.  In his nursery, which he ran for many years, he particularly grew cyclamen.  Simon bought me a beautiful white cyclamen on Saturday after we heard he had died during the night.  That made me howl, but was just perfect.  This picture is of Uncle Maurice, aged about 96.  He was a thinker, he thought I was incapable of thought and we had minor bickers all the time.  He dismissed anything he knew nothing of, Facebook was 'rubbish' for example.  He was a writer, he wrote until the last couple of years.  I always adored  him and will miss him dreadfully, although I have missed him already for the past couple of years when he has been in a care home and not really aware of the world around him.

I may try to write in here more often and link it to Facebook somehow...

Being creative

Although it is many months since I have posted on this blog, this does not mean I have been entirely uncreative, just that I have not written about it!

The craft event to which I refereed in the last post did not happen.  Thank goodness really, as we were so busy with the guest house, that I did not have any time to make things in the summer.

However, we did have a stall at an event in Exeter at the end of November.  This galvanised me into making a lot of Christmas cards and some lovely little doves as decorations.  But, the sales were not good, but we did promote Michal House well and that part was a success.  i think the cards did not do well, as there were charity cards available at vastly cheaper prices.  I thought my work was actually pretty good!  if we do that event, organised by Animal Aid, in the future, I will have a smaller stall and focus on promotion of the guest house, with a few cards available.

I am currently engaged int eh endless task of sorting things out in my craft room, getting rid of lots of magazines on Freecycle etc.  then I must make a load of cards to sell over the summer, when we do tend to shift quite a few.

oh dear

 Making things has really taken a back seat whilst I am so busy with the guest house.  But, we have a local exhibition coming up and I must make cards and such like for that.  So, need to get myself into gear a bit, but the garden is also desperate...

blblblbl

hijacked no more!

This blog has been hijacked by the animals, they now have their own blog, then hijacked by my travels into veganism! No more, both have their own blogs, so this one can focus once more on creativity.

Our craft group in Treknow is great fun, and we have covered a lot of topics, we are trying to keep a focus on one at a time a bit more now, as we all have lots of partly made items at home! We have been exploring still life, but not from a conventional perspective. We had to make the components from torn or cut papers and plastic, and then take a section of the result and paint this. I enjoyed the process at first, but became distracted and chattery - it is impossible to talk and create at the same time as both tasks need the opposite sides of the brain to function! So, that one went in the bin and I then concentrated on making a few watercolour cards in my usual style, with hills and the like. Quick and easy!

I should have cropped the other, upside down card out of this before adding it!

Still vegan!

So, I have now been vegan, almost properly, for over a month. It begins to feel normal, and hasn't caused any major problems. I have felt awkward, for example refusing cakes people have lovingly made, this feels rude, and i have had to continue to taste test some of the vegetarian foods i have cooked at Micheal House.

A fun new social network, www.volentia.com which is for vegetarians and vegans is helpful and provides links with other veggies and vegans.

The funniest answer i have received so far, when asking if any cakes were vegan in a cafe we love visiting was 'no, they all contain chocolate'.

Quite apart from the butter and milk etc. many of them obviously contained, they did not all contain chocolate!!!

I am vegan

Just trying writing that out! I am still vegan, with the odd unavoidable lapse, but am sticking to the mantra, 'I am vegan for today'.

It seems that moving towards veganism is more of a process than an instant state of being. For a long time I have thought I 'ought' to be vegan. It is the logical point to aim at from being vegetarian. There can be no milk or it's products without cows having calves, half of which will be male. They are mostly either considered a waste product or raised for veal as I understand it. Eggs lead to the same problem, there are many male chicks born which are seen as no more than a by-product, and hens rapidly come to the end of their useful laying lives. Dairy cows often live their lives in large sheds, not grazing the fields as we like to imagine they all do. They are engineered to produce around twice the milk they would naturally make for their calves, from whom they are torn. I do not want to be part of supporting this cruel industry, of lives being no more than a waste or by-product. The environmental issues are compelling too, but to me, only as a supporting one for the animal welfare case.

But, I love food, I adore nice cheesy dishes, cakes, eating out. Will I just have to accept my life is less food focused and replace my delight in eating yummy things with going to the cinema or something? It seems that, at present at least, food is even more of a focus, making sure I get plenty of nice things, checking labels, etc.

Running a vegetarian guest house raises it's own problems. I do not plan, at this stage at any rate, to make the guest house fully vegan. I therefore have to accept I will need to taste some dishes. Will I find myself with rather large taste test portions?!

Being vegan ought to be a gentle, non aggressive option. But, it seems it is the opposite in some ways - it raises uncertainty, discomfort, questions, defenses. I do not want to be seen as difficult, I do not want to be the centre of an awkward scene in a restaurant as I question ingredients and eyebrows get raised higher and higher. Being organised and arranging vegan meals when booking will doubtless help with this, and I have already been pleasantly surprised by the extent to the knowledge of one pub's staff recently.

It seems that it is more acceptable to have allergies or health reasons to be vegan than to do it for ethical reasons. We recently went to our local Indian restaurant. As I had only been vegan for a few days, I would have felt a fraud to say I was vegan, so I asked for dishes that were dairy and egg free. They told me the ones we had selected were dairy and egg free, but that one of them contained almonds. I was flummoxed for a moment, wondering what the relevance was. Of course, they thought I had an allergy to dairy products, and that I might also have a nut allergy. It seems rather sad that the health considerations of the individual are more recognised and valued than consideration for other creatures.

Another issue is waste. I am still cooking eggs for guests for example. Sometimes these break when I am frying them. I usually eat the broken ones. I cannot now do this. Is it worse to give the dogs yet more treats than to eat it myself?

Will I be able to keep making felt? I am only just getting into it, I have already stopped painting on silk, I do not want to give up using wool in felt making. I recognise each person has to do what they can, there are no absolutes. But, I know how I feel about 'vegetarians' who eat fish. Is a vegan who makes felt similar? Or, is it better I go as far as I can, possibly extending the process as I go, rather than becoming trapped and ending up not doing any of it?

There will be many more questions raised I am sure, and I will keep to 'vegan for today' for now and see how it goes, reporting here. Ooh, I am hungry. We have the most yummy bramble jelly made by Dawn, which goes very well with the homebaked bread, and the little bit of soya marge I use instead of butter, should mean I start losing weight...

Being vegan

I have now been vegan for four days! It has been easy so far, but we are going out tomorrow, so it may all get more troublesome! By telling myself I am only doing it for a few days, it makes it easy. One of the guests who left today said that is how she still does it, and she has been vegan for three years! I have lost three pounds as well, which is a very good thing, but today I ate a potato rosti and the big baddy - peanut butter, by the spoonful. A big spoonful. Two big spoonfuls.

Vegan for a week

I have decided that I can no longer go on supporting the cruel dairy and egg businesses in the way that I formerly have. To this end, I yesterday decided to try being properly vegan, just for a week.

I didnt tell anyone, even Simon, as that would make a 'big deal' of it, I just wanted to keep it as something I was quietly doing. We have vegan guests staying, so it is easy to have what they are eating, as we usually do, but then not supplement it with the butter etc., I usually use. Simon now knows, as I showed him some of the horrendous images which make me cry and which lead him to say we should be vegan, and I told him my plan!

I plan to blog about it, mainly as a way to record how it is going for myself, with no expectation of the blog being read by others. if it is, that is great!

One day in, and it seems fine so far. But, what will happen when we go out or have vegetarian guests eating supper? What of the wonderful chocolate Brownies at my favourite cafe at Trebarwith Strand? I can have their veggie burger though, it is vegan...

And my main anxiety - will I forget?!

oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

It is so long since I have posted a blog on here, it is really a disgrace. I now have some of my work in a local shop, which is fun, will see how it goes, and have some photos I must post here. But, the season at the guest house is taking off well, and I have an obsession with the farm town game on Facebook, so I know I will only occasionally post on here over the next few months. I think I shall have to accept, I am a winter blogger! I also have a post to do about Barney on the animals blog! No, Barney has a post to do.

Selling stuff

In the past I have had my wares for sale in a variety of shops, as well as attending craft fairs, doing little 'open studio' type events in my home or the homes of others.

Since living in Cornwall, I have not had anything in any shops, although a few of us do do sales around Christmas. I got to the stage where I felt acutely shy of approaching shops with my work and the above post about procrastination has held sway! However, recently, a friend locally jolted me out of this and into action. She had painted a picture of a local pub and approached the pub landlady with a proposal they buy the picture. They did and paid a very good price too. Her work is lovely. So, I have now approached a shop, The White Horses in Tintagel (they do not seem to have a website) and they were quite enthusiastic about taking my work in, although he spoiled my bubble of confidence at the end of the conversation by saying he will take the work of anyone!

This picture is rather blurred, but is an example of the kind of things I will take in. It is a card of Trebarwith Strand, with Gull Rock, a very distinctive landmark round here. I have made it of felt, made on the embellisher machine. I cannot take a better picture of it, as I sold it this morning! I have a few things, cards etc., for sale at the guest house, and do quite well with these in the summer season.

never put off...

If only I could get round to it, I could procrastinate for England.

Neglected blog

I have been keeping up with the Michael House blog and the animals have been busy on their new blog, so this one has been sadly neglected.

Just a little grumble. Why does politics and inter-personal strife have to creep into everything, even the most innocuous of local activities? That is the nature of people I suppose, and I'm sure I'm not entirely innocent of all blame. Entirely, notice. Ie, I think I am mostly innocent!
This fellow is entirely innocent. Even though they have their own blog now, they still find their way onto mine. Whatever has happened to his mouth?

mi go, mi go, mi go

i hav not ritten on heer for a long time. i hav not been allowed on heer, as she nu i wud say tru things abowt her. i kan now say that i hayt mi new bel. it is hewj, insulting. and it is on a koller with a diamondy hart. i hav tried to get it off, butt it wont go away. it is to friten off the babi berds and the naybors scardi kat.

vanesser fownd this blog, bi a bear. she thincs we rite similarli. now, that is so rewd, he is just a stuffd beer. i am a propa, reel, living kat. he dus seme to be a bit ov a selebrety bere thow, so may be i wil suk up a bit. luvli beer.

I am praktising mi evill luk. befor bel. evill luk did not werk.

Gadsden purchase and other stamps

I am still wading through my parents things. My mother died over 6 years ago. She was quite a hoarder and we took about 30 carloads of things to the Oxfam shop when she moved from East Grinstead to Lymington to be near me, and another similar number to the tip. Oh, if only Freecycle had been around then, so much could have been reused, how fast things change, and there were loads of clothes which might now have been snapped up as retro. That was just 8 years ago. Then there was another major sort out when she died. I have saved some things for nostalgic reasons, well, lots really. I have saved some to go through and possibly sell. Now, I am going through things once more, and am sending things off to charity shops and Freecycle. One pile I keep coming across and putting aside to sort 'another time' is her stamp collection.

I have always cut out the stamps from letters received and sent them to Oxfam, (any guesses where I got this habit from?), who sort and make up packs and sell them, presumably sending some abroad where our boring ones become of interest! I feel quite wicked if I just put the whole envelope in the recycling with a stamp on! I also keep some envelopes from junk mail with pretty innards, to make into card, but that is another story! Who did I say was a hoarder?

card made using insides of old envelopes

I recently sent some to the Plymouth Oxfam, and received an unexpected and very grateful letter in return. They are struggling to get enough stamps for the packs they sell, and have had to use some from their store. So, please do send your old stamps to them, they will be very pleased.

My parents worked in the Oxfam shop in East Grinstead for many years.

I have now found the perfect solution to all the stamps that my mum had sorted into countries of origin but never mounted, as well as the vast collection of old stamps from this country. I have boxed them all, ready to go off to Oxfam. I shall feel virtuous, Oxfam will have a source of stamps for a while, we shall all be pleased. I have just got to go and do it...

One stamp I shall not be sending, among others I shall keep for now, is this Gadsden Purchase one. My maiden name was Gadsden.


'The Gadsden Purchase (known as Venta de La Mesilla, or "Sale of La Mesilla", in Mexico[2]) is a 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of what is today southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by President Franklin Pierce on June 24, 1853, and then ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 25, 1854. It is named for James Gadsden, the American ambassador sent to Mexico at the time. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande. The Gadsden Purchase was intended to allow for the construction of a transcontinental railroad along a very southern route, and it was part of negotiations needed to finalize border issues that remained unresolved from the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War of 1846–48.
As the railroad age grew, business-oriented Southerners saw that a railroad linking the South with the Pacific Coast would expand trade opportunities. However, the topography of the southern portion of the Mexican Cession was believed to be too mountainous to allow a direct route, and projected southern routes tended to run to the north at their eastern ends, which would favor connections with northern railroads. That would ultimately favor Northern seaports. A route with a southeastern terminus, in order to avoid the mountains, might need to swing south into what was then Mexican territory. '

courtesy of Wickipedia.

earth hour

Tonight, at 8.30pm, we are all encouraged to switch off our lights. This is a symbolic gesture of protest against what is happening to the planet, and is intended as an international wave from the earth, something like a Mexican wave in reverse I suppose, as the lights go out around the world as each country reaches 8.30 pm.

I will be supporting this, and have encouraged others to do so too, but it can only be valuable if it has a longer term impact, at a personal, national and international level.

At a personal level, I grew up with parents who were perhaps ahead of their time, but it infuriated me at the time. They switched off everything if it was not in use, they conserved everything, reused everything, rescued everything that might be of use, ate an excess of lentils. The war had an enormous impact on them which was long lasting. Thus, I have an awareness of how right it is to take care of our world, but a bit of me has also rebelled against this abstemiousness. The devilish temptation to leave lights on because I can, to eat sweet things because I can, buy something new because I can (not that I can afford to at present!), just sometimes takes over. And I am 52! I am still going through their things, six years after my mother died, and sending them off to the charity shops.

I try to do a little. I send my used stamps off dutifully to Oxfam as I always have. I rarely throw anything away that could be used again or sent somewhere that someone else could make use of it. Running a guest house, I need it to look welcoming to potential guests, so do keep the outside light on and the hall light on into the evening, but we do turn others off if we are not in the room. We reuse, recycle, reduce our purchases, I always have tended to, despite that little devil, I suppose it really is a tiny, shrinking devil who surfaces less and less!

On a national and international level, the picture seems bleak to me at present. Even there, small changes could be effected without too much trauma. Although churches and public buildings look lovely floodlit, do they need to be lit so much, for so long? The Peak Oil situation, see http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/ is alarming in the extreme. The local response, the setting up of Transition Towns, is a positive way for people to take some control over what happens, before control is taken out of our hands, as it must eventually be if no changes are made.

The current financial crisis may be good for the planet. We are all more careful with what we do, what we buy, I suspect the amount of rubbish going to landfill is decreasing. I am a huge supporter of Freecycle, and am one of the 'owners' (daft term, I do not own it!) of the Wadebridge site.

One thing I do not like is the tendency to out 'green' each other. I am sure I am guilty of it, but I do try not to fall into this trap. We all do what we can, well, most of us do, but there is always someone who will criticise our efforts and have to do it better. There are so many contradictions, so much to learn that seems full of jargon, it can be almost impossible to know what to do for the best. I guess though, that this has been the case throughout history and it is only hindsight that will tell us what we should have done.

title

I have removed the piece of felt that was shown in my title. I have never been happy with how it was displayed and need to have a tweak with other ideas, but I do find this the most challenging part of blogging!

My first ever tea bag folded card. This is not something I would have ever tried, but we had a go in our group and it is great fun, calling for a high degree of accuracy. The term apparently derives from folding the decorative bags tea bags came in in some parts of Europe in the past, presumably when tea was a valuable commodity.

three beautiful things

I have not done this for a while, which usually indicates I am surrounded by beautiful things and have no need of reminding myself!

Tiny jonquils, found in the hedge where they were not visible, so had to pick them! They delighted me on the shelf by my computer for a few days. Rather fuzzy photo.

Bonsai pepper tree. We have made a couple of attempts to keep bonsai trees, but they both died, very soon after buying them, so we blame the shop/growers! Not deterred, Simon was given this for his birthday. So far, it is thriving, and looks great against the white wall. it has even needed a little pruning!

'This bath is now over'. Barney having his bath before he went on his holidays with Philippa.

Less Ness

This is what I am aiming for, at any rate. I have started Weight Watchers. It has been looming for some time, but I have been putting off the moment. I am doing it on-line, Simon has joined up too, we both have health related matters which would be best tackled smaller! So far, I have lost 4 pounds and am managing OK, but feel very hungry tonight. I like the structure of the 'Tracker' to keep my food intake under control. We have quality chocolate each day, and this I am enjoying far more than when I was scoffing a bar of chocolate a day, it is now a real treat, to be looked forward to. I promise not to go on about it too much here!




No, of course this isn't me! Thank you Internet for lending this image, hope it is OK to do so.

Dresser

This dresser is now in use in our kitchen and I love it. It was originally given to my parents many years ago, and I hated it! It seemed old fashioned, tatty and daft! I have recently given it a bit of a makeover, although I rushed it, as is my wont, but that does not show in the picture!

By the time we moved to Michael House, I had decided I liked it and wanted to restore it, and so it sat in our shed for five years!

I did strip the drawers properly.

It is of oak construction, many might see my painting over the wood as wickedness.

But, it is now bright, light and very, very useful. It is full of quirkiness. The little spice section has a soft area to the top of it, acting as a lid to the three glass jars. The little glass drawers are precious and i doubt could be replaced. I cracked one cleaning them in overly hot water. The glass jars at the top also have a soft section above them, with a wooden system which lowers and again acts as a lid across all the jars.

There is a glass area inside one of the top doors for reminders of what to order, such as mace and wheatmeal

The other door has reminders of how to do household stuff, such as dealing with chimney fires and how long to cook things. Larks only take 10 - 12 minutes, and brussels sprouts 15- 20 minutes. There is evidence of poor painting around the edges of this area, but most of that was already done badly before I started. I know, I know, I should have cleaned it off.

I love it, it is so ergonomically designed. I do not know when it was made, or anything about it's history, and would love to know more. Surely people have not been eating larks for a very long time? My guess of it's manufacture was around the 20's. But, were people needing to know how long to cook larks that recently? Could it be a copy of a French dresser?