Yarn Along

Joining in again with the gracious Ginny for Yarn Along.  I am also continuing my stash busting challenge, by using some ancient skeins of Sockotta sock yarn, which somehow I fear, will never grow up to be a pair of socks. No, indeed, their true destiny is to become a shawl! (James is watching a He-Man cartoon as I type this, sorry.)  I have never knitted a shawl before - or even used such thin yarn, but I like this pattern - The Simple But Effective Shawl, and I am getting on quite well so far. I only cast on this morning and have been picking it up now and again in between household-y tasks.  Since this picture was taken though, I have made a mistake and will have to rip out a couple of rows.  I like the way the colours are appearing - very spring-like.  Whether it will every be ready for Spring is debatable - well actually it is not, but we can give it a go.  Not sure if this will be for me or for a gift.

As for the book - well you know that old saying "never judge a book by its cover?" It is wrong.  I spotted this beautiful cover among the jumble of books on the charity table in the big supermarket (the best place to find the most amazing second hand books in the whole world for 50p). It is Susan Hill's moving book In the Springtime of the Year. Possibly a difficult one, as it deals with bereavement and grief; the story of a young widow as she comes to terms with her loss.  I have read a couple of books by this author before, but they were about seasonal and country living - this is my first foray into her fiction works. I am just starting this too, so I will report back.  The cover and the yarn are very colour co-ordinated though, don't you think?  Maybe this could be a new trend.  

Sheep Stories

The sheep are back on the croft now, as lambing approaches.  It is good to have them close by, and to see them out the window. We have five now -  we were given  three by kind and generous neighbours, looking to reduce their stock numbers, to add to our original two. They are mostly blackface or blackface/cheviot crosses, and the new girls are fairly experienced mothers. (The ram is a cheviot, so the lambs will not have horns.)  As our two were first timers, we were glad that there would be some role models for them.

We decided to have them scanned - really so that we knew what we were dealing with.  It is our first lambing season too, so we wanted to know if we had any multiples to be looking out for.
Scanning is a community affair, although not everyone participates in this.  Those who are, take their expectant sheep to the appointed place - in this case, the barn of one of the crofters in the village.

And here they are - the anticipating ladies.  Reminds me a bit of the ante-natal clinics I used to attend when I was expecting my older children in the 80s and 90s!

While we waited for the scanning man to arrive, we headed indoors for a cup of tea and some amazing home baking.  Of course he arrived in the middle of it all, but I am afraid I lingered in the kitchen, blethering, and eating scones, so there are no photos of the event, only the packing up afterwards. Apparently though, he sat on a machine rather like a motor scooter, and the sheep were passed into the gap in front of him, and were quickly scanned and pronounced "Single - Empty - Twin".

Everyone discussed their outcomes - one had a lot of empty sheep, but this was balanced out by the number of twins - another was very concerned that an older ewe was carrying twins. We were happy with our results though - 4 singles, 1 empty, and now we can look forward to mid-April when the lambs will be born.

And then, back home -  only Maddie Beag carries the blue mark of barrenness.  Not totally unexpected - she was still very frisky, and small too.  In fact, it is debatable whether she should have gone to the ram at all this year, but we couldn't have kept her separate from the others on her own.  She can try again next year.

So  now we just wait.  I have been to a lambing course, I know what to do in an emergency, and, oh my - what a lot can go wrong!  Fortunately the sheep don't know all that, so hopefully they will just do their thing when the time comes, and all I will know about it is seeing those tiny white woolly bundles jumping around.

Seven Days

Another Seven Days gone in a flash, and already fading into the ether.  This week we have been ~

Enjoying splashing in the puddles

Ready to rush out into the storms at feeding time.

Delighted by a picture text from Kenneth, showing off his home grown seedlings,

Grateful to the water board contractors who have been working in the most horrible drenching rain to bring new water pipes to the village, and who find time to stop and run to open my gate, to save me getting wet too.

Thrilled by our first garden harvest of the year - even if it is only a tiny scattering of chives.

Amazed by the technology that allowed us to join in Finlay's 4th birthday celebrations.  So wonderful to see everyone.

Taking advantage of a sunny spell to stop and scramble up a hill on the drive back from the nearest store 15 miles away.

I love to do this weekly reflection. It never ceases to amaze me just how many extraordinary blessings can be found amidst the ordinary. Wishing you many joys to be found in this coming Seven Days.

This moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. 

I am happy to be joining in again with Soulemama this week.  Have a productive weekend. xxx

Yarn Along: Squaring up to dementia

It is Wednesday and time for Yarn Along again.  What have you been reading and knitting?
This week,  I have given up on Mr Tudge and he has returned to the library but I am still enjoying dipping into Katharine Stewart's crofting diaries.

Knitting-wise I have almost finished the baby cardigan for my nephew - the sleeves are attached and I just have the yoke and bands to knit.

I have also been knitting squares - 10cm (4 inch) squares using odd ends of DK yarn.  I read in the local paper at the weekend about an awareness raising project in aid of Alzheimers Scotland. Some of you will know that I lost my Mother to dementia in 2010. For years we watched, despairing, as she slowly unravelled before us.  All her skills, talents, humour, personality, gentleness, abilities and faculties just came undone- stitch by stitch at first, then part of a row - and then, suddenly - the woman we loved had been ripped away.
Almost as soon as she died, however, she came right back to us - knitted up again in the glorious patchwork that was her self.  The bad memories of her illness - the difficult behaviours, the incapacity, the frustration and the decline during her final months and days - all miraculously vanished.  We spoke about how she had been before this sickness took her from us - we laughed, we recalled, we shared, and we re-membered her.
Since then, I have shied away from anything to do with dementia - the very idea of it has been pushed away - no need to deal with this now. I had my mother back whole again, even if it was only in my memory.  That first new year, a kind and loving friend sent a calender of the most beautiful landscape photography - printed on behalf of an Alzheimer charity.  We could never bring ourselves to hang it on the wall - it would only serve as a reminder of what we had been through. I hated to hear about others who had been diagnosed - it brought back feelings of dread and despair.  Even on the blog, I have a post label for Alzheimer's, from the occasions that I wrote about Mum and her illness. Sometimes I  notice it, then quickly avert my eyes from that word.  Indeed, it is a disease that strikes not only the victim, but their families too and we had all suffered in some way.
But then I read this tiny article - just a few lines and a phone number - Calling Knitters Young and Old. I phoned, and here I am knitting little squares to be joined up into a huge blanket of 71,000 squares - the number of people in Scotland diagnosed with dementia. All those different people, from all walks of life,who are slowly disappearing bit by bit. I like the idea of knitting for these, the unravelled; helping to create a collage of coloured yarn, each square representing the individuality of each person suffering from dementia. I think I feel ready to square up to this disease now.
The squares are needed by the beginning of May this year, so I have plenty time to run a few off as I go along.  Many thanks to friends who are sending me squares too. I do know that there are some who read here whose lives have been touched by this disease, and one or two who are currently dealing with it right now.  I send love, blessings and strength to you all.

More of Erin - and Abigail too

Sme more pictures of Miss Erin - just because she is so gorgeously one year old.  Also introducing her new friend, Abigail - our present to her.

Abigail was made by the very talented and lovely Laura, who blogs about her gentle family life in Ireland here,  and has an Etsy shop full of beautiful handmade dolls here.

I think they are going to be good friends - don't you?

One!

Happy Birthday sweet Erin!

 I cannot believe a whole year and a day has passed since this post and here she is toddling around, always smiling, laughing and into everything. Time just flashes by so fast - especially when we are far away. But still, we will see them all in a couple of weeks time, when we come over for a wedding.

We tried to set up a video cam link, for the blowing out of the candles, but failed miserably due to some technical disorganisation at both ends (mostly mine).
Many thanks to Daniel for the beautiful photograph (we do like the hipsta app - lol).

Seven Days

I've been having a lot of fun with the hipstamatic app this week - such fun.  Here are some of my favourites from our last Seven Days - so many things that made me smile.

The week started in sunshine.  I loved glancing out of the bedroom window and seeing the sheep sunbathing.

We took a chilly walk up to the Callanish Stone Circle - 5000 years old, but still so impressive. No-one really knows for sure why it was built - for what purpose, or by whom.  There is much speculation about it being connected to the lunar cycles or ancient Earth worship rituals.  In any case - it is a very special place to be.

On our weekly visit to Stornoway,  we usually park the truck down at the harbour, where the overnight freight ferry, Muirneag, is moored during the day - part of the ferry service for all the Western Isles.  It is not the most reliable ship, and its run is frequently cancelled due to the weather conditions.  We like its bright colours though.

.

And one of the results of our trip to town was a feast of the freshest seafood you could find.

On a walk down to the shore, we were beset by a sudden Atlantic squall, so took shelter in the nearby visitor's centre for a coffee - and a spot of knitting with a view.

But the sun came out for a while, so we headed down to the pier, where a local fisherman keeps his nets and lobster pots.  I love the cheerful tangle of orange and turquoise.

But by the end of the week, the sheep had to scrape the snow away from the grass to find their breakfast. Part of the ever changing weatherscape of the Isles.

Heading into another Seven Days now - still Winter, but with Spring on the horizon.  I wish you joys and blessings for the week ahead. 

Taking Shelter

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. 

I am happy to be joining in again with Soulemama this week.  Have a cosy weekend. xxx

Yarn along

A wee while since I posted on Yarn Along - and you would expect me to have a big list of FOs to show off.  What - you didn't? Oh well, that's fine, because since the pebble vest (which went down very well) I have been very lax in the yarny department.  The ripple is slowly - slowly undulating along at it's own pace.   I am still enjoying this very much, and it is so good whenever I am able to just sit down and lose myself in that meditative rhythm - 4-2-4-2...
But - I have a stash to bust, and other needs to fill, so I have decided to complete an item then have a few days rippling before I cast on another project. Good plan!  So, I have started knitting another baby cardigan for our other nephew's forthcoming baby.  S/he, who will be the cousin of Dylan (pebble), is not due to join us until June, so I feel safe enough knitting the small size.  I have already knitted this cardigan in bright pink, for Erin, but I am using a cream superwash merino by artesano, and I will add a couple of extra button holes.

I am struggling to read anything right now.  I had started Good Food for Everyone, by Colin Tudge a few weeks ago  - in fact i think it  may be overdue at the library ( oops,just checked - 9th Feb).  I am finding it hard going, as I am so tired when I fall into bed that after a few lines I find myself drifting....zzzzzzz

 Sorry! A much more accessible book - ideal to dip in and out of in short snatches, is Katharine Stewart's The Crofting Way.  This was a surprise and wonderful gift from the very lovely Christine (Tefighe on Ravelry).  I have been enjoying Christine's blog for a while now, and we met for coffee last summer at the Callanish Centre, so I think I can say we are friends in real life.  I had never read this author's work before, which is suprising, given that I usually fall on any book about people who are crofters.  It must have been so that  Christine could send me this - and it is signed by the author - how cool is that!  Anyway, it is written in diary form, so I can read a quick entry, then mull over it as I go about my day.   Katharine Stewart and her family came to the Highlands of Scotland to work a croft in the 1950s, but I find that her preoccupations and musings are much the same as my own.  The weather, the yearly tasks, the community, the weather... beautifully written. It makes me want to leave it all and become a crofter ;)
Do pop over to Yarn Along and see what everyone is knitting and reading - thank you Ginny for hosting this party every week. xxx