A Big Day

A big day in more than one way yesterday.  First, a very big lorry came

to take 175 of our lambs to their new home in Winchcombe, in the Cotswolds - they'll spend the next 18 months there.  They loaded in happily enough

and went on their way.

The other big was the workshop - the last one of our 'school' year.  There were 9 ladies and all have been doing so much work.

Ros brought her beginner quilt which she has started quilting

and her Medallion quilt which she has finished

and just needs to layer up with her pieced back

- she came with her plan for it last week and it's the first time any quilter has asked me how she should apply Pythagoras' Theorem to it!  Sandra kept her head down....

Alice brought in her finished Medallion

and Lynne brought in her finished Antique Sampler

All so inspiring.

And then everyone started showing all their beautiful blocks for their Antique Samplers

I know it's a lot of pictures but I thought they were all so beautiful I had to show them all!

Tense Times

It's that time of year when everything is a little bit tense and everyone's a little bit grumpy.

Our Combine is out of the barn, but not going anywhere.  Sightings of Combines working in neighbouring fields are not discussed.  Everyone is poised and ready: the drier has been cleaned and checked to be in working order.  So we just wait....

The last few days the weather has been really sunny, if a bit windy, so the farmboy was set to work creosoting the boarding, which kept him busy for a bit:

I have been doing a lot of work in the garden, and everything is looking quite pretty

 

The baby swallows are getting used to flying; they go out swooping and diving and then back to the nest for a rest

 

and we were hoping to have started harvest by the end of this week.

But then we woke up this morning to rain, and it hasn't stopped since.  So, in between looking at Facebook pictures of all the blue skies and azure swimming pools other people have been enjoying, I've been working on my Debbie Bliss lace scarf:

Mine is probably a bit 'lacier' than the pattern dictates, but I have persevered. 

As I painstakingly knit, I have a chorus of voices in my head - Ros: "Follow the pattern stitch by stitch", Sandra: "Cover the rows of the pattern except the row you are working on so you don't lose your place",  Betty: If you drop a stitch you can always add one on", and, finally, Lynda: "you haven't got very far with that, have you?

Holidays!

It's been a long time coming but finally school has closed for the summer and I am officially on holiday - lovely!

So this morning I went to France and bought some lovely cheeses, pate, wine, croissants, bread, apple tarts and olives.

Oh, alright, so I wasn't in France..... I was at the French market in Hungerford but I may as well have been.  The sun was shining, everyone was smiling and chatting in French, the smell of peaches was in the air and I was strolling up and down trying to encourage membership of the Hungerford Twinning Association - everyone was so friendly.

Then, because I have so much free time ahead of me, we called in on our friends to see their 9 German Shepherd pups before 8 of them go to new homes - they were absolutely adorable:

Earlier in the week we felt it was time to say goodbye to some visitors.  Every morning when I open the curtains I've been greeted by a load of wasps, so, a quick phone call to John Sage and literally an hour later he was up his ladder and sending them on their way.

 

I sent George up into the loft to get a picture of the nest but he said he couldn't find it.  He did say there was a man up there but not to worry because he was dead.  I wouldn't go up there - it's a scary place.

Then the local cubs visited on Thursday evening and had great fun grass-sledding down Lorne Hill.

I think I'd like to have a go!

Birdwatching

Well, I am officially through with staying in hotels (apart from one night in August when we are going to the festival of quilts), having spent two nights in Christchurch enjoying the usual view I get from my hotel rooms:

Christchurch was lovely though.

However, glad to be home and I noticed that every time I walked out the kitchen door there was an awful lot of cheeping going on.  It was definitely coming from the Winter Jasmine which climbs up the wall:

I watched a while and saw the robins flying out.  Further investigation revealed this:

Little Robin chicks!

Around the front of the house, in the porch, next to a nest that I think sparrows built earlier this year, the swallows are busy flying in and out.  So I clambered up the wall and took this:

 

 

All these little mouths to be fed!  We have a wasps building a nest under our bedroom eaves and the swallows seem to be picking them off every time they fly out.

Meanwhile the little gosling gets bigger everyday.  His (or her) parents and auntie take great care of him, never letting him out of their sight

 

So, lots to look at!

A week Overdue

Maths is not my strong point, but I was convinced our goslings were due last Monday....luckily I decided I could be wrong and let the goose sit a bit longer.  Last night she was reluctant to leave her nest and when this morning she didn't come out for breakfast I knew something had happened.

Mum and Dad were both being very protective but you should be able to see just a little bit of yellow in these pictures:

 

 

or maybe not - the little gosling is hiding under mum's beak.  I think another may be on it's way.

Our two females laid load of eggs early in spring, but kept trying to nest in the hedge so one by one they all got eaten by night creatures.  As a last bid our grey goose lay two eggs in the hut, so these were safe.

Also in the spring we held the primitive stitchery workshop and yesterday Jane brought over the cushion she made from it

There was a problem with the summer primitive stitchery (no need to go into details) so Julie made the winter one instead when she came out a few weeks ago

Funny to look at that when it's sweltering here at the moment.

Finally - hasn't it been a good year for the roses?  My bushes are so heavy with flowers they are all leaning over