Safety in Numbers

Our poor little goose was so lonely this morning - honking and honking - and she seemed very vulnerable on her own, so we immediately got on line to find some geese for sale.

The first advert I saw was for Toulouse geese - and, amazingly, they were in Blockley, the beautiful village where my aunt lives in the Cotswolds.

By midday we were in Blockley, visiting with my aunt and cousin.  Actually, I couldn't remember how to get to auntie Pauline's house, but everyone in Blockley knows the Balhatchets!  It's not often you stop to ask directions, and when you tell the person who you are looking for, they say "Oh, I used to make sausages for your uncle Morris!"

And then by 2 o'clock we were with Dr Morton (apparently my uncle played the organ at his wedding) and by 3 o'clock my goose was showing the new gander and two geese around!

and when they'd all had a good look round, it was bath time!

Nature at its cruelest

This is an old picture of our lovely grey goose

We've had her for many years, and she's been a lovely mother - once rearing 12 goslings!

Just last week Jonathan and I watched her and her daughter having a bath in the trough.

Tonight at 8.15 I went out to shut them in.

A fox had killed her.

At least I got out just as he had broken her neck, so the scene wasn't as horrific as it could have been, and watched him, watching me, from the field.

I shut her daughter in.

Autumn Workshops

So, the Autumn term started today and we had a lot of fun in the workshop.  I've also sent out the new schedule, so for those who aren't on the mailing list, here's a few of the things we are offering.

Besides Lynne Johnson's quilt days, which are courses that stretch over months, she is also doing a 'Scrappy Quilt Day on Wednesday 18th October.  Some people are doing these on the course, but this is a 'one off' day when you can come, be shown how to do it, and then go off and do it on your own!  There are three quilts, with three different methods to choose from:  machine piecing, hand piecing or paper piecing:

 

 

and then on the 15th November it's the Yoko Saito day.

 

On the 20th September I'll be showing how to make these sweet little coin purses

 

On Wednesday 4th October Sandra will be making a 'quilt in a day' Picnic quilt - very quick and easy and a great introduction to quilt-making

It's 48" square!

I'm really looking forward to Ros Harwood's knitting workshop on the 1st November - Ros' work is so exquisite - she uses the best yarns, lovely colours, so inspiring.  We will be making this lovely scarf - the pattern's called Marin by Ysolda Teague and has been really popular on Ravelry.

Then a fun little workshop on the 22nd November with Sandra, making drink coasters in little fabric holders - great stocking fillers!

On Wednesday 6th December Anne Hellyer is coming to the workshop for the first time.  She is a textile artist who makes lovely little townscapes out of fabric she has painted herself.  Her website is www.paintingthetown.org.uk and we will be making winter townscapes that will be lit from behind - a really lovely Christmas decoration.

And then finally, of course, we have the wreath making mornings and afternoons with Linda, on Saturday 9th December and Saturday 16th December: which means making beautiful wreaths out of all the greenery she has collected, and drinking lots of hot chocolate and eating mince pies!

So, that's quite a list, I think



Indian Summer

Well, today isn't much like an Indian Summer but I'm sure summer hasn't gasped it's last yet - certainly I'm not ready to let go and September can be such a lovely, soft month after the rigours of harvest.  I am still picking a bunch of Sweet Peas every other day

The best Sweet Peas I've had in years!  The dried flowers have also been quite a success this year:

Today we are having roast pork - the last time we had it was April (I like to not have it when there isn't an R in the month, like the old saying, but only because it always tastes better after a break) with apple and blackberry crumble for puds.  Not very summery, in fact distinctly Autumnal but perfect for a wet day.

It has been quite a busy week - just last weekend I nipped over to Jersey to see Victoria's new house: I fell in love with her patio

I really hope she puts a mirror up somewhere - it's the perfect place for one.  Mine is a bit pointless but I do like it

The high point was seeing a pair of red squirrels - I don't think I've seen one before.

Then it was my birthday so we had a lot of fun at Pitch and Stitch.  Sandra made me a cake and we also celebrated Louise finishing her first quilt, all made from old fabrics she had around the house.

 

and beautifully quilted.

There was also an interesting take on Japanese Patches

On Friday I went to the West of England quilt show, and there was lots to see.  I loved
Susie Corkes' quilt, Overleaf, which was hand-pieced and hand-quilted - beautiful!

As a by the way, when I put up that picture at the top, I was reminded of the fossil I found by the chicken hut.  It looked like a little brown meringue but my sister suggested I wash it, and I was amazed to see that once cleaned it looked like this:

and the underside like this:

Very exciting.

Anyway, back to work tomorrow so no more garden days!