Holidays Pending.

I haven't had much time to post just lately what with the end of term actvities piling onto us and a busy workroom to 'manage' (and yes, I do use the term loosely). Still, we are almost there: not-so-little Lucy has her final day at her lovely school on Friday, September bringing the much dreaded move to 'big' school - though only dreaded by me I hasten to add. Lucy is full of excitement, sadness and total exhaustion as she also has one of the leads in the end of term play which takes place today. Hankies at the ready then!



And then...The Holidays! Woohoo! I can't wait and have so much I want to do: campfires in the garden as the twilight settles, weather permitting of course;



endless trips to the beach for swimming and diving and snorkelling, or lazing with a book or rockpool scavenging or....



game playing around the kitchen table on duller days. Just the chance to have them home, not hurl them through the door after a stressful session of 'where's your bag/shoes/coat?'. I'm sure you know the scene.



Don't get me wrong. There will be times when the mess that goes hand-in-hand with the holidays drives me crazy and times when the stress of needing to work on the business yet not miss out on the family scene will make my neck stiff with stress



BUT mostly Davey and I absolutely love the summer holidays and the chance to just be with our children.



The chance to sort through the clothes cupboards so that fashion faux pas such as these no longer take place (think those pjs may be too small don't you?)



and I'm not even going there on big sister's borrowed slippers and hat.



Time to chat to the older ones home from Uni or popping by from work, to hear their plans and funny stories from their day or listen to them messing about with friends who stop by, another plate added to the table as they drag another chair up to make room for just one more.



To cook up yummy meals with our own herbs and vegetables...



A chance to potter in the garden and note the apples slowly turning colour, webs glistening in the rain-rinsed sunlight.



To watch summer move gently into autumn and grasp the flowers while they last



Taking it easy where possible will be the order of each day. I love that sea and salt result in this beach-hair look so typical of holidays. Bless her.



Yes, hooray for having the children back and having them all to ourselves for a while. Let the squabbles be few and the fun be plenty (fingers crossed, eh?). And who knows, if the rain stops for a bit I may even manage to take some new photos!

Have a good day x

A Happy Friday and the Colour Orange.

So, life post-Bernina is returning to normal now. Actually, I have already become so used to it (her?) that it feels as though 'she' has always been here. Thank you all so much for the lovely and very encouraging comments regarding the newest member of this tiny team - no doubt there will be many more discussions about the wonders of Swiss technology (!!!). In the meantime, this is what has been happening at Poltisko Farm: Isabella scoffing a chocolate mousse which arrived home from work yesterday with Daddy alongside a bottle of wine...hurrah!



Looking out of the window this morning - and hurrah again as it is Friday, my most favourite day of the week - I noticed that another year of bad planting has visited our garden. Ever summer I plan to move things around so that we do not have swathes of one colour throughout the garden, but of course I never remember. Spring heralded all yellows from daffodils through to primroses. Late spring brought purple aquilegia, pulmonaria, bluebells (ahh, the bluebells...) and now we have orangey reds. Nothing else really, just tones of red and orange. From nasturtium...



to the strong red of these Lucifer which are actually so much deeper than they look here, but the morning is so dull.



to the Black Prince marigolds which we somehow underplanted with yet more orange nasturtiums and which sit close to orange day lilies! Hmm.



There are the beautiful white daisies now flowering away next to yellow loosestrife and er, white lychnis, but mostly there is orange. Next year...



Well, that was written early this morning when the sky was particularly dull, but Isabella and I have just returned from the most lovely walk along the shore. The beach was ours alone and the tide was gently ebbing leaving a trail of pretty shells in its wake. No camera with me for once, but this is the some of the treasure we brought home with us.



A mixture of swirly whelks



flat winkles of all colours from softest sandy-brown to orange; the orange theme continues.



Many, many tiny crabs had been thrown against the rocks and are now resting against the ugly gravel outside the bathroom window. I am slowly interplanting this area and softening its harshness with frothy lime alchemilla, forget-me-nots which are still flowering here and bright, shiny marigolds. Scatterings of limpets, crab shells and sea-softened stone can only help.



The beach was so beautiful today, calm, quiet and restful just as in this photograph from another time, another walk



but now I have a very tired young lady wanting a sleep and looking very cute in her sleepsuit, so I must be off.



Happy Friday all x

So here it is!

Oh Lordy, look what I bought. I can see that for some this may have provided a slight let-down as I think the arrival of new animals to the fold may have been what was expected, but for me this has been a long, slow journey. My previous machine has been virtually ground into the er ... ground, poor soul, and I have been aware for months - about six to be exact - that I would need to replace it, using it as a back-up machine for when I draft in help (for that read older child studying textiles and daring to be on holiday!).



Now, anyone who knows me would realise this would be a problem for me: I have little or no interest in technology, though I know my way around it when necesssary. Lights, whistles and bright, shiny metal do not feed my soul or cause me to crave desperately the newest of the new. I don't like flashy cars, can't understand why anyone wants to spend much on a TV with a big screen and don't get the point of the majority of gadgets. I am however someone who expects things to work, time after time, coping with whatever is thrown at them without throwing a wobbly; I expect this of myself and therefore expect it of my sewing machine!



This little beauty has joined my workforce after research - sooo much research undertaken on the quiet because I truly expected to decide it was not going to happen - fretting over how to afford it purely through the business, fretting over whether I would continue to gain new orders or if this would signal the end of the good times. Oh, you name it I fretted over it.



Finally, I had a two hour demo with the most wonderful lady. We went through every possible good point: automatic tension adjustment. Repeat - AUTOMATIC TENSION ADJUSTMENT!!!! That alone would have made me buy it as the main problem I have been having is with the tension. It can do so many things that I could possibly bore for Britain on the subject, but won't as it is almost time for baby's bath time and as Davey has taken Lucy to see a play of The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe, I am all alone with my sweet girl with a game or two to play before turning on the taps (plus there are only so many pictures I can take of a sewing machine, albeit one that purrs with Swiss precision & reliability, that will help me take my fast-growing business forward and which will most likely outlast me!).



Isn't she lovely? Sigh... x

A Bit of a Long One!

Lovely weekend despite the upsy-downsy weather where rain took the place of bright sunshine which took the place of rain...you get the picture. So here's what we did:
bottled more elderflower champagne (no, they aren't giant sample bottles!)



Brought back more produce from the allotment. Dear little Isabella picked all the broad beans and the last very late picking of rhubarb after being shown how to twist & pull at the same time. She honestly was fantastic at it and I just steadied the plants for her. I think children really love to be shown how to do things properly and then just give it a go; it's just a shame there isn't always the time, but Friday morning there was all the time in the world for my sweet girl.



Such beautiful, vibrant marigolds. I love these flowers so as one of my earliest memories of gardening is of me following my wonderful Grandad around the garden dead-heading the orange flowers into a metal bucket. The smell of these flowers always takes me straight back to being a little girl dotingly trailing after him as he chattered away to his 'whippet', the nickname he gave this skinny legged child who worshipped the ground he walked on. Lucky me to be reminded of him often in the long marigold months.



We scoffed French Fancies in the shade of the wisteria...



and took Tiger-Lily for a ride in the trug



We left Sam, Lucy and Elias in the kitchen making pasta fully expecting to see devastation on our return, particularly as the sound of them shrieking and generally acting like loons kept floating through the window to the garden where I was hiding. More faith, Miss Pip - we found a clean kitchen, happy children and a great line full of pasta waiting to be cooked having used the pasta machine without help and no reminding of how to do it. Pretty cool really and delicious with freshly made pesto...yum. Davey also made pasties for Monday



and blackcurrant ice-cream,



and, as dear Sam made Sunday roast for eight of us (Tom and his girlfriend arrived too),



I felt moved to make meringues with rhubarb fool to accompany the ice-cream which I served like this:



Well, you didn't really think there wouldn't be a lot of food stuff going on did you?
I also made peapod wine - a tale for another day I think - and gooseberry, redcurrant and elderflower cordial which is nice but sweet and seems popular therefore with the two littles. Cards were played (when their dreadful mother assumed they were playing on the computer only to find this...)



and I tried to photograph the beauty of poppies blowing in the restless breeze; scarlet petals on a cloth of mid-summer blue



Well, that's it for now. Tuesday will hopefully be an exciting day as something is arriving after much deliberation, fear and anxiety. More about that later!



Have a good start to the week x

I'm Back!

Well, I expect that's made all the difference to your day? No? Oh well. The exhaustion has finally gone and some, just a little you understand, energy has returned, making me realise in contrast just how wiped I truly was. Bug? Hormones? No idea, but much better now, thanks heavens. Probably whatever it was was chased away by all the lovely good wishes from blogland, so thank you dear people one and all x So, in the meantime this is what I have been up to: visiting the allotment and picking redcurrants...



blackcurrants...yum



This delicious box of teeny carrots, lettuce leaves and broad beans. I don't like to thin carrots until they are large enough to use as sweet flavourings for salads or casseroles or even just to snack on. Such a skinflint that I can't bear the idea of wasting them if pulled earlier. I do the same with the parsnips, though they truly are weeny as I find they can't be left so long before they cause the ones you want to keep to distort. Such a strong taste though that even these barely visible thinnings add a real warmth to summery one-pot meals.



Did I mention broad beans?



Collecting shells



Sewing orders. Lots of orders - lots of sewing!



Eating pesto from gorgeous fresh basil



Chasing the last of the elderflowers - Nina, I have decided there is never enough elderflower cordial or champers in the world!



and being given this pretty stone by Isabella who raced in from the garden yelling, "I found a heart for you Mummy!" No wonder the tiredness left.



Other than this, there's been a little Wimbledon (thank you for the reminder Vanessa), peppermint foot rubs from dear Mr Davey (everyone really should have a Dave I think), sipping wine and much sitting in the cool of an evening garden. All rather lovely really.



Have a happy day x

Still tired....yawn.

Yep, still sooo very tired. Trying to motivate myself, but looking around and noticing does leave you open to noticing that your beautiful, gorgeous daughter newly returned from Uni has turned at least one of your rooms into a bombsite and as she is off to the outer reaches of Europe again tonight for a fortnight you are thus left with the bombsite to contemplate. If you are reading this Lauren, dear child of my heart, PLEASE stop being so messy cos I am truly too busy! Oh, and Sam, sweet 19 year son of mine, please stop leaving me to clear up after your food efforts and DON'T EVER leave a block of cheese on the worktop for the cat to eat! We don't call him Fatty for nothing...the cat, not Sam that is. There, moan over and still no motivation. No car today either, so no chance of looking for inspiration along a pretty creek like the one at Cowlands.



No chance of searching for more elderflowers by the banks of Mylor Creek either, so beautiful whether shrouded in mist



or basking in sun.



Golly, what a whinger I am! Instead of moaning I could.... pick these scarlet globes and make something with them. Redcurrant jelly or wine perhaps? Maybe I could make cordial or use them to lie atop a fluffy pavlova?



I could make pea and borage soup for lunch using leaves from these plants (yes, cheating today with pictures from last time's blog!).



I could work on these sort of designs because I have already had aquite a few shops requesting my Christmas wholesale list.. I know, I know



I will definitely be working on an order I have received to supply a shop in the grounds of a beautful local garden called Trebah Gardens. If you ever visit this way you really must go as the views are amazing through enormous tree ferns to the coast beyond and with footpaths winding their way down to a little beach. Truly stunning and the visitor centre has a lovely shop which will very soon be selling my very own pipany range. I am very excited about this.



As it is, I think I had better begin by clearing away the debris from the weekend and then maybe I will feel more like...having a snooze most probably.



Hah, nice idea! promise to be a bit livelier next time...yawn.



Have a good Monday x

P.S. Much love to my dear Davey who starts his new job today in a school only 20 mins away instead of over an hour! Hurray and I love you! x

Noticing, good and bad.

I'm tired. No reason, no big deal, but I am so tired this week. Still, the upside of going a little slower is that you notice things, though truthfully I am one of life's noticers anyway and have always loved to spot treasures to bring home or espy the berries ripening in hedgerows. Still, just now I am finding myself sitting on the bench or strolling around the garden when I should be hanging washing, and noticing all sorts, some good, some not so. Here are a few things I noticed today: roses...



This one is called Ballerina and flowers almost all year.




Typially I have forgotten the name of this one, but it is twining its way through the bay hedge and lighting the darker leaves with its creamy blooms outside Davey's writing room.



This one cimbs through our tangled border in the front garden



Then I notice these three chaps, for chaps they are. They are cuckoo maran chicks which we will be eventually having for the pot. I realise some may find this not to their liking, but it is best to be honest. We have reared and eaten our own ducks and hens in the past, feeling that the main point here is to ensure they have a good, well-cared for life before-hand, which they will. These arrived yesterday and have settled well so far, scratching around and scoffing as much food as they can get their beaks on. The children have no allusions as to their eventual fate and understand that this is part of the way we choose to live; I hope the notion of taking responsibilty will always be with them.



Of course, that does not mean Isabella should take it into her own head to feed the animals without being asked - how many times she has been told! I see even Tiger-Lily is doing her bit.



although it has to be said, Tiger-Lily does enjoy a ride in the doll's pushchair



Hmm, and then I noticed this all over the plum tree...yeuch!



Truly gross.



One of my daughters took this photo of my new haircut (about 6 months overdue I might add) and I notice the silver threads beginning to wend their way through...sigh.



But never mind as I am also noticing this is almost ready to quaff - my very most favourite drink ever....eldeflower champagne.



Scrumptious!


Have a lovely weekend x