My Eyrie

My blog profile refers to our grown up family "feathering their own nests" but it occurs to me that I'm also building a nest. I call it my eyrie and it's under the roof in one of our attic rooms.

Since I'm past the egg-laying stage what I'm hoping to hatch there are ideas: creative ideas to enrich my life. The empty-nester has transformed into the nest-builder.

(An actual eyrie I photographed in Ontario, Canada)

As a child I shared a room until my siblings left home and had never really made a room my own. Even at college, living in halls of residence, when I had a single room for a year I didn't relax into it. While my friend, Pat, down the corridor transformed her cell into a nest, personalising it with pictures and fabrics, mine remained unchanged and institutional. So making a room of my own now is a big deal.

Memories are made of this

This Nativity hadn't seen the light of day for 25 years, since the Christmas that a proud little girl, aged 5, brought it home for her (even prouder) parents.
It is one of the many treasures that I dug out of the blue metal trunk holding all our family photographs and anything of sentimental value from the last 50 years.

Not for me the well-organised family albums and record files for each of our four children, so now was the time to compensate by compiling a mini-history in a box for each of them. I wanted to make sure that they all had a piece of family history going back 2 generations as well as a small selection from the hundreds of photographs of their childhood years, school reports, letters, cards, certificates of achievement and early examples of their writing and artwork (like the picture above).

The four boxes are now complete and two were handed over on Christmas Day. I didn't know how they would be received so placed a small label saying "Memorabilious Box" on them for if they appeared a bit too sickly sweet. I needn't have worried in respect of the younger ones who rummaged through their boxes enthusiastically showing all to their patient other halves. If their two elder brothers also approve then the mining of these memories will have been well worthwhile.

Fresh off the needles

Fiddley but fun to make.

The fairy cakes pattern was purchased from Little Cotton Rabbits Etsy shop and is under copyright to Julie Williams whose Little Cotton Rabbits blog is one of my favourites.

The doughnt was from a pattern in Knitted Cakes by Susan Penny.

Sadly, only the moths are likely to eat them - but they will be on show as part of an exhibition in the Arts Venue at New Wine 2010 , Newark, on the evening of Thursday 5th August.

Without the needles

That's a bit more comfortable.

(Now I just need to find a 2 or 3ply sock yarn to fit into shoes without it being a bit of a squeeze)

Meet the family

Each one has a name and a story.

There's Trevor, Stuart, Eric, Jude, Brian, Fred, Rosie, Tennis-Ted, the Purple Pair, Jelly Babes and Elvis. They're not a collection - heaven forbid - and I'm only sentimental about one or two.They have just appeared over the years.
I know people who love to collect hedgehogs, owls, thimbles, coins, stamps, allsorts - and I've attempted to collect old glass in the past and enjoyed researching about it. But BEARS??

They're family.

On the left is
Fred with his
jet 'medal' - a
gift from a dear friend.











Stuart is the glum chap on the right. He's a 'rescue' from the Church Shop





Rosie loves her Mum



Eric is the beast of burden and Brian sits behind Jude

cotton socks and canine capers

Knitted with 100% cotton yarn by ONline - part of the Trend-collection LINIE165 SANDY-COLOR (reading from label - I've tried to find it on the web without success.) which was purchased in Budapest at a Burdo shop. Having left my knitting at home by mistake (of course) I had to search the city for yarn & needles before I got withdrawal symptoms. Poor Stephen trying to translate '4-ply' and 'double pointed needles' to an unimpressed assistant in an overcrowded little shop. Eventually found 2 other Burdos and started knitting these little cotton socks for myself. It's the 10th pair I've knitted but the first for me and I'm really pleased with the yarn which has knitted up very neatly and without splitting or stretching.
It's quite hard to watch the tennis at the same time as knitting especially when Federer is playing and being beaten.

Also reading this book which is giving me a real insight into doggy behaviour. Talking of which I found this lovely little video of 2 Westies playing tag which sooo reminded me of our beloved Posie and Dougal - watch the body language!