Thirteen

Today I’ve been blogging for thirteen years - and as ever I’m grateful to you for being here, and for being part of my online space and community. I think the past year has been one of my most sporadic years of blogging, and I’m not really sure why. I always have plenty to share, and plenty more that I run out of time to share, and while I have a plan I’m much less rigid about sticking to it, which is a positive and a negative. I’m always busy, so perhaps the answer is there somewhere, but I’m keen to see where this year takes me and my blog and I hope you’ll hang around to find out too.

Usually as part of my blog birthday tradition I indulge my other passion for a list (putting the pouches aside for a moment!) Again this year I’m struggling for what this could be, it’s these big numbers you see - they don’t make it easy!

Photo by Kind and Curious on Unsplash

Last year I looked to try and capture the differences between city and country life and once I got started it was easier than I anticipated, so hopefully once I settle on a topic that will be true again this year…

One of the big things for us in moving here has been getting to know new people and feel part of our new community. We hosted a get together inviting all the neighbours from houses we could see from our windows over to say hello. It was a great start, if not a little nerve wracking to start off with as we had no idea if anyone would come, and it was a really nice afternoon which easily snuck into the evening, and it meant that as we walked around the village, or were in our garden gardening people would stop and say hello, but we knew we’d need to do more than that to truly feel like we belonged.

So for this year’s blog birthday post I’ve decided to give a shout out to the clubs, groups and places which have made us feel welcome here, and often provide a cheery smile and plenty of chat which makes us feel like we belong, and has truly helped us settle into our new lives.

1. The first group I joined was the Newark Sewing Group which meets twice monthly, one weekday evening and one Saturday morning. Of the early craft groups I went along to it was the most friendly and welcoming, and it still is. I’ve also been to a couple of quilt shows with people from the group which has made for some enjoyable days out, and so much more fun than going on my own.

2. MOH joined the Flintham Cycling Club the first year we were here too, and he rides with them most Sundays, weather permitting - so at the moment it’s a bit sporadic! As well as the cycling, there’s usually a cafe stop and a chance to socialise in the pub afterwards. I think it’s good for us both to do things independently, and let’s face it I’m not in MOH’s league when it comes to cycling!

3. Once I rekindled my sewing skills, I was also keen to get back into patchwork and so joined the patchwork group Sherwood Stitchers, who also meet twice a month on a weekday evening and a weekday afternoon. This is a relatively new to me group, and a bit further afield, but I couldn’t feel more welcome and we’ve already been to a new to me (and to many of the group) patchwork shop in nearby, but sounding ‘proper up North’, Worksop.

4. After living here for about a year we also started to go along to our village Parish Council meetings, which are every other month and are good way to discover what’s going on in our, and the neighbouring, village. They often finish with a refreshment or two in the pub nearest the meeting venue, which provides an informal way of talking to people from the village, who we wouldn’t usually meet. I’m not sure why it took us so long to go along!

5. More recently we’ve also become founding members of the newly formed village Speed Watch team which unites many villagers against the seemingly increasing speed of traffic through our 30mph village. At the moment we’re spending a chilly 30 minutes recording the speed of traffic as it passes by with one of our neighbours. Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit soon, and the traffic will lessen once the new road fully opens, and a longer term solution will be in place.

6. I’ve also recently started going along to the Flintham Froggers crochet group on Friday afternoons - it’s very new to me - I’ve been twice and in absolutely stupendous organisation it’s held in the pub a couple of villages away. I mean, what’s not to like?! It’s the first time I think I’ve crocheted since my Carpal Tunnel op before we moved, and it’s oh so good to crochet again, even if it means I’ve started a new project.

7. When we were scoping out the area before putting an offer in on our house, one of the pubs we checked out was The Chequers in Elston. We took our research seriously and walked from our village to the pub following the roads not knowing of an alternate route. It was do-able but not overly pleasant and so we asked in the pub before we headed back, to be pointed towards the bridleway which we use as a much preferred ‘off road’ route to the pub. We don’t have a pub in our village (which we clearly knew about before we moved here) but having one within walking distance is a good option. We’re irregular regulars, but we always get a warm welcome whenever we go, which always encourages us to go back.

8. Another place we’d scoped out before we moved was Cafe Velo Verde, a cycling cafe that MOH had seen was nearby. In fact we tried it out after our second viewing when we were still pondering if a new build really was for us. They do the best cheese and ham toasted sandwiches in the area (which is still true even though the cafe has changed hands) and in fact the welcome we get now is warmer than when we moved here, and it was pretty good back then too.

9. I was also keen to try out the wellbeing focussed businesses at the EcoFarm in Screveton, and they’ve been so good that I’m a regular for hair cuts at Arrowolf Hair Studio and for some brilliant massages at The Parlour, which are both based opposite Cafe Velo Verde. Both are based in one of the five glass fronted converted containers, and have offered me the opportunity to chat to someone other than MOH, which at times I think all of us need with our partners. It’s a great set-up and there’s also a barbers (which MOH uses occasionally), a counsellor and less in the wellbeing sphere, a kitchen shop.

10. When The Wellness Shed also opened at the EcoFarm I was curious to see what they’d offer. I managed to persuade MOH to get his back checked by the chiropractor, who he now highly rates, and then I also persuaded MOH to join me to try out Reformer Pilates. That was in October, and we’re still going almost once a week - we’ve improved, though we’re still very much beginners, but it’s a great and friendly space and we both know it’s doing us good. Plus we can pop over to the cafe for a cuppa afterwards too.

11. I tried a few exercise classes in the local, and some not quite so local areas too before settling on a lunchtime yoga flow session with Wild Earth Yoga in the next village along’s village hall. It’s a small class, but friendly, and we all have a wobble or two as we move between poses, some days more than others though often me more than everyone else! The bonus is it’s right next to the small village shop, so if I time it right I can also pop in for some local eggs, or windfall fruit from the allotments, and it has been known to get asked an IT support question or two when I do.

12. We’ve also found ourselves frequenting a really nice restaurant and an independent wine merchants in Newark, who knew? But the people at both Taylor’s Restaurant and Ann Et Vin Independent Wine Shop have also made us feel welcome, and let’s be honest, they’re both very fine establishments which we’re more than happy to frequent!

13. Finally, I’m giving a shout out to two of the places where we buy our meat. I know it sounds odd, but I’m used to a good butchers and rarely buy meat from the supermarket. Back in London when I stopped work I joked that I’d turned into a 1950s housewife who popped to the shops every day to buy provisions for dinner, and that always meant a chat with my butcher and green grocer there. I’m less 1950s housewife here, but I do rate the produce and people at both Cropwell Farm Shop & Richard’s Quality Meats, the butchers in Newark town centre.

I’m sure many of the people in these clubs, groups and places have no idea of the impact they’ve had on MOH and I, but I know that without a healthy dose of human interaction living here, and settling in, would have been a whole lot tougher for us both. So thank you to everyone who’s made us feel welcome, you will never know how much it’s meant (and means) to us.

So here’s to another year, I hope you’ll stay around.

The gardens at Coleton Fishacre in winter

Coleton Fishacre is one of the gardens in Devon we visit most times we’re in Devon, but it’s been a very long while since I shared it here on my blog - I’m not sure why. But anyway we last visited in December and our visit coincided with some of the celebrations to celebrate their centenary, which also included a visit to the Speakeasy for proper (but understandably tiny) cocktails.

The weather was wet - on reflection it’s not only been wet so far this year, there was so much water around for our pre-Christmas visit, but thankfully we mostly got a chance to take a look at the gardens during one of the breaks in the weather.

And even though it was a wet, wintery day there was still plenty to see around the gardens - and still plenty of colour. We even spotted our first daffodil in flower, in early December - eek!

The colour was more autumnal in other parts of the garden, and this remains of the flowering seedhead from what I think is a ginger lily was typical of the colours on show. Isn’t it fantastic?

Like many gardens in Devon and Cornwall, this one heads down towards the coast, though in this case where the gardens end you reach the coastal path on the clifftops, rather than the sea but with the amount of plants it’s clear to see that the garden has its own microclimate. But even so I was surprised to see the new lush growth on the banana plants with leaves ready to unfurl themselves.

The burnished autumnal leaves were more what I expected and it was great to catch this in a burst of sunshine and to bask in its warm, however briefly.

It was no surprise that the stream through the garden, and especially in the Rill garden (not pictured) was full and fast flowing given all the rain that had fallen in the past few days brought by the Storm Bram, which was almost a memory now that we were among these more tropical plants.

Then I stopped to pick up one of these fallen fruits, curious as to what it could be. While it looks strawberry-ish, it’s harder than that more apple in texture, but clearly not an apple. It almost looks as if its from a more Mediaeval time doesn’t it?

It’s actually the fruit of a dogwood, and gloriously so. I think we’ve seen them here before but never from my dogwoods in my own garden.

As you’d expect in the damp mossy parts of the garden there were plenty of funghi growing amongst them, and if the skies didn’t look quite so heavy I might have had more pictures to share, but instead as we were at the furthest point away from the house we decided to head back before getting rained on again.

But that didn’t stop me snapping a couple of hastily taken shots of these gorgeously coloured berries, and the start of a camellia - again that’s early, surely?

We only made it halfway back up to the house before the drizzle got heavier, but we stopped in the gazebo for shelter and were rewarded with this amazing, if not a little misty, view.

We weren’t there for long though before the weather passed over, and our patience was rewarded with a clearer view over the garden. Coleton is a great place to visit, even in winter. Now my challenge is to visit in sunnier weather to show you how glorious the garden can be all year round.

A couple of Shabby Chic Rosettes

Before I got to the Newark Quilt Show this year I’d already chosen which workshop I’d like to do, and a backup choice just in case. But I was fortunate enough to get onto my first choice which was the Shabby Chic Rosettes with Kate Crossley, who as it turned out had led the bag making course that I attended in 2024. I did wonder, and I was right.

It was a great workshop, and I even finished one of the rosettes there on the day which was great as it meant that I really wanted to finish the other one at home, rather than leave it languishing in a cupboard somewhere, which can quite often be the case can’t it?

Making the rosettes

The tools and materials for this workshop were strips of material, glue, scissors and a pencil, and no sewing.

I shared the image below previously as part of my what’s new in my craft room update, the green and white rosette in the top left corner was the one I completed on the day. As well as a second rosette to make at home I also left with a button to finish the centre of the larger rosette, a selection of ribbons, some small pieces of material for the back and a brooch and hair clip attachment.

I was keen to finish the second rosette. At the workshop I’d folded the length of material in half and cut most of the way through the folded edge, creating the petals. I hadn’t started the rolling as I thought it would be easier to start afresh rather than to pick it up part way through.

The rolling is where the pencil came in, and more glue. As you roll, you glue.

Or rather glue, and roll.

Glue and roll.

And keep going.

Kate suggested using this ‘Amazon Basic’ glue stick, which goes on purple and dries clear, which does make it easier to see where you’ve glued already. It’s relatively cheap too, and some slipped into my Amazon basket ahead of attempting to finish this at home.

Once the four strips are glued and rolled, I was almost done.

I was quite pleased at how neat mine was at the back, I’d taken particular care to keep the ends level and it worked. To help it ‘set’ Kate turns them right side up and squashes them down with her hand. And it works, even though it feels counterintuitive to squash your work!

So now I have two Shabby Chic Rosettes, and the knowledge to create many, many more. I already think they’ve got plenty of potential uses alongside the brooch and hairpin options - I haven’t added either of the backings yet, as I want to think about how I’ll use them first.

I think these could be added to bags, and pouches (!) as a decoration, and they could be made in fabric which complements your outfit for an coordinated embellishment, or even as corsages for weddings etc. Another suggestion on the day was to make two and glue them together to make a sphere, adding a hanging loop so they can hang on your bunting, or on your Christmas tree. The possibilities are endless it seems!

But it was a great way to spend an hour, and to leave with something finished, a new skill and plenty of ideas. I’m sure I’ll be making more!