Post Comment Love 1-3 May

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love.

It’s been another quiet and work filled week here, the highlight I think has been making chocolate banana muffins, which are clearly not photographed below. I’ll tell you more about this week’s photo shortly.

Oh and a cheese delivery - our first from Neal’s Yard, and I suspect not our last, though not for a couple of weeks. We did enjoy some time in the garden last weekend. We got some gardening done, filled our green bin and then also found some time to enjoy the sun, and give the barbecue another outing, which when you remember it was still April is pretty amazing.

Though the last few days have been rather different weather-wise. It’s been chilly, wet and generally just a bit miserable. Even MOH hasn’t ventured out much this week. As always any kind of cake is welcomed here, and the coffee and cake in the photo below were probably the reason we almost missed our flight back from Lyon in February. That’s quite a call, but then again I was smitten with the plates.

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Not going: On a coastal walk from Colyton Fishacre

I thought I’d share another “not going to” post this week, and I’ve a feeling it could become a bit of a series, depending on how long we’re in lockdown for and realistically, how long it takes more normal life to resume. So for this post, we’re not going on a coastal path walk, in Devon, where we didn’t go last weekend. If that makes sense.

These are actually photos from our visit to Devon in 2015, but quite honestly the memories seem more recent than that. And despite the photo below it was actually a nice day, and not quite as grim as this photo suggests. Though I think I prefer to describe this as atmospheric, rather than grim.

We’d visited the National Trust’s Colyton Fishacre, which probably has to be one of their strangest named properties, surely? MOH’s aunt volunteers there and it’s one of the places we regularly visit, but it was the first time we nipped out the gate onto the coastal path. Once we’d seen the view, we weren’t sure why.

I’m not a huge fan of walking too close to the edge, and it’s rare that you’ll find me peering over the edge, but with gorgeous bracken edged views like this I’m more than happy with that. Though I remembered if I stood on tiptoes, the yacht came into view.

And while the views to the sea were great, it really was the plants that were closer that held my attention.

And given my previous comments about being close to the edge, you can imagine my thoughts about this. Yes I know it’s not on the edge at all, but I could still fall. MOH who’s used to this irrational logic when it comes to heights and edges, just helps me along, and we did make it down the path you can see heading off into the distance.

But I do have my limits, and the were soon to be reached. Rocks like the one covered in lichen are much more preferable than heading closer to the edge.

Yes, I am not in the picture below. Not even close.

Even looking at it now makes me more anxious, but the honeysuckle is much more my thing.

Yes, I’m definitely more of a hedgerows kind of girl, I’ll save the edges for those of you that don’t seem to mind them!

Getting hooked on Rag Rugging with Ragged Life

This post contains items gifted from Ragged Life.

I don’t know about you, but I’d been seeing posts on social media about how during the lockdown we could learn a new skill, a new language or whatever and thought, huh, how, when, or why? Even though both MOH and I are fortunate to be able to work from home, somehow both of us are just as busy, and ‘spare’ free time is fleeting, so I dismissed the new skill thing. That is, until I was invited to join one of Ragged Life’s online classes.

Having never taken an online craft course, and thinking that Elspeth from Ragged Life must be up for a challenge, and being swayed by rag rugging as a sustainable craft, I was in.

When my craft kit arrived, I was curious about the tools, smitten with the fabric choices, intrigued by the design on the hessian and very quickly nose deep in the book of potential projects.

But it wasn’t long before I was set up in the spare bedroom for the online tutorial, and at this stage was very much “all the gear, but no idea” and hoping that both the technology and my brain worked.

I needn’t have worried though as Elspeth clearly has the patience of a saint, or I’m a model student (and yes, I know it’s not the latter). Soon though we were cutting strips of fabric, which we were assured that wonky was fine. And it was, because mine were very much on the wonk, or characterful as I’m calling them.

After using the guide to cut short lengths, it was time to use one of the tools and learn where and how to insert and space our rags.

And it was surprisingly easy. The blue material in my project uses the traditional method and the rag is pulled through the hessian. Later we’d progress to a method adopted by Elspeth and her mum - the orange fabric - which uses slightly thinner strips, and pulled through in a similar way, but with the fabric doubled. This gives a closer finish, which I preferred.

The final technique, for the central section used the latch tool, and is a much closer ‘loop’ and more often used in more picturesque designs. The latch tool itself sook some getting used to, but knowing the knack of pulling towards the previous stitch, rather than away from helped.

I finished about a quarter of this initial class, which also allowed plenty of time for chat, and checking that my work was progressing in the way it should. It was thankfully, and rag rugging is one of those mindful, but yet practical tasks, that really helps with all sorts of things.

I’ve now finished my project, and am really pleased with it. In fact I’ve already looked out what my next project might be, and one of my next online shops will be for more supplies.

It’s the hessian that I’ll be buying, as I’ve already said one of the reasons rag rugging initially appealed was because of its sustainability. I’m forever rescuing old clothes from the charity bags, to save to cut up and reuse. MOH humours me, but now and alongside patchwork and t-shirt yarn I have a real use for them, and once I’ve worked out what I’ll make next, there’ll be no stopping me.

Just be thankful we’re not wearing hessian, as otherwise I’m not sure you wouldn’t be rag rugged if you ventured too close. And if I’m stuck for inspiration then once again I’ll have my nose in Elspeth’s book.

So despite thinking I didn’t need to learn a new skill, I’m hooked on rag rugging and am perfectly happy with that. What about you, have you picked up a new skill, even if you didn’t think you had time, needed or wanted one?

* With thanks to Ragged Life for introducing me to a new craft, and providing the online tutorial and materials for the purposes of this review.