7.5.14

Getting back in the saddle

 

It's taken me a long time to get my lovely push bike (Marjorie) out and about. The day Andy surprised me with her was one of the happiest days of my life, to know that he loved me so much - as I loved him.




Since he died, even though she is my only form of transport  - and the nearest shop being two miles away - I haven't been able to face riding her, a unbearable reminder of what precious thing I have lost.

 

But this spring I felt able to get her out of the shed and dust her off. Brian-next-door pumped her tyres up for me and we have been having little adventures, finally exploring the gorgeous landscape around us.


We're never far from a view of the Shropshire Hills.

We even found an egg honesty box a few miles away. 



It's hard sometimes, to allow myself to enjoy all of this, knowing that Andy never got the chance to see that we made the right choice after all. How he would have loved it.

 


Shropshire is proving to be more uppy and downy than the Cotswolds, but Marjorie and I are learning to tackle the hills.

 

 It's nice to see my little cottage with its cream chimney stack, nestling in the landscape as we return home.

16.4.14

Little Easter Goose



One small grey goose waddled off to a new home.


Walter.


 He really is very small indeed...


There are still some spaces left on my May 10 chicken brooch workshop at the Fibreworks Oxford. If you'd like to keep me company, please contact the shop via the website.


2.4.14

Candy Buns and giveaway results




Back at the Fibreworks Oxford, trying my Candy Buns pattern on a group of never-before needle felters.


I was really pleased when a few people asked if it was ok to tweak the design - going off piste is great!


They were a great group, so much so that they were my first workshop to finish early.


And now my kits (also available in my Etsy shop)  are on sale there, along with my packaged needles. So if you're in Oxford, hop like a Candy Bun over to the Cowley Road if you want one and say hello to lovely Tasha and Lotty. 



Five days is a long time to be away from home. Someone was glad to see me.



 And now the bit you're probably been waiting for if you entered the giveaway. Using a random number generator thingy, the winners are - 

Louise Peers

Dara Carey

Leonor

I will do your best to contact you directly, but if I haven't, please email me via my blog profile.

Thank you so very much to everyone who took time to comment and those who bought the book anyway. It briefly went to number two in the Amazon.com craft list. Sales are good, but your kindness is wonderful. 

24.3.14

My book and a giveaway


Last year, the most terrible of my life, also saw one of my life ambitions fulfilled. With ghastly irony, the offer from Harper Collins to commission my first needle felt book came just two days after Andy died, in January 2013. What should have been a joyous occasion was like ashes in my mouth. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered any more.




Yet this book was part of my future survival; I was left rudderless and precariously positioned financially. Somehow the mortgage had to be paid, the electric bill, the water rates, the council tax and now it was all down to me. So having been given a deadline extension and much sympathy from my publishers, I began designing the first patterns in March.




Believe me, when you have lived through your worst nightmare, when you have howled into the snowy night for your love to come back to you,  dreaming up cute toys seems like a monstrous irrelevance. And so the years of professional working kicked in and I immersed myself in making the best book I could, under the circumstances.  




Somehow I found the strength to get this book finished by summer last year, despite having to take a break to organise Andy's woodland burial. I worked seven days a week, 8-10 hours a day. I often found myself crying as I sat alone in my studio, just me and my felting needle. But I did it. And in the end, I rediscovered my love of toys, as I surrounded myself with more and more of them.



Most of the designs were new.


Some were old favourites, like the Roly Poly robin, who I've made many, many times.


And I was able to include a good section on techniques, including how to sew in eyes and how I get that firm, smooth finish people are always asking me about.



I also wanted to produce a book which had more challenging  patterns in - there are plenty of 'simple' needle felting books out there, and while I do have some very easy 'roll it up and stab' patterns, such as the Rainbow Mice, there are some more tricky designs for seasoned needle felters to get their teeth into. Over the space of four months, I produced a heck of a lot of creatures.


Although it is great to finally have my own needle felt book out, the person I wanted to do it for is no longer here. So these two lines are, for me,  the most precious part of it.

"This book is dedicated to the life and dear memory of Andy Macauley, 1971 - 2013. My Forever Love."


I have three signed copies of my book to give away - if you'd like to have the chance to win one, leave a comment here so that I know who you are, and I'll do the draw next week, when I return from my workshop at Oxford Fibreworks. I'll also pay the shipping costs to wherever the winners are in the world. so all you have to do is enter and keep your fingers crossed!


If you don't want to leave it to chance, then it seems to be available in major book shops all over the place, as well as  Amazon UK and Amazon.com. It's also available as a Kindle edition and iTunes. Harper books in the USA have also published it, so my American friends should have no problem in sourcing a copy. I do hope that people like it.

*GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED NOW!*

15.3.14

Hares and more


Back from Cinderhill Farm, having slept lots and had a really satisfying workshop. 


The lambs are popping out now, triplets and twins born last week. They've been in the warmth of the barn since birth, but were being put out to grass.




Quite wonderful to see the lambs nibbling at grass instinctively, although only a week old - and the 'mums' tucked in with relish.


The new farm shop 'The Pie House' is now open for business and extra help bought in. it is light, clean and lovely, selling local produce and the farm's own meat.



 A nice selection of cheeses too. I do like a good cheese photo.


A few hundred pasties were being made, all by hand, for weekend orders.


Two geese came to live at the farm (genders as yet unknown), which pleased me greatly as they are a favourite of mine. Once out of their crate, they waddled off up the hill and settled in at once. Such beauties.



I did some solitary communing with the pigs in the first real sunshine of the year. All of us grunting happily for the sheer pleasure of the warmth.



 And finally, the workshop - a small one, to open the year. Two returning people from last year, which was so nice.


I'd set a pretty demanding challenge; to make a hare - my simple moon gazing design -  within the day. 


As usual, the farm laid on three square meals. two of which consisted of home made cakes.


 

 At the end of the six hours, with lots of hard work, they had made all a gorgeous hare, each with it's own personality. So rewarding and to hear how everyone had enjoyed themselves.  And great to meet a fellow blogger, 'Compost Woman', who has done a more in-depth blog post about her day, here with lots of photos.