So That Was Autumn...

Apologies for the long absence - I think this is the first time I've ever missed two consecutive months! Can't think where the time went.

So October passed by in whirl of autumn colour, catching up on birthdays (sorry kids!) and a visit from my lovely Mama, a trip to the north and the coast and a little bit of experimental slipper crafting - they turned out just fine with a little tweaking of the pattern, in fact I'm wearing them now.

And as for November? I really have no idea where those thirty days disappeared! But clearly, looking back at the photos, November was a month of home improvements. Sam sorted the moss on the roof, Lee, our lovely, dedicated and endlessly patient joiner (he spent a long time fighting with our wonky walls poor man), built and fitted our bookcase and TV-cabinet-come-gas-meter-cupboard and I finally plucked up the courage to paint with that lovely dark blue - Stiffkey Blue from Farrow and Ball. Don't regret it one bit. The combination of light wood, stone and the deep, dynamic blue that looks so different as the light changes through the day work so well to make this, our favourite room, feel cosy and somehow more grown up and sophisticated.

And now it's midway through December it really is time to crack on with the Christmas preparations... more on this next week once the Nativity performances and parties are done and dusted and I'm home for the holidays. I just can't wait, it's been a long few months!

Hope you had a lovely autumn too friends.

S. x

Wood, Sweat and Manual Labour

After working my brain throughout the week I've always enjoyed letting my muscles take over the work at the weekend. It used to be at the stables, in my teens right the way through to my mid twenties. Spending time out of doors working hands and legs and back and heart with physical tasks gave my mind, usually so taken up with school work (both as a student and a teacher) a chance to wander while my body took on the repetitive, familiar tasks of sweeping the yard, mucking out and bedding down stables, leading young riders and filling up hay nets.

These days I don't have such a regular outlet for this physical need, save for treading the footpaths and fields around home. So, this weekend, faced with a huge pile of logs taking up half of the drive way, I rejoiced in the change to spend a beautiful afternoon shifting them to a more permanent home.

As the cat chased the last of the afternoon sunshine down the garden, I moved load after load in our 8 gallon trug (now missing one handle), first to the log store that Sam built over the summer, which filled before I'd really made a dent in the pile. Then to the old stone outhouse and finally, with that full to bursting, to just outside the back door with the last few.

And of course a few of them made it inside and onto the fire this evening.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend as much as I am.
S. x

Wood is good

Over this first lovely (though slightly cool and damp) summer in our own home I have spent as much time out and about in the beautiful woodland surroundings and the garden as I have inside the house (not to mention my new classroom - more on that another day).

Outside, I have loved sharing this wonderful woodland just a short step up the lane with all of our visitors. We have even come away with a few treasured logs set to become a coffee table, heat pads and of course fire wood. OK, so transporting these great hunks of unwanted logging left overs was, umm, interesting but so worth it when you think about how each piece is a part of nature, has seen years of change and is of course unique in shape and size and the pattern of its rings. We have enjoyed many many outdoor fires in our fire pit with friends and family. I am yet to come across anyone who does not give in to the mesmerising qualities of flickering flames and glowing coals once the sun has gone down.

And inside we have a few woody projects on the go too. The addition of two log burners ready for winter and a soon to be made book case and TV cabinet which we are super excited about. Rustic and beautiful solid oak with rough bark edges wherever possible. A few weeks away yet but we are very excited to see the results.

Enjoy your week lovely people, and if you can, find a little wood of your own and just breathe it in.
S. x

Happenings

A lovely long summer holiday (the benefit of moving counties - 2 extra weeks!) is drawing to an end. Much of the time has been spent on a complete overhaul of my new classroom - 12 days so far and with at least two more planned during this last week. All worth it though as it's so much more organised and ready for all of the lovely new little ones to come in and enjoy it in a week's time. It's not all been work work work though...

Much fun with the nieces and nephew and my lovely mama...

A lovely weekend chasing logs (and a little crafting thrown in of course) with my old friend Carrie and her husband Giles...

And as for house goings on, well we are now truly ready for winter with two lovely log burners fitted and working (and in action today on this rather miserable bank holiday in, uhhum, August). With some gorgeous bespoke book shelves and a TV cabinet in the making its almost time to get those tester pots in and start really thinking about wall colour for the sitting room. I am so excited (and a little nervous) to finally be able to paint walls - out with the magnolia and in with the colour I say!

Hope you're making the most of the "summer" bank holiday everyone. (We are in full sofa, fire and film mode, perhaps not making the most of it but certainly enjoying it.)

S. x