Wednesday 25 January 2012

Pictures.....


All ready with some new additions for this weekend's Fair in Carlisle, Cumbria .....A pair of chintz curtains, a rosebud and spot cloth, kitchen jugs and a large embroidered picture with the most detailed work.



A village scene done with a variety of stitches and plenty of patience....I love the naive quality and the perilous angle of the church!




Not particularly old ....unlike these two 1940's embroidered pictures....



But the skill, time and effort would have been exactly the same.


Two vintage, Scottish mohair lovelies.....a scarf and a shawl.... in pretty pastel colours.

And my little favourite....

The cutest photo of a baby in a vintage photo frame,


So sweet....

 Hope you all have good weekend,
Back soon,
Julie x

P.S.Thank you for all your lovely comments and a big hello to my new followers too! 

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Found them.....


A quick wander through a village churchyard in Northumberland yesterday on the hunt for something white.


Plenty of frost on the grass, walls and gates.....

The gravestones too.....


The stone roof on an exposed out house with little trees of frost....





Then, poking their heads through the path....still camouflaged in a frosty blanket.... I found them.....

My first snowdrops!


It must be the child in me, but I love the search for the first sight of these little plants, knowing that in a few more weeks the woods nearby will be carpeted in white as they were last year....



Have you found yours yet?
Julie x


Friday 13 January 2012

All change.....



It is three years now since a lovely journalist and a photographer knocked at the front door and set to work.

Asking questions and taking great photographs.



My favourite room in the house.....the kitchen....which hasn't really changed much.

The glazed extension has pushed the kitchen into the garden....taking advantage of the inherited canopy of mature beech, oak and larch trees which  provide welcome shade in the Summer.... and in the Winter, a great room for sewing as the light is so good. 

 The hall with a light, airy Nordic / French feel... is much the same....no real change.


As I look at the photos again.....new things have arrived and old things have now moved on to someone else.

I suppose that is the beauty of what I do.


Somethings of course will never go..... like my "Cloth Shed" straw house box and the old laundry basket rescued from the local tip.

It has been with me for many years and is so useful for hiding pieces of  fabric for future Cloth Shed projects.


In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a nice old laundry basket.

The wool blanket on the side of the sofa in the sitting room was given to me by a friend whose farming family in the 1950's used to send the wool from their sheep to the local Woollen Mill at Otterburn, Northumberland. 

What a great idea....not sure if they still do personal requests these days.


 The sharp eyed amongst you will probably remember the "tidy" pictures from a previous post....yes, things have changed slightly here too.


Finally the blue bedroom is no longer..... and is now a confection of old pink/red toile and French linen sheets for curtains.





All change....I think this is going to be my motto for 2012.

New projects afoot....

Keep you posted.
Julie x