A Country Walk

 

 

 

 

This weekend, after the rain and wind on Friday night which saw off the last of the lingering snow, the sun came out in our part of the world.

So we set off on what we knew would be a very wet and muddy walk - but with the warm sun on our faces, and blue sky above us, we didn't care.


 

 

 

 

Our first gloveless walk this year!

 

 

heaps of rejected apples piled up along the edge of a field - a sad sight

 

 

a rare sighting of a shy woodland creature amongst the trees

 

not sure what I was looking down at, but I expect it was Logan!

 

Despite the warmer temperatures over the weekend, and having looked at the detailed five day forecast for our neck of the woods and not having seen any of the nasty minus numbers, I was surprised to see this sight on my car this morning.

 

But how beautiful!

 

 

The sun is still bravely but rather weakly shining this morning now the frost has gone, but in a wishy washy whitish sky, so I'm not yet tempted out of doors into the garden.

Like Logan I shall stay indoors today, having done the school run, but not at quite so much leisure as Logan - look at those crossed paws, Mr Laid Back!

 

A long mental list of jobs to be done awaits me - not sure yet what I shall choose - I don't like to write a "to do" list any more as it seems to be the kiss of death for those jobs and they never get done - I would rather just get on with whatever needs doing at the moment, or as the weather dictates, or as the mood takes me, and stick to having a mental list - I know all too well what's to be done, but I don't like to see it in black and white if it's a job I'm not looking forward to!

Are you a list person?

Vintage Linens and Embroideries - 1

 

1. Cross-stitch and woven vintage mats

Yesterday I was lucky enough to pick up a HUGE shopping bag full of vintage linens, laces and embroideries from vintage linen dealer Heather at a local market.

I was as excited as a child in a sweet shop, sorting through gorgeous white work linen tablecloths, embroidered tray cloths, intricate crocheted edges and trims, and folk-style cross-stitched mats, a few scraps of vintage floral fabrics, and came away with a great bag full for a good price.

What was particularly exciting for me was a bag of unseen white linens and laces that Heather had bought on my behalf, knowing they were just my thing, and so when I got those home it was like Christmas!  Each item I pulled out the bag seemed prettier than the last, and there were a few surprises in the form of a very fine linen or cotton/lawn nightdress trimmed with lace, and a white work nightdress case or bag for storing stockings.

As there are so many lovely things that I think vintage and textile lovers out there will enjoy looking at, I shall spread the goodies out over several posts. 

I'll share with you the cross-stitch mats and woven mats in this post - most have a folk art feel to them, maybe embroidered in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and some I think may be European, maybe collected on holiday, or inspired by European folk art and embroidery.

Some of these have been embroidered by the same person I would think, as there is one design which comes up three times in different colour-ways. I'm not sure if they all belonged to the same person, but certainly some must have.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, and if anyone has any info on these type of cross-stitches then please feel free to share!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although at the moment I feel I wouldn't want to part with any of these as I shall enjoy looking at them for a while, and seeing if I can find a place for some of them in my home (the 50s style leaf runner (above) and the french knot roses cloth (below) are keepers I think!), as I have so many pieces now I will most probably make some of these available either through my Etsy shop or my blogshop.

Many of them are runners rather than mats, some are a little damaged with frayed edges where there shouldn't be, or the odd pulled thread, but most of them are in good condition.

Above all, the handmade pieces are a little snippet of social history, made with care and love by some unknown hand, in an unknown place and time.


 

 

 

As a footnote, I must just thank you all on behalf of Logan (who, as I type, is basking in some winter sunshine on the back of the sofa, whilst keeping an eagle eye on the occasional passer by)  who says he was thrilled to read all your lovely comments about his post.

He's asked me to add that he would be more than happy to do another post in the future.

A Huge "Welcome" to my new followers too!

White Stuff

Mum's been a bit busy these last few days so I thought I'd help her out by doing her blog post today as I heard her say it was time she did one.

(I'm Logan by the way, for those who don't visit Mum's blog very often - I'm a Toy Poodle and I try and keep Mum in order and make sure she does what she should so - she's been known to forget to walk me and feed me when she's busy doing that sewing stuff ).

 

Well, a few days ago Mum had my mate Jack's ( he's bigger than me but we have a great time chasing each other around the orchards when the Mums take us out for a walk) Mum round and they spent hours in the kitchen chopping and cooking up orange stuff then putting it into jars whilst I sat on the chair and dozed - blimey can they talk!

Then as Mum hadn't had a chance to make her own orange stuff she made it in the evening.

And then the next day........... she tipped it all back in the pan muttering away about something not sitting setting ( I thought she meant me at first, but I was sitting like a good boy at the time ) and did it all over again - I don't understand my Mum sometimes.



 

Then this white stuff started laying in the garden whilst she was finishing off the orange stuff, and she rushed off to pick my little mistress up from school early. Not sure what all the fuss was about, but Mum was muttering again when she came home about cars skidding all over the place in front of her, and lorries skidding sideways towards her - she was a bit frazzled and I was glad when she sat down with a cup of tea so I could sit on her lap.

 

Next day (Saturday) all my humans seemed to be at home, and I took my Mum and my little mistress for a good long walk in that cold white stuff - it wasn't very deep but it stuck to my fur.

 

 

 

 

So when we got home I was glad to lie in front of the hot black thing and lick the snow off my legs and paws - Mum tried to rub it off with my towel but it just stuck, I don't know why she bothered when I could easily lick it off and have a drink at the same time - humans!

 

Then my little mistress and Mum made one of those lovely chocolate things that they say I'm not allowed to have.

 

I think they're just being mean and selfish so they can have more for themselves.

 

Then Mum got all excited about taking a photo outside and muttered about l'heure bleu... and she hadnt even had a glass of that white stuff (different from the white stuff outside, this stuff comes in a bottle) she keeps in the fridge.

 

Anyway next day (Sunday) when I went out there was even more of the cold white stuff - I love it!

And it kept falling out of the sky all day long.

 

I rushed about the garden like a gambling gambolling lamb (so Mum said - Dad said something about running about like a loony.....)

 

By the end of the day the white stuff was over my knees - Mum said over 5 inches of the stuff, and that maybe nobody was going anywhere the next day as the lane was hardly passable.

So next day (Monday) was very quiet when looking out of the window from my favourite spot on the back of the sofa - hardly any cars, and not many of my friends walked by either - too cold for the humans who don't seem to like gambolling in the snow like I do.

So I had all my humans at home with me which meant lots of bed hopping first thing in the morning, and lots of lap hopping in the evening, and the hot black thing that I like to lie in front of was toasty warm all day - bliss!

 

 

 

 

I expect Mum will be back as usual soon as she's been busy with that fabric stuff, laying it out on the floor where I like to play and cutting it up then putting it back together again using that noisy machine thing,  up in her special room that is FULL of that fabric stuff ( boy, it is SO messy up there ).

So I expect she'll want to show you what she's been doing.

Well, this blogging lark is more tiring than chasing Bessie (the cat) up the stairs, so if you'll excuse me I'm off for a sleep.