do you mind if i knit

Someone else's yellow.

Colour is a very personal thing.......... so before I go any further, I want to say I respect other people's colour choices................

I love the combination of (particular) yellows, set against grey............... I know it's a fashionable combination at the moment, and I'm glad of that fact............. But................

............ When we first moved in to this house a number of years ago, the first wall colour we changed was this bright yellow on the kitchen walls. When we came to start the works on the house, Hugo ripped away the kitchen units, and the old yellow was revealed.

It wasn't that we found the yellow too intrusive, (which we did!), it was more about making our own mark on the kitchen.
The simple act of a change of colour, made that kitchen............ our kitchen..............
I found a few flakes of zingy, zesty yellow in amongst some rubble I was sweeping up yesterday........
The last of someone else's yellow.........

Lawn days.

I know this is risky.................. but I do believe the time has come when I might be able to say the "S" word...................
SUMMER.

..........Now............ I know I've jinxed it................ sunny summer days..............lazing on the lawn............ bees humming............ birds trilling............... contented sleepiness............. stretching while looking up at the cloudless blue sky..................

................ We'll probably not have any of these experiences now.............. no more distant hum of lawn mowers............ cool drinks............... happy barbeques and summer dresses.............. taking off sandals and walking barefoot on the soft green grass............

Sorry folks............ it's all my fault because I've mentioned the "S" word.................. blame any bad weather on me...............

My little pot.

When I saw this wonderful post on november moon's blog, I immediately printed out her instructions on how to make a similar pot................

.................I then selected a vessel, and thought, yipee....... I can now use up some of those sweet wrappers, and oddments of pretty paper I have been collecting for years, (and hadn't a clue why I was collecting them)............ and make my own version of Cathy's creation.

I loved cathy's use of the moss, but could not stop myself having a Viola instead............... just like cathy's next planting.
.........This sits on the window sill in my studio, at weekends it's in the house , so I can tend to its needs.........

When I dead-head the Viola, the flowers are never quite dried up enough to have lost their intense colour, so I pop them in water, in any pot that is to hand, and am always amazed at how long they last...........

........... Knitting the collar was quick and easy, just using garter stitch, and it really does finish off the look of the pot nicely............... I've become very emotionally attached to my little pot............. and may make more some time...........

Diary of a tooth fairy.

I've just had a new book published........ Diary of a Tooth Fairy, published by Walker Books.
Alan Durant wrote it, I did the illustrations................

It's sort of a 'prequel' to Dear Tooth Fairy.............!
It's all about a tooth fairy, Pip, learning her trade at a special school, and recording all the events in her diary.
You know, how tooth fairies do............

This clasp keeps all Pip's secrets safe and secure................

............ This is Pip, 'introducing' herself.......... as you can see, she's a confident little thing.

.............Here is Pip, trying to master the art of spells........ essential trickery for tooth fairies...........

............. The teachers at the Tooth Fairy Training School are an interesting bunch, some stricter than others...........

.............. I was sent to boarding school myself, and it wasn't my cup of tea at all, but Pip makes some good friends at her school, and they all seem to have a great time together..............

Pip's diary is packed with all the highs and lows any aspiring tooth fairy would have to go through in the process of her training.
When I was sent this text by Walker Books, it was quite a bit longer, and some editing took place........ but even when I first read it, it made me giggle......... I know I'm biased, but it's an excellent read, very humorous........

I was very keen that the design of the book had a 'lavish' look to it ............. so I love the changing decoration on the edge of all the pages. I painted over a hundred vignettes and full page spreads, so that the book is crammed with pictures..............

One thing about this book which we felt was important, was that our names should not be on the cover, or the title page, as is normal with publications. We wanted this to look as close as possible to a tooth fairy diary, so all egos had to be repressed for this project, because it's important that a book is as good as it can possibly be.............(though our names are on the spine.............).

..........Of course, this book really belongs to Pip........... and if you read it, you'll enter a charming world of excitement and adventure.............

Looking down.............

I must admit, I do spend a lot of time looking down when I'm walking along a street................ I'm a little paranoid about stepping in things I'd rather not put my feet in...............

I am aware there are things I miss out on by not looking up more often..............

.............But then again............. if I didn't look down all the time, I'd miss out on these flowers, which most would call weeds..............

...............growing in the most inhospitable place......... through concrete!

It's a no-win situation, because I can't look up, and down, at the same time................although I wish I could.
The way I'm talking you probably have an image of me, head bowed, shoulders hunched, walking along as though I'm battling a strong head-on wind...............
I've given you the wrong impression..............I do look up..............and when I do.............

.............. sometimes I see things like this!

The furry cushion.

"Me and Douglas, we're like two peas in a pod..............."

"Sister and brother............."

"Douglas.........?"

"Would you mind dreadfully....... if.................?"

"If I used you as a cushion."

"Thanks awfully old boy."

"Well, old girl..............I don't know.......only if you ask Mum for a biscuit........"

"................?....................."

Lets breathe.

Step away from the musty smells of piles of builders rubble................. and take a deep breath.

Everywhere dull greys are brought to life by dazzling Spring green.

If fresh Spring greens were a tonic, I'd drink cups of the stuff.
Gulp it down...........

This ivy makes me think of happy wedding parties, standing at the gates of a church, throwing confetti, and getting caught up in the joy of the newly-weds.

And this makes me remember sunlight.

Green is slowly pushing out grey, becoming the dominant colour..............
I had a breather last weekend, when I went on a course with Di Gilpin, in St.Andrew's, Scotland. The course was organised by Country Living Magazine.
The course was a very generous Birthday gift from my family.
It was a wonderful break from everything here at home................ lovely group of people, Di Gilpin and her adoring staff could not have been nicer, infact, they gave us all a most relaxing and fun time, and the food was excellent. I returned home revitalised........ to a nice surprise....... after a week of not seeing hide nor hair of the builders, they had turned up on the Saturday and laid a concrete floor......... at this moment in time, things like this make me very happy!

The window seat that was.

I promised in yesterday's post that I'd show you what happened to our window seat.
This is what it was like at the very beginning................

............This is the middle of the story..............

............And this is the 'almost' end............
The joiner still has to put in the 'cheeks'.
What-on-earth are the 'cheeks', you might wonder........?
They are the 'side bits', but I think I prefer the joiner's terminology of cheeks.
There's something quite charming about the window having cheeks......... don't you think.......?

Sentimental knitting.

When we had a window seat, in what was our kitchen, I used to sit on it, legs outstretched, and knit away happily, looking out on to the garden from time-to-time.
This photograph was taken when the kitchen had been cleared of everything, including the window seat cushion, ready for the builders to wreak havoc. I just wanted one last knitting session, so I grabbed this cushion, and did a bit of symbolic knitting................ when you know something is going to be demolished, sentimentality can take over.
In tomorrows post I'll show you what happened to the window seat.............

A brand new human being.

My friend Emily recently gave birth to a teeny tiny, incy wincy little girl........... and her name is Astrid, which I think is a splendid, elegant name.
I say she's tiny, but she's 8lb something, which I understand is a good healthy size.
When I see new borns, I always think......'so weeny, so..........leeeetle'............... and then I think about what it must be like to squeeze out something that size, and I think 'ouch'.

Before I went to visit I painted a welcome, and congratulations card all-in-one.
Surrounding the words of welcome I wrote words that I hope will be very much part of Astrid's world as she grows up.
The last word I put down was 'patience'................ something that may be an underated element in some of our lives........ I know it's something I could have taken on board more over the years.............