On to November!

Oh my! Where did October go? Mind you, if I spend a little time looking back through, it was a good month. John and I spent a lot of time pottering around, slower than normal, starting to put the garden to bed for the winter, always quite a long chore anyway. We have some huge deciduous trees and they love to drop all at different times. We have quite a good routine now after all these years and don’t get too swamped.

I had a lovely day back with Jack of Fazy Woodcrafts this time making an Ash Splint basket with Michelle Mateo. A fascinating process which she teaches over two days but I chose the shorter option and I’m glad I did. My hands did not want to work at all for a couple of days afterwards!

This is not the relatively ‘soft’ option of willow or cane, which I know can be hard enough, this is actual wood! So interesting to learn about. The basket now sits nicely with my Birch Bark pot.

After the workshop we actually went away! We’d had to cancel our booked holiday to Pembrokeshire just after John’s heart attack but we were lucky enough to book another week just a bit further along the coast once he was feeling better. For some reason we totally enjoyed this little cottage better than the house we usually stay in. We completely relaxed. There were no stairs for Ellie and Tully to struggle with. Each walk I took John could see me through the windows. We were entertained by the huge flocks of gathering crows. They even murmerated like starlings every night!

They were always around somewhere and watching them fly in the high winds was amazingly entertaining. They also sometimes just sat of course.

The bird life was a fabulous mix as the migrations were happening and I was so happy to hear my beloved Curlew virtually constantly.

We met up with friends both human and canine and had lots of treats and zooms too.

Back home again I caught up with the Bug Box.

And also the Jacquie Stitch Along by Faby Reilly.

And last but not least I completed the Shepherds!!!

I’m so pleased they’re done as I was fighting to stop the rot of thinking I still have a month left. Well I did still have time but that would have left everything last minute and that is a dangerous place to be which I’m trying avoid.

I’m going to make a sort of stable for the angel to hang from and then Elsa just needs to come around and pick her ‘set’ and I can put them away for a while.

The email from Faby has just come in and we’re starting to compile the Jacquie so I may go and have a look at that. I’ll leave you with a picture of a very much smiling Ellie totally enjoying her holiday despite the fusing spine and hip dysplasia. We’re aiming on quality of life and it certainly seems to be working.