Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

Turquoise is my favourite colour. There is quite a lot of turquoise in our house. Our bedroom and bathroom are turquoise. There's a large section of turquoise clothes in my wardrobe, fabric in my first ever quilt and my next knitting project is going to be with turquoise yarn. I've already got the yarn. I don't however have any turquoise gloss hunter wellies and I think that they would really make me happy. They would look beautiful with everything I have and they are so shiny. They have gone straight to the top of my wish list. Perhaps I'm not totally miserable due to life, maybe it is all down to a lack of turquoise gloss wellies. Could a pair of wellies cheer me up? I believe they could. Thank you very much to The CSI Project  without whom, I would  have never known that turquoise was the colour of 2010 and been reminded that there are a pair of turquoise wellies with my name felt-tipped on the inside. I had previously thought that the two pairs of wellies I al...

It isn't always easy to work out why but it doesn't stop me from questioning. Asking "Why?" is generally a good thing and to be encouraged in a lot of situations. However unfortunately there isn't always an answer or a reason. That is the hard part of life. Asking questions is the easy part, answering them is harder and trying to live with the fact that sometimes there is no answer is the hardest of all. So I simply knit. It has been a tough week and it's only Wednesday. It has been a tough year but then there are always good times and bad times. This project is probably going to be a long and on-going one, perhaps a scarf. When times are hard, there's often tears and not always answers but at least with a wonderful family and friends, I can simply knit and eventually everything will be fine.

Sometimes you just have to be kind to yourself. After another restless night and waking up with my headache feeling even worse, I decided not to go to work but to rest. No-one ever hands out medals for going to work when you're not well and work is such a state of chaos at the moment, it was very likely to have made me feel worse. Life is too short to be worrying about work and running yourself into the ground, my family needs me. So once I had made the decision to stay at home, I had to think about the best way to cure my headache. Should I have a duvet day and stay in bed resting? Or have a quilt day? There wasn't ever really any competition. I'm quite pleased with how my first quilt is looking and with no-one at home I was able to lay it out of the floor and piece it together like a giant jigsaw. Spending the day carefully sewing the fabric together has been very relaxing and although my headache hasn't gone, I feel better.  P.S. Sorry to anyone who had to cov...

I am not a particularly superstitious person, but I am fascinated by the folklore surrounding magpies . They are one of my favourite birds, simply for their pure audacity. Charlie and I call them pirate birds, we admire that they are the stealers of shiny things. I am never really sure whether to believe if they are good luck or bad luck. Should I salute them? Enquire after their wives? There are so many variations on superstitions surrounding magpies, that I choose to combine them all into my own interpretation; the more you see, the luckier you'll be. Today I suffered badly from Monday morning so I tried to look for beauty on my way to work and there was plenty. I thought I'd choose eight of the sights I saw on my way to work to represent the eight magpies I saw on my way home from work. Coincidently a gathering of magpies, also known as a collective noun (should any of my students ever stumble upon my blog) is a parliament of magpies. One for sorrow Two for jo...

It can sometimes be quite difficult to get Charlie out of the house. Josie did a sterling job at trying to get him to go to the cinema with Mark and herself, offering bribes of popcorn and sweets, even an extra film but he just wanted to stay at home with his mummy. That was until I started talking about the Euro food fair. It captured his imagination and he got dressed with minimum fuss. Standing guard at the gates was a knight which added to his interest and the food stalls, smells and general bustle of people pursuaded him to take a look. We have been before and I'm sure on each occasion it has rained, which is skillfully illustrated by Josie's picture. I showed Josie my blog today and she was very impressed and keen to contribute / take over. I imagine she will have plenty to add. She even asked if you could have her own. I do really like the Euro fair, so much delicious food, but I think today my favourite was the cheese stall. I might have liked to have looked around more...

The best time to go to a Charity Shop is on a Saturday and I do actually have inside information to support this statement. In my twenties I was lucky enough to work for Notting Hill Housing Trust Charity Shops who set up temporary charity shops in some of the most spectacular and amazing locations and buildings around inner London. When else would you get the chance to work in a charity shop in Picadilly next to Fortnum and Masons? I adored the old buildings in their sad and sorry state of repair. The lower shop floor was always made safe and fitted out in a shabby, temporary fashion and anywhere else was roped off usually with a hand written sign warning of the danger. One of my favourite's was the vintage 60s and 70s clothing shop just off of the Portabello Market. I had my pick of the cream of the cream. Well the trick is that you keep the best for Saturday as this is when you have the most passing trade and can make the most money for your charity. I suppose it's not reall...

Who wouldn't? Broadstairs is my favourite Kent seaside town and possibly the top of my list of British classics. Although Perranporth, Porthleven and Brighton have sentimental value and Westgate-on-Sea, Whitstable and Herne Bay have wonderful friends, Broadstairs has style, charm, Victoriana, traditional high street shops and Dickens. I could never be sad in Broadstairs. "Not Broadstairs again" said Charlie when I told him where we were going on our day out, mainly because he wanted to go to the zoo on the mini bus. Broadstairs is also a crafter's and treasure hunter's paradise. The walk from the train station down the high street started us on our Great Piratical Rumbustification . The first treasure trove is Bay 158 , the perfect shop for anyone who loves beautiful things, the seaside and Broadstairs. I am quite a reserved shopper, not entirely through choice but ethically we should at least try. I haven't actually bought anything before but had carefull...

On the way home from school today, we got caught in a shower and because I had already made Charlie wear his coat, he officially declared it a hot chocolate day. During the autumn and winter if the children get wet on the way home from school, in order to cheer them up and hurry them along, we often discuss whether it is a hot chocolate day and it usually turns out to be one. So with the tomato plants composted, the persistant web making spider, the autumnal mists, the last few sweet peas in the garden and the first hot chocolate day, I think autumn is here and today I feel happy about that. To celebrate Josie and I made some chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and Charlie charlied them (crushed them and spread them over his face, hands, kitchen table, floor, bathroom sink and towel before pouring hot chocolate on them.)  Our cakes before Charlie got to them I also have my first followers, which I am very excited about and some very positive and valued comments...

Autumn is beautiful but in many ways it is so sad, this year more than ever. To cheer myself up this morning as I cycled to work through town, I made an extra special effort to stop and observe all things beautiful. Sadness aside, Autumn is stunning. Josie describes it as her favourite season. There is a lot to like about the end of the summer. Cobwebs are amazing, how do spiders know what to do? Every morning I destroy a web in the door of the garage so I can get my bike out and it is there again the next morning, without fail. I even put the spider in the seat on the back of my bike yesterday in the hope that if I took it for a ride it might decide to find somewhere else, but it was still there this morning. I have to admire the determination and the incredible geometric patterns. I do love the mist, it makes everywhere look slightly magical, especially in the early morning sun. The colours of the leaves are amazing and I am looking forward to collecting them with Charlie....

This morning I picked what must be almost the last sweet peas of the season. I've been picking a small bunch for the vase on my desk at work since June and they have been just delightful. Nothing smells quite like summer other sweet peas and tomatoes of course. We had a real success with some small tomatoes in a hanging basket outside the back door this year. I grew two varieties in the same basket; balconi red and gartenperle. They were both delicious and a favourite with Mark for his sandwiches. Gartenperle was probably the tastiest, the most prolific and a curious pinky red. I collected the last of the tomatoes at the weekend and this afternoon the plants have finally gone in the compost bin.

I thought and wondered and considered and procrastinated about where I should start until I was so confused that I thought I would just jump in head first. I am excited about writing about what we get up to as a family and the wonderful things we are going to make and how they will all be collected here. My inspirations are from all the fabulous other crafting blogs I have read. I love the photos, they brighten my day. I'm sure I can learn as I go. Here are the squares for my first ever quilt, all cut out and ready to go, so I really am starting at the beginning.