A waste of a garden!

One of the things I really miss about the UK, and our chosen place in it, is my garden. 

 

Indeed, when this little blog began, it made up half of the subject matter. 

We are very much aware of how lucky we are to have come on this amazing adventure to this description-defying place...

but that doesn't stop you missing some of the things you left behind.

Our house here is surrounded by lots of lovely green space, but it is not a garden, or rather it is not my garden, and there are very few flowers.

Last weekend, my Dad (who is visiting), Giant Baby and I went somewhere where there were lots of lovely flowers.

 It is a bit of a weird place because usually you are not allowed down among the flowers.

Instead you are required to keep a respectful distance.

But this was a special occasion so I gloried in all the fabulous floriferousness.

You see, it was the anniversary of the death of Napoleon, and we gathered with the great and the good and the curious at his tomb.

Or, rather at the tomb that had once been his.

You see, he now has a much grander (and slightly weird looking) affair in Paris.

His body was repatriated some 25 years after his arrival in St Helena, and 19 years after his death.

He chose the spot in St Helena himself, and chose well.

It is in a lush, green valley which looks North and a bit East, towards his beloved France.

They strung up a suitably mournful flag for the occasion.

And wreaths were laid without even a hint of a giggle. (I would have giggled).

 

Then, after the formalities, the congregation, for want of a better word, were invited down into the normally out-of-bounds graveside garden. I think we were supposed to pay our respects, but it turned into a bit of a garden party.

 

No champagne though, which was a shame.

xx

Patchy progress



Do you remember these squares that my lovely friend sent a couple of months ago? Well, I finally got round to doing something with them. 

 

I cut them all properly square, which required much bravery in the use of a rotary cutter, and added a few more so I could make a little patchwork quilt.

I paired them up, a floral square with a spot/stripe or check in complimentary colours.

Then I laid them out on the floor and fiddled. I wanted to make sure none of the stronger colours leapt out and that the balance felt right.

 

 (I am sorry for the quality of the pics but I took them in the evening and the lighting is terrible).

I remembered to number them so they would end up in the right order...

A couple of machine sessions later and I was skipping and hopping at how it turned out. If you look closely the corners don't all line up perfectly but I don't care!

I love that it is bright and breezy and made from squares received as a lovely and unexpected present.

I have found some lovely backing material - also a present from a different friend, and I have improvised some padding. I am busy trying a bit of (very simple) hand quilting, which turns out to be much trickier then you'd think.

 

Anyway, I shall persist. I have plans for this little treasure...

 

xx

Window shopping

Good morning!

 

Would you like to come and see one of my favourite shops in Jamestown? It is in a pretty building called the Canister, which also houses the tourist information office. 

 

I love the bow fronted window with all the little panes of glass. It is like something in ye olde englysh towne.

It is the Arts and Crafts Centre. It would be wouldn't it? They sell work made by craftsmen and women on the island - wooden picture frames, jewellery, handmade paper, hand-spun yarn and flax work, plus a few craft materials, postcards etc.

Shall we have a look in the window?

The window display at the moment is of all the flax work that we have been making in our flax class. Some of it is for sale, but a lot is just there to show what can be done. The display was put together by a local interior designer who volunteers for the centre.

I think it is absolutely beautiful - both the objects themselves, and the way they are displayed. You can probably recognise my hat and basket.

Lilies.

The sun streaming through the window is beautiful too, but it makes it terribly hard to photograph!

I love the use of props and the way objects have been combined.

The lovely Josie made these fabulous stacking baskets. Wouldn't they make a lovely present?

Rose anyone? And the dyeing experiments made lovely bracelets. We used food colouring since commercial fabric dyes are hard to come by here.

I am really very chuffed to see the beautiful results of everyone's hard work.

xx

Putting St Helena on the map

Just a quicky to say that the St Helena pictures have been put up on the Istebna website.

You can read my post about the project here.

Go on, join in - you know you want to!

xx

Positively palatial poultry pile

A few weeks ago I was asked by some friends if I could help them with a little project. They had acquired some chickens, (named Chick-Chick and Chook-Chook: double barrelled and very posh) and the chickens needed some shade.

 

They had been made a fabulous hen-house and a run, but it is hot hot hot in the middle of the day and something had to be done.

So we wove some flax panels.

See how my shoe matches the flax? And my toenail paint matches my shoe? And my watch strap matches them all?

The finished panels were really rather lovely. We wove in alternate ends for that beach-hut-under-a-palm-tree look

Once the flax had dried it was attached to the roof of the run. The chickens needed to inspect it of course.

It has even been embellished with a wee flax rose.

The flax shrinks as it dries leaving little holes, and giving a lovely dappled effect.

They seem quite happy with it.

All hand made, a positively palatial poultry pile!

My friend also built this rather fabulous barbeque/wood burner out of an old washing machine drum. I have dropped several completely unsubtle hints about how much I would like one too!

I've always thought chickens were a bit bizarre...

 



xx

Slow Living April

Hello! I am trying to be organised and think about April's round up right at the beginning of May. Sadly my brain is not cooperating and I am having trouble with the old thinking bit!

I have decided to include the little descriptions from the lovely folks over here at Slow Living Essentials this time so you can get a better feel for what it is all about.

Nourish  (Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over-packaged, over-processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead. Share favourite links/recipes/tips from the month here)

It is always a bit of a struggle thinking up a good variety of recipes from the limited selection of fresh ingredients that are available but I have swallowed my prejudice and I have been buying more frozen veg this month. Most of my meals start with the veg. What do we have? What can we put with it. I think it stems partly from years as a vegetarian, and partly on a year of Slimming World where there is a big emphasis on veg.

I have been baking as usual, some bread, some cakes and the other day, jammy dodgers. The Smalls wanted to know how they put the jam in the middle so we made some to find out.

Prepare (Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season)

Not much here. We are living very much in the moment. I do try to cook enough tea to have some for lunch the next day but that is about as far as my forward planning goes.

Green (up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous)

Again, not my forte at the moment. We continue to use washable wet wipes but that is about it. I keep meaning to experiment with vinegar and bicarb sprays but haven't made it as far as buying the spray bottles yet!

Grow (What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden? Herbs in a pot, sprouts on a windowsill or and entire fruit/vegetable garden -opt for what fits space and time constraints.)

Our peppers have finally ripened but were so riddled with bugs that I am afraid we binned them. J harvested some avocados from the tree in the yard behind his office. They are in the fridge waiting to be dealt with... I have sort of given up on veg for the moment and have turned my efforts to flowers since this is something I am really missing. I have just sowed some marigold and stock seeds. We shall see...

Reduce (Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. A ladder into a strawberry planter? A sheet into a dress? Share ideas here)

We went to a yard sale a couple of weeks ago and bought some big glass jars for pasta etc, a huge enamel bowl which still needs a purpose, and a two tier snack server thingy which I am using to  hold my jewellery. We also bought a bread crock which I love.

At the one and only charity shop I bought an old shawl which I intend to use as wadding inside a patchwork blanket, except I haven't even considered how to go about starting the blanket.

And, of course there was the old filing cabinet which we have repurposed as a junk store, place for useful and important stuff.
 

Create (to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. Create something as simple as a handmade gift tag or something as extravagant as a fine knit shawl. Share project details and any new skills learnt here)

I have finished my summer blouse which is waiting for a post all of its own once I have actually photographed it. I also made two little coasters on the spur of the moment as a wedding anniversary gift.  Our friends were celebrating seven years, and a little help from Mr Google told me that the traditional gift for seven years should be wool. Well, armed with that information I was unstoppable!

Discover (Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. Share new finds here)

My latest crafty obsession with stitching continues, and I plan to combine the new found love with the quilt-in-my-head one day...

The touristy stuff I did with J's Mum was really interesting and I now know more about coffee production and the final years of Napoleon than I ever thought I would.

Enhance (connect with community -  support local growers & producers, help out at a local school/kindergarten, barter or food swap, join a playgroup or form a walking or craft group. Or maybe just help out someone trying to cross the street!)

I loved taking part in Istebna's project although I am a little disappointed that my pics are not up yet on their website.

The lovely ladies in my flax weaving have combined their efforts and we have produced enough stuff for a window display in the Arts and Crafts shop in Jamestown. I will endeavour to snap it for you tomorrow or Friday.

Enjoy  (Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment. Share a moment to be remembered from the month here)

We enjoyed our first visitor. It was lovely showing off this special place. We also enjoyed eating out, barbequing, picnicking, snorkelling, swimming and generally taking advantage of all the good things life here offers.

Todays pictures were take during a walk up Flagstaff, a nearby hill.

Did you have a good April?

xx