{ Mu'Mu }

Back At the Farm

Another trip to the farm, this time for plums. Plums, plums and more plums. As well as a stash of good old fashioned organic vege for the table.

Some really late raspberries and blackberries are also still available, and I know there will have to be a few more trips to the farm before pumpkin-picking season. Sweetcorn ready for picking will be a couple weeks away, and I have a lot more jam I need to make first.

Oh and that crazy dog. What trip to the farm would be complete without that silly mutt and her doggy friend joining in the fun? She thinks she's human you know.

At the Farm

Gather ye rosebuds whilst ye may... fruit picking time, people! How long have we waited to go back to our favourite farm? A looooong time!

Enjoying the weather and glut of fruit, there is simply no better place to be at this time of year.

And the bonus - you get a farm dog to play with after all that hard work!

The Long Weekend :: Inside & Out

New yarn, new pattern, new needles, new fabric, new ideas. Inside has been quite productive these last few days. But it has been outside where most of the work has been going on...

Planting, tending, and digging, oh my - the digging. The allotment is taking all our energies this week. And it is a satisfying work, working together, working in this season and preparing for the next, planning for a harvest which is months away.

There is something very meaningful and dignified about working the land.

And you? What games did you play this weekend?

Crafters from the Outer Hebrides

I toyed with the idea of keeping this find all to myself. But that just wouldn't be right. Good things should be shared - and good handmade things? Well they are worth shouting from the rooftops, I'd say...

A while back I stumbled upon Scalpay Linen blog - you might have seen it in the sidebar. It held a fascination for me - blogging from the Outer Hebrides from real weavers and spinners - from a woman who makes Harris Tweed for crying out loud! In a world full of crafty bloggers who blow their own trumpet for sewing two lines together, here at last was a real craftwoman to put all others to shame - spinning wool from her own flock, weaving linen and tweed - grappling mountain lions with her bare hands, ripping sinew out with her bare teeth to use as thread before going back to her real farm house croft thing to start a real fire with maybe flint and sticks  because there is no electricity.

I might be lying about the mountain lion thing. Anyway along with her own shop on Etsy Sheila also linked to the store I bought this yarn from - Calana Crafts (blog HERE). And it is a gem.

There seems such a concentration of crafters from these wonderful places; in a world that seems to be getting faster and increasingly more meaningless, dislocating people from the land, their families, even their ownselves, it is a real treasure trove to find people still weaving by hand, who still live in the place they and their family were born, keeping ancient crafts alive. I wonder if they realise how amazing their lifestyle is? How lucky they are?

And I think we, as UK crafters, have a duty in some respect, to support homegrown crafters too. The plight of  Harris Tweed in recent years has shown how little importance we in Britain place on our own heritage - if these people were in any other country I am sure they would have received World Heritage status by now and received some form of grants to ensure their survival. It is an indictment of our society when some arse like Brian Haggas can undo aeon of tradition based on nothing more than spurious market forecasting. {Spurious because evidently the man is a complete dick. Allegedly.}

Many of us have taken a pledge to support Handmade, but taking it one step further, how about supporting Homegrown Handmade? And not just homegrown, but Heritage Homegrown Handmade (that's a lot of H's)?

The yarn is gorgeous (I say that about yarn a lot, I know) and I fully intend to go back when my bank manager allows, and RAID the entire store for my stash. All of it. Mine.

But that would be greedy, and so I share the link with you all. All I ask is that you leave me some, OK?

And when Scalpay gets the Harris Tweed in that's mine too. Just saying.

A little bit of sunshine to keep those winter blues away... support Heritage Homegrown Handmade!

Weekending :: Fun of the (Agricultural) Fair

Masha'allah this little family has had quite a full weekend, culminating very nicely on Sunday with the Autumn Fair.

Lovely weather and great company (albeit briefly!) made the day really enjoyable as we witnessed all that farm life has to offer.

Many, many showings to watch; many rosettes to see, so MANY different breeds of everything. It quite made the head spin - chucks, geese, waterfowl, ducks, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs - piegeons for heavens sake!

We enjoyed a lot, we learned a bit (did you know the UK has the biggest variety of sheep breed in the world?)

The pygmy goats were just adorable. I can envisage a couple of those in our future insha'allah. They are like cheeky, impish children; I had to be dragged away from these pens. Oh and the turkey? Stalked endlessly by my two - a very firm favourite - it eventually took refuge in its owner - the love got too much for him. I think I see a turkey in our future too insha'allah!

Spinning and weaving and yarn, oh my! Had a good natter with this spinner and hope to see her again very soon!

All in all a great weekend. Mama got to dream a little about the smallholding she hopes to have in the future (pick your own? That would be nice), talk to like-minded people, find kindred spirits, get advice on growing food and best of all, to see two people she really loves grin from ear to ear as they rode the carousel. Many times.

Yup. I love Autumn.