Lilys House

winter beach

sometimes, what’s needed is a couple of hours in the fresh air, cold or not.

I’m afraid I succumbed to a nasty virus/flu/bug/whatever for the second time recently. Totally vile and totally ruined a solo few days away with my friend.

The girls have been similarly ill on and off too.  We’ve been curled up in the house for a lot of the time and nice though that is, I just had this overwhelming need to get us all out. My declaration was met with varying levels of enthusiasm – from squeals of excitement from Maddie, to groans and shuffling from a very teenage Lily!

 

 

The beach was all ours and the tide going out (misjudged that many a time).

Despite it having been so cold, it was sheltered and mild.

As so often happens when we ‘pop out 'for a quick blast, we stayed for a couple of hours…..

 

just playing in the surf, rock climbing and generally breathing in the goodness.

 

tired but satisfied and feeling very wholesome, we headed home via my Grandparents for a warming cup of tea, cake and chat

 

our quick jaunt took us in to the late afternoon..

  

the nicest, most chilled day I’ve had in a long time

There’s a lot to be said for stepping back a bit and taking time to fully relax.  I spend so much time on the computer, on my phone (the iphone – what a blessing and a curse!) and imposing lists and deadlines on myself.  Even checking emails last thing at night in bed (gah!) and wonder why I can’t sleep.

It’s going to change, before I go mad.  And if it takes an extra day to get things done, then so be it.  It’s not the end of the world.

i’m in love

with Annie Sloan chalk paint.  Oh My.

Thankyou Nicky of The Vintage Magpie (who just happens to be my neighbour, so I could pop over to hers for a quick sneak peek) for putting me on to this amaaaazing stuff!

Seriously, if you want to paint some furniture, this is the stuff.  We are talking No Prep.  That’s right, just whack it on – that’s my kind of paint.  I tell you, nothing is safe around here.

this is ‘Country Grey’, a sort of putty colour…..

one end of the kitchen was always so gloomy with a lot of dark wood.

I was very hesitant about painting it as it seemed a shame to , well, cover the wood, but I’m so glad I did….

it’s transformed the room.  It’s never going to be a light space but it’s much less like a cavern now.

 

even the badly stripped rocking chair got the treatment!

preparing

Lily and I went to the studio today to do a little clearing and sweeping in preparation for my next run of dyeing.

I’ve been snowed out of work due to it’s rural location, which was more than a little frustrating, especially as one customer’s yarn was trapped up there all over Christmas, luckily she was very understanding as she was in exactly the same situation in Germany.

Not having my camera with me, I utilised my phone and the wonderful Hipstamatic.   I’ve had this app for a while now and it’s totally addictive, so if you see a weird shot here and there in any subsequent posts you’ll know what I’ve been playing with.

I work in a small space.  A really small space.  Which means i have to be reasonably organised. I’m trying very hard to be organised and to declutter.

 

trouble is, yarn and fibre and dye and buckets and vats and spin dryers and drainers take up a lot of room……..

and it’s a messy job, as this little corner of my workspace shows

looks better in black and white, doesn’t it? ;)

still, it’s got to be pretty and my shelves have lots of lovely thing to look at – cards from friends and the children, a vintage knitting needle box and bobbins, old baskets, drawings of the dogs and a beautiful ceramic dish that holds my tape measures!

this cupboard hides a lot of my undyed stock and is next on the list for a sort out. I’m usually surprised by what I find at the bottom of it.  ‘OOh, I forgot I had that angora/silk fibre’ is a common utterance!

I have some wholesale dyeing to do for the lovely loop and then I’m going to bust out the fibre (I’ve missed it lately) and some more variegated  and semisolid Buffy.

Anyway , I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my work, albeit with funny photos!

May I take this opportunity to thank all of my customers past and present, and all the readers of this blog, for your encouragement and kind feedback. Lets roll on into the New Year, positive and strong. Best of luck to us all !