Bit of this and bit of that.

I am so sorry readers. It is almost Friday and nearly a week since I did my last post.(see reason/excuses here!) So last weekend was a fun weekend.

Saturday was the usual shopping and cleaning (turned out to be the best day of the Bank holiday weekend so didn't plan that too well!)

Sunday and we went to the The Old Farmyard in Ripley again. Remember last years post?

Well I got to cuddle a lamb again, the photos were not as good this year, some were a bit blurred, maybe because I was shivering with the cold so much?

we saw the billy goats.

and we saw the hens.

We stroked the beautiful Jersey cow

and cuddled more lambs.

There is a little farm museum there in one of the farm buildings.

It is full of interesting things.

Some things from a bygone era

The family that own the farm must never throw anything away.......

........Just like me!

The dog thought the horse had shrunk in the wash!

There was some spinning going on too.

It was nice weather for ducks!

We called in the little shop in Ripley.

Beautiful cakes and sweets (boo hoo couldn't eat any!)

and a lovely Yorkshire Tea window display.

In the little church there had just been a wedding, the flowers were beautiful.

And at the end of the day, all the farm animals are let out into a lush green field to run and relax.
I will post about the rest of the weekend in the next couple of days and I want to share a few discoveries and crafting with you too.

plan's no.2

It's Friday and where did all the sunshine go?

We have had nothing but grey skies and rain!

Did you see The edible garden on Wednesday? I have not seen them all, but I really enjoyed this weeks all about fruit. They also did some printing using leaves and flowers. The technique is called Hapa-zome. well worth trying to catch it.

The pressie I got with my birthday money arrived today.

I love it, it is a beautiful book.

The 1940's weekend is May 15th and 16th and lets hope the sun comes back for that.

Now reasons for not crafting (excuses)-

1.Busy at school with up coming orders for next year and reports.

2.Guilt that I should be doing something in the garden. Go outside and 'potter' but don't do much out there either.

3.Been out gallivanting on day's out with Hubby.

4. Plans are afoot that mean the house needs a tidy up/clear out. (more about that later).

5. MAIN REASON (excuse) I can't 'do' anything is my so called craft room and the spare bedroom are VERY,VERY messy. I am such a hoarder and keep far too much stuff on the pretence it will "come in handy for something one day".

Now I know that here in Blogworld we all like to imagine all our fellow blogger's houses spick and span, clean and tidy with our favourite chair waiting with a plumped up crocheted cushion on it, a book by the side and some neat little crafting bag just waiting for the owner to pick up again. Well sorry It ain't like that here!!!!

Piles of books and magazines, bags of unfinished work, wool, felt, paper, paints, etc all over the place.

So my friends this leads me onto reason (excuse) number 4. Hubby has decided he wants to build me my very our workroom. Now I have to agree to certain terms to get said workroom.

1. The mess the building work will make.

2.The disruption it will cause.

3. I have to move some of my well established plants and I am not sure it's a good idea to try and move some old roses but I have to give it a try.

4. I will have to put into storage most of my 'stuff' which means little or no crafting for months on end.

The upside is I get a workroom, we get a larger kitchen and an en suite in the bedroom.

It's not going to be pretty! So please bear with me on this one. It may get messy, it may get tearful, it may be boring you to tears but keep thinking of the workroom!

So for the moment we are in the planning stage. An architect friend is coming bank holiday monday to measure up and before then we have to give the house a bit of a tidy. We will be going out for the day Sunday and it's the village gala on Monday so if I get chance I will pop down and join in the fun.

Have a good Bank Holiday Weekend everyone.

Plans

It has been the most wonderful weather here in West Yorkshire.

Sunday was spent in the garden but I have to admit to not doing much, it was a lazy sort of day. Simone has put me to shame!

I took some photos of the flowers and plants that are opening up in the spring sunshine.

It's nearly that time of year again. Remember this post from last May?

We plan to go to Haworth for the 1940's weekend and I am planning what I will wear.

I have bought a pair of shoes I fell in love with. They are so lovely, I didn't get them just for that weekend but they will be my special occasion shoes. I got a bargain 'A' line skirt for £5, it's brown wool with a cream check. I have some steamed stockings and a lovely brown beret with flowers on it. Now all I need is a top of some sort.

I have ordered these books from Amazon. My knitting skills are not up to much but my lovely mum has said if she has the time she will make me a 1940's style sweater. Just need to find a pattern-quick!

These are just a few of the lovely gifts I received for my birthday. The large silk ribbon flower brooch was sent from my good friend and my Mother-in-law bought me the book for some crafty ideas. The perfume was off hubby and some pretty book labels with butterflies on.

I will show you what I bought with the money Shan sent me when it arrives!

Hubby found this tiny nest a few years ago and I found it again, hiding at the back of a cupboard. It is beautifully constructed. The broken egg shell, I found the other day in the garden.

The trees are popping in the garden.

Cherry plum blossom.

Red Acer.

The old apple tree.

Not a lot of crafting going on here at the moment. There are reasons (excuses!) I will let you know about them next time.

The Yorkshire Dales

Hope you all had a lovely St Georges day? I have posted about it on my school log blog here if you want to see what our school got up to yesterday and on the same day in 1904.

Today was such a beautiful day. We went for a drive to the Yorkshire Dales.

First we went to Skipton. We didn't go into the castle today but walked around the town and along the canal.

We bought some lunch, salads and chicken and some tasty bread and apple juice and drove to Appletreewick to eat our picnic.

It was busy in the tiny village because the Craven Acoustic Festival was being held at The Craven Arms. Groups of musicians playing various acoustic instruments playing some fantastic music.
The Craven Arms dates back to the 16th Century and contains many of it's original features such as fireplaces, gas lighting, heavy low beams and stone flagged floors. Built on the back is the Cruck Barn. This is new but build using the same materials, tools and methods used over 300 years ago.

Oak crucks, stone quarried and shaped by hand and thatched using ling heather which grows on the moors.

The Craven Arms is named after Sir William Craven a local lad born to a pauper family who went to London, worked hard and became the Lord Mayor of London. His story is better known as 'Dick Whittington'.
This is the weather stone that hangs outside the door. A bit of Yorkshire humour! (Paul Hudson is our local BBC weather man.)

We saw lots of lovely lambs in the fields (I have added a new button on my sidebar about the rescue sheep, by the way!)

Then it was time to make our way home.

So the above is my contribution to Jackie's Handwriting game
I told you it was bad! ( hope it isn't too small to read.)
But more important is that you please read about the sheep in my last post.
Thankyou.