Clematis Leaves

After taking a short break to finish off some items I found in the attic, I have got back to the Clematis.

Here is the first batch of leaves on the blocking board. It holds 38 and I am going to have the fill the board up a few more times before I have enough to finish. I have started sewing some on but just 12 don't look very impressive so you are going to have to wait until I have sewn a few more on before I take a photo.

I have been working hard on the book as well.

I have had it proof read and they found loads of mistakes. As it is all still on the computer it isn't major hassle to change them.

Just time consuming!

I now need to do all the technical stuff to get it "print ready". I am not looking forward to that as I have to learn to use a new program.

It should be going to print on June 28th - barring any major problems.

Back to getting it print ready!

Its December!

And I am on time for once with the desktop calender. This is one of the photos I took on the weekend. There were loads of people there. The switching on of the lights is a very popular even in Chatteris. I was lucky enough to have permission to go up into the top floor of a building opposite to get these photos.

All I need to do now is to find some time to go out in the dark and take more photos of the lights and my X will be finished for my A-Z. Again, I have been ever so nice and made a wide screen version as well. I use a wide screen in work and have to admith that I hate the way it distorts everything. And while we are on the subject of December, the Advent Calendar is now active.

Go and see what treat is in store for you today!

Chatteris Lights

If you are in Chatteris there is lots going on this weekend.

The lights are being turned on so I plan to get the "X" for my A-Z. Ofcourse, Chatteris lights are always a big event and all the usual stuff like the funfair, FenVAC Open Studios and the Gables Christmas Bazaar are also planned.

And if you are not in Chatteris this weekend........

Why not??????????

I have been good!

Not only have I done the calendar for October, I have even done it 4 days early! The photo is part of one I took yesterday at Emmanuel church of their Harvest display. I love the rich colours of the fruit and flowers.

Originally for my "H is for Harvest" I was planning on taking some photo of various vegetables being harvested around Chatteris. I already have some wheat being harvested on a friends farm for the first page. However, due to lack of transport and the slim possibility of actually catching them at the right time, I decided to take up the suggestion of somebody else and use the Harvest Festival displays at the Churches.

As you can see, this has worked very well. Also, with both churches celebrating Harvest on the same weekend, I was able to get all the photos done in one go - and finish up my pages today. I have made a stocking lantern. No pics yet as it needs blocking. I am going to have to find something the right size the put inside to dry it as I cannot pin it to a board.

And to answer some questions............

The lights I use are LED tea lights.

They are wonderful!

You can get them quite easily on eBay but mine were actually bought in Wilkinsons. If you don't have one near you (I had never heard of them until I moved to the Fens) try your local £1 shop. They are battery powered and the batteries are replaceable.

They don't get hot, drip wax, smell, cause soot or any of the other things real candles do. This means you can use them in a whole load more situations.

I discovered them last year and used them for the residents "Candlelight Carols" in paper lanterns. No risk assessments to do and no telling residents that they were not allowed to touch them.

I haven't even thought about prices yet but they will be for sale on my site when ready.

Puppets and Zion

I was going to be ever so good and try to blog at least every other day. Look how long that lasted!!!!!

Still, I have been busy with other things.

First of all, I listed my Halloween Baskets pattern on Etsy. This isn't a new pattern, I wrote it some years ago but I still love it. I was debating about putting it on eBay as well but with the new rules about ebooks (and the new listing prices) I decided not to. Etsy is so much cheaper to sell from when you are dealing with handicrafts.

Here are some of the puppets I have been working on. Meet Petula Parrot,

Sidney Snake,

and Arnold Aligator. These are the "Jungle Puppets". As always, made from 100% machine washable acrylic so you don't have to worry about them getting dirty. I have listed them all for sale on Etsy. The pattern will be on there just as soon as it is finished.

During the crash a whole pile of my photos got corrupted. Fortunately, some of them were from my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris which means they are relatively easy to replace. I decided to go out to the bank and Co-op yesterday and replace some of the photos. I went to the bank first then started taking some pics.

Wouldn't you know it - it started to rain! So I went to the Co-op to get what I needed only to find I hadn't put my purse in!!!! At least by the time I got back to the town centre it wasn't raining any more and I managed to replace some of the pics from Jubilee Gardens. I actually think they are a little better than before. The dark sky wasn't such a contrast against the black clock. But yesterday wasn't a complete disaster! In the evening I left the boys playing on the Wii and went out - complete with purse!

And I managed a new letter - Z This is the Zion Hall. I haven't been able to find out much info about it apart from this little bit I found online. Another such church (non-conformist) in Park Street was founded in 1819. In 1851 the congregation numbered 485.

However, the sign says 1839. I think a trip to the local museum is in order. And I still need to finish sorting out those Harvest ones.

Full Frontals!

Sorry but after the last post it just seemed appropriate! LOL

However, I know these "full frontals" are ones you have been waiting for. Sorry, the pics are not the best but I did them quite quickly and, as the silks have been collected, I can't do them again. So, here are my latest silks in all their glory! I was rather pleased with this one. And I have some paper and ribbon with stars on so I needed something just like this to scrap!

This is a close up of one of the mini shooting stars. I bought the star beads for Christmas tree earrings!

And a close up of the other beads

And now the snowdrops. Unfortunately, I didn't take any close ups of this after it was mounted so you will just have to do with one from before.

I wasn't as happy with this one but there is only so much you can do with white flowers. However, the lady who ordered them was pleased with them and wants two more with Rainbows and Stars on. But she would prefer them different rather than all similar.

I was wondering about incorporating crocheted stars.........

And, while I am here, some more good news.

I entered some of my silks in and Art Exhibition for Chatteris Medieval Fair and sold the Dolphins!!!!

Still no news on the job front though.

R is for Rapeseed

The latest in my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris.

At this time of year you can't but help noticing the bright yellow fields all around you. The growing of Rape is big business

Rapeseed is grown for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, and biodiesel. Rapeseed is a heavy nectar producer, and honeybees produce a light colored, but peppery honey from it.

Rapeseed Oil can be used in much the same way as olive oil. It is a recognised fact that olive oil has a reputation as a healthy oil. Up to now, what has not been widely known is that cold pressed rapeseed oil is substantially healthier than olive oil. It has the added benefit of being locally grown, without the need to be globally transported, therefore saving on "food miles" as well. Rapeseed Oil has only half the undesirable saturated fat content of olive oil. Whilst having twice as much of the desirable omega 6 and about ten times the amount of the desirable Omega 3. The sodium (salt) content is zero.

Rapeseed oil is produced locally by L & A.E. Munns & Son. Westmoor Farm is part of the Cambridgeshire County Farm Estate and is situated in the heart of The Fens, 1.5 miles west of the market town of Chatteris. The Munns family has farmed there since October 1959 when they took on the tenancy of a 21 acre smallholding from the then Isle of Ely County Council. Funding was provided from a £100 pools win and extended credit from suppliers.

Ooooh! I am all excited!

I had my first sale on Etsy!!!!! I sold a Tilly Tangfish puppet. And it is no coincidence that she looks like Dory! LOL I have another one of these so will have to relist her.

I learned some new html and can now link direct to a part of my page and not just the top of the page and have to tell you to "scroll down".

Now I need to learn to make the scrolling banner like the one on the left.

However, whether I get any of this done today is another matter. The sun is out, the sky is blue and I might just go out on the bike with the camera and find another letter for my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris.

J is for Jubilee Gardens.

I decided to take some time out from beading and edit some of those pics I took weeks ago. Jubilee Gardens are at the end (or the beginning depending on which way you come in) of Chatteris High Street.

I haven't been able to find out much about them. All I know is that the original gardens were built in 1977 to celebrate the Queens Silver Jubilee and housed the original Town Sign.

The Gardens were re-vamped in 2004 when the lovely clock was put up and the Town Sign repainted. If anybody knows anything else, I would love to hear it!

A is for Abbey

I have finally got around to editing the photos for my A-Z photo journal. I took these about 3 weeks ago.

The following text comes from the sign which is shown here

Chatteris Abbey was founded by Bishop Aednoth of Dorchester (previously Abbot of Ramsey) between 1007 and 1016. His sister, Aelfwen became the first Abbess. The Abbots of Ely and Ramsey gifted two Chatteris manors to the Abbey in 1086. At first the Abbey was relatively poor because it lacked a royal founder.

It is the poorest of the eight nunneries mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Even so, abbey lands became sufficiently widespread during the 12th and 13th centuries to need three manorial courts, Chatteris, Foxton and Barley. The courts employed estate managers, stewards, bailiffs and rent collectors.

Income also came from churches, tithes and legacies. Gifts, for example 'a weight of cheese', w6ne part ,of the conditions of entry for a novice. Transportation of goods such as grain from the Abbey's mills was often by boat. By 1535 the Abbey was valued at £97.3s.4d.

Henry I gave the Bishop of Ely rights over the Abbey in the early 12th century. Succeeding bishops exercised their spiritual authority over the nunnery by overseeing the election of professing nuns and abbesses.

The island settlement of Caeteric (Ceto - a wood and Ric - a river) already existed when the Abbey was founded near the centre. The additional economic activity encouraged the development of the village.

The Abbey building would have contained bedchambers for the residents and guests, a dormitory, cellarer's room, three butteries, a bake house, a brew house, kitchen, hall, frater, fish house, granary, barns, chapter house and infirmary.

There would also have been carts, farm implements and livestock. The Abbey Church had a choir, two aisles, a vestry and a steeple. It was probably called St Mary's and the townspeople used the south aisle. Sometime between 1306 and 1310 a fire destroyed the Church and manorial goods stored there. It was rebuilt and consecrated in 1352. There were eleven nuns, including the Abbess, when the Abbey was dissolved in 1538.

Some buildings were converted into Park House, which the Gascoyne family acquired and extended in the 17th century. In the mid 18th century the fish house and granary were still intact. However, by 1819 only a few walls remained and Park House was demolished in 1847. Walls marked on the Ordnance Survey map are not original, but were built of ragstone and quoins from the ruins. Original stones are incorporated into buildings in London Road and the sidewall of 24 Victoria Street.

Information from Chatteris museum says that Park House fell into disrepair early in the 19th century and was finally demolished in 1847. The house was last lived in by the Seymour family, the stone was used to build Seymour Place in London Road.

The "Chatteris Town Walk" leaflet also tells you that some of the stones are built into this gateway.

B is for......

Black Gold.

This is what the soil is known as in the Fens as it is extremely rich. The Fens were completely covered in forest after the Ice Age. As the ice melted the sea rose, flooding the low lying land and killing all the vegetation, which rotted into the swamps to form peat. Over the centuries the North Sea ebbed and flowed across the Fens, creating "roddons" - wandering waterways whose courses you can still see today - and depositing layers of silt accross the land. This mixture of peat and silt has created some of the best growing land in the world. Information is taken from the "Cambridgeshire Fens Visitor & Accomodation Guide".

I also took a photo of the Town Sign while I was out. I plan to use this to make the front cover of the journal when it is finished. Chatteris is recorded in the Doomsday Book as Cetriz or Cietriz. Both versions are thought to be Norman spelling of the Anglo-Saxon name of Ceatric, whose last syllable "ric" is Old English for a stream. The "stream" would have been the old Bedford Ouse which flowed along the western boundary of Chatteris. The shield-shaped sign links the links the Bishops of Ely through the crowns. The lower section shows a plough as a symbol of the towns most important industry - farming - and the eels where included as at one time they were used for the payment of taxes.

As you can see from the plaques, the original sign was donated to the town by the WI in 1977, to mark the double celebration of the Queens Silver Jubilee and the Golden anniversary of the WI.

The sign was repainted and repaired in 2004 when the gardens were replaced and the clock was put up. Information is taken from the "Village Signs of North Cambridgeshire" and "Chatteris - Then and Now".