My Craft Journey Continues

I have been working for some time on seven wreaths, one for each of the Church windows.  I have finally finished them, filling each one with love and prayer.

I had so much fun making them, each one different from the next.  I painted each a label and then choose a verse from the bible which gave it so much meaning.  Writing the verse on the back  so that everyone is aware of the thought process of it in the making.  There are lots of local elements included in the making, such as wool which I hand dyed and Harris Tweed.  Made with love.

I have also spend some time making soap, which is something that I enjoy.  I love adding the scents and getting just the right smell.  This batch was a simple lavender that I added some dried lavender too.  It added to the visual look of the soap as well as the smell.

I will close for now and thank you for your visit, your uplifting comments and your love.  We did wonder about our decision to remain here on this amazing Island but we are surrounded by so much beauty it would be impossible to leave.  I continue to do well, although tire very easily.  I have to allow double the time to do something these days but I am thankful.  Take care.

See you soon.

The Beauty Of A Rainbow

 Time has flown by once again.  Our little cottage is now back to normal, clean and tidy after the departure of our visitors.  It is so quiet, so the radio has been on quite loud for a couple of days to compensate.  All the linen for the beds and towels have been washed, dried and ironed, all ready for our next lot of visitors.  I have all kept myself busy in the kitchen batch cooking for the freezer.  I have also made a start on drying out some of the herbs ready for Winter stews and casseroles.  We have had an amazing crop of rhubarb this year, so I have cooked several batches ready for crumbles later in the year.  The garden is a little slower than usual in producing salad crops, I think that may have been the awful weather we had in May.  We have had several days of sun and it is starting to look a lot better, so I am hopeful for a good crop.

We did have a wander around the garden centre when we did our trip to town last week.  We came back with a beautiful lavender plant, which is smelling divine already.  I do miss the lavender we had in our old garden so it is nice to have it back in our herb garden.

I am blessed with a wonderful son in law who is good with technology so both the computer and my phone is now back up and running.  I am now having problems with my camera and downloading photos, I am sure I will work it out eventually.  There have been so many updates of late it is hard to keep up with it all.

  The doorstep blessings project has come to an end as we start to emerge out of this lockdown and try to get our lives back on track into a semblance of normality.  I feel honoured to have been part of the project and know that it gave such a lot of pleasure to so many.  It gave me something to do and kept me busy so I am thankful.  I am now moving on to making a start for Christmas.  I have made a list which changes as I gather my thoughts or find a new pattern but it is almost firm now so I intend to start gathering the materials together for each project and making a start. 

I will leave you with a beautiful photo of a rainbow from last week.  We are blessed with living in a beautiful part of the world but sometimes we don't always take the time to appreciate the beauty.

As always I thank you for your visit to my humble blog and thank you for your comments on my last post.  I found it really interesting to learn about the restrictions in your areas.  Vaccination seems to be the answer and thankfully it does seem to still work against the different variants at least for now.  We were finally allowed to sing at Church last Sunday, but I must admit it did seem strange singing with a mask on.  Hope all is well with you and that life is good.

See you soon.

List Making

What a difference a few days makes to the weather, we seem to be having rain, rain and more rain along with the temperatures dropping.  The weekend saw us hunker down a little and put the heating back on.  We are so thankful that we have a full tank of oil and were able to fill it at such a low cost.  Of course that does mean that we are seeing some beautiful rainbows.  Rainbows always make me

 smile as I ponder the pot of the gold at the end of the rainbow.  If only that were true...or maybe it is when you consider Genesis 9:16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.

Look at the beauty of those skies.  The rainbow looks as if the sky is divided as the rain passes over and once again the sun shows her beautiful face.  

I made the mistake of continuing in my quest to get all the soft furnishings washed.  What a mistake to make, I now have them hanging on clothes racks in the hall and bathroom.  Making it feel more like the middle of winter than midsummer.  Another tick off my list to do getting ready for Winter.  Jam making is on the list but as yet I have no fruit with the exception of rhubarb so this may remain on the list for awhile.  I have been interested to read how so many of you are preparing for a second wave of Covid 19 along with predicted Brexit shortages.  I thought it prudent to make another list and add a few more essentials to the cupboard but storage is a big issue in our little cottage so I do need to be sensible about it. 

I have been surprised by the amount of crafting materials/supplies I have got through during lockdown and have started to make yet another list of things that I would like to replenish.  I would appreciate your suggestions if you come across any sales particularly for card making/scrap booking/journal making as I have a limited budget.  It is amazing how much I miss the bargains from a car boot sale or charity shop.

I also have a list of gifts that I have ready for Birthdays and indeed Christmas so that I know where the gaps are and write down ideas as I think of them or see them.

So many lists that keep me organised and are also fun.  Are you a fan of a list?

Hope all is well with you, take care and stay safe.

See you soon.

Living In Harmony

Time has flown by this past week, so I can only apologise for my lack of visiting your blogs If I haven't caught up with you today I will catch up over the weekend.  Exterior painting is now finished on our little cottage and is looking lovely.  We now need to get the pressure washer out and clean some odd spots up off the paths.  The vestibule/utility room is done with the exception of the flooring.  It is so nice to finally have some order in there and not have to clamber over the clutter that had accumulated.  The flooring for the utility and kitchen was ordered on Thursday so we are hopeful that it will be delivered either next Wednesday or Friday.  We also went to the DIY store to add to our order so we didn't have to pay another delivery charge.  Sadly, the first order had not been actioned so there will now be a delay in all the materials needed for the outbuildings.  I must admit to been a little annoyed but nobody is perfect, mistakes happen.

We had a couple of visitors earlier in the week...

...they didn't pop in to say hello.  The geese are now back on the croft and living in harmony with the sheep.

The weather has been changeable, resulting in some beautiful rainbows.  I am hoping that we will see an improvement so that we can get out and about this beautiful Island when Victoria and her little family arrive next week.

Wilbur has a list of things he wants to do when he comes to Granny's Island.  I bet you didn't know that this Island belonged to me, I was a little surprised too.  I love the simplicity of  a young child's mind.  We have some junior tools ready so that the boys can use the workshop with Grandad.  There are also some crafting projects planned with Granny.

 Gerard has just popped out to watch/support the local football team.  I am expecting my neighbours over for a cup of tea so I will close for now and catch up with you later.  Take care.

See you soon.

Pot of Gold

As always I thank you for your wonderful comments, emails and support.  I would also like to welcome new followers and hope you enjoy our little adventures through life.  I live on the Western Isles also known as the Outer Hebrides the beautiful Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland.  It takes two and  a half hours on the ferry to reach the mainland, so although remote it doesn't feel that way.  Shopping is certainly limited but I visit family regularly and shop when I visit the mainland.  Although we have only been here since April we call it home and love it, we have lost our hearts to this wonderful place.  Next week we travel to the mainland and start our journey to visit family who are spread throughout England, we are counting down the sleeps until we see our Grandchildren who are so excited that we are visiting.  We also have our exciting trip to Florida the sunshine state of America to look forward to which is why Christmas preparations started and finished so early.  The only thing we have left to do is write the Christmas cards, which hopefully will get done over the next day or so.  I am not usually this organised so I did feel as if I should explain the early preparations. 

I was asked for the recipe for the black treacle marmalade.  It is a traditional orange marmalade recipe with the addition of 2 tablespoons of black treacle added with the sugar.

3lb oranges
2 lemons
6lb granulated sugar
2 tablespoons black treacle

Cut the fruit in half and squeeze out the juice.  Remove the pips and membrane and tie them in a muslin bag.
Cut the peel into thin shreds, place in a preserving pan and add 5 pints of water.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours until the contents of the pan has reduced by half and the peel is soft.
Remove the muslin bag and squeeze out all the gooey liquid - this contains all the pectin required to thicken the marmalade.
Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.  Add the black treacle.
Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached (about 20 mins).
Stir well so that the peel is evenly distributed and then pour into sterilised jars, seal and label.

Hope that helps and that if you make it you enjoy it as much as we do.

I am doing well with the crochet stockings, one complete and another 22 Granny squares ready to have their ends sewn in and then stitched together.  It is such a great make using 22 Granny squares, stitched together and then a round of popcorn stitches around the top.

A short post today as I have some ironing and packing to do.  I will leave you with a wonderful rainbow, here's wishing that there will be a pot of gold at the end of it for you.

See you soon.