Fife

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Hannah

I think we caught the last day of Scottish summer yesterday. We took a trip up to Fife with two of my friends from college and enjoyed the most beautiful sunshine. We headed to Crail first, then made our way back through Anstruther (confusingly pronounced Anster) and Pittenweem. I have drawn a picture of a Crail street for you here. They are all pretty fishing villages with little cobbled harbours that built up around the herring industry. You can visit the Fisheries Museum in Anstruther and see one of the old herring boats in the harbour there. The sun glistened on the sea and I imagined I could see right to Copenhagen. We even managed a picnic on the beach, complete with bucket and spade!

It is back to reality today. Thunder and lightening announced the beginning of the rain that has lasted all day here. The children are back at school in Scotland and the heating had to be put on in the village hall for Toddler’s Group so there has been a distinct feeling of the summer season winding down.

Entrusted with the ‘big shop’ this afternoon Big Dreamer and Little Owl returned home with chocolate mousse for pudding. Big Dreamer swallowed his in two mouthfuls and was quickly eyeing up Little Owl’s. She shovelled and she shovelled as fast as she could but couldn’t match the pace of Big Dreamer with her chocolate mousse in his sights. Poor Little Owl didn’t stand a chance.

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A wonderful weekend

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Hannah

First, an apology: this is a long post but there’s so much to tell you…so bear with me!

Steady Hands and I arrived back in Edinburgh late last night after a wonderful weekend at FibreFest in Devon. I’ve done a little montage of photos for you here. The top left image shows the brushes that Steady Hands and I were helping people to make. The next image down on the left shows our stall with one of the booklets about brushmaking in the fore ground. The image below that shows all the different fibres we were using to make brushes, ranging from sheep’s fleece through to goat hair. The goat hair was generously donated to us by a brilliant lady called Lesley Prior who runs Devon Fine Fibres. Check out her blog about us here. Below that is my homemade banner for the stall. Letters are so hard to sew! The final image at the bottom on the left shows the beautiful grounds of Bicton College, where FibreFest was held. At close of business on Saturday Steady Hands and I were able to sit and enjoy this very view in the evening sunshine after a hard day’s work.

At the top, on the right, you can see our brush handles strung up. Visitors could chose their handle and their fibre for their brush. Each handle was carefully crafted by Steady Hands from a variety of woods so each one was unique. What a clever boy! The brush making seemed to go really well. We had a large canvas for people to try their brushes out on (as you can see in the bottom right image) and we were so pleased that people engaged with it and appeared to enjoy themselves.

In the middle of the montage is a picture of a lovely felt bee, which will be winging its way to Big Dreamer’s mum as she’s just started keeping bees. It was made by the very talented Jamie Lewis. Jamie’s stuff is really clever and I particularly loved the animals. It was like looking at an illustration come alive. They had so much character and expression. Ever thought of doing animation Jamie?

And finally, the best thing about FibreFest was all the wonderful people we met. We were neighbours with the friendliest bunch of embroiderers who we had great fun with. I was hooked on hand spinning by a group of spinners a bit further along from us. We had some great chats with the folks who came to our stall…and people actually bought things! It was brilliant to get feedback about my drawings direct from the public. In some ways it isn’t about what people say as much as the look in their eyes. I can tell when some one picks up one of my drawings whether I’ve communicated with them. It’s that sparkley crackle of magic between my drawing and a viewer that has me well and truly addicted to illustrating.

 

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A thistley reminder

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Hannah

On Monday the air was full of thistle seeds floating on the breeze. The weather conditions must have been just right for exploring the big wide world and streams of them poured from the plants looking like billowing white smoke against the green of the field next to our house. Little Owl laid out her palm to catch one. It was just about to land when an updraft caught it and it pirouetted back up into the air. “Feathers!” she laughed as she watched it fly upwards. This week has all been preparations for FibreFest this coming weekend. Last night Steady Hands and I folded lots of little leaflets I have produced about the history of brush making and the brushes we will be demonstrating for FibreFest. This evening I had been feeling anxious about all there was still to do. Little Owl had upturned her soup over the floor at teatime. As I mopped up the bright red liquid a rogue thistle seed appeared and danced around my mop as it was caught in the air movements. Just as with Little Owl, it seemed about to land, then waltzed upwards. And I thought, yes, life is really that simple and that wonderful…and the thing to remember in the midst of all the details is that, this weekend I will be working as an actual illustrator!

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Breaking news!

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Hannah

The news in the valley is that an otter was spotted this week on our stretch of the river. A lady was walking her dog on the river bank early in the morning. Apparently she and the otter stood stock still gazing at each other for what seemed like ages, until the otter, smooth as silk, darted off into the water. Those times when I have chanced upon wildlife going about its business as I go about mine are precious to me. It’s a totally different experience to seeing an animal in an organised way. There’s something magic about it. The meeting must only last seconds yet time seems to stand still. It’s like you have been invited into a secret world and you daren’t move for fear of breaking the spell. The joy and intensity of the moment stays with you forever, leaving you always eager for another invitation.

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So many shows so little time!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Hannah

Here is a sketch of some of the carrots Little Owl and I pulled up from our garden the other day. Aren’t they wonderful shapes? Who could eat straight ones after seeing these?! The carroty smell as we unearthed them was also wonderful. Of course they are totally unpeelable!

Little Owl and I have been busy at the Edinburgh Festival again. Yesterday we went to see Bagpuss. Little Owl was mesmerised. Unfortunately I had forgotten my glasses so had to watch the show in semi-darkness through my prescription sunglasses. Big Dreamer’s mum said it was like sitting next to Hugh Grant in Notting Hill with his scuba goggles on.

Courtesy of the in-laws, in the evening Big Dreamer and I were able to go to a show called The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer. I cannot recommend this show highly enough. If you’re around the Festival, try and get a ticket. It’s put on by one man, who combines animation, puppetry, lighting, and his own acting to tell the beautiful, funny story of Alvin Sputnik. I was enchanted.

Big Dreamer’s dad got a telescope for his birthday and brought it with him for his visit. He hasn’t had much chance of seeing anything here though as it has been rainy and cloudy since they arrived. However, there has been lots of chewing over magnifications and zooming in on sheep on the other side of the valley. As I turned in for bed last night I heard Big Dreamer saying to his dad, “The thing about space is…” Big Dreamer’s space theories…bed was definitely the right direction to be going in!

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New stock

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Hannah

Today has been a very exciting day for several reasons. Firstly, Little Owl and I went to see Hairy Maclary as part of the Edinburgh Festival. The actors had us all joining in. “Muffin McLay like a bundle of hay!” we shouted. It was so good. They also did my favourite Hairy Maclary story; the one about Zachary Quack. Oh, I loved it! Admittedly Little Owl had her hands over her ears most of the time but I think that was more because of me than the show. I think I might be shaping up to be one of those embarrassing mums.

 

Secondly, I went and collected my sheep book from the        printers…and here it is! You can get your copy from my          online shop. For those of you who have pre-ordered, your      copies will soon be winging their way to you. There are          sheep greetings cards and postcards featuring                            illustrations from the book. I have also got pin badges            showing the ‘sheep’ logo from the book and a close up of        some Texel sheep fleece. All these items will also be for          sale on my stall at FibreFest in two weeks.

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Out for a walk

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Hannah

Little Owl and I walked down over the fields and across the river to the other side of the valley this morning. It has been raining a lot here this week so Little Owl enjoyed stomping in all the muddy puddles. Her left welly has quite a bad leak but it doesn’t seem to put her off. We were heading for a patch of wild raspberries we know of. We managed to get a few but they have mostly gone over. They’re much smaller than garden raspberries but still lovely and sweet. Needless to say, they don’t make it home but are gobbled up as we walk. It’s been a funny week of reminiscing for me. On Wednesday Little Owl and I went to a kids’ play at the Pleasance as part of the Edinburgh Festival. I remember sitting in virtually the same spot in the courtyard last year when we’d just moved. Walking over the fields this morning triggered my memory in the same way. It had all seemed so strange and foreign. These now familiar paths and patches were new discoveries. I’ve drawn some Rosebay Willowherb (left) and some Meadowsweet (right) here for you. Our hedgerows are full of them. If I had known of these plants when I was getting married I would have wandered out on my wedding day and picked some for my bouquet. The flowers of the Willowherb are a beautiful fuchsia pink and the leaves turn a coppery green. The Meadowsweet is like creamy froth and smells of almonds. According to my books Elizabethan housewives used to spread it on their floors to scent the house. Big Dreamer has used it to flavour some of his home-made wine and it tasted great.

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I’m a Shopkeeper!

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Hannah

Here is my final Haiku for the Haiku Series I have been working on recently. Excitingly I’ve just put the series on my Etsy shop so they are now available to buy! Do have a look.

 

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Welcome back Pia!

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Hannah

Tomorrow my lovely class mate Pia returns from her native Switzerland to the land of the Scots, so here are the answers to her competition:

No. 1 Cowgate from South Bridge.

No.2 Jenner’s Department Store. The Illusionist does some magic tricks in the windows of Jenner’s in the film.

No. 3 Edinburgh College of Art. Evolution House entrance.

No. 4 Middle Walk. The Meadows.

No. 5 The Forest Cafe.

No. 6 Burke and Hare Strip Bar.

No. 7 The Walter Scott Monument.

No. 8 The Ice cream stand in Prince’s Street Gardens.

No. 9 The fountain in the Prince’s Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle behind.

The winner is…(drum roll please)…Pia herself!

Above is a photo of my latest sewing project. I feel like I have been making this rag rug forever! It isn’t quite finished but is finished enough to be used. “Aren’t you clever?” commented Big Dreamer sarcastically, meaning “not clever enough not to start it.” He’s pretty sick of it hanging round too.

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Pests

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Hannah

This evening I have been watching the rooks coming in to roost across the still evening sky. Today we dug up half the potatoes in the vegetable patch only to find that something had gnawed and chewed its way through most of our crop. We got a decent bucketful to keep but most of what we dug up went in the compost. From the kitchen window Big Dreamer even saw the prime suspect swanning across the patio; a large brown field mouse. We think he has a nest in the compost bin so he can now finish what he started at his own leisure.

He is not the only one who competes with us for our plantings. I have mentioned the slugs before. Ours are even immune to slug pellets. The moles uprooted all the runner beans and another section of the potato patch. We got one of those sonic mole repellent devices. It worked well for a while but then mysteriously stopped buzzing. Big Dreamer believes the moles vandalised it, much like someone might a speed camera. We are now trying the ‘glass-bottles-submerged-in-the-grass’ trick. The main effect of this seems to be Little Owl falling over them. Our next door neighbour commented that I had quite liked rabbits when I first arrived but not now! Everything we care about is surrounded by chicken wire dug into the ground against the rabbits. It makes for such an attractive garden. I have been training Little Owl who now bangs on the kitchen window when she sees them and shouts, “No babbit no!” I do have an excellent ally in this particular battle in the form of my friend the stoat. He is sleek, agile, and very effective. I have drawn him here for you. And then there are the rooks; so lovely to watch in the still evening sky. And then they come down and nip the tops off my beetroot! And apparently just for the fun of it because they leave the tops to shrivel on the soil! Oooo, it’s enough to drive me mad.

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