More Faerie Journals

Yesterday I whitewashed a load of book pages and hung them on my laundry line. Anyone seeing those pages fluttering in the wind was probably wondering what in the hell I was up to :P Those pages will go into a batch of blank books for others to make their own messy goodness. I'll hide a few around town and put the rest up for sale.

I've just finished up two little "night" themed books and I think that will be it on the book front for a while. I have a number of things on the go a the moment and a HUGE totally magical project that I'd like to get started this summer. When I make some progress on it I'll share it with you. Ha! I'll probably be begging you for help.

Anyway... here's some pics of those last two wee books...

On etsy ...

Starry Night - Altered Faerie Journal
The Night Sky - Altered Fairy Journal

The Garden

While I stand back and say "Ohhh! Look at our lovely garden!" it is in fact the Mr. that does all of the work. Last year this spot was all grass and trees. He's done a load of work back there and we're already seeing the rewards (mmmm, fresh spinach). Here's a closer look at what's going on back there...

This patch has all sorts of carrots, radishes and spinach. That might sound like a bit of a yawn but some of those carrots are purple and the radishes striped like peppermint!

The herby part of the garden. We keep the things we use regularly (basil, thyme, sage, rosemary) close to the house and the rest gets put here for the bees to enjoy.

Tomatoes! This year we're trying some heirloom varieties along with our old favourites. The plants with grow up those spirals and, hopefully, become drippy with fruit.

The Mr. built this box and placed it in the garden with the glass lid closed to warm up the ground. We've been eating lettuce for a month now thanks to this box. The heat that builds up in here is incredible. If we could just convince the clover to move out.

Raspberry canes that all came from the kindness of others. In no time at all this will become a beautiful brambled mess.

One of several compost bins we have on the go. The stone on top keeps out the raccoons and the weed to the right is the herb yarrow. A few leaves tossed into the compost bin helps to speed up the decomposition process.

Baby pumpkin plants! This is D's job this summer. We're hoping he can sell one or two in the autumn... though I'll probably buy them all because I LOVE pumpkins :)

Lastly, here's our happy girls enjoying a summer treat this morning. Chopped watermelon and orange slices. Despite the fact the Mr has named one "Chops" they are fast becoming our little clucky princesses.

For a far more impressive gardening/farm blog you should definitely visit Missing Willow Farm. She's totally inspiring and makes me green with envy :)

Colourful Faerie Journals

Two posts in one day! When it rains as they say...

I just wanted to share these four new faerie journals that explore different colour themes. Each of them measures around 3" tall and they filled with so much stuff they are quite chunky (which I think is rather nice).

I have a hard time adding to colour to things so little experiments like these are really helpful. I think they are great little tools if you are feeling like you are stuck in a creative rut. The more willy nilly, the better with these wee things.

Taking a breath.

It's been a busy month here at the Knickertwist house and I've finally got a few minutes to take a breath and post an update.

One of my darling aunties came to visit all the way from Ireland.  We took her to a country auction which was an absolute giggle. Some more family came and at one point there were five ladies in the kitchen rolling gnocchi... again with the giggles. The only mishap was forgetting her bag at our house (with her passport inside!) and her having to drive the 2.5 hrs to get it before catching her flight.

We've got ourselves some cluckers. They've gone from this...

To this... 

...in just a few short weeks. It's amazing how fast they grow.

The chickens above are Rhode Island Reds. They are full of personality and are a lot of fun to watch. We're hoping a good portion of them are ladies and will provide us with some yummy fresh eggs. Any boys will likely meet the chopping block as we have neighbours who won't appreciate morning crowing. We lost our littlest bird to a cheeky fox that I had to chase off by yelling and banging. We've since added extra protection for our girls so no one else meets the same end as that poor wee fellow. 

Above is our second batch of chicks. These birds are destined for the dinner table and will be ready to 'harvest' in a an amazingly short time. Don't feel too badly for them because they'll live a grand life with fresh grass, good food, clean water and lots of space to scratch and roll around.

A local farmer was offering free wool so I decided to swipe some. I got two garbage bags full! I have absolutely no experience with wool and have been having a grand old time experimenting. It's amazing that the stuff on the right can be turned into the stuff on the left with just a bit of soap and water. The goal will be to dye some with the Big D during summer vacation and give needle felting a try.

Last but not least... our gardens.

This is part of our veggie patch. So far we've taken radishes, lettuce, spinach and rhubarb. There's loads of other stuff planted back there too... beans, carrots, sprouts, potatoes, raspberries, pumpkins, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, garlic (to name just a few!). We also have herbs like thyme, sage, bergamot, southernwood, wormwood, mint, mugwort and much more. I can't wait until everything comes in. There is nothing like food from your own garden.

Right now the whole place is blooming. Just look at these gorgeous iris' and poppies.

It's hard to believe that just a short while ago we happy the grass was poking through the snow.

Free Reading Offer

I'm offering a free reading tonight! Comment with a general topic/question and I'll pick a winner tonight.  http://t.co/lF2Voj6 via

Misery.

We've had to find Hunter a new home and everyone here is miserable. After waiting years to bring home a new family member and getting used to his romping about, we're gutted. It's far too quiet in the house today.

Why in the world would we give up such a gorgeous fellow?

Two acres. A boy to play with. Constant supervision. What could possibly go wrong? Two words, Black Locusts. Our property is dotted with these big Gothic looking trees and Hunter was forever picking up the twigs and bits of bark and eating them. The thing is, they're poisonous. We'd manage to trade the twigs for treats, or pull them out of his mouth but he'd still manage to swallow them. We quickly became concerned that our home was hazardous for the little thing. I couldn't live with myself if living here made him sick. So the very hard decision was made that perhaps we were not the perfect family for Hunter. I wish we were.

What makes it even harder was that Hunter was starting to get the hang of playing nicely with D over the past few days. The two were really starting to hit it off. Saying goodbye has been especially hard on the littlest Knickertwist. D was a very brave kidlet and said his "Goodbyes" and agreed that Hunter going to a safe home was the best thing we could do for him.

What a horrible lesson to learn at 8... that sometimes the very best thing to do feels like the absolute worst and sometimes it even breaks your heart :(

We've told his new family that if for any reason things don't work out he's to come directly back to us. I really hope he's happy and safe but part of me (the very selfish part) hopes he's a holy terror and they call tomorrow to bring him back.

Puppy Posts

You'll have to excuse the rash of puppy posts... I'm sure there will be a few as we settle in.

Our first days with Hunter have been pretty good. He's really bright and is picking up the clicker training well. He can sit like a pro, and we're working on "lay down", "stay" and "high 5". Yesterday he claimed an old fuzzy child chair as his bed and we placed it in his den. He surprised us all at 8:30 when he went in and snuggled down for the night. The whole night!

It hasn't all been sunshine and roses though. Hunter thinks that D is a big playmate and has been really nippy with him. D is completely freaked out. This is not what he thought puppy parenting was about. We're working hard to correct the mouthing and nipping. We're also tell D that Hunter likes him and is trying to play. We've explained that it's exactly like how he wrestles with me and often plays too rough. We're trying to get him to assert himself as a 'boss'. Poor kid, he isn't used to dogs that jump or sharp little puppy teeth. It's difficult because he's becoming more and more afraid of those tiny sharp milk teeth.

We'll work though it.

80% of the time he's just a big ol' tired pup.