Saturday 27 September 2008

PotFest


Chris and I went to the PotFest for the South West yesterday, on a bright but very breezy day.
Following my enthusiasm for all things cup-cakey at the moment I bought this little cup cake pot. Made by Jenni Ellman of Tatton Pottery , Knutsford, Cheshire, I could not help but fall in love with it.

Thursday 25 September 2008

Spiders






I took this photo in our garden one morning last week, and was telling Imogen about it. It reminded her of a poem she used to tell her infant pupils. She e-mailed it to me, and here it is with her comment.
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A spider sat a-sleeping
One dark and stormy night
The raindrops fell upon her web,
And shone like diamonds bright.
But when she woke at daybreak,
And saw her web a-shine,
She said 'I'm sure no other house
Is lovelier than mine!'



'Here is the poem which I taught every class I ever had, after an autumnal walk in the school grounds to instill a sense of wonder at the created world and the beauty of orb webs covered in morning dew!'
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Imogen is going to send on a spider song also used in class, which I will publish.
Last Saturday afternoon I was sitting in the garden having my cup of tea and was captivated watching a spider make it's web. There are hundreds of them about at the moment, and if you accidentally walk through one they are re-strung in a couple of hours. As I am pretty horrified about the idea of a spider landing on me, I try to avoid all webs, rehanging them on different bushes to clear a path.
Just had a look at Sharon's wonderful teacher's resource page Rainbow and Sunshine to see if there were any spider rhymes there. I found Incey Wincey Spider, but not Imogen's rhyme.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Flowery Scissors and Dotty Cards

I bought these dotty cards last December at a Private View that Sharon generously gave for our friend Caroline.
Becky, another of Sharon's friends had a selection of cards for sale, and they really appealed to me. Now I find she has some absolutely delightful designs on her new website dots and spots.
As well as Caroline's Christmas Goodies, (I can never resist the small, decorated bags she makes, which I use for gift bags) Sharon had made some little gingerbread men tree ornaments, made of cloth, not gingerbread. I am glad I quickly bagged one as they sold out so quickly.
Sharon brought these flowery scissors and rotary cutter back from her recent trip to the USA to see her family, aren't they fantastic, as well as the muffin cases which I wrote about in the recipe blog. I've not seen anything like them over here, but have to admit that I am trying to be fairly blinkered when I go shopping these days, being now a 'retired person'.