A haiku a day....

I'm still busy hibernating so I'll let the haikus do the talking...

Friday
It's still night time when
we awake, as I drift off,
you fly far away.

Saturday
Presentation's all,
Fold up the pretty paper,
Wrap it all in ribbons.

Sunday
It's Christmas once again,
A day like no other day,
Magic fills the air.

Monday
Mad starlings flock here,
as day meets it end they swoop
and circle like one.

Tuesday
Up above the clouds...
(Landscapes of condensation,
That make my ears pop).

Wednesday
Gale force winds ruffle
Feathers on the blue tit's head,
As he pecks his lunch.

Thursday
Twilight cloaks the world,
A deer peers out, silent, still,
Disguised as a tree.

x

A haiku a day...

We're deep in mid winter now, so it's high time for hibernating. I've swapped London's busy streets for quiet hills and forests deep in the Devon countryside. Days are spent sleeping late, reading Murakami's latest offering, IQ84 (it's a real page turner!) eating a lot, and walking off the food on long walks. Some new discoveries have been made including deer in the woods and a kingfisher flying past by the river. Here are these tales and more in haiku form...

Friday
Cold air fills my lungs,
Muddy puddles soak my feet.
Winter seeps inside.

Saturday
I blaze a path through
bustling crowds busy buying
Christmas bits and bobs.

Sunday
A nostalgic song,
a sepia coloured sky,
visions of the past.

Monday
Two deer bound away
on the strangely green carpet,
magic mossy scene.

Tuesday
Cobble stones, twinkling
lights, a little town bursting
with countryside charm.

Wednesday
Elusive vision,
a turquoise arrow darts past,
Shy kingfisher bird.

Thursday

A river so long,
flows over gnarly tree roots,
a fleeting meeting.

Season's greetings. May you have a very merry Christmas :)

x

Badger of the week (3)

This week I bring you..... a Christmas themed badger! It's a charming children's story book called 'Grumpy Badger's Christmas' which is written by Paul Bright with illustrations by Jane Chapman.

(Front cover of the book, published by Little Tiger Press: London, 2009)

This book tells the tale of a grumpy badger who just wants to hibernate alone for Christmas, but can't get any sleep because all the other woodland creatures are busy decorating the woods and getting ready to celebrate Christmas. Needless to say, badger gets very grumpy indeed! The pictures are absolutely gorgeous - I would love some of them as artworks to hang on the wall. Here's a peek at Badger trying to get some sleep...

Illustration by Jane Chapman

I love the attention to detail throughout which is evident in this picture - badger's bushy eyebrows, the mismatched patch on his quilt that matches the inside of the book cover, his cute whiskers and furry face :)

Badger has a habit of exclaiming funny things like piffle and triple piffle! as he gets more and more annoyed...

Illustration by Jane Chapman

The words are set out thoughtfully on the pages, so that they become almost part of the scene. It's well written and funny, even to this very overgrown child (haha) and I highly recommend it whether or not you are a badger fan (and you sure will be - it's impossible not to fall in love with his grumpy ways by the last page).

You can buy the book here!
Merry Christmas Badger!
x

A haiku a day...

Friday
Jazz singer lady,
climbs tables, curls up small: love,
pain - she sings it all.

Saturday
Amidst all the noise,
we hold hands in the darkness,
awaiting our dreams.

Sunday
Dark hours of night
linger all day, fairy lights
are happy relief.

Monday
Paper everywhere,
notes typed neatly/scrawled madly,
debris of my mind.

Tuesday
Suddenly darkness,
clouds converge, exposed to the
elements I melt.

Wednesday
Black bile gurgles up
meets the dark cloud; a haze forms,
I cower inside.

Thursday
Windows fog over,
condensation fills this house,
like a dark, damp cave.

x

happy little moments... festive times

Happy moments were spent this weekend (in no particular order)...

• Watching the Nutcracker and being totally enthralled by the amazing music and production. Times like that, I wish I was a ballerina...

• Enjoying the tastiest mojitoes in all the land whilst listening to the most amazing jazz singer in a local bar (ahhhh hidden treasures)...

• Basking in the glow of fairy lights on the tree. It is the happiest Christmas tree, with a ho ho ho and a he he he...

• Christmas shopping at Camden market finding treats galore for lots of people. Now I get to wrap them, which is almost the best part of the whole thing...

• Crocheting along to some of my favourite films. Secret project finished :) ...

• Writing Christmas cards. I'll be keeping the Jolly Christmas postman busy...

• Sleeping in, dreaming in technicolour...

• Taking some moments to breathe and just be in the midst of these hectic busy days. Inspirational quotation of the moment:

"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."

~Omar Khayyán~

Still, no point pretending that I can't wait for it to be the holidays. Just one more week.... x

A haiku a day...

Sunrise/sunset moments have cropped up quite a lot in my haikus this week, which is symptomatic of the short days of winter I suppose - I'm much more likely to witness these displays and experience the strange betwixt times when it's not quite day or night when they happen later in the morning and mid-afternoon. I've spotted lots of birds this week too which is nice and I've managed to squeeze some of these little moments into my daily 17 syllable quota. Thank goodness for the birds singing and fluttering on through these cold and greyish days, bringing some beauty to the newly-barren tree branches. Not mentioned here is the flock of goldfinches that flew over me one day when I was out for a run. The sight of their little red faces and yellow bellies bobbing above me spurred me on on a very a cold day. It's worth getting outside for a sight like that :) Anyway, enough rambling, here are the haikus....

Friday
Birdsong, tired eyes,
Cold puffs of breath, glowing sky:

Morning impressions.

Saturday
Duckpond kerfuffle,
Breadcrumb feast 'neath yellow skies,
as day fades to night.

Sunday
My feet are heavy
When I start, a few miles on,
I'm almost flying.

Monday
Hop-a-pied-wagtail
flutters at my feet, what a
Charming encounter!

Tuesday
Grandeur, opulence,
we play at being fancy,
at the opera house.

Wednesday
A raging rabble,
squashed in, we zoom through London,
deep beneath the streets.

Thursday
Grey winter light weighs
heavy on me, outside the
storm is raging on.

x

DIY: Easiest Christmas garland ever!

Here's how to add a bit of festive charm to your home with a very simple garland....

You will need:
Felt, in festive colours (I used green and red)
Ribbon, in festive colours (I used gold and green)
Glue
Paper for a template

1. Decide what festive message you want to create for your home. You can be as imaginative or as simple as you like. I went with the basic "Ho ho ho!" because it only required 2 letters! I also decided to make some pretty stars. You could use any festive shapes, such as holly leaves, Christmas trees or candy canes -use your imagination!

2. Make a template for your letters with paper. Make sure they are clear and easy to cut out.

3. Carefully cut the shapes out of your felt. It might help to draw around the templates on the felt first. This way you can arrange the template to get as many shapes out of your felt as possible. Use contrasting colours for an extra pretty garland!

4. Glue your shapes onto your length of ribbon, taking care to space them evenly and to leave space at the end to attach your ribbon to the wall. Make sure to protect your worksurface with newspaper or you might accidentally glue your garland to the floor/table (I know this from experience!). Leave to dry for a few hours or overnight. You can make short garlands to hang over doorways or in the window, or make extra long ones that go all the way across the room!

This one goes all the way across the room


This little one goes on the window with some tinsel :)

5. Hang your lovely garland! At this point I recommend putting on some Christmas songs. Mulled wine is also an excellent refreshment to sip whilst admiring your handywork :)

x

Badger of the week (2)

Badger fun this week doubles up as a fun DIY for transforming an oversized t-shirt into something prettier to wear. I got this rather fetching t-shirt on ebay last year for the bargainous price of £2.99. It's top quality cotton and the design is lovingly hand-painted on and signed by the artist (someone called Danny Bradley). I love the badger (obviously), and the flower/woodland design is nice and colourful. I envisaged transforming this into a more fitted and flattering top which can be paired with skirts galore...

For this DIY you will need:

• 1 oversized t-shirt (badger picture on the front optional)

• Scissors

• Thread

• Sewing machine/needle

Step 1. Try on the top and decide what you want to change. I simply cut of the sleeves and changed the neckline, as this rather simplistic diagram shows...

Step 2: Although the seams of cotton fabric like this usually don't need sewing to stop them fraying, it's a nice idea to seam the arm holes to give a tidier appearance (I didn't actually bother tho!).You could also shorten the t-shirt and re-seam the bottom, but seeing as I planned on wearing this tucked in to various things, I just left it long...

Step 3: Using the left over material from the sleeves, cut three long strips of fabric and braid them together.

Step 4: Sew this carefully to the neckline for a pretty effect. You can also pinch in the sleeve parts to make a different shaped neckline like so...

Step 4: Get dressed in your new, transformed top. Et voila! A simple (and in my case, snuffly) new item of clothing to wear.

(Paired with my homemade golden stardust skirt)

An easy peasy, subtle but effective transformation!
Before and After

More badgers on their way soon!
x

happy little moments... tinselling the flat

A couple of nights ago, we got the Christmas boxes down, ready to transform our flat into a sparkly grotto of festivities. I had fun tipping out all the tinsel into a big pile in the middle of the floor to see it sparkle....

Over the last few years we've managed to get rather a lot of this stuff. Now there's not a surface uncovered with these lovely strands of shimmery colour. Isn't tinsel brilliant? It even has it's own tinsely smell! Everything's so colourful and cosy. I love Christmas decorations!

Th next Christmas job to sort out is... the tree! And later in the week I'll share a easy peasy Christmas garland DIY.

Until then, this Christmas fairy wishes you ~*magic and sparkles galore *~

x

On my hook....

Here's a sneak peek at the ripply waves that are currently growing on my hook....

(based on the delightful ripple pattern by the lovely Lucy of Attic 24)

I can't say much more or the Christmas fairies might get upset with me for sharing secrets.
x

A haiku a day...

Friday
The last of the leaves,
falling in slow motion like
Colourful snowflakes.

Saturday
Twirl me around love,
our own secret waltz, dancing,
drunk at three AM.

Sunday
Awake until dawn,
asleep until dusk, today
is topsy-turvy.

Monday
Things I've thought, only
Eloquently expressed, words
to inspire my own.

Tuesday
Gusts of wind blow in,
Uproot, overturn, destroy,
Later, calm returns.

Wednesday
An imperfect world:
delays, dead ends, frustrations
make it hard to think.

Thursday
My future mirrors
my past, in this strange vision,
I observe, all eyes.

x