A Christmas star

Our WI competition this month is: 'a Christmas star'. I make mine from fennel stems bound into a star shape and filled with an amazing range of flowers from my winter garden: tobacco flowers, cornflowers, quince, primroses, plus fennel, rosemary, thyme, holly and ivy.

Solar power

The zoom lens on the camera picks up work that has started in a field near the A50 between Somersal and Doveridge. They are putting up solar panels in awfully wet conditions. Hopefully once all the panels are out of their boxes it won't look quite so visible.

Pretty sky

The sky this afternoon is clear and the clouds capture the setting sun throwing a pretty pink light that is gone in minutes. I walked round to our 'over the hill' neighbours and had to nip back swiftly before it got dark.

A winter garden

The weather has been so mild that the garden looks very green for this time of year. Clear days like this have been a rarity though, mainly it's been wet and foggy but we are so lucky not to be suffering the awful floods that have happened in the north of the country.

Church cleaning

We clean our church monthly with a small group of us meeting there to wield the vacuum cleaner and the dusters. Today there is less to do than normal as the church is decorated in it's advent greenery. We also add the 'glittery bits' ready for Sunday's carol service.

Winter wine

Today I've been labelling our most recent batch of wine with a snowy view of Hill Farm (taken last year), just right for the festive season. I've also been hunting out my recipes for mulled wine.

Our lane

Walking down to church I go past the most beautiful mature oak trees which are catching the welcome morning sunshine. It's still very wet and muddy underfoot, not helped by a lorry that drove up onto our bank and despite Dave's repair work with a shovel it's still a bit of a mess.

A Baluch rug

I have been looking out for an antique rug for the guest living room for absolutely ages. Trying to find something in the right colours that also fitted the space has been a huge challenge, but this turned up on ebay and fortunately they accepted my offer. I love the signs of wear on it.

Baluch rugs are hand knotted rugs that are woven in Baluchistan, which covers the South Eastern Province of Baluchistan in Iran, southwest of Afghanistan, and east of Pakistan, near the borders of the three countries. Baluchi rugs are tribal by nature and were initially made to be used inside tribal tents, which are often mobile and moved from one place to another. Therefore, as a matter of practicality they are produced in smaller sizes, the most common of which are 3' x 4' or 4' x 6', and they are usually limited to less than 8 feet in length. The wool used in Baluch rugs is normally hand spun and, until very recently, Baluch rugs have been colored using natural and vegetable dyes. These rugs are known for their resilience. However, due to the type of materials used and the circumstances, the knot density in Baluchi rugs is lower than most hand knotted rugs. Baluchi rugs are often woven with geometric motifs and tribal designs, most of them using darker colors, which is consistent for the environment in which they are used. Wikipedia.

Mapping

Or more accurately 'map hanging'. My brother gave us a lovely map of Hill Farm and the surrounding area but it has spent almost a year in a tube while I sorted out how to frame it and where best to put it. Having finally solved both issues (and made our own frame) it is now hanging in our downstairs hallway where it fits perfectly.

The holly and the ivy

We have holly and ivy growing together in the hedge at the side of the garden, it looks very festive but it has also suddenly attracted the attention of the Redwings. As a precaution this year I have picked a number of branches of holly and put them into one of our outbuildings as last year there was hardly a berry to be found outside by December.