Seven Day Nature Photography Challenge

My big sister Claire nominated me (on facebook) to post a nature photograph a day and I'm always up for an excuse to take photos so here are my photos from the last few days 

This one doesn't really look so exciting but it's one of our pair of blue tits going in to feed their little chicks! I love this time of year - I made that nesting box several years ago now; following directions in Gardener's World magazine and am so proud that the birds return there every year.

 Next up is an ant's-eye view of our lawn. Yes there are lots of daisies...also buttercups, dandelions, plantain, speedwell and just about every 'weed' you can think of.

 I really quite like this one of a bumble bee and my raspberries - my Dad takes much better bee photos than I do (he's a bee keeper!) but I snapped this one and like that I caught the bumble in flight rather than on the flower.

 I just have a lone iris in my garden this year, which makes it all the more worthy of preserving in a photograph.

 I took this photo the last time I was at St. Finan's bay - most of the plastic there is now just tiny tiny pieces so I only manage to fill a bag or two at a time. As you can see, the native plants are starting to grow through it all now so I am just leaving those areas untouched.

 Oh I love this photo! Yes, it's out of focus but how happy and relaxed does that seal look??!

This was my first photo in the 'challenge' - it's ship-worm holes in some driftwood...I thought it looked a bit 'arty'!!

She Sells Sea Shells...

 I am constantly surprised at how popular the sea shells are in my Etsy shop - I have sent them all over America! The little cowries seem to be especially in demand - I love going looking for them, they are relatively common I guess but their size and colour makes them hard to spot (I like a challenge though)

These flat top shells are popular too. I love how the outer layer of the shell often wears away to reveal the beautiful mother-of-pearl underneath.

I've finally taken a break from making wrist warmers and am making a few scarves from my new book of patterns -- I love how they have turned out but as always my tension doesn't match what it should be! I always have to adapt the patterns for things as my work comes out 'too' tight (though I like my tension and can't imagine working looser)

This was the first one I made; I'd bought a big 400g ball of wool/acrylic blend ages ago and was going to save it for a scarf...of course it's only now that I finally use it up! The scarf is made in three layers which are joined as you go along so there isn't any real sewing afterwards. I really like how it turned out and it's a pattern that I will probably use again in the future.

The black chunky wool was some that I'd bought in the UK ages ago and couldn't ever find a project for it - but it is perfect for this scarf/neckpiece. I love how structured it is and really like the bow-fastening.

I'm already making a second scarf using this pattern - using the grey Donegal Tweed left over from last year's hats for the artists.

I'll take more photos when I have that one finished - I need to try and figure out a way to use my mannequins as models for scarves rather than have to model them myself for Etsy listings....

New Beginnings

It looks like finally our plans to have a sunroom built on the site of our patio will be going ahead this year! It's something we've been thinking about for ages - our house is so tiny that it will be great to have another room to stretch out in...

While we're waiting for the building work to start (we've got to wait for the builder to get a machine back which is out on loan) we've been clearing the patio. I don't think it's been this bare since we moved in!

For the time being everything from the patio is just piled up in the back garden...but I'm planning on sorting through it all.

I'll be posting progress photos once the building work actually starts but this is Peter's rough plan (complete with cat footprints)

 Yes, I've been adding some more sea shell listings to my Etsy shop - they are selling really quite well for me (I think the thing is to keep the price reasonable and to sell the prettiest colours etc)

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Yesterday was the most glorious day so I went to one of my favourite local beaches - not to collect rubbish etc but to just go for a walk and enjoy the view. Somehow I managed to fall over not once but twice while I was there (wobbly rocks are my downfall, literally!) and now I have a badly bruised elbow.

These calves were so curious (while I was waiting for Peter to pick me up) and I love how blue the sky was - it was a perfect day apart from falling over!

Yes, I've made more wrist warmers - again, this is some German wool that I'd bought (at an extortionate price) in Iceland! It's pure merino wool though and I love the colours.

And finally this is a print we bought while we were in Iceland and have finally got around to getting it framed and hung on the wall!

Bits and Pieces

Yes...I'm still making wrist warmers - I've got over 40 pairs of them listed in my etsy shop now. That does sound like a lot and it probably is really, but once I start doing the summer markets and am selling them in Lucy's shop in the village hopefully I will be grateful that I've been able to build up some stock.

Every single year though, I never have enough of them by Christmas so I'm going to try harder this year -- they always are my most favourite things to make anyway so it's no big hardship and it helps use up some of the yarn in my cupboard at the same time.

These two pairs are made using some of the yarn I've bought most recently -- on our holiday in Iceland! It's made by Schoppel and is a German brand that I'd first come across while we were on holiday in Germany.

I've just been googling it and have found an Irish stockist --  http://www.theconstantknitter.ie/ so I hopefully will be able to get some more at some stage in the future (it was VERY expensive to buy in Iceland)

I've been feeling very under the weather and sorry for myself lately as I've picked up a flu-y cold that just seems to linger on and on: I have a day where I feel nearly 'normal' and think I'm over it and then the next day I can be feeling horrid all over again.

I've been trying to take it easy on my days off work so I haven't been out and about with my beach cleaning - I did go for a short walk along the local beach here in Waterville last week though - just to get some fresh air and I collected some shells. I LOVE the detail in these little flat top-shells.

 Then I'd been notified about a stranded whale over on Valentia Island so Peter and I headed out to take a look. It was a minke whale and had been sighted floating in the water off Slea Head (near Dingle) recently. As part of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group strandings scheme, I was able to take a small skin sample and record the stranding.

 And now something more cheerful - the other night I came home from work to find that Peter had brought me these gorgeous soaps! What a lovely treat :) I love little surprises!

Local wildlife!

I'm full of cold at the moment so instead of doing a beach clean today (it's my days off work) I just wrapped up and brought my camera with me - it's lovely to be able to take in the scenery rather than spend the time looking for rubbish!

So today I managed to get a photo of one of the great northern divers (or loons) before they leave us for their breeding grounds in Iceland - they are hard to photograph as they don't really spend THAT long up on the surface of the water (not when they're close to the shore at least). They are one of my most favourite birds - I always look forward to when they come in the Autumn and then miss them when they leave us in the springtime.

The other birds are oyster-catchers -- I was trying to get close enough to them to take a half-way decent photo without scaring them into flight.

Then finally, I was trying to take photos of a pair of seals who were frolicking in the sea - they were quite far out so it wasn't easy!

The photos below are from my previous trip to this beach (on 19th April) - I filled up a bag with rubbish but kept some things aside just out of interest to document how many of them - so I have photos of the much-hated shotgun cartridges, light sticks (from fishing) and cigarette lighters...

Just when I was despairing about all the rubbish I was finding I found proper treasure! Yet another sea-heart!

Where does the time go?

Somehow it's already more than half way through April, and I haven't updated my little blog at all this month...I think this is what happens when I go back to work...it takes a while for things to settle back to a normal routine again.

So this is where I'm lucky enough to work :) Amazingly this will be my 11th season working on the ferry!

It already feels like we've been back at work for months even though it's been a few weeks - it's always like that - I spend half my year working on the ferry and the other half in my winter 'retirement' (crocheting like mad and cleaning the beaches).

As you can see I've still been making wrist warmers whenever I can :) I still have one pair to photograph and list and I'm now in the middle of making a pair of crocodile st. ones in King Cole's 'riot' for a friend.

Once I've finished that pair I need to have a re-organise of my wool cupboard (and boxes) - once I feel like I'm more fully stocked up on wrist warmers I might stretch out to a few scarves....