Flutterby Patch

Blackberry-laden hedgerows and busy mice

'It was a fine morning. The blackberries were ripe, the nuts were ready and the mice of Brambly Hedge were very busy'. So writes Jill Barklem in her Autumn Story.

No apologies for returning yet again to the wonderful world of mice, hedgerows and ancient tree stumps known as Brambly Hedge. In this beautifully depicted illustration from the Autumn Story you can see Lord Woodmouse using his walking stick to hook down a prickly branch laden with juicy black fruit whilst his little daughter Primrose picks up the berries from the ground.

 
Once the baskets are full Primrose makes her way back home but worryingly gets lost on the way and all the mice begin a frantic search for her.

Just look at those mice searching for Primrose on the shelves and in the cupboards of the magnificently named 'Store Stump'. One mouse is even searching in a bowl of blackberry and apple sauce... just in case! But do they find Primrose? If you haven't seen the book I hope I can tempt you to find a copy, I know you won't be disappointed.

The first stories were published in 1980 and there are now eight. These books are just the right size for little hands to hold.

 

I have a copy of 'The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge' which not only includes the first four stories but also a detailed account of Jill Barklem and her work. Below you can see one of the pages showing illustrations and hand written notes from Jill's personal sketch book. What wonderful talent and imagination she has.

 
This post is dedicated to all you bloggers who are currently gathering seasonal fruit and veg and are busy baking, bottling, brewing and freezing in order to fill your store rooms. Particular mention goes to Suzanne at Blueberry Cottage who seems to have a succulent seasonal dish on the table every time I visit. Whilst reading her posts I can almost smell the tempting aroma's wafting from her kitchen.

You can discover more about Brambly Hedge on the official website. There are all kinds of treats. Visit the mice in their homes by clicking on areas of the map or print some of Jill Barklem's drawings for children to colour. There is even a bookmark to make. Have fun! 

Competition - win Bo-Peep and her 'woolly jumper'

On my desk this Wednesday is a basket of knitting yarn and a tiny doll I've knitted together with her sheep. I've named her Little Bo-Peep and she will be looking for a new home with one of the nice people who visit my blog. Bo Peep and her sheep will be my 'givaway prize' at the end of this post.

I live in a mountainous region of northern England where thousands of sheep graze and shepherds (and shepherdesses) wear warm woolly clothing to protect them from the wind and rain. The pretty dresses and straw bonnets Little Bo-Peep wears in traditional nursery rhyme books wouldn't be at all practical in our area.

I found nine pictures of Little Bo-Peep in various nursery rhyme books but not a single one is suitably dressed for 21st century farming. 

Here is my knitted Bo-Peep in her warm woolly clothing. Oh dear! She appears to have lost her sheep yet again. He's a rascally little fellow so perhaps we'd better look for him.
 
As we haven't ventured very far recently I thought you might like to see a bit of my local area and our wild windy hillsides that are home to a few people and great many sheep. On the way keep an eye open for the woolly runaway. The weather is fine at the moment but unfortunately the storm clouds are gathering so we must find him as soon as we can.

 First we will travel to the village of Troutbeck and then on up the steep hill to the Kirkstone Pass.

 
The most visited house in Troutbeck village is 'Townend'. It was built for a wealthy yeoman farmer 400 years ago at around the time the Pilgrim Fathers settled in America. It contains superb examples of traditional carved oak furniture and other household items. Now owned by the National Trust it is open to the public throughout the year. I love wandering round this house looking at the way people in those far off days used to live.

 This is the original 400 year old stone barn belonging to the house; still very much in use today

Around 300 - 400 years old, the houses in Troutbeck are built from local stone quarried from the surrounding hillsides. Walls are typically 2ft thick.

Rain clouds part and watery sunlight falls on Troutbeck Church.

For part of the day the high hills cast dark shadows on this scattering of cottages. The sheep in the foreground are taking advantage of the sunshine. No sign of Bo Peep's woolly companion amongst the flock.

Now we travel further uphill and are able to look down on a remote farmstead in the valley below. This is 'Troutbeck Park Farm' and it was bought by Beatrix Potter in 1923. She used it as a setting for her 'Fairy Caravan' stories. 

Even further up now and the vegetation is more sparse and there is very little shelter from the wind and rain but still the sheep graze.   

It's not unusual to see sheep walking casually down the road. I think they are wise enough to know that there is often longer grass on the roadside verges than in the fields.

At the top now and the Kirkstone Pass Inn has provided refreshment for weary travellers for six centuries.

 
This is the view from the top of the Kirkstone Pass to Brothers Water below. Once a rough stony track this route through the mountains has been used by travellers on horseback for many centuries. Today it is a steep twisting tarmac road and is used each year by many thousands of motorists.

Sheep grazing amongst the rocks are well camouflaged.

And look who we have here, its Bo-Peep's runaway sheep. Found at last and looking rather guilty or perhaps that should be " looking rather sheepish".

Delighted to have found him, Bo-Peep has decided to keep her sheep on a lead; though looking at the mischievous expression on the animal's face it won't be long before he finds a way to go exploring yet again.

Could you give a good home to Bo-Peep
and her rascally sheep?

Bo-Peep measures 6 ins (15 cm). Beside her is a piece of stone quarried from the area we have just visited. It is known as Westmorland Greenslate. If you would like to win this little lady and her sheep here is a fun competition you could enter. Simply try and guess the total weight (in grams) of Bo-Peep and her sheep together with this piece of Westmorland Greenslate which is 1 cm thick. To help you I can tell you that the total weight is somewhere between 100 - 300 grams. Now all you have to do is write your estimated weight in the comment section at the bottom of this post. NB.Sorry, the stone isn't included as part of the prize as it is rather too heavy to mail, I added it to make guessing the weight a bit more fun.

Entries are open to anyone living anywhere around the world. I will gladly mail the little lady and her friend to any distant shore. The name of the person whose guess was closest to the exact weight will be announced in my blog on Friday 24th October. Do give it a go and good luck.

Owls, logs and lanterns

Today there's a bitter wind blowing off the nearby mountains and I'm quite surprised the highest peaks haven't got a covering of snow. With such a bracing wind what better way to keep warm than a morning spent cutting logs ready for the winter days ahead. My husband loves his chainsaw and everything to do with cutting wood. I think he might have been a coppicer or charcoal burner had he lived 100 years ago. His enthusiasm and hard work thankfully will provide us with log fires until next spring when the process will begin all over again.

 We are surrounded by woodland so fallen branches are plentiful.

You have to know which wood burns quickly or slowly, gives good heat or doesn't. Its all a mystery to me.

The leaves are only just beginning to change colour but the old crab apple tree outside our back door is always ahead of the game and is now shedding its leaves quite quickly. Festooned with blossom in spring and glowing gold in autumn it gives real value for money. I'm always amazed at how many different shaped leaves it has. The ones in the picture above all come from this tree.

The woods are quieter than they were in spring and summer. The sound of birds foraging in the leaf litter alternates with the delicate tap-tapping of falling acorns as they bounce off branches on their descent to the ground. The occasional hoot of a tawny owl is not uncommon. We see this bird quite often around the garden during the day. This little tawny was photographed on our windowsill at midday.

When I was a child my story books always seemed to feature wise old owls like the one pictured above. It is from one of my first books, 'Baba' by Betty Larom. Owls always wore specs and often carried a book under one wing to reinforce their wisdom. 

When she was very small my daughter was given a wonderful book entitled 'Come Follow Me' by Gyo Fujikawa. All about the secret world of elves, fairies, gnomes and trolls, the illustrations are really endearing and not at all frightening for a young child. The picture above is attached to a poem about Halloween in which three little witches dance with a black cat amongst the pumpkins. Two haughty owls watch the dancing and frown. No books and no mention of wisdom!

Ted is ready for Halloween but is looking a bit glum wouldn't you say?  A woolly jumper could be just what he needs. With this in mind I have two patterns for you this week. The first features Jack-o'-Lantern and the second little owls.

 

Repeating every 12 stitches, the lanterns are easy to knit and I rather like the idea of knitting a row of smiling ones with just a single frowning one somewhere in the row.

Using bright yellow for the features adds to the effect and really does make the lantern look as if it has a candle inside. To achieve this effect use yellow yarn for the features when knitting or do as I have done and embroider the yellow on later.

 

   

The owl repeats every 12 stitches

 

Both Jack-o-Lantern and the owl would be great for Halloween themed knitwear. You have just a month to complete a project. Have fun!