Flutterby Patch

Grey days

This is the view from our study window. It has looked like this for weeks.....grey on grey. Yes, I fear here in England's Lake District we are still enduring wall to wall rain. The flood waters have receded quite a bit but of course there is no chance that homes will start drying out until we get a prolonged dry period. We might have a long wait. Yesterday, to cheer myself up, I decided to check out the Christmas decorations in a large local shop only to find..........

.......grey is the dominant colour this season!!! All around the shop I saw grey. Yes, I admit, there was some black, white and silver thrown in but all I could see was grey and more grey and display after display favoured this combination. Not for me I'm afraid.

Moving on I was confronted by a large singing Santa. My kids would have been terrified by this when they were little! I can see the appeal I suppose, but I fear the constant serenading of Christmas songs would very quickly drive me mad.

Ah! This is more like it..... a cute (silent) Santa.

What a sweet fellow. I looked more closely and, as so often happens, decided I could make something similar at home. I think we all do that don't we?

As always there were dozens of colourful characters to choose from and all were so appealing with that "come and buy me" look.

Oh dear! Here's the type of sad little person I dread seeing. If my daughter had been with me we would have had to give this snowman a good home.

He was the last one of his type left on the shelf as all his friends had already found good homes. He looked so forlorn and unloved...... I was getting seriously tempted when......

husband spotted me lingering and insisted that we didn't need any more Christmas 'stuff'. He was right of course, we've collected more than enough over the years.

So back to the car we went (empty handed). The roads in our immediate area are open again and the lake is back in its right place. During the recent flooding the water rose 8ft (2.5m) and several boats were sunk as their mooring ropes weren't long enough to allow the vessels to rise with the water level.

The wooden jetties are one by one re-appearing after having been completely submerged.

Grey will definitely not be my chosen colour for Christmas decorations. I'll stick to the traditional red, golds and greens and dream of the warmer brighter days to come.

Until next time
Eli

After the raging storm

My sincere thanks to everyone who expressed concern during the recent atrocious storms that have hit our Lake District region. I was extremely touched that so many of you got in touch.

We were warned in advance that we would get 'heavy rain' in my county of Cumbria (Lake District) but no one was prepared for the ferocity and speed with which the water came down. The amounts broke all known records for UK rainfall (over 12 inches - 30cm fell in one day). The water rushed down the hillsides and into the rivers and lakes and on through the towns and villages and of course disaster struck. Many of you will have seen news bulletins of our small towns awash with muddy water that in some places was above head height. Helicopters airlifted people from their roof tops and boats travelled the streets looking for stranded householders. The water is subsiding now and leaving behind it a trail of devastation. Many schools and places of work are closed and many hundreds of people, unable to return to their homes for several months, are now living in temporary shelters. Shops have lost their entire stock and ..... Well, need I continue? I'm sure you will by now be able to visualise the horrific scene.

The thoughts of everyone are especially with the family of the policeman who was guiding people off a road bridge that suddenly collapsed due to the force of fast flowing water. He tragically lost his life and leaves a wife and four children. I can't begin to imagine how the family must be feeling right now. Since then many more bridges have collapsed but thankfully there has been no further loss of life.

As for me; I am fortunate enough to live on a hill and so have not experienced any flooding. The low ground below the house has been completely under water. The lake level quickly rose and covered the roads and so I have had no choice but to remain indoors and consider myself lucky.

This morning I braved the rain (yes it is still falling) and walked up the lane to post a letter.

There was no one about, the skies were leaden and everywhere was gloomy.

In the wood I picked my way across the many streams of water criss-crossing the carpets of sodden leaves.

The garden is of course a shadow of its summer self and I could only view with dismay the amount of clearing up that will be required when spring comes round again.

I noticed that dozens of toadstools have appeared on the lawn over the past few days and so I decided I would end with a smile. This adorable picture of a little girl gathering mushrooms is by Mabel Lucie Attwell. Don't you just love the title? 

PLEASE DON'T PICK OUR HOUSES

However, although it makes me smile, this cute scene will forever remind me of the time when torrential rain in our region devastated so many people's homes and lives. My thoughts are with them all.

Until next time
Eli

A knitted Santa takes shape

It seems rain has been pouring down for weeks and I haven't been feeling at all Christmasy but with only five weeks to go I decided I should seek some festive cheer. I keep my Christmas books on a shelf behind the sofa so that I'm not tempted to look at them throughout the year. And so last weekend out they came. Don't you just love vintage Christmas decorations.

These old Santas must have seen many Christmases come and go. What tales they could tell.

After drooling over a few more Santas I was inspired to knit one of my own. A little fellow in traditional red and white of course, but to ring the changes I decided to make a Santa mouse who would deliver gifts to good little boy and girl mice around the world on Christmas Eve.

Out came the yarn and needles and I sat by the fire and busied myself with my festive creation.

And here he is.... just 17cm (7in) tall to the tip of his ears.

To begin with I gave him a traditional white beard and bushy eyebrows and he looked ridiculous! And so he ended up being beardless and eyebrow-less and looks a lot more mousy.

I found a small amount of hessian coloured wool in my stash and it was just enough to make a sack for the little fellow. He wasted no time in filling it and trotting off to wherever it is he keeps his gifts for good mice.

I was so pleased with him that I decided to write out the pattern which in the end took almost as long as knitting the actual mouse. You'll find the pattern in my Etsy shop. It's easy to follow (I don't do difficult) and you only require basic knitting skills.

And so now my all time favourite festive poem will never seem the same. I used to read it to my children every Christmas Eve but the line 'not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse' seems no longer relevant!

Until next time,

Eli