Flutterby Patch

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!

Michaelmas Day

It is September 29th today and it is Michaelmas, the Christian feast of St Michael the Archangel. Nights are drawing in, leaves are changing colour and there is a definite autumnal chill in the air but the lovely Michaelmas daisy is flowering its heart out. Officially it is known as a late flowering aster but I much prefer the name Michaelmas daisy as for me it brings back happy memories of Harvest Festivals and children carrying billowing bunches of the flowers to school and church.

   
When I was a child Michaelmas daisies grew like weeds in many gardens and were usually pale mauve in colour. These days they are seen less often as they have to compete with so many other varieties of flower. They have been carefully bred over the years and as a result are available in many shades of purple, pale pink and magenta but if I had to choose just one colour it would be the old fashioned mauve. The pictures below were taken this morning and what a cheery sight they made between rain showers.

Michaelmas is traditionally the last day of the harvest season which began at Lammas on 1st August. Lammas means 'loaf Mass' and in the past farmers would make loaves of bread from their new wheat crops to take to church. Loaves are still made for Harvest Festivals today though much of our wheat is now imported.

 Michaelmas used to be known as 'Goose Day' and Goose Fairs were held in towns all around England.

 In centuries gone by, when times were hard, a special meal of goose would be served on this day and there was an old saying associated with the custom. 

'He who eats goose on Michaelmas Day shan't money lack or debts to pay.'

In view of the current economic climate perhaps we should pay heed to this saying and celebrate today with a meal of goose.

 
This is one of my favourite books, Frances Mountford's 'A Commoner's Cottage'. In it she traces the history of her 400 year old cottage in Surrey and all the people who have lived in it over the centuries. She creates a moving story of life in England though feast and famine, good times and bad. The text is hand written and is accompanied by hundreds of hand drawn and painted illustrations.

Above is a second book by Frances Mountford from which I took the illustration of harvest time. This book depicts life on a Staffordshire farm during the first half of the 20th century and the changes that took place in agriculture during that time. The text is again accompanied by many of the author's hand painted illustrations. (Both books are available from Amazon).

The wonderful paintings below are taken from books I have that were illustrated by the late artist Gordon Beningfield. For me they epitomise the words 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' which is the much quoted first line from the poem 'To Autumn' by John Keats.

   
1). A red admiral butterfly enjoying a meal of sweet ripe plums 
2). A goldfinch feeding on seeds from a thistle
3). A plump dormouse finding berries in the hedgerow
4). Two goldcrests feeding on sloes

Friday fish

I wonder how many of you eat fish on Fridays? It was a traditional thing to do when I was a child, both at home and at school. My mother used to say people ate fish on Fridays because the fishing boats brought their catches into ports on Thursdays and so it was at its freshest. They probably did this because fish was a Friday dish. In fact the custom dates back centuries and is based on Christian beliefs. (These are explained on the internet so I won't go into detail).

I have always enjoyed fish, so when my son and daughter came along I encouraged them to eat it but sadly with little success. No amount of pleading, bribing or indeed threatening made any difference. Neither did tempting them with small pieces of fish in breadcrumbs generously covered with their favourite tomato ketchup and generous servings of golden chips. Watching them trying to swallow tiny morsels between groans and large gulps of orange juice was painful. Was it, I wondered, because they could visualise the slippery creatures in the water? It wasn't as if they had seen fish being caught or indeed caught their own fish like this happy pair.

After much trying I reluctantly resorted to giving the children chicken whilst my husband and I ate our Friday fish. Admittedly, from time to time I would try again to tempt them but always failed.

We always ate our meals as a family around the table (still do) but when the children's favourite TV programme, 'Thunderbirds', was shown at 6 pm on Fridays our mealtime arrangements had to change. Eating before the programme would have been too early and eating after it too late for the children. So reluctantly I said they could have their evening meal on a tray whilst watching the programme, on one condition....they cleaned their plates. And this they did, every week without fail. I soon realised that they were so engrossed with the story that they didn't really know what they were eating, and so I hatched my plan. The following week I waited for the Thunderbirds programme to start and once the children were totally absorbed in it I passed them their meal on a tray. And so it was that they both ate a full portion of fish (thinking it was chicken) every week and were never any the wiser until I admitted my deception to the them years later. Now, as adults, I'm happy to say they both enjoy fish and eat it regularly.

So all I can say is, "Thank you Thunderbirds and 'International Rescue' for saving my children from what might have been a life without fish".