Tales from the allotment

Just like beekeeping, allotmenting came into my life with Chris. I think it was the third time we'd met when I went to see him on his allotment. Little did I know then! These days we tend the allotment together, as well as growing a small selection of vegetables at home. Last year was so busy that neither of us managed to do as much down here as we'd have liked, and the wet weather has certainly hampered our efforts so far. We managed to get out last weekend and start digging over one of the beds, and we decided to head down again today and make a bit more progress.

After checking most of our hives last weekend, we were hoping to do some more today but the weather was too cold. The bees were out and about but there were showers of rain and hail that made us keep running for shelter. If the weather picks up again hopefully we'll be able to get some more checks done next weekend.

The bees are quite happy to come and see what we're doing, and often sit and rest in front of us. And of course I am quite happy to whip out the camera and take a few photos!

This little slow worm was hiding in some of the long grass. Chris rescued it and put it safely in the greenhouse.

The allotment has two long beds and a bramble hedge down one side. Over last weekend and today, we have been digging over the beds on one side and reclaiming them from the grass that is trying to take them over, as well as chopping back the brambles. It's a brutal job, and at the moment everything looks quite brown and untidy. It's very satisfying, though, to see the spaces start to appear and the pile on the bonfire grow. We're going to have to be realistic about what we can achieve this year, because work and bees already take up a lot of our time, but I'm hopeful that we can keep on top of things and grow some good crops.

I'm learning to pace myself and take a lot of breaks for tea in the shed. And after our work today we stopped for an ice cream and admired the view. What a lovely way to spend our Sunday.

So...this Project Life thing

Like all projects I start with good intentions there was a certain amount of fear that I wouldn't be able to keep it going. I'm working a month behind and I've nearly finished February, so things are on track so far. Most of January was our holiday in South Africa and I'm going to record that in a separate album. To make our '2014' album fit together, I printed three of my most favourite photos and did a summary page of our holiday, and then began with the 'January' spread.

I looked everywhere for monthly title cards that I liked, and I couldn't find any. So, I've experimented with white card and black gouache to create my own. Although I do lots of sketching and painting, those things don't seem to make their way into my scrapbook albums very often. I like this change in style, and I'm excited to see where it takes me.

An unexpected bonus of pocket page scrapbooking is that I really like the small, defined areas to experiment with. I'm using papers I would never have thought of putting together and they are working far better than I ever thought they would. I am stamping, embossing, stapling, layering and having a grand old time. 

Thanks for checking in!

Life right now: beekeeping

Beekeeping started off as the thing that Chris did. Then I got involved, and somewhere last year it became a massive part of our life together.  I can talk the talk about slow living and being close to nature, but this is walking the walk - and I have the stings to prove it. Maybe they are to remind me that this is reality; I don't just get up and go to work in an office, this is real life and it's happening now. With the coming of spring and some properly warm weather it is also time to acknowledge that this is going to take significant chunks of our free time over the coming months. This weekend we began our first proper inspections to see how the bees had coped through the winter and if there were signs of new life.

This weekend we have checked on 13 out of our 16 hives. As you can see, the bees are pretty comfortable with us, and us with them! It is still slightly stunning to have a bee land on you, but once I remembered they just wanted somewhere to rest for a minute then it was easy to just let them get on with it. If you look closely at this bee you can see she's been out collecting pollen and is carrying it back to the hive in little 'baskets'.

So, for the first time this year we got out the smoker and had a proper look inside the hives. We were looking for good numbers of bees, new stores of honey, and eggs and larvae which is a sign that there is a queen who has started laying. We've been seeing lots of pollen going into the hives so we were very hopeful. Chris is also trying out his new beekeeping outfit - wearing a whole suit is a bit of a pain, so he's gone for a hat and veil, worn over two layers of long sleeves. Much easier to get on and off, and I am tempted to do the same. (It also means you can wash your layers, which is excellent because they do get very mucky).

Pleasingly, all of our hives so far have got eggs and larvae in all stages of development - our queens are up and running. Some of the hives have more bees than others, but that was how they ended last year so it is not a cause for concern. What was most satisfying was that some of the hives we were most worried about - including this little one above, and the two that we rescued from the flooding over the winter - were all in good shape. We've removed the fondant food from most of the hives now, but we'll be looking to put new frames in and encouraging some of the colonies to make new honeycomb so we will have to give them some sugar syrup to help them along.

Watching the bees flying in and out is still one of the most relaxing things I know. They don't seem to mind me at all and just get on with their business, swooping past to drop onto the landing board and trot in to the hive.

As it gets busier it will be harder for me to take photos as we do our inspections, but for now I am enjoying getting to know our girls again and remind myself of all the things we have to do for them. Here's to a wonderful summer.

Two takes

It's no secret that I love my boys. I never thought I would have small fluffy animals in my life, but they are such a wonderful addition to our household. Their cage sits next to the sofa and we often open the door and the boys will come and say hello. I often seem to scrapbook the boys in greys and blues, which isn't a deliberate choice but just seems to happen. Something about the pale delicacy of grey seems to suit their sweet little faces and tiny paws. The splash of red on this layout provides a nice contrast.

Big stickers appear in lots of scrapbook collections but I find them quite hard to use. The quote on this one was so perfect that I couldn't resist, though, and I adore that typography.

On this page I decided to abandon trying to match my colour scheme to the photographs, simply because this was taken indoors at an animal park so the lighting was terrible. If I had planned in advance I would probably have converted this to black and white, but I get all my photos done in one batch from here and I wasn't planning the layout when I sent them for printing. Inspired by this layout from Erin Stewart I used a 6x6 paper pad to create the column of colour on the left. Bringing in the black patterns and elements helped to tie the papers to the photos.

That mouse on grey was from a sheet of paper, which I cut apart to make the perfect embellishment. Degus are just adorable, and baby degus even more so. I wish we could have more but I will have to settle for photos for now.

Total scraplift

There are lots of ideas for scrapbook pages on my Pinterest board that I can turn to when I'm stuck for inspiration. I often look through and pick out one or two ideas, but I rarely scraplift a page completely. This one was an exception, however. Something about the combination of graphic pattern with the textured, artsy background set me thinking...

Every time we see meerkats at any of the zoos or wildlife parks we visit, Chris will tell me how they look innocent and charming but will gladly attack anyone who threatens their family. Including humans, if they happen to get in the way. 

Plain cardstock backgrounds don't seem to be the fashion at the moment, but I still love them. Sometimes I want my page to be restful, and despite the textured white paint, gold paint and liquid pearls (in 'bisque') I do feel that this is a calm, simple page.

Scrapbook Sunday: the March edition

We're having a spell of spring sunshine at the moment, and oh gosh does it make me feel better. It has been so nice to get out for a few walks, to stretch our legs and see all the little signs of spring approaching. I am slightly concerned that we might get a late cold snap - it would play havoc with the bees and the allotment - but for now I am just going to be grateful for clear skies. 

Lately, I find my scrapbooking is changing. I think it's partly because I sketch more now so I don't need a scrapbook page to feel like a work of art. And also, despite saying that I would never do 'Project Life', after starting a PL-style album for our holiday last year I am finding myself drawn to a more immediate style of memory keeping for everyday. I have started a Project Life album for 2014 and I'll let you know how I get on. In the meantime I'm also doing regular layouts as usual, and the intention is to slot these in between the pocket pages.

Is my little sister really 25? I had to sit down and work out the maths. It doesn't feel like it's possible. Maybe if I had actually done a page for my own 30th birthday last October, I'd be able to face the reality of us being properly grown up. I think I am still in denial. But whatever age we are, I am so grateful for my sister and the fantastic relationship that we have.

One of those weeks

It has been a busy week, which makes me even more grateful for moments of calm. And if they are accompanied by sunshine and blue skies, even better.

I have a whole stack of pictures that I want to turn into paintings, but I'm pretty sure that if I painted those trees at that angle you'd think I'd gone crazy, right?

And in the middle of a sea of mud, a whole bed of crocuses prove that spring is on its way. February was a tough month and I am ready to welcome March now.

Beekeeping in winter

The first question anyone asks me about our bees is "what do they do in the winter?"

And the answer to that is - pretty much the same as us. They stay indoors, hunker down and wait patiently for spring. In the meantime, their food source is sadly depleted as there is no pollen or nectar around so we help them along by feeding them. At the moment we are checking the hives every few weeks, quickly lifting off the lid and putting a slab of fondant on the crown board. As it gets warmer we will start feeding with sugar syrup but in cold weather the fondant is better as it won't freeze.

It's too cold to take the frames out, so we can only assess how the hives are doing by the bees who pop up to see us as the lid comes off. We have good numbers of bees in all the hives, and they've been doing a good job of eating the fondant. (It's the same stuff you cover cakes with.) In a couple of hives there wasn't even any sign of the plastic bags, which was most confusing until we realised the girls had obviously tidied them away and out of the front door to be blown away on the wind. 

The bees do fly out on sunny days even when it's not very warm. Just like us, they like to make the most of the sunshine and get some fresh air. We've seen them bringing in pollen in and they are enjoying all the flowers that are starting to blossom. It won't be long before spring is here in full force and they can start gathering nectar as well.

Life in line drawings

2013 was the year I made sketching a habit. My book comes with me almost everywhere, and Chris has learnt to amuse himself while I sketch away.

Even after just a year, I can see the development in my work and (though I say so myself) definite improvement. More importantly, I enjoy it. And I enjoy looking back through my sketchbooks to re-visit the memories.


2014 will be my year of sharing artwork - I'm a member of lots of groups on Facebook and Flickr but I rarely post my work there. I'd like that to change. One of my favourite things last year was discovering other artists' blogs and webpages, and I'd like to return the favour. Even with sketches that are wonky and imperfect. It's still fun to share.

Sunnier times

It feels like it hasn't stopped raining since we got back from South Africa. (Spare a thought for the people who have been really suffering). So I've been scrapping a few sunnier photos just to remind me that the sky isn't always grey.

Those bits of blue in the text are an interesting design technique that also conveniently covers up a mistake. Then once I'd done it once, I repeated it a few times to make it look deliberate. Only now I've told you, so that kind of defeats the object of the exercise.

I don't want to think about what the rain is doing to the garden and the allotment. Well, I only have to look outside the door to see that the garden is rapidly turning into a quagmire. Nothing is planted yet and it's too wet to do anything. We can't even inspect the bees when it's raining. When we had a brief sunny moment last weekend; so many bees flew out of the hives in the garden that we thought something was wrong - but they just wanted to enjoy themselves and make the most of it.

And so do we. As soon as the sun comes out again we will be outside digging, planting and growing new things. However wet and miserable things get, there are always sunnier times ahead.

Things I said I'd never do

I know, when Project Life came out I was all "oh, no, I'll never do that."
I should know better really.
I still can't cope with the idea of recording everything on a weekly basis. That's far too much pressure to keep up. But what I have realised I love is the idea of pocket page scrapbooking and using those products to make my albums complete. Why? Because I have barely started my album for last year's summer holiday and now I have our South Africa trip as well. And although I am good at printing my photos, they often end up sitting in a box, but I've run out of space for boxes. I need albums in my life.
So this was the first part of our trip, a visit to Stonehenge. The pockets mean I can put far more photos on a page than usual, and it doesn't look too messy or untidy. I'm using two styles of pocket page - these and the same layout but with vertical pictures. I shall probably use the 6x4 slots for photos and the 3x4 to use up some of the collection of cards I seem to have acquired.

Full size pages are still my favourite, though. So in between the pocket pages there will be 12x12s like this:

The only thing I am not totally thrilled with? The way that the inserts show through to the next side. I just can't get them lined up, and it's especially annoying when the back of a card is brightly coloured (I'm looking at you, red card on the left). Hopefully this is one of those things that has a 'knack' that I can pick up soon.

And there you have it - 12 photos scrapped already. Out of the box and into the album. Feels good!

Long time no blog

Oh dear, my friends. I am rather rubbish at this blogging thing, aren't I? That's a rhetorical question, by the way. No need to answer and make me feel worse. In my defence, if there can be such a thing, I managed to blog more in 2013 than 2012. By one post. That's something, I suppose.

The last months of 2013 were a whirlwind of activity, and there was a definite sense of trying to reach the end of the year 'intact' - physically, mentally and emotionally. It wasn't easy, and I'm forever grateful to the people who held me together while times were tough.

The decision to go on holiday wasn't that difficult, really. Spend new year somewhere warm and sunny, with the chance to see amazing wildlife and scenery? See - not difficult at all. And so we flew off just after Christmas and spent two and a half weeks in South Africa. My first time on the other side of the equator, and I loved every minute of it.

2013 was the year of the sketchbook for me. I drew more and documented more days than I have ever done in my life. In some ways I can't believe it took me till I was 30 to discover how to do this, but like everything it needed the right time and the right circumstances. Something clicked last year, and my collection of books and journals is proof of that. Our holiday was the perfect way to end a creative year, travelling with my sketchbook and using it to help me record some magical moments.

I know better than to make resolutions for 2014. Making lists of things I want to achieve and rushing headlong into a million activities is a sure-fire way to give myself a meltdown by Spring. Instead, I have learned to take things easy and be kind to myself, and be open to opportunities as they come up. I want to keep sketching, and scrapbooking, and generally being creative. By the end of the year I'd like some more sketchbooks on my shelf, each one filled with stories of the adventures and everyday moments that make our lives special. I'll blog when I feel like it, and I hope you pop in every now and then too. Thank you.

Pages from my sketchbook

Practice, practice, practice. I am trying to draw and sketch as much as possible at the moment. The beauty of working in a sketchbook means that I don't have to worry about pages being finished or perfect - I can just play with whatever takes my fancy. Some of my drawings are from life, others from photographs. I am getting better at showing buildings, but I still find people really difficult.

I guess that's where the practice comes in, but I am still not brave enough to post my pictures of people online! Once they start looking like the person they were meant to be, perhaps.

Scrapbook Sunday 5: scrapbooking my pets

I love my pets. Mostly they love me too, but my relationship with Pep the chinchilla is based entirely on tolerance - on a good day, he'll tolerate my presence. I love grid-style layouts and it's the perfect way to use a photo that really isn't good enough quality to print any larger, as it was taken at night on my phone. Normally I don't use elements with Americanised spellings (favorite, ugh) but this one was too cute to resist and I decided it was small enough to get away with. 

If we're talking grammar, then 'Me and the chinch' is wrong too, but it flows nicely and the ampersand balanced out the title. Don't judge me.

Mum was a bit concerned that with all the small fluffies in this house, Morpheus was going to get left out. As if! He is still much loved and very spoiled, and sees all the other animals as there for his entertainment. When he's awake, that is.

Sometimes pages with white backgrounds feel too empty, but in the context of my album they make a nice counterbalance to all the bright colours and patterns. I was aiming for monochromatic here, but this is the best I could do - black, white, blue, beige, a few spots of red and some gold accents. Not very monochrome at all in fact. Never mind.

I am on a self-imposed ban from getting any more pets now, because we simply don't have the space (don't forget the degus who live in another cage.) I dream of a bigger house and room for at least another couple of chinchillas. And maybe a puppy...

Rounding up

This year has gone past so quickly, and it is with definite satisfaction that I am seeing my scrapbook albums build up. Now I am trying to round them all up - looking at the albums as a whole, seeing what gaps there are, checking through my photos to see if there's anything obvious I have missed. I never consider an album 'finished' because there are always other stories to tell, but I like to feel that there is a certain completeness to them.

One of my big projects that is still lingering is my album from our holiday to Somerset in August. I have maybe 500 photos lined up ready to go. I took lots of notes at the time, so even the things I have already forgotten won't be lost. To try and make progress with the album I'm trying a new tactic: instead of leaving the photos in envelopes until I'm ready to scrap them, I've put them all into divided page protectors into the album. No embellishment, no writing. This way I can see as I go what I'm dealing with and how much progress I'm making.

I'll be honest, it sort of looks a bit of a mess right now. More than a few photos are stored sideways and there are lots of gaps. Apart from that, an unexpected bonus has been that this method has prompted me to pull out some of my favourite photos for enlargements - and that's what this one is all about. I just love this photo, and I love that Chris and I went somewhere I've been on wonderful family trips to in the past and it was still every bit as good. And the fact this photo was taken on my phone? Cherry on the top.

Scrapbook Sunday ~4~

Hello there folks. Another Sunday means it's time for me to catch up with my scrapbook pages. I'm a bit behind on posting them, mostly because it is so gloomy at the moment that it's really hard to take a decent photo. So here are two pages to make up for it.

When we visited a local animal park, they let us walk through a lemur enclosure and get up close and personal. The lemurs really liked Chris' feet! There's much less patterned paper on this page than I would normally use, but I enjoyed using the journalling cards as elements on the page. I don't really do Project Life or pocket-page scrapbooking (although I reserve the right to change my mind at any point) but I love all the cute graphic elements that are made for those style of pages.

These letters are blank for you to add your own colour, and I couldn't resist getting a bit carried away with the watercolour paints. I do like feeling a bit artistic on my scrapbook pages.

I've started doing more double pages lately, stretching my creativity and helping me to make sure all those photos get in my album. I find something about the format quite challenging but I'm always pleased when one works. It means there's plenty of space for lots of full-size photos as well as lots of writing. And there was a lot to write on this page about another epic walk.

That sentiment card is kind of ironic, because there was definitely no laying around in the sun on this walk.

I am so glad I put dates on all my photos, because even since August I am starting to forget exactly when things happened. Must be a sign of getting old ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside

Continuing on the seaside theme of my last page, here are some more low tide pictures. Except these are a special low tide, when the sea goes out far enough to let people walk out to the fort and back. I've seen photos and heard people talk about it, but I've never taken part. It was definitely wetter than I expected - the water came over my knees - but well worth it and totally exhilarating.

Still in the 'using up all my stash' mode - see that green sticker with a quote on it? I think that's been on my desk for about five years. Everything else is newer than that, in varying degrees. I guess sometimes it just takes time to be inspired.

Even on a beach page, I can't escape pink and green. And glitter, it seems.

Not quite as many embellishments as the previous page, but I am still using them up. I am really enjoying pushing myself to be creative, mixing products and colours while staying true to my own style. Thanks for stopping by!

Scrapbook Sunday ~3~

Now that we're having a few wet and windy days, it's the perfect opportunity to stay in and catch up on this summer's pages. I have already filled my first volume for 2013, so it's definitely going to be a two-album year. It feels strange to go back and scrapbook good things that happened before Gran died. I feel like I should write all my journalling from the perspective of the sadness that was to follow, but I know that wouldn't really be accurate or helpful. Besides, focusing on happy memories helps me get through. Shall we move on to this week's page?

Enough embellishments? I think so! What started off as a plain and simple page went a bit crazy...and I love it! I used all sorts of bits and pieces that have been sitting in my bowl of embellishments for ages and it feels good. Hopefully it reflects the flotsam and jetsam of the beach at low tide.

Buttons, baker's twine, stamps, stickers, chipboard, washi tape, wood veneer, sequins...I think I have every trend covered.

Thanks for stopping by!