The pig that dwells with the lambs

Many farmers have been forced to diversify in order to survive the difficult financial hardships of recent years. One farm in North Devon that has managed to maintain its character as a working farm while offering hours of interest and entertainment to families is the Big Sheep. Granddaughter Charlotte took me there yesterday and we had a great day out.

 Everyone gets a chance to feed the lambs

although this one looks decidedly piggish!

But who cares at nap time?

There are lots of things to do and see, including sheep shearing demonstrations and sheep-dog trials and a ride around the farm on a tractor-drawn trailer. There is also a quirky humorist at work behind some of the attractions:

The ducks have this rather splendid house but perhaps not for much longer!

(Click on picture to enlarge and see here if you don't know the reference)

We attended the Sheep Race and I put my entire fortune on the appropriately named Alderknitty:

Unfortunately, as they came round Ewe Turn, heading for the finish, I noticed my jockey (in blue) was riding backwards! All was not lost as my son had become joint owner of the winner, Red Ram, and we took home a magnificent cup.

I think this was the highlight of the day for 8 month old Charlotte.

Family time

In recent weeks, my eighteenth century cottage has been home to four generations of the family, ranging from 3 week old Benjamin to 93 year old Dorothy. Their interests and needs have been many and varied, leaving very little time for me (as grandma, mother, wife and daughter-in-law) to spend on reading or writing blog posts.  My daughter and her two little ones are now back in Oxfordshire and we are enjoying the company of my son and his wife and baby Charlotte.

Thank you for your kind enquiries, I am still alive and smiling and I will eventually get back to my usual routine! In the meantime, this is what has been keeping me busy:

My son has posted an account of the visit we made to Morwenstow yesterday here.

Back soon, I hope.

Flowers, fairies and boxing clever

As the gardeners among you predicted, my fears that I had lost many of my shrubs and plants in the unusual January snow were unfounded.  When I returned from my five week visit to Oxfordshire, I was greeted by a mass of blooms:

The camellias are as lovely as ever

The hellebores are looking good

especially my favourite chocolate variety

 and there is a solitary hyacinth peeping through the undergrowth

Seeing all the new life in the garden inspired me to have a go at something new myself. I have probably mentioned that I was thrown out of needlework classes when I was 12 - the teacher thought I was better suited to physics. I have taken up quilt-making in recent years but haven't had the confidence to join a group or to try anything complicated but I decided to step out of my comfort zone this week and make a little bag - fully lined and with box corners! Behold, pictured appropriately in the garden, my little Flower Fairies bag:

the Candytuft Fairy on one side

and the Lilac Fairy on the other

I learned how to make the box corners from this clever tutorial. (Isn't Google great!) I will be heading back to the quilting supplies shop for more Flower Fairy panels to make bags for the many little girls we now have in the family. This first example will be packed and posted to Edinburgh on Monday for my great-niece's birthday. I hope she likes it as much as I do. I know I haven't climbed Everest or completed the London marathon but  lining a bag is a great achievement for the girl who was made to read aloud to the class rather than be allowed to use a sewing machine back in 1957!

Easter Day

Happy Easter - may the day find you all dancing!

The world and time are the dance of the Lord

in emptiness.

The silence of the spheres is the music of

a wedding feast.

The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena

of life,

the more we analyze them out into strange finalities

and complex purposes of our own,

the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and

despair.

But it does not matter much,

because no despair of ours can alter the

reality of things,

or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there.

Indeed we are in the midst of it,

and it is in the midst of us,

for it beats in our very blood, whether we

want it to or not.

Yet the fact remains that we are invited to forget 

ourselves on purpose,

cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the

general dance.

(Thomas Merton:New seeds of contemplation)

P.S. If you can't find the time or energy to dance, you can listen to some sublime Sacred Music here.

Fiery fusion

I planned to cook a quick stir fry lunch today. I had plenty of vegetables and noodles to hand but the local grocer only had plain tofu - not very exciting -  so I decided to marinate it. This bottle of sauce has been waiting for just such an opportunity ever since my son brought it back from the Caribbean two years ago.

 After an hour of marinading, I added the tofu to the stir-fried vegetables, added some hoisin sauce and noodles and sat down to enjoy my "fusion" of Chinese and Caribbean flavours.

Lips fused to teeth, tongue to the roof of the mouth, throat constricted, eyes watered! The MM bravely finished his bowl with nothing more than a glass of water to help. (He hasn't spoken to me since leaving the table but I think that is because he can't!) I struggled to the fridge for the Greek yoghurt and a spoonful eased the painful mouth. Then I spotted some Italian tomato and olive sauce; I added this to my bowl and was able to eat the rest of the meal.

My fusion dish turned into a confusion of Chinese, Caribbean, Greek and Italian; not my greatest culinary triumph I must admit but my sinuses have never felt so clear, so I should be in good voice for tonight's Easter vigil.

Don't try this at home.