A Little Cottage in the Country

The little rascal hasn't been on for a while due to one thing and another. I'd like to say he's got better behaved in the interim but sadly that's not the case. He still thinks he's King of everything, and needs to keep the sheep in line. I try to reward him for standing on his platform, where he's out of the way and can't cause mischief, but he seems to have learned to jump up and get a treat, then jump off and butt sheep. The little blighter is always one step ahead of me, don't be fooled by the angelic face!

Blog posts have been a bit thin on the ground due to me having poor or no internet again. This year has been a real battle for us to get internet that's usable. I live in quite a rural location still serviced by copper lines put in when home phones were quite new. Both myself and my nearest neighbours are used to a rolling saga of issues every time it rains even remotely hard with bits of the road having to be dug up because of water in the joints. Our line is pretty shallow and several times that's also been damaged by farmers digging drainage channels into the ditch network. Then there's the ongoing saga of "the hedge"; apparently there is a joint where my neighbours line spurs off from mine under a big hedge. So frightening is the horticultural beast that no Open Reach engineer will tackle the excavation of the thing. In reality a pair of loppers and a spade would probably do the trick but of course it's all health and safety these days - if you can't

Sometimes I feel like I can't bear to open my eyes and look at the world because I'm so deeply ashamed to be a human being and worried about what's going on. Much as I try to believe in the goodness and humanity in people I am finding it hard to hold onto that faith right now. I think most of the scientific community, barring those who've received a nice sum of money from the fossil fuel barons, agree about climate change. I certainly would never call myself any kind of expert, some of my degree was about planetary science, but like a growing number I feel climate change has probably been vastly underestimated and will be quicker than people think. There are an awful lot of people thinking "it won't happen in my lifetime" who are probably going to be surprised, and not pleasantly so. We actually live below sea level here so I'm very aware of our vulnerability. But it's not just about me, I feel very powerless when I read of people in other part

I'm just getting back into making some bits of jewellery for myself as my tools and wire that survived the destruction of my studio had been stored in boxes for some time. Really I left them there as we packaged what we could from the wreckage and it was so painful for me having to throw things out some boxes I just left as I didn't want to face it, and it's been over a year. However I enjoy regular breaks from drawing so did the last boxes and it got my making bug back. These earrings are simple hoops made from copper wire and carnelian stones. Most of my stones come from Jewellery Maker TV, they guarantee authenticity and to be honest on eBay, and even other shops, stones are frequently mis-sold, a lot of carnelian is actually dyed agate for example. They're very transparent about any treatment the stones have had as well. The other thing I like about Jewellery Maker is their ethical sourcing, mining is not only environmentally destructive it also employs poorly

If I were to pick one downside of living where I do it would be the need to own a car and have to drive. I'm around 20 minutes away from the nearest town, and sadly in the time I've lived here the village has lost all it's amenities. We no longer have a shop, post office or pub, so even a hermit like me has to venture out into the wider world. I've been driving for around twenty years and honestly I think the standard on the road now is appalling. I'm not just talking about the cheap, infrequent maintenance either. The way people drive is downright dangerous. Until two years ago when I got injured I used to run 10km on the roads three or four times a week. Being responsible I always wore HiVis and ran towards the traffic as there are no pavements. It was always blatantly obvious when oncoming drivers weren't paying attention and hadn't seen me. Many times I was forced to jump into the bank to avoid being run over, and they looked surprised when they did se

I would really like to reduce the number of single use plastics in the house, as although we have a recycling bin for plastic and card I'm sceptical of whether it actually gets recycled. The bin lorry for that collection looks strikingly similar to the black bin lorry, that crushes all the waste together. Looking for viable alternatives in your local supermarket, with aisles full of plastic bottles, is not easy though. I've made melt and pour soaps for a little while so thought I'd try a melt and pour shampoo. Its made by Stephensons and I bought a 100g to try it. I know purists will argue melt and pour soaps aren't proper soap making, but I do a ton of crafts already without venturing into cold process soap. Since myself and Him Indoors would be using it I fragranced it with lemon essential oil, added after melting the chunks in a microwave. It's then a matter of pouring it into a mould and leaving to set. I wash my hair each day, as apart from smelling lik