By Stephie, on Sunday 20th February, 2011 at 17:21 pm
 Grey Day. I don’t know what to say, where to start. I’m behind. With everything. And my mind is a complete blank. My mood has been up and down since I last wrote; down mostly. I’m exhausted, craving sleep and darkness, somewhere cosy and warm to curl up. I wish I had an open fire or a wood burning stove. I want to lie there staring at the flames until it lulls me to sleep. If I close my eyes I can feel the heat on my skin and smell the sweet woodsmoke. There is no fireplace here and it’s a definite lack, I’ve always thought an open fire makes a home. But I do my best to make it feel like home without one. There’s the smell of baking for one thing. A lemon drizzle cake with a tangy sharpness that can’t be beaten, a tea-time treat for Kim when he comes home later today. The recipe is from my dog-eared copy of Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, but she calls it a lemon-syrup loaf cake. The domestic. That’s what today’s been about. It’s grey outside and looks like the clouds are about to open any second, but they never do. I’ve been as far as the chicken coop today and no farther; the bleakness and wind had me scurrying back inside after a matter of minutes. A true February day: the shortest month, but the one that feels like the longest.
So what have you been doing today? I have other things to tell you about, show you, from the last week or so, but for now I’m going to go and cut a slice of cake, make a coffee and curl up under Kim’s half finished red and white quilt. I expect to wake in a couple of hours…
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Sunday 29th August, 2010 at 13:02 pm
Hello my lovelies! Not been here for a while have I? Computer problems and a week in Norfolk are to blame – not me obviously! I’m still in Norfolk as it happens, and I happen to have found a computer that works, if you’re one of the few people that consider Windows Vista as something that works…
We’re here in the east of England visiting family. Heavy rain and blustering winds have been battering this part of the coastline for days now, so we’ve spent a lot of time inside (not having thought to bring a jaunty sou’wester and Norfolk gansey!). Kim’s been running around with his cousins, one’s the same age and has the same passion for Star Wars and Lego as Kim does. Two of them in the house? Not good for the sanity. I lost my train tickets before we came and had to buy new ones (I think I must have thrown them out with some old tickets to St Ives), but admist all the self-imposed stress I did manage to remember to bring some sewing and a sketchbook, so I’ve been happily keeping myself busy despite being stuck indoors for lack of warm and waterproof clothing.
 All piled up and ready to go I’ve been working on a quilt top I started some time ago now. I rashly decided to make it entirely by hand, but it turned out to be a good decision. It’s something I can easily carry around with me and get on with whenever the mood takes me, or I’m sitting in a waiting room somewhere. I’ve finished all the nine patch squares now and have started on the sashings with the fussy cut squares. Even though I’ve been doing this for a year or more, I still love the fabrics I chose and it surprises me how quickly it builds up when I get going. I think I’ll be doing a lot more sewing this afternoon; I’m sat in my mother’s conservatory and it sounds like I might need an ark by nightfall! I think I’ll forget about the 8 mile run I need to do and the walks I’d planned at Brancaster. You never know, I might have a finished quilt top by the time I get home.
If you’re one of my keen-eyed readers you may have noticed that my From The Loft shop images have disappeared from the column on the right. I haven’t closed it down, just shut it for the week I’m away. I’ve got some more items to list when I get back, so keep an eye out for them. ‘Til then I’ll love you and leave you and hope that where ever you are, you’re not getting too wet!
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Friday 8th January, 2010 at 21:53 pm
Venturing out
Like half the country, I’ve been iced in for several days. I think the last time I left the house was on Tuesday when I walked down the lane to post a letter. I can’t remember when I managed to get out before that. Unsurprisingly I’ve been running low on supplies and today I finally ran out of bread and milk completely. I ran out of electricity yesterday. I can’t get to a shop to recharge my electricity ‘key’ (the nearest is 3 miles away) so I’m having to survive on the ‘emergency rate’, which costs a fortune (and when being on ‘pay as you go’ is more expensive in the first place, this is not good!). Still, I can manage. What I can’t manage without is a cup of coffee. Milk was needed. This would entail a walk to the end of the lane to the petrol station where they sell a few bits and pieces, usually. Needless to say they’d run out. So I went to another garage next door where they had milk and only 2 loaves of bread left – apparently they were almost out of coal too. Good job I didn’t need that then. I came away with the goods I did need, but more importantly I also came away with a bar of chocolate!
 Stephie has left the building! The walk down the lane was more of a very cautious stroll; there’s lots of ice compacted under the snow and I’m a wee bit on the clumsy side to say the least! But it was so worth it, it looked beautiful in the low winter sun -
 The lane out of The Old Chapel  The view on the way back home Stephie’s snow quiz
I took my time on the way back down the lane. I stopped to look at the wonderful array of tracks I could see in the snow. I wonder if you can guess what made them? Hover over the image for the anwer!
 Let's start with a really easy one!  I won't lead you on, but this one could be a bit trickier  Yes, there's a lot of welly gone into this one!  This one might leave you all in a flutter...  And this one is as beautiful as any flower  But finally, can you guess who this one belongs to?  Well if I haven't driven you hopping mad already, here's your final clue! How many did you get? 6/6? Oh very good, well done! That last one was tricky though wasn’t it? Hope you enjoyed playing along. I wonder what you’ll see next time you go for a walk in the snow. Hope it’s something exciting!
Righto folks, I’m off for the rest of the evening – going to watch Silent Witness (I like a bit of autopsying you know!). Back tomorrow x
By Stephie, on Sunday 25th October, 2009 at 22:35 pm
The trouble with making stuff is that you sit on your backside a lot. In fact I spent the whole of Saturday on mine. Tempting as it was to finish another project today, I decided I really needed to get outside and raise my heart rate a bit, before it decides to give up all together. Motivation wasn’t high and it was a struggle to get myself up and changed, let alone out the door; it’s been cloudy today and looked like rain, the last thing I wanted was a soaking. I spent a while muttering under my breath, listening to the voices in my head – the lazy arse one versus the virtuous one. The virtuous one won out (for a change) and I dragged myself outside, for what I decided would be a short ride down to the coast. About 8 miles in total, I thought. What I didn’t expect though, was to want to go for a three mile walk along the cliffs when I got there. Damn the beauty of the place; I blame that for my aching limbs.
 The road down to Chapel Porth, with a National Trust cafe at the bottom. Once I’d got down to Chapel Porth, I thought I deserved a cup of hot chocolate before I braved the wind on top of the cliffs, so joined the queue at the little National Trust cafe nestled in the valley. I stood there for a few seconds and then…ello, I thought, I recognise that there lady in the queue in front of me. My lovely friends Sue and Francis were out for the afternoon with their niece and nephew (back from a tour of Europe. I’m not jealous, really I’m not. No not at all.) and the fools were buying ICE CREAM. I tell you, the end of October on the north coast of Cornwall is not a warm place. Think gale force winds and icy water. Ice cream? Mad as hatters.
For a change I decided not to walk up the east cliffs and take a chance on the west (the ones on the left of the picture above!). Good choice. It’s a mere mile and a half to the next beach at Porthtowan. Three miles there and back seemed ok, considering that the 4 mile ride back home would be mostly up hill. It was so worth it, just take at look at these pictures.
 Looking down at Chapel Porth beach. Wow!  Stunning light, no?  I even took time to make a couple of scribbles  in a small, portable sketchbook  Then there were more rugged rocks at Wheal Charlotte, along the coastal path  and I was just in time to see the sunset at Porthtowan. Sometimes my virtuous voice really does know best. It was dusk when I got back to Chapel Porth and I stood in a shelter from the wind to put the lights on my bike and some dubious flashing armbands on my arms, before I started off up the hill. As it got darker I thought that the armbands and my flashing rear end probably made me look like a cycling christmas tree. And I think I felt almost cheerful.
By Stephie, on Tuesday 20th October, 2009 at 01:34 am
There’s a crisp wind picking up this evening. It gusts and stumbles through the hedge outside my bedroom window and I listen. Leaves are blown free from their trees and skitter across the ground, scratching autumn into the cobbles. I love the sound of the elements; the window rattling, the odd car in the distance. I feel safe inside, warm and secure. Occasionally I catch the mumbling voices from Kim’s radio next door. He’s sleeping soundly, but finds the voices and music soothing if he wakes before it’s time to get up. I don’t like the intrusion of stranger’s voices in my room, but it’s comforting to hear them coming gently from next door, reassuring me he’s there.
By Stephie, on Wednesday 14th October, 2009 at 01:03 am
I had a wonderful lunch in Falmouth today, enjoying my own company (for a change!), a frothy coffee and an inspiring book with enough colour to rival Vanessa’s blog! It was a grey misty day when I happened upon Kaffe Fasset’s Quilt Romance, and I just couldn’t help myself. I needed that injection of colour like a dog needs a bone. So I took it with me to Falmouth today, thinking it would cheer me up as I sat and drank my coffee in town. But what cheered me up even more was being able to sit outside in glorious sunshine, soaking up the views as I idly turned from page to page. I can safely say it’s the best half hour I’ve had this week, so far. But I don’t think I’ll have a better one for a while.
 Just look at all that quilty inspiration, coupled with a delicious cup of coffee, mmmmm  Did I mention the views?  Imagine sitting here, watching the boats and the clouds - lucky aren't I?!
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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