A Cottage, Some Thistles, Sheep and a few Hens...

When I left home in the Midlands and moved to London to train as a Nurse at the age of Eighteen I did not think about how I would spend my spend my spaare time. In fact I don't think I realised just how much spare time I would have. Across the road from where I lived was a wool shop and so I decided that I should learn to knit. On one visit home my Maternal Grandmother had come to stay so I told her about the wool shop and about my desire to learn to knit and she very kindly agreed to teach me. She is the lady pictured in the blog below with her Grandchildren outside the caravan.

That was over thirty years ago and I have knitted many items in that time, I keep meaning to look through my photo albums to find evidence, I even designed and knitted jumpers for Jack who became my husband as well as myself and the children. However this blog is mainly about the patchwork blanket and it's significance today.

As far as I remember the pattern for the blanket was from The Woman's Weekly Magazine, I certainly remember having to collect the patterns. In those days you could have wool put aside so you could just buy it as you needed it. I rather ambitiously decided to make a cover for our double bed but then I fell pregnant and so decided to make a cover for the cot bed we had bought for the baby. Obviously I did not know if it was a boy or girl so I included blue and pink and backed it with yellow.

When I was packing up to move here 2 years ago I came across the blanket and when I looked at it I remember my hair standing on end. It featured a cottage, albeit with upper windows, thistles, sheep and hens in amongst the hearts. When we first came to this Cottage on the SW Coast of Scotland there were sheep in the field behind us and hens in the garden next door, the thistles appeared later. It was as if I had predicted my own destiny through the blanket.....

                             The Patchwork blanket in our Scottish Garden 27 years later

                                                           A more recent blanket

                                         A Noro bag in lovely sea colours made about ten years ago

Cath Kidston and Ladybird

                                         Patterns my Mother and I used to knit for the children

About six years ago I decided it was time I learned to crochet but as I had nobody to teach me I decided to teach myself, here is one of the books I used and one of my first attempts that I never finished....

                                                 I did then crochet a scarf, here is the result

Last year my sewing teacher invited a lady to give us a crochet lesson, I was so thrilled as I wanted to ask her if I was doing it correctly, I was even more thrilled to find out that, not only was I doing it correctly but that she too had taught herself, that gave my confidence a boost. She even taught me to crochet triangles which I love doing and have now created my own bunting which you can see over on my Facebook page.

Crochet and knitted triangles

And today at Oakwood Cottage here are my latest additions, so many ideas, so many possibilities.....

My Seaside Style

Today I would like to show you some of the Seaside items I have been collecting over the years that are displayed in my Coastal Home.

Here are two of my favourite jugs by Julia Davey Ceramics and the stripe one is by Lisa Stickley
Find Julia Davey Ceramics

This is my Emma Bridgewater Collection

The Guest Bedroom

Top shelf one of my very favourite items is the Edwardian Gentleman bather, the mugs are from Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley.

On the next shelf a lovely bowl brought back from France by a friend alongside a  gorgeous Blue Cat at the Seaside jug and a Gisela Graham jug.

Some Seaside books, including ladybird and I spy

There had to be a Campervan somewhere didn't there?!!

Inside the Summerhouse



More Laura Ashley and Cath Kidston

Some Devonware

Giddy Kipper Fish

Apologies to those of you who have seen these photos before they have appeared on my Fb page over the last few months but I wanted to bring them all together here in my blog as it is part of my Life here at Blue Anchor Bay

Seaside Memories

I was born in Edinburgh on the East Coast of Scotland. To me it was always the most perfect place to live, it had everything including the seaside. At the age of 8 we moved away for the second time, I was devastated, I cried for years, I missed it so much. Until we moved back up to Scotland 2 years ago I still cried every time I left Edinburgh, I always worried i would never see it again.

Me at Pevensey Bay with my cousins and Grandmother

I lived in Warwickshire for ten years before leaving home to move to London to train at Great Ormond St Hospital. I tried to get into 'The Sick Kids' in Edinburgh but the waiting list was too long. I remember catching the train down to Brighton when I was on Night Duty to sleep on the beach then shop before catching the train back in time for Nights again.

When we married we moved to Middlesex which was just over an hour from the sea  and later in Northants we were two hours away, however we were moving further North!  During this time we had many happy seaside holidays with the children and I grew to love the South Coast of England. I always had to have reminders of the sea in my home and over the years I have collected many items and bought many things which reflect my love of the sea. (that will be my next blog :)

My kids at Blue Anchor Bay in Somerset!

I now live on the South West Coast of Scotland only ten miles from the sea (you can read how that came about in my first blog 'New Beginnings') and I still buy items showing my love for the sea. However, now I also make things for other seaside Lover's to enjoy in their homes, lovingly Handmade and often Hand Sewn here in my Native and Beloved Scotland.

New Beginnings....

Whenever I read a book or watch a film I always wonder, how do they choose where to start the story?

However I know exactly where this story begins....

January 2010, hubby and I had just celebrated our 50th Birthdays, little did we know that our Dream was about to come true....

We met back in 1980 at  The Swan Pub in Lamb's Conduit St, I was training at Great Ormond St and hubby was at Holborn Police Station,
30 years later hubby was about to retire from the Met Police, but what was he to do next? A friend  found an advert which he thought would be ideal, hubby agreed and applied for it. We were living in Northamptonshire at the time and the job was in Oxfordshire, or so we thought.....
The phonecall that was to change our lives came in Jan 2010, he had been successful but the vacancy was in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland! Now, I was born in Edinburgh and hubby in Dumfries, and we had always talked about moving back one day. We had to let them know the next day! However there really was nothing to think about, our children were both grow up and had lives of their own, so we both agreed there and then that it was what we wanted to do.The next day our fate was sealed....

We were lucky enough to find an amazing house ten miles from the coast, with awesome views, in a village but with all the facilities we needed within 3 or 4 miles. I found a part-time job which I enjoy and meant that I got to meet people and felt part of the community.The children love it too which was great and to such an extent that my son and his fiancee are getting married up here this year.

A year later and we are all settled in and what happens next? I was shopping in the Town one day when I saw an advert for sewing classes and I thought I should give it a go, something I had always fancied doing. Then somehow or other I decided to open a Facebook page and I posted on there about the things I was making. Before I knew what was happening I had lots of people interested and then I was asked if  my items were for sale. So, I decided to go ahead and was totally surprised to find that people actually wanted to buy everything I had made!

Since starting my page, Blue Anchor Bay, six months ago I have met many lovely, supportive and encouraging people and I have now been persuaded to write a blog, this is just the beginning.....



Our Local Beach

 


Our Beautiful Cottage

 


The Fields behind our house



My Beach Hut Summerhouse