Little Luna Dog!

At the beginning of March, we welcomed Luna to our home, a new member of our little family. We had watched her slowly grow big enough to come home with us since she was 3 weeks old, just a tiny little thing that snuggled into our chests.

We visited at 7 weeks, to choose one of those little pups to take home, and had the choice between two females, the first, in a green collar was placed into my arms and leapt up, paws on my shoulders face pushing into mine. She wiggled around, and I passed her to my partners daughter, as a second pup, with a yellow collar, was placed into my arms. She was smaller, and had more puppy fat still. She didn't jump up, but layed her head on my chest and stared at me. Something inside of me immediately knew: This was the one. She nuzzled up and gave me a little kiss.
I didn't want to force my choice on everyone else, or sway their opinion before they had a chance to form one, so I kept my intuition to myself, and watched two pups be fussed over.
A lively, silly racing and chasing pup, knocking into the furniture and jumping at us, making the girls laugh, and the other, following behind, tail wagging happily at all the fuss, coming over for affection. Whilst The green collared pup entertained the children to no end, they also seemed to be drawn to the little one in yellow. They picked her up, kissed her. Stephen also seemed to have made a silent choice, holing her in her arms and smiling at her, knowingly. We looked at each other and knew she was the one.
There was just something about her face - her eyes. They way she seemed so at ease with us.

At 9 weeks, she was ready to leave her Mother, and after a few final kisses between them, she curled up on my lap and we began the journey home. 
She decided to sleep almost on the gear stick, seemingly comfortable enough to spent the entire journey there! 

Once home, she spent a long time adjusting. She hadn't ever really spent any time in a house, was away from all her siblings, her mother, her smells. She wanted to be as close to her new humans as physically possible, and we spent two days cuddling.

Her feeling a little lost on her first day...

And forming bonds on her second :) 

Now, she is very happy here with us, a naughty, mischievous little thing that fills my day with laughter and exasperation. Why does she keep eating flowers and dirt!

She loves her crate bed, and it is her 'safe' place.
Here are a collection of fun and silly photos! 

Till next time,
The British Faery x 

Waking up with the Spring.

I can't quite believe it is March already - I can less believe that March is almost over! How!? I did so want to be more productive this year. I suppose I have been, in some ways - I have developed more ideas and plans, but I haven't quite executed them yet.
I feel like I don't quite have the spark, the inner passion that I once had for The Sprytes. I believe it is still there, just buried under caution, and perfectionism. I have been so nervous and hard on myself to make each Spryte 'perfect' I am not letting them come out freely, letting the process happen naturally, like I used too. Their new body pattern is so much better, and I really truly am happy with it - I just need to re-tune myself to hear their voices.
I have looked through photos of old Sprytes, and it has really helped re-energise me, re-inspire me. Reminded me to have FUN with them. To experiment, and try different things. I forgot about horns! About sweet knitted clothing, different coloured skin tones. So many things.
I have booked to vend at Wychwood Fair in September, and I am really excited. Plus, I work best under pressure and with a deadline ;)

It's time to get a move on...!

A short and cheerful new year post!

I've had a busy period since November, sewing Sprytes to send of to the US, and then preparing for Christmas.
I am so excited about the new year. I know that every year has the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings, but this year feels... different. I feel really hopeful. Not that the year will hold some magical event for me, or that I'll win the lottery or wake up 14lb lighter. I just feel hopeful. Light.
I'm excited about making more Sprytes, inventing new friends, new creatures. About taking them new places - quite literally. I want to vend festivals, meet other creative folks.
I'm going to learn to drive! I am so excited! I can go places! I can pick up crazy things I find on Freecycle! I can go to the shop and buy food!
It's going to be a good year.

How To Annoy Your DIY-Phobic Boyfriend.

Whilst my boyfriend loves all my crafty endeavours, and supports me in all I do, my crazy whims and ideas, he doesn't actually like being a part of them. Or being anywhere near them. Or hearing them, seeing them.... you get the idea.

So when I find AWESOME stuff on the internet, he's all for it until he realises HE has to pick it up. (Yes, I prowl Freecycle, Freegle AND gumtree, knowing full well I can't *actually* pick anything up. Don't judge.)

Like when I found an Ikea PAX wardrobe on gumtree for £100, and I know it costs £700, and I *think* it will be a fit.... He drives me there, and we both know that its REALLY BIG and we live in a tiny cottage.

To cut a long story short, the wardrobe would of fit, if, they had given me the accurate measurements. They (being the people who sold it too us) didn't account for the beautiful sliding doors being 5-10cm bigger than the wardobe, thus, not fitting, and our house having sloping floors, ceilings, and walls, meaning the room is a different height depending on where you stand.

So, I had to chop off some of the wardrobe, meaning it suddenly hated life and wanted to collapse and die, and attach fabric 'doors' - that we were always to lazy to close and had to fall asleep with this depressed monolithic monstrosity staring at us.

-------

I then TOTALLY scored on my Freegle hunts, finding a vintage G-Plan dresser, FOR FREE. Which meant my boyfriend accidentally mentioning a 60's/70's themed bedroom. For anyone who knows me, or knows anything about anyone a little obsessed with interior design, those are dangerous words to be putting out there.

Searching commenced. I wanted a G-Plan Wardrobe. And I found one. E-Bay, £20. Bargain. Except... It's about 2 hours away. And, I'm not sure if it will come apart. Or fit in the car?

Of course we went off though, and it was all going well until I realised I had forgotten my phone. Luckily, I am old fashioned, and had wrote down his phone number and address in my note book, and we could call him from my Boyfriends phone. (It was his mothers, and so we needed to call him so he could come meet us at the house.)

Then it all went wrong.
We tried to call half an hour before arriving, as asked, and......the number was wrong. Panicking, I log into Ebay on my boyfriends phone, and message away frantically. No response. My Boyfriend is still remarkably calm, seeing as we've been driving for two hours, and now it looks as though we may have to go home sans-wardrobe.
We wait. We wait some more.
FINALLY we get a call, and get to the house, and I can do my thing! I can take that baby apart!  We don't have any photos of taking down the wardrobe, and really, it's not all that interesting!

A good 5 hours later, and we're home.

Take that, PAX!

Just a helpful note - DO NOT take down a wobbly, heavy wardrobe whilst sat underneath. It hurts when shelves hit you in the face at falling speed.

OK NOW TO THE FUN STUFF!

The doors needed a bit of TLC (hence the bargain price) So I sanded them down really lightly, then re-buffed with beeswax. You can see the difference here - the top is varnished and the bottom isn't.
The same with below photo. I loved how the grain came straight back up with a good bit of love!

The wardobe went up really quickly, by 10am I was all done. However, getting all the stuff that was in those huge wardrobes to now fit into a tiny one from the 50's took me almost 2 DAYS.

And, TADAAAAA! 

We now have a gorgeous little 60's hideaway, with a bit of a botanical touch. (Those large flower illustrations were £1.00!)
The bedthrows are from my Grandparents. The knitted patchwork one was made by my Grandfathers Grandmother, and the crochet one is one my Grandmother brought whilst travelling in her 20's!

Below is the original culprit for starting our vintage bedroom.... My Boyfriend found this at a bootsale. It works, and we LOVE IT.

This space is where the PAX used to be. The room feels SO much bigger now, it's amazing. Bigger, and brighter, and happier. 

Thanks for reading! (Or looking at the pictures!)

The British Faery
x

Alice's Lost Leaf. - An adventure in Faringdon Woods!

The Sprytes came with us for a trip to the woods today, they promised me they would behave, and we had a lovely time with Alice's Lost Leaf....

The three of them (Alice, Ida and Edward) all ran off as soon as we arrived, and I left them too it for a while. When I went looking for them again, I stumbled across Alice, cradling a leaf in her arms. 

She was looking so sadly at it, I wondered what could of happened!
"Hey there Alice, what have you found?" I asked softly. 

"Oh! I found a lost leaf! It was all alone. Where do you think it came from? Which tree? Do you think it is lonely without his other leaf friends?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure I can answer that, Alice." I reply. "Oh! Here is Ida. Maybe She'll know....?"

"Perhaps we should try re-attach it." Ida muses out loud.
"That's a good idea. Poor leaf."
"We just need to find which tree it came from, though" Ida informs us.

"I'll take it Alice," Ida offers, taking the leaf off her. "I can climb really well you know! And I am the smartest. The trees will answer me."

Hmmm. I don't think Alice was too happy about that! 

"I'll take that back thankyou!!" I am much smarter than you, actually." Alice quips. "Oh! Hello Edward!" The two girls chirrup happily, disagreement forgotten at the arrival of their brother. 

"Ooooh. What are we doing with that leaf?" Edward asks, curious.
"Nothing! We are going to take it home! It's own home."
"It's lonely, you see." Alice tells Edward, as way of explanation.

"Where are you going Edward? Aren't you going to help Alice and Ida get their leaf home?"

"Nope. I'm doing my own thing right now! Maybe later I'll help.." He says, avoiding my eye, and being terribly mysterious. I wonder what that boy is up too!
"Ok, Edward, don't go too far, though!"

When I catch up with Ida, She's clinging onto a stump, looking a little frightened!
"Oh Ida! Are you ok!?"
"I don't think I am as good at climbing as I thought! I think I'd like to get down now please!!"
"Were you trying to find the leaf's home?"

"Phew. That's better! Yes. I thought this may be it. But, it doesn't have any leaves, does it?  I think I'll just sit here for a moment. Oh! I see the Leaf's tree!! Alice! Edward! Quick!"

Alice and Edward have beat you to it, Ida. It's quite a high tree, though. Can you make it?

"Oh Ida!" Alice cries, "Be careful!"

"Alice, do you have Leaf...?"
"No, do you have him Edward?"
".........."

Well, don't worry you three. It looks like he's found his home beneath you! Perhaps we should get down now, and have a cup of tea at home.


We had a lovely Sunday at Faringdon Folly Woods, we hope you all enjoyed your Sunday, too!
Alice, Ida and Edwars will all be available for adoption at Moby and Puddle, in the House That Jack Built. Click here to visit!
More Ruckies will be up for adoption over the next few months, or you can email me here to enquire about a custom order.


Lots of love! 

A Magical Mystery Tour Around Wales

For my birthday this year, I asked for an adventure. A trip somewhere with no plans, no pre-booked place to stay, no real idea of the next destination. A voyage into the Unknown.... For which we decided on Wales. I'd been there as a child, but only ever to the Breccon Beacons. My partner has  never really explored it, and being a history fan, wanted to visit some of the castles.

We set off at midday, and decided to head to Tenby. It always looks so picturesque in the brochures, and figured it would be a good place to begin! We arrived at about 3 or 4pm, and I was blown away by just how much it looks EXACTLY like it is represented in photos. How often does that happen?
We wandered around the town, and had a drink in the harbour, whilst a seagull warbled away, looking for compliments (and possibly chips.) Speaking of which, we found a Ceoliac fish and chip shop! The queue went to the end of the street, (though this seems to be due to the unwilling-to-serve kids behind the counter!!!) The chips were worth the wait though, and were devoured whilst watching the crashing waves.

We thought we would sleep in the car the first night, no BnB or hotel had grabbed our attention, and it was pretty late by now. Luckily, we have a large estate car, so with the back seats down and blankets, it was like sleeping in a solid 3man tent. We got to watch the sun go down, and the bats come up!

On The Road -
The next day we woke up early, and got straight back to driving. We came across this little picnic spot in Fresh Water East, and enjoyed boiled eggs on toast. Better than a BnB or greasy spoon any day!

We drove to St Martins, and enquired about the boat trip over to an island. However, it was raining, and the trip was 3 hours. We gave it a miss.....

Missing the boat trip meant we instead had time to visit Cilgerran Castle, built by William Marshall around 800 years ago. The site was first home to a an early 'ringwork' castle, built by the Normans.
I love these castles where you are still abale to explore inside, to go up the stairs and share the view our ancestors would have.
The most intteresting part of the trip to Cilgerran however, was learning about Princess Nest, who lived there in the early 12th century. She was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last King of Wales. She had been a lover of Henry I, and was married off to Gerald De Windsor. It seems to have been a happy arrangement, as Nest had around 5 children during their marriage, before being abducted/ ran away with her second cousin, Owain, a Prince of Wales, and is rumoured to have fathered him children, also.
Historians claim that through Nest's many children, they can trace her genealogy down to both the Tudor and the Stuart monarchs.
It was so fascinating reading about her, though so little is really known!  

The next day was going to be my Birthday, and so we decided to find a great place for the night. We spent a good few hours looking at various BnB's, hotels, inns, and then remembered AirBnB. Within half an hour we had found this gorgeous place in Machlynth (That's spelled wrong).

I woke up to this stunning view on my Birthday..! <3 p="">

And a great breakfast in an old country cottage style kitchen.

We spent the rest of the day exploring, and found a fun, short walk called the Torrent. You walk downhill alongside a waterfall, cross over, and walk back up again on the other side! 

That evening we drove to Betsy-Coed, and knocked on the door of this cute looking B&B, to see if they had any space for us. They did!

It was such a wonderful place to stay, and we ended up deciding not to go back out for dinner, as neither of us really wanted to leave our cosy chocolate box room! We put on our PJ's, had a bed picnic, and watched the Bake Off!

On our last day, before we drove home, we stopped at Fairy Falls, the place I'd really wanted to visit. It was only a very short walk down, but what you find is totally unexpected! Ferns and moss, and trickling water. We had so much fun clambering (and falling) about, taking silly pictures. We plan to go back with a picnic! (As another trip to Wales is most definitely on the cards)

We loved this rock formation - where the constant flow of water has smoothed all the hard edges, proving that persistence, not force, can be a transformative power. 

This old Robin greeted us as we walked down, and came back to say Goodbye when we left. <3 p="">

Our view on the way home - We took the long scenic route, and made our journey home an adventure all of its own.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've enjoyed re-living my adventure with me!
I hope to be able to get some more blogs up soon, perhaps some peeks into all the home stuff I've been doing these last few months.

Love, The British Faery