‘Every Little Helps’ or does it?

It seems to me that if you want to get a big company’s attention you need to Tweet them. I got mad the other day in Tesco as they’d hiked up the price of their Sunflower Spread from 75p to £1 in the space of one week. So I tweeted @Tesco and asked them if they were expecting a poor sunflower harvest this year hence the 33% price increase. I’ve previously emailed and snail mailed them about various things with no reply whatsoever. Tweeting seems to work as everyone can see the Tweet and send it on themselves to their group of followers and so on and so on. Having the grand total of 23 followers (@Elle_M_Kennedy) I didn’t think I’d get a reply but I did and this is it - “Hi Linda, our suppliers work hard to secure the best possible prices. I'll look into this & I'll be back in touch #ASAP” I am still waiting but at least it was an acknowledgement!

My days recently have been filled with watching the webcams on TV presenter Simon King’s site.
http://www.simonkingwildlife.com/page/live-cams/robin-nest-985

Fox cub on Badger & Fox Feeder Cam – pic by Simon King

Kingfisher on River cam – pic by Simon King

Badger and Fox Feeder Cam – pic by Simon King

Kestrel Nest – Still from Simon King webcam

Little Robin on her nest – Still from Simon King webcam

Baby Robins hatched today – Still from Simon King’s webcam
I’ve watched Blue Tits babies grow up and fledge, Woodpeckers being fed, Wren babies leave the nest, Badger cubs playing – the list is endless and also gives a fascinating insight into the private lives of these beautiful creatures.

I have been doing other things when I’ve managed to tear myself away from the laptop. I made this -


It sort of continues the wildlife theme and I adore Badgers! This is Picasso Badger, he’s on the front of a zippered pouch I made.
This little fellow got made too. As you can see from the pic below he was immediately adopted by my pair of Lovebirds!


And some new labels to go with my Badger makes



An ex Writers’ Club member and friend Pam Weaver gave a talk in our local library this week about the books she has written.

They are set locally and together they form a saga. Pam read chapters from her books and explained how she got the inspiration for them. A real life gruesome murder in Eastbourne, East Sussex 20 years ago gave her an idea for one of her books and the excerpt she read really built up the tension. This is Pam’s website address if you’d like more info. She really is a very talented writer. 
http://www.pamweaver.co.uk/index.html

Slàinte Mhath xxx

Back in Harness

I didn’t realise I'd been away from my blog for so long. I did feel down after my Uncle's passing in January. He was the last member of the family on my dad's side, so I was also grieving for that as well.
Anyway on to better and happier things. I have been busy and these are a few of the things I’ve been making. I got this pattern from Heidi Bears.



It was so much fun to make that I crocheted another little friend for her. As you can see they have become the very best of friends!



Although the warmer days have finally arrived here I felt compelled to make myself a hot water bottle cover. So I made one knitted on 4 needles (pic to come later). I like knitting on 4 needles and really don’t do enough of it. Maybe I should start now and make some Christmas socks for pressies.
I've been trawling around the charity shops as usual an last week I found a brown and badly stained bamboo table. It had a lovely ornate base, so I took it home and sprayed it white. It now serves as an art table and holds all my brushes, paints and paper. I think it originally had 2 chairs to go with it, but they were nowhere to be seen in the shop, but my little white bamboo stool works well with it.



What about this for a bargain! I found this beautiful pristine book in Oxfam.



The illustrations are fabulous. So much colour and detail.





The foreword is written by Sir David Attenborough, one of my all time heroes. It's going to get a place of honour in my birdie library.
Getting back to makes, I made this tote bag for my friend`s birthday.




She's into Egyptology so I thought this design of Isis mother of Horus would look great embroidered on the bag. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, I hope she likes it.
I also embroidered the back of a denim waistcoat (for me) with a Surf Bird. Every time I look at this it just makes me smile!





A short post this time as I’m just getting back into blogging with baby steps at the moment!

Slàinte Mhath xxx