Gallery
Orkney Islands
Out and About in the Orkney Islands
Although two weeks of lesson planning stopped me sharing on my blog, it didn't stop us from getting out and about in the Orkney Islands. It was my kids holiday fortnight after all and we had two wonderful days, exploring more of Orkney's Mainland. It's only a short 20...
Autumn Comes to the Orkney Islands
We have gone full circle in our new life in the Orkney Islands and as we celebrated the anniversary of moving up here, the seasons changed once again to autumn. This time though, I feel prepared to take autumn in and experience all that it has to offer. Last year, as...
Our First Summer in the Orkney Islands
Well it is drawing near to the end of our first summer in the Orkney Islands and autumn will soon be upon us once more. We have escaped the sweltering weather that mainland uk experienced for several weeks, but we have had lots of sunny and pleasantly warm days. There...
Self-Sufficiency
Making a Hugelkultur Bed
Over autumn, I am working on a permaculture project with our kids. It is really important to us, that they feel a part of what we are doing here and the best way to do that is to get them involved. As I have a lot of winter veg seedlings waiting to go in the ground,...
Growing Vegetables in Orkney (July)
We started our vegetable growing adventure in Orkney back in March, at the beginning of the covid-19 lockdown. At the time I didn't really expect to have much success. Having only moved to the island in November 2019, we hadn't yet had a chance to get a polytunnel up...
Growing Our Own – Update on our Veggies
If you remember, I began our journey to self-sufficiency back in March at the beginning of the covid-19 lockdown (Growing Our Own Food - Making a Start). A lot of growing has happened since then, so I thought that it was time for an update. We are still struggling...
Craft for Kids
Making Advent Peg Dolls
Making wooden dolls, has been a favourite craft in our house since we started making them last year. Since then, my kids and I have created lots of little characters. Some are just for decoration and others get played with everyday, but all had the same humble...
Using Charcoal for Paints and Dyes
An experiment with natural dyes turned into a fun activity for Wren (my two year old) this week, as she found out how to make charcoal paint. I had been experimenting with making heather dye for a few days, but having left it rather late in the season, was only...
Make Your Own Autumn Wreaths
Making a wreath to hang in your home is a lovely way to celebrate the seasons and it is also a lovely craft for kids of all ages to enjoy. Since moving to the Orkney Islands, we have been so much more aware of the change in seasons. In this big, unbroken landscape, it...
Basketry & Natural Crafts
Bringing Basketry and Natural Dyeing Together
It's been a few weeks now since I first started to hand-dye my own raffia with natural dyes. Since then, I have been having a great time using it and making more dyes along the way. It has been really satisfying to start bringing these skills together and I feel full...
Harvesting Honeysuckle Vine For Basketry
Over the past three weeks, I have been busy harvesting honeysuckle vine from our garden for basket weaving. The land at the back of our house is full of trees and rather wild and I was going to tidy it up a bit to make it more accessible, back in the spring. Then, as...
Learning To Use Natural Dyes
Way back in March, I bought myself a couple of books on dyeing. One was about learning to use natural dyes and the other showed in depth, the techniques for shibori pattern making. This month I finally got around to having a look through the books and trying out some...