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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
Having a Handmade Christmas
I have been very absent from this blog through December and the reason has been, that every spare minute has been spent making Christmas gifts. We have a simple Christmas. It has been a gradual process through the years - when I was a child Christmas meant sackfuls of...
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...
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
How to Make a Plaited Coil Basket
As much of the UK has found itself back in full lockdown, I thought I would share a little basketry tutorial, for you try out. Earlier this week, I made a little coil basket out of dried leaves from our garden. This technique is really simple, you don't need any...
Hello 2021! Planning For a Year of Natural Crafts
A new year always seems to bring with it a renewed motivation to push forward, try new things and settle into good routines. After the disruption of Christmas and two kids birthdays, we're about ready for some normality and I am determined to make this a good year, no...
How to make a Wrapped Stone
I thought, that I would show you an easy tutorial for stone wrapping. I am sure that we are not the only people, who have been hit hard financially by covid restrictions this year. So, like me, you might need to make a lot of your gifts. The trouble is, homemade gifts...