POLKADoT Farm

Crisp Autumnal Morning

Today has been a glorious day. I love to wake up to bright blue skies,with the sun shining through the crisp air, and watch the steam rise, as it heats the frosty ground.

 
 Today Duncan finished sowing the winter crops. Over the last few years we have only managed to put Spring crops in the ground in March, but as the Autumn has been so lovely, he has sowed 5 fields of winter crops, 2 oats, and 3 wheat. The Oats are actually starting to peak through the soil already (below)

After a lovely walk on the farm this afternoon, I have been busy indoors painting my new Christmas Platters for the Christmas fairs I have in November & December. I'll put up a few pics of them next post, and I'll leave you today with a pic of an autumnal floral arrangement that I collected on my walk today. I love the contrasts between the deep reds of the rose hips & rowan berries, and the rusty oranges and lime greens/yellows of the foliage. I have 18 people coming for dinner tomorrow night, so I have hung it at my door as a kind of 'arrangement'!

 

An order of t-lights for Ealain...

I have recently started stocking a wee gallery in Drymen called 'Ealain' with my glassware. She has a lovely selection of gifts, and beautiful pieces of artwork, so i'm really pleased to have my glass in there. I first put a selection of t-lights and vases into Ealain mid September, and she has nearly sold out of all my t-lights already, which was lovely to hear! So today, I packed a box full of newly painted t-lights, and whisked them on their way to Drymen. Fingers crossed they do as well!

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside

I've just spent 10 days down in Galloway at my mums farm, where I grew up. I will always class Galloway as my home home, purely for the childhood memories, as well as my whole family on both sides living there. As much as I love my new home and surroundings in Stirlingshire, I miss Galloway dearly. Apart from my family, the biggest thing I miss is the sea. Everything from paddling in it, to taking walks along it!

 

Whenever I'm home I always try and pop down to our local beach, Rigg Bay, situated near the small village of Garlieston. It has to be one of the most special places in my heart. I have so many fond memories of spending my childhood days there, from pick-nicking there on sunny days to walking along the rugged coastline on a brisk autumnal days. 

The two most special recent events for me, that are linked to Rigg Bay ,are Duncans proposal on the beach in May 2007 and secondly, our wedding which was held yards away from the beach in the surrounding walled gardens in May 2008.

I can't wait to take our baby there, on long walks, and let the sea air fill its lungs. I hope I can capture many memories for them, like my mum did for me x

Fiery Reds & Burnt Oranges

I'm currently down in Galloway for a week farm sitting my mums farm while she is in South Africa. On Thursday I packed my car full of glass, paints and relief paint, and trundled down the road from Stirlinghsire with big plans to fill my week with painting.

After a lovely relaxing weekend on the beach with my dog, and a lovely sunday food sampling at a continental food festival at Wigtowns Book Fair, I settled down today, and took over the kitchen with glass, and started painting. My plan this week is to do a different colour each day. So today was the day of fiery reds and burnt oranges. My Mum has an Aga which is great for constant heat, so I have been continuously filling it with t-lights, vases, and my christmas candle lanterns.

These shapes are the inserts for my Christmas candle lanterns that flicker and dance in the candlelight once placed inside the lanterns.

An afternoon for cake

 

This cake has to be one of the easiest recipes, and most deserving tastes. It is delicious and it always looks so appetising. It is hard to believe that the sponge only has 3 ingredients; Eggs, Sugar & Flour!! The recipe is as follows:

3 Eggs

3 oz Caster Sugar

3 oz SR Flour

Preheat oven to 180oc. Whizz together the eggs and Sugar in a mixer till is is light and airy. Fold in sieved flour bit by bit, trying to keep as much air in as possible. Pour into a large cake tin, and bake at 180oc for 25minutes. Once cooled, half the cake and fill it with your choice of filling! I whipped up double cream and oozed it in the middle, then scattered over chopped up strawbs!

 

Beginnings of Autumn

Autumn is my favourite time of year. I love the dramatic oranges and ochre yellows that the trees produce, and how the colours echo through the landscape. I took this photo this afternoon after finding a stray branch lying on the ground. It didn't look anything special, but once I held it up to the crisp blue sky, it brought its colours alive. 

Every year I collect beautifully coloured leaves from many different varieties of trees, and I press them in old chunky books. I never really know what to do with them, until I read this months CL. I was inspired by their feature 'The golden season' It has many great ideas, but the one that stood out to me, was this one below, where they have threaded leaves to make a garland. I'm going to have a go, and see what happens. I'll post a picture once I have perfected one!  

Unfortunately the picture has not scanned well.

Browsing through Country Living can be bad for your wallet....

I'm a lover of Country Living magazine, and I read through the magazine many times throughout the month, finding new articles, pictures and ideas every time I pick it up. This morning, I was looking through the emporium pages at the front, which I always find so inviting and inspirational. In this months issue a print by Bold & Noble caught my eye. I looked up the web address, and found the most wonderful website full of super prints for the home... which I could buy many. One that particularly caught my eye was this Noah'sArc one... and as we're starting to decorate the babies room, I think its a good unisex print that would look gorgeous...but there are so many to choose from...decisions decisions!! also check out her blog!

painting, labeling, photo taking and bubble wrapping....

Its been a few months since I had a stand at the Wee Green Market in Killearn, so today I am busy packing up my new pieces for the market tommorrow. It is so nice to be painting again, and I have really enjoyed adding new pieces to my glassware collection, including these cake plates above. I am also busy taking pictures of everything for my Etsy shop...which is currently empty, as well as my website which desperately needs updated! 

The 'Daisy' Design (above) is one of my new designs. The colours used are more delicate and simple than my usual glassware. It looks crisp, pretty and feminine with a candle flickering inside it, which is the look I am going for with this design!

This is another one of my new designs called seedpod meadow. I love images of cow parsley. I was inspired by cole and sons cow parsley wallpaper which is one of my favourite wall coverings. This design is more in keeping with my usual colour palette. I am hoping to market this item with fairy lights inside it, and sell it as a feature table lamp! 

Harvest begins...though the grounds a wee bit damp..!

 

Today we began the harvest, and the the first field to combine was the wheat field, which is the one for the Hovis contract. It is hard to believe that this time 3 years ago, all 200 acres of crops had been harvested by now, and we were packing away the combine for winter... this year we have just begun! Many of the fields have taken a battering from the extreme weather we have had over July and August, and some of the crops have even been damaged, which may result in them not getting combined, and getting ploughed back into the ground. This would be a huge waste of money and time, especially after all the hard work that has gone into producing them. Hopefully it will not come to that, and we can salvage the damaged fields. Fingers crossed! Luckily the wheat is a great crop, and is still proudly standing, even after all the wind and rain... but the ground is as soggy as ever, as witnessed below!

 

The combine sunk, and got stuck. So I had to drive the tractor up along the combine, so it could unload the grain, and make the machine a bit lighter so it could free itself from the mud, and move to a dryer spot.

Contract finished...craftyness begins

 

It feels like ages since I've had a chance to be creative. I finished my last work contract last week, and I am now enjoying some quiet time, and thinking up new ideas for my glassware. As well as glassware, I occasionally paint ceramics. This year I am going to introduce some new products into my stock, including these platters. The one above is one that I have painted for a friends birthday. They make great serving plates for nibbles or desserts. I use mine for a cake plate....