Making the most of the sun !

Well considering I started this blog to share my crafting and sewing with you , so far there seems to be a lot of Donkey and Pony content ! I put this down to the fact that our donkey jester is now old enough to start his training to become a driving donkey !! Yes I know exciting isn't it !! And I must make the most of the good weather.

So far Jester has done lots of basic walk and halt training in the field , then lots and lots of traffic training ,we have walked so many miles around the roads meeting everything from bicycles to massive lorries, Jester has always trusted me and kept calm.

Then onto harness training, firstly to get use to having lots of straps all over him then onto teaching him to long rein ( basically driving him in his harness from behind, as if you were in a cart, to get him use to voice and rein commands such as walk, halt, left right etc) then onto pulling a tyre to get use to having some weight pulling on the harness and also to get use to all of the noise the tyre and the future cart will make.

Today Jester pulled a tyre around the roads we walked just over a mile and a half and he was a super star ! The tyre made many different sounds as it went from smooth tarmac to patches of gravel, Jester remained calm even when a huge tractor and trailer passed him.

As things were going well and my husband was around to help, we also put Jester to his cart , with both of us leading him around the paddock, he was nervous to start with but soon enough he relaxed and I had enough confidence in him to have my first ride in his cart whilst my husband led him , I was so excited and proud of Jester.

First Carriage Ride - Exciting !!!!😁

I am enjoying spending so much time outside whilst training Jester it is so rewarding, but as I have fibromyalgia my energy is limited, so my mid day I feel exhausted which means that once I've run around on the school run and after school clubs there is little or no energy for sewing ! But I am squeezing in a little bit here and there, here is a sneaky peek at my latest project ..... All will be revealed next time . I promise 😀 

Thanks for visiting my blog 

Helen x

Donkey Training

Lovely morning for donkey training !
Hope your enjoying the sun x

Granny Square Blanket

I love crochet and I have been wanting to learn for quite some time, for several years I have been following some amazing crochet blogs, my favourite one being the very talented Lucy at Attic 24. So last summer I had some yarn and crochet hooks for my birthday, I was all set up and eager to master this craft.  After several YouTube videos and a children's learn to crochet book I kind of got the hang of a few different stitches. My flowers looked like they had been stamped on and I just couldn't get the hang of the granny square, which frustrated me, so I moved on to other crafts.
Then at the end of February I had the urge to try again, I watched some more YouTube and this time to my surprise something just clicked and this is the result. I'm very pleased with my first granny square blanket, it's just the right size to snuggle under when curled up on the sofa.
So if you have ever tried to crochet or if you would like to learn to crochet, don't give up, you will get the hang of it eventually and once you do, you will wonder how you couldn't do it before, it really is easy once you get the hang of it !

In other news - I'm not really sure where the last month has gone, time seems to be flying past so very quickly ! It has been a very busy time at Holly, Moss and Myrtle HQ , lots of birthdays in our house, Hubby, eldest daughter and my little boy and Jester the donkey both turned 4 years old. Also my eldest daughter had appendicitis and was in and out of hospital for a couple of weeks. :(

I hope you have a lovely Easter weekend, I will be spending lots of time with my family at the field getting some donkey training done .
I will leave you with this photo of Jester the donkey and my son that I took today after going for a lovely family walk, it made me smile and I hope it will make you smile too :)

Helen x

Introducing Jester and Orlando

These two cheeky chaps will probably make a regular appearance here on my blog.
So introducing Jester the Donkey, he is nearly 4 years old and we have had him since he was 6 months old. I am currently training him for carriage driving, so this is a very exciting time for him, although not as exciting as when he was 20 months old, he was in the pantomime pinocchio, 14 shows over 2 weeks he was a real star and LOVED performing !
Next it's Orlando, he is a 10 year old Shetland pony and is a great friend to Jester. We have had him since he was 4 years and he has had a very relaxed life ! And he loves food as you can probably tell :)

Jester with his new rug.

Next time you visit I will have some news about my latest craft project - Crochet.
Bye for now
Helen x

Quilting, Craft fayres and a big welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog ,
well I have been wanting to start a blog for a long long time, probably 18 months or more ! Today is the day to be brave and get on with it, although I'm excited, I am also a bit scared, blogland is such a big place and I'm such a small fish !

Please take a little time to read my About Me column at the side, so that you get to know a bit about me - oh I should introduce myself !! My name is Helen
So after about a year of making sewn items and selling at craft fayres and folksy I thought it was time to take a break, so I cancelled my insurance and took a few months off. Feeling ready to get crafting again I have decided to start again slowly, just sharing with you the things that I am making for MYSELF, yes myself and my family, that's the trouble with selling at craft fayres you get so wrapped up with the pressure of having enough items to sell, you tend not to make many things for yourself.
So you might be wondering what I make ? Here are a few photos of quilts And pretty sewn items that I have made.