Last weekend a group of friends and I attended a basket weaving course that we've had booked for ages and it was fantastic!
It started early in what would once have been a very grand country house. It's since been turned into a commune of sorts where likeminded people (artsy/hippy types) live in various flats, work the land and get together in the evenings in communal spaces. Part of me thought it was a cool idea, but I'm not a fan of paisley hangings and it was almost a crime how a beautiful house could be botched with unsympathetic renovations. Anyway the people seemed really very nice and welcoming and I'm just too anti-social for communal living so I'm sure they'd not want me there either.
It was great fun and a bit more complex than I would have given it credit for. I'd love to say I could make a basket myself now but I'm not sure I could. I can see how it could become a bit of an obsession; the satisfaction gotten from making something so beautiful so quickly. You could end with a house full of baskets.
I'd like to think we may well book another course soon.
Only another few weeks and James gets to go on the blacksmithing course that I bought him for Christmas. He seems pretty excited and hopefully it'll be as big a success as basketmaking.
A few more bits of catch up...
- The windowsills are fitted beautifully in the extension.
- We now have the hot water working after 3 weeks of chilly washes. (BIG ACHIEVEMENT)
- The kids have been loving the outdoors and den making is the game to play at the moment.
- We did another Wassail at Weston's a few weekends past, stopped at the chippy and took a thermos of hot chocolate to keep us warm on another cold evening. The kids had fun, but got a bit tearful towards the end when tiredness kicked in.
- We have had some lovely family walks to blow the cobwebs through.
- I had a trip to London to see the Magic Mike show with the girls. It was tonnes of fun and a wonder round Covent garden and Soho completed a great post-Christmas trip.
What a busy few weeks.
You have had loads of fun, it's good to learn an new skill, you can use weaving for more than baskets, using rolled paper you could make smaller items. You asked regarding my Hellebores, all I know they are planted in a shady area, next to the raspberry canes, I do add Chicken poo pellets each year, and allow the leaves from my Magnolia tree to fall and stay on this bit of the garden, we are heavy clay here so I have to help the soil as much as I can.
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