Bridie - Hypno-Dog!

 Every dog we have had, have all had totally different characters.

    Every dog owner will tell you the same.

    And the two we currently have are very, very different characters.

    Tallulah is coming up to three years old this summer and Bridie will be eleven this year. So it is no surprise that Tallulah is bouncy and cheerful, loves everyone and thinks that everyone will love her too. While Bridie is restrained, elegant and aloof.

    Bridie was a show girl - she has been to Crufts - and was a mature dog when we got her. I don't tink she had ever learnt to play (although Tallulah is quite persistent in trying to get her to join in chasing and bouncing games). 

    Tallulah is also quite uninhibited when it comes to getting your attention. There is no way you will be able to ignore her. She will nudge you quite firmly with her nose, so you get poked in the arm or in the side, or if you are writing a furry nose will lift your hand up. And if that fails, then her front legs are up on your knee and you nose, ear, or whatever part of your face she car reach is given a good snuffle and lick.

    This is not something Bridie has ever learnt. 

    Instead Bridie has developed the Hypno-dog stare.

    Between the 1st and 2nd World Wars there was a Music Hall act with a dog known as 'Hypno-Dog', and at some point, while they were touring the UK, the dog managed to go missing. Posters were put up and there were even announcements in the Newspapers, asking people to be on the look out for the missing dog. But at the same time they were warned that under no circumstances should they look Hypno-Dog in the eye, or it would put them to sleep.

    Well, we have our very own Bridie the hypno-dog.

    As I said, she has never learnt how to do the in-your-face demanding attention thing. But instead she has developed a very disconcerting stare.

    You may be reading a book, or working at the computer and suddenly you are aware that you are not alone.

    And when you look round there is Bridie, stood stock still, staring at you. Staring very, very intensely at you.

    STARING!

    And into your head will come the message:

    'You WILL give the dog a biscuit!' and you find yourself reaching for the dog biscuit box.

    And when you turn back, silently the ninja hypno-dog is now an inch from your leg, but still with the unblinking hypno-dog stare.

    Sometimes it isn't food but a cuddle she wants. Again she has never learnt how to just throw herself at you in a 'Cuddle me!' demanding sort of way, so instead she positions herself sideways in front of you and gives you the hypno-dog stare! But when you do cuddle her, or stroke or rub her head (which she loves) you feel her gently relax and collapse against you.

    Bridie has also decided that she likes the occasional cup of tea or coffee. Now, I know that dogs should not routinely be given tea or coffee as the caffeine is bad for them, but for a start I drink red bush tea (no caffeine) and the way I like tea and coffee is so weak that it is fortnight!

    Besides which, the first time she decided to give tea a try, there was not a lot we could do about it.

    That was last summer, out in the garden. My mug was standing on the grass cooling and the next thing we knew, a certain dog had got her head stuck in the mug and she was not coming out until all the tea had been drunk!

    So occasionally after tea, when we are watching TV and relaxing with a coffee, I become aware that Bridie has decided that tonight is the night for a sip or two of coffee.

    Tallulah has also learnt to recognise the 'hypno-dog' stare and watches happily as Graham is directed to share the cool remains of my drink into two dog bowls.

    So all I can say to you is:

    Beware of the Hypno-Dog - and under no circumstances look her in the eyes!

A Pain in the Foot

Ok so a fortnight ago, or so, I hurt my foot.

    I wasn't doing anything exciting, like rescuing a lost pet from a fire, no, I was getting in the car.

    Yes it was that thrilling, I was getting in the car to go shopping, as we always do, and somehow I twisted my foot. It was a small movement, nothing dramatic at all, a little swivel as I got into the car and agony shot through my foot so I fell into the car rather than sitting down.

    Now this isn't the first time I've done this, so I knew while I was sitting down, with no weight on my foot, I would be ok. Driving was a bit uncomfortable, but not that bad, and we were able to do all the things we had planned on - taking parcels to the post office, visiting the bank to put cheques in, and go do some grocery shopping.

    Graham does all the running about, in and out of shops etc, so all I had to do was sit in the car and crochet. 

    Of course eventually we had to go home, park the car and get from the car into the house.

    I got out of the car and onto the pavement and said to Graham, 'I can't move. I can't put any weight on my foot.'

    Luckily my wheels are always in the car, so Graham got them out and wheeled me up to the front door. 

    Great, now how an I going to get over the step into the house, if I can only stand on one foot?

    Graham left me contemplating while he got the shopping out of the car and ferried it into the house.

    In the meantime the dogs had come to look at me. They were inside and wondering why I was just sitting looking at them. Tallulah jumped up to greet me, and pushed me backwards down the path, then ran away and hid in the house.

    Back at the door I decided I would just have to go for it, or face living in the shed until my foot got better. 

    Somehow I got into the house with the aid of two walking sticks, and found that I could shuffle slowly to the bathroom and back to the living room - thank goodness our bathroom is on the ground floor.

    That night I knew there was no way I would be able to do the stairs, so I would have to sleep on the sofa.

    It was an interesting night and quite lively.

    At around 1pm Graham appeared downstairs. He couldn't sleep because I wasn't keeping him warm, so he had to get one of my crocheted blankets to put on the bed.

    A little later I woke up to find a dogs nose an inch or so from mine. Laying down on the sofa I was apparently just the right height for a dog to stare at me in comfort.

    Hello Bridie.

    I went back to sleep and was again woken by a dog's nose. But Tallulah is a little less inhibited than Bridie, so this time the cold nose was on mine and followed by a lick.

    I was awake before 5 am as I didn't know what the time was, so put the tv on to try and find out.

    

    Thank goodness the foot has healed relatively quickly.

    I was able to make it upstairs the next night, although it took some time. But it seems to have got better quite quickly.

    

    Oh incidentally, this week Graham brought me some gifts when he did the shopping, as it will soon be Valentines Day.

    'I am just a big softie!' he declared with a smile.

    He got me: an economy strawberry cheesecake, a pack of mixed flavour Walkers Crisps, and a staple gun.

    I can't wait to play with the staple gun!

    I still remember my father stapling himself to our front gate when he was decorating for the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations.

Crochet Garden

 One of the first things I saw, when I started looking at crochet on the internet, were pictures of wildly colourful, beautiful, amazing pieces which I found out was known as Freeform Crochet.

    My heart sang when I saw them and I longed to be able to make something of that ilk.

    These last few months I have been working on a piece which I have absolutely loved doing. I have called it a Crochet Garden and I did put a few pics up some time ago, showing the work in progress. Over the christmas break, I have finally managed to get it to what I feel is its finished state. The last stage was sewing in many, Many, MANY ends which I had left long in case I wanted to join other pieces on - that took ages!

    Anyway, to me this piece is a representation of the beauty and exuberance of nature, which we try to encapsulate in our own gardens. Everyone's garden is unique and reflects the individual personality of each gardener. Some are formal, restrained and colour-co-ordinated, others are wild and windswept, so my 'garden' also reflects my love of colour, shapes, creativity, crochet and even my connection through spirit with the enlivening energy of Nature.

    In my garden is every shade of green I could find, all linked as spirals, the form of growth, the shape of snails and of ammonites and found carved on ancient monuments as a symbol of life, death and re-birth.

    The flowers are both simple and complex, flat and very three dimensional. Some are based on living botanical plants, others are mere whimsy or flowers of the imagination.

    There are many variations of roses, these are, to me, the archetypal garden flower. Forming one edge of the piece is my version of a very large foxglove in a variety of shapes of purple and lilac. These are native wild flowers, lovers of woodlands and wild places, but also found in our gardens. They are the flowers of fairies, nature spirits, the 'folk's gloves' and also of apothecaries and healers, the plant is beautiful but can be deadly too.

    You may notice at the side of the large foxglove is a smaller, dark version. This is the hidden shadow, found in the deepest woodlands.

    Also in my garden is a circular spiral pool, for tranquility and reflection, and nearby hidden amongst the greenery, leaves and acorns is the Green Man himself, the spirit of Nature who is both the giver of life to the plants and part plant himself.

    You may also be able to spot butterflies and bees, here and there amongst the flowers and leaves.

     This is a garden to delight the eyes and heart, a place where you can look and look again and still find something new. It is a place of colour to lift the spirits. Some of the flowers you see from above, others from the side, this was never meant to be a photographic representation of a garden, or a plan, it is a surface with curves, raised hillocks, bells and trumpets. Move your head slightly and there will be a different view, a new perspective.

    What is my garden? Is it a blanket? Is it a shawl? Is it a work of art?

    It can be any and all of these things.

    I don't care, I just love it.

   

Happy Winter Solstice

 Happy Winter Solstice!

    Today is the last posting date for first class UK mail, and traditionally when we have taken our mail to the Post Office today, then our Mid-Winter holiday starts!

    Graham decided to mark the occasion by buying us some magazines while he was in the Post Office come general stores, and has just presented me with a pile of magazines. He is presumably working on the premise that if he bought a few, there was bound to be something in there I like.

    So the choice I have is: Woman's Weekly - not seen that for years, that used to be one of my mum's favourites.

    Prima - because it has a Free Puzzle Magazine included - this is not one I've every looked at before, so should be interesting.

    Yorkshire Life: now this one looks the type of magazine you need to read at a table, cos it is sooooo heavy. But it also has a Free Calendar included (you might be able to see the way Graham's brain works - free = GOOD!)

    And finally Country Smallholding ........   nope, me either.

    I suppose I should think myself lucky that he didn't get 'Practical Woodworker', or a muscle building magazine. So if you want compact trailer with a custom UTV cage, or an electronic chicken door, or a packet of Layer's Pellets, this is the place to look - actually after a quick flick through, this might be a decent read!

    If I don't post again before, we hope you have a restful and stress-free celebration, and a much happier and healthier 2021!

Leprechaun

 I get the strangest requests from our customers and one of the most recent was 'Can you make me a leprechaun?' there was a pause while I thought about it.

    December is one of our busiest times of the year, when we have to concentrate on getting out as many orders as possible as quickly as possible, and so right now was not the best time to be making a 'one off'. Especially one I would have to research and had never made anything like it before.

    As I hesitated, the chap continued 'I don't mind what it is made out of. I know you like these little challenges.'

    Meanwhile Graham had realised what was going on and was hissing at me 'Say no! We are too busy!'

    So I compromised (ish) and said that I would make one, but I couldn't guarantee he would get it before christmas.

    Anyway, I had a look on the internet at leprechauns which could be crocheted, and decided that the patterns were either too complicated, or too pared back, or too big. I wanted something simplish and not too big. So the only thing I could do was have a go at it.

    I decided the head would be the awkward bit, as I needed it to be small but round, and it would really determine how big the body would have to be.

    I must admit I had several goes at this, and they ended up huge, the size of a tennis ball, or weird shaped - I had one that looked like a rugby ball and would have made a good 'alien' head. Eventually. after much pulling back and starting again, I managed to get a head the shape and size I wanted (I even managed to give it a bit of a neck, which I was quite proud of).

    Once I'd got the head made, I started on the body. The chest and arms were two 'T' shapes which I joined together. The legs were a bit more complicated again, as I wanted to make them in one piece, but with a bit of thought, and some more pulling back, I ended up with a pair of legs I was happy with.

    I stuffed all the pieces and joined them together, then had a think about finishing it off.

    According to some accounts leprechauns have red hair and beards, so mine had to have that, but I decided he would be a bit unkempt and wild looking. I also gave him some eyes. Then decided to have a go at making him a sort of top hat, with a buckled band, and finally a belt with a buckle too.

    The very last bit I did was giving him some hands, peeping out of the ends of his sleeves.

    I am quite pleased with the result.

    I think he is about 8" tall in total (20cm).

How Does This Mail Order Thing Work Then?

 Now that was a question which floored me.

    'How does this Mail Order thing work then?'

    For me 'Mail Order' was something that was always around. When I was young, you could get ENORMOUS mail order catalogues from various companies. They sold everything from clothes to toys, household furnishings to musical instruments, record players to hampers. 

    When we started Raven there was no such thing as the internet, and we knew that our market was both niche and specialist, not something that everyone who lived in our area would be likely to be interested in. We knew that our customers were going to be dotted about all over the country, and the only way to reach them was through offering a Mail Order Service.

    So we started off making the Raven Catalogue. At first it was maybe half a dozen pages, printed out from our Amstrad computer, on a dot matrix printer. There was no way you could have pictures, so everything had to be described.

    Gradually we invested in better printers, does anyone remember the Gestetner printers? A huge beast of thing which you had to create stensils for and printed using big tubes of black printers ink. Then we got a photocopier! Yay! Pictures were in!

    Actually I tend to still draw pictures of our products as I feel people can actually get a clearer idea of details with a line drawing.

    Anyway, sorry got distracted there. So how does this Mail Order thing work then?

    It is a very simple thing. You ask us for a copy of our catalogue, and you will be sent, through the post, a set of catalogues. Our catalogue is divided into sections, to make it easier for customers to find what they are after, and to make it easier for us to update a section, rather than having to update the full thing. So you get: The Postal Bookshop - mainly our own books on a variety of magical subjects, written and published by us, and largely unattainable elsewhere. The Earth Treasures section - all gemstones and crystals, together with an index of magical and healing uses, so you can pick which gems are the ones you need. The Incense section, joss sticks, incense cones, natural resins, together with burners and containers. Magical Oils section, all of the oils/perfumes listed are hand made individually for each customer when they are ordered, ensuring the freshest and most individual products you can have. And the Main Catalogue which has all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff in it, divination sets, Witch Bottles, talismans, charms, jewellery, decorations for home and magical space, anything that we come across. A lot of the stuff we sell is made by specialist makers, and very often is exclusive to Raven.

    Once you have the catalogue, you sit down with a cup of coffee, tea or the beverage of your preference, and have a good read through. If you come across anything you fancy, you write it down on the Order Form (remembering to put your name and address at the top - please!) then send the Order Form with a cheque, postal order, or cash, through the post (Mail) to Raven at the address printed on all the catalogues and on the Order Form too. Yes we do take Credit/Debit cards so you can send us your card details if you prefer. Oh and if you lose your Order Form, no problem just write what you want on any piece of paper, as long as I can decipher it, all is well.

    You can also just give me a ring (01482 632512) with your list and card details, and I will take your order over the phone. I can also let you know whether items are in stock or have sold out, and sometimes recommend an alternative.

    Even if you are going to send in your order form to us, you can ring up and speak to me to reserve items for you, so that you know you will get the things you are after.

    We also send out irregular Newsletters and special catalogues of all sorts of limited availability stuff to anyone on our Mailing List. In our Newsletter, we try to keep everyone as up to date a possible with what is going on at Raven, and also include articles on magical topics, poetry, 'Dates for Your Diary' and even have a free section for people to put in personal adverts for pen pals or magical contacts.

    There are an awful lot of people out there who do not have access to the Internet. Or who do not trust the security of on-line sites, or who simply can't order online, or really do not want to. Incidentally when we first set up our page on Facebook, we could put ourselves down as 'Mail Order Company' a few years later Facebook scrapped this category, so we had to choose something else, which is why we are labelled a 'Bookshop' which is only a small part of what we do.

    We have been in business, doing what we do for over THIRTY years now. Our customers trust us, some of them have been with us from the beginning, and a lot of them have become friends over the years too, which is lovely.

    So how does this Mail Order thing work then? 

    Well, for us and our customers, the answer is - nicely, thank you.

 I know you must have been worried that there had been no mention of crochet for a little while.

    But fret no more - because yes, I have been crocheting, but I am working on a big, complicated and dense piece of freeform crochet.

    I decided I wanted to make something very three dimensional, but flat. So I decided on making a garden.The flowers vary from very small to huge and from flat shapes through to very pointy and roundy shapes. The 'grass' I decided would be all shades of green, but I would create it through spiral shapes.

    This is quite heavy to work on in one piece, so I make sections then join them together. The unifying shapes will be the green spirals, but I am having great fun with it. It is not going to be a square, oblong or any particular shape, just however the mood takes me. 

    I am enjoying the different shapes and colours, forms and textures. The piece so far incorporates sewing, crochet, applique, weaving and darning. There is even a Green Man festooned and hidden with leaves and acorns. The piece is nowhere near finished yet, but I am so chuffed with it so far, I wanted to show you where I am up to.

This is a small section I have just got ready for adding in

You might be able to spot the Green Man in the bottom photo, but he is well disguised.

    You can tell from all the random loose threads, this is far from finished, but I will keep you posted with how it progresses.