Last Crafts of 2008

In my rush to finish gifts , I failed to take pictures of three lace items which have already gone out.
Two were 12 " lace mats with a bath bomb (bath smellies) tied in the centre, raffle prizes for the bowls club.
The third is a24" table centre lace cloth, for a friend who I play bowls with.

I made two of these Christmas rings, as a small broach type decoration for Christmas.


Next is a birthday present from my eldest daughter, A Knitting Mill.
Instead of working for hours with French Knitting, using a dolly peg.
Just thread up the mill and wind the handle which operates the four hooks.
I made 11 yards of knitting in twenty minutes.

The end product will be the interwoven shoulder strap for a bag made for a friend.

Sky Watch Christmas Eve

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and every best wish for the New Year.
These are pictures taken today Christmas Eve, skies over Lincolnshire.
What wonderful weather we are having, it is approximatly 10 degrees, very mild and lots of sunny spells.
My next SWF post will be in 2009, see you all then.

Winter Solstice

The setting sun on 21 December 2008.
I can't wait for the evenings to get longer and lighter.
May Christmas and the New Year bring you peace and joy.

I have has a glitch today on my computer server. As a result the pictures are printed twice and if I remove this set then todays entry will also vanish.
Please just scroll down for todays entry. Thanks for taking the time.

Sky Watch Friday 18

The Bass Maltings.

These historical structures, The Bass Maltings, were built in the early 20th century and
replaced several small malt houses in the area.
It was used for six decades to turn grain into malt for the production of beer.

The eight enormous buildings- each identical and known as pavillions- covered an area the
size of six football pitches, and can be seen for miles in the county. Three of them have been
badly damaged by fire.

The rural area was ideal for growing Barley Malt.
This when ready was harvested and transferred to the maltings which then started the three
key stages in the production of making beer.

Steeping stage: which involves soaking the malt in water and took about two days to complete,
increasing the water content of the barley kernels from approximately 10% to 50%, stimulating
the metabolic process.

Germination stage: when strict humidity and temperature controls are used to breaks down the starches
into simple sugars, this took four to five days processing.

Kilning stage: which is drying the malt to about 4% moisture to prevent the loss of the sugars, it is at
this stage that the colour and flavour of the final brew is determined.

The workers as well as their wages each received three free pints a day.

The maltings struggled to remain open through the second world war, eventually closing as a maltings in 1960.

Some of the buildings were being used in the 1980s for processing vegetables, prior to pickling, or freezing.

Though they have fallen into disrepair over time.

HRH The Prince of Wales supports restoration efforts through The Phoenix Trust, of this site.
Possible facilities would be apartments, restaurants and a museum.

To see more Sky Watch pictures from around the world, click on the Sky Watch Banner in my side bar on the right.

Thanks again to the dedicated team of workers, unpaid in wage or beer, for their time and energies in maintaining
a seam free running of Sky Watch.

Sky Watch Friday 17

What strange weather we are having.
Mind it is the right way about.
Sunny and bright in the day time, freezing cold at night.

Rewards are, such lovely skies, taken by me, of Lollycocks field,
the river Slea flowing full and taken by me again,
Lord L's full moon with an aircraft to the left, which has a silver body with a red tail.
Who could ask for any thing more.

To see many more great sky watch pictures from around the world,
just click on the Sky Watch banner in my side bar on the right.

There are a team of devoted people who ensure the trouble free running of Sky Watch Friday,
which was established by Dot originally.
Many other team members have moved on to other pursuits.
My thanks go to them all of them for what SWF has become.

Sky Watch Friday 16

After The Storm.

I have been bowling today and as I was inside when the weather broke,
Lord L took these pictures for Sky Watch.
It is bitterly cold here, although, there is no snow yet I am pleased to say.

I hope fellow watchers enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebrations last week.

To enlarge any image just click on the picture.

To see hundreds of other Sky Watch Images from around the world, click
on the Sky Watch Banner in my side bar on the right.

There are a team of workers, dedicated to ensuring a seam free working of Sky Watch.
They are allocated specific areas which they monitor and comment on.
This is an unpaid position which takes a good deal of time and effort.
Thank you all for your work and dedication.

Sky Watch Friday 15

As you can see the skies have been busy over
where we are.
Lord L was quite taken by the varied flight paths
and recorded them for this weeks Sky Watch.
Among them is his interpretation of the Scottish Saltire, the white cross on the blue background.

To enlarge any picture just click on the image.

To join in the pleasure that we all experience each week, seeing Sky Watch pictures from around the world and while remaining in the comfort of your own home.
Just click on the Sky Watch Friday banner, on the top right in my side bar.

There are a team of dedicated staff , to name a few Klaus, Imac,
Fishing guy, Louise who make this experience available to
us each week.
My thanks to them for all their hard work.

Birthday Gift

This is a 60 birthday gift for a friend, her birthday is on 25 December.
We discussed her having joint gifts, to mark both Christmas and her birthday, when she was a child. She tells me she did feel that she missed out.
I hope she will enjoy this gift.

Shaun and Shirley

Meet fun fund raisers Shaun on the right and Shirley. They only took a few hours to knit. However they took a lot longer to assemble.
All good fun though.

Sky Watch Friday 14

Winter conditions have been here on and off over the last couple of weeks.
In between though,we have had odd days of lovely sunshine,with these
wonderful coloured skies at sun set.
These were taken by Lord L yesterday, they have not been enhanced at all.
Just click on the picture to enlarge it.

There are many lovely people out there,who enjoy watching the skies and
from all over the world share their sky views.
If you would like to see these,please just click on the Sky Watch Friday banner in my side bar.


I will always think well of the founder members of the scheme, for such a brilliant concept and establishing Sky Watch Friday.
My thanks go also to the current team members,who ensure a trouble free system, advice and maintenance.

Dancin' Bedspread Completed

This is the second spread I have made in 13 months.
The first, a white one, was for Mac's niece, from Caged Minutes.
The second is a rich cream colour and is for Dancin' from In the Pink.

They are made as gifts, for having such lovely daughters.

When a large project is completed. I find that I am at odds with my self.
I have filled time making dolls clothes for a friends grand daughter, two Shaun The Sheep and
I have a lace cloth started for a friends 60 birthday.

I need something to get my teeth into though.

When the right thing comes along I will share it with you.
Mean while I will keep on making the Village people and the Boot Leg dolls.

Sky Watch 13

1) Lord L was watching
the full moon on
November 11 and
captured this picture.







2) This is a picture taken by me,
of the sun setting in the west,
again on 11 November.
























3) Yes there is a full moon here rising in the east,
on the same day as the other two.
What a wonderful change in the weather since last week.
Perhaps we need the not so good weather, to remind us of just how good it can be.

Please click on the picture to enlarge the view.

To see many more wonderful pictures from around the world please click on the
Sky Watch Banner, in my side bar.

There are new team members at Sky Watch and to them as well as the more established members,
I send my thanks for making this service seam free and such a joy to share in.

Sky Watch 12

It has been an overcast week here with lots of rain and I
could not think what to do to make a sky watch feature for tonight.

At 2.30 pm today, I went to the fourth floor outside gallery of the HUB, an exhibition centre
near where I live and found these three pictures. They show the sky as it has been.

The first is: Autumn colours, the willows in the background are opposite my bowls club.

The second is: The Mill, in Moneys Yard. Having been repaired it is now a restaurant.

The third is St Denys Church.

To enlarge any picture please double click on it.

To see more wonderful pictures from around the world , just click on the Sky Watch Banner in my side bar.

Last week saw Tom, one of the founders of Sky Watch retire. He will I am sure be greatly missed.
May I say that I had not known you for long Tom, though I really enjoyed you photography.
I wish you and your family well.
Let us know how you do in the Rally, when you have completed your Land Rover tuning.

Sky Watch 11

This week we have had some wonderful days of blue skies and light fluffy clouds, which change at a moments notice.
Today though, while I was bowling, Lord L took these two pictures.
The first is Starlings take flight.
The second is just as the weather was changing and becoming threatening.
It is now bitterly cold.


To see more wonderful pictures on Sky Watch please click on the Sky Watch Banner on my side bar.
As always a big thank you to Tom, Klaus, Sandy, to name but a few of the team working behind the sceans to make Sky Watch available to everyone.