We’re home, from a week in sunny Somerset with two happy, tired little dogs. There have been trips to the beach, walks in the woods and expeditions into towns where they have strutted their stuff and been much admired and fussed.  They are very happy to visit a pub if the members of staff come out with treats and cuddles.  I have to make do with a glass of white wine!

I did a lot of thinking while I was away. Trying to work out what I want, and need, to go forward.  I thought I’d got it all sorted, but that’s asking for trouble. These days I use my iPad for everything so I happily set everything up so I could upload my photos from my phone, edit them with a Photoshop app and write my blog posts.  And then in the middle of all that organisation a little pop up appeared which proceeded to wipe everything out and send my iPad back to set up mode.

I’ve found out that if you’ve forgotten your iPad ID it might as well be locked in a vault somewhere subterranean featured in the Lord of the Rings! So instead of thinking about blog posts I’ve spent the last few days transferring everything to my laptop.

What with Brexit, and lockdown and health problems Planet Penny as a business is no more, but I need to be creative, even in the smallest ways  My studio is being reinvented having had to have a new floor (don’t ask) so I’m working on a gradual transformation from a work room to  a sitting room for crafting, creating, cosiness and comfort.

Meanwhile, I have my ‘nest’. Where ever I am I always end up with a nest. It runs in the family, my mum had one as well.  Hers was based round her little book shelf. Mother had been a librarian and in the days before Google and Wikipedia, mother and her bookshelf of encyclopaedias and dictionaries was the font of all knowledge and the source of much information for her grandchildrens’ homework. It also contained multiple novels, knitting, tapestry, a secret supply of sweeties and a pen for the crossword in the newspaper.

My nest is a nightmare! Books I am reading, my journal, sewing box, ear buds, knitting, latest sewing project, tissues, socks (socks? well it might turn chilly) a current New European newspaper, pens, sketch pad, usually an iPad but currently a laptop, all topped off with blankets and dachshunds who want sit on top of it all.

My creativity went AWOL during Covid and it’s taken a long time to claw it back.  I’ve been so grateful for the amazing ladies I’ve found on the internet who have kept me going. Ann Wood who got me to build a cardboard dolls house, various websites which got me experimenting with lolly sticks and glue to make miniature furniture. The Fold Line, a wonderful resource for patterns and inspiration for making my own clothes. So many talented people using Procreate on the iPad to make beautiful art and repeating patterns. Luna Lapin, an elegantly dressed member of the Leporidae family who arrived in a second hand book waiting for me to create my own version. And a little teddy from Mama Roar

This is what I want expand upon, write  about and share.  I hope you’ll join me…be warned though, there will be occasional and uninvited dachshunds!

So, a dearth of photos and no links yet, but a statement of intent, hope and creativity.

 

 

Maybe it’s having been born near a tidal estuary but I’ve always been drawn to the quiet beauty and constant movement to be found where a river meets the sea and the tide changes the landscape endlessly.

The water’s passage across the land etches rivulets and hazardous boggy patches to catch the unwary, but gives life to tiny plants which thrive despite the challenging conditions.

This is the Severn Estuary, which, as well as being close to my birthplace, featured for several years in my past as the one I travelled over when I lived for nearly a decade in Wales. Traveling back from Norfolk having visited my parents, we always seem to arrive at the Severn Bridge at low tide as the sun was going down and the mud was shining deceptively pink and gold, disguising it’s treacherous nature.

It’s all such a metaphor for life. The unforeseen pitfalls, the boggy patches, the unexpected glimpses of beauty and joy, the deceptive shine on the underlying sludge and slime.

Being away from home is giving me time to reflect. Life has been tricky health wise, both mentally and physically. Always in the back of my mind is the thought that I need to be here, writing. The frenetic pace of social media is too much. Compete or fail. I want to create and share on my own terms, without being bogged down with SEO and adverts.  That’s how I started  and the impetus it gave to my creativity and the happiness I found in connecting with others gave so much meaning to my life.

I don’t want to make money.  I just want creativity and connection with people who want to look past the turmoil of the world as it is now to find the joy in the little things which still surround us. 

Like happy dachshunds ?

 

There’s a lot of catching up to do and it seems the burning question I left hanging was the arrival of Finlay, our long awaited dachshund pup. So the big reveal is, we went off to collect one puppy, and came home with two!

it’s a long story, but there he was, the last of the litter, after problems with the original prospective buyer. And, well, how could we not?

Finlay’s little brother is Fergus and is a proper mummy’s boy. Finlay on the other hand is besotted by my husband and they both adore each other so it’s all worked rather well.

Their personalities are total different and they are both little hooligans, they only get away with it because they are so cute!

I can’t imagine only having one now, despite the chaos (anyone want a brand new but disemboweled dog bed?)

So as I gradually get back into the swing of things, my new studio assistants are probably going to be snuffling their way into the picture as only dachshunds can.
You have been warned!

The longer I leave it, the harder it is to restart! I’ve been faffing for far too long feeling that I need, want to start blogging again. And there’s only one thing to do…DO IT!

When I started Planet Penny all those years ago it was to get my creativity going, and it’s much the same now. I’m going back to basics now and starting over. I no longer run a business but I still need to be creative. I’m not going to worry about SEO and engagement, but I’d love to keep in touch with anyone who would like to follow along.
But even if I’m doing this just for me, I shall be doing it!

I’m sending a big hello to anyone who has been surprised by me turning up in their inbox, and I shall be back again very soon!

We’ve met our baby at last, and there is a story to tell.

Over the years I have been struck by how many times things have happened which seem to have been ‘meant’. Little things which link together which make you think that’s got to be more than a coincidence, even when the rational side of you wants to dismiss it all. I’ve given up being rational, it happens too often!

During the first few days and weeks after losing Higgins I spent so long looking at dachshunds on social media that I now can’t log on without being inundated with images and websites to follow. It’s scary how the internet links in to your innermost thoughts! I found a Facebook page for UK dachshunds and there one evening I left a post, saying just how much I was missing Higgins and that in the near future I would be looking for a new little one to love.

And that is how I met Avril, the lovely lady of Woodlandax. Avril sent me such a lovely personal and sympathetic message when I was feeling so so sad. Avril has just started up as a breeder of dachshunds and had a dear little girl called Willow (who is adorable!) who was expecting a litter. The litter being the same mix as Higgins, a red mum and a black and tan dad.

So the fact that Avril, Willow and babies are a four hour drive away was obviously irrelevant!

One of the things which clicked with me was that Avril is determined to keep contact with the puppies and their families into the future. I’ve always regretted not knowing anything more about Higgins’ family over the years but it’s only now with social media that we can all keep in touch.

But the thing which resonated most with me was that Avril named the litter after flowers, and I found out she had named the little one I had chosen Forget-me-not. Not only are they one of my favourite flowers, they have self seeded all round my garden and Higgins casket is decorated with Forget-me-nots. Little Finlay Forget-me-not seems a perfect name.

Avril is keeping me up to date with daily photos of the puppies as they grow, and is doing amazing work acclimatising them to the world and all the strange noises that humans make, vacuum cleaners, fireworks and traffic and natural sounds like thunder. Finlay already responds to his name, and is peeing in the right place (long may that last!)

It was lovely to meet Finlay and siblings, little Willow (who is a wonderful mum) and of course Avril last weekend and we are counting the days now until we can go back to collect him.

If you want to keep up with the puppies do have a look at the Woodlandax Facebook page, they are sooo cute!

In case you are wondering if I have completely stopped being creative, don’t worry, I haven’t! I’m doing my usual thing of having several ( as in too many) projects on the go at once. A crochet blanket, a knitted shawl, a Skillshare course and there’s a cute pattern for a little dog jumper waiting in the wings. Just as well I haven’t sorted out the wool for that one yet or I’d have that on the needles as well!

The shawl came with me on our trip to Staffordshire which was just as well as we spent sooo long in traffic queues. Just as well I can knit in the car! I am now being really strict with myself and not allowing anything to come between me and the end of the second ball of yarn and a completed project.

I love the yarn. It’s Shhhhh DK from James C Brett, £4 for a 100gm ball. An accidental purchase when I unexpectedly found myself in a yarn store. Well it would have been rude not to, wouldn’t it? The colours make me think of Spring, new leaves and woodland blossoms. All the other colours are delicious too so I may just have to… No, stop it!

I must now hope that Finlay isn’t the wool eating monster that Higgins was!

Back soon…x

I’m just popping in to wish you all a very happy Easter from Planet Penny, and Finlay!

Finlay is now four weeks and three days old so now seems a good time to announce his name. We are off to meet him in person at the end of the week, I’m so excited! He’ll be joining us next month which seems an awfully long time to wait, I’m so missing the patter of little feet.

I’ll be back soon… x