Coastal style

I opened the August 2011 edition of Coast magazine this afternoon and to my great surprise and delight spotted one of my uncle David 's paintings on page 47. The feature is about a lovely cottage by the sea on Mersea Island where David also lives. The owner of the house (Monkey Beach Cottage) has several of his paintings which can be seen in the pictures. David has been credited as a local artist, which is really nice.

See previous post about David Britton below - 10th June 2011.

Cottered day

Lovely day out in Cottered on Sunday. The village had it's annual traditional fair with car boot, vintage cars and fairground rides, candy floss, ice cream, morris dancing, open gardens, cake and jam stalls and teas, of course.

It was the hottest day of the year so far and we were gasping.

We visited the garden of Lower Farm and had tea and cake in the shade of a plum tree.

The garden is beautiful, with lots of secret 'rooms' and sculpture dotted about.

We took refuge from the sun again in the thatched gazebo. Just looking at this amazing table with undersea treasures of shells and fossils displayed under glass cooled me down.

I bought a teapot, a rolling pin and a vintage Christmas biscuit tin. Linda bought a teapot and homemade jams.

Cast off!

Now I can wear the lovely rosy gardening shoes from Hellie, sent all the way from Paris.

About as useful as...

....a chocolate tea pot! This lovely little wooden tea set comes in it's own tin. For little people and Jolie bunnies.

Knit and wine

Tuesday 21st June, 7.30 -10pm.

Join us for wine and nibbles - we promise NOT to knit socks.

Box of delights

Linda put these pretty spools of crochet cotton in the an egg cabinet. Very fetching.

Ria Grand

Ria had a milestone birthday at the weekend - and celebrated with a brass band in the back garden. How fabulous. Ria told us about the scarf she knitted in Penang, where she had increased so many times and forgot to decrease, that she ended up with over 4,000 stitches on a circular needle! Anne Marie was admiring the birthday hairdo, rather than the knitting prowess....the scarf does still exist somewhere. Ria's promised to bring it in for show and tell.

Pretty feet

This book is divine. Written by Caroline Hugo, the patterns are lovely with charming photography.

We drooled a lot whilst drinking our morning coffee.

Also note - nice new mugs for Knit and Chat.

Reduce your wool miles

Now in, locally produced artisan wool from Highbury Farm, Wood End, Hertfordshire, literally 3 miles from Jolie. This yarn is a completely natural product from Poll Dorset ewe lambs (relatives of the now infamous Plum and Ivy). Spun to reflect the nature of the fleece, it is undyed and has been nowhere near any harsh chemicals. It is a dk yarn, available in 100g skeins or 50g balls.

Mersea beats

I visited my uncle, David Britton, last weekend. He is an artist who lives and works from his studio in the garden, on Mersea Island, Essex (the most easterly inhabited island in the UK and also home to The Company Shed renowned fish restaurant).

David has been based in East Anglia for many years and is wonderful landscape painter. He is holding an exhibition of work entitled Air, Space and Light at the Aldeburgh Cinema, Suffolk from 10th - 16th June 2011. www.aldeburghcinema.co.uk

PS The best fish and chips in the world can also be found in Aldeburgh....

Raspberry ripple

Sue has finished her beautiful crochet ripple blanket. Crocheted in three pinks (Shell, Sugar and Slick) in Rowan handknit dk and finished with a picot edge, it is simply stunning. She is eyeing up the blue palette now for the next one.