About Me

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Isle of Bute, West Coast of Scotland, United Kingdom
Too old to be a rock chick, so I am the hippy hen! Environmentally and socially conscious, eco aware vegetarian goddess. Human and animal rights activist Against discrimination in all its forms. LGBT Ally. Lover of music, chocolate and crochet.. Womb cancer survivor.

Thursday 31 December 2020

Goodbye 2020.

 Well, I think most of us can agree that 2020 has been a terrible year and we'll all be glad to see the back of it.

As most of you might know I make & donate crochet items - scarves, beanies & wristwarmers - to homeless outreach projects around the UK. I've been doing this since around Oct. 2018.

I've just done my end of year tally and am quite surprised by the number off parcels that I've sent out considering that we were self isolating between mid March and mid September so no parcels went out at all. 

Having the Royal Mail start their new collection service has been a gret help as I no longer have to rely on hubby to go into town to the PO for me. Our lovely postie collects all my pacels and makes sure they go on their way!!

So, 33 parcels went out this year around the UK. From Glasgow, Manchester & Liverpool to Cardiff, Birmingham, Nottingham & London.

I have made 99 scarves, 256 beanies and 26 pairs of wrist warmers. I have certainly made a dent in my huge stash of yarn and I want to say THANK YOU to those people who have sent me donations of yarn because I certainly couldn't do all this if I was having to purchase the yarn.

I will of course continue to make and donate items in 2021because as much as I wish it wasn't, the need is still there. There are still thousands of people who are homeless and having to survive out on the streets. A warm hat and a scarf might not solve their problems but I'm sure it will help keep them a little bit warmer than they would otherwise have been. 

There are so many wonderful people up and down the UK who run local outreach projects with volunteers and go out in the evenings to offer hot food and warm, dry clothing etc to people on the streets and sadly due to covid restrictions during 2020 many of them have been unable to continue with their work as usual.

Hopefully 2021 will be better or all of us. I shall of course continue to crochet away, and make as many scarves, hats & wrist warmers as I can and donate them wherever they are needed.


Thank you too, for following what I do and if you've donated yarn then please know it is very much appreciated. I never turn down yarn!!!

Wishing you a peaceful and covid free 2021.😊

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Woolly hats for HMP Wandsworth

 As many of you probably know by now, I've been making & donating items to homeless outreach projects since about Oct. 2018. 

I started with the fingerless gloves, or wristwarmers & then started making scarves aswell & then added beanie hats to my collection.

I make up parcels & send them out to homeless outreach projects around the UK, especially in the run up to Christmas and the start of winter.

This year, due to covid things have been a bit different. Many of the outrech projects have not been able to operate as normal so have not been out on the streets providing warm clothng & food to those who need it. However, I have still been crocheting away & making lots of scarves & beanies & stashing them away in the cupboard.

I've been able to send some out - you can read more on the website - but I was beginning to think that a lot of the items would spend the winter sitting in my cupboards.

I put the call out on Twitter asking if any homeless outreach project or other similar organisation could use some & a lovely lady got in touch to tell me about an appeal to provide every prisoner at HMP Wandsworth with a warm woolly hat for Christmas.

Apparently the prison is very old and the heating system is therefore not very efficient so many of the cells are cold. The chaplain wants to provide every prisoner with a warm hat so a FB group was set up to help organise the appeal.

Now, there are 1,476 prisoners at the moment so that's a lot of beanies. Thankfully they are already around a third of the way to their total but they still need around 1000 beanies. 

So last week I delved into my stash and made up a parcel of 18 warm beanies & posted it off.



The parcel arrived safely & today I am making up another parcel to send to them. Another 18 beanies will be on their way tomorrow.



It's been heartwarming to read some of the comments in the FB group that has been set up about the appeal & its lovely to see the hats that have been made by people who want to help.

Please help if you can by sharing this blog post or other social media posts about this appeal. And don't worry if you can't knit or crochet - the beanies don't have to be handmade. Even pre-loved hats in good clean condition are acceptable. 




Thank you.

😎



 

Sunday 27 September 2020

Supporting Indie Sellers - Part 7


Well, here we are again with another blog post showcasing some fab independent sellers. This week they all have one thing in common, they are all based here on Isle of Bute.


First up is Maria of RowanberryBute. She can be found on Instagram, Twitter and FB
















Next up is Cathie of Felt Isle She can be found on FB and Instagram

















Back in part 5 I mentioned Tweazles Soapery who make lovely handmade soap but she also makes candles and wax melts so pop over to her website and check them out. They would make fab festive gifts. She can be found on FB & Twitter


















Another local producer is Isle of Bute Gin They make small batch craft gins and can be found on FB & Instagram 


















Another local crafter is Margy at Bute Pebbles who is on FB



















You can find more Bute based sellers over on Isle20 a fab website that was set up at the beginning of the covid pandemic to support local crafters in the Scottish Islands. 


Hope that you have liked this weeks selection of links. Please check them out and maybe even make a purchase or two. 


See you again next week. 😄




Sunday 20 September 2020

Supporting Indie Sellers - Part 6

Hello again and welcome to another of my weekely posts showcasing small independent creative sellers.

Ths week there is no theme, I'll just be sharing details of some fab sellers I follow on social media and hopefully you will like them as muich as I do and go give them your support with a like or a follow and maybe even a purchase; well, its not long until Christmas (I know, I've said it out loud, I'm sorry!!!) so you can start early and spread the cost!!

I've known Shirley at Pirate Swag for a few years now and she makes some lovely jewellery. She is on FB and also Twitter



















Another fab seller for you to check out is Maple Crafts. She is on FB and Instagram and you'll need your sunglasses on to check out the fab stuff she sells!!!
















Next up is Lucy at Let's Go Baaless Lots of lovely hand knitted items available ready to post or custom made. 














Well, I hope you've enjoyed this weeks selection of indie sellers. Please go check them out and say hello.


See you next week.....😄

Friday 11 September 2020

Supporting Indie Sellers - Part 5

 Welcome back. Well, so far we've covered crochet, glass, fabric and ceramics in my quest to showcase independent crafters & creatives. What shall be talk about this week?

How about soap? Guess we've all been using a lot more it over recent months due to covid so time to share some folks who handmake it - and some of it looks good enough to eat!!

First up is a local Bute based creative called Tweazle's Soapery  who can be found on FB and  Twitter Her soaps are vegan and produced in small batches here on Isle of Bute.







Don't they look amazing? Almost good enoiugh to eat - although I wouldn't recomend you try it!!




Next up is Soap & Pamper who are on Twitter Their soaps are also vegan.


















Another maker of fine artisan soaps is Saponista She can be found on FB and Twitter
























Well, I think you'll agree that these are some fab looking soaps and as it's getting to "that" time of year, they would make ideal gifts so why not start your festive shopping early and place some orders. 

Of course, you could always keep them for yourself, I won't tell anyone!

See you next Sunday for another round up of independent sellers.
Until then.....😍

Sunday 6 September 2020

Supporting Indie Sellers - Part 4

 Hello again, hope you've all had a nice week. I'm back again to showcase a few more fab indie creatives so grab yourself a cuppa and have a sit down and check out some of these wonderful creations.

This week we are focussing on pottery & ceramics and first up is Thrown in Stone Pottery who hail from Leeds. They make a range of items from lovely yarn bowls to candle holders and lots of other useful items.











They can be found on Twitter and Instagram and also have and Etsy shop so go check them out.

The next one for you to check out is a little bit more local to me. Sea Tree are based in Dunoon, Argyll.








They can be found on Facebook  and Instagram 






Next up is Rosie from Angels Unaware. She can be found over on Facebook 

















The final one for you to check out this week is Awen Alive Ceramics who can be found over on Facebook


















Well, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks post and that you will pop over and check out the artists mentioned. 


Until next week. 😊