A New Year at Svoen.

Isn't it strange how we often have a completely different view of ourselves than other people do?  A while ago somebody said to me "...but you like a challenge, don't you."  This surprised me somewhat, as I had never thought of myself in this way.  I thought I was "just getting on with it", coping with whatever was thrown at me.  Perhaps the onlooker's view was a more positive interpretation of my more passive approach, or maybe they have a point.  How else can I explain the fact that not only am I in a foreign country, I am doing two entirely new jobs (farming and teaching), trying to learn to drive and taking a two-year, degree level home-learning course - all at the same time.  Of course, the other alternative is that I am completely insane!

Anyway, my conscience has prodded me into writing another blog post, not only because my second term of this home-learning course has only just started and therefore I have a little time to update my posts here, but also because it is a course in English.  One of the modules this term has a pedagogic focus, concentrating on teaching (and encouraging) writing in schools.  Apparently, to teach writing I should be an active writer myself, so here I am.  I was also heartened to read that writing is hard, or at least requires hard work; something I have always found to be true.  Although I enjoy writing, a great deal of thought and time goes into what I write.  I am a slow writer; I agonise over word choice and sentence construction, this sentence being a perfect example!  It's just taken me nearly five minutes to decide on the words to use.  Before I get much older then, on to other things...

Christmas was, as usual, lovely here at Svoen.  You will probably notice from the pictures that I enjoy decorating the house!  I have included them here because my Mum wanted to see some pictures, particularly of the outside tree.  Since my first two English modules finished just before Christmas I had a nice, long, study-free break, which gave me ample time to indulge in some small sewing projects.  For some reason these Tilda projects are highly addictive.  The results are below, along with a two-month-old knitting project, finally completed.

Lastest knitting creation - a Rowan pattern knitted in 100% wool yarn.  It actually has a knitted belt, but the ribbon was for a more festive feel!  Not as difficult as it looks; perhaps I'm getting better at knitting!

Tilda Bambi, with some of my own additions.  I used a suede-effect fabric from an old blind instead of cotton and added buttons for spots.  Since the photo was taken he also got a little bell added to his bow

These Tilda mushrooms will make good pincushions.

The sheep are residing in their winter accommodation.  We have some beautiful, coloured ewe lambs this year and are hoping for more in spring.  They'll all be having their scans soon, so we'll know how many lambs to expect in a few weeks.  As usual, we are hoping for an early spring so that we can turn the sheep and lambs out as soon as there is grass on the fields.  A hundred or so lambs and forty nine sheep all stuck inside for weeks on end will not be ideal to say the least.

At the moment, the weather is being quite kind to us.  There is very little snow on the ground (sorry, I can't help grinning as I write this), which is making me optimistic about an early spring.  This is our fifth winter here and each one has been different.  This could be the year when all the snow has gone by May... couldn't it?  Perhaps optimism is another of my hidden qualities...