December in the garden

On the day that the Christmas tree went up indoors, I was outside in the garden in a t-shirt taking pictures (left) of things that shouldn't rightly still be flowering and of some things (right)that should.










Popular posts from this blog

Enter to win Glenda Young signed book with chocolates

Image
Enter to win a signed book of your choice from my books pictured.  If you're drawn at random from all the correct entries, you'll also win a Galaxy Smooth Milk bar of chocolate 180g.  UK entries only please.  Deadline for entries is Friday 24 April 2026. Good luck, everyone! Loading… __ Glenda Young BlueSky:  @Glenda Young Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor Website:  GlendaYoungBooks.com
Read more

Clippy Mat Making at Beamish

Image
Researching for my novel Pearl of Pit Lane I spent the day at Beamish Museum on a clippy mat workshop. And if you're wondering what a clippy mat is, it's also known as a proggy mat or a rag rug. The BBC puts it like this: Proggy mats were a common sight in working-class homes in the North East of England until the mid-20th Century. Made from old sacks and recycled fabric they were an economical option to keep feet warm and toasty in an era before fitted carpets were the norm. I remember my grandma had proggy mats in her house and I also remember her making them, but I was never interested back then in learning how to make my own. As Ione of my characters in my novel makes proggy mats, I could have read about how to make them or even watched on YouTube, I wanted to discover for myself what the process felt like, smelt like, sounded like. And so I booked myself on to a workshop at Beamish Museum, a place I love to visit. There were six of us on the proggy mat workshop...
Read more