It’s been a hectic few weeks, hence the lack of posts, but I just wanted to let you know that we are now open.
ORIAU AGOR ~ OPENING HOURS
| Dydd Llun | ― | Monday |
| Dydd Mawrth | ― | Tuesday |
| Dydd Mercher | 10.30 – 3.30 | Wednesday |
| Dydd Iau | 10.00 – 3.30 | Thursday |
| Dydd Gwener | 10.00 – 3.30 | Friday |
| Dydd Sadwrn | 10.00 – 3.30 | Saturday |
| Dydd Sul | ― | Sunday |
Do come and say hello if you are visiting Lampeter, we are at 10 College Street, SA48 7DY.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on March 29, 2022
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2022/03/29/open-for-business-2/
Whilst the rest of you have been immersed in seasonal festivities, here in the Snail household, we’ve had other things on our minds… many of them nowhere near as enjoyable. The final purchase of our shop meant that the week before Christmas (when we knew many of the businesses we wanted to interact with would be closed) was spent sorting out utilities, insurance and practical aspects of owning a new building. Some things we managed – finding the stop tap, reading the electricity, gas and water meters, arranging insurance – and some we didn’t – working out how to stop the burglar alarm beeping (no one gave us a code, but it doesn’t seem to set off the actual alarm), determining the purpose of the strange additional electricity meter. Eventually everything will be sorted out, but it feels like there’s such a lot to do right now and deciding what to prioritise is a bit of a challenge.
We were concerned, initially, about the security of the shop, because we had only been give a key to the rather flimsy Yale lock on the front door, but then more keys were delivered and the two much more robust locks at the top and bottom of the door could be used, so that felt much safer. In addition, Mr Snail managed to get the insurance sorted out on Christmas eve, so it felt ok to start moving some of the stock from our house into the storage area in the shop. We still have many more boxes here at home, but we are making progress; plus, there’s now a kettle at the shop. At least our living room no longer looks like this:
So that’s the lock and the stock, but what about the Barry? Well, he’s the man who should be able to help us with getting a grant from the Council to do some improvement work, but of course, he’s not going to be working for a few days yet and so he will have to wait until the new year.
On a more exciting note, however, we have tickets to visit a trade fair in February, so I’m hoping to be able to find good sources for all the haberdashery and mending items that I want to stock. In addition, I have found a supplier of Speedweves and I’m just about to place an order for those*.
The “To Do” list is long, but we are making progress. Next week, we may be removing a wall…
-oOo-
* If you want one, I will have all three sizes available in a month or so.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on December 28, 2021
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2021/12/28/lock-stock-and-barry/
May turned out to see lots of action with respect to 17 for 2017, including another two sets of goals achieved. So, this is progress to date:
A gift vaark
Seventeen… Love Rocks or other little random yarny/sewn gifts. I could claim that this goal has been completed, having put dozens and dozens of hearts in the community garden in Chorlton last Saturday, but I’m only counting this as one ‘act’. I also made a little vaark which was sent as a surprise to one of the administrators for the 60 Million Trebles project. Thus, the total so far is six.
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits. Three lots in May means I’m just a single batch away from my goal.
Fifteen… cheeses. I made two lots of Bel Paese-style cheese – it’s really simple, is ready after just six weeks and it’s great for cooking. Th total now is nine
Fourteen… pairs of knickers. None this month, so the total is still six.
Mended with a swirl or two of Sugru
Thirteen… mends. Leggings, pyjamas and two different sets of headphones this month means that I’ve reached my target for the year.
Twelve… letters to friends. None written this month, so the total is still six.
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop. I’ve added just one item this month, the “Start a Revolution, Plant a Garden” embroidery that appeared in the craftivism display. This takes the total to eight.
Lemongrass, grown from seed, off to a new home
Ten... plants given to good homes. Although I only gave the first plants away last month, I’ve already reached my target, with summer purple sprouting broccoli, lemongrass and chillies accounting for most of the plants that have gone off to new homes in May.
Nine… games of Scrabble. None yet.
Eight… meals using only our own produce. None yet, although there have been several meals that came close.
Seven… visits to see “social media” friends. My visit to Manchester took my total to six.
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns. None this month, so still only one made
Five… book chapters written. None yet.
The squares for blanket six of four
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted. I’d completed this target by the end of February; however, I finished another this month and I’ve nearly finished one more.
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there. None yet.
Two… patterns published and on sale. No new pattern this month, so just the one published in January.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on June 2, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/06/02/17-for-2017-may-update/
This month has involved a holiday and a lot of work, distracting me from ticking things off the list; however, here is the April update for 17 for 2017. This is where I am so far:
Seventeen… Love Rocks or other little random yarny/sewn gifts. I crocheted a little collection of flowers and hearts for the craftivism display at The Make It Shop, to be given away at the end of May. Although there were seven of them, I’m just counting this as one ‘make’ on my list. Most unusually, I completely forgot to photograph them, but I will do so once they are in the display. This takes me to a total of four for this target.
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits. Just one batch in April takes the annual total to 12. We took this batch on holiday with us!
April’s cheese in the mould
Fifteen… cheeses. I experimented with making a new sort of cheese this month, using a thermophilic bacterial starter. It is smelling very good, so I hope that April’s solitary cheese will be a success. The total has now increased to seven.
Fourteen… pairs of knickers. None this month, so the total is still six. I have decided I need to tweak the pattern a little as I have lost a bit of weight!
Bucket reinforced using Sugru
Thirteen… mends. Two mends this month – both involved using Sugru to rescue damaged plastic items, namely a bucket and a coat hanger. This takes me to nine different mends so far this year.
Twelve… letters to friends. None written this month, so the total is still six.
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop. I haven’t added anything this month, The current total is still seven, but I’ve got some new ideas.
Here they were, ready to go to their new home
Ten... plants given to good homes. Finally kicking off this aim, I gave away two tomato plants this month to the friend who looks after our hens when we are on holiday.
Nine… games of Scrabble. None yet… we took the Scrabble set on holiday, but somehow it never got used.
Eight… meals using only our own produce. None yet, although plants are flourishing in the limery now, so the future looks bright.
Seven… visits to see “social media” friends. One lovely visit to see Karen of the blog Sweet Baby Veg – more about this in a later post. My total is now five.
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns. I planned to knit a pair of socks whilst on holiday, but I could not find the right needles before I went, and so I didn’t manage even to start a pair. Of course the needles turned up as soon as I got home, so maybe I’ll do better this month. The total is still just one pair.
Five… book chapters written. None yet – I’m still not feeling inspired!
A bonus blanket in progress (the fifth of four!)
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted. I’d completed this target by the end of February; however, I have another one underway at the moment – it’s the project I took on holiday in the absence of sock needles!
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there. None, but now the weather is warming up, the prospect of this happening is increasing.
Two… patterns published and on sale. No new pattern this month, so just the one published in January.
It’s a bit grubbier than this now!
One… gardening apron. Yay – this one is done, and it’s getting lots of use.
Progress has been a bit slow this month, but I’m still moving forward – how about your projects this year? If you have a 17 for 2017 blog post or an update on your progress, do leave a link in the comments.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on April 29, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/04/29/17-for-2017-april-update/
I can’t believe another month has whizzed by, but it has, so here is the March update for 17 for 2017. This is where I am so far:
Seventeen… Love Rocks or other little random yarny/sewn gifts. I have managed two contributions this month: hopefully my yarn bombing for Sixty Million Trebles reached a few people, plus I made Petunia vaark who has gone off to live with a new friend in Lancashire. This takes my total to three – I think vaarks may feature quite prominently in growing this target!
Ginger biscuits
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits. Four batches in March means that the annual total is already 11. The best thing to report, however, is that we have not bought any packets of biscuits at all, so there has been no palm oil consumption.
Fifteen… cheeses. One regular hard cheese plus two alpine cheeses this month mean that the total has increased to six. The regular cheese has been waxed to allow it to mature without further intervention, but the alpine cheeses are being washed regularly with locally produced honey ale to control the natural mould growth – these are supposed to be ready to eat after six weeks.
Fourteen… pairs of knickers. Only one pair made this month, bringing the total to six. However, I have now got some more organic cotton jersey fabric, so there’s cutting out to do.
Oh, darn!
Thirteen… mends. One pair of slippers and one pair of socks have been darned this month. I’m trying to keep on top of mends as they crop up, and this approach seems to be working well so far and I’ve now mended seven garments this year.
Twelve… letters to friends. None written this month, so the total is still six.
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop. I haven’t added anything this month, but I have sold a couple of items, which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t listed them in the first place! The current total is still seven.
Ten... plants given to good homes. None yet – but it looks like I’m going to have plenty surplus as the year progresses.
Nine… games of Scrabble. None yet.
Eight… meals using only our own produce. None yet, although we’ve eaten lots of kale, broccoli, mizuna and eggs from our garden!
Seven… visits to see “social media” friends. We met up with a whole bunch of Twitter friends a couple of weeks ago, taking my annual total to four. I’m currently in the process of organising a visit in April, one in May and looking at a get-together at the end of July. If all three of these work out, then that will take me to my target number.
Stripy socks
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns. I made my first pair of the year this month using my old-faithful pattern… I just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm to try a new pattern.
Five… book chapters written. None yet – I’m just not feeling inspired!
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted. I’d completed this target by the end of last month. I haven’t made any more in March, but various friends have given or are about to give me yarn and squares, so there are going to be more blankets in coming months.
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there. None, although a plan is afoot to increase storage space in the kitchen and then we can have a good sort-out of all the preserves and preserving equipment that’s up there and currently quite disorganised. I have also given away a couple of items, but I’m not being very focussed so far.
fabric for #1
Two… patterns published and on sale. No new pattern, so just the one published in January – sadly sales of that have been disappointing.
One… gardening apron. Not yet, but the fabric, chambray for the outside and poplin for the lining (not denim in the end – I had a change of heart) has arrived and this is something I’d really like completed soon because I want to use it!
Petunia
So, it’s progressing well – how about your projects this year? If you have a 17 for 2017 blog post or an update on your progress, do leave a link in the comments.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on March 31, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/03/31/17-for-2017-march-update/
Spreadsheet
Here I am again with a 17 for 2017 progress update (where does the time go?). If you look carefully at my spreadsheet, you can see that one of the rows is full! There are still some rows that don’t contain anything, but I’m making some progress, and some is very seasonal anyway. So, here’s where I am so far:
Seventeen… Love Rocks or other little random yarny/sewn gifts. I sent off my first of these just the other day. I want it to be a surprise for the recipient (although she knows it’s on the way), so no photograph just yet.
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits. I’ve only made one batch this month, but since I made loads last month, the total for the year so far is a respectable 7 batches
Fifteen… cheeses. No hard cheeses this month, but one batch of curd cheese.
Another pair
Fourteen… pairs of knickers. Three more pairs completed this month bringing the total to five. I’ve getting better with the overlocker, so they are getting easier to make.
Thirteen… mends. Three this month: the knees of Mr Snail’s work jeans patched again; a hole darned for a friend and a pair of my leggings mended.
Twelve… letters to friends. Just one written this month, but that’s ok because I only have to average one a month to reach my target.
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop. I’m delighted to say that there are now seven bird roosts listed – some felted and some made with woollen twine. I haven’t sold any yet, but it’s early days.
Ten... plants given to good homes. None yet – it’s still too early in the season.
Nine… games of Scrabble. None yet… we seem to have been so busy.
Eight… meals using only our own produce. None yet, although we’ve eaten lots of omelettes, making them partial meals from our garden!
Seven… visits to see “social media” friends. I’ve managed two ‘big’ visits – first to Manchester, where I saw a whole load of friends who I know via Twitter, as well as my dear Sarah, who I’ve known since I was 18 and my niece Alex; second to Birmingham, where I got together with lots of permaculture friends, most of whom I communicate with via FaceBook.
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns. None yet… it’s all been about crochet recently.
Five… book chapters written. None yet, although I may have persuaded a friend to contribute to the book.
Max quality-controlling the final blanket
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted. All four done… I will make more later in the year, but I’m having a rest for a while.
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there. None – it’s still too cold to venture up there yet!
Two… patterns published and on sale. I did one last month, but nothing further this month.
One… denim gardening apron. Not yet, but I will try to sort out the fabric in the coming month.
So, it’s progressing well – how about your projects this year? If you have 17 for 2017 blog post or an update on your progress, do leave a link in the comments.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on February 28, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/02/28/17-for-2017-february-update/
see- very geeky!
As we are coming to the end of the month, I thought I’d give you a 17 for 2017 progress update. I’ve got quite geeky about it all and made myself a spreadsheet with hyperlinks to pictures and (in one case) a second spreadsheet, meaning that I should be able to see how I’m getting on at a glance… if I remember to actually update the spreadsheet as I do things! Anyway, in less than I month, this is what I’ve done:
Seventeen… Love Rocks or other little random yarny/sewn gifts. I haven’t finished any yet, but I’m working on quite a big creation to send as a surprise gift.
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits. This was under-ambitious for the year – I’ve already made five batches!
Fifteen… cheeses. I’m not sure whether I should count one or two here – I made a tomme-style cheese, and then I made ricotta with the whey. I’ve only entered this as one cheese on my spreadsheet, because it was only one cheese-making day.
Fourteen… pairs of knickers. Good progress here: two pairs completed and another six pairs cut out and ready for sewing.
Thirteen… mends. Two done: some boro mending on the knee of a pair of jeans belonging to Mr Snail and a tear in a cotton tunic repaired using my overlocker.
Twelve… letters to friends. In a flurry of activity on a dull and wet day, I wrote five letters!
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop. None yet (although one pattern is now listed, but that’s lower down this list)
Ten... plants given to good homes. None yet – it’s too early in the season.
Nine… games of Scrabble. None yet… we’ve got a bit carried away with watching The Blacklist on dvd to the exclusion of playing games.
Eight… meals using only our own produce. None yet, because neither of us fancy kale omelette!
Seven… visits to see “social media” friends. One visit to blogging friend Katy the Night Owl.
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns. Yarn and new pattern at the ready, but none started yet.
Five… book chapters written. None, although I’m planning a talk on ecology that will form the skeleton of one of the chapters.
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted. Two completed – one for Knit for Peace, one for Sixty Million Trebles, and two on my hooks.
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there. None – it’s too cold to venture up there yet!
Two… patterns published and on sale. Bird Roost pattern finished and available as a digital download from my etsy shop.
One… denim gardening apron. Not yet – I’ve been dithering about the fabric!
If you have 17 for 2017 blog post or an update on your progress, do leave a link in the comments.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on January 29, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/01/29/17-for-2017-january-update/
Over the past year I’ve really enjoyed hearing what fellow bloggers have achieved off the lists that they made at the beginning of the year in 16 for 2016 (and before that in 15 for 2015). So, reading this year’s lists from gillyflower, Nana Cathy, Murtagh’s Meadow and others, I’ve been inspired. As I’ve said, I don’t like new year’s resolutions, but I do like a list. I started off on paper with some ideas.
it started with a mind map
Finally I’ve settled on this list of some of the things I’d like to achieve in 2017…
Seventeen… Love Rocks (my rocks will have little crochet vests rather than glued-on hearts) or other little random yarny/sewn gifts to be given to individuals or left to be found by anyone
Sixteen… batches of homemade biscuits
Fifteen… cheeses… it’s ambitious, but now I have my great source of milk, it’s do-able and they don’t all have to be hard cheeses
Fourteen… pairs of knickers… that’s how many I’m planning to make!
Thirteen… mends… darning, patching, gluing, stitching… whatever needs doing
Twelve… letters to friends, using real paper and real ink
Eleven… new items in my Etsy shop (this is long overdue)
Ten... plants given to good homes (this one is inspired by Murtagh’s meadow)
Nine… games of Scrabble… Mr Snail and I used to play often, but we rarely do now even though it’s something we both enjoy
Eight… meals using only our own produce (except oil and seasoning)
Seven… visits to see friends who I normally communicate with via social media
Six… Pairs of socks knitted, using at least three different patterns (I have one pattern I use over and over, but I want to diversify)
Five… book chapters written. I’m planning to write a beginner’s guide to ecology
Four… blankets for charity; knitted or crocheted
Three… sessions in the loft, sorting out some of the accumulated ‘stuff’ up there (I think there’s a box of 30-year-old bank statements!)
Two… patterns published and on sale. This year I will finally complete my crochet bird roost pattern and my skeleton hat knitting pattern (which involves a chart).
One… denim gardening apron
So, really it’s business as usual, but one or two of my goals may be quite a challenge and this should help to give me focus.
If you have 17 for 2017 blog post, do leave a link in the comments, I’d love to read what you are planning.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on January 3, 2017
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/01/03/17-for-2017/
As usual I’m joining with Emily of Nerd in the Brain (and others) for Three Things Thursday’. As she says…
*three things that make me smile: an exercise in gratitude – feel free to steal this idea with wild abandon and fill your blog with the happy*
First, chickens – happy and behaving naturally. Specifically the fact that this:
Feathers!
is because of this:
Moulty Bluebell
not because of a fox or other predator. This is quite an early moult, but it’s good because the weather is still pleasant, so she’s not shivering or drenched (yet). As you can see the two new girls are also doing well; they are both laying almost every day… so I’m grateful for their eggs too.
Second, crafty activities. I spent the whole of Sunday sewing, crocheting, paper-crafting and generally being creative. I’ll write a whole post dedicated to some of the sewing sometime in the future, so here is an example of some paper-craft:
Mr Snail’s birthday card
Third, tomatoes. For many years I have found it impossible to grow tomatoes. Every year in our old greenhouse I got only a tiny crop before the plants succumbed to Botrytis mould. This year is the first full growing season for the limery, and I’m delighted to report it’s turned the tide and I can now produce my own tomatoes – hurrah!
So that’s it for this week. What are you feeling grateful for?
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on September 1, 2016
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2016/09/01/three-things-thursday-1-september-2016/
For ages now I have been telling you that I’m going to set up an etsy shop; or, rather, that I’m going to stock the etsy shop that I set up last year. The time has finally arrived for me to start doing this, but… I’m not going to!
This will be in the shop
Prior to embarking on the work needed to create a good shop, I decided to do some reading round (here, for example) and as a result I discovered that etsy is no longer the platform it used to be. Originally (as I understand it), it was set up to act as a marketplace for craftspeople – a one-stop-shop on the internet where you could go to sell your lovingly-created items and where buyers would understand the ethos and value. Alas, this is no longer the case. You can now sell anything on etsy, even acting as a third-party seller for cheap mass-produced stuff. So, rather than a forum for crafters, we have another ebay just without the auctions. It appears that many genuine crafters have seen a significant drop in sales as a result because buyers are swamped with choices and find it difficult to distinguish between the origins of the different goods on offer as well as the discrepancy in prices.
There’ll be bath puffs too
I acknowledge that my products could be considered expensive when compared to what you can buy in the supermarket, but generally my buyers understand why this is… from the raw materials to the time taken to design and make the items on sale. I can’t compete with Superdrug on the price of a bath puff, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. So, I turned to Folksy – a British website specifically dedicated to handmade items. It has lower ‘footfall’ than etsy, but at least visitors will only be comparing like with like. Thus far I have set up the shop, but not stocked it. This weekend, I will be photographing my stock and hopefully there should be items for sale by next week… ooh it’s all rather exciting.
Posted by The Snail of Happiness on August 20, 2014
https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2014/08/20/a-change-of-plan/
The Snail of Happiness 