OF&G :: The Blog

Google has announced a major extension of its Street View feature in Google Maps today. The level of detail is amazing, if somewhat disturbing to be able to see so much of everything. They claim to have 95% of the UK covered.

So, what do you do first with such a facility? Well, a bit like kids will always seek out the rude words in a dictionary, we reckon you check out your home and then maybe your place of work…

And we found this:

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It’s a view into our yard at the front of The Old Estate Yard, with a member of staff driving the long-since-replaced company car.

We can’t actually quite decide which member of staff, although we’ve narrowed it down, because whoever it was has either fallen asleep waiting for the lights at the adjacent roadworks to change, or couldn’t get Jeremy Vine off the radio quick enough…

Have you checked out your neck of the woods yet? Does it raise privacy issues? Surely it’s going to reveal evidence of people being places they shouldn’t have been? Let the fun commence…

But when all is said and done, it’s an incredibly powerful feature and it will be interesting to see how people come to use it.

This is very exciting! Having sent out many, many copies of the Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern to the enthusiastic knitters who have requested it, we’ve finally had an example of the finished product sent back in!!!

Tracy Williams was good enough to let us see this marvellous creation, which is her mum’s handiwork:

The Farmers Weekly tractor jumper. Sent in by Tracy Williams. Knitted by her mum!

Connoisseurs of this particular pattern will note the addition of the hood. A very nifty touch that has impressed us and, given the current weather trend, will be most welcome to Tracy’s son when he’s sporting this very special garment.

Our thanks to Tracy for sharing. We can think of at least a couple of friends at FW Towers who are also going to be thrilled to see this…

PS – you still have just a handful of days to try and win our own tractor jumper. Just go here and read the entry rules. Go on, you know you want to….

PPS – thanks to all of you who have already donated!

The moment so many have awaited for so long has arrived. The Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper is complete. It has been united with Certification Manager, Steve, who won the pattern in the first place with some appalling gags, and the pictures are below.

You’re probably reading this part of the post on your second scan of the page because you just couldn’t stop yourself from scrolling down immediately to see the pictures as soon as humanly possible.

So now you’re back with us, there are some credits to roll. Not least of them is multi-skilled Certification Officer, Katie Owens, who turned a concept into reality. While Steve probably though the limit of his obligations would be posing with the pattern itself, it was Katie who made his heart sink with the phrase: “If you get me the wool, I’ll knit it.” So, obviously, we pulled out all the stops to get the wool.

And on that note there must be a plug for the lovely Juliet Morris, of Ystrad Traditional Organics, who matched us up with some of her very fine organic wool. I’m no expert, but I can tell you that the jumper feels great!

And here, at last, it is:

The Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper, as modeled by Steve while being tested for its thermal properties!

Yes, we made him stand outside. Well, that’s what it’s for, surely?

The jumper in close-up, so we can all admire the detail of Katie's handiwork.

And despite her protestations, the hero of the day, with her triumphant creation:

The jumper with its creator, Katie Owens.

So, does this bring us to a conclusion? Is the jumper saga at an end? Maybe. But then, maybe not…

We kick off the new year with some news that will no doubt cause a degree of mirth around the office. Official confirmation has been give by our Knitter-in-Chief (a.k.a. Certification Officer, Katie Owens) that the Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper is all but complete!

Yes, finally, this long-anticipated garment is due to be unveiled shortly. This is probably not viewed as such good news by our Certification Manager, Steve Clarkson, for it is he, as the winner of the pattern in a little Twitter-based competition with @FarmersWeekly, who will be the recipient and model of said jumper.

Unfortunately it has just been discovered that Steve is going to be out of the office after today and the so far mythical woolly pully is not on the premises yet, so the fashion parade will have to wait for a few days. But there is no escape for Steve and the day we have been waiting for since March is nigh…

It’s official – the OF&G/Farmers Weekly jumper is underway! I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

Our handicrafts expert, Certification Officer Katie Owens, is beavering away with the knitting needles and is already a good couple of inches up from the bottom (probably called lower hem, or something, for those in the know).

She’s using only the finest materials, with the organic wool provided by Juliet at Ystrad Organics.

There’s a certain degree of excitement surrounding this event, mainly because we’re all very keen to see Certification Manager, Steve Clarkson, modelling it for the world. He’ll probably be blinded for a week by all the camera flashes when this major event occurs, but it’s all in the line of duty… Kind of.

Champion pumpkin by Katie Owens

Judges comments:

An instant winner when the photo landed in the judges’ inbox, the top pumpkin drew admiring oohs and ahhs from other FW journalists who were hanging around Caroline’s desk trying to pilfer her box of walnut whips.

Traditional in design but expertly executed, the winning pumpkin would definitely frighten the judges on a dark night (admittedly, this isn’t a great claim seeing as Caroline is scared of wool and Isabel is scared of cows).

Honourable mention….

The bats. Nice design, lovely placing of the bats and excellent carving.

So, congratulations to Katie and well done to the rest who put up a very strong fight. And with that, I think we’ve had quite enough about pumpkins. Back to normal service…

The pumpkin competition judging is complete. It’s a very tense time here at The Old Estate Yard. Seriously, I’m being harassed for the result.

(So, just to drop in a bit more of a delay, I’m making the entrants read this pointless sentence and when they get to the end of it they are going to be quite mad that they didn’t actually need to read it and could have just skipped down the page)

We’re very grateful to Caroline Stocks and Isabel Davies, of Farmers Weekly fame, for taking the time to not only judge the competition, but to provide thoughtful comments on each entry. They obviously take their responsibilities very seriously – also evidenced by the fact that Isabel did her judging while actually on holiday from work! Thank you both.

(Look, I’m dragging it out again!)

On with the show. Here are the individual entries, with the judges’ comments:

Carver: Roy Lawford

“An interesting take on the traditional pumpkin face, though it have something of Jim Rosenthal/the Count from Sesame Street about it. Very sinister.”

Carver: Ruth Lamb

“This entry shows excellent use of the craft knife to produce the delicate spider’s web. Slight wonkiness to the eyes, but it adds to the piece’s rustic charm.”

Carver: Emma Jones

“We like the fact this carver went for a jagged shape on the top of the pumpkin rather than the traditional round hole – it juxtaposes well with cobweb. Excellent attention paid to the anatomical detail of the spider, it looks very lifelike.”

Carver: Joanna Gleeson

“A very cheery-looking face, showing skill with a knife to produce such a fine row of teeth. Smashing shade of orange too.”

Carver: Katie Owens

“The scariest of the three traditional pumpkin faces, very dramatic and some well-carved fangs. Love the eyebrows.”

Carver: Nicola Mason

“The most decorative of the entries, showing a fine artistic flair. Very difficult to maintain such detail in the smaller bats, well done.”

Carver: Angela Norman

“Interesting design with lovely symmetry to the spider’s legs. Particularly like the fact the spider was given feet.”

Obviously great thought and analysis has gone into the decision. So all that remains is to announce the winner! (You really thought I was going to do that in this post???)

The photos of our pumpkin carving competition entries are now with the judges at Farmers Weekly, who have kindly agreed to adjudicate on this important matter!

So, before they come up with a final decision, a chance for everyone else to compare and contrast. Feel free to post your favourites in the comments below. It’s quite a strong line-up:

Which is your favourite?

Spoooooooky