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- I was child free and foot loose today so I popped into my favourite little antiques/bric a brac shop in the village. It's not the sort of shop you want to go into when you have inquisitive little hands and a buggy!! So it was a real treat to have a browse around and then I spotted this sweet little tea set for two and just loved it. I'm thinking lots of afternoon tea opportunities with scones and a friend to join in!
- Waitrose was having a special offer on plums yesterday and I couldn't resist - that and the fact that a visit to my friend had me weighed down with lots of cooking apples meant that spiced plum chutney was calling out to be made. I'm hoping it will be beautifully yummy but will have to wait for 6 weeks to find out - labels in the process of being produced!!
- Having taken the first two photos I became a bit trigger happy and set off trying to find new things to shoot. These beauties are really brightening up our garden at the moment and I've got them positioned right outside the kitchen window so I can look at them while washing up and thinking what else I can make with my surplus cooking apples! (The thing I like about this photo is that you can see one of our -many- log stacks in the background!).
Oo, oo, oo I'm so thrilled with my table tent project (OK, couldn't keep it a secret any longer). I'm getting quite carried away with it. Not the best photo to show you but I've just been sewing some butterflies onto one of the panels. The birdie is on another panel and I just have one more panel to finish but that does involve ALOT of appliqué so it could take some time! Then it's a case of just putting it all together - ha ha! Don't you think the fabric is just divine? I have been sitting on this little pile of gorgeousness for quite some time and I'm really glad it's starting to be used and of course there is lots left over for all sorts of projects. The mind is racing away but those ideas will have to wait . . .
It's all been a bit hectic here recently, with the start of school, after school activities, homework . . .! So not much time for crafting. But we have been creating our very own nature step - it's like a nature table but on your doorstep!!! I have a feeling it is going to be something that is just going to keep on growing!
My camera is back - horray!!! Hopefully there'll be better photos to come . . .
Here is the lovely Virginia creeper that scrambles all over our house It's an exciting time at the moment watching as the leaves turn from green to a bright red, heralding a change in the season.
. . . of what I have been working on all summer. Inspiration from the talented Don't Look Now. Must dash . . . more appliqué to do before pick up! . . .
I've been getting a few little surprises recently in my kitchen drawers. I opened a drawer today to get a bag out for the bin and ...
. . . Oooo 2 tomatoes ripening in my drawer (please excuse the state of my drawer - must tidy it up a bit!!). Then a couple of days ago I had another surprise but this time in the tea towel drawer. I love to think that DH is changing the location to keep me on my toes! The thing is I never see him do it. He obviously just pops out to the greenhouse and then comes back and pops the tomatoes in a drawer. Anyway, we had these tomatoes for lunch today and they have the most divine flavour. So sweet they almost tasted of strawberry's. In a salad with home-grown basil - delicious.
Saffy also brings us little surprises but unfortunately they are of the rodent variety so not quite as lovely to receive!
On the crafting front my lace ball has been released from it's balloon AND has held it's shape - horray! So I'll let you know what I used to keep it's shape. Instead of the diluted glue which I didn't want to go out and buy I came across a receipe using cornstarch - then after some further searching I realised that cornstarch is actually cornflour which I had in my kitchen cupboard!! So I mixed up a tablespoon of cornflour and 1/2 cup of water and simmered it gently on the hob until it went transparent. Then wet the knitting under the tap, gently squeezing and then dunking it in the cornflour mixture. I gave it a good old soaking, blotted it carefully and inserted the balloon and blew it up - what fun! When my camera is back in action I'll let you see the finished item.
As a little aside I am sooooo excited, this little bundle of gorgeousness landed on my doormat this week which I brought from Dream Weaver Yarns. OK so there is a bit of a theme developing here, yes it's red and oh my it is sparkly and have I mentioned yet how gorgeous it is? Anyway, think of me clicking away tonight as I start my new project . . .
I've been drawn to knitting recently, maybe it's the shift in the season, I'm not sure but I have quite fancied getting my needles whirring again. Unfortunately, my other knitting project has ground to a bit of a halt. Running out of wool has made me umm and ahh about whether to finish it. Then there's my sister's present from last year - still waiting to be made - before you wonder I have given her something else in the meantime!! So having decided to use another wool for that present means I've got all this sparkly red gorgeousness to use. And yes it is a bit C********y (can't quite bare to type the word so early in the year!) but this pattern sang out to me as a perfect project for it. So predictably I found the pattern for Lace Balls on Ravelry - such a wonderful site and resource - and it made up very quickly and easily. So far I'm really pleased with the finished results but it's still drying and I'm not sure if my stiffening method is going to work as I didn't follow Judy's instruction to use diluted glue - anyway I will let you know how it goes when I pop the balloon!!!
Inspired by Attic 24's 3 Things and Three Beautiful Things' blog, here's my, rather blurry as it's taken with my phone, 3 Beautiful Things.
- A tea cup from a tea set that belonged to my Grandmother, a gift from her on our wedding day.
- An embroidered tablecloth that came with the tea set.
- Three roses picked from our garden with the most heavenly scent.
I am restless today . . . I don't feel settled . . . It seems like I can not get on with anything . . . although jobs have been done, the washing hung out, the dishwasher loaded and started, lunch made and eaten, Little Roo played with and then put down for his nap, some gentle weeding done but I am somewhere else . . . Flopsy Bunny is at school for her first day today and it seems like all my energy and attention is with her, although I don't know what she is doing or how she is feeling. Less than an hour to go before I pick her up - what treats lie in store for her - it feels like I will be welcoming her home after a long time away . . .
Blogger informs me that this is my 100th post - whoopee!! Seems somehow appropriate that it should coincide with today.
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