A Break from Stitching

I'd like to start by saying that I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you every good wish for the New Year to come. The eerie scene above was through our porch window a few days before Christmas when a thin layer of snow lay on the ground and freezing fog in the air.
I was pleased to complete all my planned homemade gifts by late afternoon on Christmas Eve. I made the fudge and lemon curd above on consecutive days last week and these were given in gift bags along with damson jam and runner bean chutney.


I also finished table runner number 2 and fingerless gloves number 2 (forgot to get a photo of these in my rush to get them wrapped). The khaki fabric was from an old linen skirt of mine; the rest of the squares were scraps from ebay and the green fabric was new from my stash. The blue binding is the backing brought over to the front and is also thrifted.
My brother and his family arrived safely from Germany despite the bad weather and are staying until New Years Day. We've had a great time catching up with lots of laughter and tears (good ones - sister number 2, especially, cries at the drop of a hat). Twelve of us sat down together on Christmas Day to watch Doctor Who as my brother is also a fan, with the subtitles on for those whose English is not quick enough to follow. The cousins are getting on together particularly well - anyone would think it was 10 minutes since they last saw eachother not 10 years.
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There's been no stitching for a couple of days and I'm now attempting to take stock of what I've done and what I want to tackle next, now that the Christmas projects are out of the way.
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Here's to lots of stitching in 2010.
Bye for now
Teresa x

Kitchen Capers

I bought some cream solely for the purpose of trying out Rhonda's method for making butter on her down to earth blog. I hadn't got around to it, but then I was inspired and reminded of it after watching butter-making the tradtional way on The Victorian Farm. By then the cream was 4 days out-of-date but I opened it and sniffed and it was fine. And this is the result!! I am very pleased with how it turned out and it was so easy to do. I added a little sea salt and it was just right. According to The Victorian Farm I would have made a good dairymaid seeing as I normally have such cold hands. It means the butter didn't melt if they touched it, I don't think the cows would have been very happy about the cold hands though!

When I first married I wasn't a bad cook but could never get the hang of Yorkshire Pudding. If we had roast beef on a Sunday, I would valiantly attempt to make some and it would invariably turn out flat and crunchy. I tried all sorts of recipes and tips but nothing seemed to help so I eventually gave in and resorted to Aunt Bessies (the uncooked batter ones, not the ready made) and sometimes even these were unsuccessful! I had no trouble with Toad-in-the-Hole which is weird as it's essentially the same thing.
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The last couple of times we had beef, I decided to give it another go and, even though I used a recipe I've used before, I've had much better success for some reason. This week I was very pleased with the outcome.

Here they are with the dinner. Beef on the left for OH, quorn on the right for me.

I dashed into Morrisons this lunch break to claim my £25 voucher for spending over £40 on 5 out of the last 6 weeks in their store. I also quickly ran around the aisles with a trolley and picked up a lot of the little Christmas extras we ususally buy including a few extras for my brother and his family who are coming over from Belgium. I did rough calculations as I went and manged to get to £48, so was able to get the £25 off. As I won't be in this area again within the time limit of the voucher I was quite pleased I managed to find the time to do this because £25 off is well worth having!!

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Oh, I nearly forgot. I've won a little competiton so will show it here when it arrives.

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Is it a Shed or is it a Sauna?

An exciting development on The Shed Project is that the wood burner was lit for the first time on the weekend!! My OH spent Saturday afternoon working to complete the chimney and when he came to tell me the fire was lit I rushed over to see. It looked very 'Scandinavian' to have the fire burning away merrily in the wooden surroundings. My OH checked on the fire at intervals and informed me that the temperature had risen to 85 degrees F at one point, so the Scandinavian theme continued in that it was more like a sauna than a shed! It even smelled like a sauna!! I'll have to learn how to contol the temperature somehow. Unfortunately, in my haste to go and look I didn't think to take my camera (and was too lazy to go back and get it) so you'll have to make do with photos from Sunday when I risked life and limb climbing over the garden gate in a skirt and wedges to get these (it's kept locked a lot of the time and I can never find the key!!) when it brightened up a bit.

It's only little but it's mighty powerful

The view from in front of the stove. Junk (working materials) that needs to be cleared out then all that's left is to paint the walls and get a floor covering.

I said I would give my opinion of this book when I finished it. I have to say I found it very confusing. There were times when I agreed wholeheartedly with the views and sentiments and times when I couldn't have disagreed more. Some sentences were so sweeping and final and WRONG that they didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I nearly gave up after a couple of chapters but ploughed on and the annoying bits became less frequent. I agree with the general sentiments of the book but Tom Hodgkinson's attitude was irritating and if he was trying to be 'tougue-in-cheek' at times it didn't come across very well. It's all very well trying to live a life free from 'the system' but sometimes his methods didn't show respect for other people and being 'free' doesn't mean being rude or breaking the law.

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One Carol Service down, 3 more to go, plus 2 other services and one concert before Christmas, so plenty of singing still look forward to. Also, one and half more gifts to stitch and more gifts to cook/bake, decorations to put up and friends to meet up with. How long have I got?

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Bye for now

Teresa x

My Package Arrived!!

A little while ago I was lucky enough to win a sweet giveaway being run by A Piece of Wood - my first win :-) - and the package arrived a couple of days ago. I'd forgotten that APOW said she'd include a couple of extras so imagine my surprise when I found these inside. The giveaway was for a handmade card and you can see it here; it's a lovely simple design effectively show-cased on red card. The 'extras' consisted of a Breast Cancer charity pin and a plain calico shopping tote. The pin is quite poignent as my mother has recently recovered from breast cancer. The bag will come in very handy in these days of trying not to use plastic bags. If you're in the UK, are you covered in a blanket of fog today too? Isn't it dreary! Such a difference from the sunny skies of yesterday. I was hoping we were in for a stretch of cold, crisp, sunny winter.

Here's the progress on fingerless mittens no 2. No more than when I mentioned it previously! I still don't know if they're going to be a wearable size.

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This weekend is the last practice for our Sing Hallelujah which is taking place next Friday as part of a concert involving the school children, with lots of other items of which I don't have details yet. I do, however, know that I was asked a few weeks ago to sing 'How Beautiful are the Feet' which is also from The Messiah. I wasn't at home when I was called to see if I agreed, so don't know yet whether I've been included. I don't really know if I'm up to it, so I'm hoping I can have a practise this weekend too. The pitch may need to be lowered a little for me though as it's quite high.

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Have a great weekend

Bye for now

Teresa x

Lost My Appetite for Christmas

The boxes of decorations were brought down from the loft last weekend and, although they haven't been put up properly yet, I dug out a few things that didn't need any effort to display.
This little Nativity group was bought last year while in Cowbridge on one of my shopping/lunch/meet-ups with a friend. We went to a nice tapas bar for lunch if I remember correctly. I think I bought this little gold wire tree last year too but can't remember where from.
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I bought this painted, wooden hanging 'noel' a couple of weeks ago from here, and I've just realised it was also while shopping with the same friend! I think she may be a bad influence on me - making me buy things (although I don't need much encouragement!!).

When I say I've lost my appetite for Christmas, I don't mean I've gone off the Festive Season. Certainly not! What I mean is that at this time of year, around November/December, my appetite for food decreases. It's happened every year for about the last 10 years and I've no idea why. Normally, I can eat any time, anywhere although I do try to keep some control! Before this started happening I would never have thought I could have a rumbling tummy and not think of anything I fancied eating. At times like these I eat what I fancy, when I fancy it, because I can lose weight otherwise (which I don't want to do!). It also helps me to understand how slim people can truthfully say, 'I eat what I want and don't put on weight; it's because what they want to eat isn't the same as the rest of us. The first time it happened I lost a stone (but I was heavier at the time and needed to lose some weight) and it's varied between half a stone and a couple of pounds since then. There's no need to worry though because my appetite returns sometime in the New Year and remains 'normal' until the next Christmas season.

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Anyway, I feel perfectly fine in myself and not having to worry too much about putting on weight over the holiday period is a bonus!!
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Bye for now
Teresa x

Giveaway Winner and Baking or Sewing (not both)

I must begin by saying I'm overwhelmed, amazed and excited by the number of visiters and commenters I've had over the last few days as a result of taking part in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! My aim was to attract a little attention from like-minded bloggers and start a little interaction going so hopefully that will be the result. I want to thank very, very much everyone who has visited, commented and especially if you had a little browse while you were here. I used the obligatory Random Number Generator to choose a number between 1 and 63 and it came up with 11 which is Peach Rainbow who has a fairly new blog showing lots of giveaways from around blogland. So well done PR and I'd love to see what use you make from the items. I'm sorry I can't reply individually to all entrants but I do appreciate your participation and look forward to welcoming you back if you call in for another visit.


I've realised this past weekend that if I concentrate on baking I don't get any stitching done and vise versa. No baking was accomplished this weekend, not even a loaf of bread! I did however run up this little zipped bag for a birthday present. The fabrics are all new from fat quarters I bought before I decided to concentrate on using recycled materials. The zip is part of a bundle I got from ebay. If you click to enlarge the photo you can see the rain on the window pane. It seems to have been raining for months. We could do with a bit of cold, crisp, sunny weather to make things feel more Christmasy.

I also made a start on table runner Christmas present number 2. I had no fixed plan in mind, although I did get an inkling of an idea from one that a lady at Saturday's quilting group made for Show and Tell (which, by the way, I meant to take my camera to but forgot. One member did take photos though and said she would email them to me so they may appear here at some point). Anyway, where was I, oh yes - well my method went something like this: 1. Choose colours. 2. Choose fabrics. 3. Cut shapes depending on sizes of bits of fabric. 4. Decide on design/layout. This probably isn't the way most people approach a project as I suspect they would start with number 4!! So here we have it so far; the cut fabrics above and a first try at a layout below. I may or may not use this arrangement. The pieces were all cut to the size of the furthest centre fabric as that was the smallest.

And finally, I made a start on another pair of fingerless mittens. This time I'm trying a finer yarn with the same size needles and not reducing the pattern. Goodness knows what size mittens I'll end up with!!

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Before I sign off for today I have to say again what fun it was to take part in the giveaway and I'm sure I'll do another one sometime. If I average 2 posts a week, as I seem to at the moment, it will take me about 24 weeks to reach my 100th post which would be a good time to do one; however, that would be too long to wait and I should reach the 2nd anniversary of my first post before that (April 2010) so I'll try and remember to do one then (as well as the 100th post). I'll try and find time to make something next time.

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By for now

Teresa x

Did, Done and Yet to Do

Drum roll please..................I present the finished table runner (well actually I'm lying again - the binding wasn't stitched down at the back when I took this photo).

I'm quite pleased with the result. I just hope it goes down well at Christmas, as much as a handmade gift as a table runner. Don't look too closely at the first photo - I know the centre doesn't line up very well.

The light blue fabric is from a pair of linen mix summer trousers and the rest is mainly from a pile of 4" squares I bought from ebay. I did have a slight hiccough when I made the first try at binding and it was too narrow. Instead of looking up instructions in one of my many quilting books, I 'thought' I remembered what the width should be. This one's a bit too wide but at least it covers the edge - the widest bit is on the back which I haven't photographed! I did consult a book for the corner mitres and I was pleased with the result of those.

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Lastly: A few things I'm looking forward to -

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Two whole weeks off work over Christmas and the New Year

A week with no OH at home in Jan and/or March while he goes skiing
A weekend singing course here next March

And a week in a cottage in Cornwall in July

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Bye for now

Teresa x

Muffins and Progress!

Here is one of the Muesli Muffins I made recently from Muffin Magic which is a great little book. I've tried a few of the recipes and they've all come out well. These are sweetened mostly with honey and just a little sugar, so if you prefer your little treats not to be too sweet, these are perfect. And what's that in the background? Oh dear, I said I wouldn't show any more bread due to bread overload here, but must just mention that I tried a different tack with it and made rolls after just making the dough in the machine. The family approved of these more than the loaves so they may be appearing more often around here.
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Quilting in progress on the Table Runner above. Stitching progress around here is like waiting for paint to dry or a kettle to boil but I should be able to show the finished product in my next post! I'm quite pleased with how it's going but I want to make another before Christmas so I need to get my skates on.

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And last but not least, here's a reminder to enter the Giveaway in my previous post if you'd like to win the little pile of goodies on offer. You can also go to Sewmamasew who are organising it, to enter more great Giveaways.

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Bye for now

Teresa x