Me on Monday

I was just beginning my bedtime routines and rituals, when I realised I hadn’t waved back at Sian today. So here I am.

Today has been all about the soup. Restocking the freezer with some of our favourites. It has also been about the baking. Although the less said about that the better! I tried something new: a fat free flourless brownie. That’s a bit of a stretch for me. It really is a very strange “cake”. I decided it was a poor offering, even though my friend had requested something virtuous. I thought I should have an alternative. While I had the oven on for dinner I mixed up some Cornish Fairing dough. Despite having made these at least a hundred times, with no problems whatsoever, today was always going to be the day they went wrong. They didn’t spread out, but sat stubbornly in their allotted lumps. I whipped them out of the oven, pressed them down with a fork and popped them back in. They became stubborn lumps with fork marks in the top. Ah well. My girl managed two after dinner so they can’t be too bad!

Photo A Day ~ October Round Up #3

A few more of my photos for the Fat Mum Slim photo challenge.

L is for….

….lentils.

M is for….

….mushroom stroganoff.*

N is for….

….notelets.**

O is for….

….odd one out.

P is for….

….pleats.

Q is for….well you can probably guess, but that will have to wait until Tuesday, for a post of its own.

* The recipe can be found here.

** The instructions can be found here.

Throw Back Thursday ~ Rolle Reversal

Having just taken my boy to his first university open day, I’ve been thinking about my years at Rolle College. We seemed to spend a lot of our time in fancy dress, but I think that’s just because I don’t have many everyday photos. The camera only came out if the occasion was deemed worthy of capturing on film.

Here we are all dressed up for Rolle Reversal night, during rag week, in our charity shop suits. This was taken on the landing in our halls of residence. It was a huge old house, all boarded up now and a far cry from the modern, purpose built en suite study bedrooms we looked at on Saturday. Happy days.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #280

Another week has rolled around and here we are sharing our workspaces again. All the details can be found over at Julia’s place.

Yesterday found me in panic mode at the kitchen table. I had planned the projects and made the samples, ready for class, well in advance. But….the supplies I ordered for the kits, ten days ago, were still en route somewhere between here and the warehouse. This has never happened before. I had to think of something else for today. I came up with a set of notelets and a box to keep them in. Just in the nick of time. Phew! On the plus side, I now have the projects ready for the next class so I’m ahead of the game….as soon as that cardstock turns up.

I snuck in just before midnight last week so tea time is an improvement. I hope to make a few more visits this week. Happy Wednesday everyone.

Time for a Recipe Tuesday ~ Stroganoff

I cook an evening meal from scratch pretty much every day. However, I’m no domestic goddess and if there’s a shortcut to be taken, I’m there. I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re after a traditional stroganoff then you’ll need to look elsewhere. But, if you want simple and tasty, then you’ve come to the right place.

Mushroom Stroganoff

1 red onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic crushed

400g mushrooms*

2tsp paprika

100-150ml vegetable stock

1tbsp tomato puree

1tsp dijon mustard

100g cream cheese

freshly ground black pepper

Heat a good glug of olive oil in a pan and sweat the onions with a lid on. Once they have softened, add the garlic and mushrooms, stir and replace the lid. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Add the paprika and mix well. Stir in the tomato puree and mustard. Pour in the stock. The amount you need will depend on how much juice there is from the mushrooms. Simmer for a few minutes** and stir in the cream cheese, just before you’re ready to serve.

*I prefer chestnut mushrooms and leave them whole if they are small, otherwise I quarter them.

**I usually make it up to this stage earlier in the day, then heat up at dinner time and stir in the cream cheese once the rice is cooked.

Photo A Day ~ October Round Up #2

Another week and I’m still keeping up with this alphabetical photography challenge.

E is for….

….egg and soldiers.

F is for….

….froth.

G is for….

….Grove buildings.

H is for….

….helicopters.

I is for….

….ironmongers.

J is for….

….jewellery.

K is for….

….knots.

Friday Finds ~ Dr Seuss

I’ve been dabbling a little bit with Project Life this year. Mostly I make my own filler cards with odds and ends of paper and cardstock, decorated using stamps and punches. I’m always on the look out for cute printables, to supplement them with.

These Dr Seuss quotes fit the bill perfectly. If you’re not a Project Lifer, these little cards come in handy on layouts and can be added to all sorts of other projects. If you like them you’ll need to scroll down a bit on the download page. There are lots of other useful designs in the list so it’s worth a look.

We’re off to the first of our University Open Days tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

One Photo in Twenty Words ~ I is for….

….ironmonger

A proper old fashioned shop. Here when I was a child and still serving the local community forty years on.

I’m joining in with Abi’s monthly meme and still keeping up with Photo A Day. Yay!

PS Did you spot the name of the Hairdresser Abi?

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #279

Today was one of those days that went a little bit askew at the start and then unravelled from there. You know the kind. I was planning to dust off my poor neglected sewing machine and catch up with some overdue projects, but that didn’t happen. Here’s what did.

A batch of simple “Thank you” tags to pop in with customer parcels. Very quick to do. Cut 2” strips of card to the appropriate length, punch, stamp and thread with twine. If yours has a kink in it, like mine does, from being wrapped round a card, just run it over a bone folder and it will smooth back out.

Linking up with Julia for the usual mid week desk sharing.

A little piece of family history

I had no idea what I was going to blog about today. I taught a card class this morning in Mere and by happy chance, one of our Meadow Barn group of friends was in the area and able to come and join me. It was a beautiful sunny morning and, as I walked back to the car afterwards, I was thinking, ’G is for….what?’

I thought of the Grove Building on the other side of town. Shame it’s bin day!

It was built in 1891 as an annexe to the school, with a gift of money from local benefactress, Julia Chafyn Grove. During the First World War it became a Red Cross hospital, staffed by volunteers.

So what’s the family connection? It’s where my Mum went to school, in the fifties.

I’m really enjoying the October prompts for Photo A Day. Today’s letter encouraged me to go out of my way, to find something interesting (to me anyway) to photograph and I’ve recorded another little story for my children.

Me on Monday

What a difference a day makes. The weather set in last night and we woke to pouring rain and fierce winds this morning. Once the children had left for school I got on with my usual Monday chores. Then I settled down for the first episode of a new show, Craft Daily.* A friend was demonstrating how to make a skirt today.

F is for….

….froth, in the bottom of my coffee cup.

This afternoon the sun came out and I enjoyed a catch up with a good friend who’s recently moved house. Home again just in time for the children. Greeted by the smell of the slow cooker doing its thing. Ah, gotta love Autumn, now it’s here.

Waving to Sian.

*If you missed it, it will be shown again on Thursday at 7pm.

Photo A Day ~ October round up #1

Several of my friends follow the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day prompts and there have been a few occasions when I have had good intentions, but fallen by the wayside! The list for October is a little different and I thought it would work well for Blogtoberfest. I’ve kept up so far. Only four days in, that’s not much to shout about!

A is for….

….Autumn leaves

B is for….

….bank, black horse, bunting, blue skies….

….bridge.

C is for….

….cream, chicken and leek pie….

….church, community cinema.

D is for….

….dying. Hanging onto my Birthday roses, which are now past their best.

Anyone else following the prompts this month?

Saturday Soup Kitchen ~ The Germ Buster

September was a super busy month. The usual challenges of settling my boy back into the school routine, after six weeks of holidays. Starting my classes again and this year I had a few (too many) extra things thrown into the mix. I shouldn’t have been surprised to get struck down by a nasty cold the day after my birthday!

I discovered A Girl Called Jack’s Ultimate Feisty Soup when I had a similar “back to school” cold last year. It seemed to cure my sore throat overnight and I didn’t go on to develop an awful hacking cough like I usually do. Since then the recipe has evolved into my own comforting soup and I enjoy it just as much when I am well.

I use less tomatoes and extra stock, because I added lentils to make it more of a meal. I happened to have an odd leek hanging about so that went in as well. I was in a hurry so I grated the carrots instead of chopping them. They cook quicker that way and it meant that I didn’t feel the need to blend the soup once it was cooked.

I don’t tend to weigh vegetables for soup so there’s no need to follow the quantities to the letter, it’s just a guide. I have a Paddington mug which I use to measure out my lentils, but that’s not much use to you, so I’ve given a quantity. I use vegetable stock, but you could use chicken, if that’s your preference. If you want chunkier veg then that would work too. Just extend the cooking time.

Germ Busting Soup

1 red onion finely chopped

1 leek finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic crushed

4 carrots (approx 300g) grated

1.5 litres of stock

175g lentils

400g chopped tomatoes

chilli to taste*

fresh ginger grated**

2 tbsp lemon juice***

 

Heat a good glug of olive oil in a large pan.

Throw in the onion and leek (if using) and cook until softened. I put the lid on, and turn down the heat, to sweat them and retain any moisture

Add the garlic and spice and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring.

Add the carrots and stir, then pour in the stock.

Throw in the lentils and stir in the tomatoes.

Add the lemon juice and simmer for 10 mins or until the carrot is soft.

You could blend the soup at this stage if you wanted to, but I like the texture of the lentils so prefer to leave it as it is. Enjoy!

*I use one fresh red chilli or more usually half a tsp from the jar above, because my children like the soup, but not too much heat.

**I keep fresh ginger (peeled and wrapped in foil) in the freezer and just grate a finger’s width in. 1 tsp of ground ginger would do instead.

***Fresh if I have it, otherwise from a bottle is fine.

PS This soup freezes well and I like to keep some on hand during the Winter months

 

 

 

 

Friday Finds ~ Entrelac

Checking back through my blog archives, it appears that I stopped sharing Friday Finds over a year ago. I thought I’d resurrect the idea during Blogtoberfest.

So, what exactly is entrelac? Anyone? No, I’d never heard of it either.

It is a technique which produces this rather beautiful woven pattern and yet it is apparently achievable by “Advanced Beginners”. I’m not a knitter myself so I can’t say if that is true. The secret is in the self striping wool it would seem.

The pattern for the pictured scarf, by Allison LoCicero, is available free at Craftsy. There is also a video tutorial using it, by Staci Perry, if you fancy a peek. I’m hoping to persuade my Mum to take up the needles again and make one for me. As much as I am loving this prolonged Indian Summer, I’m sure scarves will be needed soon.

Holiday Home

I gave you a little teaser yesterday and here’s the full reveal. Oh, how I love these tall thin houses, all in a row.

The black and white houses are simply stamped on the background and the coloured house has been paper pieced. I stamped out five extra images. Two on white, one for the base and one for the windows and door frame. One each on bright yellow, red and pale blue, to cut apart for all the other components. This image works particularly well for the technique as it’s all straight lines.

We used the matching dies to cut the stamped houses for our next project, much to everyone’s relief! They wouldn’t work for the piecing, as they leave a narrow border around the image. Perfect here. I’m always a fan of kraft cardstock and it’s a great base for this simple box. A strip of patterned paper, a snip of ribbon and a few punched hearts, in Cherry Cobbler, all add up to a project with a seasonal flavour. It could be used to house (no pun intended!) a small gift or as a decoration. I can picture a whole row of them on a mantelpiece, or even hanging from the tree.

I’m putting together a tutorial for the basic box and I’ll be sharing that some time during Blogtoberfest, along with one for my take on the Card in a Box theme. You thought I’d forgotten about that, didn’t you? There’s one part of the process which I’m finding tricky to show/explain, but it’ll be coming soon.

Shameless self promotion coming up. The stamp set I used is called Holiday Home and is available to order at £13.95, if anyone is interested.

We’re still enjoying the sunshine here. Hope you are too.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #278

It’s that time of the week again. Time to share our desks, floors, kitchen tables or anywhere else you happen to get your crafting done. Julia has all the details here.

Tuesday afternoon means class prepping and kitting. The sample was made last week and the kits for this card already cut. I just needed all the little extras that make the demonstration flow and I like to refresh my memory! Most of my ladies have been coming for a while now, but you never know when a technique will be new to them. I play it by ear on the day and show as much or as little as needed.

This week the technique is paper piecing. Not something I do very often myself and this will be the first time in class. I do love a bit of hand cutting. It’s so relaxing.

Hope to visit you all some time this afternoon, with a nice cup of coffee. Happy Wednesday!

Blogtoberfest? I’m in

I’ve ummed and ahhed about joining in with this month long blogging extravaganza. I have taken part twice before, but decided to give it a miss last year. I need to find my blogging rhythm again and perhaps posting every day will help me do just that.

Here’s what I had to say about Blogtoberfest, the first time I took part:

“The blogging community is a fascinating place, giving little peeks into the lives of lovely folks all around the world. I have found some very friendly and supportive people out there. It’s always thrilling to get a comment from someone new, but it is even lovelier to have blog friends that come back time and time again. In the same way it is always fun to discover new blogs, but equally so to have a collection of blogs to follow regularly. While visiting Mel earlier today, I saw her post about Blogtoberfest and decided to investigate. It may be just the thing to give me a push in the right direction. Watch this space.” *

‘Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.’ Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’ Jon Bon Jovi

* The full post can be found here.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday #178

It’s pouring with rain and blowing a gale, but the kitchen window is wide open so we don’t choke to death on fixative fumes! I’m sure it used to smell of pear drops. The table has been taken over by my son, while he works on some pieces for his GCSE sketchbook.

They seemed appropriate for this Halloween desk sharing and it seemed only fair that I should show you something of his after sharing one of my daughter’s creations on Monday. Old fashioned paper and pencil for him rather than a fancy graphics tablet.

You may notice that my fruit bowl is missing. I thought it sensible to remove it while we sprayed noxious chemicals around the place!

Happy Halloween to you all.

P.S. See yesterday’s post, if you might be interested in learning, along with me, how to make a patchwork block using the English paper piecing method.

Teal Flower Garden Block

I hadn’t planned to post today so forgive me if this is just a stream of consciousness.

Ever since I read about Jo’s idea to make a quilt, I’ve been mulling it over and trying to decide what kind of block to make. It must measure 6” x 6” and include some of this Moda Vintage Modern fabric. Teal is the colour that represents ovarian cancer.

I was browsing through Google Reader, on my phone this afternoon, while waiting for the fairy cakes my daughter had made to bake. I read Deb’s post which got me thinking about the quilt again and then this post showing some cute little hexagons.

I had already been considering hand stitching and that decided me. I contacted Hadley, to ask if she had any advice on paper piecing hexies and she kindly replied with lots of helpful tips. I may have ordered a book as well.

Deb had said that her Mom loved daisies. I thought about the design on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt and decided that would be the basis of my block. My colour scheme will be teal/blue, white, yellow and grey.

I’ve picked out some possible fabrics, which I think will work well together and go with the Moda fabric. I’ll wait to receive the piece from Jo before I make my final decision. I’m really excited about getting started with this project now.

My tentative plan is to post every Tuesday with the progress I have made and share my processes, along with links to anything I’ve found helpful. Anyone fancy joining me in a sort of mini quilt-a-long?

Hello Monday, Hello Half term

Hello creativity….my girl will be busy drawing lots of her chibi characters.

Hello patience….I’ll be sharing my laptop with her while she does it!

Hello experimenting….with transfer paper, to put these designs onto T-shirts.

Hello confidence….in my card making abilities, after being a Favo{u}rite of the Week on Split Coast Stampers.

Hello relaxation….time spent together to recharge, after a busy half term at school.

Is it a week off for the children where you live, or have you just gone back like some of my friends in other parts of the UK?