It was a packing up of the car and driving into the middle of nowhere sort of weekend.
It was a swapping of hugs and little gifts sort of weekend.
It was an eating of cakes and laughing ‘til our ribs ached sort of weekend.
It was a stitching of rabbits and misheard lyrics sort of weekend.
It was a shared with friends, old and new, sort of weekend. The very best kind.
Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky, whose idea it was to share a weekend recap on a Monday.
March was a very busy month around here. In fact it was a here, there and everywhere kind of month.
On the very first day of March, I drove seventy miles for a sewing meet up in Exeter. The sum total of my productivity that day, was basting the seven hexagons above, for a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Block. I spent my time chatting to the other ladies and learning lots of tips and tricks from the lovely Kerry.
I taught two classes of nine ladies and we made six projects between them both. I finished the last fifty pages of Life after Life, which I really enjoyed, after a bit of a slow start. I read all four hundred pages of Half Bad, but I wasn’t that impressed. I started The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I took a “shelfie” for World Book Day.
I cooked three litres of Meadow Barn soup, two dozen Cornish Fairings and one dozen lemon drizzle cup cakes ready for a weekend away.
I packed up my car with crafting supplies and drove ninety miles to meet up with nine lovely ladies (and three husbands) for our annual DIY retreat in Herefordshire.
A table for eight crafters and a separate table for the two messy ones! A beautiful sunrise on the Saturday morning, the view from the back of the barn and the calm after the creative storm on the Monday morning. Three blissful days away.
I came home to my first two bunches of daffodils. Only one hospital appointment this month, with three panels of beautiful stained glass to look at while we waited. On the thirteenth of the month, I made a batch of rice crispy bars, using thirteen marshmallows and thirteen toffees, along with butter and rice crispies. Spooky!
I received one hand made card and two bars of my favourite Green & Blacks chocolate, wrapped in paper decorated by my two creative children.
One of them had two wrappers, but that didn’t stop me!
That’s my March and I’m linking up with Julie and all the other counters this month.
ETA: Oops! I thought the scheduling hadn’t worked, but it *might* be because today is actually the 11th and not the 12th!
Just like last week, there is no actual crafting happening here today. I went away at the weekend for a DIY craft retreat and had a brilliant time. When I got home on Monday afternoon I couldn’t face unloading all my craft stuff from the car so it stayed there until this morning. Now it needs sorting out properly.
It’s rare that I craft away from home and I had no idea what to take with me. In the end I grabbed an empty cardboard box (just visible at the back) and took stamps off the shelf until I couldn’t fit any more in there. I did the same with inkpads into that shoe box. Punches and card went into the cupcake carrier at the front.
My scoreboard and boxes of various random stuff went into the bag at the back and my tool tote came along too. Just how many pairs of scissors do I need?! The carrier bag houses a pile of patterns that Karen kindly gave me. She was having a clear out and remembered I was taking part in The Love What You Wear Project.
It’s all back where it belongs now and I might just get the chance to use some of it again soon. The lounge floor from me, but other folk will be showing their desks as is the convention on a Wednesday. Join in at Julia’s place, or just have a nosey. Everyone is welcome.
When I make soup, I tend to just throw everything in and don’t really follow recipes. I made a big batch of carrot and sweet potato soup, to take on my recent weekend away and it seemed to go down very well. I’ve had a few requests (you know who you are) for the recipe, so I’ve done my best to write one.
Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup
Olive oil
1 large onion
2 sticks of celery
4 large carrots
2 sweet potatoes
200g lentils
1.5 litres vegetable stock
Chop the onion and fry in a little oil for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped carrots and celery, put on the lid and sweat until softened.
Add the chopped sweet potatoes, lentils and vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil, then simmer with a lid on for approx. 30 minutes.
Use a hand blender to blitz the soup until smooth.
This amount served 12 of us at the weekend with ease, although I did thin it down a bit with extra vegetable stock when I was reheating it.
I realise that saying I used two sweet potatoes is not particularly helpful. I would say that they weighed around 750g in total and the carrots a similar amount. I didn’t tell you to peel the veg, but I’m guessing you know that already. Also, you will need a very large pan if you make the full amount in one go!
Hopefully this makes sense. Any questions please shout and I’ll be only too happy to answer. Enjoy!
PS If you would like the cake recipes from the weekend, the chocolate muffins can be found here and the lemon drizzle cake here.
I came home on Sunday to a lounge still draped in sheets and a phenomenal amount of dust everywhere. I’ve spent the last two days clearing it up and attempting to restore order. It’s probably the cleanest this room has ever been. I unloaded the car last night and all my supplies are waiting to be put away.
As you can see I travelled fairly light. One RUB full of clear stamps, wet wipes and a stamp scrubby thing. The one underneath has Hero Arts alphabets, a couple of big background stamps, TH rosette die and kraft cardstock. A huge pack of paper from Costco. Did you get one of those? My tool tote, Bigshot and a tub of inks.
Some albums that I listened to on the journey, including Cowboy Junkies, The Cure, Sterophonics and Neil Young. A disc waiting to be returned to Lovefilm, instructions on how to top up my daughter’s Squid card and my not so trusty sat nav. I was ready to throw it out of the window when I saw the sign saying Welcome to Wales.
I had a fabulous time in Herefordshire with great company and some delicious food. I didn’t get any scrapbook pages done, but I made a lot of these rosettes. Very easy to do while chatting, as not much concentration is needed. The papers are from that Costco pack. I think it’s going to last forever!
I also made various other embellishments to go on cards at a later date. I need a lot this month, so it’ll be great to have a stockpile ready to stick and go. The large flowers are made from scalloped circles and are still missing their middles. The rolled roses, bunting and flourishes are made using MFT dies. Love these.
If you feel like giving us a peek into your crafty corner of the world, or just having a nose around everyone else’s, then head on over to Julia’s place. We’ll all be happy to see you. I’m off to link up and grab a coffee so I can go visiting.
PS To all you Meadow Barners waiting for the soup recipe, I promise to post it tomorrow xx
