28.01.10

I was going to grind my teeth about people's appalling behaviour.
I was going to moan about being taken advantage of.
I was going to complain about people's rude manners, grumpy moods and their negativity -
when I realised if I did, then I would be no better than they........

So - instead I thought I would list my '52 things I have not cooked before'
Even the disasters?
Yes even them and
No  I will not count them in my 52 and I certainly won't be trying them again!

1.  The McLoaf - have made about 4 so far.
2.  Chickpea Falafel, eaten many a prepared variety, but now hooked on our own.
3.  Masala Chai -  I did reluctantly drink the full pot but I could not persuade  my other co-conspirators to go further than a taste.....
4. Hairy Bikers fish cakes - only I substituted the white fish (which none of us like) for 2 tins of well drained tuna and even the Eldest who is world re-known for his lack interest in eating said he'd like them again.
5. Hairy Bikers Sticky date cake (if you follow the link you need to scroll down to page 5) now this one is a have-it-again recipe however, just reading the list of ingredients is guaranteed to put weight on you!

There, not a bad start, I have to say a big thank you to Colouritgreen who inspired myself (and others) to get experimenting with new recipes.

**Mental note to oneself - try less fattening recipes, try more healthy ones!


And!!
Just to show that there are good things in my day that outweigh the bad - I found a bag of woolly goodness lingering at my back door,
There is a knit and knatter evening later,
And my fellow nibblers and tasters have left me a piece of the sticky date cake (which I have to say is not sticky at all)

aaahhh, I feel better now

Last seen, now eaten - yum

Perfect for the boys blankets, they will be so chuffed!

27.01.10

What I like about where I work,
is the fact I have the time in the mornings to be at home to craft or garden or paint or meet up with friends.
What I don't like about where I work is having break off
when I am in full flow of crafty inspiration or gardening
and have to tidy away all my paraphernalia.

Today is one such day.

I still have an hour before I need to go, but is that enough time to get out the sewing machine and all the accoutrements that go with such an endeavour?
No.
Not when I consider I still have to vacuum all the snippity bits of fabric and threads already on the floor,
not when I still have make up my lunchbox - and oh yes - tonight I am working an extra late shift - so make that a double lunchbox
Not when I think that I still have lots of little jobs that individually don't consume a lot of time, but put together can cause a veritable black hole where time just gets sucked in.

Where is this all leading?

Well, I want to sew and I've done all the prepping and now waiting for me....
calling me....
Nay - yelling insistently at me......
is a repurposed shirt now a cafe' style apron just demanding to be finished off.

A very favoured shirt of himself's that I 'acquired' soon after he bought it,

it's been mine for about 12 - 15 years.

Almost vintage!

Front, sleeves, neck and collar cut off,

pocket rescued and transplanted onto the back,

the button and button hole edges from the front of the shirt will be the ties,

all waiting to be hemmed.

And

What to do with all the pieces left over?

Well - this........

Put all the scraps together, and turn into a scrappy patchwork heart,

there is soooooo much I want to do!

Uh oh - almost time to go, better get the vacuum out.

26.01.10

The sounds of my day.

The clock radio coming on at 6.30am....
The soothing tones of the newsreaders talking us awake.
The silence of the house as himself and I quietly wake up with coffee,
The more organised sounds of lunch boxes being filled and animals getting fed.
The stockinged feet of boys as they come down tousled haired and bleary eyed.
The concentrated crunching of breakfast being consumed and boys chatting.

The hasty rush of books and haversacks being loaded into the car,
And urgent voices as things that had been forgotten were now being remembered.
The timbre of the car with the same newsreaders still giving voice to the same news.
Boys and friends chatting, talking, scrapping and laughing.

The sudden boisterous greetings then parting of children at school.

The return journey, silence gently coated with the newsreaders politely interrogating their guests.

Home.

The clamour of the chooks being fed, the birds chirruping in the garden.
The rumble of the washing machine, the newsreaders giving way to DJ's and their music.
The swish of the dog's tail and purr of the cat by the fire.

The pleasant chatter of friends as they unexpectedly pop in for tea and company.
The swapping of fabric shop addresses and news and views.

Then the silence wraps gently around me as once more the house is mine.

The washing machine still churning methodically in the kitchen,
the DJ still wittering to an unlistening audience
as I enjoy the movement through time whilst I do the things that I do.

The boys blankets are growing - Eldest is green and Youngest chose red

They are lovely and warm to work with -

winter is definitely the time to make heirlooms.

25.01.10

Certain mornings, I don't have anything to muse upon, whereas on other days I am ready to waffle ad infinitum.
But some mornings - something small falls into my day which expands into story I want to share.

Today is one of those mornings.

During the course of enforced housewifedom that has to be done before I can get on with any college course, I was making the youngest's bed.

He calls it his nest.

It was a complete tangle of duvet and sheets.
I started by rescuing the teddy and pyjamas.
Then on straightening the sheets found another bedtime cuddly.
So I began to delve deeper and this is what I found.........

One large teddy - called Beary
One crochet guinea pig - known as Rodney Alopecia
One rubber black bat complete with bouncy elasticated string and blood stained fangs
One whoopee cushion - I don't even want to think why he needs that in bed with him.
One tiny plush dinosaur called diny (rhyming with tiny)
Two favourite blankies - one crocheted and one quilted
One tiger pyjama case - minus the pyjamas
One mechanical robot thingy - he has many on these and they lurk menacingly in every room
One crocheted cat called Felix
An odd pair of socks
Two hard back annuals.......................

He got me up last night around midnight to say he'd had a bad dream and his bed was in a mess.
Now I know why!

Then, so not to appear biased, I did an experiment - and checked the contents of the other beds in our house.
Ours - well apart from the required accompaniements of pillows and bedding - nothing.

Eldest - the obligatory Teddy - known as Ron
A book and a head torch - guess what he was doing when it was lights out??
No wonder he was yawning this morning before school!

What did you find in your bed this morning - polite answers only please!!

23.01.10

Thought for the day. 


(Not for the faint hearted!)


What happens when you mix one rather smelly giddy dog
One large bucket of lovely warm water
One good squish of dog shampoo
Youngest and me?


Well after a good dose of soapy bubbles
Lots of splashing and wet feet
you get this............

Don't say you were not warned!

Photos courtesy of eldest.

*****************

Fav sister in law asked if I would like some beads -

Ooh yes please was my obvious reply

And look how she gifted them to me

 - so much thought 

I could hardly bring myself to open them

Little bags of fun

Thank you!

21.01.10

Today was long.
So slo-ooow and long.

Nothing much happened,
BUT!
last night was excellent!

It was a Knit n Knatter evening. A  houseful of hooks and needles, yarns and threads, voices and stories and many yummy things to eat.
So much so, that last night was temporarily christened Knit n Knatter and (K)nibble!

I started youngest's blanket - he couldn't bear the thought that his brother's blankie was getting so big and he (poor deprived child) had to make do with his little one I made him 18 months ago.....
He has chosen shades of red -

We had two new craftsters join us, both of them crochet virgins and by the evening we had corrupted them totally! Now that is what I call a successful evening.

***********

But - back to today.

We had home-made falafel tonight - and it was good.

drain tin of chickpeas - none of this dried-peas and boil till the-cows-come-home stuff.

 three juicy cloves of garlic - chopped

Roughly chop 2 medium onions, add the chickpeas and garlic

Grind 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds with 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds

Add the crushed seeds, chopped parsley, teaspoon baking powder and seasoning.

Whizz with some sort of whizzy food processor type thing.

Shape the resulting firm paste into slightly flattened walnut sized blobs.

Dusting with flour to prevent sticking.

Fry in batches, watch out for them cooking suddenly after pretending to do nothing at all

They turn a lovely golden colour once cooked

Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm

We had them with spaghetti with a spicy tomato sauce, mushrooms and courgettes with grated cheese

Yum.

They taste nothing like the shop bought box variety.

If you want a more accurate recipe, just leave a comment and I will oblige.

But this is how I cook - chuck in and season!

19.01.10

A rounding up of crafting presents.

First - the quickly made bunting for the birthday friend.

Sourire = smile

Now for the delayed festive present round up.

Delayed for a number of reasons,

some didn't get finished in time,

some didn't photographed till recently and

worst of all...

some didn't get started until January

oops......

Clapotis scarf for my Mom

On the chair.........

on my Mom............

She made that lovely rose and red ones for my sister n law and I.

More felt bows for another friend's daughters

A felt 'chocolate cupcake' pin cushion for my Mom, friend and sister n law

Felt mistletoes with vintage buttons for my Knit n Knatter friends

Bunting for sister n law's kitchen

liefde = love

Several felt hearts tied to presents

There, thats enough for now,

I do have more pictures somewhere,

but due to my efficient filing system I use for cataloging photographs

I have no idea where they are.

Life goes on.

18.01.10 - part 2

I tried to keep busy today,
so not to think.
So not to remember - yes I know - 'it's only a cat',
but she was mine and she was special.


I have started on another bunting.


Youngest said to me on Saturday -
'Can you make a birthday present for my friend'
Yes love, I replied, 'course I can - what do you want?


'Oh, I don't know, it's for a girl'


When is her birthday?




'Last Thursday'


What?!


sigh............

I am inscribing the bunting with  'sourire' - French for 'to smile'

I will post pictures of the finished pressie.

******************************

Eldest trying out his blankie for size.

It's getting there.

18.01.10

Sad
sad
sad

Today I say goodbye
 to a good friend
My elderly cat
has finally reached the end
of her furry life.

At 20, she has outlived many others.

She has seen us go from living together, to getting married,
to moving to Africa,
to moving back to the UK.



She had first run away from, then learned to love the boys.
She even discovered that they were very useful - they could be trained to open doors, open tins of cat food, to tickle on demand and to cuddle at the drop of a hat.

I will not be the only one to miss her.

17.01.10

It's been quite cathartic - being in the garden, that is.
After days of snow and ice, it's rained and washed most of it away.
A few die hard lumps of gritty grey ice linger on corners and under plants.
So we spent a few hours tidying up and topping up the compost heap.

We weren't along in the garden, we had help - lots of it..........

Whilst clearing the herbaceous borders, himself found a pair of hibernating ladybirds.

16.01.10

A very pleasant and impromptu knit and knatter.
The boys played with a friend whilst we passed the evening with wine, wool and words.

Youngest winding wool found in a charity shop for his brother's blanket,

 he can't wait for his blankie to start.

Is it the cold weather that brings the blanket makers out in us all?

Eldest's woodland inspired blankie is growing -

but not fast enough - he keeps 'trying it on' for size!