What's in a name?

A while ago - BB, (before blogging) Himself and I had decided to put in a wood burning stove as part of our drive to be greener and to reduce the cost of heating our home. We initially had planned to engage a company to do the work but soon changed our minds once we had got fed up with tutting and teeth sucking workmen as they quoted us exorbitant prices. Himself very bravely threw himself into the abyss took on the challenge and decided that we could do it.


I started to trawl the websites of reputable dealers but once again, was met by a barrage of  'this is the realm of the professional and not of the householder'. Then, by wonderful accident or design, I chanced upon - Blogs.. I read normal folk trying to do what we were attempting and logging their successes and failures - this was a revelation!  I fell into the blog groupie crowd with delight - the search for 'how-to-put-your-wood-burning-stove-in-with-out-killing-your-husband' sort of became second to actually reading and getting to know all these wonderful folk with everyday wonderful, funny, sad, delightful, educational, silly and entertaining stories. I, like a voyeur, followed on and loved it. It was then I began to wonder if I could become part of this wonderful blog community. It was only my own self doubting that stopped me doing it.


Then when my eldest son, who was then 11, started senior school where he initially was incredibly stressed by the newness of it all. This made me very worried about him. I felt as stressed as he.


I needed to release some of that tension so started this blog - choosing to call it 11am - partly because of his age and partly because due to my working hours, most days of the week I am home during the morning and have elevenses in front of the computer. Mind you, I do have elevenses at any time of the day......... However I digress. My first post was about how and why I named my blog 11am which got me wondering what made you other bloggy folk choose your particular title name.


I have wondered for nearly two years now! SO, with out any further ado and waffling and meandering, I now present to you my first (of many I hope) interviews with YOU, the blogger out there, to get you to reveal your reasons for your blog title.   And my first guest is................................

Andrea from Apples and Pears

Apples and Pears

Village life in West Yorkshire

Please introduce yourself.

Hello! I am Andrea, a working mum of one from County Durham originally but now living in West Yorkshire, UK

Your blog's name - why and how did you choose your blog title?

Mmm this is an interesting question! My blog is called Apples and Pears and I chose it for several reasons; anyone who has read by blog will know that I love Scandinavian design and apples and pears are both popular motifs. I live in a rural village and Apples and Pears sounded very fresh and natural and country-ish. Lastly apples and pears is cockney rhyming slang for stairs. I love making blankets (and more and more blankets!) and, although I am not a cockney, I like the association of blankets = stairs = cosy in bed....well it kind of make sense to me!

Did you ever blog about your choice of title? 

No I've never though to blog about it and no one has asked about it before.

Have you ever changed your blog's title name? And, if so, how often and why? And fancy revealing any of it's previous names ?
My blog has always been Apples and Pears.

How long have you been blogging?
I started blogging in October 2010

Can you remember how you felt when you received your first comment or how you felt when you noticed your first follower?
I can remember checking the stats constantly waiting for a visitor, never mind a comment! I was really excited when my followers reached 10! I started blogging just before I got very ill with depression. I can honestly say the the comments and visits from the 'ladies of the canyon' have helped me hugely....and the act of blogging itself has been very therapeutic. I still get very excited receiving comments and having new followers.

Did you initially keep your blog to yourself before sharing with friends and family?
I came out as blogger straight away and my family have not disowned me yet!! I also share my blog on my facebook page and so friends can see it if they want to.

What was the original intention for starting your blog? Has it remained true to its primary reason or has it blossomed, altered or taken a completely different direction?
I think I wanted to blog after visiting other blogs and thinking I might like to try that. I liked the idea of being part of a virtual community and also sharing crafts with like minded people. I didn't really have a strong idea about what the blog would include. The sub title is 'life in a West Yorkshire village' so I guess that is vague enough to accommodate anything!

What or who inspires you? 

I am so inspired and humbled by the huge variety of talent and generosity that exists in blogland. Every day I come across someone doing something beautiful or original or kind - often all of these. My first source of inspiration was my mum, a really talented knitter who taught me the joy of yarn when I was very young. I can still remember my first knitted item... a pale blue scarf full of holes and made of nasty, squeaky yarn! Over forty years later I still get excited about a new stash of yarn!

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Thank you Andrea for giving us such a lovely insight to your blog - I thought the idea of the nasty squeaky yarn very funny, I suspect we have all has similar encounters with the stuff! Keep on blogging as we also find you a source of inspiration :)


I also want to apologise for the different fonts - I am having terrible problems with drafting postings as Blogger keeps changing into Greek lettering!


Well, that was my first interview for 'What's in a name' hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and in case you hadn't noticed it is FRIDAY :) Have yourselves a lovely lovely long weekend coz we certainly intend to xxxxxxxx

Do you MIND!!!??!

I needed an outfit for a 'do'.
I hate shopping.
I hate shopping for -  in particular - clothes.
I hate shopping with three men of various ages with various degrees of despair, disgust and desperation on their faces.
Guess what we were doing on Saturday afternoon.........

There was, however, one delightful moment in my afternoon of torture, and it goes like thus........

After, what seemed an age of trawling through clothes racks, looking at price tags, disregarding an item on colour, size, price, style, age group, suitability for the occasion, shape, shades, cloth, repeat-wearability, (this list can go on for ages, it all boils down to the fact, I don't like current fashion and current fashion doesn't like me....) I eventually found something I half liked, Himself bordering on  recklessness arising from despair - stony politeness agreed that I should try them on, whilst Eldest and Youngest fiercely began a mock battle beneath a rack of sparkly cocktail dresses. Leaving Himself to haul the marauding battlers off before the wildly rocking rack of expensive looking frocks were damaged, I shuffled off to the changing rooms to put myself through more personal anguish.

There is a bit of a queue.
Predominantly occupied by fake-tanned, bleached teeth, implanted, hair straightened glossy clones.
I am the token sore thumb.
I must be giving off an aura of country-bumpkinness as the clones give me a wider margin - I prefer to think of it as my force-field shield of grump.

I eventually am at the head of the queue and manage to find the first cubical is free.
It has a curtain
The curtain is about 5 cm too narrow.
So when I pull it closed.......the other side opens.
Deep joy.
I, after a futile attempt at stretching the thick black foul cloth to it's widest and fail. turn around and am met by three full length mirrors.
I change, hastily, avoiding my own eye contact - urgh, hate hate hate shop changing booths - they are so cruel!
All the time, I can hear constant nattering and gossip from the clones in the queue. Tacky vacuous remarks about absent friends or ex husbands, boyfriends, lovers, bosses.

Then, to my surprise, not only do the clothes I have tried on fit and look rather good - I actually find I have cracked my face with a small smile - oh, this is new!!

I start to twirl and admire the back when in the cubicle next to me I hear a deeply emotional whine ......

But I look lika lightbulb!..........

No ya don't luv, looks luvly on ya

.............But I do look lika lightbulb!

Turn round luvvy, lets look at t back, yeah, luvly

But it makes me look lika lightbulb!............

It don't, jus gerrit, it's fiiiiiiiiiine on ya

...........I look lika lightbulb,!it sticks oop at t back and it's 'orrible

Jus gerrit, fer goodness sa-a-a-ake , I've 'ad enuff an I wanna go 'oooome, gotta get ready for t'nite.....

I stood there, half undressed,  hand stuffed in mouth to stifle any laughter as the lightbulb and her impatient friend left.

Then, just to cut short my merriment and satisfaction that I am not the only one who suffers at the hands of clothing designers - the one thing between me and my dignity (that grotty curtain) was whipped open, by another clone.

..................oh sorray, fort it were emptay.................

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Biscuits and walking boots

Problem

::A rainy windy Sunday::

::A bored 10 year old::

Solution

::Yummy baking cookbook::

::A raid into the baking cupboard::

I made these delish sunflower seed biscuits last weekend when we had our walking gang for the day. They were so quick and easy to make and even quicker to be eaten that I didn't even have time to grab my camera. So I promised myself and my gannets boys that I would make them again and blog the recipe down. However...... like most of my baking plans, Youngest hijacked offered to do the cooking so that

........ You can take the photos Mum.....

So, thank you to my photo/baking model, I now present to you.................

Sunflower Seed Biscuits

200gm (7 oz) self-raising flour
125gm (4 1/2 oz) butter or margarine
125gm (4 1/2 oz) light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
75gm (2 1/2 oz) sunflower seeds
Pre heat the oven 180 deg C (350 deg F) gas mark 4

Put the flour, butter (margarine) and sugar in a bowl and mix with a fork until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Chuck in the egg and seeds, mix again and form into a ball.
Break pieces off and roll into the size of a large marble.
Place onto a prepared baking tray and use a fork to press down to flatten.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 - 15 mins.

Leave to cool (ie shut the kitchen door against marauding biscuits thieves) before eating. Apparently they can stay in an airtight container up to 5 days and be frozen for up to one month - hah fat chance!

Now for the brass tacks::

• The original recipe called for pumpkin seeds but I didn't have any so used the sunflower seeds instead
• The method advised that the dough be rolled into a sausage shape of about 20 cm then sliced. I did try that but found that as soon as the knife hit a seed, the biscuit flattened and needed re-shaping. After doing about 10 biscuits like this (rolling, cutting, reshaping and flattening out) I gave up and just rolled the large marble size and flattened with a fork - so-ooo much easier.
• Very easy to do, Youngest completely independently made them, my only input was to deal with the hot oven.
• The only drawback to this recipe? They  DO NOT last very long in this household!

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As usual. our weekend has just evaporated. A jam packed combination of clothes shopping (ugh), homework (urgh), going out to a 50th party and dancing our feet flat all night to a band (nice nice), dodging the rain (sigh) and then finally, late on Sunday afternoon -  a quick walk (at last!)

The track through the fields where swallows flew around out heads................

The view of our village.............I live down there

 

The wind blowing the cobwebs out of the boys................

...............The fields filled with nodding buttercups, red clover, plantain, vetch, 

yellow rattle, cow and field parsley..................

......................And the far away dreams in a young boy's head

So ends our weekend, are we ready for the coming week? Probably not, but hey ho - Monday is on it's way! Well, my dears, it has been lovely chatting with you, hope you all have Marvellous Mondays xxx

Walkies by Giddy Dog and her Girly Friends

A few snap shots and dog thoughts from last Tuesday............................

Three enthusiastic walkers trying to shimmy through a very narrow stile

Impatiently waiting at the gate

at the end of the footpath

bustling through, ready for the next part of the walk

This all supposing that the three girls actually think like this, they may not, they may actually be discussing serious matters such as climate change, or whether walking is actually to the detriment of the countryside, or they could just be thinking huff, wuff, woof, ruff, grrrrrrr, huh huh huh, pant, slobber, huff?

Time for bed me thinks - I seem to be rambling on a bit :)  Here's looking forward to a fantastic Friday and an equally wonderful weekend xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

W'I'P's (have to be careful what I write!)*** and weekend wanders

Morning my dears, hope you all had lovely weekends, ours whizzed by so fast that Youngest asked for another Sunday, we wholeheartedly agreed with him but sadly were not able to grant his wish xxx

A little while ago, I took part in a Pay It Forward with Stuff 'n' Bits  and as part of the 'game' you have to send on gifts to five bloggers who read your own blog.  I made these a little while ago but didn't post any pictures until I knew every one had received their pressie as I wanted to keep the surprise :)

I made little pincushions, each one slightly different - I only took photos of the one as my camera battery went flat and it takes so lo-o-o-o-ong to charge that I posted them before I remembered to take any more pictures!

I great fun making these :)

***Last time I wrote about my W ork In P rogress, I was inundated with some rather unsavoury sites, erhem don't want that happening again - hehehehehehe 

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Sunday had us reaching for our boots and waterproofs. We'd promised both our boys that we could go out on the hills and they could each take a friend.  With one eye on the steely grey sky we set out. It was a bit of a pull as Himself had parked in a sheltered valley and the footpath took us directly to the top of the hills.

We all puffed a little, especially one our walkers who isn't as fit as the other boys, but he cheerfully kept up.

Once at the top, the farmland became open moorland, where every inch of marshy boggy tussocky ground had been transformed into a magical, fluffy floating mattress of white cotton grass.  It was wonderful - I couldn't stop taking pictures. The wind whipped the little cotton heads back and forth and the area seemed to flow up and down in white billowing waves.

I don't think I have ever seen the cotton grass so abundant and so early as we did this weekend - it was beautiful.

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Thank you for all your comments both horrified and encouraging regarding my moment of temporary madness and a pair of sharp scissors!

I have to share that the blanket is now all better, the ends are woven in and the excess has been wound into little balls and are already being used up.

I do get these moments of recklessness where even I wonder what on earth possessed me to do it, but fortunately I do seem to have survive most of these 'leap off the edge' moments.



All for now, I am sure I could waffle on a bit more, but seeing I have lots of chores to sort out, I better get on with them :) Lovely chatting with you and speak to you soon from my little corner of the world xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

More cake any one?

Not that I need an excuse, but what an excuse to try a new cake recipe...........................

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!  

aka jak

Knitter

crocheter of squares for Japan

baker of cakes

Granny to my boys

gardener

friend

baby sitter

wife

mother in law

aunt

mother

my mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

oh, sorry, forgot to mention,

 all the cake has been eaten now - yum

You will just have to make it for yourself :P

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RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE

4oz (100 gm) plain flour

2 level tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 level sp baking powder

1/4 level tsp bicarbonate soda

pinch salt

4oz (100 gm) plain chocolate 

2oz (60gm) butter or margarine

3 oz (75gm) light soft brown sugar

1 medium sized egg

5 tbsp plain yoghurt

few drops vanilla extract

1. grease and line a 15 cm (6 inch) round cake tin with greaseproof paper
2. sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a bowl
3. gently melt the chocolate in a second bowl with about 1 tsp water over a pan of hot water, stir until melted
4. put butter and sugar in another bowl (am glad I wasn't on washing up duty!) and beat until fluffy
5. beat in the egg and  fold in with the melted chocolate, yoghurt, vanilla into the sifted ingredients
6. turn into the greased tin and bake at 190 dec C (375 deg F, gas mark 5) for approx 45 mins until risen and firm to the touch.
7. Cool before icing.

I had been lucky enough to be given a jar of hazel nut flavoured chocolate coloured spread which I used as the icing and  then sprinkled on walnut halves and white chocolate stars. As I said before - yum and now all gone :)

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You know those moments when.....

....when, after huffing and fuffing you think - oh blow it, I'll do it and be damned, then you wonder if just may be you were a tad hasty?

Ummm. Yeah, I have those quite often, this is my latest...........................

No, no , Let me tell you in the correct order...

This morning I thought I'd give my ripple blanket and 'stern looking at'. Whilst I'd been away I managed to get a fair bit done, but since being home, the ripple had been shelved.

I pulled it out of it's bag and decided that I should actually measure it up against the bed. But before that, I played around with the colours, deciding whether the pattern should be repeating stripes...............

Or should the stripes be mirrored..................

When I noticed how long the blankie was turning out to be, more of a bed scarf than a blankie.

I went upstairs and placed the ripple on the bed.  Good grief. Although still only as wide as a scarf, it's length was staggering. Let me explain. It started on the pillows, ran down the entire mattress, over the foot-board, over the table at the end of our bed and hung down about 10cm. Hum.  

What to do, what to do? 

Frog it? 

Buy gallons more wool? 

I put a pin in where I thought the blankie/ripple/bed/scarf should have ended and went back downstairs.

I stared hard at the now in disgrace blankie - well bed scarf.. Then had that... damned if you do and damned if you don't moments and holding my breath ....... did this.....

And before I knew what I was doing and still holding my breath was left with this.....

............................................................................! 

I had to sit down after this and with a trembling hand and thudding heart just had to have cup of tea. Having calmed my palpitations down to a more acceptable level I thought thank goodness that crochet is so forgiving, can you imagine doing this to knitting?

You will be pleased to know ( I certainly was!) that with a bit of gentle teasing and unpicking, I was able to tie off each colour and when I reach the end I will weave the tails in - phew!!

And look how much 'extra' yarn I have to use!

Off to bed now, thank you for popping by, enjoy your weekend my dears, may if be filled with sunshine and not too many showers xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx