Country Bliss

End of 2011

2011-12-31T18:49:00.006Z

Christmas has been & gone already although all 4 of my girls were here for christmas day it has for the most part been a one child household, very strange!

We went to Eden and the little one made a stocking & some reindeer food.

And for the first time I made a gingerbread house using the Good Food online recipe, which makes plenty enough for cookies as well, all decorated by my 5 yr old.

The holly berries were plentiful this year probably because it has been so mild, I had lots to add to my wreaths.

I did a big 2 day craft fair at Pencarrow house, which went really well & got me in the Christmas spirit making & selling lots of these owls

A string quilted cushion that I made for myself.

My 21 yr old is mad on the Grinch so I made these Grinch pills & hearts using fab Grinch fabric for her.

I also managed a little bit of thrifting the day before christmas eve & picked up this green Woods Ware tureen,

a really sweet ornate chair and

yet another fire screen! My 5yr old even said 'How many fire screens do you need'

And finally the glass set & stand.

I also got quite a few craft books in my stocking, these should keep me busy for a while.

Sadly my cousin died suddenly from cancer a few weeks ago, she was 48 & a mother of 4, this came just months after her mum (my late mums sister) died. It certainly puts things in perspective, R.I.P. Sonja.

I hope you've all had a good Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year, may 2012 be a good one xx

A rubbish couple of months.

2011-11-10T05:43:00.004Z

I know, I've been awol for over 2 months! It's been a pretty rubbish, worrying couple of months but I need to get back on track with my blog. Daughter number 2 no longer has the job that she loved & because of the circumstances surrounding this I was absolutely livid & she banned me from writing about it. She also found a lump, which luckily turned out to be a cyst, this had to be removed & she had to go on the sick for 6 weeks.

All is fine now she's started a new job but is struggling with money as she doesn't get paid until the end of the month by which time she would have gone 3 months without pay! Not easy when you have rent & bills to pay and a car to run. Would have been better if she'd got her tips that were owing to her but obviously some bosses have no morals!

I'm now applying for a job as it's cost us an awful lot of money recently with number 3 daughter starting university as well, suffice to say if I get the job I won't be spending any of my wages in any restaurants in Padstow.

Now I can move on & get back to blogging :)

Summer holidays so far

2011-08-22T15:00:00.006+01:00

A quick round up of what we've been up to in the summer holidays. This year we joined the National Trust again after a 4 year gap & L requested that we go to a castle. This is Castle Drogo which is quite close to us.

Although you can now take photos inside you can't use a flash so the ones I took inside weren't great. Loving these curtains though from the housekeepers room.

We found this little play cottage in the gardens.

We also went to Antony house, which was used in the recent Alice in Wonderland film, hence the tea cup topiary.

The gardens on this estate are huge and there were 2 massive black walnut trees on the lawn, which we picnicked under.

Although I was born & have always lived in Cornwall, I can't remember ever going to Mousehole so we went and had a look around when we were going down to Penzance.

We decided to park on the outskirts of the village and walk in past a row of allotments, which is where we met Mr tree!

It's a beautiful village & must be stunning when it's all lit up for Christmas.

As usual we went on our monthly visit to Eden & were lucky to catch a couple of the No fit state circus acts performing, brilliant!

Back to using the National trust card again we went to Cotehele.

I was hoping that Blogger may have righted itself by now but yet again there were lots of gaps in this post, I'm also still unable to comment on any blogs so apologise but I am still reading the ones that I follow.

Ending on a positive note my 18yr old had excellent A level results last week so is off to Falmouth university in September to study English with creative writing. Also my eldest passed her corporative & business law exam and her financial management exam today. She works as a qualified accountant but is studying at home to become chartered only 5 more exams! Well done both of you.

A few days out

2011-07-26T06:19:00.004+01:00

I haven't posted for a while because of phone & internet problems, having a few problems trying to do this post too. The photos won't centre & the text seems to have a mind of it's own! Anyway we're on holiday this week so I thought I ought to post the backlog of what we've been up to recently.

L had the class giraffe, Geoffrey come to stay for a week so we took him to the woods for a picnic.

and looked for dragonflies.

We went to Lost Fest, which is a yearly event held at Lostwithiel. Lots of music, dancing and stalls, these ladies were L's favourite we had to drag her away in the end.

We spent a sunny day over at Padstow, where we walked over to the beach at Hawkers cove.

L went to meet her elder sister's
boss, Paul Ainsworth at No 6. I think she's his number 1 fan so much so that she's hoping to get a job there too, although she doesn't understand why she has to wait until she's older as she can cook already!

Over at Padstow again, we went to the Royal British Legion's summer fete held in the grounds of Prideaux Place, a beautiful house looking out over Padstow.

The Eden Project have a circus event, The Labyrinth, taking place over the Summer holidays. To promote this the No Fit State Circus had a parade through St Austell. It Looks like it'll be a fantastic show but at £30 for adults & £17.50 for children I don't think we'll be going!

Sargies Cornish Kitchen

2011-06-12T20:36:00.005+01:00

Recently Beth from Jam and clotted cream put a shout out for Cornish bloggers to review some food items for Sargies Cornish kitchen, I didn't need asking twice :)

Sargies produce a small but impressive range of hot puddings, seasonal desserts and hand piped meringues, all made using free range eggs, with no added preservatives or colourings.

I received a sticky toffee pudding, a jar of luxury lemon curd and 6 free range Cornish meringues

Firstly we tried the sticky toffee pudding, apologies for the photo quality it was a grotty day. The pudding looked and smelt good but was a little too sweet for us. To be fair though I'm sure that if I had some clotted cream with it it would've taken some of the sweetness away.

Next up was the meringues these were perfect, so much so that my daughter who doesn't usually eat meringues loved them. I made a blueberry & strawberry version of Eton mess, the bowls were virtually licked clean. This was requested again a week later so I made it using supermarket meringues, the pieces of meringue were left uneaten by my children, not nice at all.

The lemon curd was delicious I made a lemon curd and passion fruit fool from a Good Housekeeping cookbook the recipe called for flaked almond topping but I crumbled the last of Sargies meringues over the fool, which finished it off perfectly!

The rest of the jar was used making lemon meringue cupcakes, also delicious but I overwhipped my egg whites & ruined the topping hence no photo :s

You can buy Sargies products in many outlets in Cornwall including Asda & some Morrisons you can find the full list here.

Exciting times.

2011-05-16T11:36:00.004+01:00

It's all been go, go, go around here this past fortnight. First I was asked if I would be willing to sell some of my handmade things at Carruan farm & restaurant Polzeath. This is situated on the hill going down into Polzeath and has recently been taken over by Jackie. There's a shop and a

cosy restaurant selling reasonably priced homemade food. Outside there's more seating and a children's play area.

I made a new batch of feather filled cushions and took some pieces from my stock.

And the other exciting news! My 17 yr old was interviewed and subsequently offered a place to study English & creative writing at Falmouth University. 800 applicants for 90 places, this was her first choice & she desperately wanted to go there so smiley faces all round!

Then on Friday my 21 yr old applied for a job as commis chef with Paul Ainsworth at No 6 in Padstow. She was asked to go for a trial last night and he offered her the position of trainee pastry chef starting next week. We're delighted for her & she's very fortunate to have this chance to work at one of the best restaurants in Cornwall. Happy Days :)

What a fab wedding that was!

2011-04-30T09:52:00.004+01:00

What can I say ......... the dress & veil were stunning, elegant and perfect for Catherine.

I loved the Lily of the valley bouquet and the bridesmaids dresses too, a perfect day!

Photos Daily Mail online.

As our village had no celebrations we had our own. We hung out the bunting, had the TV on all day and had a buffet lunch.

With a few Union Jacks scattered around.

This was my ultra slim 21 yr old's brunch!

Spring in Cornwall

2011-04-20T12:36:00.005+01:00

A friend of ours has 4 Jacob sheep ewes & they all had triplets, 1 died but the others are thriving. This one was only a few hours old when we met her.

A thrush munching on a snail.

A walk through the woods & meadow, where everything is springing into life.

A fern about to unfurl.

A Beech nut growing through the dead leaves.

Violets.

Primroses.

Bluebells.

Trees coming to life.

I disturbed this little fella from his sleep in my garden.

Swans & Canadian geese enjoying the sunshine.

Maude & Delilah trying to hide from the sun & cooling down with a dust bath.

L's Easter bonnet & Spring picture made for the school Easter fayre.

Hope you are all enjoying the Spring sunshine & have a happy Easter.

Spring branch with crochet leaves

2011-03-31T12:04:00.003+01:00

Take one twig, a crochet hook, some brightly coloured wool and a tutorial from lady crochet

and hook yourself a little piece of Spring colour to brighten your home.

A February catch up.

2011-03-15T16:02:00.007Z

Well February disappeared and we're in the middle of March already! I've never been away from my blog for this long before but have been very busy with school stuff, decorating, making & life in general. So must get back on track with a quick February catch up.

L was off school ill when it was Chinese new year so we made a Chinese dragon and some lanterns.

We also had a bit of fun for valentines day, heart family finger puppets and

tissue paper hearts. We attempted a tutorial to make hearts from wax crayon shavings, it took forever to sharpen the crayons, which were then placed between wax paper & ironed. I don't know what went wrong but as soon as I tried to cut them into hearts they just fell apart. So I just ripped pieces of tissue paper, spread watered down PVA onto cling film, covered the glue with pieces of tissue, when dry cut into hearts.

We also baked using silicone heart cases to make heart cupcakes

and rose silicone cases to make milk jelly roses, rather strange ones but they tasted good. And some chilli chocolates just so we could play with the edible glitter!

During half term the Eden project had a dinosaur quest culminating in a dinosaur arriving in the tropical biome. He was very loud & made of rubber so quite lifelike. There were quite a few screaming toddlers but we stood back out of the way even though L said she wasn't scared.

I also finally got around to make some wrist warmers for myself using Julia Crossland's tutorial.

Whoops, it's the end of January already!

2011-01-31T21:14:00.002Z

I've joined Annie the felt fairy's challenge to do a make a month during 2011. As I normally make things for others I'm going to take this opportunity to make some things for myself & cross some things off my want to make list.

So in January I have crocheted a mini flower wreath.

A chunky cowl.

I've also crocheted a face scrubbie & a dishcloth in 100% cotton to try out before making some for my stall.

If you head over to Annie's blog using the link above I do believe you'll find a list of other participants & I'm going to crack on with February's makes as after all it's a short month, maybe something heart themed I think.

Frosty mornings.

2011-01-21T20:57:00.004Z

Our walk to school this week has been in bright sunshine but at the same time it has been very, very cold & everywhere is, yet again, white with frost.

This reminded me that I hadn't put up the photos that I took just before Christmas when we had an amazing hore frost, which lasted a week.

But in the garden the snowdrops are just starting to open, Spring is on it's way.

Better late than never.

2011-01-02T16:25:00.006Z

Reading on FB & Twitter today about people taking down their Christmas decorations reminded me that I hadn't even blogged mine so here goes. First a few cushions that I made this year.

In the middle of December I went to a wreath making demo in the village all where we were taught how to make a wreath then provided with the bits to make our own. The evening was great fun & we also had mulled wine & mince pies all for the princely sum of £3. It's so easy to do that I've made 3 more since perhaps I'll do a tutorial for next Christmas.

We took L on Santa's steam train and visited his carriage grotto, which she enjoyed although I was sure that Santa had had one too many Christmas beverages.

Some of my decorations.

Last minute iced cake trying to attempt Kirstie's polar bears :)

We also had a brilliant evening at the Eden project with a lantern parade, music by a shanty band & a shadow puppet theatre not forgetting the very yummy cups of chicken chilli & ginger stew and the chestnut, parsnip & cranberry stew.

A few of my presents.

I'll be back very soon with my Christmas makes.

Happy New Year x

Happy Christmas

2010-12-24T23:39:00.003Z

Just popping in very quickly to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a good New Year.

A thrifting show & tell.

2010-11-15T20:24:00.005Z

Yet another rag doll abandoned & saved :)

1958 Singer book, 260 pages covering practically everything.

This is a metal tray with legs. A man selling old tools was using it to carry them on, I asked him if he'd sell it & he let me have it for a £1. It took a lot of elbow grease to clean it up & still has some rust marks but I like it.

I love this large bowl made in Staffordshire.

A friend of mine sold me this cupboard, which is huge & now houses lots of my fabric.

This is a pink Lloyd loom bedside cabinet. Sadly the fabric is quite water marked as you can see, I cleaned the glass but I haven't attempted the fabric yet. I was sold this for £6 as it didn't have a door knob luckily I already had an old china rose one that fit perfectly. The seller gave me the cot decals too.

Very cute book given to someone on Sept 24th 1955.

And finally some more June rose Pyrex to add to my collection, unused too!

Pumpkin recipes & other Autumn bits

2010-10-23T07:13:00.005+01:00

I tried cooking pumpkin years ago & never liked it but this year we have grown quite a few & what we grow we must eat! This is what I made with one pumpkin a similar size to the one in the photo about 4lb. They were all really yummy & I've made the soup 3 times since.

First I washed & dried the seeds then spread them out on a baking tray & baked them for 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread (American recipe hence the cup measurements)

2 cups of plain flour, 2tsp cinnamon, 1/4tsp baking powder, 1tsp bicarb, 1/2tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups sugar,3/4 cups vegetable oil, 3 lge eggs, 1tsp vanilla essence, 3 cups shredded pumpkin, 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds.

Mix the dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients keeping back some of the seeds. Put into a loaf tin pushing the saved seeds on top. Bake at 325 for about 1hr 15 mins or put mixture into muffin cases & bake for 30 mins.

Spicy pumpkin teabread.

12oz diced pumpkin boiled for 10 mins, 5 1/2 oz honey, 30z sultanas, 11oz SR flour, 2tsp mixed spice, 5 1/2 oz margarine, 1 tblsp seeds

Mash the boiled pumpkin with the honey then add the sultanas. Put the flour & spice in a bowl then rub in the margarine add pumpkin mix & seeds. Put into a 2lb loaf tin & bake for 50 mins.

Pumpkin soup

When I make soup I tend to make it up as I go along using what I have available so this is a rough guide to my soup!

I sauted in a knob of butter a diced onion, 1/2 diced green pepper, 1 deseeded red chilli, 1 chopped clove garlic. Add 2 diced potatoes and the chopped pumpkin (I used about a half of a 4lb pumpkin) Add roughly a pint of veg stock, a tsp of ground cinnamon, pinch of salt & pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce heat & simmer for 1/2 hr. Blitz with a blender then stir in a little milk.

Some of our Autumn harvest.

I have done some crocheting an Autumn coloured brooch & some Amigurumi pumpkins.

And some fabric pumkins scented with orange & mandarin.

L and I made a Autumn display using some leaves & seed heads collected on our walk through the woods.

It was very sunny & the butterflies were making the most of it, basking in the afternoon sun.

Lots of funghi and the first signs that ........

Christmas is just around the corner :)

Slight Interlude

2010-10-04T06:45:00.008+01:00

It's nearly been a month since I last posted. L has started part time school so my life at the moment has become a mad rush. We walk to school everyday and this alone takes up nearly 2 hours and I'm also going in a couple of mornings a week to listen to readers. Hopefully some kind of routine will soon be in place. In the meantime these photos were taken just before L started school. We went for a picnic on Rough Tor, which along with Brown Willy are the highest summits on Bodmin moor. Rough Tor is 1,311 foot high and Brown Willy is 1,375 foot high.

Brown Willy.

The memorial to Charlotte Dymond, murdered on Rough Tor in 1884. Her boyfriend was tried & executed at Bodmin Gaol for her murder.

Normal service will be resumed asap.

Sunny days in Cornwall

2010-09-09T14:31:00.006+01:00

The last week of August was holiday time for us. We stayed in Cornwall & went on a few days out we also went down west near the Lizard for a few days.

I've lived here all my life yet never been to Mullion before these are of Mullion cove, a very pretty place.

Then on to Porth Leven another new to me place.

It had been stormy the night before & we'd had torrential rain but as you can see the sun came out as soon as we went away although the sea was rough!

The road to the Lizard.

Sunset at Lizard

The Lizard lighthouse

Kennack sands at 9 in the morning hence the fairly empty beach.

Making our way home we stopped off at Falmouth harbour and scoured the charity shops.

Because of the weather this boat had to detour to Padstow it's a replica of the Dawn Treader from the Chronicles of Narnia and was on a promotional tour.

Over to Summerleaze beach in Bude where L had fun making sand angels.

Ending with a day at Widemouth near Bude.

Courgette glut recipes

2010-08-17T13:25:00.004+01:00

The courgettes on my allotment keep growing & growing we've now had 63 and have tried lots of different recipes so as not to get bored with them. Just in case the same happens next year I thought I'd post some of the recipes we like here as you can guarantee I won't be able to find them again!

Chocolate courgette cake

120g soft margarine, 125ml sunflower oil, 100g caster sugar, 200g soft brown sugar, 3 eggs, 130ml milk, 350 Pl flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 4 tblsp cocoa, 450g grated courgette, 1tsp vanilla essence.

Mix all together put into a 20x35cm tray & bake 35 to 45 minutes @ 190c

*******

Carrot & courgette muffins makes 24

315g caster sugar, 310 ml sunflower oil, 3 eggs, 275g strong white flour, 1 tblsp baking powder, 1tsp bicarb, 1 tblsp mixed spice, 250g grated courgette, 250g grated carrots, 50g sultanas.

Whisk sugar & oil together, add the eggs then everything else. Spoon into muffin cases & bake for 25 minutes @180c

Rustic courgette, pine nut & ricotta tart

2tbsp olive oil, 2 sliced courgettes, 250g tub ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, handful Basil, 1oz Parmesan,1 crushed garlic clove, 500g block puff pastry, handful pine nuts.

Fry courgettes in olive oil for 5 mins. In a bowl mix ricotta, eggs, basil, half Parmesan & the garlic. Roll out pastry to a rough round, transfer to baking tray. Spread the ricotta mix over leaving a 4cm border. Press the courgette slices into this then scatter pine nuts over & remaining Parmesan. Bring sides up a bit. Cook for 30 mins. 180C

Courgette & spinach tortelloni gratin serves 3-4

2 courgettes sliced into ribbons, 1 lge deseeded chopped red chilli 1x 250g pk ricotta spinach tortelloni, 1x 150g goats cheese, 175g young spinach, 2 tblsps fresh mint, handful basil, 275ml creme fraiche, 4tblsp parmesan, 3tblsp breadcrumbs

Cook the tortelloni in boiling water for 1minute then drain. Return to pan with the rest of the ingredients apart from the half the parmesan & the breadcrumbs. When hot tip into a gratin dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs & parmesan put under hot grill for 4 minutes.

******

Prawn & couscous salad

200g couscous, 3tblsp olive oil, 50g pine nuts, 2 crushed cloves garlic, 2 courgettes sliced, 1 diced pepper, 4 spring onions, 1 chilli chopped, 2tblsp chopped parsley, 1 tblsp basil, 1 tblsp mint, 500g prawns. Dressing - 2tblsp olive oil, 3 tblsp lemon juice, 1 tblsp Thai fish sauce, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 2 tblsp coriander.

Place couscous in bowl pour 400ml boiling water over & leave to stand for 10 mins. Heat oil in pan & cook pine nuts until golden then add teh garlic, courgettes, pepper, spring onions & chilli cook for 5 mins.Stir this through the couscous. Dressing - mix all ingredients together & pour over.

******

Courgette fritters

140g pl flour, 2 eggs, 175ml milk, 50g cheddar, some chives, 2 grated courgettes, l

Cook grated courgette in a dry frypan for 3 mins tip onto kitchen paper squeeze dry. Mix with the other ingredients. Oil a pan then cook ladle fuls of the batter for a couple of mins on each side until golden.

******

Cheesy baked courgettes

2 courgettes halved lengthways, 125g ricotta, 1 deseeded & chopped chilli, zest of 1 lemon, handful of chopped mint, parsley, basil, 4 tblsp breadcrumbs.

Scoop the seeds from the courgettes then place the courgettes on a tray. Mix ricotta, lemon zest, chilli & herbs. Pile this into the courgettes & top with the breadcrumbs. Bake 35 mins @180c

Courgette & spinach soup - will add this soon.

Tagliatelle with prawns, courgettes & chilli - will add this soon.

Also made vegetable lasagne, courgette chutney

Will edit this soon as I have to go & cook now tonight it's the turn of the marrow ;)

Summer time

2010-07-23T20:38:00.008+01:00

Thank you for the cushion love on my last post, I did sell 9 of them that weekend & a couple more since. I will be selling online hopefully soon, I've set up a Folksy shop but that's as far as I've got. As well as our normal 3rd Saturday of the month Craft/Produce market we will also be having a market every Wednesday during August so I now have to have a cushion making frenzy as stocks are very low.

I was given this picture by a little girl who had bought a Lavender sachet off me, the fabric was a cat one, so cute!

Other than sewing we've been busy on the allotment everything is growing brilliantly this year, we've now picked 29 courgettes & haven't wasted any. I've started making preserves, not for sale just for the storecupboard, using courgettes, rhubarb & blackcurrants so far, it'll be marrow next.

We went to Eden to see the Summer flowers, which didn't disappoint.

We've been finding lots of creatures there's lots of grasshoppers & slo worms in the field and the chrysallis is just under the rim of the shed roof.

Obviously a lot of time is spent watching & talking to this pair :)

And we managed a bit of kite flying on the moors.

I happened to find some lovely Woods ware :)

and a few bits of rosey china.

So that's about it really a condensed 2 weeks, now I'm going to continue looking for courgette recipes, what a way to spend a Friday night!

Cushions galore

2010-07-03T11:23:00.006+01:00

This weekend I have 2 sales, one is this afternoon at the village church fete and on Sunday at a garden party in aid of Cancer Research. Hopefully I will sell some of these as they sure take up a lot of room.

This pair are already sold.

Tea party

Beach huts

Boat

Black hen

Spotty caravan

Jug of flowers

Rose cottage

Funky caravan

Cream hen

Owl on a branch

Beehive

Butterflies & flowers

Birdhouse

Have a good weekend, fingers crossed it stays sunny!

Walking for cancer charities

2010-06-25T21:36:00.005+01:00

These are the views that I was looking at last Saturday evening, not the best photos but I was walking at the time. I participated in the Mid Summer Madness walk for Marie Curie cancer care and Macmillan cancer support.

The walk was from Padstow to Wadebridge and back again, 11miles in total, we did it in 2hrs & 50 minutes so I was pleased with that. It was a beautiful evening and the sunset was stunning, the lights in the distance below are Padstows.

Sadly I don't have a photo of me taking part, well I was wearing pyjamas ;)

On Sunday we took L to Newquay zoo as it was her 4th birthday on Tuesday, I could barely walk but I hobbled around looking at all the cute babies

Ducklings

Pied Tamarin

Marmoset

Visayan warty pig these are from the Phillipines & are extremely rare so are part of a European breeding program.

Capybara

Talking of babies this baby Blackbird is living in our garden & for some reason it's very tame, today it came in my stable door flew around the utility room panicked and flew out again.

and I found this one in my greenhouse this evening, my first baby cucumber, it's the first time I've grown cucumbers from seed so a very proud moment!

Plodding along ...

2010-06-10T08:43:00.008+01:00

and not getting anywhere very fast! As per usual there always seems to be so much to do & so little time if only we had a few more hours in the day :) I think when the sun comes out time just goes fast forward. I've been trying to get more cushions finished each one probably takes about 4 hours or more! Some friends and I have started a quilting group as well, meeting fortnightly & having a laugh. I've decided to hand sew a Grandmother's flower garden quilt, which is made completely of small hexagons, it may take some time!

Of course in the sunshine you also have to spend time at the beach.

Going for walks.

And waste a lot of time watching the hens having dust baths,

Maude is more dignified with hers.

And then hours & hours of gardening & watering.

Of course a fair bit of time has to be spent thrifting.

The recipe book is full of recipes which 2 friends have sent to each other & magazine newspaper cuttings including this from January 21st 1945.

I also helped a couple move into one of the most gorgeous houses I've ever been in and she gave me these curtains, originally from Liberty. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, there are 4 curtains probably 7ft in length & double lined so they weigh a ton!

Some more linen found at a car boot

along with this tray,

lovely & big bowl,

a shaving brush to put with my collection of mugs,

yet another cake stand & some plates.

And finally a laundry basket to be painted & covered ...... one day!

And today it's back to the sewing machine & the cushions. I've also got to do some walking as next week I'm doing a sponsored 11 mile moonlight walk for Marie Curie/ Macmillan cancer charities & haven't really done any practising yet :0

A month's crafting.

2010-05-23T07:13:00.004+01:00

Haven't done a sewing post for a while so thought I'd do a little catch up. I recently bought a whole load of duck feather cushion inserts and came up with these appliqued cushions, the beach huts & the cottage sold straight away. I've since had orders for more of these 2, some camper van ones a wedding one and some to supply a new Bistro that is opening nearby. So the past couple of days I've sat outside and designed a dozen cushions all of them themed around a line of bunting.

Now the sun is out I've also been busy on the pegbag making front this one is made from a Laura Ashley fabric.

I made this cute bag for myself in my 20 minuters time. I thought it would be great for summer and I do have an awful lot of lace that I need to use up. It came from a tutorial that I can't find now, if I find it I'll add it.

This string of hearts were made for a mother of a bride to add to the wedding gift that she had bought.

I've also added these bits to my craft stall - hanging strawberries scented with strawberries & cream.

A mini lavender cushion made from some really sweet vintage fabric.

More lavender hearts.

Some elephants with

crochet flowers at the top of their tails.

Some yoyo brooches again trying to use up some lace.

And some lavender filled hanging fish.

I usually put photos of my makes in a facebook album but I've now spent over a month trying to add photos and it doesn't seem to work anymore getting very frustrated with it.

I'll end this post with some sad news, my sweet little Silkie hen Flossie has died. We don't know why she died it could've been the stress of being somewhere new she was only with us for 2 weeks and in that time she wasn't very lively & didn't lay, so she could've been egg bound or it may well have been old age. We do miss her lots though :(

Meet the girls at long last.

2010-05-07T11:38:00.006+01:00

For years I have wanted chickens but have never got any because of worrying about the neighbors complaining, which is really silly as we live in the country and have sheep, cows etc all around us not to mention a gazzillion barking dogs! We also have a small garden but last year we got our piece of field enabling us to make an allotment there thus freeing up space in the garden. I did a lot of research and found out about the allotment act of 1950, which put my mind at rest, to a degree, about the neighbours. Anyway last Sunday we collected them a black Maran which, I've named Maude, a light Sussex named Delilah and a Silkie named Flossie.

We shut them in their house when we got them home, Mr CB had made it on legs to discourage rats, so they have a ladder to climb down. Maude was out first then Delilah eventually after a little nudge Flossie looked out and there she stood for 1/2 hr or so! She has the hang of it now and is straight out in the mornings.

Maude is quite noisy she seems to be the announcer of any eggs being laid by her or Delilah.

Flossie is such a cute little thing but I don't expect her to lay many eggs, I had to have her as I do love Silkies.

And Delila is definately Mrs bossy boots and the greedy one she goes inside to lay her egg Maude starts cackling I go to quieten her, which makes Delilah come out to see if I have some food for her, this makes the egg laying process quite a long one.

Maude laid the first egg within 2 hrs of coming home and her and Delilah have laid each day.

As they are on bark in their pen I've put a shallow flower pot of soil in there for them to have a dust bath it's quite hard to see in the picture but they love this.

They didn't think much of yesterdays rain though.

Once they've settled in, had their wings clipped and I've moved all my seedlings down to the allotment they'll be able to rummage around the garden I and I'm sure they can't wait!

Beautiful Quilts

2010-05-02T07:51:00.006+01:00

I live in a very small village with a shop, a school, a pub and a church and a whole lot of talent! Yesterday I went to an exhibition in the church by a group of 6 local ladies. This quilting group meets once a week in one lady's house and these are the results of their labours. I was truly amazed by their work sadly my little camera doesn't really do them justice.

The wall hanging quilt below depicted one lady's house etc and the work is very detailed lots of different textures too.

This quilt wasn't one of the groups makes but was made in the 1920's in Dakota, a very thin summer quilt, beautiful piece of work!

Some gorgeous figures

and cushions too.

It has definately given me the push I needed to finish my cactus basket quilt started a long long time ago so watch this space! The one at the top of this post took about 16 years so there hope for me yet. They also had some fabric for sale, I thought it would be rude to come away empty handed :D

Now I'm off to do something very exciting indeed ............. todays the day I get my chickens! We went to choose them last night a brown Silkie, a black Maran and a white Light Sussex.

A dog's tale.

2010-04-24T08:49:00.005+01:00

Last weekend we had an unexpected visitor, my daughter found this little fellow wondering along the side of the A30 at 4 oclock Saturday morning. She was housesitting for some neighbours at the time so turned up here at 8.30 with a ''I found this dog can you sort it out and look after him!'' I was in a rush at the time trying to get ready for a craft market so I put him out in the porch with a blanket and some water and was out the door fifteen minutes later.

I came back later to a scratched front door, brand new front door at that! Found out it was a he without a collar so no name tag but with a retching cough. I worried that it would be kennel cough so made sure I kept him away from my dog. He was also absolutely gorgeous, very friendly and well behaved and I figured he was a Bichon Frise cross. I then rang the police with the info I had but no one had reported him missing, we also told the village shop and pub.

I had been told that the dog wardens are not available during the weekend so I had to wait until Monday to ring them. Fast track to Monday morning and after 1/2 hour on hold I got through to the dog warden, he hadn't been reported missing. But then a lady who I recognised walked down the path, the dog warden went on hold and lo & behold it was the owner's mother!

She had gone into the village shop to put up a lost poster (2 days later!) Apparently he had been let out at 3 in the morning and went wondering, he doesn't have a collar or tag or microchip! Luckily the cough isn't kennel cough, he's a Bishon Frise cross Maltese and 12 yrs old. I did have a moan about it being irresponsible and how lucky it was that the dog wasn't killed or indeed caused an accident. I did get some flowers for my trouble.

Some other quite nice things to happen 28 pieces of linen & crochet for £1.

And a sewing box full of vintagey bits for £3.

Have a good weekend hopefully mine isn't going to be quite as eventful as the last. Oh and the photo at the top of this post is of a gorgeous Magnolia, which is blooming in the village.

Spring at Eden, the woods and fabric.

2010-04-14T08:00:00.006+01:00

Easter weekend saw us visiting the Eden Project to see if the tulips & other Spring flowers were in bloom as you can see from the photo overload we weren't disappointed!

We also went on an Easter egg trail through Cardinham woods. I haven't been there for a few years, which is often the case when someplace is on your doorstep! It's definately worth a visit if you're in the area, with 4 or 5 different walks through the woods, a cafe, barbecue area and small playground.

I also managed to acquire some barkcloth and brushed cotton fabrics from my MIL, all from the 60's/70's.

The brushed cotton is so pretty, I'll have to take a close up. It has tiny pink roses & a small blue daisy type flower. She was given it (about 4yds) in 1964 to make cot sheets with but never got round to it!

I nipped to the car boot as well to get some more strawberry plants and found this gorgeous jug and the canister. A few more bits too but more on that later!

I hope everyone has had a good Easter the weather here has been glorious just like Summer so I've managed to sort out the garden, planted about 30 different types of seed and the rest of the time has been spent on the allotment and now I'm going to update my allotment blog. Have a lovely weekend I have another craft/produce market on Saturday & L has a party to go to in the afternoon on Sunday we shall probably, weather permitting be on the allotment.

Happy Easter & the rest of the crafty bits.

2010-04-04T08:28:00.007+01:00

The daffodils are now looking beautiful all over the village green, we've done some Easter baking:

A rather messy ( helped by 3 yr old) bunny cake, egg nests, hot cross buns, Easter biscuits and jelly bean Biscotti.

I finished some more crafty bits: crochet Amigurumi bunny & chick, crochet eggs,

some more crochet hair slides.

I think the egg cosies are breeding!

A couple of lambs.

Yoyo & lace brooches.

and some Hen hearts.

L made this really sweet chicken card at school.

She also overloaded this table centre piece and the Easter tree :)

And finally I did the Easter craft and produce market yesterday, which was very successful in our new venue, even though it was absolutely tipping it down with rain.

Thankyou for all the comments on my last post re the 'makes' just to let you know they were made over quite a few weeks not all done in one :D and Gill I will try and find out the name of the hen/bird fabric for you, it is gorgeous.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the Easter holiday as the sun is now thankfully out I think we will be going to the beach for an egg hunt.

I'd also like to say congratulations to a family friend who had a beautiful baby girl in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Sewing & crochet makes part 1

2010-03-29T10:40:00.008+01:00

This is my reason for lack of computer time at the moment, one thing for sure I'm covering my 20 minutes a day crafting challenge! Back in November we held our first monthly craft/produce market in the village and I'm pleased to say that it's been a success and we have 15 regular stalls. Because it's been so successful we are going to open every Wednesday morning in August and are having an extra one this weekend on Easter Saturday. We are very lucky in that everyone gets on well with each other so it's a pleasant place to be on a Saturday morning. We are also moving to new premises until the winter so will have bigger tables, I will no longer have to cram everything onto a tiny round table! I do tend to make a lot of stock mainly because during the next few months I will be busy tending the allotment but also because I'm always finding new fabric!

Egg cosies, there are more, children's ones, but I haven't taken photos yet.

I thought I'd make some lavender hangies for the boys, I've made some cowboy ones too using a fab Michael Miller fabric, for some reason I can't move the photos around so these are further down the page.

Crochet Spring flower hairclips.

Crochet bunny flowers.

Crochet bunnies.

Some softies.

Tea cosies.

Bags.

Tiny bags for little girls.

Tissue holders.

So there you go life will soon resume to normal and then I can complete Dolly Dollop's crochet stool cover, finish some string quilting projects and catch up with the last month of recipes on the 52 week recipe challenge as well as get up to date with everyone's blogs of course!

Reasons to be cheerful.

2010-03-17T13:34:00.005Z

I know it's 10 days later than when I said I'd be back and I haven't finished my bits of Spring crafting yet either! The reason for the absence well although my mum died over 5 years ago I still get a bit down on certain occasions one of them being mother's day, of course. For a week or so beforehand everything becomes a bit of a bother and needs a lot of effort. Anyway it's all done & dusted now and I'm here with a few reasons to be cheerful.

Picnicking on the beach at Crackington Haven on Mothering Sunday.

We even managed to take our coats off as you can see it was a beautiful day here.

Then strolling through Boscastle, one of my favourite places.

Finding an 18 piece teaset of June Rose Pyrex in it's original box. I've been collecting this for a few years so was very excited to find this and made a swift dash across the CS to grab it!

New books.

New old books all 1960's. The Practical Gardening and food production is brilliant and covers absolutely everything, including keeping chickens, which I aim to do very soon.

Some mother's day gifts, the lovely CK lookalike bag from Primark.

A Gisella Graham crochet cake container,

and a lovely bouquet of flowers.

Daffodils and crocuses in the garden.

Some 1970's fabric acquired from MIL.

Lily's Spring bonnet biscuits :)

And finally a sunshine award kindly given to me from Maria at Country Style living blog, if you haven't already do pop over and see her lovely blog and vintage homewares store. I'm useless at passing on awards properly and know many people have this one but if you haven't and would like it you're most welcome. Thankyou Maria.

Now I must go and do some baking as that's another thing I couldn't be bothered to do.

Dy'gol Sen Pyran Lowen

2010-03-05T12:55:00.005Z

Happy St Piran's day from a gloriously sunny Cornwall. Saint Piran is one of the patron saints of Cornwall and St Piran's day is celebrated every year on the 5th March, it started as a tinner's holiday many, many years ago. I'm also celebrating the many signs that Spring has indeed sprung in Cornwall!

My daffodils in the garden are just starting to open in this picture taken this morning.

And this was my view at 10 o clock this morning a perfect blue sky.

Sorry this is such a short post but I'm trying to finish some Spring goodies that I've been sewing for the past few days, hopefully I'll be back on Monday with the finished products. A quick hi to all my new followers I will pop round to your blogs asap :)

Colourful crochet for a gloomy day.

2010-02-25T15:44:00.005Z

I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself this week, just a bit fluey but haven't felt able to do much. I haven't done any sewing but this has meant that I've been able to catch up with some crochet mainly my Yvestown granny blanket.

Well it's getting there!

I crocheted these recently using the Royal sisters tutorial for Grandma hearts here.

I used the same pattern & made these red hearts for Lissylou who is having a 'Red for Heart' sale tomorrow in aid of British Heart Foundation. Good luck with the sale Lissy Lou I hope you make lots of money.

I made some for myself too.

On Facebook I was recently bemoaning the fact that I desparately wanted a small round wooden stool. This was so I could make a crochet cover for it just like the one on Dottie Angel's blog.

Well thanks to Claire at Dolly dollop, who came to my rescue I now have one. And in return I'm going to crochet her a cover for one of her other stools, I believe she has a few ;D As you can see I started yesterday, this will be mine as there is an annoying mistake on the first round.

And these are getting ready for the Easter craft sale. They need eyes and fluffy tails yet.

Along with these, which will become rabbit faces on flowers and then added to plant sticks.

Just a load of old jumble!

2010-02-15T15:17:00.006Z

On Saturday we went to a jumble sale in aid of Shelter Box/ Haiti. As it was for such a good cause I felt I ought to buy a few bits :) A little bit of Kitsch above and something for next Christmas below.

One can never have enough teasets or spare cups and plates!

Now who could resist this little face, I think she's been sat in the sun too long as the front of her dress is so faded, time for a new dress methinks.

An unused piece of aqua Pyrex.

Even though I went to the book sale last week I still had to get this one inscribed 'To Annabel from Daddy & Mummy Xmas 1960'

Some tiny green glass sundae dishes.

And then what I went for 50p's worth of fabric,

and a jumble of lace for 25p

which was indeed a bargain and took quite a while to unravel.

I mustn't forget this, my 16 yr old declares it to be soooo retro! needs a good clean though.

This one didn't come from the sale we found it in a CS just before Christmas, the picture doesn't do it justice but I have been looking for one of these for a long time just need to give the wood a lick of cream paint.

Food Glorious Food.

2010-02-08T13:44:00.008Z

A bit of a foody post today. Last week I joined in with Marmalade Rose and the other 20 minuters bloggers, the aim being to craft for at least 20 minutes a day for a year. I usually do some sewing or crochet everyday but I wanted to do this so that I'd make things for me or in this week's case for my 3 yr old, hence the felt cakes. These are by no means perfect I just played around with some bits of felt & seed beads but Lily loves them.

I've also completed my first string blocks project and made them into potholders.

I think I've mentioned on here before that I collect cookery books, I now have 1008 thanks to these ones that I bought on Saturday at the 30p book sale. the trouble is I buy them look at them and think oh yes I'll cook that, that and that. Of course you then forget well I'm now making an effort to cook lots of the recipes and have started with The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

I'm loving all the things I've made so far from this book, dread to think of the calorific values of the cakes though!

Traditional Brownies.

Oat & Raisin Cookies.

Banana & Chocolate Cupcakes.

Nutty Apple Loaf, which incidentally fell apart, as I took it out of the oven a bit too soon, tasted fine though.

Lemon Loaf.

We have now completed week 5 of the 52 week recipe challenge - cherry and coconut bake.

Just so it's not all about cake I thought I'd add some soup in here :) For a few years now I've grown Jerusalem Artichokes in the back garden, for their height! But I've never cooked with them until last week when I made this soup. I just cooked the peeled and chopped artichokes in some homemade chicken stock for 30 mins, blended then stirred in some cream.

Kinda food related - I was very happy to find these in the charity shop at the weekend, 6 rose Pyrex plates to add to yet another collection.

And another rose jug a twin to one I already have!

I treated myself to these from Lakeland last week, heart shaped silicone cake cases, so cute.

And finally carrying on from my last post, I managed to capture a photo of the the female Blackcap.

Birds, Blocks & Bake.

2010-01-27T17:55:00.007Z

I was in my kitchen cooking earlier watching the birds through the patio doors & it reminded me that I hadn't blogged my bird photos. In the Autumn I moved the bird table etc right outside of my patio doors as we only use the doors in the Summer. The downside of this is I'm forever taking photos through the glass when I should be cooking a meal :D

Robin.

I think this Blackbird decided that there were tastier morsels under the house so squeezed in there.

Mistle Thrush

Pied Wagtail

Not a great photo as I had to zoom to the end of the garden but this was a Fieldfare sitting on my bay tree as far as I'm aware we haven't had one of these in the garden before.

And my little Blackcap who I blogged about after seeing him for the first time on Christmas day, well he's been back every day since and there is now a Mrs Blackcap! She has only been visiting here for the last week & is quite timid although bossy, to the other birds, & very photo shy but I will get a photo in the end, incidently she has brown cap.

Now an update on the string quilt challenge, I really love making string blocks it is seriously addictive. I've cut strips from all of my patterned cotton fabrics these are mainly florals it has to be said!

And I've made 30 blocks so far, these are only roughly trimmed at the moment. I have a few things in mind what I'm going to make a few small projects and a quilt then I'm going to attack my Globaltex stash to make some cushions. Excuse the dull photos the light here is not good at the moment.

And for a change in the evenings I've started another crochet blanket this time I'm using Yvestown blog's pattern the inner circles are the same as my hexagon one and these will have another row to square them off in a very pale cream. I've done about 40 so far so I'm getting there, I know I should've finished my second hexagon & my ripple first but I do really love this one so simple too.

52 week recipe challenge - we've now done a creamy mushroom soup, which I did fiddle around with slightly, a delicious soup and I got a chance to photograph my latest CS find 4 soup bowls.

Then another bake this time a lemon cake with crunchy topping, this also went down a treat!

This weeks recipe is for a country cottage pie, which I made on Monday after looking at the ingredients and just guessed the method. I haven't got a photo as I had to make it ahead of a Governors meeting it had been devoured by the time I got home although they did save me some. All the recipes can be found at Debbie's blog here

And finally I'll leave with proof that Spring is on it's way Tete a Tete's in my kitchen and

snowdrops in my garden.

Now my hook is calling.

January brings .....

2010-01-18T20:52:00.006Z

January brings the snow, Makes our feet and fingers glow. And it certainly did what a strange month, weather wise, we're having so far, here in Cornwall.

New Year's day was spent on Looe beach, very cold but bright blue skies but by 7pm it had started to snow we only had a sprinkling but Lily was delighted when she woke up the next day.

Then we had more so much that we were stranded in the village for most of the week.

Eventually it started to turn to slush in the village, but there was still plenty on the moors.

Then a few days later an eerie freezing fog descended on us for the day.

Then came the rain & flooding on Friday night/ Saturday but by Sunday we were back at Looe in the sunshine.

So when I wasn't weather watching I was signing up to a couple of challenges. Debbie has started a country heart and home cooks 52 week recipe challenge. The first recipe was for the most delicious carrot cake you can try it out here I haven't made the second recipe of mushroom soup yet but will do soon.

I've also signed up to Stephanie at Loft Creations no strings attached challenge, you make string blocks using fabric or scraps that you already have in your stash then make them into whatever you like aiming to have one or more projects finished by June 30th. I haven't made any string blocks before so I'm looking forward to doing this.

Candy Cane Bark & Chocolate Tart

2010-01-05T20:23:00.005Z

I know you've probably had enough chocolate over the last few weeks to last a lifetime but I thought I'd share these recipes with you. If like me you have a bundle of these left over, which I always do as although they look very Christmassy they are rather sweet, this is a great way to use them up & they taste delicious.

Very simply melt milk chocolate and spread in a baking parchment lined tray. Put some candy canes in a bag and smash with a rolling pin then melt some white chocolate. Add the smashed candy canes to the melted white chocolate then spread the mix over the milk chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge and break into pieces. Although I don't have the exact measures, I guess I used about 200g of each of the chocolates and 8/10 canes. My 3 yr old loves these but hates candy canes!

Another favourite and very easy recipe is Jamie Oliver's basic chocolate tart. I tend to half his recipe and cheat by using a bought sweet pastry case.

You will need a 15cm 'ish' sweet pastry case, 6 fl oz double cream, 1 tablespoon caster sugar, 2 oz softened butter, 1/2lb dark chocolate in pieces, 2 fl oz milk, cocoa powder for dusting. I know someone who makes this and says you have to have a really good cooking chocolate but I've made it with shops own brand plain chocolate and there honestly isn't any difference in taste.

Place double cream & sugar in a pan and bring to the boil, remove from heat and add the butter and chocolate. Stir until melted, allow to cool slightly stirring in the cold milk until smooth. Pour into the pastry case, shake to even it then leave to set for a couple of hours. Dust with cocoa powder. I like to serve mine with double cream and fresh raspberries although I did use frozen raspberries this time. It is very rich so you really only need a small slice.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T16:11:00.002Z

Here we are at the end of another year, it's hard to believe that the Millennium was 10 years ago, it seems like only yesterday! Here's some of my Christmas in pictures the above mosaic shows some of my crochet and below some baking- Christmas rocky road, white chocolate & cranberry fudge, candy cane bark, white chocolate & cranberry cookies, mint crisps, Nigella's chocolate Christmas cake, mince pies, mocha cake in a mug and Boxing day chutney.

You may wonder why I have photos of my bird table, well I was visited by a Black Cap whilst I was cooking dinner on Christmas day and have never seen one before in my garden, hence the photos (I took about 30!) I'm also pleased to say that he's been back everyday since.

Now I'm busy making a New Year's Eve buffet or 'choosy' as my children have always called it.. So I'll say Happy New Year to you all and I hope 2010 turns out to be a good one for you

A Merry Christmas from Cornwall

2009-12-24T21:18:00.006Z

Eden's ' A time of gifts'

Who's this fine gentleman, dressed all in red.

A hub cap tree.

I love these Cardoons.

Decorating gingerbread trees.

Mini wreath making.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

A Pause in Advent week 4

2009-12-21T10:22:00.005Z

The final pause in Advent and how quickly has the past four weeks gone by!

My tree is up with lots and lots of decorations, mainly vintage. I'm afraid I'm not the 'less is more' type and can't resist buying vintage baubles when I'm lucky enough to find them in the charity shops or boot sales. Because of an influx of baubles this year I've had to fill my cake stands and some glass vases with them, I couldn't fit any more on the tree.

I've also got lots of fairy lights scattered around inside and out.

Now I just need to catch up on all the neglected housework, due to my produce market sewing. Then I have to work through this little lot;

- kitchen decorations, clean the fish tanks, write cards, wrap presents, finish a few crochet presents and lots of cooking. I have chutney on the go at the moment then tomorrow/Wednesday I will be making cranberry & white chocolate fudge & cookies, candy cane brittle, Christmas rocky road, mint crisps, gingerbread cookies, mince pies and Nigella's chocolate Christmas cake. The aim is for it all to be done before Mr CB finishes work on Wednesday. Then I can prep the Christmas dinner, cook sausage rolls and roast a ham joint on Christmas eve morning ready to relax and enjoy the festivities from then on and hopefully go into Padstow for the afternoon depending on the weather of course. Now I better get a move on or none of this will be done.

A Pause in Advent week 3.

2009-12-17T20:36:00.006Z

Well I'm still here and now have my post for the third week of a Pause in Advent, albeit 4 days late!

On Sunday we decided to take it easy although there are 101 things still on my to do list, I still haven't wrapped any presents or written cards. I have been doing a lot of sewing and crocheting for the 2nd produce market this Saturday though. Anyway I digress we started the day with a trip to the garden centre to see their brilliant Christmas display and to have a coffee and some millionaires shortbread.

We then wrapped up and headed for the seaside, it was actually a beautiful day but very cold.

We sat on Looe seafront and had fish and chips for lunch, so much for the pre Christmas diet, looking at this view.

I think it was probably the first time that I've been to Looe in December and was surprised to see all the seaweed on the sand, rather than holidaymakers, the gulls were enjoying a good rummage though.

Lily found some treasure - a mermaids purse :)

Her reindeer also enjoyed his time there!

Someone obviously used some of the seaweed to good effect.

By 4 o'clock it was absolutely freezing and definately time to go home and sit in front of the fire.

It was good though just to take some time out from all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, which I thought was quite appropriate for a pause in Advent! At this point I was going to wish my eldest daughter Jemma good luck for her chartered accountants exam in financial accounting but she's done it now so I hope it went well for her. I will do my best (computer allowing) to be back for the final pause in Advent on Monday as I'm off to Eden on Sunday.

Back online!

2009-12-17T12:13:00.002Z

Apologies for those that may have been looking for my third ' A Pause in Advent' post. I started to do it on Monday and my computer just shut itself down, I assume it had a virus! After 3 days of fiddling I appear to have it working again and as long as it remains working I will be back later with a new post. I'm going to run a full system scan now just in case.

A very mini Christmas

2009-12-11T08:17:00.004Z

Amazingly I've actually done something that I said I would do - the pictures of my miniature Christmas house, with all the pieces that I made. :)

First the beaded window garlands.

Fimo (Polymer clay) food - salmon mousse, pork pie, cheeseboard, sausage rolls and meat platter.

Gingerbread houses, every year I say I'm going to make a real one maybe I will this year.

Christmas cakes.

Christmas pudding, mince pies and yule logs.

Cheese hamper and Dundee cake hamper.

I do have a complete Christmas dinner made of Fimo but that is in my Fisherman's cottage.

Now for the decorations - a cross stitch robin.

Fimo again (I really did love playing with Fimo, it's very relaxing) -Snowmen, bell, candle centrepiece.

In situ - Mrs Claus in the shop.

Santa in the grotto.

The restaurant.

Tea room.

And finally the front of the house.

Now some of you may think I'm a little strange but dolls house are very addictive. I had my first 'grown up' one 6 years ago and now have a dozen or so! I found I could incorparate all the crafts that I liked to do, including crochet on tiny, tiny hooks! They were also very therapeutic for me when my mum died. One day I will take some photos of the insides of the other houses, at the moment they are rather dusty and I have no time to dust!

Can you believe it will be Christmas day in 2 weeks time, scary! I haven't wrapped any presents or written any cards yet. This weekend I want to make some Boxing day chutney, cranberry fudge and mint crisp, put up the outside lights, finish the sewing for next week's produce/craft market as well as all the housework and shopping, no rest for the wicked as my mum would say!

Have a great weekend x