Yarny Buttons: Tweedy, Heathered, and Variegated Buttons in Polymer Clay
Sewing with my Mum. Just like old times: Life is too short, have some family fun and healthier eating can wait for a few days. Hate throwing food away. What are you up to? Never the wisest choice, is it? It was at the bottom of the first bag I looked in. I planned to do only 10 minutes crochet, as advised before things got very painful. And so I did. I set an alarm actually, in the style of a sensible adult.
It feels like another life now. Anyway, I really enjoyed crocheting with this wool blend aran and a 5. Oh, the book has a playlist on Spotify if you want to play some of the music featured in the story. We are having some cracking October weather , as you can see. Lovely sunny days with blue skies and sweet little fluffy clouds.
They actually said this in tones of awe and wonder. I soon gave up with the idea of wearing my hoodie and tied it round my waist instead. Someone will be interested enough to read all about it. I know it might seem odd to feature the water pipes , but there was something really appealing about the shiny blue paint and newness of the connectors. Do you think th at piece of 2 by 4 is vital? I was so tempted to give it a tug and see what happened. If I added sound to this photo , you would hear the water rushing through , as the engineers gradually lower the water level.
There are hundreds thousands, when its breeding time of grey lag, canada and snow geese, plus coots, herons, moorhens, swans and ducks.
- Moskaus langer Arm - Stalin und der Kommunismus in Polen (German Edition).
- Paths of the Norseman (The Norseman Chronicles Book 2).
- New Verbs In The New Dictionary Of Life.
I would have loved a ride in the little inflatable boat, but as it was tethered both ends I imagine you need a rowing boat to reach it. T he boat house was some way away. I contented myself with taking lots of leaf pictures instead. Plus a bag of Comice pears. You can taste apples with such different flavours apples which taste like pears, anyone? We have a spare fridge, usually referred to as the wine fridge, the sourdough starter s live there too. Another exciting aspect of Apple weekend was finding a new farm shop has opened on part of the grounds. Waterperry Farm Shop is stocked with prod uce from the nearby farm.
I t was such a lovely surprise to find fres hly bak ed cakes and savouries , their own meat and products from the local are a including cheeses, rapeseed oil and preserves. We bought 3 red peppers, 2 sausage rolls gone before we even got into the car for the journey home and a lardy cake which we popped in and shared with my Mum over cups of tea. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout only just; sort of as I got halfway through the first chapter last night and woke up a couple of hours later with the light on in the early hours….
Trengwainton garden , always a must-see. Apple picking socialising while sharing recipe ideas: Only an hour left now, then into the new Robert Galbraith Lethal White. Some of the many Trengwainton Scarecrows, made with local primary school children. The theme this year is Inspirational Women.
So good to see skilled people at work. Viewers no longer watch programmes as they are screened and this was only a few days later. Nicest bookshop in Cornwall? So many signed copies too as many authors live nearby, including John le Carre and Patrick Gale. Penzance harbour, our week away was mixed weatherwise but we walked every day regardless. Waking to Marazion watching the kite surfers pass St Michaels Mount; which is only accessible by the causeway when the tide is out, or by boat.
But no washing up always so much despite having a dishwasher. Back to Plymouth for a night, arriving at lunchtime in torrential rain.
Ride in a Time Machine please? Which reminds me; new Dr Who on Sunday. Trengwainton squash and blackberries all along the SW coast path in Cornwall. Who wants a stupid third of a sock, needles and yarn??!?! Many, actually all, ends darned in on my patchwork blanket strips. It felt a little like that last Saturday, but I did enjoy looking at and feeling all the new yarns and admiring some of the new colours.
This was taken in the waiting room before I saw the Hand and Wrist consultant on Thursday. I liked the way everything coordinates! But as I told it then: He freaked me out saying it may be arthritis. How little some people know, eh?! There will be no crochet or knitting for a while yet. I really hope it does the trick, because the invasive treatment options do not appeal!
Huge understatement, typical of the English. A few days later I received one in the post! It was the day of my initial appointment and x-ray, nice timing. Spencer, the small town, is in Iowa. The best aspect of the story is learning about the farming history of the area. One of the salon dogs at my hairdressers. A cockapoo with a cat-like temperament, apart from when the postman comes every morning with a treat for her, and her golden doodle sister, in his pocket. This is one of the chairs in front of the hair wash station.
A friend is moving back to Australia after living overseas for nearly 2 decades. In the process of emptying out her pantry she found five cans of chickpeas! So to use one can up she put together a chickpea and butternut curry. As these things go, she posted a picture of it on Facebook and inspired lots of us to make the same for our dinner the next day. It was just the perfect grey, cool day for a curry.
I made mine with onion, garlic, root ginger, spices ground cumin, ground coriander, chilli flakes, a pinch of ground cardamon, pinch of salt and grind of black pepper , coconut milk light , about ml of stock, a g can of chick peas g of butternut squash and served it on on a bed of spinach. Or anything else you want to share. The horse chestnut leaves are mostly brown and I found a pocketful of shiny new conkers at the weekend. My thoughts are starting to turn to soup and stews, rather than salads and lighter meals; these are always signifiers of the change of season. Originally I wanted an invisible join, so it looked truly patchworky.
This is why I left the ends long, but now I realise there will be weaker joins if I change colours all along the edge of each colour block. What do you think? Kate Atkinson is to be featured soon and I cannot wait. I love her writing. Human Croquet is my favourite. Paris for One is a lovely novella. An evening dinner and cruise trip from Stratford Upon Avon. This was my first time going through locks. It was great fun. When we met up this month I informed Patch and Mr P that they need to buy their own sharpish!
My appointment is next week. West Wycombe brass band sounded very good. The loaves are cooling at the moment.
Meeting nice people for cake, pots of tea and to share some books in Birmingham. Look at the bull all decked out for summer! It was partly filmed a mile away in Lambeth by a real WW2 bomb site. It was good rainy Sunday viewing Free on Amazon Prime. The 13th annual Festival of Transport at Blenheim Palace. The mod and his Vespa was my favourite, I hope he won a Best of category.
I think I made it unravelling a row. The blackberries are over already and the horse chestnuts are losing their leaves earlier than usual. You have until noon BST today! I have a small stack of good books to read, and have found what turns out to be a really gripping audio book. You know when you enjoy reading, but sometimes you really love reading? I popped into the library the other day and quickly grabbed a selection of books to share with Mum. I dislike having too many books stacked up to read. For me it can turn reading into a chore.
If I have books too long it can take the sparkle out of what attracted me to them in the first place. So I put the two paperbacks down before I was tempted. I can always pop back there anytime. When I was young I used to write letters all the time. I miss getting handwritten letters, there was something really nice about the surprise of hearing the flap of the letter box ding and settling down somewhere comfy to read.
Anyway, if you fancy reading this then I have to warn you that the first chapter is really syrupy. The audio book is a delight. Juliet Stevenson is a superb actress, she brings books to life. The late 18th century setting and original characters feel fresh after my recent reads set around WW1. I was tempted to get my sewing machine out again, after a long time. I have not threaded it this year at all. I want to know if I can do any research on where and exactly when they were made. Instead of procrastinating any longer, wishing to avoid the hassle of a hospital visit and resulting treatment, hoping for a magically non-sore hand, I have finally made myself call to make that referral hospital appointment with the wrist and hand consultant.
A few weeks ago a representative of Rito Yarn and Hobby contacted me to ask if I would like to try any of their products. They sell over 15, products, so in theory I had my work cut out choosing what to try; except in my last post I had just mentioned.
I think Kasper from Rito was probably quite taken aback by the speed of my reply! Stupidly instead of setting my 10 minute timer on Friday, I got carried away. My hand is very sore…. By taking part in this giveaway you agree to being contacted by me via your email address.
I will not use it for any other purpose or share it with anyone. If efforts to contact the winner have been unsuccessful after a week, an alternative winner will be randomly selected. None of the links in this post are affiliate links and it has not been sponsored by Rito Yarn and Hobby, although they did send me a free ball of yarn. I used this random number generator website and it picked number 1. Thank you to all who took part.
Flatbreads and pizza happened this weekend. Hobbs House Bakery sourdough recipes are excellent. The HH boys are from a long line of English professional family bakers, and their recipes are A1. I left the dough an hour while I faffed around, before shaping, it made really light and holey pizza. The rectangular pizza was much thinner and crispy. I like both thin crust and deep pan. The moisture in the bread means it cooks in its own steam.
You then take the lid off for the last bit to burnish the top. It needs to be just this side of burnt for the flavour and crustiness. Lots at the Mock Mayor celebrations while we watched the Abingdon Morris Men, heard the speeches and sang along to the excellent Indie Band. You just know the first draft was wittier and more interesting. The hotel is where Meghan Markle spent the night before she married Prince Harry.
I have a row of bowls with tomatoes at various stages of ripening. I now have a referral with an orthopaedic consultant pending. I must get my reading back up to speed. I can never see a time when I will actually use a string crochet pineapple bag. We can put our food recycling waste in any kind of plastic bag now, rather than having to buy the compostable ones. This is at least a good way to use some of the plastic packaging that comes with everything. This was my amazing Monday find.
It kept me smiling broadly for at least another two days after that. You know when you pop into a charity shop, not really looking for anything in particular but just wandering? Well I turned away from the bookshelves and saw this beautiful cast-iron pot. I grabbed it as fast as I could, instinctively. Another find in another charity shop on the same day, not that I bought this, but my it brought back some memories. A quick walk through the library and the cover of this book just jumped out at me, it made me chuckle. This weather is perfect for blocking and drying thick items.
I did try it on and was thinking about doing a photo, but really it looked ridiculous as I was wearing a spaghetti strap top with bare arms! Naughty, naughty Wednesday morning breakfast but these sourdough pancakes are delicious. I took the recipe from Tastes of Lizzy T blog. If you know what I mean. A new lunchtime dish I made: You grill whole aubergines until the skin is blackened then scoop out and chop the soft flesh.
Mix with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Delicious with toasted pitta or flatbread, a few olives and salad. The photography is beautiful and I want to make a lot from it. His and hers jam seems a good plan….! Does what it says on the tin! Unlike sourdough which dilly dallies. Are you busy in the kitchen? Have you found any treasure lately? Back in April when my wrist, hand and elbow were at their most painful, the thought of even holding the cowl in my right hand, while darning the ends, felt impossible.
Today felt like I was opening a dusty old trunk in the attic. I fished my Edenvale cowl out, darned in the ends and left it soaking in tepid water with a bit of hair conditioner. I have no fabric softener here and so I tried that, without rinsing, to see if it will soften the rather scratchy pure wool. If it feels slimey when dry I suppose I can always gently rinse it out. Just this bit of finishing has made me feel like I want to crack open a bottle of champagne and celebrate: One of my sister in laws recommended it to me.
Have you read it? The story focuses upon Rose and her three sisters who are growing up in a privileged, but eccentric family in Kent. The first twenty minutes of the book have been enjoyable. I loved stumbling across, fortunately not literally, this bicycle after a walk and a chat to the coastwatch guard at Cape Cornwall. Do you see why I absolutely love West Cornwall? It is important to reconnect with things that gave us immense pleasure when younger, if they still appeal. I really liked boat trips, canoeing, cycling in the countryside around my village and swimming.
We had a small cabin cruiser and a canoe, seaside holidays always lasted a fortnight every summer, and we messed about by the village stream all through my childhood. A resolution I made, while away, is I want to go on a lot more different kinds of boats. I asked if I could take up canoeing or kayaking during a recent physio appointment, the answer was predictably safe: Fifteen minutes will fly past.
We started off on it but then copied a family by heading diagonally off to walk along the sea towards the beach. The water was up to my knees and we spotted jellyfish on the sand and tiny gurnards swimming around our feet. I did consider my own version of this: We wanted to complete a section of the coast path from Cape Cornwall to Sennen. The haze of blue is linseed in the last pic, and the yellow in the photo above, is buttercups.
The stretch of coast path takes you above two bays of golden sand. We ended up straying from the path because it was so appealing to walk alongside the sea for the last few minutes. No lunch, just a snack of a couple of biscuits and water along the way meant we were famished by our arrival at Sennen Cove by 5pm. It was a challenging walk in places; sliding down scree, clambering over rocks and up and down steep stone steps, but the sense of achievement was pretty immense.
I wore a tubi grip on my knee throughout, asked for a few scoops of ice for my knee a freezer bag and clip-it is now essential kit and nursed a large guess? On our reluctant journey towards Devon, and ultimately home, on Saturday, we stopped in Looe, South East Cornwall for four hours. By mid-afternoon a strange phenomenon had occurred: Instead of going right to our Exeter hotel for the night we called into Paignton for dinner and a wander goodbye golden Cornish sands, hello funny red stuff.
The euphoria of England winning the quarter-final against Sweden was tangible. I headed from one patch of shade to the next in the arboretum, when in the full sun I found myself becoming rather chard like…. Chatting to a couple from Gloucester, while we all leant over to peer in the pond did the trick of cooling down. I saw cavorting water snails, newts, dragonfly nymphs, whirlygig beetles, small fish, tadpoles, a dragonfly and damsel flies. Yesterday catching up with Mum, who is lamenting the loss of so many of her plants, I was amused to see Barty obviously having a very taxing day.
I was really in the throes of enthusiasm for making everything I saw back in April, when I overdid it and injured myself. I have not made a stitch now for three months. A week or so ago I even stopped moaning about not being able to do any! However soon I can try again for minutes max, see how it goes then do a little more in a few days.
If it makes me sore then do not try for another week. If ok do more in a few days. I have my last physio appointment in a few weeks time. Cross your fingers and toes for me that I can comfortably hold a hook and yarn again, please. The heat will soon pass, it is England after all, and I will be raring to go.
Episode 1 was only out last Monday free on iTunes or acast or podbean for android users. Lynda La Plante and Robbie Williams feature. Trerice, National Trust property near Newquay. An Elizabethan manor Winston Graham, the writer of Poldark, used to stay in. It provided the inspiration for Trenwith. I first read the book above last year and remember really enjoying it as we travelled around the Highlands of Scotland. Likeable characters, a beautiful setting and heavenly descriptions of locally produced food.
I came across this copy in the library and thought it would be nice to refresh my memory about the characters, and what happened, before reading the next. This is a pretty perfect summer read. On Tuesday when I read about Flora making oatcakes, I found I had flung down the book, run to the kitchen and turned on the oven before I really knew what I was doing.
A little bicarbonate of soda aka baking soda gives them such a satisfying crunch. Two white and two wholemeal. Everything in the kitchen is covered in flour and quite frankly we need to eat only salad for a bit. My sourdough starter is lying dormant in the fridge for a little holiday now. Whisk up the sugar and salt into the starter in a large bowl, then add the bicarb. The mixture will froth up and increase. Heat an oiled non-stick pan on a low to medium heat. Add well oiled crumpet rings and barely half fill them with batter, it will rise so you need space for them to grow.
Flip them over briefly to colour the tops. Cool on a rack and toast. Or eat hot right away! Try a few and see which you prefer!
The Little Room of Rachell | Create & Enjoy
I discard about half of my starter putting it into a bowl, or loosely covered container, in the fridge to save for making pancakes or crumpets then feed the remaining with g flour and g water which is equivalent to 4fl oz on my measuring jug. Mine came out light and fluffy with enough holes to identify them as crumpets I think. I liked them very much. Too much, if you know what I mean….
Last weekend my friend Safron posted these yummy photos of her first loaf of sourdough bread and homemade baked beans on her Safrolistics Instagram page. Safron was inspired by a friend, who makes his own sourdough bread and she inspired me in return. This is her first bread since a disastrous attempt at school. I started my own sourdough starter last Monday. But really it boils down to just flour, water and the natural yeasts in the flour and your home environment.
If pioneers could make it in one lidded pot over the hot embers of their campfire, we really do not need to make it too hard for ourselves.
Unisciti a Kobo e inizia a leggere oggi stesso
How easy is that?! I followed the excellent instructions on the Kitchn website. I was amazed that even after a couple of hours bubbles had begun to appear in the starter. When baking the bread I mixed it up a bit: I used his recipe for quantities of flour and starter etc for the dough. Though a little less salt. There are about hours between the top and bottom picture. This is when I decided to pop it into the fridge for the night.
I placed a tray half full of water onto the bottom shelf of the oven before I turned it on, it seemed a safer strategy for slightly clumsy me, than popping a tray of boiling water into the oven just before the bread. This is also so much faster than oiling loaf tins and easy-peasy to wash up afterwards.
I felt nervous tipping it out of my new banneton proving basket thank you Sainsbury Nectar points but it fell softly onto the tray like a plump soft feather pillow. I actually cheered, which brought Someone running to see what excitement was going on! I do need to find a better quality, thick baking sheet as it will be better for cooking the base of the loaf.
Alternatively trying to make one in a cast-iron lidded pot aka Dutch Oven appeals. What praise from a sourdough aficionado, especially for a first loaf. I love the evolution of my crumpets, from left to right, the first pancake is always the manky one and that was definitely the runty crumpet! The last has proper crumpet bubbles and the texture was fab! They were just out of the frying pan here, cooling, before I toasted them under the grill. I decided I would have the worst one, and the best one in the interests of fairness it sort of makes sense, I think! After all, it was me who had talked to, fed and peered at the starter all week.
It worked well; we both enjoyed them for breakfast. Someone had his with Marmite and butter, mine were with honey and butter. I need to buy some crumpet rings. Before I eat them all. I am hopeful that I can begin again at some point soonish. Finding a new creative outlet, creating a sourdough starter and baking new kinds of bread has been absorbing. Not to mention homemade crumpets! You just need flour and water to begin. The plan for Sunday was meant to be shopping for an expensive, boring-but-sort-of necessary thing, but I totally subverted that by lobbying for a day out.
It was another lovely sunny weekend and Saturday had been spent in the sunshine at a family BBQ. I wanted the good time vibes to continue. So we went to Croome courtesy of The National Trust. I love the view of the Malvern hills in the background seen in the first photo. The parkland is stunning, with a long lake to walk alongside, while waving to grazing cows on the other side.
There was a cup of tea and slice of chocolate and orange cake at the Walled Gardens too. There was no chance to explore the RAF museum they were based at Croome during WW2 and the parkland has lots of other paths leading to temples, statues and follies. Croome part two will happen sometime. Moon or oxide daisies and poppies together are such a pretty combo. I keep seeing them at the side of our roads and on roundabouts, though the best place has to be like this; en masse in a meadow.
So lovely to see them wandering around although, according to one of the NT volunteers, the head gardener is not so impressed as they scratch around in newly dug flower borders and mess up the hard work! Croome Court has been through quite a number of changes. You can read about its fascinating history here. I believe that one of my family members may have spent time visiting Croome, during one of its incarnations as a Hare Krishna centre. There is a replica of a decorative, eighteenth century Chinese-style bridge which has been reinstated, more than years after the original disappeared.
I saw my physio for my first treatment yesterday, after the initial assessment the week before last. Want to see his thumb bruises around my elbow and wrist?! He visibly tried not to laugh. Italics for sympathy, folk! My current audio book is still The Boy on the Bridge by M. Mrs Blackbird is huge and fluffy. I spotted a pair of green finches last week. Derek Jacobi is a superb narrator. Rhododendron at Trengwainton Garden. The chicken was best. Someone always sticks to the Traditional ones Foxgloves, whitebells, bluebells, cow parsley, buttercups and clover along the lanes and coast path.
Soooo much after just 4 days away Trevethan gin at Porthleven Nauti pizza place. I use an older version. Well, my thinking was that after nearly five weeks not doing any craft at all it was sensible to try a little of everything. You want to go to the initial physio assessment with up-to-date knowledge about what hurts and exactly where. I took the exactly part of it literally; this morning I drew 2 biro crosses on the areas of my elbow which hurt the most.
I reckon people thought I was going in for cosmetic surgery as I have massive issues with…. I did two rows which is five hundred stitches. It was back then, but maybe not so much now. It seemed common sense to move on to some crochet, just to properly test the water. I did four rows, or so, of the grape. So far, so good, which is fine, but have I healed myself and what will I say to the physio?
It all felt a bit iffy really this morning, but not so bad. Next stop was a bit of the dreaded sock, if this caused the problem before I should see how it feels now. Plus I had to look again at how to pick up the side stitches, where to put which needle and so on. I opted for a crochet hook then slipping them onto a second DPN this time. All the focusing and concentrating on new skills again, the satisfaction I felt was immense. It was like after a session of meditation or yoga, complete calm had descended.
I really miss my yarn. I took my sock knitting when I went to see the physio this afternoon, just to show him how teeny the silly little needles are I actually do love them and how the yarn is wrapped around my fingers. I mimed the repetitive movements you make. She laughed like a drain. That was a bit weird. He then paused to demonstrate and show me the resultant swelling.
Altri titoli da considerare
Why is that one funny? One eye done and the other naked, might be more of a hilarious sight me thinks. What are they like?! I called for an assessment Friday, I got an appointment for today Tuesday. He could see my thinking about testing it before the appointment, but it was not that clever a thing to do it does really hurt now and I should not be typing this, but we bloggers waffle suffer for our craft. Wait, should I move this bit to the bad news part?! The 30 times exercise will aggravate it, it will become more painful, but alternating ice and heat treatments will help the healing.
I did not tell him this part. Otherwise there will be much sighing and groaning over what should be a relaxed and lovely weekend. It worked because I have stayed happy. I do miss all the moments where I pick up needles, a hook or I sew something, but I did do the right thing instinctively by stopping it all. Thank you very much for stopping by to read and for your caring comments and messages on my last.
How are you doing? Did you watch the wedding?
It was lovely, warm glow time here. I feel so frustrated at not being able to sit quietly to focus on making something for a few minutes. The other thing is that after losing my mojo a little, I was suddenly raring to make all the things. I did some more hoping magic might happen and it would be fine. It occurred to me to try to work through the discomfort, but bearing in mind someone who did the same and ended up with much more of an issue, I stopped. Polymer Clay Master Class.
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