A warm welcome to some new followers, Sarina McKewen-Bell, Knollgardener, John Wooldridge, John Gray from Going Gently ( who I now follow after being a lurker for ages) and Sue from Our New Life in the Country, who I have followed for a while and taken inspiration and recipes from willy nilly. She relocated to North Wales a while ago and is working hard to get the new place up and running.
I can knock numbers 21 - 23 off my list,
3 plump little cushions, made from orphan blocks that were made to try out new patterns and play with measurements, they have 12" cushion pads in them and are just the job to tuck in the small of your back. Alas they are not for me, at least not until Francesca has seen them.
The second batch of tomato chutney, slightly different recipe, I made a batch of Chilli last night so had to use dried crushed chillies in this, I made a bit more as well, you notice that I managed to get a half jar for testing again, most important testing is.
In the background there are 3 large Kilner bottles ready for infused oil, they were £1 each from Home Bargains, I am going back on Saturday to see if they have any more, the little ones usually sell at almost £2 each. I can think of at least 6 people who would be happy to get a bottle of flavoured oil in a few months.
When I took Ben out yesterday afternoon I stumbled across some ripe blackberries, I nipped home and got a container and snapped up a few, with some of the apples from Cardigan I soon had the jelly bag full. 4 1/2 jars ready to tuck away. I am good at getting a half jar to taste, lots of practice I suppose. 1 of these will go to Maggie tomorrow and the rest will be squirreled away to be joined by many more.
I am not a fan of inserting zips, so I need more practice. I have a pattern, well loads really, for a simple zippered pouch in several sizes. I looked at zips and am just not prepared to pay over £2 for a little zip to make a coin purse. I had a look online and got this little lot for 69 p each, a bakers dozen for less than £10 with postage. I chose bright colours that I use constantly and a selection of sizes. I do buy things from boot sales and CS just for zips and buttons sometimes but have worked my way through my stock. Plus at this price I can justify using new ones, and as these will possibly become gifts it is more fitting.
On the subject of fitting, I have seen mention of sewing patterns from Deer + Doe, I have Googled them but can not find a web page that will open. Does anyone out there know of a site that I can get onto to have a look see and possibly order from?
Reasons to be grateful.
1. Lots of rain showers but plenty of hot sun in between.
2. The containers of veg and salad are doing well.
3. There will be pounds and pounds of blackberries coming along.
4. I am off to cardigan to see the grands at the weekend.
5. I have another project to finish off tonight with a bit of gentle hand sewing.
If you pop back to the Zips you will see a bit of the new project in the right top corner.
I will share tomorrow, it is for the Red Cross, I need to contact the local branch and find out where to drop them off as I will soon have a big bag of things for them.
I still have not made a sizable dent in the fabric stash, good thing really as after tomorrow's finish I will still have 76 items to make.
Sad news about Robin Williams this morning, there were some clips of him on the TV at various events, it was noticable that in just about all them his mouth was smiling but his eyes were not. In repose his face and expressions were quite melancholy. He will be severely missed in the world of film, anyone who has seen the "wiggling derriere" of Mrs Doubtfire or heard the joyous bellow of "Good morning Vietnam" will never forget the talent that was there. I first encountered him In Mork and Mindy and loved it, then of course I have watched Jumanji more times than is reasonable for a grown woman.
Good bye Robin, I hope you have finally found peace.
TTFN Pam
I love the orange and turquoise together in those cushions it looks really bright and cheerful.
ReplyDeleteYou are going great guns with your preserves I havent even thought of any yet.
I tried the orange , turquoise, grey mix for a patchwork block swap and just fell in love with it, made loads of different size blocks, then went into another swap that ran for a year and left them all as orphans. They will feature in my challenge until they are gone. I just have to fill empty jars and seeing my cupboards filled with jars of bright colours is brilliant.
DeleteLovely cushions, and your chutney looks good, you certainly have been a whirlwind today. So sad about Robin Williams
ReplyDeleteIt is strange how many of the great comedy figures have been pursued by the demon of depression. I have not seen the black dog for a long while, I like to think that surrounding myself with colour keeps it at bay.
Deletehttp://www.deer-and-doe.fr/stockists.htm. This is a link to a list of their stockists. Lots of well known shops there.
ReplyDeleteDitto about a Robin Williams - another comedy actor with private demons. My favourite was Dead Poets Society.
Thank you for that Jenny, unfortunately I could not access the site on my server. I would find it difficult to choose a favourite film from any group, there are so many that I really enjoy and watch at irregular intervals. I am child enough to say that Elf is right up there along with Horton Hears a Hoo.
DeleteYou are another one picking blackberries already! Ours aren't ready yet, but I shall be out with my basket as soon as! Yes, high winds the other day, storms and thunder - well, it IS August.......!
ReplyDeleteIn the corner of Lincs where I used to live I have picked Blackberries in the middle of July. I was delighted to find them growing so prolifically here, of course the lovely hot weather has helped. We have had some flash rainfall of epic strength but the sun has come through so strongly that it has dried everything within an hour.
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