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Showing posts with label new follower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new follower. Show all posts

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

On Track Tuesday

A big hello and welcome to Frugal in Derbyshire, I have been reading your blog for ages and only realised yesterday that I was not "following", that has been remedied.

I had a stern talk to myself after reading your comments yesterday, I have only been off work for 12 days today, it felt nearer to 12 weeks, slight exaggeration there. Possibly because on the bad pain days my meds just about knock me out and on the good days I go round like a whirling dervish.

I have read your advice and set my day out to a rough time table.
Tea first, you have to get the priorities right, then a quick run through the shower etc etc. Ben is top of the list he gets as long a walk as I can do, this morning it was 30 minutes.

It was quite strange, the village is not huge and I left the cottage, turned right and after about 7 minutes walked into rain. That lasted for around 10 minutes and I gradually walked out of it, the rest of the walk was dry. Looking back I could see where the dark cloud had gathered over the next village and we must have walked through the leading edge as within 20 minutes of getting back it was raining in earnest.

I dried Ben off and fed him, had more tea and some cereal then cleared the kitchen and swept and washed the floor.

I had 30 minutes with more tea, priorities remember, and the lap top, blog reading.
I read Bee in My Bonnet written by Lori Holt and she had written a tutorial for some coasters, very cute. PING I have been asked to make some bits for a fund raising stall in 2 weeks time, so with no further ado i set my timer for 2 hours and started cutting and sewing.




Rather than use Christmas fabrics I picked reds and greens at random. These were 5" squares that I cut last week from my scrap bin, and the wadding is trimming from a quilt. I throw nothing away.



The first 4 finished, the red and gold star fabric is left over from a swap last month. This was a good way to use some of it.
I have made mine slightly bigger than Lori, she trimmed her hourglass blocks to 3 1/2 " before quilting, I quilted mine then trimmed to 4", I cut the backing squares to 6" but will use 5 1/2" on the rest.

My other scrap project is progressing nicely, I will be sewing again at around 4.00 and will start joining the rows of this.


It is going to be a Chequer Board quilt with alternate Penny Patch blocks and plain blocks. Mainly in Autumn colours but all from my scrap cutting session. The solid rust fabric was bought to back a quilt with but I changed my mind and used a print instead, the leaf one on the bottom left pile, that rust will be the borders as well to bring it to a full 72" by 80" quilt, the binding fabric has been picked from the stash, I just hope that I have enough. I am going to piece the backing out of whatever fabrics that I have, everything from 2" strips to fat quarters and some bigger bits. This is a stash busting project and I have had some of these prints for 5 years.

The rain has stopped and the sun is doing it,s best to break through, I will finish this and get Ben out while it lasts. When I get back I am going to tidy my bookcase, it looks as though someone threw a hand grenade in there. Then 2 hours sewing before I make dinner, meatballs in tomato sauce, enough to freeze 3 meals, with spaghetti.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Support and help from all you peeps.

2. Sunshine after the rain.

3. 1 hour in the kitchen and 4 days dinners done.

4. Ben bounding round my feet in a mad rush to get out on his walk.

5. A happy and fruitful sewing session.

I swear that Ben can read my mind, as soon as I think about walking him he is there, in my face wriggling and squirming with joy. Dumb animals HUH.

TTFN                                    Pam



Sunday, 3 November 2013

A Wallow In My Memories

First let me offer a warm welcome to Janice, a new follower, if you have been here for a few days then I aplogise. I am a bit lax in looking at my counting thingamujig.

I know that several of you joined me for afternoon tea a few days ago, I had so much fun baking that I did some more today. I was awake early and could almost hear my Granny saying " come on Pam the oven is getting hot and the tea is made"

She liked to do her Sunday baking in the wall oven, the sort where you light a real fire under it and stick your arm in the oven to see how hot it was. There was an indicator on the front but she preferred the arm test!

Just as we did then, 55 years ago, I started with sausage rolls and shortcakes.


I only made 900 gm of flour into pastry whereas we used to use about 5 lb.

The shortcakes are assembled like this.


Roll out the pastry and dab butter over 2/3 rds, sprinkle with sugar and dried fruit.



Fold up the naked bit halfway and then fold up again to cover the fruit.



Roll out so you can just see the fruit through the pastry, brush with a little milk and a final sprinkle of sugar, cut up and cook at 200 c for around 25 minutes.

Lovely with a cup of tea, when if they get stale warm them up and have with custard, we have not had them like that for as long as I can remember.

I also made a tray of little quiches, Granny called them Breakfast Pies.


I made 2 more Apple and Walnut cakes from Dirt Under My Fingernails, that is 4 since I read the recipe, Shaz you have a lot to answer to. 



 They are a little darker this time as I had some SR wholemeal flour to use up also this time I put the walnuts in the cake with the apple, I did not mean to I was distracted by Francesca walking through the kitchen and swiping a sausage roll and a mini quiche as she went.
Why is it that any baking swiped off the cooling tray as twice as nice?
Any way I picked up the walnuts instead of the apples and in they went, hey ho it still looks good, Nev has got one as well as some sausage rolls and quiches. 

My next baking day will be some of the latest recipes from Sharon of Miss Townmouse. Between them I will be lucky to get into jogging bottoms soon, never mind my LBJ,  Little Black Jeans.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A bright sunny day.

2. Watching Ben running round with a sock in his mouth like a puppy.

3. A fresh breeze blowing my laundry dry.

4. My latest project looking good so far.

5. Planning a trip to do some Christmas window shopping, I do not need to buy anything but like to harvest some ideas ready for next year.

I do not like to do laundry at the weekend but in the winter I take advantage of every good day and today is perfect, strong sunshine and a lively breeze.

I will be sewing and pressing later so will get my laundry ironed in the meantime.

Francesca has just made more tea so .             TTFN       Pam