Lazy Hazy Day of Summer.

We have had glorious sunshine again today, 3 loads of laundry done, dried and folded, ironing later., Ben has enjoyed some ambles around and playing in the garden. I have made some blackberry and apple fridge jam, after reading my blog list yesterday and seeing some yummy jam made by someone else, I got nearly 3 jars full but had to dig into one jar to pile onto a little bit of bread at lunchtime, delish.

 I will be making more after I have shopped as I will not have enough sugar before. It is very cheap in Lidl so will not break the bank.

On that note my spend is nice and low so far, 4 no spend days on the trot, I will need milk soon but do not want to go out just for 2 things, equally I do not want to use the shop in the village as it is 50% dearer than Lidl. I will manage until I need to buy some veg and salad.

Still on the frugal low/no spend September this will be dinner tonight.

The diced veg in the dish was dressed with oil, salt, pepper and a good slug of Balsamic vinegar then roasted in the bottom of the oven with my chicken and roast potatoes yesterday. 

I went to sleep on the sofa Sunday afternoon and woke too late to cook so had wholemeal toast with cheesey baked beans and egg, lovely.

I will make the Bulgar Wheat up as per packet directions and add my roasted veg halfway through the cook time, the mix came from AF and I am looking forward to it. I may shred some lettuce, cucumber and celery to have with it, I will see how I feel later.

I have done a bit more sewing and 2 more dogs are completed.

One each for Kaitlyn and Faith, I am going to Cardigan on Saturday and will take them, along with the blue one for Junior, then.

To prevent arguments I have made them similar but used different colour combinations and used different prints for the gussets.

I found this on my bookshelf earlier, shamefully it was the first time that I had opened it since it was given to me ages ago.

The fabric pack is still there, I remember looking at it and knowing that I would not be using it as directed, and there it stayed, neglected and unloved. Shame on me.

I flicked through it and found the Stanley toy pattern, as I have a stack of 2 1/2" squares cut I may well make one up. Once we get to October I will make a dog in "that seasonal fabric" as part of Francesca,s gift, I will make the Scotty Dog up but use 3 or 3 1/2" squares to get a more substantial cushion.

I quite fancy making one in 5" charms as well, just because.

I have been given these, I am sure that I can sink them into the garden and plant them to add height somewhere.

The steps are really beginning to look good, I have also been given some more slabs of slate, I will be skipping up and down them soon. I will plant some ground cover on the left, I may try cranberries if I can find some at a reasonable price. The lovely neighbour who gave me these also had some wood from a pine bed going spare, it will make me a potting bench with storage shelves under for the greenhouse.

I have found a supplier for my fruit trees and bushes and they sell the Flowering Quince that I want for the front garden. Things is looking up.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  Lots and lots of sunshine.

2.  Tasty preserves for next to nothing.

3.  A gift from my neighbour that will enhance my garden.  

4.  The hedgerows are dripping with free food, just waiting to be gathered.

5.  Ben has been off his meds for a while now and his skin is fine.

I have to welcome some new(ish) followers, I have been so busy rushing to get my posts written that I have neglected them badly.

Angie, Serenata from the balancing Kiwi who also blogs about the life of her dolls, Myshabbychicfrugallife who fills me with jealousy at her wonderful finds, hippymamax6, marlene Jones from Poppy Patchwork whose stitchery turns me green with envy and Michelle from remembering the old ways who lives in Hampshire. I had a SIL who lived in Havant and used to visit twice yearly, lovely place, so clean with hardly any litter and wonderful plants everywhere. Welcome one and all, I will enjoy reading your blogs and any comments that you care to leave.

It is almost time to get my frugal dinner on the go. I will knock another 4 off my challenge, the cushion and the 3 dogs, I need to get a wiggle on but I do have 6 place mats to make tomorrow so they will help.

I hope that you are all enjoying the weather, Indian Summer, bring it on.

                       TTFN                                               Pam

16 to 19 done and dusted'

I had a very late night last night followed by a very early morning, I think I managed 3 hours sleep and another half hour squirming around before throwing in the towel and getting up.

I did not waste the time though, I completed 2 started projects and made 2 more from scratch.

My scrappy quarter square triangles are now a cushion, with a border from the Bloomsbury Collection and backed with some Chicopee from Denyse Schmidt.

The Half Square Triangles are now a child size quilt, I forgot to take a picture of the backing, it is a creamy yellow and very soft.

I was drinking tea, much, much earlier this morning and reading a few blogs, one of which was Chrissie Crafts. She has made an apron for a teachers gift using a tutorial from Sandra at Cherry Heart. Well I had to pop over and have a look see, it would have been rude not to. Once I got there I liked it so much that I am now following.

I had a light bulb moment and thought, I need one of those for when I am doing the housework, I am constantly finding random things that have wandered away from their allotted place. This little apron has 3 pockets and is not flouncy or gathery to get in the way.

I made this in less than an hour, and I love it BUT....... it is a touch small.

So out came some more fabric, and another bit of ribbon.

20" wide, much better, there are still 3 pockets but wider. I am now thinking of a longer one with 2 layers of pockets.

So there we are, numbers 16, 17, 18 and 19 crossed off. I told Francesca about the aprons and she would like one in Seasonal fabrics (still too early for the C word) I will fill the pockets with dusters and polish and so on.

I have had an Email from Myra in Winnipeg, Canada. She is unable to comment unless she does is under Anonymous, ideas anybody?

Ben's skin condition is an unknown quantity, partly it is because he has been growing too much skin. This becomes flaky, hard in places quite wet in others, he had managed to get a yeast infection and grow some bacteria. The new medications are helping with this and to further help I have put him on an additive free diet.

Veeknits19 expressed an interest in my new snips, I have a pair for you, just email me your snail mail address and I will get them off to you. They are the last pair in the shop and there may not be any more.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  A mostly dry and sunny day.

2.  4 more projects completed.

3.  Homemade Pizza for dinner and 2 for the freezer.

4.  I found a small pile of fat quarters this morning.

5.  I had tea with Maggie this afternoon, complete with a lap full of tortoiseshell cat.

Tomorrow I will clean the new machine and put a new needle in, I have done so much sewing this is the third time I will have done this. I still have to try out the overlocker, possibly tomorrow while dinner cooks.

Ben is ready for another short walk, I look forward to long walks sometime, sooner rather than later. Then it will be time for tea.

                TTFN                                       Pam

Sunshine Jumped Boldly Through My Window Today

I woke at around 6 this morning to strong, hot sunshine blazing through the gap where I had not closed the curtains fully, deep joy, I was out of bed in an instant.
I have wittered on about making things and working my way through my fabric mountain, shown photos of bags and stuff. Last night I had a long look at the mountain and decided to throw myself a new challenge.

By the end of September I want to have 100 items sewn solely from the stash. That sounds like a lot so I am starting from last Sunday, the 6 bags and the baby quilt will give me a kick start.

I made this knitting/crochet bag yesterday and I am calling it number 8 from 100. It was in my book, Quilting In No Time by Emma Hardy that has been languishing on the book shelf for many a long month.It went together very quickly and I am really happy with it. I will use it for crochet it will hold several balls of yarn, and hopefully keep it under control.

This just jumped at me for the lining I will probably use the rest of the print in the same way.

These blocks were left over from a project 2 years ago at least, 15 blocks not enough for 2 cushions or a single quilt.

I found the border fabric in with my big yardage cuts, it was half price ages ago and is a Michael Miller print. The binding will be the red and white stripe from Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. Both have been sitting waiting to be called to action. The blue print reminds me of the gum nuts from Australia and this is destined to be a small quilt for my SIL Sue in Perth WA. She will be able to lie on it next Australia Day, she is tiny and this will be perfect for her. It is in the obligatory Red White and Blue but does not look like a flag, it is unique and that will appeal to Sue.

I did not stop to eat much during the day so by dinner time I was really grumbling and growling. I had a big casserole in the fridge so ladled some into a saucepan. Then I whipped up a Yorkshire Pudding mix, while the oven was heating up I weighed out the ingredients for 2 Banana Cakes. The Yorkies went in, once they came out the cakes went in.

You need to see what  gannet that I can be.

My Yorkie filled with beef and root veg casserole and a small mountain of cabbage.

The Yorkie was 4 1/2" tall. and nearly as round as the plate, cooked in an 8" tin that is 2" deep. I did not mange it all, not quite, Ben was more than happy to find a wedge of pudding in his dish.

I did not think to take a photo of the Banana Cake but will share the recipe with you.

For a 2lb loaf tin I use:-

175 gms mixed brown and caster sugar.

175 gms soft buttery stuff.

75 gms ground almonds.

175 gms SR flour.

2 eggs.

This all goes in a bowl and I beat it up with a wooden spoon. 

Then I add a large soft ripe banana, I just pinch it into small bits with my fingers.

To that I add,

100 gms chopped Dark Chocolate, OR, 100gms roughly chopped Walnuts OR Hazel Nuts OR Toasted Almonds. Usually I add some of everything and sometimes I use 150 gms, sometimes only 50 gms.

I just tip it in and fold through the cake batter, turn it into a lined 2lb loaf tin and cook at 170 for 1 hour(ish) I check with a wooden skewer to see if it is done.

I never make less than 2 at a time and have made 4. they make very welcome gifts and keep well in the fridge. I have never frozen them as they do not hang around. I have used semolina in place of ground almond and chopped dried Apricots with Chocolate for those with an adversity to nuts. I have made it with cocoa powder replacing some of the flour for chocoholics. I give credit to the wonderful Nigel Slater for the recipe, even though I never fully follow it. The fact that no matter how I play with it and what I add it has never failed demonstrates how good his recipes are.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  Sun glorious sun.

2.  A gift of some Raspberry canes.

3.  I put some Basil stems into a glass of water and they have rooted.

4.  Peppery radishes to add zing to my salad from a pot in the garden.

5.  Lots of sewing to do, love it.

I have decided to finish the current round of crochet on my Granny Blanket and then use the red to finish it off, it is getting too big and too heavy to handle. I had to stop and start last night as I was Glowing like the sunset. I hope to finish it tonight or by Friday night at the latest. I am going for some retail therapy with Fran on Saturday and we are going to Cardigan on Sunday and I would like it done and dusted before then.

I have potted up 2 of the little rooted Basil, I will be pinching them, out regularly so they make bushy plants ready to add summer taste to my winter meals.

You can just see a cropped pot of Parsley in the back, it will be split into 2 pots and will grow again, I have a pot of Thyme awaiting the same treatment, both came from the RTC section in the supermarket.

These poor little dwarf bean plants plus 1 in another pot were all that I got from about 20 seeds that I set, I have popped a few more in today and will keep my fingers crossed. Next year it will be climbing beans for sure, I have never had any issues with them.

I am off to walk Ben before getting some sewing time in and a visit to see Maggie later on.

                    TTFN                                                Pam