Happy Wednesday

 Here I am, in the middle of a big tidy up of my crafts materials, and I thought today  I'd show some pictures I've taken around the house ....not the untidiest bits of course, this is supposed to be nice to look at :)

 I love my summer candles, glassware and flowers, with some shells I've collected too...as soon as dusk falls the candle light looks so pretty reflected from the glass containers...the sweetpeas are still blooming too...

 ....a little jar from the lavender farm we visited filled with some garden snippets...I like it when the jar labels stay on after being wahsed...

 ...when we arrived back at the weekend we received some plums from friends...I can't believe it's already plum time here again....after I'd arranged them....eaten a few mmm delicious....

 ...and taken photos of them in pretty bowls.....I made some crumbles with them.....some to put in the freezer for weekend treats in the future, and one to have immediately warm from the oven with creme fraiche....

                                     ...our first crumble for ages....feels like autumn is almost here....

 ....pictures of yarn are becoming more usual for me now as it keeps appearing all round the house in various bags, baskets and any container that happens to be there when some more woolly goodness arrives.. I am so enjoying acquiring lots of colours which I never bought when I only knitted because they weren't suitable  for wearing...crochet is a real liberation for the use of colour isn't it??

 ....here is a quick picture of some of the simple crochet flowers I've been making, using some of the bright shades of yarn...they are going to be part of my new project which I hope to tell you more about  very soon..

I have some design work to do today, a lovely project for an inspiring magazine editor which I wish I could tell you about now...but all in good time....and then I hope to have a bit of hooky time this evening, and I have a list of other crafty things I want to make ....but first I must just finish off the tidying in here....

Thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet comments and emails I love to hear from you....wishing you a very Happy Wednesday....Back soon xxxxx

Merry Wishes

 Snow again! We woke up this morning to find more snow had fallen, but Mr P told me it was quite nice to walk on - crunchy and crisp. Later on the sun came out and the sky was blue. I spent the morning finishing off some work projects....

This meant I could then clear up the dining room which had become the sewing room, put all the fabric and books away, and clean it ready for...well Christmas! It's nearly here and there are still things to do...

I was helped in my work by a little of this - the most delightful white chocolate and cranberry fudge which I made the other day from the recipe on Green Rabbit Designs blog - everyone here loves it! No one knew I could make fudge (neither did I) but this is so easy and so deeeelicious I'll be making it again. Thank you for sharing it Vivienne!

 This afternoon I spent a long time tramping about in the snow with my elder daughter and the children, doing last minute things, all quite slowly because that's how 3 year olds like to do them as I'm now remembering! I also like to see how much sliding goes on by children who think it's great fun and unlike adults don't see it as something to be avoided at all costs!

Now I'm home and warm and cosy, thawed out nicely, and looking forward to lighting the candles and sewing my quilt while watching a movie with Mr P, who is also feeling cheery as he finishes work tomorrow for a nice long break. I hope you are enjoying the cosy wintry evening too. Thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet and lovely comments. I'll be back again before Christmas comes...Sending merry wishes to you all. xx

Sweet Things and Snow

 This is the Gingerbread House that Sarah and Charlie built at my house the other day. I bought the kit for them to do, and my job was to make cups of tea, mind Daisy and provide the icing sugar. It was sweet to watch the creation of this little house and the 3 year old's decoration choices, the whoosh of an avalanche of hundreds and thousands, and the obvious fascination of Hansel and Gretel and the Wicked Witch...

 Today all has been quiet at our house and I've been cooking almost the whole time. Tomorrow we have friends coming, so I was cooking for them  and also making freezer meals for over the holiday. And I made these Snowy Rocky Road bars...they look a bit like the world outside here today - dusted and topped with icing sugar......

 These are a treat I bought during a quick shopping spree - they are called Jazzies - who knew, not me, that these had a name and that is what it is - jazzies. I have always loved the look of these - I remember being bought them as a child, they were sold in those days in a white paper bag - and I think I just called them 'white chocolate buttons with hundreds and thousands on top' so I'm glad to finally find out that these have a proper name!

 Here is some of the snow through one of my kitchen windows today, just like icing, I think. The little snow globe idea is from Mia and is just one of her lovely Christmas projects - she has lots more so do go and check out her festive blog if you haven't already - it's full of sweet and crafty things to make.

This is made using one of my favourite glass jars. The little reindeer was a gift from my daughter Rosie a few years ago, and the toadstools were some I couldn't resist buying and here they are coming in handy, just as I knew they would! The 'snow' is made with salt - ordinary table salt topped with rock salt for that extra crunchy sparkly top - like our road is today.
There was a huge snowfall here last night and the garden looks like a real winter wonderland. I'm looking forward to watching a film tonight, maybe stitching a bit of my quilt or doing some knitting too. I hope you are having a lovely weekend filled with lots of sweet things and good times. Stay warm and have fun. xx

Pirates and Pumpkins

The BIG pumpkin has been made into soup, now in the freezer, and this smiley lantern is all ready to beam out cheerfully to the children who call on us for sweets on Halloween night. I like the old traditions of carving lanterns, ducking for apples, and more recently giving out sweets to local children who dress up for trick or  treat - but nothing threatening or scary, not me, who can't bear scary movies of even the mildest kind!

Yesterday it was Charlie's 3rd birthday and Mr P took the morning off work (so did I but it's not quite the same thing!) and we went to wish him Happy Birthday and to give him his present - a wooden Pirate Ship complete with little pirates, treasure chest,a working anchor,cannon, sails with skull and crossbones....

It was sweet to see the little hands and the big hands assembling this wooden ship...my favourite bit was the stripy sails! I do love children's toys, especially wooden ones, or handmade sewn and knitted toys, though I also think some contemporary brightly coloured plastic toys can be gorgeous and well designed too, and children love to play imaginatively with them.

Thank you to those who kindly asked me about my choice of recipe after all my cook book browsing the other day.I decided to make Jools's Favourite Beef Stew from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Dinners. I know the family all love this dish as we had it last winter, and it will cook for ages in the aga so I don't have to worry about it all the time.

And finally here is my little blackboard planter filled up for Halloween weekend with some autumn garden snippets - berries, ivy, rosehips, some pretty leaves and the wonderful pink sedum flowers. I wish you all a wonderful weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Making and Baking

Today I am browsing through my cookery books for something to make for the family next weekend. I fancy something hearty that can be baked slowly all afternoon in the oven. Last weekend something new and tasty appeared on our breakfast table - I made some homemade granola and it was truly deeeelicious!

I've been doing a bit of classic white baby knitting this week - a little wrap over pattern for Daisy Dot - you know how a girl just needs a white cardi? This one has a flower to stitch on where it fastens, which I'm looking forward to making when I've finished the rest of it.

And this week I got a BIG pumpkin - it's the weight of a small child as I discovered when I bought it at the greengrocer's and carried it back to the car. I've been enjoying its chubby orange beauty but now it's time to turn it into a smiling lantern....and a LOT of soup!

                                     Have a great day and enjoy your baking and making too.x

Apple Time

It's time to make things with apples here - the scent of apples from the kitchen kept reminding me whenever I left the studio this week.

 My little sampler, made a few years ago to welcome autumn, is standing on the dresser in the dining room and I remembered it too has little apples on it in the form of shiny red beads.

We've got eating apples and cooking apples, though I often cook with eating apples too - especially when they are not in perfect condition and have to be cut up carefully - much better to peel and chop them and put them in chutney!

The big green cooking apples are perfect in the crumbles I love to make (and eat) and I've put some in the freezer to have as weekend treats later in the season.

And there are still some to eat just as they are - an apple (or two) a day.

I hope you have had a good week. And a big welcome to all the lovely new visitors to my blog this week! x