Catchup

So my initial prediction was right and I've let my posts go, so let me do a bit of catching up.

The Grow-Your-Own project has been all but abandoned. The last bunch of salad leaves I gathered tasted horribly bitter (shame I used it for a dinner party!) and my tiny peppers are struggling to get any light, even given pride of place in the front window. I have also been given a bit of tuition from my lovely sister-in-law on machine knitting, and she generously even gave me one of her spare machines. However, it has largely just sat in the spare bedroom and I have yet to actually create anything on it.

However, I have not been completely idle. I managed to make another batch of jams after a bumper harvest of plums (14kgs!!), even if one batch didn't entirely set and I burned another one. Le sigh. I also was glad to recycle a cross-stitch piece my mother had done and some offcuts from my sister's dress I'd altered for her into a small cushion for my aforementioned sister-in-law.

I also managed to finish a little project I actually intend to keep for myself (!) with a double-sided indicator system I thought up. Background story: I keep my ironing tidied away in a wardrobe, but out-of-sight-out-of-mind being an irrevocable truth I tend to forget whether I need to break out the ionized water. So this piece hangs on the wardrobe, in a place with is easily visible, and whichever side is showing indicates to me whether I have ironing to do.

Yes I know The last "k" on the first side should be over further to balance it out, but I had to do it free-hand and fixing it would mean dismantling the whole thing. Maybe one day it will bother me enough to fix it!

Blossoming

Well it looks like our first foray into GYO has not been a complete failure! Despite some very late frosts and abysmal weather (frequently referred to by me as the month of FebruMay) our little pots have managed to survive and are now veritably exploding! Even since these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago (sorry) the tomato plants are now halfway up those canes and the courgette plant's growth can almost be seen with the naked eye!

We were worried that the sweet peppers (second from bottom) had failed to germinate altogether, as not even a single bud was seen until just recently. The salad leaves (bottom), however are doing so well that His Lordship moved them to our trough planter to give them more room. Fortunately they survived the ordeal!

Oh, and no the strawberries (top) have not had a miraculous growth, His Lordship decided the puny ones we bought were not doing well enough, so he got some more mature plants to add to our hanging baskets. We had our very first (well, the only one anywhere near ripe enough) home-grown strawberry this morning between us, and it has definitely given me the taste for more!

Springing up!

Well the long, hard winter appears to have finally receded into the past, so it's time to think of, um- next winter?! No- I am thinking more towards fall; in particular I am looking forward to my first harvest. Yes, after many subtle (and some not-so-subtle) hints from my other half (who happens to work for a national Housewares/DIY/Gardening store) I have taken the plunge (well, dipped a toe in at least) into the world of Grow Your Own!

I have sown seeds of mixed salad leaves, sweet peppers and Marigold flowers; the latter to not only replace the bulbs in the front garden's planters but also to keep away greenfly. (Get me with my permaculture skillz!) I have also invested in some hanging baskets for strawberry plants. A grow bag has been planted with a single courgette plant (previous experience on a veg farm has taught me to never overdo that particular crop!) and will be filled out with tomato plants once they are large enough to be transplanted.

I aspire to keep a photographic record of my first foray into GYO, partly for the blog but mostly to (with any luck) inspire me to carry it on or even expand on it in the future! Not only will it mean saving a bit of money as well as reducing food miles, eating something much closer to organic, etc, etc. I also plan on adding "canned" tomato and vegetable sauce to my repertoire (and possibly even my Christmas gift stash)!Of course, if it all results in a dismal failure I can look back on this while happily heading off to the shop...

New year, new projects

Well, it is now well into 2010 and time to get back into the regular routine. The house is desperately messy and I will be putting a fair amount of effort on getting it back up to scratch over the next few days. Nothing triggers off my borderline OCD tendencies like a messy house! But there are also a couple of other things I want to do to get my house- literally- in order.

Firstly I am going to break the habit of a lifetime and get rid of a large number of books. It goes against every fibre of my being- I am the granddaughter of a librarian and Professor of English Literature- but I simply must admit that I have bookcases full of books that I have not, nor likely ever will, actually read. So I am going to flog them on a popular internet-based purveyor of books and other sundries, and at least that way I may actually get a couple of quid for them.

Secondly my spare-bedroom-cum-workshop needs a bit of sorting out. I am going to move all my craft books to the bookcase in there, and move around some of the flotsam residing inside the wardrobes to make space for material, supplies and- eventually- some finished items. Yes, I am still considering starting that little income generator but it is still very much in the Research & Development stage. Meanwhile I can at least get my space arranged comfortably!

There are other longer-term projects taking root in my mind, and most fall into the "home improvement" category. Basically since we moved in just over two years ago the carpets (all a very fashionable but wholly impractical beige/biscuit colour) are grotesquely dirty and the walls all need a coat of paint. We are also considering replacing the barely-functional central heating system, but not until the cold weather is a distant memory!

Looking back

What a lovely Christmas it's been! All of the hand-made gifts (and a small handful of store-bought ones) have been distributed, including the home-made jelly, left. All the gifts appeared to be gratefully received, which always helps! And the food...

Our Christmas lunch was almost exclusively done to recipes by Nigella Lawson, including our first attempt at the "Spiced and Super-Juicy Roast Turkey". Oh. My. Goodness! It was fabulous! Considering we got the cheapest, most basic frozen turkey (£8.99 for 4.5kg at Aldi; indeed a bargain!) the flavour was unbelievable. My husband gets full credit for actually cooking the turkey (and everything else!), and he had the brainwave to use the onions, etc from the soak inside the bird while roasting; and he also put beef fat under the skin of the breast for even more juiciness. However you may choose to adjust the recipe, I cannot recommend it enough!

At last I can now post a picture of the patchwork bag I stitched for my mother (right). It came out quite well, I believe! Considering that it's the first patch I've ever done I

was quite pleased with it! Granted, I could have been a bit less rough-and-ready attaching it to the bag, but I was working to a tight deadline! Mind, that's pretty much been the story of this Christmas, in that I've been frantically working to deadlines and only just getting it in under the wire. In one case I did a cross-stitch Doberman for my step-son & his family, but didn't finish & wrap it until after they'd actually come over for dinner! My husband had to keep them entertained for 20 minutes on his own while I finished it off upstairs! I really must consider a resolution to not procrastinate quite so much in future...

The other major project was making the cot-quilt for my expectant sister (left). I managed to finish that the evening before she came up to visit, so there was a little more breathing room! It is in the same theme as the bag I did for my mother; in fact, that was part of the idea, that my mother in Canada would have a piece of the quilt used for her first grandchild, born in the UK. Sentimental, I know. But my mother likes that sort of thing!

Overall it has been a wonderful and fun Christmas period, and I will hold many special memories from it. I will end with a line from one of my favourite Yuletide songs: "Hallelujah, Noel! Be it heaven or hell- the Christmas we get, we deserve!"

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Well it has been a while since my last posting-cum-ranting, so now that we are safely within December I can at last allow all my festivity to flow! The tree is up (see picture, left), the gifts for my relatives abroad are on their merry way (two whole days inside the posting deadline, no less!) and even my greetings cards have been sent. What a relief!

However, there is still much baking to do, and no- I still haven't done the jam I've been planning for about 3 months. The pressure is on to do it as well, as it has actually been requested as a gift from my one and only sister! Eek! I will simply have to put aside some time while His Lordship is doing extra hours at work.

One major-ish project that I have managed to complete is a patchwork shopping bag for my Mother. I would post a picture here, as she does not have t'internet, but it's being done in the same style as a certain cot quilt for an expectant one-and-only sister who does, so the photo will have to wait! In the meantime there is lots to be getting on with, and with enough deep breaths I might even manage to enjoy it!

Breaking my own rule

Well, after my smug little diatribe yesterday I am breaking my own rule and have been seriously thinking about Yule. The truth is that I am desperately behind on my gift projects, so I'm frantically trying to make up for it by getting parcels ready! I have now chosen my Grandfather's gift (philatelist pack from the Post Office), bought treats for my mother's, sister's and sister-in-law's pets (a cat doesn't know the Terrine of Chicken Liver you got it only cost 38p), and got my father's favourite "diabetic" chocolate (as he himself has often pointed out, the chocolates are in fact 'dietetic', as he is the diabetic!) with a cheery little bowl to put them in.

Now the reason why I got him a melamine bowl (apart from the fact it is less likely to break while in transit overseas and is bedecked with festive Santas) is simply that I saved about 50% by buying two bags of assorted chocs instead of a nice box of them. Offering two plastic bags from a well-known chocolatier chain is a little basic even for my father, so I felt I needed a little something to up the presentation. Even taking into account the cost of the bowl it still works out to around a quarter off what I would have paid for a standard cardboard box. Being currently a domestic engineer (i.e.- a housewife) funds are scarce and I need to economise!

I am normally generous with Christmas gifts. Actually it would likely be more exact to call me a bit of a spendthrift when I have a good excuse like "well it isn't for me"! However, even I must admit that it has been a good exercise for me to find a way to bestow my loved ones with gifts without shelling out hundreds of pounds (which, I fear, has been the case in Christmases past). There is a little frisson of anticipation when I think about my agreement with the other half that we can buy as many gifts as we wish for each other, but the total value must not exceed £5. (There are a few thoughts floating around my brain regarding this, but I will save that particular challenge for another day!) I have drawn on my old interests of self-sufficiency and home cooking to make every penny go a little further, and there is some sort of basic satisfaction to be had from it.

True the old post-war "make-do-and-mend" attitude is very en vogue at the moment, and if I won the lottery tomorrow my idea of "self-sufficiency" would be buying from the local farm shop rather than the supermarket. However, at this moment my stress levels are at their lowest in years, and I genuinely know that even if we can't have all the luxuries we used to, we'll be just fine. All I need now is the motivation to actually make the jam I've been planning to do for months, and I'll have that much less to worry about!

Playing Koi

Here's a picture of my latest project:

It is in cross-stitch, and I got the pattern from Issue 155 of The World Of Cross-Stitching. I amended it slightly; namely leaving out some of the "wave" details as I ran out of time! I think the dark blue Aida more than makes up the difference, though. I have also used the colour chart as more of a guideline than a Bible, as I have literally hundreds of skeins of thread that I wish to use before thinking of getting more. I had originally planned to do about 3 of these koi projects as gifts to family, but this one took so long I've had to have a rethink because the dreaded C-word looms large!

That is another one of my little self-imposed rules that I might as well explain. I love the Yuletide season. The festivity, generosity and warm-fuzzies that the season brings infects me as much, if not more, than the average bear. However- and this is very important- the Festive Season should not, under any circumstances, start before December 1st! I don't want to hear any carols, see any decorations displayed or hear a single "ho ho ho" until that date. Why? Because it become irritating after awhile!

It is true that this is a rule originally imposed by my father in my childhood, and now that I'm older I can appreciate the wisdom of it. My mother and I in particular had to be beaten back with a whip and chair from the stash of decorations come November. He stood firm and would not allow as much as a hint of tinsel before the turn of the month, at which point it would be like a starter pistol had fired!

One year, my Mother's sister put up her decorations in early or mid-November. We're talking tree, baubles, lights- the lot! Her motivation was to extend Christmas and revel in the spirit for as long as humanly possible... Unfortunately for her, and this is not a word of exaggeration, those festive trimmings were torn down with a vigour just short of violence that year! She told us she couldn't bear the look of them for a moment longer, and as soon as the Christmas lunch was eaten she called time on the season, and promptly packed up the offending items. A lesson, I think, well learned!