Make, Bake, Sew, Grow

Thanks for your birthday wishes for Angus. Things are good here; busy, of course, with work life and family life, but low-level, manageable busy, not crazy-busy. As always focusing on home and all the warmth that domestic life brings makes me feel happier and calmer, especially when it's rained every single day this week. I hate rain in the summer. But then I found myself saying to a colleague - in all seriousness - that this rain is really good for the garden, and that is when I realised I had hit middle age.

{ Make }

I've been moving things around in the living room, trying to create a usable space in the large area in front of the window. Before, it was just somewhere to put the blanket chest which contains jigsaws and board games.

But it gets the best light, and would be a great spot for a chair for reading or sewing, so I am experimenting. Perhaps it needs a rug too, something to detract from the shiny laminate flooring.

Outside, we (well, John and my Dad) used a chainsaw to tackle the pile of wood and chop it into tidy stove-sized logs.

It's a massive improvement on before but that whole area under the kitchen and bathroom windows really needs something. It looks awful. Maybe some large planters and trellis on the walls, with some climbing plants?

{ Bake }

It's been all about the leftovers lately. After making spaghetti carbonara we were left with four egg whites, exactly enough for Cappuccino Pavlova as it happens. John and I made it together and ate it together, over four days rather than all one sitting, which I think showed tremendous restraint. Well done us. 

I think it might be one of the nicest things I've ever tasted.

Remember all those beetroots I bought for my crochet vegetables? Well they needed eating up, so I made beetroot and horseradish soup.

Gloriously pink and so good with sour cream and chives on top. I know May is not usually a month for soup but it's not been all that warm lately. April and May got their weather the wrong way round.

No photos, but we used the aubergines to make a thick, rick vegetarian pasta sauce with tomatoes, garlic, chilli and onion. It's really good with linguine. And the rest were used in a curry with chickpeas and spinach. Why don't I buy aubergines more? 

I had an urge to make shortbread today. I blame the rain and the fact that I'm wearing my slippers.

{ Sew }

It's mainly crochet at the moment. I have rediscovered a passion for it lately and have such a long list of things I'd like to make. Buoyed by the success of Dave the Seagull, I have started a Barn Owl from the same book, and it's to be a very late birthday present for my owl-loving god daughter.  This pattern comes from the intermediate section in the book and I am appropriately nervous.

I have also started these espadrilles from the fabulous Wool and the Gang. Now I just need some suitably sunny weather so that I can prance about in them and pretend I'm on holiday in Spain.

As soon as these are out of the way, I will make a start on my crocheted fruit. Bella has also commissioned a wall hanging like this one but bigger, in pink, grey, gold and white for her bedroom. I am only too happy to oblige, although where I'm going to find gold cotton yarn goodness only knows. 

{ Grow }

Indoors, the cuttings I took from my pilea over Easter are growing beautifully. I'm very proud of these babies and tend them lovingly, even rotating them so they get equal amounts of light. 

Outside, it's all going on. Alluims are popping up...

...and the little Red Robin tree produced the loveliest white blossoms this year, the first time it's ever done that.

The red and black currant bushes are looking good, although I'm going to leave the redcurrants for the birds this year. I still have all of last summer's redcurrants at the bottom of the freezer. I don't really see the point of redcurrants, if I'm honest.

And my sweet peas are growing! Oh, I am mothering these plants so well, encouraging the shoots to climb up the bamboo canes and watering them regularly. I took that photo at the weekend and, what with all the rain we've had, they're twice as big now.

I even bought a pretty new metal watering can. I am nothing if not dedicated.

Make, Bake, Sew, Grow

It's Friday night, the house is clean (well, clean for a dog-owner's house), the fridge is full of food and there are rainbow tulips on the kitchen table. These things all make me feel very happy and grateful. I felt like doing one of my round-ups of what I've been up to lately on the domestic and creative front.

{ Make }

I recently moaned on Instagram about how hard it is to find preserve labels with a modern styling - they tend towards the bunting/country kitchen/shabby chic style which is lovely but not really me. People had loads of brilliant suggestions but in the end I found a roll of those boring plain white office labels and used those. They're a bit thin, but they do the job and I had a lot of fun making them. 

I made a trivet from wooden beads. It's about the size of a saucer and perfect for my coffee pot. 

It honestly took about ten minutes. 

You just make three small rings which increase in size, sitting one inside the other. 

It's important that they fit very snugly together and there is no movement, so that you get a nice stable mat. I am now thinking about making one from felt balls. 

And, of course, I have been arranging and re-arranging the mantel. I removed everything and then just put back a few things. This was really hard but I think it looks better this way, lighter and fresher.

*

{ Bake }

I recently tried this spelt, lemon and maple drizzle cake from the Waitrose magazine. I did deviate from the recipe a bit though, using wholemeal spelt flour rather than white flour, and this did not make for the lightest of cakes. Also, I am too tight to pour almost a whole bottle of expensive maple syrup into one cake so I used sugar. It caught a little on top, hence the lemons. The spelt flour did give it a very nice nuttiness, but I think I still prefer my usual lemon drizzle cake recipe.

Much more successful was this chocolate granola, based loosely on Sue's granola recipe although I fiddled around with it based on my preferences.

4 cups oats

1 cup seeds (pumpkin or sunflower)

1 cup pecans

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sugar/syrup

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 cup cranberries or sultanas

Combine everything except the dried fruit, and spread on a couple of baking trays. Bake for an hour at 140°C, stirring a couple of times. When cool, store in an airtight jar.

Don't be tempted to add too much cocoa - it's very bitter. Chocolate chips would obviously be amazing in this, should you fancy more chocolate. 

I eat mine with a little milk and a lot of Greek yogurt. The tartness of the yogurt makes the granola taste sweeter than it is.

*

{ Sew }

This week I've mostly been working on my Wool And The Gang Rose cardigan. It's cotton on a 6.5mm hook, so it makes quite a loose fabric.

At the moment it just looks like a scarf, but this is part of the front and back panel. The colour is so gorgeous, and the cotton such nice quality - I'm really excited to see how this turns out.

*

{ Grow }

Plant life is firmly based indoors at the moment, as my passion for house plants continues. I recently bought a small pilea plant (those things are tricky to find!) and was delighted to spot a tiny shoot on it the other day.

I carefully removed it and planted it in a small pot, where I will lovingly tend to it until it's bigger, then I'll give it away. I am nurturing it on the kitchen windowsill, which is where plants stand a really good chance of growing in this house - partly for the light, and partly because I don't forget they're there.

Less happily, my beautiful new monstera plant was damaged. I arrived home from work one day to find it lying on the floor in the living room, the pot smashed and two large stems snapped. I can only blame a certain four legged friend who really wanted to look out of the window. 

I removed the snapped stems and have placed them in a glass of water where, I'm told, they may grow roots and I'll be able to re-pot them. Or they may end up on the compost heap. Luckily the main body of the plant is intact, it's just been moved to a more, err, secure location.

*

It's been a long and busy week and we have a full weekend ahead. Some nice things are planned, like dinner with my lovely friend tonight, and tedious things, like going shopping to get John a new suit tomorrow, and hopefully a lot of ordinary like cooking, dog walks and pottering in between. John is going out with some of his colleagues tomorrow night and I'm so excited about my night alone, I have planned my whole evening, what I'm going to eat (rice bowl, which John does not consider a "proper dinner"), what I'm going to drink (Sauvignon blanc) and what I'm going to watch on TV (The Crown or possibly a romantic comedy). 

Happy weekend lovelies. 

Make, Bake, Sew, Grow

Hello! How are you? It's Friday night and I'm feeling good - tired (obviously, when am I not?) but content and looking forward to half term next week. Now seemed like a good time for an autumnal Make, Bake, Sew, Grow post, a little seasonal meandering through my home life. 

{ Make }

I've been nesting, making small changes around the house, adding cosiness and warmth. Lightweight throws have been swapped for blankets, cushions and pictures have been moved around. I've been buying cyclamen and sunflowers, lighting candles in the evening. It's all turned very autumnal around here, very hygge.

I've started making plans for Christmas. (I know, some of you have trouble with the smallest mention of Christmas before December, but I have crafting to do and I need to get it done in plenty of time, so bear with me.) I have lots of ideas for gifts. I'm thinking bed socks, in really luxurious yarn, and Bella and Angus have both requested crocheted animals or birds, like the ones I made last year.

Other crafting plans include my shiny new loom and a bag full of roving yarn in different colours. 

I plan to make a wall hanging for the dining room. That big grey wall needs warming up and I feel like it needs fabric or yarn up there, or maybe something wooden. I've been pinning woven wall hangings and just need to do a bit more research into how to weave (that would be a good start, right?) It seems like a great way to use up yarn scraps and I'm already thinking about the kinds of colours I want to weave with.

{ Bake }

I made a "clean out the fridge" omelette with some soggy cherry tomatoes, spinach and a little chorizo. No potatoes so not quite a tortilla or Spanish omelette, but delicious.

My mum gave me some mixture for a friendship cake.

Similar to sourdough, you have a "starter" which you feed and stir until you're ready to split the mixture, passing some on to friends and keeping some to bake yourself. It's like a light fruit cake and you can put pretty much whatever you want inside, but I like mine with a lot of cherries. 

It keeps beautifully and is very moist, almost sticky. It has a wonderful malty, slightly caramelised flavour. 

I wanted to do something with some plums that were sitting in the fruit bowl, uneaten. I stewed them with cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar and a little water until they started to break down. The smell was divine, better than any scented candle.

I was aiming for something that was half way between a compote and stewed fruit. Not quite fully broken down and mushy, with the fruit still holding a little of it's shape.

I've kept it in a kilner jar in the fridge all week, spooning it on top of porridge and yogurt. I think I like plums cooked better than raw. 

 { Sew }

Most crafting activity has revolved around Angus's blanket and I have just updated the post I wrote about it a few weeks ago, giving details about the yarn and colours I'm using, for those who asked.  And when I'm not crocheting that, I've been making Christmas stockings.

Possibly the best use for leftover scraps of yarn I've come across, the pattern is by Sandra from Cherry Heart and it's really fun to do. I'm even darning in the ends. I'll take proper photos of them soon. 

Work on the sampler (from here) goes very slowly. I've hardly touched it since our holiday and I must pick it up again. Just seeing this picture makes me want to get going on it straight away.

{ Grow }

The garden is slowing down and looking overgrown, but there are still burst of colour here and there. 

The sedum has been gloriously bright, fading from from a deep pink to a dusty brown-purple.

A few geraniums continue to bloom in pots on the front door step. I keep thinking I should replace them with something more autumnal, perhaps a couple of pumpkins, but I like being greeted by the pop of bright pink. They can stay a while longer. 

I'm starting to think about the tidying up and cutting back ready for the winter, planting some bulbs. 

Happy weekend lovelies. 

                                                      {Make } Something for our home, or for me.

{ Bake } Something from the kitchen.

{ Sew } Something crafty.

{ Grow } Something in the garden.