Attic24

Stitched flowers

Good morning, good morning, its another colour-fest this morning, hope you're not feeling delicate cos these are knock-your-socks off Bright. With a capital B.
Following on from Wednesdays stitchy reveal, I've been inspired to show you some more of my work.

My textile work is made using pure cotton fabrics, bought from an amazing mail-order company called Strawberry Fayre. They stock 200 plain colour 100% cottons, as well as prints and wonderful charm packs, and furthermore, they are lovely lovely people to do business with.

Each image is built up in layers and is mainly stitched using free machine embroidery where you lower the feed and use a darning foot, moving the fabric under the needle to "draw" freehand with the stitches. It has taken me many years of practice to be able to do this competently, but now it's as easy for me as drawing with a pen.

I love to use hand embroidery to add detail to the the finished piece though, there is something lovely about hand stitch, something so personal. I think whenever you see hand embroidery, you can just picture  the maker sitting and working quietly with needle and thread. I never feel my applique pieces are complete unless they have some hand stitch added.

Goodness, but the colours zing, don't they??!! Even I am a little overwhelmed!

I have tried using softer colours in the past, have tried limiting my colour palette, but it never works out for me.
There's something about such vivid colour combinations that absolutely makes my heart sing, and when I am working directly with fabric and playing with colour in this way, I do get very very excited :: remember the Dahlia Walk? Well yes, I get the same giddiness with fabric too, no surprises there really.

The above picture, the tulips in the zig-zag jug is one of my favourites. It measures 15cm x 21cm, just to give you an idea of scale, and I rarely made work any bigger than this.

 

And these last three pieces are some of my smaller ones, they appear bigger on my blog than in real life as the originals only measure about 8cm x 11cm. I always used to leave the edges of these pieces free and "raw", rather than backing and hemming them like I do with the larger pieces.

I quite like to see the frayed edges of textile work, but I used to find it hard not to neaten and straighten the edges. I think on balance, I prefer the finished look of the larger pieces.

     

Oh, it's been REALLY good to have a look at these images again, it's been a while since I really contemplated my textile work.
It's been good to remember that yes, at one time in my life I was able to create things that gave me (and other people) a lot of pleasure and simultaneously allowed me to earn a modest living.
It almost seems impossible to remember that I achieved that :: sometimes life BC seems so very very distant and far away. And as much as I adore the Little People, and adore my role as a SAHM, it has  rather taken over my life. Perhaps now's the time for me to start to reclaim some of my old, working life back again, create more of a balance?
I figure that if I did it once, then perhaps I could just do it again?

So, once again *thank you* for your enthusiasm and encouragement, you have given me the confidence to think that I can do this. Your feedback is invaluable, and I am so grateful to you for giving it so generously.

I will keep you posted, an etsy shop possibly??? :o)
xxxxxxxxxxx

Edited to add:: you probably know this, but if you click on the images, they will enlarge and pop up in a separate window :: you can then see more of the stitch detail in close-up :: Love that!

Granny-squaring

There I was, basket in hand, late for Knit and Natter, about to rush out the front door when I caught sight of the hallway and my bags and scarves hanging on the hooks.
Nothing extraordinary about hallway hooks, bags or scarves, but this morning the sight of them absolutely thrilled me to bits. Don't you just love it when that happens? When you unexpectedly catch a glimpse of something about the house that you see every day, but occasionally it's very ordinariness just has the power to stop you in your tracks? Loved that moment, it was wonderful.

Yeah, I was late for Knit and Natter, you want to know why? Because I was reading my emails, that's why, the comments that came flooding in on yesterday's post. Oh you lot! Yes YOU, you also absolutely thrilled me to bits this morning too, in fact I seem to be riding one great big Thrill-ride today don't I? Cor, aren't I the lucky one? Thrills and Spills woo-hoo!!

I have to say,  I was/am so very delighted with your response to my textile pictures. Seeing them out there in Blogland caused me such a lot of swirling emotions yesterday, it was  mostly good, but the butterflies-in-stomach stayed with me all day. But today I am just so happy.  *Thank you* for your enthusiasm and encouragement, you have given me the confidence to think about working again. I will keep you posted.
The sun is out here and I've just photographed some of my floral pictures, and my eyes were nearly popping out :: my goodness, the colours are knockout! I'll upload them later and show you them tomorrow, but be warned, you may need to wear shades.

Knit and Natter, as ever, was a delight this morning, yet another Thrill on today's ride. The cafe is on the first floor and the sun was beaming in through the windows this morning. The pumpkins positively glowed on the windowsill, and the lovely spotty vases on the tables were filled with purply pink sedum flowers, the whole room looked wonderful. My cappuccino  was delicious and I Granny-squared today, which was also delicious.

I just LOVE granny-squaring, so so much! They are a pleasure to make, and very easy for beginners to learn. You just need to know how to make a chain and do a  double crochet stitch.
I'm using 100% Merino wool, it's Arran weight and lovely to work with. My hook is a 4mm size (although I think this weight of yarn is supposed to be worked with a 5mm, but I like my finished crochet to end up a bit tighter).
And if you'd like to find a good, basic pattern to work from, then this is the one I use.

A good tip I learnt very early on when learning to crochet is how to weave in ends as you work, rather than leaving them all to darn in at the end. It saves a world of pain in the finishing-off stages, believe me.


So when I join in a new colour, I knot the two yarns tightly together first, leaving tails about 2 inches long.


Then when you begin a new round, if you hold these tail ends along the top loops of the previous round as you start, you can crochet them in as you go..

...does that make sense? Its' so hard to explain it, but I hope you get the drift from the phtographs...

When you look at the reverse of the square, you can see how the tail ends are "trapped" under the dc clusters...I use this method for all my crochet work and it generally works out well.
Ahhh it's good to share!

There's some great Granny-squarey inspiration to be found on Flickr, I was browsing the Granny-along pool this morning and loved this and this.
You gotta love 'em.
Go Grannies, go grannies! woo-hoo!!

Edited to add :: Lacehearts is doing a fabulous beginners crochet tutorial on her blog, so if you would like to become a Hooker, go forthwith here and give it a go.

Stitched seascapes

Whenever I come home after spending time by the sea, for a while afterwards I am still sort of emotionally and mentally sea-bound. I find that my subconscious sort of draws me to contemplate sea-related things, to seek out coastal images, to reminisce about past seaside holidays.
Yesterday, I even found that whilst sitting at the computer and waiting for images to load, my absent minded doodles on a scrap of paper were all sea-related too (little fishermans cottages and boats, when usually I doodle hearts, flowers and birds!)

So yesterday, after I had written my post about our weekend by the coast, I found myself thinking of the many different times during the past  when I have visited Robin Hoods Bay (first ever visit, vividly and passionately remembered, September 1996). I also suddenly remembered that I had once stitched a picture of Robin Hoods Bay, and after routing around in the Attic24 eaves, I managed to find my old portfolios of textile work.

I have been wanting to share my textile work with you for some time, wanted to air them on my blog, but have been ridiculously nervous to do so.
I still feel butterflies in my stomach seeing these images on the computer screen, although I don't know why.
I think because they are so much a part of me, so personal to my life, they cause me to feel huge emotion.
It's most odd.

I began stitching these sort of textile pictures in February 1997, at a time when I was tentatively attempting to find a way to earn money from my work.
Each piece of work is a unique, one off piece, and because the scale is quite small (top picture of Robin Hoods Bay measures roughly 8"x5") I was able to put the original piece of work directly on to a colour photocopying  machine and photocopy it.
I am SO Very Glad I had the foresight to record every single piece of work I made by copying it in this way, because it has become a very valuable and precious record of my work.

I sold my first piece of work in the Spring of 1998.
I was exhibiting at a contemporary craft fair in Battersea, London, and a wealthy lady bought a framed piece to go in her Paris apartment.
She paid me £180.
I was shaking from head to foot during the whole transaction.

Over the next four years before My Little Man was born, I went on to establish myself as a contemporary textile artist and produced a great many one-off pieces of work.
One Hundred and Fifty Nine to be precise, all numbered and dated and recorded in my portfolios.
I exhibited at fairs and galleries up and down the country, and even had my very own one-man show at a Cornish gallery in 2000, where I sold every single piece of work (20 in total)
I have ten pieces left, some hanging on the walls and some wrapped up and stored away.

These seascapes were such a pleasure to make, and looking at them again now, I can remember creating each one, usually following a weekend spent by the sea.
I did have other subject matter too :: flowers and the such like.
Perhaps I'll show you some more sometime, the flowery ones?
It's been fun to share these with you, although I somehow feel like I need a stiff drink now.
I am not normal, am I?!
xxx

My Birthday

It was always risky choosing Robin Hoods Bay to celebrate my Birthday, most especially as we were staying there on the Saturday night, meaning my Birthday would officially occur on the Day-after-the-night-before.
There are some very very good pubs in RHB :: friendly, quirky, old and cosy, they tempt you to snuggle in, admire the sea views and drink. And J and I do like to drink intoxicating liquor together on occasions and Saturday night was deemed an Occasion.

So this is how it goes::

We enjoy a few delicious pints of beer, well ok, five to be precise, we laugh a lot and the evening passes into night with much merriment.
Next day, my big Birthday-day, waking up in the rather grand four poster bed I detect the light traces of a hangover lurking. My hair also decides to go absolutely, ridiculously sticky-uppy bonkers that morning and I am so shocked when I see myself in the mirror that I almost fall over backwards. You would've laughed if you'd seen me, it was quite a sight. Even J is rendered speechless. I realise with some alarm that I have not bothered to pack any type of hair-taming equipment at all, no shampoo, no miraculous hair products, not even a brush. It's a tense moment, but I quickly find my sense of humour and get down to the business of being Birthday-ish.

There are cards to open, and delightfully wrapped presents too.
Paper and string and pretty things.
Then there's a delicious breakfast to enjoy, and preparations to be made for the day ahead.

There's blue sky, fluffy clouds and dazzling Autumn sunshine.
And there's walking to be done, views to take in, sea air to breathe.

 

We start out on a ten mile circular walk from Robin Hoods Bay to Ravenscar and back again :: the first half of the walk follows the old disused Whitby to Scarborough railway line.
The path is beautifully tree-lined and carpeted with the first of the fallen Autumn leaves.

Old, mellow stone railway arches to pass under.

Quirky signs alerting us to the local inhabitants......

.......who right on cue appeared in front of us to cross over the track.......

......quacking gently, going about their Sunday business.

And after five miles or so of trees and tracks, bridges and ducks, we emerge at Ravenscar to take in the stunning view of the bay.

  

There is hot morning coffee and some chocolate, a little stone seat to sit on and look out to sea.

 

The second five miles of this walk is deceptively hard work. This is a typical coastal path along high cliffs with some serious ups and downs. We can see Robin Hoods Bay nestled on the cliff edge in the distance, and we know that between us and it we have two descents down to sea level followed by two steep ascents back up to cliff top height.

 

It is hard work climbing steps with sticky-up hair and a slight hangover when you have just turned forty.
I do a lot of panting and silent cursing at how unfit I am.
Make plans in my head to get myself to some exercise classes in the immediate future.
I eat more chocolate for energy.
And the red-roofed houses of Robin Hoods Bay do eventually appear closer, and we finally arrive back at the bottom of this charming little village.
I am only staggering slightly.

 

 

And I am charmed as always by the sight of this village, by the way it seems so precariosuly perched on the very edge of the land, the little houses almost tumbling down the steep hill and into the North Sea.
There are endless cutesome little old cottages, I love looking at all the little windows and chimney pots and red tiled roof tops and pretty gardens. Colourful front doors and charming names :: Sail Maker Cottage, Ocean View, Dock Cottage, Robins Nest, Heather Cottage, The Little House, The Locker, Sunny Place.

 

There are bright late summer flowers glowing in the afternoon sunshine.

 

There are many folk spending a sunny Sunday afternoon here, there is the smell of fish and chips, the sound of the waves and the gulls, of chatter and laughter.

 

A delicious toasted panini for lunch (crispy bacon, brie and cranberry if you'd like to imagine it), we eat it sat on a bench in the shelter of the sea wall, the sun warm on our faces.
We head up through the village, up the quiet, narrow cobbled back streets brimming with flowers.

 

There is a little cafe hidden away on this narrow street which we love.

 

It has a terrace over looking the sea, and serves mighty fine cappuccino and Tiffin just fit for a  Birthday girl who is having a bad  hair day and needs revival.

It's late afternoon now, and suddenly I miss the Little People very much. Time to quickly browse a second hand bookshop and buy some cards from a gift shop on our way back up the steep hill to the car.

Finally home again, and all is well.
I get the most ginormous birthday hugs from my Little People, and we proceed to eat chocolate cake and drink champagne together.
Friends arrive and there are more presents, laughter, age-jokes and more champagne.
My hair is finally looking slightly calmer again, and I am happy,  and I am home, and I am suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness.
I am longing for my bed with its new feather duvet and my ripple blanket and rosy pillows.

Its been a wonderful day.
Into a bright new decade, and I couldn't be happier.
Just need to tame the hair.

To the Seas Again

The words "thank you" are quite small aren't they?
Somehow they just don't express the way I want to say how very much I loved all your Birthday wishes on my last post. I was not expecting so many comments from you all! That self-portrait photo on Friday...Hmmm well can I just confirm that I did not in any way put that photo out there to fish for compliments.Truly, it was a spontaneous kind of for-the-record type photo at the end of quite a muddled randomy post (it was very random wasn't it?!) I simply thought maybe I could pop my picture there amongst the crochet, flowers and bits of rooms so I can remember in weeks and months and years to come how my hair looked on the day I visited the hairdressers, much as I did on this day. I think I'll also like to remember in future weeks and months and years how my face looked on that happy Friday, the penultimate day of my thirties.
You are so generous with your words, so kind. I looked in on my emails late last night after sea breezes and champagne and cake and presents had subsided, and I was quite overwhelmed. Maybe I could say something like "thank-you-so-very-hugely-humungously-enormously-much" and you will feel the bigness of those words, the way in which it comes with genuine, heart felt gratitude from me to you.
You made my heart squeeze, you wreathed me in smiles.

(((  xxx   t h a n k   y o u   xxx  )))

So yes, I am now 40.
Forty.
Forty. 40.
That number doesn't feel like it fits me yet, but I am happy with it, with myself, with my life at this time.
And folks, I had the most fantabulous weekend. It was GREAT!

"Sea Fever", do you know this poem by John Masefield? I love the middle verse ::

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. 

I often get this huge urge to be by the sea, and frequently it is at this time of year around my birthday. In fact I can recall many years when I have spent my birthday by the sea, I can vividly remember my 30th birthday (Robin Hoods Bay), and my 34th Birthday (Staithes) and my 37th Birthday (Craster). And now my 40th Birthday (Robin Hoods Bay again) will be lodged there in my memory, full of sea breezes, running tides, clouds flying and sea-gulls crying.



We had booked our hotel at the little village of Robin Hoods Bay, but on Saturday we headed first to Whitby.
Whitby is a lovely, bustling, pretty, quaint seaside town on the east coast of Yorkshire, and it never fails to life my spirits when I visit.
We have a lovely circular walk that we like to do here, its about 5 miles long so nothing too dramatic, but lovely all the same. The first half of the walk climbs out of Whitby town, up through the higgledy-piggledy houses and away from the busy harbour to head out across open fields and farms. We eventually arrive at the cliff tops a few miles outside of Whitby itself and the second half of the walk is then back along the coastal path (part of the Cleveland Way) to the Abbey ruins, which you can just see on the skyline in the top photograph.


Arriving back into Whitby along the coastal path is lovely :: we are high up above the harbour and the views are stunning.

I love the rooftops and houses, the chimney pots and windows, the boats and the harbour, the sea and the sky, the sights and the sounds. Love it all.

I especially love walking down the ancient 199 steps, descending slowly, admiring the view, feeling sorry for  the poor people huffing and puffing up the steps when I am breezing down them.
I often wish it was not so crowded (I do get absurdly annoyed at having to feature complete strangers in my scenic photographs), but the bustling atompsphere is all part of the charm. And on Saturday, it was sunny and warm, and the perfect day to be beside the sea, so of course it was indeed incredibly busy.

But there are still little patches of quiet to be found. Peeking up little alleyways to catch glimpses of small cottages hidden away....

...and a quiet cobbled street, off the beaten track.

But as much as I like Whitby, as much as I enjoy the busy harbour and the lovely shops, I am yearning to get to Robin Hoods Bay. We eventually arrive in the late afternoon at five to five, and my heart  swells at the sight of the first little houses at the top of this tumbling, ancient smugglers village.
It really is one of my most favourite places in the whole wide world.
I am so very glad to be there, I actually realise I am skipping instead of walking. It's true, I am walking along holding my husbands hand and skipping like an overgrown child.

Forty. Need to keep saying that number till it fits me.
I don't feel forty, and I certainly don't act it either.

So.....tales of my Birthday day tomorrow.
That's my 40th Birthday you know.
Uh-huh, I'm 40.
See you tomorrow.....
xxxxxxxx

Friday randomness

Today is all about me. Yeah, me me me!
I feel like chatting a little about things that I'm enjoying or finding inspiring and generally loving at the moment, and roses happen to be one of them. You could say I am having a serious love affair with roses this year. Last year it was hearts and this year it's roses. Never really been fussed for them before, but during the last six months or so I've found myself looking out for them everywhere I go. I've been buying rosy fabrics, rosy pillowcases, paper roses, fabcic roses,  pots of roses, rosy lampshades, clothes with little ribbon rosebuds on ( a Boden/charity shop find) and pictures of roses too. It all adds up to a delicious amount of pinky prettiness around the home and I like that.

In my bedroom I'm starting to stick up some flowery pink rose pictures and these are two I've bought recently. Up the top there is a beautiful rosy postcard from paperchase, and above is a card I bought yesterday from WHSmiths. I know that technically speaking they aren't roses (are they peonies?) but they are very rosyish and I love the colours, the vivid shades of pinks against the blue.

I am continuing to be really inspired by yarn and crochet, and to be honest I can't ever see this diminishing. I will probably be crocheting my way into my own coffin when I'm a little old lady.
I had  a little visit to my local yarn shop yesterday, oh the joys to be had in a shop full of Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns! I added a few new colours to my arran wool stash as I decided on a whim yesterday at Knit and Natter (Lovely C, this is your doing!) that I really missed making granny squares and absolutely had to make some. So hex's are temporarily on hold while I get the grannies out of my system. I'm not sure whether I'm making a cushion cover or a bag yet, I think it might be a bag actually. Will keep you posted on that one.

I was round the house earlier today at lunch time, taking few snaps of things to show you. This little cabinet is one of my favourite things, it was hand made and decorated by my Mums partner, and given to J and I as a house warming present when we bought our first house together 10 years ago. The little painted Shaker Village on the shelves there came from a local antiques centre :: I've had the little wooden buildings elsewhere in the house and just this week moved them to sit on the cabinet shelves. I love seeing the hand made woodiness of these things together.

A little bit of my mantel :: fairy lights with heart shaped stones and feathers collected on various walks and holidays. Reminders of a happy summer.

And another calendar! Yay! I have been searching and searching for this calender during the whole of this year, and not been able to find it anywhere. When we moved house last November I remember packing it away and then this week, whilst looking for something else, I came across it, in with a pile of old photos and papers. I love the seasonal photographs and the little suggestions of what to do each month. Incidentally, these calendars come free with the December issue of Country Homes, so watch out for the 2009 calendar in the next issue.



I immediately turned to the October page and really loved that reminder to celebrate my Bed this month, honestly I don't need much encouragement there as I worship my bed.
It did make me look at our bedding and see actually how in need of an up-grade it was. It was really on it's way out :: the duvet, goodness knows how old it was, but it had become very lumpy in places and thin in others. And the duvet cover we have been using was all wrong too. It was the wrong size (I bought it cheap in a sale) and never fit the duvet properly. It used to be too wide for it, but not long enough, so some bits were flappy and some bits all bunched up.
So you know what, today I have treated us to a new goosefeather duvet and a lovely new crisp white Egyptian cotton duvet cover. Can't wait to go to bed tonight!



So new bedding, and new hair too. Been for my semi-annual stint at the hairdressers this morning, and after a little hesitation I think I do like my new cut. The neat bob that I had cut in May had long grown out, so I decided on a little change, some layers, highlights and a bit of a flicky-out thing going on. Yes, I think I do like it, although still need to get used to it.
I went out into the yard earlier to take the picture of myself for the record (quite good at taking mugshots-of-self now, although oopos I managed to chop off the top of my head there), and I was sitting in front of the few remaining sweet peas, oh, how delicious! I picked the the flowers that were there to bring them into the house, they really are so delightful, just look at those colours.......

.......beautiful, aren't they?

As you may well know, it's my 40th birthday on Sunday, and after a bit of a wobble, I am feeling very positive and hunkydory about it all. I have been umming and ahhing about what to do by means of a birthday celebration and after much agonising, I decided not to stay home and party but to run away to sea instead. Hahaha!! Yeah, the sea is calling me, and I have to go. My wonderful in-laws are looking after the Little Poeple for us, and J and I are going across to the East Coast of Yorkshire to one of our most favourite places in all the world :: Robin Hoods Bay. We're just staying one night, in a small hotel, so I am thinking fine food, breezy walks, dinky shops, delightful cafes, welcoming pubs. Wonderful husband. What more could I ask for?
Bring.
It.
On.

We head off early tomorrow but we'll be back on Sunday afternoon for champagne and a small tea party with family and friends. So I'll see you all next week, into my new decade, as ditsy as ever no doubt.
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Autumn flowers

Yesterday afternoon I was late for the school run. My usual 3pm amble along the canal side turned literally into a run as I attempted to condense the 12 minute journey into 7 minutes. I ended up arriving at the school gates just as the first children were coming out so I wasn't technically unforgivably late, but I was very red in the face and knackered, and felt bad all the same.
And the reason for my lateness?? Violas that's what.

To be more specific, Viola Magnifico, the most delightful, cheery little five petalled flowers that ever existed. Just look at that prettiness, that cuteness, the sheer downright cheekiness of that little flower face! It had me so enraptured I lost track of time.

Yes, yesterday afternoon saw me doing a spot of gardening, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. Nothing too arduous you understand, just a little pottering around in the afternoon sunshine, playing with flowers and moss and compost.

I decided that the time had finally come to tackle the Hanging Baskets at the front of the house. They were a total, utter disgrace. Put it this way :: if J comments on how bad something looks (and he has a reputation for never noticing anything gardeny), then I know they are really, really bad. They were bad when we moved in to the Attic24 house last winter. I distinctly remember noticing them when we viewed the house, thinking how uncared for they looked. And then when we bought the house and they became my hanging baskets, I had all sorts of plans to pretty them up. But typical of me, it only ever got so far as the planning stage. I failed to plant them in the spring with the intended pretty bulbs and then failed again in the summer to fill them with colourful summer annuals.

So during the past few days when I've been shopping, I've accompanied my fruit and veg buying with pots of pretty violas, cyclamen and ivy. I already had the moss and compost,  purchased in the Spring when Good Intentions were rife.
I'm almost too embarrassed to show you the baskets that have been adorning house number 24 for the past 10 months.
Please don't think bad of me if I show you?
Ok, here goes ::

Well what can I say, except that they were the work of the previous house owner.
And I should never have left them hanging there looking so forlorn and sad for so long.
And now I fully intend to have seasonal hanging baskets to be proud of.

Wanna see how it turned out?

 

Quite cute eh?

And this poor, sad, neglected wall basket with a few straggly nasturtiums in it, looked over by White Bird....

....now prettied for Autumn.

And this is the third basket hanging right at eye level next to the front door. This morning I really enjoyed the surprise of seeing it when I stepped out, as I had temporarily forgotten my gardening efforts of yesterday. My memory is seriously shot through I tell you.

I just love those violas so much.
Love 'em to bits.

ps. before I forget to mention :: I LOVED all the shopping trolley opinions yesterday, oh I really loved reading  your comments so very very much. Thank you for taking the time and effort to let me know your thoughts. Seems the opinion is overwhelmingly in favour, so  I could soon be TRoLLiEd, I'll keep you posted!
xxxx

Fruitful shopping

I've been to the local market this morning to buy fruit. I was on a mission to redeem myself because I have sadly neglected the market of late. I've been tempted by the convenience of the supermarket, which is located right opposite the school. I know I shouldn't really use the supermarket so much, know that it's sheer laziness that prevents me from going up into town to use local shops and the market. Yet I find it so hard to resist the lure of The Big Shop That Sells Everything. Because it's Right There.
 
Yesterday I had this sort of conversation with J, AKA my Jiminy Cricket. He has this sweet, direct way of questioning me and telling me what to do which I find hard to ignore. He doesn't boss me around, rather persuades me to See Reason and then do the Right Thing ::

J: Where did you buy these oranges from?
Me: Tesco
J: I don't think you should shop at Tesco.
Me : Why not?
J: Because you can buy better fruit from the market, help support the local traders (he goes on to rant about how much he hates the big money-grabbing supermarkets etc etc, I switch off a bit here)
Me: True.
J: Why don't you go to the market any more?
Me: Wellllll, Tesco is right opposite the school and the market is up in town and .....
J: But you've got the time to go to the market, you're just being lazy.
Me: True.
J: You would soon complain if the market wasn't there.
Me: True again.
J: I would LOVE to go to the market to buy all our food each week.
Me: Yes I know.
J: Please would you stop using Tesco and go back to using the market?
Me: OK

So this morning, instead of nipping across the zebra crossing opposite the school to the convenient, but naughty-not-to-be-used supermarket, I walk the extra half mile up into town with my CK bags and hit the market.

Feel very virtuous, because market produce is handed to me in brown recyclable paper bags. No naughty-not-to-be-used plastic supermarket packaging. Cheery market traders, very good produce.
I select a punnet of small, sweet looking strawberries for £1.50.
Six beautiful looking purply red plums for £1.
And four of the biggest oranges you've ever seen, four for £1.

I also buy local cheese from a nearby stall.
Plants from another.
Call in to local shops to buy free range eggs and sweet cured bacon sliced there and then off the joint to my requirements.
A fresh loaf of local bakery bread.

My bags are heavy and I trudge home. I think of this conversation I had with my Jiminy Cricket shortly after the Tesco v Market debate ::

Me: its hard work carrying bags of produce home from town.
J: Why don't you buy a shopping trolley?
Me: (stunned silence, I am imagining tartan ugliness, ridicule)
J: Well? It would make sense. Its eco-friendly. Practical.
Me: True.

So today I have been researching the idea a-la-internet. And woah! I've found some beauties!
What do you think of these? A bit pricey? How about this little lot then?
I might possibly have to purchase this one.
Please let me have your honest opinion. Do you think it's OK for a thirty-something girl about town (ok, after Sunday I will be a four-oh, damn-it), to own a shopping trolley?
Honest Opinions welcome.

Edited to add :: oooo have come across several articles on shopping trolley dilemmas, just read this, and this and this. I am sitting on the fence till I hear what you all think! 

On the Menu :: Sweet and Sour

Good morning! Its Foody-Tuesday again today, don't know why but whenever I find myself wanting to share a meal with you, it always seems to be a Tuesday. Not even going to try and work that one out.

This is a recipe from my childhood :: Sweet and Sour Sausages. When I was growing up, we were very short of money. Of course I didn't realise at the time, but looking back I see it clearly :: I see the struggle my Mum had running a household with very little money, and I recognise the huge talent she had for providing for us. I remember many handmade toys and clothes, remember appreciating the joys of other peoples cast offs and hand-me-downs, remember home-grown vegetables from the allotment, and nutritious, tasty meals made with very cheap ingredients and a lot of skill and love. We very rarely ate meat, with the exception of liver (eugh), minced beef and sausages. Chicken was a major luxury, in fact I can't recall a single meal from my childhood made with chicken except for Christmas dinner.

This is a recipe I remember fondly, and the meat of choice was always sausages for this dish. I've had the recipe in my file for a long, long time, written down for me by  Mum. However when I've tried to give it to the Little People in the past, we always stumbled over the peppers and they would complain bitterly about them, declare they hated sweet and sour sauce because the Peppers were HORriD (said with feeling). But isn't it funny how the Little People's tastes change so rapidly? They will now eat peppers quite happily, enjoy them even, so I thought it would be good to give this delightful recipe another go.

So :: three components for this meal :: sausages, vegetables and the sweet and sour sauce.

Sausages :: any that tickle your fancy, cooked in whichever way suits you best. I used thin organic pork ones from Marks and Spencer, grilled and then chopped up.

Veg :: definitely 1 chopped onion and 1 large sweet pepper/capsicum (I used half and half red and orange peppers because I like the colours together), then add what you think will go well, perhaps sweet corn, carrot sticks, green beans?

Sauce :: you need to make sure you have the following store cupboard ingredients ::

half a small tin pineapple chunks, drained
1 tbs soft brown sugar
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
175ml chicken stock
2 tbs tomato puree
2 tbs cornflour mixed with 2 tbs cold water.

The sauce itself is a revelation. Its so very simple, you wonder why anyone ever buys jars of sweet and sour sauce when it's so easy and so much nicer to make your own?

So. This is Fast cooking folks, make sure you have everything prepared before you start or you'll come unstuck.

Make up the sweet and sour sauce in a jug by mixing the above saucy ingredients.
Chop your veg into bite size pieces.
Cook your sausages and chop them up ready for adding to the pan.

Begin by heating some oil in a large pan and fry the onion, peppers and any other chopped veggies for 5 minutes or so.
Chuck in the cooked sausages and mix well.
You should think about putting your rice or noodles on to cook now as there is about 10-12 mins left to go...

...add the sauce to the pan and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and the taste of the cornflour will "cook out".

Serve with basmati rice or noodles.
Now wasn't that easy? And quick?!
This meal was truly appreciated in our house last week, it was a pleasure to see it devoured and enjoyed with such gusto.
Peppers and all.

Hexagonal Goodness

Good morning! I am feeling very happy today :: no particular reason for it, only that the sun is shining, the sky is bright and blue and I'm wearing one of my favourite jumpers. The jumper was a charity/thrift shop find and cost me about £3.50 I think, and I do really enjoy wearing it. It's made of pure wool (slightly scratchy, but I try and ignore that), it has a diamond pattern on the front which is slightly old fashioned, but it 's the sleeves that I love. For some reason, just glancing down and seeing my arms wrapped in these wooly, stripy sleeves makes me feel so hippety-hop-happy! Hang on a moment,  let me just take my jumper off and photograph it for you so you can see what I'm talking about.......

......there! See what I mean? Can you imagine what these coloured stripes do to me? They make me smile broadly, that's what. And smiling broadly, in my opinion is always a Good Thing for a Monday morning. As well as smiling, this jumper also makes me think of my crocheted afghan blankets, and this morning it reminded me that I have been meaning to show you something of my hexagon blanket progress.

The photo at the top of this post was taken in August when I was on holiday in Craster. Of course I took my crochet with me on holiday, and most early mornings I would sit myself by the open bedroom window, drink tea and crochet whilst listening to the sounds of the sea. It was quite wonderful, and the memories of those mornings fills me with joy.

This is my third crocheted Afghan blanket and it is proving slow going actually. Remember when I began it back in May of this year? I was so excited! Well yes, five months on and I am still excited, am still enjoying this blanket, really I am, but truthfully it's quite fiddlesome. There isn't the same easy, soothing rhythm that I so enjoyed with the ripple blanket. And the Granny squares I could almost do with my eyes closed. I most definitely have to concentrate more with the hexagons, and sometimes I find this a hard thing to do. I am easily distracted, and quite a bit of frogging usually takes place whilst I'm making hexagons.

But as fiddlesome as they are, there's no denying that they are full of colourful goodness. And Colourful Goodness, like Wooly Striped sleeves, is a happy thing.

For quite a while I was producing lots of these colourful three-round circles without actually making them up into hexagons. I liked to see them as flowers, liked the way I could arrange them and play with them, line them up and stack them.

But a month or so ago I felt it was time to start the process of joining them together. And suddenly, the pile of individual flowery circles became a blankety field of colour. There are 73 hexagons here so far (I just counted), and as this is going to be a smaller blanket than I usually make (destined to drape over the back of an armchair), I reackon I am almost half way :: I don't think there will be more than 200 hex's in he finished afghan.

Well seeing them in these photographs today, I have to admit they do look good all joined together, looking snug and colourful and blankety.

Yes, I must keep going with them, even though I can feel myself being pulled towards starting another blanket, the thrill of a new project. Possibly a big giant granny square? Or another ripple? Or a straight striped one like this one? Or a granny blanket made out of giant granny squares? Squares or stripes, squares or stripes? No no no shhhhhhh naughty brain, you must not be distracted. Think Hexagon Goodness, Hexagon Goodness, stay focused!

Incidentally, I have been asked many times now about the pattern for the hexagons, as it doesn't appear to be available online anywhere that I could find. If you read back through my post in May, you will know that I managed to work it out for myself by studying other peoples photographs in Flickr. And as I had to alter it to suit the weight of yarn I'm using, my pattern I think has ended up slightly different from other peoples. I am pondering sharing it, if I can work out how to write it. If I manage to do it, I'll let you know.

So many things to do, so many colourful, lovely things to contemplate and such a fidgety brain and stripy sleeves and sunny weather that keep making me all distracted.
Ah well, at least I'm happy, even if it is in a fidgety, flitty, wooly, distracted sort of a way.