Since my last post......

I've baked......

Visited Yarndale and spent far to much.......

Started a crochet blanket, working slow but sure.....

Finished a City and Guild project and.....

started the next.....

The guy in the Wet Fish shop was a bit mystified when I asked if I could photograph his fish as inspiration for my project. Just as well I'm a good customer!

Watch this space........ or should that be watch this plaice?

A Wave

I found a post in my drafts that I started writing on 10th April, I got side tracked..... it's so out of date there's no point in putting it up.  I must show the chocolate cake and apple crumble  I made and took to James and Becky's at Easter, Rachel made cornflake cakes.

That's all so long ago now and since I blogged about my list it grew and grew and.....then lots got crossed off! Phew!

Most days Betsy and I walk with a group of dogs and their owners of course, occasionally we go and feed the geese, ducks and swans. One of the ladies we walk with is Mary, everyone calls her the 'dog whisperer', the dogs all love her, maybe because she has a huge bag of treats with her every day!!! It's a lovely place to walk especially now the weather has improved and the ground isn't like a bog.

There were nine dogs walking this day!

During the Bank holiday Dave and I sorted out our wardrobes and have six bags of clothes waiting to go to the charity shop. I'm not sure if we were both hoarding or we were just being lazy, I had three black tailored suits leftovers from when I worked in a Ladies Clothes shop and smart was the order of the day. Had I been harbouring thoughts of returning to that sort of work, NO! But one thing I did decide to part with is this Aran Jumper, I knitted it about 30 years ago, I haven't worn it for years but have kept it because I still love it. Rachel is going to give it a new home, it's really baggy on her but I sold it to her as  RETRO it will be cosy on those winter nights when she wants to snuggle up. SOLD! And I have lots of space to fill with new clothes....... And I have an irresistible urge to knit something now.

Finally all my work for the Seeking Artemis Exhibition is finished and on Tuesday these will be -

Just a snippet

Another Snippet

hanging here or -

here.......

and there will be some of these. It is a really interesting space, there will be more images once the Exhibition is hung.

Meanwhile I've been working like a mad woman to catch up on my City and Guild work, lots of samples finished and two design folders almost completed. I'm using this photo as my inspiration for my first project, I took this photo a few years ago on the beach at Bamburgh, Northumberland. I've decided to do a table runner and I may even do some place mats to go with it later if I have enough fabric (and time) I need to get some samples ready to show when I go to class next Wednesday, Janice was happy with the design I've come up with, a relief.

At the weekend it seemed as though summer had arrived sitting in the garden eating dinner having BBQ's but today it's all changed. Hope it's Summer where ever you are.

Easter

Easter is proving to be a quiet one for us, just pottering about, Dave is boarding the loft, something that he has been planning on doing for a while, at last he's found the time. It was bright but cold this morning we have even had a little bit of snow! Thankfully it was after we had been for a long walk with Betsy, she had  a run about with one of her friends a Toy Manchester Terrier called Rambo,  an odd name I think for such a little dog. They both chased about the field until Rambo needed to leave we then put Betsy on her lead and headed to  Berwick Ponds. There was lots of bird activity today the swans were very active chasing off the geese I managed to get a couple of action shots. Swans certainly look scary when they open their wings fully I was so glad that Betsy was on her lead and the swan didn't come onto the bank where we were standing.

Swan

Swan

Ducks

Betsy

It was then time for home, Betsy fell asleep after her exhausting walk and after lunch I made and decorated chocolate cake as a contribution to tomorrows lunch. Then it was back to the stitching.......

TO DO

Recently I have found my life to be a  TO DO LIST which gradually I'm ticking off, I think that's why I'm not motivated to blog at the moment. We bloggers know that it's not a thing that can be done in just a few minutes, we think about what we want to write. Then we write and probably if your like me edit and then write a bit more and edit again. It is then onto adding images, I'm not happy if my posts don't have at least one image (hopefully more), they have to be edited and with luck they appear in the right place, if not it can take an age to get them positioned in the right place. Oh! there is spell check, and why does blog spell check want to change 'bloggers' to loggers and 'blog'  to bog, log or blag ????

Anyway back to my 'To Do List'

1. Get up to date with City and Guilds Samples and design work- Getting There.
2. Finish work for Seeking Artemis Exhibition - Another three months should do it. - NO GOOD               ONLY 7 WEEKS BEFORE HANGING !!!!!! HELP
3. Pay for holiday in May - Done can't wait...... (hooray some sunshine at last)
4. Book holiday for later in year and decide where to go - Done booked a week in Southern Ireland***.

The list doesn't actually look so bad now I've written it down, I must have left a few things off!!!

A few things that have been done over the last few weeks. Dave and I went to see 'Les Miserables' the show not the film, we both really enjoyed it. I have the feeling that it's a show that's a bit like Marmite some people have said they loved it whilst others hated it, well I don't like Marmite but I loved the show.

Shaftesbury Avenue, London

While we were in London we  took the opportunity to visit the V&A and then the Brunei Gallery at SOAS to see the exhibition of World Eco Fibre and Textile Art (WEFT)  it was one of the best exhibitions I've ever seen. As we had hours to kill we wandered around the Piccadilly area, had dinner and strolled around China Town always a good place for people watching!

China Town, London

I've continued with the cooking of curries, baking bread and trying out different recipes every week. Last Friday the result wasn't quite so good when I managed to slice through my thumb,  it meant a trip to the emergency room, for over an hour it wouldn't stop bleeding! That evening we had take away fish and chips instead of the Mac and Cheese I'd planned. (How did my hands get so old?) No nasty comments to that question PLEASE.

I've changed my shopping habits too instead of having ALL the groceries delivered by Ocado, I've started going to a Butchers, Green Grocer and Fishmonger. I'm staying with Ocado for the time being  it's convenient, but will probably start shopping at the local Waitrose. Going from shop to shop is not as easy as doing the shopping sitting in the living room on the laptop and browsing, but I fancy a change. It has nothing to do with the recent Horse Meat in food situation, I very rarely buy ready meals and Waitrose has not been involved, (I think) but never the less I feel that the smaller individual shops should be used. I can't say local shops where I live since a large T***o opened the two butchers the bakers and the greengrocers have all closed.  I will travel a little way to do the shopping but I'm going to give it a try!

I've  joined a group of people who walk their dogs every morning in the local park/woods/ponds. Betsy is really enjoying it,  until we started meeting this group  I'd not let her off her lead. When I was on my own I worried that she wouldn't come back, so far it's been ok and she comes back when I call her. I think the fact that I have a pocket full of cheese helps. She is having a great time running around with  various sizes of dogs they range from a very tiny Yorkshire Terrier to a Long Coated German Shepherd and a Pointer and of course her best friend another Miniature Schnauzer Dizzie. It has been really muddy and all the dogs enjoy running through the flooded areas she comes home caked in mud and so do I, she then spends a lot of the day sleeping, but very very happy. It's a shame that I can't meet them every morning but sometimes life gets in the way and Betsy and I cant spend two hours running through the park and have a speed walk around the streets, but at least if we meet up with them three times in the week it's good and my walking boots are proving they were well worth their money. Next winter I'll buy some wellies but my boots are warm and I get to wear my hand knitted socks.

Dizzie wearing his coat, Betsy au natural, well she didn't
 want to get her posh coat muddy!

I'm still taking part in the photo challenge I posted about it in my previous post. I do put some of the images on Face book. It is a challenge too, I don't find it easy to keep to the list every day so I don't think I'll carry on into next month but at least I tried.....

*** We had planned to spend a Holiday this year on the West Coast of USA this year travelling up to Canada from San Francisco then to Seattle and finally Vancouver Island stopping along the way. The plan was to spend a few days on Vancouver island so we could visit the gallery where the Material girls and Articulation  will be exhibiting their Bridging Waters work. However we cant spend as much time away as we hoped and so plans have changed.
Be back soon.....

Still Baking.......

and it  is going well, I'm baking one loaf every week and that lasts us and it keeps very well too.

Wholemeal Cob

 I'm  loving the curries from Anjum Anand's book  on Friday I cooked Bengali Fish curry, it was really tasty but I did overdo the ginger a bit but Dave and I enjoyed it, next time I'll use less ginger!

I'm still working away on my main piece for the Seeking Artemis exhibition, it's getting there slowly. It needs to be completed by early March, I'm having a frame made to display it and the man making it will need accurate measurements.  Once that's done I can  start on the smaller works to complement the main piece.

A friend has started a blog she is a talented textile artist, I wont say anymore as Sheila tells all in her About Me link. I will only say that I  met Sheila on the first day at  City and Guilds in 2007 and we've remained friends ever since,  go and have a look Sheila Frankland My Life in Threads .
While I'm on the subject of promoting other peoples blogs have a look at Amanda's blog she is busy working on her exhibition for Dorset Art week 2014 and you'll be able to follow her progress there.

Thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post I really do appreciate it.

I'm out for lunch tomorrow so a break from stitching.........

Bread and More Bread

Things are moving on I've been busy working on samples for my City and Guilds course, no images at the moment maybe next time. I've also been working on my pieces for the 'Seeking Artemis' Exhibition, when Chris invited me to join her and the other female artists in this exhibition I was flattered and excited. Since then I have fluctuated between that feeling of excitement and blind panic....... after our meeting on Saturday I'm in the state of excitement. How I'll feel as May fast approaches I don't know! Does everyone doubt their own abilities is it normal? Anyway I have been busy today posting images on the Seeking Artemis blog  pop over  and take a look at a small sample of work that will be in the exhibition, there are six  artist  of varying experiences in exhibiting from the very experienced to a first time exhibitor. We are all supporting and encouraging each other in the true spirit of Artemis. We also have a Facebook page take a look  and please press the 'like' button at the top of the page  (a bit of pushy promotion there).

Home baking is very much in vogue  I've been baking bread and since the New Year no shop bought bread has been consumed in this house,  home baked bread is so much tastier  plus  you know whats in it an added bonus the house smells lovely. I seem to have the cob loaf down to a fine art, the recipes are from Baking Made Easy Paul Hollywood.

 I wasn't at all happy with my attempt at sour dough, I've given up on that one! Tomorrow I'm making a wholemeal loaf, hopefully before lunch. Does anyone out there make their own sour dough? I'd love to know how they get on with it, mine was so well I cannot even put it into words........

I do seem to have the cooking bug at the moment on Saturday I made a lovely creamy chicken curry with stir fried spring onions, washed down with a pint of Crabbies, not good for the waist line but never mind. This recipe was from Anjum Anand's book Indian Food Made Easy, both of the books were Christmas presents, I cant say that someone was trying to tell me something, because I bought them myself with book vouchers!

There have been two pilates classes, after the first class my back ached, not a surprise and after the latest session it doesn't feel quite so bad. There are only four of us in the group and we all have lower back problems so the class is very gentle (apparently) . Hopefully by the end of the six sessions I'll actually feel the benefit.

Thanks for your comments!

Lyn I've got my dough proving at the moment, this time I've used my Kenwood. Fiona you said you felt better once you stopped the ear thing that's just how I feel, I never planned to show Betsy, she such a little scruff. I could never manage to keep her that clean, every time she goes into the garden she's in the dirt, but that's how she is and we love her for it, well most of the time.......

Not a Lot of Blogging

has been going on here, no excuses or apologies I've just not felt like it. Do you ever feel like that? I have been reading  your post though and commenting sometimes but even that has been a bit patchy. To be honest I think it's the weather, I never used to feel like this during the winter. I noticed feeling a bit down last year and it's hit me again this year too, it's not depression as such I'm just not very enthused about things that I should be.....

I wont bore you with a long post just a bit of a catch up. Over the last few weeks I've made bread NOT with a machine  BUT by hand 3 loaves and 8 rolls, they were  lovely (even if I say so myself) and I'll be making more this week  (well that's the plan).  I've made two more batches of Granola, it is very popular in this house Dave has abandoned his much loved weetabix!

Wholegrain Rolls

Dave and I decided that maybe a weekend away would be a good idea! Mmm when did we book for? Yep last weekend, Dave thought Suffolk would be nice, I didn't discourage him as I knew there were two fabric shops that I've never been to. Despite the promise of snow we set off on the Friday with the hope that the forecast would be wrong as usual. A detour on our way to the hotel  took us via Bungay and Sew and So's, I spent much more than I should have, but well worth it.

Bungay, Suffolk

We checked into the hotel and had a great evening meal, at some point the staff announced that it was snowing, mmm! Saturday morning there was a light dusting of snow, after breakfast decided we'd drive  into Southwold.  It was sleeting and freezing cold, Dave suggested we have a walk onto the pier, I thought he must be joking but he wasn't, well wrapped up off we set. By the time we got to the cafe I couldn't feel my face, a hot chocolate helped me warm up before we set off for a walk along the front and a very quick look at the shops, we bought a couple of birthday cards and a coat for Betsy. All this time it was sleeting, after not a lot of debate we decided to go back to the hotel pack our bags and check out. The hotel were really generous and we didn't have to pay a cancellation charge, we  will definitely be returning to Satis House when the weather is better.

Southwold (it looks quite nice but it was sleeting)

We were so glad we left Suffolk when we did because it snowed and snowed on Saturday evening from about 6pm,  I looked out of the window at 3 am on Sunday it was still snowing, a deep covering for us!

Closer to home after the snow

Betsy with a frozen nose!

Betsy or Pointy Ears!

Betsy has been enjoying the snow, she just cant keep her nose out of it!

Despite trying to keep her ears turned down they continue to stay pointing up so nature has won and I've decided not to weight them anymore. Her ears were weighted down with a sort of blue tack stuff that the breeder suggested, it didn't hurt her at all.  But it seems unfair to her to continue doing it,  I think she looks cute whether her ears stick up or not.

The rush of last weekend is over, as planned Rachel came to us on Sunday and Becky and James joined us for a lunch which included home made Soda bread, if I say so myself was a great success I'd never made it before but I'll be making it again over the holidays, it was perfect with homemade Leek and Potato soup. It was easy to make, I used a Creuset casserole (the only wedding present that I use on a regular basis after almost 34 years!), look at Purple Podded Peas blog for the recipe. That wasn't all we had for lunch as Rachel does eat fish on the odd occasion we had Salmon en croute and a Heston Blumenthal Black Forest Buche (don't be too impressed the only thing I made was the bread and the soup, but I do take credit for the menu and the defrosting and popping in the oven at the right times) And no smoke alarms went off!

Ready to pop into very hot Creuset

Done and Ready for the Butter!!!!!

After lunch we gave Rachel her Christmas and Birthday presents, we'd already given her a Kindle so she had time to load on her books for her holiday! For my birthday Rachel had looked through a suitcase of photographs I took from my Mum's house when we were sorting out. While we were  in France during the summer Rachel stayed here a few nights and sorted and scanned  photo's of my Mum and Dad from when they were young up until their 25th Wedding Anniversary, my Dad died a few years after that, Rachel never met him. She included photo's of my Nan and my Grandparents, and photo's of my brother and me when we were young. I don’t think I have to tell you there were a few tears! She'd taken such trouble to sort the photos and have them printed into a book, it's volume one, there are so many photos left, I've not opened the case since I brought it home, I don’t think I can at the moment. When the time is right I'll make volume two and three, maybe something for the new year!

Monday we were up at 5.00 am, even before Betsy! It took me 2 hours to drive around the M25 to Heathrow airport, we'd allowed lots of time.  When Rachel had checked her bags we grabbed breakfast before she went through security, we said goodbye and she disappeared through the doors and I started my journey home. The return journey only took 1 1/2 hours, I phoned Rachel when I got home and she'd just taken her seat on the plane. At 0.38 the following morning she text to say she was at Singapore Airport and was waiting to reboard for the next leg of the journey, at 11am yesterday she text to say she was with Mark and in his apartment ( I've seen a photo it looks beautiful overlooking the water at Kirribilli, Sydney) and going out for dinner. Dave heard from her this morning she's spent the day on the beach and they were going food shopping. Mark has arranged for them to go camping over Christmas. Looking out of the window here this morning, it's wet it's dull and I wish I could spend the day on the beach.

Friday James is 30, Becky has some lovely things arranged for him during the day, in the evening we are going to theirs for a family celebration. Then it's all systems go for Christmas... I do feel a bit at a loss this year, everything is done shopping etc, just need to wrap the rest of the presents. Still not 100% sure what Dave's Dad is doing, I think it's a matter of watch this space. I've had an idea Karen Ruane is leaving the frozen North to spend Christmas with her daughter, just a few roads away from Dave's Dad so maybe..............

Domestic Goddess (NOT)

Things with Betsy seem to be settling down. Betsy and I  have started going to obedience classes once a week, Dave says he's noticed a difference in ME not the dog!!!!!! She is still waking at six in the morning but I'm used to it now and don't mind it at all anymore!  I probably shouldn't speak to soon but the toilet training seems to be getting there too, 2 wee's yesterday on the floor (thank goodness for laminate flooring) and only one today! Look at that face, I can forgive her anything..........

No textile work to show, I have been getting on with work for the Material Girls next exhibition, 2012 is going to be a really busy year for us.

Last weekend we went to George's Naming Ceremony, it's the first of these I've been to. I was really thrilled to be asked to be a witness, I wasn't sure what to expect as I've only been to Christenings before, but it was a lovely day and a great way of welcoming a baby into the world. 
 
Christmas is approaching fast, I'm buying most of the presents on the internet this year, I'm not in love with shopping. Last year proved a bit of a disaster, a couple of parcels didn't arrive at all, but I decided to give it another go. I've started earlier this year and the first parcel has arrived today, so that's a good start.

I've even made the Christmas cake, I'm giving the Delia 'cake in a box' a try, all I needed to add was the butter, eggs and the peel from a lemon and an orange. So easy and I feel like a domestic goddess without all the mess! There is a casserole in the slow cooker, just waiting for Dave to get home, he's been away for a few days, boy he'll be impressed when he get's home.

New Neighbours and New Books

Since my last post I have met my new neighbours, 6 girls have taken up residence with Bert who is an elderly gentleman living across the road. He took me into his garden to show me his new friends something that he said he'd wanted for years, I think he's 82 so it's taken him a while to get around to it! (sorry it's not a brilliant photograph, but I'll be visiting again soon)

Then there are the 7 new books I bought to see me through the summer, but after all the reading planned I thought a treat was in order, two Christmas's ago I gave Rachel and Becky the Hummingbird Bakery book, they both have been using it a lot  and saying how good it is. Occasionally Rachel sends home a cake for me, so it had to be the new Hummingbird book, was it a mistake?

Apple and Oat Cookie

Honey and Walnut Loaf

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake, a Fathers Day special

Today I'm  making a Berry Baked Cheesecake to take as our contribution to the BBQ we've been invited to tomorrow. The favorite cake so far has been the Orange and Almond Loaf but it went so fast there was no time for a photo. I've really got back into baking, sadly it's not doing my waist line any good!

Between all that baking there's  been creativity going on too, I've finished a Material Girls project, sorry no images until the exhibition, now I'm working on the next piece.  I can show the two baby quilts that are completed, both quilts are waiting for the 'Happy Events' so I can sew the labels on, both babies are due at the end of July, so I'm ready! To make my life easy I used the same fabrics and design for both.   To preserve my sanity and keep me from getting bored, I appliqued circles on one,  although with the bright colours and jazzy patterns I don't think that would have happened. My only problem will be which Mum to give which quilt to, they don't know each other so that's not a problem.

Puppy update, two weeks ago I went to visit a lady that has Miniature Schnauzer's, and guess what, one of her bitches is expecting pups, they are due on Sunday, soooo we will be having a new addition to the family in September, fingers crossed.

Apart from that, not much else has happened apart from having a verruca blasted, I've never had one before, painful is all I can say!  And we had a wasps nest take up residence in our roof, hopefully the 'Wasp Killers' will be coming this afternoon to remove them, sadly it's in the flat part of the roof so there wont be a lovely nest for me to see, it will have to stay where it is without the wasps hopefully.
 Just a moan here, trying to keep things local I telephoned a company in the area I live in, they could come the next day, I waited and waited, then I phoned 'sorry the van had broken down, and they were so glad I'd called they had mislaid my number' MMmm! They would be there the next day, did they turn up, did they call? NO.   Today I phoned another company so we'll see what happens. At this time when financially times are tough and every day there's news of businesses going to the wall, why would you let a customer down,  I know it's only one small job but it would have been £65.00 earned in about 30 minutes.