Post-Christmas and New Year

Happy New Year!

Well it's been busy. Before Christmas I was ill, so I had a little rush on, finishing presents. This one for my friend Amanda, who I work with. (little felt ice skates were so wonderful to make, an idea from Montessouri by Hand). The heart was a little extra for her tree, and the X-stitch was from here and was particularly apt for her (I've since learned that it made her cry, with joy hopefully!!).

Running a Craft afternoon at my Church for the children while the parents helped making 400 Christingles. It was great fun. My two were guinea pigs....

UP at the crack of dawn? Get sewing young man....

C loves stuffing....

After Christmas we went to visit my brother and his family in Cardiff. Staying in a really gorgeous hotel with a roaring fire in each room to sit and sip Baileys next to and get nice rosy cheeks. The following morning while the children played,

We sat reading, and stared at the view.

On returning home, despite not having cooked on Christmas Day, I still seemed to have a plethora of leftovers. Well, we did cook a turkey, ham and acoutrements for the following few days after Christmas, as we did have quite a few visitors.

Poor hubby has been in bed since we returned from Cardiff on Saturday afternoon. He's not usually poorly so I know when he's feeling rough as he never sleeps during the day and doesn't like lying in bed. He's done both every day. (He is also catching up on Season 2 of 24 which means we can continue watching it together once he's caught up with me!!)

Anyway....we have lots of leftovers as he hasn't been hungry enough to eat, so I've been busy making in the kitchen.

Turkey Soup

Yes, yes - I know, a good ole Turkey recipe. However this one is really nice. (Turkey carcus, 1 parsnip, stick of celery, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 bay leaves and sprigs of rosemary, 2 litres of water, bung in cooking pot and bring to the boil, simmer slowly for 2 hours). They say that a good chicken soup is good for the soul, and the enzymes released while cooking it is a good cure for colds and flu. R has just eaten a bowl so if he miraculously springs from our bed tomorrow I will let you know.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup, Cheese Sauce

Why Oh Why did we buy a "cheese board". Well I know why, because before Christmas I had a tummy bug and when I finished doing my shopping online, I had no appetite for food so ordered something that would suit all tastes. The Somerset Brie was decimated by the mother-in-law and so there was some Stilton, French Brie and Edam left. I leafed through my Nigella Express Recipe Book and found Broccoli and Stilton Soup....I actually wouldn't touch Stilton with a barge pole if you handed it to me on a cracker, but in a soup, I likes it :-D

It's really, really simple and I'm having it for tea.

First of all fry 3 chopped salad onions in garlic oil.

Add 500g frozen broccoli, together with 1 tsp of dried thyme
Crumble in Stilton....add 800ml hot vegetable stock.


Cook for 5 minutes, liquidize and serve with a little red chilli crumbled on top.


Yum.

I also made batches of cheese sauce for the children, ready to throw on pasta with some of the leftover ham, chicken and some broccoli.

Split Pea and Ham Soup
I have made this before and it's gorgeous. It's also low fat which means it tastes better!!!!

Now that all our guests have gone, the tree is down and things are getting back to normal. I'm already planning what my next sewing project is going to be. I have a few birthdays coming up so better start thinking! (especially as one of them is a big one...you know who you are ;-) )

Floristry....

I love flowers....which is a good thing seeing as I trained as a Florist almost 5 years ago! I had worked in the City for 10 years, ending up in Legal Recruitment. But after having H, I just couldn't hack it anymore, I didn't want to be working the long hours, plus travelling and after a glitch with the nursery he was at (a blessing in disguise) I left.......

I wanted something that was going to fit in around children, and for those with children, you know how hard that is. Anyway, when I was 15 I had wanted to be a florist, but my mum persuaded me not to do it. Probably because junior florists are paid hideously low wages and if you learn 'on the job' you are going to get all the horrible jobs to do!

So at the age of 28, I went back to college for a 2 year stint to train to be a florist. I had an idea that playing with flowers was going to be a wonderfully enriching past-time and I would be happy spending all day being creative. Capel Manor College is THE place to go to learn floristry so off I trotted. H was settled at a new nursery and the course was less than 15 hours per week and so I had the best of both worlds.

Some things I learned in my first year.......

• You are always going to be COLD.


• You learn how to 'feather' carnation petals until the cows come home.


• Wiring 100 ivy leaves is not funny and does not feel remotely creative with cold hands


• You need lashings of handcream after every lesson


• There are only so many things you can do with Leather Leaf to make it look attractive.


• You have to learn many Latin names for plants and flowers, and learn how to pronounce Tsuga Heterophylla like you know what it looks like, and what to do with it (especially as everyone says it differently!).


• Work experience as a 28 year old is no fun at all, especially when the Head Florist is younger than you!


• Making arrangements and hand ties in class is totally different when you do it at work as the customer is always waiting.


• Tool Boxes are best not left in the middle of the room, especially when you are carrying a bucket full of freezing water.
  

However, in my second year...

You learn to think creatively on every piece of the flower, like how to use stems of Gerberas in an arrangement. Something my floristry teacher had never seen before.

You learn to work as a team. Our team always went for large-scale designs. When we were asked to design and make a wire framed 'animal', we in fact, designed and made a swan. It was so large that the floristry department went over their budget for the year (the wings had individually glued on leaf skeletons that cost a fortune wholesale, let alone retail!). But our tutor said she had to let us make it as she wanted to see how it would turn out! We constructed the frame from bonsai wire, covered it in chicken wire, stuffed it with paper, and used moss all over (which you have to wire in place), and then we sprayed it. It was the centerpeice for Christmas.

You learn how to design and construct wedding bouquets - funnily enough I said I was never going to get involved doing weddings, but it turned out, I was very good at them and now that's what I do the most of!

I don't do as much floristry as I did, with two children, a job as a Fundraiser and all my other projects on the go, it has taken a back seat (for now). I still do the odd bouquet, funeral arrangement and wedding....my sister-in-law is getting married next September so I will have to dig out my scissors and stem stripper!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Gill and I have been making tree decorations for our school's Bring & Buy. After seeing hers, I thought I should post mine as they are both so different! Mine are made out of scraps of fabric left over from my bridesmaid dresses 11 years ago! They took such small scraps that I am going to sew all the other scraps together to make multicoloured silk trees (but on another day, I'm up to my eyes in B&B stuff at the mo!)

I've also finished quilting two wall hangings for Christmas. One for my mother-in-law and one for us. I machine quilted for ease, just around each picture (as I am short on time!) but I think they are lovely as they have great pictures with lots of detail. I'm waiting for my Star of Wonder buttons to arrive which compliment the wall hanging but while I'm posting pictures of Christmas trees I thought I would include this as well.

The Bring & Buy has been a bit of a nightmare. We have ended up doing far more than we expected (it's amazing how people disappear when they are asked to do something!) so I haven't done as many "Wonky Bunting" crafts as I'd like. Still, I have around 24 hours to complete everything else! Hey ho...I love what we've made though. See http://moss-stitch.blogspot.com/ for some other things from Wonky Bunting!!

After a hectic morning, just a few hours sewing has restored my inner calm. I do love sitting down at my table to sew, with an old film on in the background (My Fair Lady today) I can sit and create.

A Relaxing Day Off

Our family has been busy these past few weeks. My husband went to South Africa for 10 days to work in Drakenstein and Pollsmoor Prisons, working with the (some very) young boys/men who have found themselves, for whatever reason, in prison. While he was away, I was looking after the smalls with the help of my parents. I didn't get as much done in the evening as I expected, because I was too busy making full use of the in-house babysitters (thanks Mum and Dad!). So my sewing slowed down somewhat, even though the flow of fabric coming in little jiffy bags from Ebay continued to come in.


After a hectic few days this week, I decided today, Wednesday, my full day without the children was going to be a sewing day (well, at least morning!). There is washing to do and a floor to mop but I was more drawn to a nice piece of IKEA fabric I won on Ebay. I did originally want to make the bag I made with Cath Kidston strawberry fabric but I didn't have enough. But I am very pleased with the result. Made from my Sew Pretty Homestyle book, I already had the 7" bamboo handles ready so I set to work. I didn't take any action shots, I just got on with it, and here is the result....




It will hold all my current projects (which are in little fabric envelopes themselves!) and also my knitting. So wherever I go, where I am waiting around for one or both of my children...I will be sewing, cross-stitching or knitting!

I am now suitably relaxed, have had some delicious Broccoli and Stilton Soup, home-made bread, a naughty slice of cheesecake...and now I'm off to swim 50 lengths at my local pool. Lovely.

Sew Inspiring

The children and I had a fantastic half-term week in Cornwall, visiting my parents. It's always great to see them for obvious reasons, but also for some other ones too:

• They live right by the sea.


• H loves taking the dogs out for a walk over the cliffs in the morning.


• We all get spoiled rotten, with cups of tea in bed and cooked breakfasts.


• Proper Cornish pasties and proper Cornish cream teas (jam, then cream in Cornwall!)


• A free ice cream in Boscastle Rock Shop!


• I get to rifle through my mum's fabric stash (oh the joys of having a dad as a fabric agent!)


• I get to go to all my mums sewing and knitting groups, learn new skills and watch everyone else make wonderful quilts and take home lots of inspiration for my own.

Each night, mum and I spent the evening planning what we were going to make. After my friend Gill bought Sew Pretty Homestyle, I rang my mum to tell her about this wonderful book, and that I was going to buy it. My mum sounded a bit strange on the phone, it was only later that I discovered she had already bought it for me for Christmas! I was very happy when she presented me with two early presents....the book, and a much longed for needle case. She made the needle case for her local WI competition and won, I'm sure you'll agree she is very talented. I hope it runs in the family! The middle heart is padded as it's a small pin cushion. In the picture of the front is my new matching pin cushion which is also from the SPH book (how excited can a girl get about a needle case and a pin cushion...pretty excited I can tell you!)

We took a trip to what is becoming one of my favourite shops, shame it is such a long way away. http://www.cowslipworkshops.co.uk/index.php and I bought a few fat quarters, much to my dad's amusement as my mum has a sewing room FULL of fabric. I will add a photograph another time, it really needs to be seen to be believed (and I'm sure she'll thank me for saying that!).

This is a project that is all cut out and ready to go...

So...to the strawberries. As soon as I saw the book I knew I had to make them (and the cushion too). I even bought some Strawberry Essence from Ebay, which smells just like Strawberry laces, I can't stop sniffing it!

I meant to make the strawberries out of my newly purchased fabric, but my mum suggested making a few trial ones. They went well, so I made some out of plain red fabric which I have yet to finish as I want to put beads on where the seeds of the strawberry should go.

I then started making hearts (because I love absolutely anything heart-shaped), and after buying some Merry Christmas tape from http://www.thesummerhouse.co.uk/ (another fabulous shop, where I bought my Driftwood heart from in the summer!) I decided to sew those onto the hearts to make little Christmas decorations. However, I've now decided these hearts are going to be my Christmas cards/decorations for close friends/family - so if you get one, I hope you like them!

I also made this for my newly engaged sister-in-law (I feel like I'm doing a show-and-tell here!). My mum made one for us a few years ago with four little stockings that we put over our fireplace. These are for Suzie and David. Obviously if they have children we will add stocking, or two!

When I went to my mum's patchwork and quilting group I was upset to have forgotten my camera. Not only do they have their own projects on the go, they all recently made little tiny quilts for premature babies for a hospital in Hampshire, they make little quilted bags with toiletries in for any family members staying in the local hospice AND they make quilts for that get raffled for charity! The week really did make me feel sew inspired.... My mum and dad are visiting us for a week this Friday, as R is off to South Africa (that will probably be another blog as this one is long enough!). Anyway I have lots of things planned while they are here, mostly sewing, and a trip to John Lewis in Bluewater to get more loot!