Of Kettles and Pots and Steaming Good Stews ...

Hello there ...

its rather cold wet and windy here today .. so I am using it as an excuse to sit by the fire and 'fiddle about' .. I've dabbled a bit with my ebay listing .. messed about with a crochet hook .. having a go at some Christmas Robin type corsages ... or similar!

Can't really summon up the energy to do very much ... I think ..I am feeling .. Winter has come ...

We worked yesterday ... in the rain .. dreary...

but I picked up a box of old linen ... 

Rooting about in it I spotted some interesting 'colours' .. 

you know how you do ...

You spot a scrap of fabric ... a tantalising  glimpse of something interesting .. a nice shade or pattern ...

The colours were muted ... vintage-y colours ... mucky looking but interesting to me.

 

 After wading through the gents old underpants and yellowed string vests ... 

(its no wonder I have a strong healthy immune system)

I pulled out  these old tea towels and dish cloths ... I just loved their ... oldness?

They are very worn and faded and somewhat stained ... they haven't come up very clean after a good hot wash ...

but that's their story ...their life ... a long and hard  one..

And I love them just the same.

 The tea towels intrigued me ... they are/were obviously a good quality cotton . They have little makers labels which double as loops to hang them up.

They were produced by The Bombay Dyeing Company ... I looked it up .. its still going today ... India's foremost textile company founded in 1879.

The company sponsors Miss India ... 

just a random piece of information .. you may wish to have at hand to use when in a difficult situation ... at a Dinner party ... or whatever!

And I must just show you my new (to me) kettle ... 

again found at the car boot ... by the ever industrious treasure seeker Hubby P .

A Girl does of course dream of large shiny kettles in splendid kitchens ... a large .. wonderfully warming Aga on which to boil said kettle.

But in the real world we are content with the modest kitchen we have ... thankful that we can cook and bake and make a warming cup of tea ... 

I think the kitchen must be the heart of any home.

My dinky little kettle fits just nicely on the cooker ring ... and makes such a pleasing 'boil-y' sound ... I'm sure the tea tastes so much nicer.

And as for steaming good stews .... what could be nicer on a cold miserable day.... 

A nice pot of stew and dumplings ... the stew ... a simple 4 oz of cheapest minced beef to give a bit of flavour .. and lots of veg ... onions.. a odd 'inch' of a leek .. a carrot and scrapings of the leftovers dish ... and of course a handful of oats to plump it up a bit.

Whatever is handy really ...the dumplings were from a packet (reduced to 20p at the local shop ..Hubby P bought all six packets ... well trained you see!).

So I will leave you with the dumplings ...

Its that time of year .... 

whats your tried and tested frugal and filling dish?

xx

Making The Most Of THe Nice Days ....

Hello there ..

thought its about time I caught up with you all.

We've been making the most of the nice days .. although the last couple have been a bit wet and dreary.

Mind you .. we can't complain .. we have had a super summer.

So.. one fine day last week ... 

Hubby P set off for work .. 

it was a quiet-ish work day ... no need for us both to go..

and so...

I made a start ..and cleared the narrow beds bordering the trellis..

  trellis that has had its day... 

it has lasted for years...

  but is now wibbly wobbly and rotten at its feet. 

 I wanted to do this whilst Hubby P was out of the way ... 

well you know how it is ....

 it takes time to get the plants up and find new homes for them ... Hubby P goes at everything with great gung ho! ...

 it would all be rushed ..

This way I could find .. and carefully move everything ...

 just look at these interesting corms ...

nestled just under the soil waiting burst forth next summer.

These are what I know as Turks Cap Lilly ... 

something I had not come across until I move to Anglesey. 

They were growing like wild things .. 

spread all around the garden of our first house. 

I moved a few corms with us and they delight us every summer. 

I went on to start removing the old trellis ... it almost fell apart in my hands.

We had talked of replacing like for like ... but the thought of treating/painting another load of trellis kind of put me off ..

and then we were lucky enough to come across this..

 

 Lovely old slate ... lots of it in Wales and used for all sorts of things.....I have slate windowsills inside the house ..

 and slate paths in the garden .. 

I love it .. 

its particularly lovely after a shower of rain when all its blues and greys shine and glitter dancing in the sunshine.

 The pile of slate Hubby P stashed away some time ago is or was slate fencing ...

long slim lengths .. of interesting ... uneven widths .. quirky shapes and knobbly bits ...

all so 'very me'!

So with some of this ...

 and a pile of that ....

and the magic of Hubby P...

 It became this ...

 The start of our very own 'slate fence' to replace the trellis ... no maintenance required ... 

just the odd shower of rain to bring up its sparkly bits!

I decided to 'fill in' the garden bed ... the birds will tend to scratch about and I end up sweeping soil off the path ..

this way I can have a little platform or area to display pots and buckets of ever changing seasonal plants.

We hastened to get the bird table back up and running ... 

it had to go on a new post ... 

and of course the trellis which enabled the 'Geoffrey's' (our mouse family) to access the bird table for supper was no longer there! 

  What to do?

Well .... we used what we had to hand .. and Hubby P made a helter skelter type affair ... with some old rope ...

now if they will ever use it we will have to wait and see.

But the rope will look okay once its weathered a bit.

Birds are still a bit dubious ... it being different an all!

 

 So give it a few months to weather and grow a bit of nice moss ( I painted the horrible concrete-y bits with yogurt to help encourage moss-y type things)... and it will look nice and rustic.

And whilst Hubby P was doing the boring mixing the concrete bit  ... and before the showers ... before its too late ... I collected some fennel seeds.

I do like a nice cup of fennel tea .. helps settle the tummy.

So what have you been up to .... 

have you got everything all safely gathered in ... the nights are drawing in and its getting cold .... anyone had a frost yet?

Bye for now x

Bread and Cheese .... Thrifty Trade!

Hello there ...

Busy busy day today selling at the car boot ... we are lucky here and the carboot/market trades right through the year ... 

So .. a bit tired when we got in this afternoon ...

the thought of cooking a big meal is a bit too much.

 Trying to be a bit organised last night ... I made a big pan of (use it up) soup.

It took but a few minutes when I got in to make a loaf of soda bread ... nice and fresh.

And some nice cheese ... what more could a body want for a tasty meal.

I always try to have a nice bit of cheese in ..

 you can do so much with it ...

I know it can be expensive ...

 but we are very lucky 

....

 we have the Cheese-y Man!

On a Sunday at the carboot Mona we have a little man ... 

well he's quite big really..

 and his nice wife.. 

who have a wonderful cheese stall ...

 so many different kinds .. local and whatnot ...

 a Girl could go mad spending her pennies!

We like to try a different kind of cheese each week ... and I think as long as we make it the focus of the meal .. then its no more expensive than say having a pork chop or piece of chicken.

Another good thing about the Cheese-y man is that he will trade with me ... 

another old fashioned .. out of date/fashion tradition.

We are happy to do this on a small scale amongst the other traders ... I think its makes for good relations amongst the people we work closely with ... we get to know a little more about the other person ..what they like/need .. things they may use in their lives.

The Cheesey -man is always on the lookout for nice clean baskets for display and hampers ...

 so if I come across any I get them and trade with him for a nice piece of cheese ... it works well!

Another lady trades her excess sewing stuff/stash (she use to have a shop) for bags of wool to knit for her grandchild.

Anyone else busily trading? 

I would so like a LETS group in this area but there doesn't seem the interest .. 

so I will just carry on in my own quiet way. 

I know some of you have a LETS ... do you think it works well?

have you many members? and if so what kind of thing do they offer ...

The last time I looked into it the things on offer were a bit well .. not very 'everyday' and practical.

Anyway enough of my waffle...

 Oh .. you may as well have these pic's ... just a little something I found today.

I thought they were delightful ... hand made a good number of years ago I should think.

The work that has gone into them is amazing ... not sure what their intended purpose was ... they are bags ... but very nice bags ... any ideas?

Off to bed now...

Bye for now x

All About The Wool ... And Who Will Humpty Together Again ? .....

Hello there ... 

Yes .. its been all about the wool for me today .... pretty bright colours ... lots of ideas for crafting.

 Although this little lot is destined for the car boot .. I  sell a lot of sewing .. knitting .. crafting supplies .. and my ladies like a nice bag of inexpensive wool for their various projects.

Now and again Hubby P finds these boxes of half used wool .. and I bundle them together in handy bags. This week a box of wool came in ... it was mostly cones of wool (for machine knitting I think) .. I find it hard to sell like this ... the yarn is usually too thin.

So I took it outside ... sat on my bench and whilst watching the birds and bees go about their business .. I balled it up using two strands of yarn. Some of it was two different shades of colour .. but it looks pretty and will knit up in an interesting mottled look.

Ideal for blanket squares and the like.

I sell it 'cheap and cheerful' ... its enough to pay to keep your hands occupied. A lot of my ladies knit and crochet to keep their hands moving  .. they suffer from arthritis and what not ... and the knitted toys/blankets/baby clothes are given to various charities.

So many people doing so much you know.

 Found this little fella .. 'Humpty Dumpty' in the bottom of the box ...it looks like someone didn't get the chance to finish him.

I don't like to dwell on how or why .. could be a bit of a sad story .. but its a shame for Humpty ... he does need 'putting back together again'!

Along with Humpty there was a whole bag of unfinished dollies dresses .. little people like things .. well all sorts of bits and bobs .. and a doll to dress.

Now ... I don't knit ... and I am not really inclined to this sort of thing ... so does anyone want to help out and put 'Humpty back together again'?

What I propose is to post the bag of unfinished projects to you (UK only please) .... you can sort out what you can and perhaps donate them to some fundraiser/charity event.

This way the lady who started Humpty and whatnot ... 

will live on ..

 in a way ...

 it may not be just a sad ending...

 and a waste of wool!  

Leave  me a comment if you fancy the 'Humpty Dumpty challenge'... if there are a few people interested I will draw a name as per ...

I will leave it a week before I do a draw.

Poor Humpty ... !

Bye for now xx

A Riot Of Colour ... In Its Own Quiet Autumnal Way!

Hello there ...

After a rain drenched night things picked up a little by mid morning .... so I played out in the garden for a bit.

 The leaves are turning ... and the colours are just lovely ... a last vibrant blast before the cold dreary months of winter.

 Just look at this teeny tiny leaf caught by its much bigger brother ...as it fluttered to the ground.

Pretty colours...

 And fascinating shapes and sizes

 .... all make up the natural world.

 I had a good sweep up of the brown slimy leaves ... useful for the garden when broken down ... all that goodness .... but lethal on my paths. 

It takes little for me to fall over without the hazard of slippy leaves ... so I think this will be only the first of many trugs of leaves I will be sweeping up.

And here we see the promise of things to come

 ... little parcels of delight ... seeds for new strong plants ... to delight us once again.

I roped Hubby P into helping me move this grass ... I know it as Gardeners Gaiters.

This stripy little number speaks to me of 'Home' .... when I was growing up it was one of the things that grew with great gusto (rampant) in a somewhat difficult environment  up on the Pennine moors.

It has taken me years to get it to 'do' ... to grow here in my garden ( I don't know why .. just one of those things). 

Anyway we are planning on having a new fence where the grass grew ... so I needed to move the grass and keep it safe ... I know ... a bit silly perhaps.

 I thought the old tin bath would be a good idea ... the grass would look good against the green of the cabin .. and if/when the grass gets really going (rampant ?) the bath will keep it in check.

Don't we put a lot of thought into this gardening business 

 ... do you ponder on such things?

 ... should I put my energies .. my mind to other more worldly issues? ... I don't know whats going on in Syria.

Is that a bad thing 

.... I just can't cope with caring for all the world ... and my garden is my escape.

Speaking of escape .... Hubby P decided the way to get the remainder of the apples from the tree was to whack them off with the washing line prop/stick thingy.

'Get ready' he would say ... as he got ready to whack a great big apple ...and it would come thundering down through the tree.

If he thinks I am standing under it trying to 'catch' ... hes sadly mistaken thought I !

One of those missiles would knock me for six.

I've never been any good as a 'catcher' ... anything to do with chasing balls around a court or pitch ... shrieking at other girls ... not really my strong point .

Show me a kitchen ... I will cook for you ... I will sew for you... nurse you ... listen to you and counsel ... but don't ask me to risk life and limb catchin an apple!

So all the apples were bruised and battered through falling heavily on the ground ... so I've just finished peeling and chopping .... more in the freezer and more jelly on the way.

Perhaps I should have tried harder at the Hockey!

Bye for now x

End Of Summer Chutney ... Thrifty Snippets!

Hello there ....

Yes .. I know ... its all or nothing with me ...

two posts in as many days !

its just the way I rumble ... he he ....

Well ... like I said ... apples need using up ...

 I went outside all of a purpose ... to pick up the apples that had fallen off the tree ...

Like a mad woman I gripped said tree and gave it a mighty shake ... apples came raining down...

 Large juicy apples ... a bit battered ... but not to be wasted.

 Whilst I was out there I picked the last of the courgettes ... well a bit like marrows really ... but I am sure we can use them up ... saves on pennies buying veg ... and good wholesome fare.

I am getting good at disguising them in dishes ... Hubby P doesn't know the half of what he is eating!

 I have given up picking the runner beans ... we have a freezer full.

I'm hoping these will keep on growing and we can harvest them for the beans.

Still a few pretty flowers about ... I love roses in all their guises.

 

Michaelmas Daisies ... so rustically pretty!

 Anyway back to the apples...

I peel and chopped.. discarding all the bruised bits ... and the earwigs!

* I had a pan ... for all clean peel and cores and some chopped apple .... to boil up/pulp for apple jelly.

* A bowl for diced apple ... for the chutney.

* And a bowl for sliced apple ... enough for a couple of bags to put in the freezer for crumbles etc.

 I also had these beauties given to me (lovely eating apples from my sisters tree). I went through them and chopped etc any 'iffy' ones for the chutney.

I put the pulp on to cook .... put the bags into the freezer and set about scouring the cupboards for 'chutney like' stuff.

I found the last of the tomatoes ... they went in the pan with the apple.

Some chopped courgette ... of course! 

Couple of onions... end of a celery ... half an old packet of prunes ... chopped. 

A couple of handfuls of sultanas ... then I started rooting through the spice tin .. not a lot there really ... good sprinkle of fennel seeds... cumin .. some dried ginger ... some cinnamon powder... bit of salt ... I think that is all there was.

Then the last 1/4 of a bag of dark sugar ... some good old white granulated and a glug or two of basic malt vinegar.

I brought it to the boil and simmered for a couple of hours until it was thick and gloopy ... and put it in hot jars.

Doesn't sound very proper does it ... but I'm sure it will taste just fine and fruity in a few weeks  .... nice with a bit of cheese.

The apple pulp I put through a jelly bag ... boiled the 'juice' with some sugar ... I got 1 1/4 pints of juice so I added 1 lb 4 oz of sugar ... threw in a couple of bits of rosemary (which I took out before bottling  ... it was 'cooked' and dreary looking) ... when I put the jelly in hot jars I added a fresh piece of rosemary ... to look pretty!

So ... good turnout from a few windfall apples.

Four jars of Apple and Rosemary jelly ... I eat this sort of jelly with anything ... love the stuff.

And six jars of End of Summer Chutney ... a real scraping together of store cupboard stuff ....

But no doubt we will be glad of a bit of the fruity stuff come winter!

Winter! .... how far is that away?

Dare I ask ... are you starting to prepare for the colder months ... am I the only one who has reached down the extra quilt from its summer resting place?

Bye for now x

Waste Not Want Not ...Habit of a Lifetime...?

Hello there ... 

hope you are all well ...

 I'm just trying to catch up with your blog posts .. 

all your doings ...

So what have I been doing ?

 ... trying to make the most of what I have stashed away.

Waste Not Want Not

 ... drummed into be as a child 

... I was thinking about it today as I sat at my sewing machine.

It has become a part of my life

 ... a habit 

... I strive to find a use for everything

... such time, energy, and resources to produce things ... we need to make the most of them.

I was given this lovely fabric a while ago ... yards and yards of it was destined for the rag bag ... it was still on its original roll ... never been used.

I made some simple little tea towels ... the fabric is so fresh.. bright ... and cheerful ... with a bit of an autumnal feel ... 

 

 I've sold lots of them at the car boot ... just the cheery colour makes a girl smile!

And today I have put one on ebay ... you never know .. be nice to think they might travel around the country spreading a little cheeriness!

 I found these amongst the fabric stash too..

 A pair of nice old towelling curtains 

... I just love this brazen retro design. 

The fabric had seen better days ... too rough and ready for me to sell on ... although I must say I do like a fabric that has seen a bit of life ... they have a softness .. a gentle faded look

... so I made something just for me to enjoy.

 A couple of tea towels .... a Girl can't have too many!

 Even a little dishcloth from the scraps .. (do you like my new splash back tiles.... I've been saving these for years... in a box in the shed .. we found them at the tip ... at last I have them fitted!).

 And a nice new ... super absorbent ... roller towel... a must for the grimy hands of Hubby P.

I think it look rather jolly!

A couple of little cushions ... this fabric was once a lovely Welsh wool blanket ... it came to me in pieces .. someone had cut it up to make chair covers (rather badly ) ... too lovely to just throw away ... so it made two cushions and a lap blanket...

... and a couple of little purses from the scraps.

It lets the beauty of the fabric live on ... and all that time effort and craftsmanship can be enjoyed and appreciated a while longer.

Its just knowing what to do with all this hand made stuff ... whats it like selling on etsy and the like these days? 

Where is a good place to sell ?

 I have them for sale on the stall but I wonder if Christmas Fairs etc may be a better option ... what do you think?

 Its all very well sat at the sewing machine all day .. but these things are still falling from the tree...

They are from the very uppermost branches ... no one could reach to pick them ...

so now they are falling ...

great chunky flavoursome apples ...

So that's tomorrows job ... something with apples.

Waste Not Want Not ... 

as Gran would say ... 

'you will be glad of them apples come a cold hard winter' ...

Bye for now 

xx take care xx