A Breif Interlude

Hello everyone! I'm back from Italy and my goodness, quite bowled over by the number of lovely comments wishing me happy hols that I received on my return! I just wanted to say thank you for all of those messages, and report that I had a lovely time thank you - not quite as brown as I'd like, but at least that means less wrinkles. I was lucky enough while I was out, to be awarded a Brilliant Weblog Award by Anne at Fabric and Bags. Thank you Anne! Have you read Anne's blog? She hasn't been posting much of late because she's been busy preparing for a large trade fair in Yorkshire. Anne told me her schedule and I was exhausted just reading it, but she has given me a lorra lorra inspiration and before the holiday I decided to go for it, sooooo ...

I've taken over a room in the house - put the dining room back where it was before the extension was built - and i'm going to sew sew sew. I've signed up for the "WeMake Oxford" craft fair in November, then there will be a few more things round Christmas time, and after that, i'm aiming for the Festivals of which there are many around here in Oxfordshire for a start.

There are so many inspirational blogs which I love to read and which really get my creative juices flowing. I was catching up with Marmadaisy's posts yesterday, and like her, after suffering "post career stress disorder" after too many bad jobs, decided that life's too short. It was during my 6 month break away from work that I discovered craft blogs, and have been amazed by the sharing, caring community that I have found. There were many blogs which got me started, Marmadaisy, Domesticali, U-Handbag, Today We Are, Flossie Teacakes, Kimono Reincarnate, Angry Chicken etc., (links to the right).

I've picked 5 blogs which I've discovered lately to pass the award on to though ofcourse everyone deserves the award!

Deborah at Comfort Joy Designs - a blog I have just discovered which is full of interesting things.

Anna at All Things Lovely - a blog which does what it says on the tin, full of all things lovely and most excitingly, Anna is chronicling her recent purchase and refurbishment of a cafe in the Cotswolds!

Michelle at Leni and Rose - for her Tuesday Tips which are most useful, and other crafty and daily musings.

Kath at JuicyFig - a new blog with lovely colourful pictures, which I enjoy reading, not least because Kath lives in the Ribble Valley, Lancs, where I used to live.

Jenny at JennyFlower - I love to read Jenny's blog, her cheery nature and lovely comments make me smile.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

I have to go camping now! Back on Sunday and holiday pics to follow.

This Blog has Left the Building

Well not quite yet but this will be my last post for 2 weeks during which time I will mostly be wearing this ...

Can you see the little browny orange square near the middle of the picture, just under the vineyard? That's home for the next 10 days ..

Here's a close up..

It's a farmhouse in the Trebbia Valley, south of Milan, near a village called Perino, which is in the Piacenza region.

Egg and Peg are having a mini break here at home with the Lovely Miss T.

Miss T has been my neighbour for the last 8 years (as long as we have lived here). I never knew we had such nice neighbours until I got to know her through blogging and my job at the shop. I feel a bit sad that we missed out on all that time we could have known eachother better. Ah well, that's life I suppose. Miss T has just come back from hols in France and has posted lots of very very lovely pics on her blog. Go on .. have a look!

So it's Ciao from me for now everyone ! I hope you're still here when I get back.

Swell Summer (again)

I've been playing with my Moda Jelly Roll again. A purse to go with my Summer bag - and a birthday present for the person who bought said bag.

I put checks on the inside

Reading through my fave bogs this morning, I was utterly inspired by Gina's fruity post. I love the jam cover she's made too and will be making some just as soon as I get back from hols! She used this tutorial the ideas from which could be used for a multitude of things!

And so contining on the same theme, here are some irresisitibly juicy fruits from my patch.

Unfortunately they were so irresistible and juicy, that these were merely leftovers which the birds didn't get to before I had a chance to pick them!

Pre-Holiday Overhaul

It smells a bit like the Lush Factory in the MarmaladeKiss household this evening - well at least how I IMAGINE it would smell, since i've never actually been there... i wonder if it really smells like the shops? I am always slightly suspicious that they have some sort of Potted Lush Scent which they blow through a specially designed "smell blower" (like an air conditioner) into the shop and the street outside.

The reason for all this smelliness, is that I have been in the midst of a clear out, starting in the bathroom and possessed by one of those ruthless moods which arrives upon a certain build-up of clutter that has been hanging around for too long. In and around the bathroom cupboard i found:

3 bags of sea salt
2 lumps of cocoa butter
Countless bottles of essential oils
A few tablespoons of red clay
3 half used bottles of almond oil
Several empty "mixing bottles" for essential oils

Remember my post about Salt Scrubs? What better time to salt scrub myself, pre-tan? I did so this morning, but unfortunately forgot to pound the salt to a fine powder and therefore ended up looking as if i'd had a fight with next door's cats. Doh!

So this evening, I made a fresh batch. This salt is very coarse:

I whizzed it in the food processor until it looked like sand (as opposed to uncut diamonds):

Then I grated the coco butter ..

and added it to the salt - looks good enough to eat .. so fluffy. Soft hands by this time too!

Added the red clay:


And some essential oils of lavender and peppermint ...


Hmmm .... Not sure about the colour ...

Next, 3 half bottles of Almond oil and lots of nearly empty essential oils. I made some scented bath oils in larger bottles:

1: patchouli, sandlewood, ylang ylang

2: lavender, juniper, geranium

3: patchouli (i have lots!), sandlewood, pine, lemongrass, lavendin - this last in an attempt to copy "Karma" perfume by lush which is my all time favourite scent.

This is my recycling pile:


And this is some of what's left in the cupboard!

Then it was time to tidy up the shelves and windowsill after looking at some ridiculously inspiring housey blogs which I found over at All Things Lovely.

I'm still not sure about those colours though ...

This Is....

What gives me goosebumps....

It's Mr Mk's birthday today and these are some of the things which are him or which remind me of the goosebumpy things we do or have done together. Happy Birthday P!

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Today the rain has been utterly relentless. It hasn't stopped even for a minute. But apparently, according to the emergency services it is "Pluvial", not "Fluvial" which means there's no flooding alert YET ...

Happy Chickens

I have been inspired by the latest posts on Sew Mama Sew, and as it's my Sister-in-Law's b/day coming up, thought I would test both ideas out on her.

I got some fabric ...


Then I made the tote bag complete with French seams - they are GREAT!


And tomorrow I am going to make a co-ordinating purse using the applique tutorial.

For now though, I would like to thank everyone who put forward name ideas for the girls. It's been a tough decsion with toooooo many wonderful names to choose from but in the end, it was a comment I saw from Ali on Moogsmum who also has new girls.

And so Ladies I give you ........ (drum roll) ....

EGGY and PEGGY.


So called because Eggy (front) will lay more eggs - 350 per year, than Peggy (back) at 250 per year.

This is My Most Treasured Childhood Possession

An old French cup which looks like a sweet and delicious biscuit with old fashioned fancy icing. As a young child, the only time I drank tea was in this cup, at my Nana's breakfast table. It was a treat which was always accompanied by ryvita spread with butter and home-made jam - usually blackberry. My sister had a white bone china cup, the same size and they were kept on a special shelf in the kitchen, ready for our frequent visits.

Unfortunately my saucer is missing. When I mention regret about that to Mr Mk, a guilty look passes over his face, then a knowing look passes over mine, and we say no more about it.

These days, I don't think it would stand the strain (ha ha) of being filled with hot water as it is cracked and chipped and delicate now, so I use it to store my garlic beside the cooker and that way, I see and use it every day as a fond reminder of the best of my childhood days spent with my Nana in her cosy kitchen.

With thanks to Three Buttons and Teacups on Treetops for hosting this week's theme.

And more thanks too to everyone who left a lovely message on my last post. We had a great anniversary and were away all day. It was really wonderful to get back to so many kind and wonderful comments. Thank you!

11 Years and Counting ...

This is my favourite picture of us on our wedding day which was 11 years ago today. We are dancing to our wedding song which was "Baby I Love You" by The Ramones.

If we got married again today, I would wear a different dress, but the song would be the same.

Inspired

While picking curly kale from the allotment the other day I was amazed by the vivid colours of these delicious plants - peeking in through the leaves, with the bright sunshine above, the play of light and shadow caused the stalks to look neon purple ... When I got them home, less neon on my kitchen worktop, I wondered if the person who designed the Wimbledon colour scheme was picking kale when that idea arrived, for the colours are almost identical ...

My latest creativity was completed last night, but here it is in mid flow. I am particularly pleased with the embossed leaf on the outside. Here's how:

taking pictures in the shop today, I was inspired by something i spied on the shelf ... i reckon it would be easy to devise and make. Moments of inspiration like this, when I see something, then try to remember every detail so that I can try to make it at a later date are quite common with me - and I expect most of you reading this. Some of them get through to my sewing machine some of them dont, so I took a picture of this one as a "definately must not forget", because my wrapping paper and all associated paraphernalia is dotted all around the house, making cupboards messy especially with the paper's habit of unravelling itself at the most innoportune times. How handy to have it all in one place and unable to cause a disturbance.

I am inspired every day by all sorts of things, but since I left full time work back in October, I have been amazed at the "otherworld" which has opened up to me quite unexpectedly. The craft blog scene where everyone I've virtually "met" and read about is inspired, inspiring, generous and incredibly nice. And my real world, where every day I am constantly amazed at how lucky I am to live and work in the midst of such creative, interesting, clever and generally lovely, people. This in itself is an inspiration.

Burning Questions

Today, while I was boiling my blackcurrant jam and staring into the furiously hot and hypnotic bubbles, I wondered about my great grandfather and his craft.

He was a master Pattisiere who owned a shop and restaurant on the outskirts of Paris for a while as well as a shop or two in London at different times. He made his name in sugar craft, where molton sugar is grabbed directly from the pan, then pulled and shaped, pinched and rolled, in order to make brightly coloured confections in various shapes and sizes with different degrees of opacity. My great grandfather made all sorts of displays with his sugar, from furniture to flowers, to popular "scenes" of the day. He made a jewelery chest for the Empress of Somewhereorother who thought it was made of wood, and according to family legend, his sugar roses were almost impossible to discern from real ones. My grandmother, his daughter, told me that he would boil his sugar, and when it got to the precise temperature it needed to be, he would freeze his fingers in iced water, then swiftly dip them into the pan and pull some sugar out, which he would then stretch and shape in the old fashioned way. The last grand piece he attempted to do, was a scene from "Swan Lake" for a show at Crystal Palace. His staff were under strict instructions not to disturb him while he worked on his masterpeice in the cool basement of his shop. But one staff member was not present when this instruction was issued, and when a calling salesman stopped by, he was sent down the stairs to do his business as usual ... the ensuing interruption caused my great grandfather to break the neck of the swan he was working on, and in a fit of artistic rage, the entire composition was swept mercilessly to the floor. Great grandfather never worked with sugar again after that.


My burning question is ... How do you work with sugar that way? I wish I could learn how to do it - or at least find more stories about it as I don't think I would have the nerve to dip my fingers in hot sugar! But I fear it's a dying, if not dead, art. I read somewhere quite recently that there is a sugar chandelier, made in this fashion, somewhere in a shop in London .. perhaps I'll have to track it down.

My other burning question is this ... How come Moogsmum's new girls have already laid an egg? Congratulations!! My girls, who remain un-named (I just can't decide!), had better hurry up or I might just be subject to an attack of egg envy!