Pretty things

I am possibly getting a tiny bit of a wrap habit, but isn't this gorgeous! It was dyed for me by Alex at Turquoise fields, she does some beautiful dyeing. The action pic is a bit washed out as it was so sunny, but it really is a pretty wrap.


And I'm going to add this, it's just weeds and wildflowers, but I thought they were pretty. We have been enjoying lots of lovely walks recently. The sun has been shining and we have actually had some summery weather, which anyone who lives in England will tell you has been scarce these past few summers. So these are just a few snaps on my phone from along the way.



There are so many pretty things, just growing wild. They may not be the kind of thing I would grow in my garden, but they all make the countryside a beautiful place to be.

A couple of fundraisers

Neither of these are my pages, but I wanted to share them with you as the more money that can be raised to help the people of East Africa the better.

Give here to win a lovely hand crocheted blanket

Give here to win a lovely vatanai shorty wrap

A busy knitting bee.

I have not one but two small knitting finishes this week.

I have two friends who are sisters who I wanted to send a little gift to. They live in Argentina so along with a box of cocoa powder, some dairy milk and some angel delight I have made and sent these.

You can't see the lovely blue and purple stripes very well, but these were wrapped up and sent off with this

This was made with some gorgeous Collinette yarn. You can see the colours a bit better here but it still doesn't show you how lovely this yarn is.

The problem with knitting is there are just so many different yarns, and so many patterns. I keep thinging of things I want to do, but I must first finish some of the things I have on the go!

A little Yay me.

A couple of weeks ago I took part in one of many Race for life events. We ran (well partly jogged, mainly walked) 10k though the grounds of Tatton Park and I'm really pleased to say I raised over £125 for cancer research.

I took the little man with me in the sling, so we weren't the quickest, but it's the taking part that counts

Strawberries, broadbeans, currants and caterpillars

The weather outside has taken a turn and the rain is falling, but this week has been gorgeous. I love this time of year in the garden, there is so much lovely fresh produce in the garden.



The home grown broadbeans taste so much nicer then shop bought ones, they are lovely just raw in salads. We have red currants and blackcurrants and soon the white currants will be ripe. Yesterday I turned some of the strawberries into yogurty smoothie ice lollies, just in time for the hot weather to disappear, but they are tasty never the less. We have other bits coming up too, however like with lots of things, with the good also comes the bad
Hundreds and literally thousands and thousands of sawfly caterpillars, and just when I think I have got on top of them there is an infestation of greenfly, encrusting my plum tree.

I love having the opportunity to grow my own fruit and veg, sometimes it's down right annoying, when your seedlings are replaced with cat poo or slug trails, but when you eat your own food fresh from the garden, there is no food like it.

A clear out.

Sometimes a good throwing out session can be good for the soul.

To say we had a tidy out is a bit of an over exageration, but I sorted through some things in the box room we never go in. I think a lot of things in there hadn't moved since the day we moved in. There was poems my friends wrote at my 16th birthday party, postcards from when I was about 7 upwards, coursework from school, photos from gigs I went to in my teens, all sorts. I found these that I had on my wall from being a tween

The one about singing encouraged me for years as I am decidedly average when it comes to singing. I would love to be a fantastic singer, but I'm not . I think they are good things to remember whatever age I may be.

Throwing some of the things away seemed like a good step forward. I was reminded I'm not the person now that I was when I was a teenager, and that the people I knew aren't the same any more either.

Now just got to have a good clear out of every other room in the house.

Baking and making

If you have 2 minutes spare and you like chocolate cake or pudding then I absolutely have to recommend this recipe. Oh it is delicious, and there was enough to feed 2 of us, you'll need a big mug though!

Following on from my last comment about the yogurt making I've done two batches now and it is so easy and tasty. I put a 1l box of uht full fat milk in the slowcooker on low for about 3 hours, might have been a bit less. Then I turned the slowcooker off and did nothing for about 2 1/2 hours. Next I measured out 1/4 of a cup of live yogurt, mixed it with some of the milk from out the slowcooker, then mixed the whole lot together back in the big slowcooker pot. Then I just covered the whole lot in towels and coats to keep it warm, and went to bed. When I got up in the morning, the yogurt was ready! It's a bit thinner then normal, but it is great for making smoothies or curries, both of which I have a lot of.

My next slowcooker triumph this week was coconut and cardamon rice pudding. I measured out 100g of short grain rice and put it in the slow cooker with a 400g tin of coconut milk. I filled the empty can twice with full fat milk and put that in the pot, then I took the seeds out of 5 cardamon pods, ground them up and put those in the slow cooker too. Turned it on and left for a couple of hours, then just sweetened to taste and eat. It would probably be good after indian food as the flavours are that sort of thing, but I would eat it whenever.

And to top off my kitchen accomplishments this week I have also made some pear and rhubarb jam and a birthday cake.

I'm feeling quite pleased with little self.