Making Good Use

Eight

I've been tagged by Gill for eight random facts about myself, so, here goes.

1. I have a pathological fear of all things fishy.  I never swim in the sea for fear a fish or some other marine lifeform would touch me, I just know I would die of fear if that happened.  As for 'relaxing' tropical fish in an aquarium - forget it, they really give me the heebie-jeebies.  I rarely, rarely eat fish, although I have got a bit better with that as P is a keen fish eater.  However, anything fish-related that I eat has to look nothing at all like it has come from a fish - fish fingers being the best disguise.

2. I've got a bit of a 'thing' about matching and colour-coordinated pegs when I'm pegging out the washing.  All pegs on any one garment MUST be of the same colour, and should preferably colour-coordinate with said garment.  Goodness only knows why I do this - it drives P absolutely mad.  What I should do is what my mum has done, only have wooden pegs and then they would all match with each other.

3. Generally I'm quite a laid-back sort of person, but I can be reduced to a seething mass of anger if anyone should park outside my house.  This has proved to be an awful bone of contention with me in the past, especially when we lived in a road with limited parking spaces, and lots of neighbours with large cars.  If I can't park my car directly outside of my own home, then I become apoplectic with rage (not a pretty sight).  And I do know that we 'don't own the road', as P was fond of telling me back then. Luckily, where we live now we have plenty of off-street parking, and I don't actually drive a car at the moment - phew, peace, and my blood-pressure, is restored.

4. Just like my father did, I suffer from very swollen feet and ankles.  This is not very attractive to look at although it is seldom painful.  It does mean that my choice of footwear is rather limited - basically Birkenstocks or something from the Cosy Feet catalogue (average customer age 80 plus I would imagine judging by the design of most of their shoes).  I've had this problem for the past 20 years, and year on year it gets just a little bit worse.  I rarely wear skirts now as it doesn't look too good, and only wear shorts in the privacy of my own home.  Still, it won't kill me and it doesn't really hurt so I'm not complaining (really!!).

5. Again, also like my father, I dislike Christmas with a vengeance.  I think it's because it comes at the darkest, most depressing time of the year.  I'm somebody who longs for the light summer evenings, and I feel totally suffocated when it's dark at 3.30 in the afternoon.  It's rather ironic that I dislike Christmas so much as my surname - Yule - means Christmas / the winter solstice.  Perhaps I'd enjoy Christmas much more in the southern hemisphere - maybe I'll try that one year.

6. I've got a BA (Hons) degree in English and Drama.  I don't think I've ever really put it to good use, but I did have some of the best years of my life whilst I was at college.

7. I'm a bit of a weather geek - I can spend ages looking at various towns and cities around the world on the BBC Weather website, especially extreme places like Qaanaaq in northern Greenland which has four months total daylight in summer, four months total darkness in winter, and two months either side of a transition period.

8.  I love a good natural disaster film and am really looking forward to the new film Flood which is released next week.  It stars Robert Carlyle and is about what would happen if the London Barrier was breached by a storm surge. 

I won't tag anyone else, but if you want to join in do consider yourself 'tagged'.

Blue Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies Do I See

I think today has been the first truly summery day this year, with unbroken blue skies and sunshine from dawn to dusk.  To celebrate P and I had another very tasty lunch here.

Followed by a leisurely stroll here.

And a nice cool sit-down in one of the hides overlooking the reservoir where there was this lovely view.

And a sort-of close-up of this little duck family serenely making their way across the water.

They were originally swimming in a lovely straight line with mama duck at the head, but at that precise moment my camera batteries died and by the time I had put some new ones in the group had reformed like this.

The local farmer has obviously been 'making hay while the sun shines' if this field is anything to go by.

Continuing the 'Blue Sky' theme, Mum reports that the bath mitt I made for her with Blue Sky Organic Cotton is lovely to use.  I think her exact words were 'it's like washing with silk'.  I'm very pleased that she likes it so much and I think I may make myself and P one each too.

Blue is a bit of a theme for me at the moment as I found these two mangled balls of variegated blue yarn in the charity shop yesterday.

The subtlety of the colours is lovely and I do wonder if these are Rowan Biggy Print.

Also I've cut out ready to sew a blue floral bag using the fabric I got in a charity shop in Billericay this week.

The pale green fabric at the bottom of the photo is for the bag lining.  I've done quite well selling my handmade bags on ebay this summer so I wanted to get this one finished and up for sale before the sun disappears again.

Hope the sun has been shining wherever you have been today.

Pictures of Lily

Nothing noteworthy to report today.  There has been no thrifting (apart from one book which turned out to be quite a good one for re-sale) and no crafting.  Instead there has been load after load of washing hung out to dry in the lovely sunny weather of the last few days, and therefore a small mountain of ironing to get through!!  Not my favourite job but a necessary one!

So in lieu of anything else I thought I'd post these beautiful pictures of Lily which mum e-mailed to me at the weekend.

Mum's got a real magic touch with photography - both digital and on film - and even though we have the same digital camera I could never in a million years take such a lovely picture as the first one.

Well Pleased

I popped over to Billericay this morning to take a pair of P's work shoes to the shoe menders.  Sadly, the shoe mender declared they were beyond repair so, unless P wants to give stick-on soles a go, they are destined for the bin.  As he has worn them every work day for the last three years I don't suppose we can really complain!!

Anyway, whilst I was there I gave the charity shops a once over, and I found some excellent bargains.

For 55p there was this large piece of unused vintage fabric, which if this good weather keeps up I may turn into another kaftan top.

Hidden in the '10p box' in one charity shop was this lovely mushroom money box, sadly without the stopper for the base but I think I'll have a go at trying to find something to fit, and then I can use it for storing coppers and five pees.

For £1.65 was a pair of Spiderman pyjamas from Next for DN.  These are in excellent condition and appear hardly to have been used.  I was eyeing up yet another short-sleeved T-shirt for DN and wondering whether he already had enough of those, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted these beauties.  And I know he is always in need of pyjamas.

But the best bargain of all was these two pairs of summer-weight trousers for myself.  They are brand new with their original tags and were only 99p each.  I only spotted them when I was leaving one of the charity shops and couldn't believe that they had been reduced by the charity shop from £3.99 a pair to 99p a pair.  They are a size bigger than I would normally buy but when I got home and tried them on they fit very nicely, albeit a little loose around the waistband - but that's a good fault as far as I'm concerned.  And, wonders will never cease, they are actually long enough in the leg too.  One pair have a drawstring waist and are a linen-type material, the other is also linen-ish in a nice cool stone colour with fine pinstripes.  Just what I need as one pair of my summer trousers have definitely bitten the dust this past week.

On top of all this goodness were three new zips, a nice vintage apron, and a pile of books for resale.  I was well pleased indeed.

A Bit of Knitting and a Cake Recipe

I've been doing a little bit of gentle knitting lately.  First up is this baby's pull-on hat.

It's knitted in Rooster (www.laughinghens.com) Almerino DK.  This is a beautifully soft yarn being 50% baby alpaca and 50% merino wool.  The hat took absolutely ages to knit as it's worked on size 3 1/4 mm needles in k1p1 rib.  I'm quite pleased with it now it's finished but I'm not sure about knitting another one as it took so long to complete (I am a fairly slow knitter).  The little lace flowers are from some vintage trim I picked up at a jumble sale last autumn.

Secondly, and much much quicker to knit, is a wash mitt for mum knitted in Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton.  I've done a few face cloths already in this yarn and they are buttery soft and wash and wear wonderfully well, but mum had the clever idea of a wash mitt and so this first one is for her. 

 

One side has ridges for a bit of light exfoliation.

The other side is smooth.

Finally, here is the recipe for the Plum and Oatmeal Madeira Cake I made last Friday.

Ingredients:

250g English Plums, 100g softened Butter, finely grated zest of 1 Orange plus 3 - 4 tsp juice, 100g Caster Sugar, 2 medium Eggs beaten, 125g self-raising Flour, 1/2 tsp Baking Power, 50g medium Oatmeal (I use porridge oats), 100g Icing Sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C, gas mark 3.  Grease a 450g loaf tin and line with non-stick baking parchment, making sure that the paper comes at least 1cm above the rim of the tin.  Halve and stone the plums and cut into chunky slices.

2. Using an electric whisk, beat together the butter, orange zest and sugar in a large bowl until very pale and creamy.  Gradually add the egg, mixing well after each addition, and sprinkle in a tablespoon of the flour with the last of the egg.  Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl, add the oatmeal or oats and gently stir in with a wooden spoon.

3. Stir in two-thirds of the plums and tip the mixture into the loaf tin, spreading it level with the back of a spoon.  Scatter the remaining plums over the surface.  Bake for about 1 hour or until the surface feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave in the tin for 20 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool a little.

4.  Beat together the icing sugar and enough orange juice to make a smooth paste that just holds its shape.  Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake and leave to cool completely.

5.  Make a nice cup of tea and cut a large slice!!

I have to admit that I don't bother with the baking parchment, although I do grease and flour the tin well.  Also, I add all the plums to the mixture and don't bother scattering any over the top.  And I use far more of the orange juice and icing sugar than the recipe says in order to fully cover the top of the cake.

This is a wonderfully tasty cake and it remains beautifully moist and fresh for a few days (should it last that long!!)

Sock it to Me

I had hoped that during my week's absence the local charity shops would have had a really good turnover of stock, and that there would be lots of lovely new things for me to peruse.  Alas, that was not the case.  The same tired old books were on the shelves, and the same tired old bits of linen were hanging disconsolately from hangers - nothing, it seems, had changed at all.  However, the basket of knitting wool was stacked pretty high, and amongst the neon coloured 100 per cent acrylic yarns that tend to abound in said basket, I managed to find four balls of sock wool (destined for mum if she would like it) and a ball of gorgeous peacock green Aran weight 100 per cent wool (no doubt destined to become another beanie hat).

The sock wool isn't the most exciting of colours - being one ball of teal and three balls of a burgundy / forest green tweedy shade - but as the whole lot of wool only cost me £1.50 (30p per ball) I'm certainly not complaining.  The fabric in the background of the photo is the one and only charity shop item I bought whilst visiting mum - it's a handmade pillow case made using, if I'm not mistaken, a rather nice vintage Laura Ashley print.

When I got back yesterday afternoon (and before the latest deluge struck) I went out into the garden and picked in this colander full of ripe plums.

Half have been given to the next door neighbours, some are waiting to be stewed and some went into this Plum and Oatmeal Madeira cake I made this morning.

This is a recipe I've made many times when plums are in season and its absolutely delicious.  The photo in the background shows how the cake is meant to look - I think this is the only recipe I've ever made where my finished product looks pretty much how it should.  I shall look forward to having a slice (or two) for dessert this evening.

Ship Shape And Bristol Fashion

Now I'm home I can finally access the photos on my digital camera - note to self, next time remember to take the camera lead as well as the camera!!  So here is a picture diary of a very nice day out last Saturday.

First a wonderful visit here.

Just look at these baskets in the window filled with gorgeous yarns.

Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and are already planning a return trip.

Then on to a delicious lunch here.

Where we were joined by DN and his mummy.

Then it was on to a children's playground for DN to let off some steam, followed by a gentle stroll down a VERY steep hill back to the city centre.  En route I saw some unusual signs.

And some most inventive graffiti art.

Finally, to round off a lovely day, we had a nice cup of tea at a very posh hotel.  See if you can spot the hidden DN in this photo.

Perhaps you can see him in this one? (Apologies that it's so fuzzy but you've got to be quick when there's a four-year old about.)

Yes, for little boys, hiding behind chairs and under tables is just the best fun you can have in a posh hotel.

Spend, Spend, Spend

Most unusually for me my trip to Get Knitted involved spending quite a bit of money.  My excuse was that it's not somewhere I'll be able to visit very often, and they have the most wonderful selection of yarn and fabric.  I have ordered from them via the internet, but there is nothing quite like being able to take your time to choose which items you particularly like, and to be able to see their huge range 'in the flesh'.

Both mum and I had already decided that we both wanted to get some Pom Pom Makers.  When we got to the shop we realised they came in two different sizes.  I couldn't decide which set would be most useful, so I had to buy them both.

The array of fabric and Amy Butler patterns was much more extensive than I realised so I bought this Amy Butler small bag pattern.

As I've been wanting to try my hand at some zippered bags for a long time (my zip inserting skills are pretty poor) I'm hoping that this pattern will have all the answers.  Once I'd bought a pattern I just had to buy some small pieces of Kaffe Fasset and Amy Butler fabrics to make the bags with.

These are only small off-cuts of fabric, but I'm hoping I'll be able to team them with some thrifted plain linen fabric to make up the bags.  I could have spent really silly amounts of money on fabric as they had such a wonderful selection, but I showed at least a modicum of restraint, and picked out only my absolute favourites.

I also bought some more Blue Sky Alpaca organic undyed cotton in a couple of shades I haven't used before.

The large buttons on top of the balls of wool were only 50p each.  I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'm sure they'll come in useful eventually.

Finally, I did manage to get a bit of a bargain with these four balls of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk aran yarn for £8.  The yarn has the most wonderful silky feel, and I'm going to use them to knit a scarf for P for Christmas.

Get Knitted is the most fantastic wool shop I have ever seen.  The selection is first rate, the staff are helpful yet unobtrusive, there is free tea, coffee, and water, and very comfy sofas to sit on whilst you take a break from shopping.  And, most importantly after a very long bus journey to get there, a loo.  If anyone is in the Bristol area and hasn't visited I really can't recommend Get Knitted highly enough - it is absolutely fabulous.

Winners

Just a quick post to announce the winners of my 50th blog post draw.

Rachel's name was the first out of the hat and so wins the bag, and Gill's (www.lucysarah.blogspot.com) was the second and she wins the corsage.  Please get in touch with your postal address and I'll post the prizes out at the end of this week, when I'm back at home.

Mum did the honours, and says 'well done both of you'.

Half-Wit

Yes, I'm officially a half-wit.  I double checked with my computer-savvy brother-in-law that I could upload my pictures from my digital camera on to my mum's computer, but didn't realise I would need to bring my camera's lead too.  Have got loads of photos from our trip to Get Knitted today but have just discovered I'm unable to upload them!!  B*gger!!!!

Needless to say mum and I had a wonderful time at Get Knitted - definitely the absolute best knitting shop I have ever visited.  Lots of goodies were purchased - including Pom Pom Makers in various sizes, and some wonderful Kaffe Fasset fabric.  All have been duly photographed but will have to wait until I get home.  Double b*gger!!

Meanwhile I'll leave you with a photo of Lily looking sweetly pretty (although really she was eyeing-up a fly buzzing at the window).

And a picture of nephew and aunt playing computer games in tandem - well, what else can you do when it's a midsummer monsoon outside.