The week that was; the week that will be

Nine things times two: things I have done; things to do. Oh how I love a list!

Last week...

The beautiful Wish Purple from the
Echino Fall 2011 collection by Etsuko
Furuya for Kokka. Courtesy of
Sew, Mama, Sew! 

1. Potty training done! Hoo-freaking-rah. Answer? Stickers as rewards, torch for viewing (you know how boys like that sort of thing!)
2. Sewing machine dusted off and camera case made. I can't tell you how good it felt to do it, and to gift it away, even if I did half the sewing with a baby on my lap trying to grab the moving needle.
3. I watched the first of the BBC's glorious adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong. I'm sure there must have been flaws, but I couldn't see past the beautiful sets, scenery and styles. The atmosphere was intoxicating. Part 2 is recorded ready to be watched tonight. Can't wait!
4. Speaking of birds, there have been so many in the garden, swooping in for the Little One's crusts, chasing one another saucily, heading for next-door's feeders. It makes washing up such a pleasure, as I stand watching them dance in the skies and skip on my fence.
5. 'Eat the Week' returned as planned. Another instalment tomorrow I hope.
6. It snowed. So much for the mild winter. But this year the snow has been such a gift, as it has brought to an end my three years of 'bah humbug' about it. Where I once felt cross and afraid to see it falling, knowing the inconvenience and danger it brings (living half way up the Peaks where it usually turns to an ice rink and stays that way for a week), now for some reason my inner child has invaded and sent me out with a sledge and wrapped-up boys for no other reason than fun.
7. Valentines planning continues, if only in my head. I have a lot to make up for after a bit of a damp-squib anniversary.
8. No decision on the camera front. Still without one.
9. Tax returns done, yahoo!

This week...

1. Sew more!
2. Go out more! (Released from potty-training purgatory.)
3. I need to have a sort out of the art/messy play shelves at home.
4. And a sort out of my sewing shelves, in the hope of moving them out of the basement and into the playroom one day soon (more on this to come!)
5. Perhaps I shall buy myself some of the beautiful fabric featured above? It is hideously out of my price range, but it is too many kinds of lovely to be ignored.
6. I think I will take inspiration from it though by making or buying a bird feeder for my bird tree outside. And finally putting my bird species picture up on the wall by the sink (a.k.a. bird watching nook).
7. I will also be enjoying other fabrics, after a naughty purchasing spree at the V&A, following the heads-up from Mollie Makes on the sale there. I am particularly itching to get my hands on this fabric, as I think it might be manly enough to use for some male presents to come, and it also reminds me of the beautiful blue and brown fabrics featured on Sew Obsessed. The package is due to arrive any day now.
8. And I will finally be buying Jane Brocket's Gentle Art of Quilt-making, despite having spent all my Christmas money on fabric and shoes.
9. And I will be updating my blog reading list on the right, as I have a few more to add (it takes a lot of time to read them all now, but it's like playing the lottery - once you start, you can't stop for fear of what you'll miss).

Window dressing

New banner above. You like? Such a novice at this sort of thing. One day I will have oodles of time for such things. Right, I'm off to look for a pattern for a camera case (alas, not mine)...

Eat the week... Nigella's Feast

It was Nigella's Feast this week for our menu planning...

• One-pan Sage-&-Onion Chicken & Sausage, p.226... I made this when my parents were here, to stretch a pack of 10 sausages around 4 adults and 3 children. It worked, it tasted great, and it was all in one pan. Only downside: I like that the fat cooks out of sausages and you leave it behind in the roasting dish, but in this recipe it mingled to make a very fatty sauce and I'm not sure we'd all want to eat that in virtuous January.
• Chicken Pot Pies, p.240... I varied the recipe a bit, to use up some frozen leftover Christmas turkey (this bird just keeps giving), and making one big pie rather than several small ones. It was oh so good. Great recipe for leftovers and everyone ate it. I was in a silly mood so the holes I cut in the pastry to let the steam out made a big, happy pie face. I thought it looked fab. The husband took the photos for this post though and said it looked silly (that was the point!), so no picture for you today!
• Scotch Pancakes, p.254... Made for the boys. Always a winner. Every time I make them I wonder why I don't make them more often, and why anyone would ever buy them. Invariably, I then forget to make them for ages and end up buying some.
• Nursery Fish Pie, p.451... I am trying various ways to use fish bought frozen (because it's cheaper), as it never tastes great when on its own. Pasta and pie are the answers, and this fish pie (pictures above and right) really was the business. Except I'd run out of frozen peas (used in the chicken pie), so made do with a mixture of soya beans and sweetcorn.

I didn't cook a lot of recipes this week, as the husband was working late shifts. I like to have easy, basic suppers with the boys in case they surprise me at cooking time with tantrums, battles or misery! But I did make a few things from the Baby & Child Vegetarian Recipes cookbook by Carol Timplerley (a classic I return to over-and-over, that I cooked from when the Big One was small and we were both vegetarian). One was hummous (see left, with hand-processor still in: much enjoyed), one was parsnip and apple soup (they didn't like it; I ate it).

That's it! See you next week when I start my Tana Ramsay fortnight.

The week that was; the week that will be

Nine things times two: things I have done; things to do. Oh how I love a list! (And yes, this is a new, regular feature)

Last week...

1. I did find time for some Molly Makes reading. But less than half was read, and it was while waiting with the Big One in the orthodontist waiting room. Not that relaxing.
2. The wedding photo frame is done, ta-dah! A little taster for you on the right. (You may remember I told you it'd been waiting four years to reach the top of my to-do list.)
3. My parents are here. And it's lovely. My mum has knitted the Tiny One a cardigan! Pictures will be taken and shown off, I assure you.
4. We had a glorious but drizzly day out with the Tiny and Little Ones in a local town. A park was visited, a football was kicked, a playground was used and, best of all, a very smooooooth floor in a little shopping centre was used by the Little One for scooting. Fast!
5. The potty training has reached an impasse. All the mechanics are there, but we are in a battle of wills. The Little One is opinionated, self-assured and stubborn. He will not use a toilet/potty. He's quite happy to use his pants. We will not back down. How long until one side triumphs?
6. With a friend, the Little One and I attacked the back garden. It felt so good. The brown went, the green was spotted, the flat was swept, the tall was shortened. Yet to show much time for the garden, I have recently been inspired by Charlotte to learn a little more about the strange and unknown world of gardening.
7. No sewing was done. Again. I miss it terribly.
8. We finally watched the Downton Christmas Special on itvplayer. So so good.
9. New shoes were bought. Frivolously. The first frivolous pair in four years. I can't tell you the joy of it!

This week...

1. I will get on that sewing machine or else!
2. Coffee time with a lovely friend: a very decadent and rare treat these days.
3. I'll be seeing a few mummy friends too. Diarising a lot at the moment as I continue with that January organisational zeal.
4. The 'Eat the Week' feature will return.
5. I will make a decision about my camera. The Little One broke it in a running and dropping incident. Can it be fixed? Do I make do without as I can't afford a new one, leaving my husband to take his better but more occasional blog shots for me with his whizzy camera? Or do I send myself into debt with a new one?
6. More potty training. Ho hum.
7. Parents to say goodbye to. Boo hiss.
8. My mother-in-law is coming to stay for her birthday. Menu planning!
9. And I will be trying to discover how to recreate the dottie angel mobile that I have fallen, fittingly, head-over-heels with. (See if you can spot it in this post.)

I have Resolved to Sew

I have been 'time wasting' on the net again, and having a serious case of Inferiority Complex reading Mary Emmens' blog. In so doing, I came across the 'Resolved to Sew' giveaway over on Very Berry Handmade. Drooling. So I have resolved to sew!

I have a lot of plans for the sewing machine in 2012 (but knowing my life with the boys, many will remain in the clouds of my dreams). But the biggest (literally) projects I have in mind are the quilts for my two youngest. I so love the thought of keeping them wrapped in warmth with things I have sewn. It's a tidy little metaphor for loving them. So I resolve to sew two quilts, my first two ever (if you discount the make-it-up and get-some-help job of making the Big One's quilt twelve or more years ago).



I am really lusting after the Erin McMorris’s Summersault fat quarter bundle from Backstitch (image on left). But if I stay true to the Resolution, I ought to get some fabrics to help make the boys' quilts, so the £40 gift voucher from Fancy Moon (image on right) is the one to go for.

All I have to do now is get planning those quilts! Is this a good excuse to treat myself to Jane Brocket's Gentle Art of Quiltmaking book, do you think?

Serendipity and synchronicity

I have 'wasted' a whole evening online looking at other blogs when what I 'should' be doing is my tax return, the ironing and clearing up.

But sometimes a little 'wasted' time fills your mind and soul and sets you ready to get going again. You recharge yourself with a few moments when you cast out into the world and, through some serendipitous links, find synchronicity with others that brings you back to the self you truly are (or truly want to be) again.

I like to read Elsie's blog for her creativity, style and optimism. Through her, I discovered Rachel's blog, a beautiful read about a mother trying to keep creativity, style and optimism while loving and parenting her little ones, and having a little less to buy the lifestyle with. It is a little closer to my life, though I could only dream of having her wardrobe, decor or flair!

And tonight, in my late-night time 'wasting', I find Rachel's friend Diane's blog. And she's not written much recently, but her house is the house I dream of, and every bit of fabric I see I want. All of a sudden I find myself again, through someone else's life. My tired heart lights back up and starts dreaming. This is why the world of blogging is neither risible or superfluous.

 A few pictures, courtesy of Diane's blog.

The week that was; the week that will be

Nine things times two: things I have done; things to do. Oh how I love a list!

Last week...

1. The headline: we started potty training the Little One. It is not going well.
2. I baked for a bake-sale I helped to run. I semi-burnt half the biscuits. I ate the most burnt ones myself. Even half-cremated, they were quite a perk of the job.
3. I started my tax return. Then realised I needed log in details. Oops.
4. I did no sewing. I meant to. I wanted to. But there was housework and kids and errands...
5. But I did quite a bit of cooking. Including our first proper dinner for friends in the no-longer-new house.
6. I made a cheesecake that collapsed in the middle. My third ever cheesecake, and all have done this. But it is better fresh from the fridge a few days later. Perhaps I didn't chill it enough first? Or was the bake to short or chilly? I must get an oven thermometer.
7. I finally put the sealant round the bath.
8. I wiped too many snotty noses too many times.
9. And I dreamt of a sewing studio, or nook, all of my very own.

This week...

1. My Molly Makes magazine has arrived. I love it. And by Jove I'm going to find time to read it!
2. We will get the Little One to stop weeing in his pants even if it drives us nutty!
3. My parents are coming. Hoorah.
4. I will sew something. There must be time somewhere for sewing.
5. I will finish the wedding photo frame that's been in progress for at least two years (and we've been married over four!). I know, I know. But I'm going with the mantra that postponing is better than cancellation.
6. I will re-start my Eat the Week feature on the blog. Well it only featured once before, but I plead extenuating circumstances!
7. I will start thinking about Valentines. Yes, it's a month away. But I live in an odd space-time-warp in which months fold themselves up and seem to last only days. Spooky.
8. I will get out of the house, even if it means resorting to pull-ups for the Little One. I'm sure the Big One potty trained in only a couple of days. Am I rose-tinting history?
9. I will try to stop obsessing about potty training. And writing about it here. Do you really want to know about toilet things on a domesticity blog? I thought not.

The view from the cell

Perhaps the title is a little melodramatic? But this is the view from our back garden today. A glorious, crisp winter day. There is frost everywhere that the sun has yet to touch. The air is clear and inviting. It is the perfect day for a walk.

Yet I am stuck indoors potty training the Little One. It is not going well. I started writing this post at 11.30 this morning and we were onto the ninth pair of pants by then. We are still averaging a new pair every half hour (we have given up on trousers, and besides - there are no clean, dry ones left). I stopped counting once we got past ten.

Who is the person who said now was the time to start? Me. Who said he was ready? I did. Who said he's such a clever little fellow and he's ticking all the boxes of the 'is he ready' list? Yes, that would be me too. We are on day three of potty training and still there is no sign of any moisture of any sort in any potty. I'm surprised the spiders haven't set up home in them yet. I can't go outside, or change my mind. I have to keep plodding on so he knows there's no way out. But he's stubborn. And I'm FED UP!

PS In my defence, I have been remarkably good natured, patient and kind about it all up to this point. But there is only so much goodness in a parent and mine seems to have gone in the wash along with twelve pairs of pants and every pair of trousers the Little One owns. I think my marbles might be in there too.

A list for 2012

I am a little list-obsessed. Having written one for what I'd achieved (or otherwise) in 2011, I feel I ought to set myself a bit of a plan for 2012. You could call these plans resolutions, but they're a little less stern than that. Intentions, maybe?

• Family - They are always top of my list. And though there are eight other items below this one, I will try to remember not to resent the time I spend giving to my family when I may have had hopes to be working on one of my other 'intentions'. My husband is my rock, my heart and my home. I am still giddy about him, eight years in; and so I hope to still have butterflies this year. My boys are my joys and, as we struggle through adolescence, potty training and emerging willfulness with each in turn, I hope to keep counting my biggest blessings, one, two, three. Last but no means least, my parents and brothers. Absence has made the heart so much fonder. They have given so much to me, and I hope to rebalance the scales in 2012.
• Writing - My soul is type-written. 2011 brought me back to it, and I hope to take it for a long walk in 2012. I'd like it to be read more, for my voice is not mute. Hence the blogging. Will I write anything else than the blog this year? I hope so, but I'd like to let that idea jiggle around in my mind for a while before I set any specific goals.
• Sewing - I was in the flush of new love in 2011. In 2012 I'd like to build a long-term relationship with my sewing machine. Sew, sew, sew more. Sew gifts. Sew for others. Sew for me. Sew for the house. Sew quilts for the boys. Sew to sell. Learn, learn, learn more. By the end of the year, I'd like to have had my own stall and opened an etsy or folksy store. We can but dream.
• Cooking - Well I've always loved this, but I want to make more myself (especially since the revelation of processor-made pastry) and more for the littlest boys. And I'd love to delegate the stove to the Big One one night a week, since he shows the kernel of such enthusiasm. But I have yet to ask him!
• Baking - The problem with cake-making is it lead to cake-eating! So I hope to bake more for others to eat, and bake more savoury goods (I have dreams of a breadmaker, since my tiny hands and wrists are too wimpish for regular kneading). And gosh darn it, I will get my piping bag out of its packaging and decorate a cupcake before the year is out!
• Making - Keep making my cards, and actually get good at it! If I could make them on time, well that'd really be something. Make more decorations to mark the seasons, celebrations and patterns of the year. And of course I'll be making my gifts, but that's covered under 'sewing'.
• Nesting - This house, just over a year in, needs some window-dressing! It was home from the moment we first turned the keys in the door. The painting can wait (no time). The rotting window frames can wait (no money). But the odd cushion, quilt or curtain will, I hope, have the same effect as a blush of red lipstick on an un-made-up face.
• Nature - Get my footprints in more mud, paths and trails. Get my head in more wind, sky and weather. Convince the Little One to walk in the rain! Bring the outside inside more - my vases look embarrassingly naked too much of the time.
• Nurture - I will nurture my family (see first point!). I need to nurture my friends more. There has to be time to pick up the phone. My close friends are like sisters to me now, and, surrounded by boys as I am, I need more of their oestrogen in 2012. And to nurture myself? Is there time?! If there ever is, I hope to use it wisely. And to read a book, what luxury!

I hope we all make it to the end of 2012, and that I can look back and above all else find I was happy and I made others happy. And if I've found my vocation (sewing? writing?) and found a way to make a living from it, then so much the better.

Turning the page... welcoming 2012

A contemplative post...

I know the new year started eleven days ago. But I had a few leftover blogs to get out from 2011 first, and I'm not someone who can get on with the new when the old lies unfinished.

But here we are, and over the few days I have passed the 50 posts mark and the 500 page views milestone, so it feels an apt time to finally write my new year post.

2011 was a year of arrivals and challenges. The highlight was welcoming our newest boy, our Tiny One. He is a bundle of joy, easy-going (mostly), full of curiosity and with a very healthy sense of humour. The best sound of the year has been his giggle, the best sight his smile. I am head over heels.

We saw a lot more of our family (who came to help us through tough times), and for that I am so grateful and feel so lucky. I made, baked, wandered and wondered, just as I had planned. And I sewed, sewed, sewed: I found something that fired my soul.

I did lose myself and my plans for a while in the middle of the year when I was ill, but I've slowly climbed back up the hill and I hope (touch wood) that I'm standing near the top again.

It feels so good to turn the page to the new year. A blank sheet holds so much promise, and I can't help but feel hopeful and excited (and read Amanda's very inspiring post on the subject here). I've also succumbed, like so many other domestic bloggers out there (such as Charlotte and Monica), to the spring-cleaning and nesting urges that come with the blank page feeling. The utility room has been sorted, boxed and labelled! There are six big bags by the front door waiting to go to the charity shop! I even reorganised my earrings - perhaps I am going a little too far?!

I have been looking back over my list of aims and hopes for 2011, written when I started blogging (oh I do so love a list). How did I do?...

• I learnt to sew and bought a sewing machine, though I'd love to sew better and more.
• I cooked and baked, loved both, ate both, and my hunger for stove-time is undiminished.
• The Little One still has no quilted bedspread. I ought to be making one for the Tiny One too. Jobs for 2012! The Big One still has the one I made when he was small.
• Nature has been my home and heart this year past. I walked so much, in so many weathers and seasons. But I did not forage enough to fill vases as I would have liked. Kept forgetting the secateurs. As you do.
• All my cards were made! Big tick off the list, but I cannot move on and away: it feels a cop-out now to buy a card, and I think this habit may stick.
• Ditto for presents, other than obligatory purchases for the boys. And I loved making them. This habit is more than stuck; it is superglued.
• I have decorated a grand total of zero fairy/cupcakes. Roll over to 2012!
• I have embraced domesticity, and it has given me a hug back.
• I like to think my boys have been nurtured, though I suppose I ought to ask them (those that can talk). They missed out when I was ill but I hope I have been making up for it. I wish I had more time with the Big One. A resolution for this year maybe.
• I did not drown in new-motherhood. I swam happily for four months until I realised I couldn't see the shore any more. My family were my lifeboat, and I give such thanks for them.
• Babymoon... perhaps I should've done more of that. But we get on with things: it's a cultural thing.
• I have lived with the seasons. We've revelled in celebrations, eaten mostly in season, gone a little crazy for some seasonal fare like rhubarb. But summer wasn't revelled in enough: not our fault, but the Gulf Stream's.
• The boys have had more of my time. Being ill made me focus on them as I recovered, and now I have learnt how to leave the housework, or make it houseplay. All are happier.
• More time for me? I hope so. This blogging certainly counts. And the wonderful thing about the sewing and cooking is that both nurture and give to others, yet both are quietly selfish too (in the best possible way).
• Write, write, write... well, here we are.
• Books lie unread, other than non-fiction. I am not sure if it's a dream that can be fulfilled yet, since I cannot pick up a book and sink into it without letting the rest of life drop for days on end while I wallow in it. There are not 'days on end' available to lose right now. I either need to become a lady of leisure or think of a way to be a more disciplined, austere reader. Is there a happy middle-ground?
• The house is cushion-less, or at least home-made cushion-less. This time next year we will hopefully have a bit more puff and colour in our lives.
• Vases have been full about half the time I'd say. The other half has been miserable. We all need more flora and foliage in our lives, and my bare table (bar a small green pot of claret cranberries left over from the Christmas table) is pleading with me.
• The simple joys have been appreciated, and will go on being so. I need to remember to see the wood rather than the trees, and conversely the delightful details each tree has to offer.
• Was I happy? Yes. There were times of misery, but I have ended on a high and overall I'd have to say yes. And that's a lot.

Merry Stitchmas

Time to show you some sewn presents...

I made these cushions for my parents who live on a river and love to sail. They are for their boat or garden. I love them! Is that too effusive a comment for my own work? Well it's probably more due to the fabric anyway. Having never made a cushion cover before, I used dottie angel's post on Christmas cushions as a rough guide.

The picture to the left shows a front and back, and below you can see how I've wrapped the fabric round the side of the cushion so there's no obvious edge to it, and then added a pillowcase-style opening at the back. I know it's probably a dull point to make, but to me I'm a little bit in love with those details.

I made my brother an apron. Sorry for the very unprofessional wrinkles in the picture. They're very professional shots from the husband but I was sewing the gifts up to the last minute and didn't have time for photographs before wrapping and running. Hence these are the dishevelled unwrapped shots... But I do so love this apron, in lovely traditional Ikea apron fabric. It's the least amateurish thing I've ever sewn. Proper straight lines, parallel sewing, equidistant pocket and nice hems! Needless to say, my brother didn't quiet appreciate all this, but I made my mum listen to me go on about it instead!

I also made these place mats and pot holder with beautiful fabric from John Lewis, using patterns in Lotta Jansdotter's lovely book. The place mats have little pockets for chopsticks, and as I had bought my brother a Thai cookery book, it seemed apt.

Lastly, I'm quickly going to show you the make-up brush tidy that I made back in July for my sister-in-law. I forgot to photograph it at the time, but my beautiful sister-in-law was staying at my parents for Christmas and when I spotted it in the bathroom I sent my husband up for a stealthy photography session! I think the fabrics look beautiful together. I still have some - I think I'll have to make something for myself too!

The ghost of Christmas past

I thought you'd like to see what we ate over Christmas! Well, to be fair, I'm sure very few people would be interested in what we ate, but I got my amateur photographer husband to photograph it so I'm going to bore you all with it anyway. Ho ho ho.

Breakfast muffins! They were an optional extra, depending on whether I had time to knock them up. I woke up at 6am too excited to go back to sleep, but my husband wouldn't let me wake the boys up. They woke at 7.30. Breakfast muffins made! They were flavoured with cranberries & clementines and were delicious. We also had a late-morning brunch of home-made American pancakes with scrambled egg, bacon and maple syrup but we ate them too quickly to catch on camera!

The big meal... clockwise from top: roast potatoes; maple roast parsnips; spiced & super-juicy turkey (having relaxed in its bath for 24hrs); sprouts with pancetta, parsley & chestnuts; chestnut stuffing (made the day before, minus the egg); cranberry sauce (made two days before and still deliciously giving by new year's); pigs in blankets. And there's allspice turkey giblet gravy on top. I made everything from scratch, and even allowed myself a bit of smugness! It was many, many times yum. I expected to get stressed but instead I found the whole thing - from turkey bathing to plating up - such fun. But then I was only catering for three adults and 2.5 children. If we'd had my side of the family here instead of my husband's it would have been seven adults (three of whom have huge appetites), 2.5 children and a mutt. Maybe next year!

We finished with this: a home-made chocolate log. Swiss rolls are supposed to be a nightmare to roll up but mine was fine - did I do something wrong? I often think recipes that are supposed to be difficult often aren't if you don't know about it beforehand. It's the confidence of the ignorant. I have been similarly ignorant about whisking egg whites and making risottos. Yet I can't make Bird's custard without it going lumpy or staying runny. Oh the peculiarities of the kitchen.

And this was Boxing Day, for those who care to know. The Fully Festive Ham from Nigella's Feast, which we ate with more roasts, peas and red cabbage cooked in pomegranate (Nigella again). We then ate mince pies and too many cranberry, pecan and white chocolate cookies. The day after, I made a ham and turkey pie from the leftovers of both meals and froze enough for at least three more pies in January. This Christmas ghost just keeps on giving.