Blogtober Day 6 - Gently does it

I have a number of doilies - inherited from my grandma and found on my thrifting travels - and I was delighted with how this gentle, fragile little one worked out when I framed it in an embroidery hoop.

The book cover image is from the Tower Books website and the one below it is from Lark.

I was very happy to find Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting in the library this morning. I have followed Jane's blog Yarnstorm (http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/) for some years and I was quick to acquire The Gentle Art of Domesticity when it came out. And look! A number of very nice projects seem to be using garter stitch...hooray!

Image from http://makingooduse.typepad.co.uk

And with Paul McCartney in the news this week - I have never been a great fan of the Beatles but I do love this song, "Across the Universe" - so gentle, so whimsical.

Blogtober Day Six - Weekend Happenings

On the weekend, I finally managed to get something done with a lovely little set of vintage swap-cards depicting different types of fruit that I bought at a flea market in Copenhagen. There are also cards of vegetables and nuts in the deck, but I like the fruit ones the best. I had had them just on their own on the kitchen wall, but then thought that framing them would be better.

Discovery! I started knitting with two balls of yarn last night, following a suggestion from the magazine I mentioned last week. You know I am but a baby knitter - I'm sure all you knitters out there have been doing this for ages! But I enjoyed trying out something new.

And so it begins...the first recipe tried from the Australian Women's Weekly Sweet Old-Time Favourites - Caramel Cornflake Chews. They are very like Anzac Biscuits but without the oats. I was going to post the recipe but I got scared after reading the copyright section of the cookbook! These are super yummy, though. Hot out of the oven - gooey in the centre. Oh yes.

How was your weekend?

Blogtober Day 5 - At Home

The fairies are definitely about at the moment. I know this because they have planted a little ring of daisies in our garden!

I have decided to make use of my grandmother's cutlery set. She only used it when my parents and I came for Sunday lunch and every Sunday, after lunch, I was placed in charge of polishing each piece and returning it to the homemade calico pouches they lived in. We certainly won't use it every day but it now has its own drawer in the kitchen as opposed to being bundled up in a bag as it was when I just wasn't quite sure whether I should use it or not. Brings a nice little touch to things, I think, and reminds me of those lovely Sunday lunches. Do you have anything special like that?
I can feel a bake-a-thon coming on...there are so many goodies in the Women's Weekly cookbook that I mentioned yesterday...cinnamon teacake, swiss roll, caramel cornflake chews, melting moments, chester squares... I'll let you know what I chose to make on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend.

Blogtober Day Four - Good Things

The beautiful Pigface plant that I have in a pot out the front is just looking so lovely at the moment.

I had a very fruitful visit to the local op-shop this morning. Two gorgeous vintage tablecloths ~

And a lovely idea for something different to do with garter stitch. I am still very much a novice knitter, so garter stitch is really what I feel most comfortable with at the moment. It can, however, sometimes get a little...dull! So I rather like the idea of this little blanket-stitched heart. It is described as "Shaker-style" too which also got me in - I will never be minimalist enough (or even close) to follow the Shaker style but I love it.

I often have rather a dodgy tum, and strangely enough sweet treats appeal to me during said dodginess (don't worry, I know too much sugar is not such a great idea). So, The Australian Women's Weekly Sweet Old-Time Favourites jumped right out at me at the library this morning.

Ah, Swiss Roll! My grandma made one every single week. This delicious looking example is from http://goodtoknow.co.uk

Blogtober Day 3 - Patchwork Pieces

I bought three beautiful pieces of hand-stitched vintage patchwork from Etsy (Vintage Gatherings ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageGatherings?ref=pr_shop) recently but since then, I haven't been able to decide what to do with them.

Initially, I thought I would frame them, but despite considerable scouring in the op-shops, I couldn't find frames that were a) big enough or b) nice enough.

At the moment, I am thinking of stitching them onto a rather dull polar fleece blanket which is, nonetheless, a lovely shade of blue.

What do you think? All suggestions most welcome.

--------------------------
I discovered this lovely singer, Emma Louise, on my cyber ramblings this morning.

Blogtober Day 2 - Like a ripened piece of fruit

I got a few little jobs done in the garden on the weekend, which I was really pleased about. As I may have mentioned before, my grandmother kept our garden in beautiful, abundant condition (we live in what was my grandparents' house) and I often feel I could do rather a lot more with the garden than I am currently doing. What I am thinking about especially at the moment is a dedicated herb garden (rather than the odd plant in a pot here and there). I have found a lovely book - Practical Herb Garden by Jessica Houdret - but I am wondering how much success I will have here in Australia finding some of the very Eurocentric flowers and herbs. Does anyone know of a nursery who specialises in English and European cottage plants? I know that I can replace many of them with Australasian options, but some Northern Hemisphere plants would be nice too.

What is this plant? Do you know? I haven't a clue - but I like it!

You know that I am an absolute sucker for a period drama and I am still kicking myself that I didn't pay closer attention to Downton Abbey when it was on TV. You Tubing it just now, I couldn't resist the Sylvanian Families version of it (by the way, this clip may look cute but is not for littlies)...




But on a more serious, sweeping, dramatic note (pun intended), here is the actual Downton Abbey's lovely theme -

Blogtober Day 1...Apple Goodness

So, here we are, day 1 (for me) of Blogtober...can I blog every day for a month? We'll see... Why don't you join in? Details are here - http://tinniegirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-time-to-play-music-its-time-to.html

----------------------------------

On the weekend, amongst other things, I made this rather unusual item. Touted as a 'honey nut cake' it kind of ended up a little different...

1 cup dried apple (chopped)
2 cups hazlenuts (chopped)
1.5 cups of honey
4 eggs

Combine. Spread out into a circle on a large tray. Bake at 175 degrees celsius for fifteen minutes.

It didn't quite work for me so we are currently eating it as a very tasty topping for yoghurt. I can also imagine it in a pie or as crumble topping. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!