Afternoon in the kitchen

Banana tea loaf from the bero cookbook that belonged to my Mum.




Beetroot cooking ready for pickling later.




Strawberries sitting in sugar (draws out the juices) waiting to be made into jam tomorrow.

Squash curry simmering away in the slow cooker - recipe posted by the lovely Joxy on the GP forum.

And last but not least, hops gathered this morning, to be dried to make beer with.

Swaps

A post went up on the GP forum for a Christmas stamp swap - what a great idea. So here's mine that I received yesterday, along with some extra crafty bits that will definitely be put to good use.

Another swap is the Season Table Swap. After sewing all my sisters stuff yesterday I wanted a break from the san pro bits so I thought I'd start my swap item. I LOVE IT! I really want to show you it, can't believe how well it turned out. I'm definitely going to have to make another one just in case this one ends up on our table ;-).

Drip, drip, drip....

Got started on the 'hedgerow' cordial this morning. JJ and I went out to gather a few more bits - got more plums, haw-berries and a few elderberries then went to the park on the way back and found loads of huge brambles! Fantastic - since moving here we've been rather disappointed with the brambles as they just don't seem to do very well - but now we know where there is a great stash. Anyway, following the recipe on the GP forum (2kg of fruit, then 100ml water for soft fruit/300ml for stoned fruit/600ml for hard fruit) I have begun the task. It is now hanging precariously from my kitchen cupboard door as my straining bag is lurking in the depths of the loft. It's going to take hours to drip through so I'll keep you posted.

Can't stay away today ;-)

From the postie today was a parcel from the very talented Gill from GP forum containing handspun alpacca wool. It is soooooo soft and the most gorgeous colour. Wool shawn and spun from within 45 miles of me is just fantastic. Thanks so much - just got to decide what to knit with it now.

This delight is going to be my tatty scrubber. I save all the net bags that I get from fruit, then put them inside the largest bag and then I just stitch the end up. Lasts years and saves them going to landfill.

Wool, hooks, lips

Yesterday I managed to make the lip balm for my sister and niece, only to forget to take a photo of it before I gave it to them. Never mind - got to make another one now as well, so I'll try and remember to get a piccie - they look so cute in the little 15ml jars.

While playing with the crocheting the other evening I inadvertedly managed to make part of my summer season swap ;-). I was so pleased, and suprised, but you'll just have to wait and see the piccie when we actually do the swap (not like me to be this organised).

Right, now to the really exciting stuff. The very naughty Becks posted a link on the GP forum to a sale over at getknitted.com - they had Mirasol T'ira for £2.00 a ball instead of £3.50. So off I went for a browse - and ended up ordering 8 balls. The above pictures show the wool - I am going to make a blanket for our bed. It is sooooooooo soft and gorgeous to work with. I've ordered 8 more balls today and I'm going to look for some ivory as well so I can have the odd different coloured square on the blanket. I've got 19 squares done already - they don't take long as they are only 3 rounds each. I've got some rather numb fingers though :-). Right - off to see if I can get some ivory.