Half A Century Later...

I have always loved Peanuts cartoons. As a teenager I collected the books. A friend gave me a lined Jaeger skirt when I was 17. It fitted perfectly, but was mid calf length on me. I shortened it to mini-length, and made a pocket with the trimmings, on which I embroidered Snoopy sleeping on his doghouse. I adored that skirt and wore it all one summer. [I had slim, tanned legs back then!] Sadly no photos remain. 
When I was 21, a friend sent me a Snoopy Teeshirt as a birthday gift. In 1981, there was a hitch with a house move. I rang cousin Gill and said "Everything is packed in teachests and I just have an overnight bag. I'm running out of clean clothes" The next day, a large envelope arrived containing two pairs of pants and a Snoopy Teeshirt. I wore the tees often and treasured them both. But after having children, I never got back into size 10 tops, they went into a memory box. At the last Winter/Summer wardrobe swap I took them out. My granddaughters like Snoopy too. So Rosie now has the pale lemon one, and Jess has the white one [a little big, but it will make a good summer nightie]

"Look after it!" I told Rosie "I have had it for 50 years" She knew about Gill, Julian's Mum - but enquired about the friend who gave me the lemon one. I said I hadn't seen him for a number of years- but that he became a Baptist minister like Grandad, and is also retired now. And that  when he gave me the teeshirt, it was originally a custardy yellow colour! These were among the oldest items in my wardrobe.

The sweatshirts from the 70's and 80's were recycled into a blanket 35 years ago, 

I repaired that during lockdown and it's still in use as a garden blanket inside the teepee.
I do try and squeeze as much use as I can from my textiles!
Do you still have any garments from decades ago?
Have you recycled them into other projects?

Caps, Crafts, Clare

I think the first time I came across the word forage was as a child, when my Dad put on his Boys' Brigade Officer's Uniform - he added badges to his suit lapels and put on a navy woollen cap, which he referred to as a forage cap or Glengarry. The word  comes from the Old French fourrager - which meant 'plundering, or hunting for fodder'. Soldiers would wear a soft fabric cap rather than a fancy military helmet when they were away from the battle and doing other jobs, particularly looking about for food for their horses. Being soft, these caps could be folded and put in a pocket or backpack. A Glengarry was the name given to this popular style of forage cap developed by a regiment of Scottish 'fencibles' at the end of the 18th C. It was adopted by the BB who began in Glasgow in 1883.
But I later learned that forage could mean 'to hunt about for things' or 'to scavenge'. To look for 'wild' food [eg mushrooms], or for things to use - often at no cost, because they have no value to others. 

So when I spotted this book on the library shelf, I grabbed it. Firstly it is by Clare Youngs, one of my favourite craft authors, second, I love recycling, and finally, if the foraged resources are free that is even better!
There are 35 projects in three sections - foraged 'natural' materials, paper & card, fabric & thread. Clare makes decorations, clothing, gifts and useful objects - using new ideas, fresh twists on old techniques, and traditional skills.

 

covered buttons, boro stitched jeans, painted pebbles, stitched denim sashiko coasters, pressed seaweed cards, foiled leaf garlands, and loads more... coasters, cushions, dolls, gift tags, stationery...with CYs precise instructions, clear illustrations and accurate templates

Lots to copy, or to inspire you - adaptable for all ages and skill levels. Another *****
Have you read any good CY books, and would you recommend them?

I Brought My Own Bag...

Usually when I go out to do a proper supermarket trip, it is planned in advance so I have the bags. But sometimes I am out, and buy something unexpectedly. More than 30 years ago, my SIL went to Oz to visit her family, and brought me back a nylon folding tote bag.

It packs up very small [credit card size] and so I carry it around in my handbag. But last week I realised it is really wearing out - all the seams are on the point of giving way. I have a couple of other folding bags, but they are nowhere near as compact as this one.
Barbara's son and his family are now living in Australia. She sent me this birthday gift

This cheerful kookaburra print bag is a few inches square when folded into itself, but opens up into a full size tote bag.

What perfect timing! I can discard the dodgy old one, and tuck the new one in my handbag for my Manchester trip today

And that means fewer plastic bags or bags-for-life being purchased. Good for my wallet, good for the planet. Thank you Barbara!

When you were at school, did you sing the song "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" as a round in your music lessons? We did, but I don't think I had the faintest notion as to what a kookaburra looked like

SORRY ABOUT LATE PUBLISHING. Just realised it didn't post.  currently catching up whilst sat on a train which is held up outside Grantham!

Wool Gathering

If you buy yarn from The Wool Warehouse it will be delivered* in a tulle drawstring bag. This is useful for keeping knitting clean and tidy, containing the balls of yarn and the knitted pieces. I have just started a new project. It is rather complex so I'm not revealing anything yet.

But I did want to mention that this is the second time I've used WW and I am very pleased with their stuff, and there is lots to check out on the website. As well as knitting yarns, patterns and accessories, they have sewing stuff too. [*WW give you the eco-option of 'no bag' if you want to avoid unnecessary packaging.]

The dictionary defines wool-gathering as "indulgence in idle daydreaming, or aimless wandering of the mind" I will just say that the latest pattern I am working on requires 100% concentration so I am doing just a dozen rows each day. 

Do you have anything on your needles right now? 

In My Prime

Today is my birthday - looking forward to going out to lunch with Bob later.  We all ate the birthday cake last week - it was Jon's birthday on Easter Sunday - so I decided we would share cake and a cuppa together one afternoon while they were in Norfolk. My lovely new neighbour asked me to alter some trousers for her recently. I said she didn't need to pay me - my sewing is a gift I love to use to help my friends. She said she would like to do something - so I suggested she might bake me a cake. She has a reputation for baking, and I told her coffee&walnut is Bob's favourite. 

Doesn't this look splendid? It tasted fantastic, and was soon eaten up! Gloria delivered it on a cakeboard, saying she did not want the board back, she had plenty, and this one had been used before anyway.

Never one to waste anything, I covered the board in grey wallpaper - it made a brilliant stone in front of my Easter Tomb last Sunday! 

I do not feel any older than I did yesterday. 71 is a prime number, so this year I think I shall be 'in my prime' 

HOW Many???

Last year I went with Bob to collect some materials for a Men's Shed project, from a local decorating supplies firm. By the door was a large bucket with a sign saying "FREE!" It would have been rude not to check it out. It had some 2m lengths of wallpaper. I grabbed a couple of William Morris designs. A week later, I gave one to a friend who needed to cover a large gift box. In January, we went back again, and I took just one piece. I went to the counter to wait for Bob. "Can I help you?"
    "I'm with him - but can just I say thank you, for these lovely free samples of wallpaper"
"We will be getting rid of the big sample books soon, would you like some?"        
    "Yes please!"
"Give me your phone number and I will call you- I will be really pleased if you can use them, we usually just throw them in the skip outside"
And so a couple of weeks ago, she rang, and I went early next morning [they open at 7.30am for trade customers] I left Bob at home, preparing breakfast. The woman remembered me, and said the books were behind the counter. 

I said I would like to make a charity donation, and while she was getting them, I put a couple of quid inside the pink elephant box for the blind children.
"Here you are, where's your car?" The woman, plus another assistant helped me carry the sample books out to my car. There were TWENTY of them. She insisted that any I left would go in the skip, and I couldn't let that happen, could I? Bob was a little taken aback when I got home. "HOW many? Ang, will you use them all?"

We lugged them into the lounge, and stood them up against the sofa. A real mixture - patterns, plains, textures, stripes... Most from a French company, Casadéco, one from Crown.

I enjoyed going through them as I sipped my coffee, muttering "Ooh look! Isn't this cute? I can make use of this one..."

Later in the day, I took the Nursery Patterns Book, and made an Easter Card and a new baby card for my latest nibling.

I used a rabbit design, mounting the pictures on the co-ordinating golden polka dot paper. There are lots of great patterns in this book [animals, trucks, dinosaurs...] which will make good cards for children. I am planning to use one of the other books to mount displays for the Easter windowsills at Chapel.

And Bob is right - twenty is rather a lot. I took some to my good friend Val a few days later. Val has been a friend since 1981, when we lived in the Medway and Bob was student minister at her church. Teacher, Girls Brigade Officer, crafter - we have heaps in common and have been firm friends for 45 years. She still lives in the Medway with her husband Philip [like Bob, former employee of Marconi, and into woodworking etc] They were on holiday in Norfolk, it was lovely to catch up [now we are both mothers of two grown up daughters and we have grandchildren] I gave Val the books, and she gave me a jigsaw and a striped teeshirt! [Thank you Val, it fits a treat]
I gave three more to my young friends who are home schooled. And when I told the story to my old school friend [who is sadly back in our local hospital again] she laughed, and said "Please can I have one when I get home?" So that is one third of the hoard distributed... and I have so many ideas in my head for papercrafts! Look at these gorgeous pictures from the Casadéco website...

Let's Raise A Glass...

 ...to Simple Things magazine, and the Friends of Glass UK [here] who just sent me a very generous shopping voucher.

The story began in December. I read Simple Things online, and noticed they had a feature promoting the benefits of glass. It is infinitely recyclable, and much better for the planet than single-use plastics. They asked readers to nominate businesses local to them which make good use of glass, and said FoG were going to give some prizes.

 I decided to nominate Dann's. They are the local dairy farmers who make splendid ice cream, and also sell delicious milk in refillable glass bottles from a wonderful DIY dispensing machine. It is five years since I first blogged about them I was astounded to get an email saying I was one of the winners!
Not that my answer was any better than any other - they had so many entries they just selected five at random. 

"Look out for the April edition when we will have a further feature on this" they said. Well the latest edition is just out. They have the promised article, but have only mentioned five largish companies [Yet again, Gü Desserts, who were in the original article] I had hoped Dann's would get a promotion. The ice cream is yummy, and their cows are very photogenic!

The shopping voucher arrived, and has already been spent. Thank you to the FoG, and to the magazine. A lovely surprise

They've Bin And Dunnit!

They've dealt with my wheelie bins, that is! When we got Cornerstones in 2009. we had two bins - regular, and recycling. The regular one was 20 years old [it said 1989 on the top] but in good working order.

The recycling was slightly newer, but had a couple of small cracks in the lid. We started paying for a garden bin. Four years ago, I stopped paying for that, as I was getting into composting properly, and felt it was £60 p.a. I didn't want to spend! I pushed that bin out of the way. Recently I realised those cracks were major splits, and my recycling bin was filling up with water in all the rainstorms. So my 'clean&dry' recycling was useless.
Last week [3rd March] I rang the helpful woman at Breckland Council. She made a note that I wanted the redundant garden bin collected, and a replacement for my damaged bin. "Don't worry if there is anything in them, they will deal with that, Should be dealt with inside 10 working days" And sure enough, early on 9th March, I got up to find the garden one gone, and a smart new recycling bin outside.

This was made in Telford [I remember Pauline telling me once that many of the UK bins are made there] and has 2026 imprinted on the lid. All I need to do now is stick my spare "4" numeral on the front, and spray-paint a recycling symbol on the lid. It can be quite confusing for visitors from other parts of the UK, when they helpfully offer to put stuff in the bin. 
One site lists "Common UK Recycling Bin Colours" thus...

blue Commonly used for "dry" mixed recycling, including paper, cardboard, and sometimes cans/plastic.
green Often used for garden waste, but in some areas, it is used for dry recyclables.
red/orange Often designated for plastic bottles, pots, and, in some cases, food waste.
brown: Typically used for garden waste or organic waste. 
But then it says "It is essential to check with your local council for the specific, definitive colour system in your area, as they can vary significantly."
Here in the Breckland region of central Norfolk, regular is green, recyclable is black, and garden is brown - totally  different from both Leicester and Dorset. I wonder what colour our food waste bins will be when they arrive?

What colour are your bins?

 

Great Chieftain O' The Puddin' Race

Great Chieftain O' The Puddin' Race 
We celebrated Burns' Night a day late, but I cooked a haggis with cream sauce, neeps and tatties. And asked Alexa to play Scotland the Brave on the Bagpipes as I carried it to the table [for once, she obliged!] I have no idea what Burns' haggis poem means, and I suspect it might detract from my enjoyment of the meal if I did
I bought my McSween's haggis [serves 2-3] from Robertson's Butchers in Reepham. The butcher was very helpful and I have to say the flavour was excellent.  I'd done rather a lot of veg, and we had much haggis left over, so I made two 'cottage pies' for the next day - neeps on the bottom, then haggis, then mash on the top. 

The haggis is not usually considered a UPF, being made of lamb, beef, oats, stock, onion, salt, pepper and spices. No artificial colours or ingredients. One of the main ingredients of haggis is liver, which is high in vitamin A, vitamin B12 and folate. Heart and lungs will provide some iron, zinc and selenium and the oats included in haggis will contribute to fibre intake. It’s important not to over indulge in haggis as it tends to be high in fat and saturated fat as well as high in salt, so be mindful of the portion size. It was a filling, warming dish on a cold evening. I may serve it again soon, but without the bagpipes! It is relatively inexpensive, and a good ZeroWaste food, using up the offal which is often discarded.
Have you ever eaten haggis?
Did you celebrate with a Burns' Night Supper?

Cut the Mustard!

Question -What foodstuff does this remind you of?
Answer- Pigs in Blankets!
A huge thankyou to Jean in France for sharing her recipe for cassoulet made with leftover Pigs In Blankets.

Mine looked pleasantly similar to the photo on J's blog, but a bit more orange! But it tasted really good - and the quantities for four served us two good meals. My Le Creuset was the right pan in which to cook and serve this hearty dish.

Yes Jean, as you warned, the bacon does unwrap itself from the chipolatas, but a genuine cassoulet will often have sausages plus separate chunks of pork. I put some carrot chunks in mine, and served with hearty slices of brown bread for 'mopping up' 
Warm and filling on a cold day. 

WARNING I checked out Mary Berry's original recipe [here] from which Jean adapted hers. MB adds a Dijon mustard and sage garnish to stir in at the end. As the sage is still growing happily outside, I decided to make some. Onto each bowl, I put a dollop of the golden sauce, flecked with chopped green leaves, and vivid lemon zest. "You are supposed to stir it in" I explained. It looked pretty. But it was way too mustardy, even for Bob! Next time, I shall be sure to cut [out] the mustard.
Allegedly, mustard crops in East Anglia used to grow to 6 feet high, and had to be scythed. If the blades were not sharp enough, then they wouldn't cut the mustard - not sure if I believe this explanation of the phrase, but I love the Norfolk connection

I picked up this little white beauty in the 50p bin in a CS on Monday.
I already have a blue Colman's jar for my English mustard, but I thought this white one from Essex would do beautifully for my French mustard. Liz gave me the tiny wooden spoon some years ago, hand carved by one of her friends.

Sadly Colman's, having been bought out by Unilever, stopped producing mustard in Norwich 6 years ago [after over 150 years] but the Wilkin family in Essex continue producing their preserves [the family have been farming there since 1757, selling preserves since 1885] 

Love Your Leftovers

There is not much Christmas cake left.  So the little resin figures have been carefully washed and dried and replaced in the box till next year. After the near disaster 4 years ago I don't soak Pauline's angel anymore [*she is sugar not resin]

How have we been managing our leftovers? I had bought a chicken which didn't get served as a roast dinner, so Bob put that with leftover ham** and veg into a splendid pie. That was served up on New Year's Day to Liz and family, along with lots of veg. We all like mash, so we had sweet potato mash, celeriac mash, and regular mash, alongside roast pots and parsnips, plus carrot coins and Yorkshires. 
The pie made 10 servings so kept us going for a few days. 

Bob mixed the various leftover mashes together. I took eight scoops, and some breadcrumbs [leftover crusts] to make a tray of croquettes for the freezer. 

Meanwhile Bob blitzed the remaining mash along with a can of chopped tomatoes, and we have plenty of delicious soup in the freezer. We had a bowl each on Sunday evening with homemade whole meal bread. Very warming!

As we were away for 6 days, I have fewer Christmas leftovers this year. All there is now are a few mince pies. I might make this recipe later. * the angel, not Pauline! **Liz took the final piece of ham to add to a rice based meal.

How have you managed with your leftovers? 
Do you have a favourite 'leftover' dish?

Save String When You Are Young...

And When You Are Older...

You Will Have A Ball!

This maxim always amused me as a child. When I got to Uni, my lovely landlady had a huge ball of string in the cupboard. If any string-tied parcel or package arrived,  she would carefully unravel it, and knot the end on and make the ball larger. 

That meant that whenever you needed a long piece of string, it might be a knotty mixture of smooth white cotton string, green garden twine, and hairy jute yarn!

But for years I've followed her example - and at Christmas,  the bundles of branches from the tree, the boxes holding the baubles and much else gets tied with assorted random lengths. Definitely ZeroWaste!

All the decorations are down, the tree is dismantled, lights are neatly wound up. The Christmas towels and linens are washed, the mugs are wrapped and packed safely. The tableau costumes folded, the frames disassembled, the polystyrene heads removed. 

All the boxes are waiting to go back up into the loft. 

And me?

I've saved any and all leftover string, and now I'm wondering when I get to have that ball I dreamed of years ago...

Not complaining though... after all, I did end up with my handsome prince.

Sweet Smells Of The Season

A while ago I put an autumnal display on the coffee table - a wooden platter, lined with fabric maple leaves, with piled up with various cones and some shiny conkers. I moved it out of the way when I put up the Christmas decorations. Then last week, when I felt I needed some Vitamin C, I ate loads of 'easy peelers'. I left the peel to dry out on the window sill. I cut some star shapes [and threw the trimmings into the compost bin] I used it to make a seasonal pot pourri.

There were bits and pieces from my spice drawer, and from the garden. Cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, rosemary sprigs and sage leaves.

I lined a small bowl with four leaves, adding conkers and smaller cones, scattering all the other herbs and spices over, and finally tucking in rosemary sprigs and my golden citrus stars. So much nicer, cheaper and prettier than a chemical air-freshener!

Thrifty Thursday

 My apple peeler is still at my friend's house. Her family are using it daily and eating more apples than usual. The youngest particular likes the fact that the apples are corked [ie cored!]  So I am back to using my traditional corer and potato peeler.

But last week I saved the bits into a lok'n'lok which I kept in the freezer till it was full. Then I used them to make a true ZeroWaste preserve; "Compost Heap Jelly" This recipe comes from HFW's 9 years ago on Sue's Blog [THIS Sue - there are so many Susan's in Blogland] Thanks Sue

I made four little jars of jelly from the cores and peelings which would normally go into the compost. That's Thrifty Tip #1

I do the initial stage by putting peel etc in a pan, covering with water and bringing to the boil. Then I tip everything into the slow cooker, and simmer for a couple of hours. TT#2

And when I finished, I put the resulting slushy brown purée into the compost anyway! TT#3

You need a jelly bag to drain everything. Spend £10 or more on a metal one from Tala or a red plastic one from Lakeland. I make jelly about once every five years - so I have improvised my own jelly strainer from stuff in the house. No cost! TT#4

Begin with an old, clean teatowel. Place a stool upside down on the worktop, and drape the teatowel over the top, fastening the fabric  securely over each leg with an elastic band. Put a bowl underneath. Let it drip for a minimum of 3 hours.

Do be patient [500ml came through in first hour - but by the evening, it was almost 700ml. Do not be tempted to squeeze or push - that will make your jelly dull and cloudy.

Final kitchen tip is about vinegar bottles. I like my Sarsons 'table' bottle with its sprinkler cap. But that costs five times as much as vinegar in a large bottle with a plain top. Unfortunately the Sarsons cap does not unscrew. The trick is to stand the empty bottle upside down in a jug of boiling water for 5 minutes. Then wrap it in a teatowel and carefully ease off the plastic cap. Refill the bottle and pop the cap on again.

This is such a simple thing and can save you £10 or more per litre! Thats TT#5

And now - totally unrelated - I enjoy flicking through glossy magazines - especially ones relating to recipes, gardening or crafts. But they cost upwards of £5 a time. And I don't want to keep them. But because I belong to Norfolk Libraries, I can download the Libby app free and borrow loads of magazines to read on my tablet or phone. 

A different free magazine every week = £300 a year saved. And not just magazines- there are books and audiobooks too. 

Absolutely brilliant. TT#6

That's half a dozen tips to help you save money this autumn.

Have you got any good moneysaving tips to share?

Apples Are A-Peeling

I have a small [eating] apple tree. My friend has a massive [cooking] apple tree. Far too many fruit for her and her family.

She said - please have some, Ang. I said my peeling machine would make short work of them. Your What?? 

I explained my gadget is like an apple lathe, it takes off a sliver of peel, and cores and slices the fruit. After 10 minutes I had a bowlful

And then I blanched, cooled and froze 3 boxes full, ready for autumn pies and crumbles. Next week I'm lending her the peeler. So easy, such a time saver, and minimal debris