Klein Kontainers

This is designer Calvin Klein, he makes handbags

This is mathematician Felix Klein, he made bottles

[if you want to knit one, look here]

And this is Mathias Klein, his company makes tools & toolbags

Bob came across one of these toolbags on the internet recently. It is a ‘small component bag’ for screws etc.

These are about £9 each, which is quite a lot of money. Howevere, these bags have lots of useful features…

• heavy duty canvas so it won’t damage easily
• full zip so you can reach in to get hold of contents
• flat bottom so it will stand by itself
• strong brass zip, with ‘pull’
• grommet for carabiner, so it can hang from a tool-belt

So Saturday’s Sewing Day also included making one – I had some heavy cotton camo fabric [stiffened further with iron-on interfacing. I also had a brass zip [salvaged from  M&S Blue Harbour Chinos which had worn out] and a zip-pull [and grommets from the garage]

I made a simple bag, with a covered rectangle of card to stiffen the base, and here’s my Klein Bag.

Bob is very pleased with it. He has some woodworking activities lined up for the summer and I think this will come in very useful.

Another project to tick off the list!

Peggy’s Pinny

My Auntie Peggy telephoned last week. She explained she had been reading this article about a woman who needed to walk with a stick, even round her home, and found it hard to carry things. So her sister had made her an apron with a number of different sized pockets [small for tissues and pens, large for tins and packets] This had been so successful the woman had started marketing them – “not Joseph’s Coat Of Many Colours, but An Apron Of Many Pockets”

My Aunt [in her 80s, limited mobility] wondered if I could make her one. Preferably green colours to go with her kitchen. This was one of my Saturday Sewing Projects.

I had a kitchen curtain in my stash - the last of a set of 4 I got in a charity shop ages ago. I thought at first glance it was from M&S – but no, it was not St Michael but St Bernard!

I cut out a pattern using one of my own aprons, and made pockets from some left over green cotton [which, coincidentally, were from my Aunt’s old kitchen curtains – I wonder if she’ll recognise it]

I put two small pockets on the top half, and a rectangle of fabric, divided into two large pockets, on the lower part. And added a name patch.

The neck strap is adjustable with D-rings. I hope she likes it!

Organ Failure?

The organ at church is full of holes! On Friday morning I went to unlock the church very early, as we were expecting two men from Cousans to come and remove part of the organ. These friendly chaps took out the board behind the footpedals to take back to their workshops and build a new one.

Here’s the organ with the panel missing

 

And here is the panel, absolutely riddled with woodworm. They had bored into the plywood panels as well as the solid timber!

It will be good to have everything restored. The organ still works beautifully. I mentioned that I liked Saint Saens Organ Symphony, and so one of the guys sat down and played some of it for me! Just like that, from memory. Brilliant! I was humming to myself all day.

We talked about favourite hymns and I said that this morning I would be preaching at Stoneygate Baptist [he’s worked on that organ too!] and we’d be singing “The God Of Abraham Praise” which always sounds great on the organ. We both agreed it was a fabulous hymn. I told him the story of the Welsh hymnwriter, Thomas Olivers, and how in 1772 he set new words to the ancient Hebrew tune ‘Leoni’. “I did not know that story – I shall enjoy it even more next time I play it” said my new friend.

The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days and God of love.
Jehovah, great I Am! By earth and heaven confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name forever blest.

The God of Abraham praise, at whose supreme command
From earth rise and seek the joys at his right hand.
I all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame and power,
And him my only portion make, my shield and tower.

He by himself has sworn; I on his oath depend.
I shall, on eagle wings up borne, to heaven ascend.
I shall behold his face; I shall his power adore
And sing the wonders of his grace forever more.

The whole triumphant host give thanks to God on high.
"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!" they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God and mine! I join the heavenly lays:
All might and majesty are thine and endless praise!

I hope the folk at Stoneygate sing it with enthusiasm!

Sweatshop?

It is SO hot! and I have three sewing machines on the dining table [once set up, the embroidery machine beavers away by itself, so I can actually have two machines going at once]

Having finished Ellie’s prom dress yesterday, today I am hoping to complete all these tasks for friends and family**

• two holiday skirts shortened for teaching colleague
• one large, strong bag for another teacher friend
• 16 labels for aprons [for a friend’s new coffee shop]
• a special apron requested by my Aunt
• some finishing off for one of my Wednesday Pupils
• a heavy duty DIY bag requested by Bob
• a Cornerstones' project

I think that’s all! I am glad it is warm enough to eat all our meals at the table in the garden

[**because I need to get all sewing stuff out of the way before our visitors arrive]

Posh Frocks!

My young neighbour is off to her End of Term School Prom – but she is short and her dress is long. So I was asked to shorten it for her, and adjust the fitting. It’s a rich royal purple, with a shawl, and beading detail in the front. It has a fine crepe top layer, two satin underlayers [which frayed and shed threads everywhere when cut!]

I was able to get exactly the right shade of thread from Button Boutique, and spent yesterday afternoon taking up the dress- and using the left over fabric to make a second similar prom dress- for the Barbie doll belonging to my young friend’s little sister. I am pleased to report that the alterations worked perfectly and she should look stunning next week! We never had Proms when I was young – but I suspect I would have made my dress from scratch [if not from an old tablecloth]

Apologies for the awful photos, I am having major camera issues at the minute.

Once Upon A Time…

…about four years ago, I used to belong to the Monday Night  Knitting Group at Borders. Then Borders closed and the group moved to Sainsbury's Coffee Shop…and we got caught up in buying Cornerstones…and I sort of dropped out.

The thing was, in the beginning, my knitting was oddments of random wool, cast on and off with ancient needles inherited from my late MIL, whilst the rest of the group all seemed to have Proper Projects. They used elaborate patterns, and genuine Alpaca yarns spun by Patagonian virgins on the banks of the Rio Grande, knitting up on fine bamboo needles turned on lathes by elderly Chinamen. My stuff was mostly small projects like baby vests for charity, and I felt somewhat inferior** with my leftover, hand-me-down materials.

Bob said I should go and buy some new yarn and knit something for myself. So I went off to Button Boutique and purchased a lovely Rowan pattern book – and a good, but rather less expensive Patons yarn to work with. I began the top in 2008, and knitted away at it each week, until I left the group. Then for over 4 years the WIP has been in my knitting bag, inside a plastic carrier bag.

I got it out recently, showering myself with confetti in the process. Yes, biodegradable bags really do biodegrade! For the last three weeks, I have been finding strange little bits of plastic like Lux soap flakes drifting round the house.

I was pleased to find I had knitted the back and both fronts of the cardi, but that I had started one sleeve and made a huge mistake in it [was that why I had given up on the project? I don’t remember]

However, I have challenged myself to complete it before our holiday in August. I have unpicked and reknitted the first sleeve and completed the second. Doing the button band, making up, and selecting buttons remain. My version is plain, I am not doing the big white spots, just a pattern in the rib. I will finish it this month. I will. And now I have blogged about it, as a further incentive to get it done. Watch this space!

[**I should say that people were very friendly, nobody actually made any disparaging remarks about my knitting – I just felt less ‘pukka’]

Friend Or Pho?

Pho is the national dish of Vietnam [technically pronounced ‘Fuh’ but that sounds weird to me] and Liz introduced me to it three years ago after our visit to the Geffrye Museum. I watched a bit of a programme on the Food Network the other evening, where they were eating pho, so thought I’d make some.

Pho is basically soft rice noodles in a beef [or sometimes chicken] broth. Usually the broth is served with an assortment of garnishes and you add what you want to your plate. There’s a more authentic recipe here, but this is what I made for lunch, in less than ten minutes, using ingredients I had to hand.

Here’s my recipe and method [serves 2]

• Fill and boil the kettle
• Put two soup bowls into the oven to warm
• Put one pint of stock into the microwave, cook on high for 4 minutes [mine was 50/50 rich chicken stock and cold water]
• Put 2 packages of rice noodles in a pan, and cover with boiling water from kettle. Simmer
• While that is happening, slice three spring onions, including the green tops, and three slices of cooked meat [I had ham in the fridge, beef would have been better], and three lettuce leaves
• grate a thumb sized piece of ginger
• Put 5floz boiling water in another pan, add ham, onions, ginger, and lettuce
• Stir in 1 dessertspoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and simmer.
• Drain the noodles, divide between the two bowls
• Mix the stock with the other ingredients, stir well, then ladle over the noodles
• Serve

Bob said that this was definitely a Main Meal rather than a light lunch! Next time I may halve the quantity of noodles and use two thirds of quantities for the other ingredients. It did taste good though. You could add chopped chillies or chilli sauce if you wanted to be more authentic [but I don’t like chillies!]

Fans, Folds, Pleats, Pockets …

I had fun in June reading this library book

Bob had a few of the local clergy round to lunch yesterday, so I decided to make a Bit Of An Effort, and folded a simple Clown’s Hat for every place setting [that is not meant to imply anything about our local clergy, you understand!]

Steph learned the simple fan many years ago when she was working as a waitress, and taught me. That’s in the book…

I liked the flowerbud fold, and also the pinwheel

The designs in the book are for both paper and fabric napkins – I have a load of large black paper ones [leftover from a pack donated for a church event] which are not exactly festive- but useful for practising!

The instructions and photographs make the designs very easy to replicate. However I do think they work best with beautifully starched linen napkins [especially if you iron as you fold them] or – bizarrely – with very cheap paper ones. Many of the ideas don’t come out crisply with soft 2-ply paper serviettes.

I like polyester damask napkins [easy care, non iron] for everyday use – the book has a number of quick ideas for displaying these in napkin rings – and my IKEA ones are good for this purpose

It took less than a couple of minutes to prepare half a dozen Clown Hats – but made quite a difference to the appearance of the meal table.

I am reminded of Edith Schaeffer’s book ‘Hidden Art’ which came out in the 70s, encouraging us to make the simple quotidian things beautiful, and show love and care to those around us. [For an excellent, ongoing review of that book, do check out MK’s blog, Through A Glass Darkly] It was subsequently re-issued as ‘The Hidden Art Of Homemaking [creative ideas for enriching everyday life]’

Whilst “100 Classic Napkin Folds” is a great book to borrow from the library, I am not sure I would want to own it – and many of the ideas can be found elsewhere on various internet sites, so I would only rate it *** [Hidden Art, on the other hand is probably **** if not *****. I really must dig out my copy and read it again!]

Whatever Nancy Mitford said, as far as I am concerned

• napkins are fabric [but one person may re-use the same one if it is not sticky or stained – leave it neatly by the plate]
• serviettes are paper [and should be scrunched up and discarded after use]
• if I am in an eatery which gives me a handful of serviettes, along with my coffee, then I use one and fold the others neatly and put them in my bag. They often come in handy.
• any paper serviettes or paper towels tucked into family lunchboxes should always be embellished with a message [Have a great day, I love you, I hope you enjoy the trip etc.]

Not Rubber Chicken, But Elastic Chicken!

definition ‘rubber chicken’; Either a comedy prop, or food served at political dinners. The name derives from the fact that the quality of the food is secondary to the purpose of the event and seldom good.

I prefer the term ‘elastic chicken’ – one which tastes good, but stretches to serve far more people than you might originally think.

I came across this delightful little book in the library last week

If you check it out on the Amazon site, you will be able to ‘look inside’ for more information.

And I discovered that Sue Simkins [yes that is her name] has a lovely website [here] full of ideas, recipes and book details.

The book reminded me about “Leftover Roast and Gravy Pies”

Super thrifty…

Last week M&S had a Special Event For Cardholders. I had some vouchers – and used one for a £10 meal deal. This yielded a chicken, ratatouille, apple pie and bottle of wine – total price normally around £17 – but I had got the voucher in an internet offer for just £5. You do know, don’t you, that M&S chickens in their Meal Deals are all different weights? Get down on your knees, and root around at the back of the shelf[as I do!] and you may find a chicken which is much larger than the ones at the front – but at the till it’s still a tenner for the lot.

We had roast chicken with ratatouille [and jacket spuds] on Saturday night, then Sunday morning, I stripped the chicken and set aside some meat for Sunday lunch. I chopped that and tossed it in IKEA basil mayonnaise, and served it with a salad and oven baked shoestring chips. I also put a few slices for chicken sandwiches for Sunday tea. The remaining meat was chopped fine and put into these little pies. [speedy shortcrust pastry made in the processor]

I made mine bigger than Mrs S suggests, using a cereal bowl and a coffee saucer to cut out the pastry. Lining the tins with a circle of greaseproof is a good move. An egg wash improves the finish!

These go well with with salads, or maybe new potatoes [cooked with mint from the garden] and frozen peas. Mrs S advises against a ‘steam hole’ in the lid – she says it is nicer to have a dome of pastry rather than a flat top!!

The carcase [plus half an onion, a stick of celery and half a carrot] went into the slow cooker Sunday morning, and by 4pm was delicious golden stock…So that one chicken from St Michael – which cost me less than £2.50 – has yielded meat for 4 portions of roast chicken, 6 individual pies, 2 rounds of chicken sandwiches, and stock for 4 portions of soup. How thrifty is that?

[by the way, do M&S still use the brand name ‘St Michael’? I just checked, and it no longer appears on the labels in my underwear!]

At School On A Saturday ??!!

Not one, but two schools, in fact. I began the day helping Bob set up the PA for the fete at our village school

Here’s the Sound Desk, just before the area filled up with visitors.

The Chocolate Tombola was popular – as was the Cake Stall [one of two – there was another on the other side of the fete] I purchased a banana and sultana loaf for £1. I was quite slim before I moved to this village!

The police and paramedics were there. Entertainment from the recorder group, the school choirs, and the 2b Dance Academy.

At 1.45 I pedalled home on my trusty bicycle, and changed into ‘posh’ gear in order to attend the Centenary Tea Party, at Dovelands School, Leicester, where I did a lot of supply teaching between 1996 and 2002. Former staff, pupils and parents had been invited, along with other ‘worthies’ to this event. There were half a dozen or more from our church who were there, in one capacity or another.The school is on the west of the city, on the A47.

This school is not as old as the one in KM, which had its centenary 3 years ago. 

Music provided by the Peter Crebbin Cool Swing Band [website] Not sure if they were pupils here!

Many former teachers returned for the tea- here is my friend Carole “And this is my toyboy, Mike” she said [she will kill me for posting this!]

All the pupils had recently posed for a centenary photo [a neighbour in the house opposite the playground kindly allowed the photographer to use her bedroom window to get this shot]

The classroom where I taught full time for two terms now has an incredibly expensive, new and complicated interactive whiteboard

I loved the doves flying round the walls

They started cutting the cake before I got to it with the camera

I thought the mayoral car had a rather  appropriate number plate for a school event. I left Dovelands at 2.45 and shot back to KM

The final event of the KM fete [the seemingly interminable calling of the Raffle Prizes] was going on. As soon as that was over, Bob and I stowed all the gear into the car and came home. Exhausted! We rested a bit, had a meal, and then he went out on a pastoral visit.

Finished the evening with a mountain of ironing and watching Glasto on TV [could not see Steph, Mark, Nic or Fran in the crowds though]