Cake and Create night

 Zoe and the completed Onions, of course they were dressed for giving as the shepherds or three wise men.

 Zoes Onions read around the white neckband, Gold , frankincense , Myrrh and pickled onions!

Just the two of us this week, Katie was on holiday, Laura had done her pickles with martin. So it was Zoe and me and what a good evening we had together. Of course there was the husband cooking in the kitchen too, and Zoe laughing and crying while pickling her Onions.Once decorated in true Zoe fashion and much oooooing and aaaaghing by both of us, the tiny jars were a triumph of beauty over commensense, decorated as shepherds or Kings . Absolutely lovely Zoe, your gifts will be much appreciated, and raise a smile.

Harvest Festival St Johns Church

Harvest time again, gorgeous golden weather to go with it up to 27 degrees, so very warm for this time of year. Lovely and warm to walk down to St Johns Church to see the littlies from school , especially my grandson, attend Harvest festival.But where is the display, the sheaf of corn , the baked and plaited loaf, the displays of apples , vegetables, michaelmass daises as of yesteryear?

No not the picture above which is beautiful and inspiring a traditional display put on in a church.

But this!! food in boxes left in the corner to be collected!!

Well call me old fashioned, but even the songs were out of keeping for me, no singing of We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, for it is fed and watered by Gods Almighty hand.

Or All things bright and beautiful

NO      NO        NO

Instead what we got was, was this tosh,  God is fab, God is great, he is strong and he's my mate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!No hes not he is to be revered and worshipped, not a blinking mate.

What idiot wrote that!

Sorry doesnt do it for me, and although the kids do the actions, where is the beauty in the words or the service, come on Church of England you could do a sight better.

If you dont i will do my own in the back garden, songs and all.Even if its just me and the birds singing along, how is this meant to inspire, answer it does not. Bring back a proper Church of England Service with all its beauty. This service was getting down with the kids, well dont get down bring them up, make them sit quietly and worship.Bring back the bales of hay from the farm, the plaited loaves, pumpkins, lets see the food on display, let the kids see food is not bought just from the supermarket and kept in a bag to be picked up. I for one would appreciate something a bit better for our children, .

Tea time and ppickles with martin and laura

 A lovely warm  glow from lauras handmade candles, and a finger buffet and beer to eat.

 A little visit from Lady Gaga the family pet, who is cute and friendly, and runs about in her ball.

 Peeling the pickled onions, a few tears caused by the smell, see lauras teary eyes as she has a cuddle.

 Me with my bowl of pickles, we also did red cabbage, so we were pleased with our preserves.

And here is the result, pickles, red cabbage, and because it is thirsty work, a nice glass of beer to help the pickling along. A lovely evening together, a few beers, and eats a really nice family evening at laura and martins.

Craft page a month September 2011

What a lot of craftwork i achieved this month. It was an amigurumi crochet along with Suzeahari on Ravelry that started it off. The tiny creatures are japanese in origin and we all had a great time sharing our crafts withothers on the site, uploading our pics and agging one another on to do more!! The birdie in a nest was from a blog called yellow pink and sparkly and she wrote to say how much she liked it, always nice to have a comment from a designer of a pattern.

 Tinsel Teddy is going to feature more prominently on Naked Sundays fundraiser blog, i made him and also donated the pink ukelele to raise money for Spina Bifida, a cause dear to our hearts.

 For those chilly days of winter to come a pair of scrap yarn fingerless gloves to match a bag i have made.

 This bear with a balloon is from malaysian born suezeaharis blog bodynsoul, she really liked what i had made and i called him snowflake, he looks like he is dropping from the sky on a parachute of balloons.

 Something a little different this month, 10 cards, all handmade by me, i had a fun afternoon doing this, a lovely handmade and special gift of a card is always nice to receive.

 Then there is this retro little pinny i made after seeing one in a hop for £18 can you believe it, and seeing libertys in London were offering a course at £75 oh and you got the material free (big deal) i made this myself out of scraps cost nil skill not too hard. Nice and pretty.

 A random project from a craft book a button threaded heart with attached gingham bow for the bedroom.

 Something Knitted, out of precious wool sent to me by my friend on ravelry Donna from Ottawa in Cananda, I knitted a close neck Cowl , in this hand sheared and hand died wool all the way from Canada just for me. The stitch pattern is feather and fan and looks like lace.

This is Mr Tipsy frog, another Amigurumi project. I lay him down on bottles of beer for his photo shoot but cannot find it now, we all had  a good laugh at how drunk he looked with his guiness brooch propped at the side of his mouth. A productive month, lots done and new crafts achieved.

September in the Garden

 The Bush Roses have flowered their little hearts out this year, we must have had a few hundred blooms out at one time what a beauty it has been, i shall miss seeing the roses when i get up and look out of the window, they are always so cheerful and pretty first thing, what a wooosh to the senses.

 The last of the geraniums is still a vivid pink, its last show for this year before we plant up new baskets at the weekend.

 Two Nicotiana plants that i bought in late summer, that have done a great job giving that bit of extra colour through August to late September and inexpensive, always a bonus.

 This is a plant called Phlox and it s scent is wonderful, it needs moving to a more prominent spot, note to self MOVE IT.

 Lobelia and Begonias that have been in flower since late spring, just going over in Bloom now.

 Above picture taken on a hazy afternoon, doesnt it look lovely, the lemon roses are next doors, but as they peep over my fence, mine to look at. Soon the flowers will be gone, and replaced by the reds and golds of Autumn proper, but for now this is a look into my wonderful garden.

It was a lovely warm afternoon, and deciding to take some last minute pictures of this month in the garden, found lots of colour still to see.Some plants in the baskets are definately going over now, but before we plant up the hanging baskets afresh this weekend with violas and primroses. This is my lovely garden in its late September Glory.

Tinsel Teddy ready to rock for Naked Sunday

Here he is the latest addition to Naked Sunday, ready to rock or bounce about the Drum kit with Teg, jump to the keyboard of Dan, or have a sit on the base guitar of laura, of course Martin may lassoo him to the microphone for Tinseltown Tonight, the new Christmas song  soon to be ready. Ready to raise money for good causes, He will be up for auction by raffle ticket along with a lovely brand new ukelele seen here in pink. My bit of help for ASBAH now known as SMILE. Naked Sunday have had some encouraging comments on a website i am on called Ravelry, from Norway, America , Australia and Malaysia. The pattern used is from Teddies for Tragedies, and can be downloaded from Ravelry for free. Everyone needs a Teddy. Catch up with Naked Sunday via My space, or Martins Blog which has a link to this one. May you all give generously who read this and for the Band hope you do well and have a great time out and about.

Antiques road trip meets meeeeeeeeeeeeee

Come on theres no fool like an old fool, ....when i saw Charles Hanson the Auctioneer from Bargain Hunt, and now in another antiques show  called Antiques road trip unexpectedly being filmed, though i didnt notice the cameras DOH!!! I yelled oooh i see you all the time we always watch you.....Oh you foolish woman i could do with a lock on my mouth shtum!! Anyway he was very nice and came back to Laura and myself who were lurking in the alleyway , avoiding the filming and very kindly  took time out and had his picture taken with me by Laura. It was very kind of him.I have laughed myself silly all day, i may be a fool but at least i can laugh at myself hahaha,!!!!!!!!!

Autumn, Season of Mists and Mellow fruitfullness

I look for the signs of autumn every year by the golden morning light and the birdsong, robins especially, for me it heralds that autumn has started . It is known as the season of mists and mellow fruitfullness, from a poem by Louis Macneice. The trees are heavy with crab apples, brambleberries,.The cupboard has bramble berry jam in it, homemade, damson chutney, and spiced apple chutney. So that in the winter we can eat a little of summer and autumns bounty..

 

The Hawthorn full of berries for the birds

The trees are slowly changing colour

A tiny late sunflower

The robin sings his autumn tune

Cake and create Night September 14th

CANDLE MAKING.....the evening got offf to a hectic start with everyone either stuck in traffic, or late  in from work, so the venue was changed from Katies to my house.
Everyone gathered, some with an assortment or candle pretties, to mqke their candles in. Or cups and mugs were loaned.
I did mine in two pretty cups and saucers, one was a vintage victorian cup and saucer, if i say so myself, it has turned out wonderfully well!!!!
It was harder and messier than we thought it would be, however another craft tried out.
Some of us....thats you zoe, took to drink!!

Katie melting wax

Laura deciding on a decoration

Me cooling the cups of wax in cold water

Zoe....Hectic day at work, taking to drink

Pictures of us all above melting the candle wax , or putting it into cups.

Candle mold and wick



Katies pretty blue candle in a cup




Zoe and lauras creations still in molds waiting to cool




Laura and i made these tea tree lights..very pretty




Lauras pretty trinket boxes now candle lights




Our cndle lights all together on show




My cup and saucer light




My victorian cup with assorted sequins on top of the candle, love it♥

 So another night of cake and create comes to an end, look forward to the next one on the 28th september. Thanks to all who took part, thats Katie, Zoe, Laursa and myself. I had better mention that we had chocolate eclairs, my treat and also white chocolate chip cookies, katies treat.

Food and Drink Festival Ludlow 2011 Sept 11th

What a great weekend at the Ludlow food and drink festival, lots of people come from all over the world to enjoy the delights of this foody occasion. We participated in a little light refreshment, a few cheese tastings, pickles and chutneys. Bread was bought, Beer was certainly bought, the new favourite is Old Scrooge at 6.6 percent.

                                        WINDOW DRESSING COMPETITION LUDLOW

                         AND NOW FOR SOME PHOTOS OF LUDLOW OLD TOWN