Fox and Hedgehog by Jane McGinley

Friday 31 December 2010

Happy New Year!!

Fed up with the push and shove and general hullabaloo of London on New Year's Eve, we've decided to get away from it all and spend a couple of nights in the deepest, darkest countryside of England... more on that to come (next year) but here's wishing a very Happy New Year to one and all! Chin chin!

Wednesday 29 December 2010

Retro Christmas Decs

Talking of handmade Christmas decorations, I spotted this little fellow on Simon's parent's Christmas tree on Boxing Day and wanted to share him with you! Simon made him when he was at nursery school all those years ago... Just amazing! I know who I'm going to rope in for making decorations next year!

Saturday 11 December 2010

Christmas Decoration Making

On Thursday I spent a wonderful evening with my good friends Kate & Chloe enjoying good food (the first proper feasting of this season), drinking mulled wine and making Christmas decorations for our respective trees.

I made some spiral shapes from beautiful patterned origami paper that Chloe found in Muji and will now thread them with cotton to hang from the branches.

Here's a picture of them:


And HERE's a good tuition on how to make them and put 6 of them together to make a star!


Tuesday 30 November 2010

Secret London

I've been asked to arrange our Christmas work party this year and whilst researching, I remembered a very good book my friend Caitlin showed me a couple of years ago - Secret London.

They have a website HERE and it lists all interesting, quirky and hidden attractions in London and is a very good source of ideas for things to do! There's a lot of places I didn't know existed and houses that I didn't even know I could go into!!

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Badger Cross Stitch

I spotted these two little fellows hiding in a nook when I visited my good and talented friend, K, one half of Magpie Inventions at the weekend.


Monday 15 November 2010

Hausu


Meet Snowy, the cat from the hilarious Japanese comedy horror movie, Hausu
from 1977. Just have a watch of the Killer lampshade scene! Amazing!

Sunday 14 November 2010

Lampshades

Talking of lampshades, at the weekend, my friend Chloe and I traveled down to Lewes in East Sussex (I just can't keep away from that place!) to visit basket maker extraordinaire, Annemarie O'Sullivan to learn how make our very own (lampshades)!

We were both really excited about this course and had been looking forward to it for a couple of months! I went along with an idea in my head of what I wanted my lampshade to look like, pretty much like one you may have found in a home in the 70s, incorporating traditional basket weaving techniques, but wasn't totally clear about the shape I wanted.

When we arrived we were opened to a whole world of different ideas; techniques, materials and shapes from the books Annemarie showed us, to the different examples she had, both lampshades she had made herself or picked up from various places. There is just SO much you can do, the possibilities are endless. I discovered weaved lampshades, lampshades made from willow, cane, round shades, long shades, different coloured shades, more sculptural shades... I very nearly became completely overwhelmed by what can be achieved, but I regained control and stuck to what I first envisaged, so the only aspect that developed was the shape I wanted it to be. For this, I was inspired by a willow pot in Annemarie's kitchen, it was lovely and rounded and I could see the shape being able to work as a lampshade, yes, this was the one, so I measured out everything and got started!

It was really nice, because Chloe had similar ideas, in terms of the materials and techniques she wanted to use for her lampshade, so we were able to talk through our processes together, and it was so great to see them both taking form - Chloe opted for a beautiful organic, pumpkin shape. And in the end, they both turned out completely different from each other, and also slightly different from what we had expected, each with a character of their own completely!

Here's just a few photos of our progress throughout the day...

Selecting your willow...
Securing the base
Weaving the first band
Weaving the second band
Finishing offA lampshade!

Saturday 6 November 2010

Mulled Cider

I'm off to a bonfire / diwali party tonight and my liquid contribution is this - the most perfect (and my favourite) drink for this time of year - mulled cider!


Here's what you will need -

Cider - about 2 litres of the good stuff, enough to fill a large saucepan
2 apples, cut into quarters and studded with about 10 cloves
1 orange, cut into slices (you can squeeze the juice out into the pan before popping them in)
2 cinnamon sticks
a pinch of grated nutmeg
3 tbsp caster sugar or to taste
a good ol' vicious slug of dark rum

Put all ingredients, except dark rum, into a large saucepan and really gently simmer (do not boil or you'll loose all of your alcohol) for about 20 minutes. When it's good and warmed through, glug in your rum and serve in glasses. Mmm mmm!

Chin chin!

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Tapestry in progress

Some photos of how the tapestry is coming along....


Friday 29 October 2010

William Hope's, spirit photographs

From today's Guardian -

Halloween hauntings: William Hope's spirit photographs

In the spirit of Halloween, brave a look at the spooky photographs of paranormal investigator William Hope (1863–1933), who used multiple exposure techniques to render the appearance of ghostly apparitions. Although his deception was publicly exposed in 1922, he continued to dabble in the dark arts






Thursday 28 October 2010

Buttons

This is just a very short post, but I had to make Ray-Stitch known to the world. I'm in love with Ray-Stitch, just look at the lovely buttons you can buy from them below - the middle ones are amazing! They also stock all kinds of beautiful fabrics too and ribbons and trims and all the lovely, lovely things one can think of that are associated with sewing and knitting. Ahh. Love.




Wednesday 27 October 2010

Crocheted Bottles and Other Homeware

I love these so much that I think I'm going to have to learn how to use that crochet hook I've got under the bed in a box somewhere....!

Or you can buy them HERE at FreshlyFound.


Tuesday 19 October 2010

Tapestry

At long last, I've treated myself to a tapestry kit! I was inspired months ago by Simon's aunty (she has beautiful tapestries all over her home; in frames, as cushions and dining room chair seats and she makes them to give as presents!) and now I'm finally all framed up and ready to go!

I found my kit in John Lewis, but it's made by a company called
Cleopatra's Needle, you can by them online HERE. The company specialise in Needlepoint and Cross Stitch kits many which are contemporary designs. I've chosen this one,

a herb pillow with brightly coloured Anemones. I've half completed one of the flowers already, and I'll say it is time consuming and there's a lot of counting involved but it's so addictive and actually really therapeutic!! Just can't wait to get home to carry on with it!!

For more traditional tapestry kits, try
Ehrman Tapestry. There's some really cool ones on here and I've already created my wishlist!

Photos to come...

Wednesday 13 October 2010

The Gardener's Arms

Whilst we were in Lewes, we also visited our favourite pub in town, The Gardener's Arms.


This absolute wonder of a pub always has the most interesting and unusual of ales and ciders on tap from both local and nationwide breweries.

Simon's choice was GYD's,
Firey Fox, a deliciously dry but fruity Welsh cider, and mine a very warming(!), Chilli stout (brewery name to come!) followed by Beachy Head's Original Ale - a scrumptious bitter. Perfect.

Monday 11 October 2010

Pepper's Ghost Magic Lantern Show

This weekend we visited the town of Lewes in East Sussex for the Lewes Folk Festival. The festival took part all over town with many pubs putting on bands and open music sessions, the local halls and schools opened up to hold dance and music workshops and the streets were filled with Morris Dancers. Whilst we were there we were lucky enough to catch the absolutely brilliant, Pepper's Ghost Magic Lantern Show.

The Magic Lantern itself is an original Victorian wooden projector through which a wide range of slides of old photos from the local area are projected, including some that are hand coloured. To accompany and explain the images, prose is read and old local Sussex folk songs are played and sung.


Taxidermy

This weekend I discovered Walter Potter, a Victorian taxidermist from Sussex.

Here is The Kitten Tea Party!

Friday 1 October 2010

Pumpkins

This beautiful fabric by Swedish designer, Jobs Handtryck is perfect for this season. I can't afford to buy it just yet, so for the time being I'm enjoying looking at it on my desktop background at work! Wonderful.


20 Things To Do This Autumn

I saw this article in a local newspaper and thought it were great !!

20 things to do this Autumn -

1. Go apple picking

2. Make a leaf pile and jump into it
3. Buy or knit new jumpers and wear them
4. Start evening classes or teach yourself a new skill
5. Use cinnamon in your cooking

6. Go out into the woods for a walk and enjoy the colours of Autumn
7. Celebrate Halloween
8. Stay at home for Sunday roast
9. Fly kites
10. Wear big scarves and mittens
11. Wear thick, textured tights
12. Make hot chocolate
13. Carve a pumpkin
14. Then roast the seeds

15. Drink more tea to stay warm
16. Eat homemade soup for supper every night
17. Make hot mulled cider !! (my favourite)
18. Crack open the windows at night so you can bundle up under the duvets
19. Roast marshmallows on a bonfire
20. Wear wellies

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Peach Shortbread

It's been far too long since I last done some baking, and having a free Saturday morning, I decided to make some peach shortbread to take to a friend's house for dessert. I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen - an EXCELLENT foodie website created by a chefess (and photographer) in New York working from her home kitchen. You'll find everything you need on here, from simple 10 minute spaghetti with tomato sauce to colourful layered cookie cakes that will take you the whole weekend to make!

OK anyway, so you will need -


200 grams white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder 

360 grams plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
227 grams cold unsalted butter
1 large egg
2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced (about 1/4-inch thick)


Brown your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it smells nutty. Set it in the freezer until solid (about 30 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter a pan. In a bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices. Then blend the solidified brown butter and egg into the flour mixture. It will be crumbly. Pat 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly. Tile peach slices over crumb base in a single layer. Scatter remaining crumbs over peaches and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until top is slightly brown.
Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.Voila!


Mine came out closely resembling a crumble (I think I packed the bottom layer too thick) but it was still pretty damn good (if I may so myself)!

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Lazy Sunday Afternoon...

On Sunday, fancying a bit of a lazy afternoon, we headed out to the Red Lion pub in Ealing. We first discovered this Fullers' gem sometime back at the beginning of the year whilst strolling around off the main road of Ealing Broadway looking for a nice quiet little boozer just like this. This lovely, homely pub has to be one of my London favourites. It has also been one of CAMRAs favourites for the last 5 years!!


The Red Lion serves a wide range of fine ales and good food, and the reason we decided to come, is because Sunday at the Red Lion is PIE DAY!! Pieminister pies are served from 5pm - although we arrived a little earlier than that to enjoy some tasty ales in the beer garden. My choice of tipple was Fuller's Discovery - a light, golden ale with a fruity taste. Simon was on the Golden Delicious from the Burton Bridge Brewery, a slightly more bitter tasting ale than mine but really moorish!

Then the pies came!!
Mine was a Wildshroom and Asparagus and Simon's a Heidi pie - with goat's cheese and herby roasted sweet potato - Just the ticket for a lazy Sunday afternoon! Ahh.


Friday 17 September 2010

Equinox Tide

Also whilst we were in Brittany, we were lucky enough to witness the Autumn equinox tides! The particular place where we were staying has the third most lowest tides in the world next to somewhere in Canada and the south of France! During the lowest tide we experienced (rated 116 on a sliding scale, with 120 being the lowest!!) we were able to pass several beaches and harbours. It was such a surreal feeling to be walking on what is the seabed, and all underwater for most of the year.

The locals also make the most of this time of year to walk out and dig or literally scrape (with ra
kes and claws) for all kinds of shellfish - scallops, razor clams and mussels. There were so many people out gathering and it was so amazing to see them all returning home with their bags and baskets full of their daily catch!

Some photos of our walk below - you can just about make out where the sea begins on the horizon!

Kermaria-an-Isquit

I spent last week on the north coast of Brittany, where it is BEAUTIFUL!! Whilst we were making a little jaunt one day, I spotted something interesting in my guide book that was really close to where we were passing, so we decided to take a detour and go off road to find it. It was the village chapel of Kermaria, a tiny village which nestles amidst corn fields set back from the main road. The reason for our visit was this - the chapel's painted depictions of The Danse Macabre, or The Dance of Death, the last festive dance you dance before you die, brought about during fear of death during the black plague.

The chapel was built around the 1400s and in the 1800s when it came to be demolished, the paintings were uncovered - they had all been white-washed over some time before! And thankfully it was decided to let the chapel stand after all!