THE POWER OF STEAM

Now, you may think i’m a “nerd” or a “geek” for this post but, frankly  i don’t care…I adore steam trains, there is a magical beauty in these machines that you can never get anywhere else…The smell of the smoke as it billows out of the chimney, the sweet “chuff chuffing” sound as she pulls away from the station and the coal smudged face of the fireman as he happily poses for pictures with over- enthusiastic steam fans.

Sadly, one day these beautiful creations shall get to the point where they can’t “chuff chuff” anymore, shall never feel the smoke billowing from her chimney or the fireman lovingly shovelling coal into her fire. So we must make the most of these slices of history, and feel the tingle of anticipation as it pulls into the station with a million other enthusiasts crowding around her desperate for a picture of this gorgeous machine, whilst we still can.

The Kindness of Strangers and a Tad-ah moment

Hi guys :) Have you had a good week? Mine's been super busy!!

This is the face of Marie when i'm baking and not paying enough attention to her! ;) Isn't she looking so grown up now?

I've been a busy bee in the kitchen, We have a new shop opened in the village  and they were selling 200g punnets of strawberries for 79p! So, as usual when i get fruit, i made jam!

Look at that lovely rich colour! 

Sure, it only made 1 jar, but that's enough for me and The Bearded Wonder! 

I also canned my very first batch of apple pie filling, doesn't it look nice? 

I made the usual batch of scones...and a big ta dah moment! 

I made bread rolls!!! Ta daaahh!!! Now, everyone who  knows me knows that i have had..um... issues with baking bread, i just couldn't get it right! It either turned out like a brick, went doughy in the middle and black on the outside, or was completely inedible.

So after months of scouring the internet for that elusive easy bread recipe, i found one in an old cookbook at the back of my drawer! 

Ta-dah! Yum! They were super easy and super soft and scrummy! So we scoffed two each with some homemade leek and potato soup and slathered in butter :)

The kindness of strangers. Isn't that a lovely sentence? Well, I got to say it twice this week! 

First, last Sunday i got the most AMAZING gift of a vintage Jones hand-crank sewing machine off freecycle. It came complete with needles,bobbins,feet, original receipts, including one with a King George VI stamp! 

The second was this lovely dining table and chairs, which has taken up residence in my "sewing room" haha, too grand a title for a room with barely anything in it!

 I also found a fun little fabric with sheep on it and made a wee pin cushion 

How has your week been? Have you had any nice surprises?

My First (Kind Of) Embroidery Challenge!And a Lovely Heirloom

Hi guys :) Remember Sunbonnet Sue from yesterday?

Well i've decided to give myself a little challenge and make a months of the year wall hanging featuring Sue in various months and outfits/ poses etc

It's a challenge but not at the same time as i don't have a deadline... does that make sense? lol

I've completed January, Feb and March already and i'm halfway through April. 

Aren't they the cutest? :)

i also thought i'd show you my needle case. I got it off my great nana about 10 years ago before she passed away, and she'd had it for years before me so i'm guessing it is between 50-80 years old, sadly it is pretty thread bare near the top and i don't want it to get worse so i'm going to "retire" it in a safe place, make a new one and name it Esther after her :)

i'm taking part in a Homeacre Blog Hop  with Our Simple Life :)

(I hope i've done it right!)

Pretty embroidery :) a little goes a long way

Hi guys :)

Have you had a nice week so far? Mine hasn't been too bad, i've suddenly become obsessed with embroidery! I used to do it years ago but it got forgotten about but now i am bringing it back! :)

Remember the table i found? Well, i found a pretty big flannel cot blanket in our local charity shop for 99p! They had an actual tablecloth but it was £2.99 and i only had £1 on me so i went for the cheaper option ;)

It turns out a little goes a long way!

I made and embroidered the table cloth

A lovely little "favourite things" bag to take my crochet along to my knit and natter group

 A little peg bag :) Isn't she sweet? The old one flew away in the wind

(Taking the flaming pegs with it too! So no washing for me until Monday,when i get more)

And finally, i'm starting a new wall hanging, using this lovely little design called "Sunbonnet Sue", it's going to have all the months of the year on it, i'm so looking forward to making it :)

i shall be doing lots more in between though, I've been looking at almost everything in the house thinking "oooh can i embroider that?"

Of course, no blog post would be complete without pictures of lovely Marie (pain in the royal backside now she is starting to come out of her shell)

She has claimed my new work basket as a bed

Waiting politely for her tea

I can't believe i forgot to show you these! We got them a few weeks ago from a lovely lady off freecycle :) aren't they divine? The first one is a rocker:

The second one is normal, i'm currently re upholstering them with patchwork fabric, but the more i look at them, the more i think it might just be best to keep them as they are but make new covers instea? and some embroidered cushions? haha

What do you think?

Wonderful things :)

Hi Guys :) How have you been?

It has been a slow week here,not much doing until yesterday when EVERYTHING happened haha. The weather has been gorgeous here! I have lots of washing done, which is always a bonus, i love the smell of air dried laundry.

Look at this little beauty! I found it sadly awaiting to go to the tip! Well, i couldn't let that happen, so i grabbed it and now it's in a lovely new job as a coffee table ;) 

Isn't the design lovely?  I'll have to find a nice tablecloth and coasters

Marie had a new box to play with, this one contained the most DIVINE chocolates ever! It was sent as a free sample from Hotel Chocolat (not affiliated,sadly) when i signed up to Quidco, i was going to do a proper review, but i can't really do that without pictures, and they didn't last long enough for me to take any! Whoops!

 Lazy cat sunbathing :)

We walked to the town to do some shopping :)

 Everywhere i looked was lambs! In almost every field!

i'm only slightly obsessed ;) 

I canned some pasta sauce and lemonade concentrate

I made a chicken casserole, as i had a lot of chicken leftover from when i made curry 

And, every household staple, scones. We love them in our house!

So, what have you been up to? I'm off to do another load of hand washing, so wish me luck! :)

Sewing Up A Storm

 Hi guys! :) 

What a busy week! I have been sewing up a storm! I am determined to have an almost fully handmade wardrobe, that's what its all been about this week!

I finally added some legs to my mannequin, using a pair of old shorts! Ignore the ugly look of her so far, she isn't finished as i ran out of tape! haha.

 I'm going to make a cover for her eventually too, as soon as i get a decent stretchy fabric

I upcycled an old jumper and turned it into a skirt :)

I took the sleeves and made yet another set of slippers (I'm obsessed)

I made another skirt out of an old sheet (i know, i know, it desperately needs ironed)

And finally, i made myself a pair of pyjama shorts! They are far from perfect, and some of the stitching is terrible, so ignore it, but i love them! I didn't have enough material at first, but i added two lace panels on the sides so they fit comfortably :)

I've been baking a lot this week too, making lots of pies for the freezer and ginger snaps and scones! yum!

Marie doing her best meerkat impression, she has grown so much! We have had her 3 weeks today! Already!

Woohoo! A sunbeam! 

She has finally discovered the outside world, and now happily sits for hours watching the birdies :)

I'm off to make some more ginger snaps as they have mysteriously disappeared ;) 

*Wanders off, whistling innocently*