Peg Bag

This morning Andy announced he would be buying a new peg bag whilst out shopping. Oh no, I thought! I will make one and reuse the hanger from the broken one. I think he was sceptical that this would happen any time soon, which I took as a challenge and had finished this by the time he got back :)

The fabric is a Laura Ashley one which I have had laying about for years. I think it's worked out ok, I made it up as I went along as I tend to do with most sewing projects. Learning to sew properly is on my 'to do' list.....

 

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Rhubarb

I have been spending quite a lot of time at the allotment recently so not much blogging has been happening, too busy doing and no time to write about it!

Our plot has quite a bit of rhubarb which was ready as soon as we got the plot so we have been making the most of it...

Jam

Rhubarb Soda Bread

(recipe from 'A Girl Called Jack')

http://agirlcalledjack.com/2014/05/10/rhubarb-and-ginger-soda-bread/

 

And then there is this amazing cheesecake which I made for Andy's birthday...

(recipe from River Cottage)

http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/rhubarb-and-ginger-cheesecake/

 

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New Allotment

The past two weeks have been a bit of a mad rush. A friend of mine was offered an allotment and suggested to me that we take it on together. It seemed like a great idea as I had tried on my own before and it was difficult around my caring responsibilities and this allotment was very near my sons school....

Well the sun was out so we got cracking with it! Here's what we have done so far. I think it's fair to say that my friend has done the majority of the digging!

We also put up our own shed. I think there were a lot of doubtful faces around the allotments when we started it, but no help was needed!

When we took the plot on there was already herbs, rhubarb and raspberries planted...

.....now it's time for sowing and growing :)

 

 

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'Y' Shaped Art

A bit of Zendoodling. I started it off by drawing around one of my autistic son's sticks. I don't know why he collects y-shaped sticks, but he is nearly never without one and he now has all the family and his carers looking out for them and if necessary, making them. The house is full of them :)

 

 

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Cushion

I finished this cushion and officially have no half finished knitting/crochet projects on the go! Until I start something else tonight.....

The pattern is called Copenhagen Pillow and can be found at

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/copenhagen-pillow

 

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Retro Circles Car Blanket

I finally finished my retro circles blanket. I've made this for myself to have in the car for the colder days when I sit outside school on the school run. It's not quite as big as I'd have liked but I couldn't find anymore of the yarn where I originally bought it. Frustrating. I think I'd like to do another one of these in lighter colours, maybe cotton but I need a break from circles right now!

The pattern can be found at

http://threebeansinapodcrochet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/retro-circles-tutorial.html

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Full Moon Feast - Hunger Moon

The full moon on Friday evening reminded me of this book I bought a while ago....

I got it out and discovered that it starts with February's moon, Hunger Moon, so I thought I'd read the first chapter and have a go at cooking one of the recipes. The book is divided into a chapter for each moon and focuses on what foods are available at these times. I am going to try and read a chapter around each full moon and give one of the recipes a go. It won't always be local foods for me because the author is American but there are similarities and my aim is really to read the book and try out a few new recipes.

This moon, the book discussed the authors history with food and this being a time in the year when food supplies are traditionally low. She also touches on farming/farmers markets and about making friends with vegetables that you may be less familiar with by trying different varieties and good recipes. With this in mind, I realised that I had all the necessary ingredients from our local veg box to make the 'Beet Borscht'.

Beetroot is a vegetable I usually only eat with salad, fresh or pickled. I have been juicing some recently too, but I never really cook with it. I have 2 childhood memories involving beetroot, one is my mum making Borscht and the smell filling the house in not a very nice way and the other is of having pickled beetroot on top of either a stew or pie with my childminder's family - not unpleasant but not something I was used to at home!

Here's my beautifully coloured soup :)

I quite liked this borscht, it was nice and chunky and had good flavours. Gaby and I will be having the leftovers tonight :)

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