Elderflower cordial

Hello again,on another Monday!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.  I knew that I had to stay in this weekend due to too much work, but I knew working continuously for the entire weekend would have been torture so in between jobs I made, (with a couple of helpers!) some elderflower cordial, taken from The River Cottage book.

I was confident this year after picking it last year that I knew where it grew and what it looked like!  So off we went and picked ourselves a good 26 elderflower heads.


Give them a good wash

Add orange and lemon zest and juice, boiling water and leave to stand for 24 hours.

Simmer with 1kg of sugar, strain and hey presto you have yourself 2 litres of elderflower cordial.  For flowers that smell completely rank, when you add boiling water to them, the smell is delectable.

It's so simple, I can't believe I've never made it before, and the taste is fantastic.

Whilst in the kitchen I made a white chocolate and blueberry cake and it really was scrummy (none left now)!  My only error was not using a good quality chocolate as the cheap chocolate was quite difficult to work with, but I'll know for next time!

My WIP hexagon cushion is now complete and sits proudly on my favourite chair.  Don't you just love it when projects get completed.  Rather than get on with the other WIP's I thought I may as well add another one to the mix - a patchwork bolster cushion.  Have you guessed I like patchwork?!

Changing the subject completely - I'm lucky enough to be going to Wimbledon on Wednesday - I've never been and always wanted to go.  My friend's son plays tennis and gets tickets through his club.  She managed to get 3 tickets, 1 for her and 1 each for her 2 boys.  Fortunately for me, 1 of her boys doesn't want to miss England's match (he may regret that based on our previous performances!), so she offered it to me!


See you later on in the week.


TTFN.

The Practical Householder

I am finally getting round to unpacking my goodies from Sussex believe it or not and here a few of them -

These Practical Householder magazine bring a new spin to DIY - don't you love the covers?  A dealer was selling about 20 of them, the price he was offering for the whole lot was too much and he wasn't prepared to do a deal so I settled for just 2.  I have to say I picked both out based on their covers!

From 1958, they contain literally everything you would ever want to build.  It really does emphasis making it yourself rather than buying something ready made, and it does show how resourceful people were, but then again there weren't the choices then as there is now.

For example, there's an ad to buy a kit to make you own guitar

(You might be able to click on the picture to get a better look)

Instructions to build a china cabinet

Making a chandelier

I'm not sure I would want to undertake making an electric blanket - yes, that's right an electric blanket!!

I love 'Fred Theed's Page - chats about this and that!

The original IKEA

Even then, they were conscious of insulating their house's well to save money on fuel bills

Don't you just love this - ' a folding bed tabe, build this table and have breakfast in bed'

I hope you enjoyed that little glimpse into the year 1958! 

I'm back......again!

Morning all!

Thank you all for your well wishes last week, it was really appreciated.

We had a great weekend in London starting off at Portobello Road.  Not having been there before, we weren't too sure where we were going - but judging by the mass of crowds all heading in the same direction, we could guess!

For those who haven't been there before, it's a haven for vintage everything and towards the end is fruit/veg/oils/breads/cheeses and stallholders cooking lots of tasty treats.

Have you ever seen so many vintage sewing machines.

Of course good old CK had to have a shop there and with my trusty Easy Living discount voucher I did feel it would have been rude not to use it before it expired.  (As I have yet to unpack goodies from Sussex and now London! - I'll share those with you on another post).

As there was so much to see at the market it was almost too overwhelming - but a good excuse to go again.

Then off, back in the car heading across London to the South of the river where our hotel was.  I hadn't realised it was Trooping of the Colour so it was so busy and a lot of roads had been shut-off.  The boys were fascinated by the volume of police around and lots of diplomat cars whizzing by!

The hotel was fantastic!  Our room was glorious and we had a snapshot view of the Houses of Parliment as well as a great view of the London Eye, which was even better at night when it was all lit up.

We timed our day by having an early tea at The Rainforest Cafe, a quick cab ride back to the hotel so 1 male member of the family could watch the England game.........

Yesterday was another busy morning on the Duck Tour bus which are WW1 vehicles transformed into yellow duck like vehicles which can also go into water!  For 45 minutes you get a great informed tour round some key London sights, then a drive into the Thames for 30 minutes. Brilliant!

Out again - visit to the Florence Nightingale museum, check-out of hotel, in the car to come home and 2 boys completely flat-out asleep for 2 hours!  Once we got home I opened my presents from friends and family and flaked out with a good bottle of wine and some chocolates!

Feeling a little tired this morning!

Bye for now.

The big 40 weekend!

Yes, that's right - I am 40 this coming Sunday and I'm not excited about being 40, although I'm really, really excited about the weekend ahead.

Last night I went out for a meal with a friend and it's always good to get out, have a good natter, put the world to rights and indulge in a glass of wine.

Today, family are over for a mini celebration, then...............

on Saturday we (hubby, me and the boys) are off to London for the weekend, staying in a swanky hotel with views of Big Ben and Westminster.  There are treats in store hubby promises, so I can't say anymore than what I've told you........!

I feel very naughty about being away for yet another weekend but I have the perfect excuse don't you think?

Anyway, I'll say bye for now and I'll fill you in on the weekend activities next week!

A collector of pretty much everything

What a really, really wet day we had yesterday eh?


Whilst unpacking my new bits and bobs from Sussex, I realised that I seem to have a collection for pretty much everything I own.


I think we all remember collecting things as children - mine were rubbers, pencils, notebooks, book marks and probably a whole lot more.


I wonder what makes us collectamaniacs....em.


I do still indeed collect notebooks and the like, but my collection of 'stuff' now is more varied.  Some, and I stress some of my favourite 'collections' are these -

I know you can only knit with 2 needles at a time but my collection of coloured needles do make me smile.

tea-cups - now I know many bloggers have the same fascination for a good old tea-cup and saucer so I don't feel too bad.

 especially when I pick up this haul at a car boot sale last week for a good old fiver.

pincushions - there is something quite lovely about colourful pins sticking out of a pretty pincushion

beads - now this one definately goes back to when I was a small girl putting my nan's beads round my neck and then slipping into her shoes - I felt very grown up!

I won't mention jugs, hankies, cushions, crochet blankets, Enid Blyton books, Ladybird books, bags, buttons, fabric, brooches, egg cosies- shall I go on????


What do you collect?


PS - Toby collects the dreaded football cards which are around at the moment and Jack collects toilet roll innards (you never know when you might need one, apparently!)

The wanderer returns

Hello All!

Well, we're back after a lovely break in Sussex.  For once, the week was a lovely long one - probably because we jammed packed so much in (as always).  Unfortunately, we're not the sort to sit, relax and lounge on a beach all day.  Normally, we return feeling we need another holiday!

Anyway, we stayed in a lovely converted barn at a place called Vines Cross, with only a couple of neighbours.  Views were wonderful and we woke listening to a cuckoo and watching swallows dart between barns - all very Enid Blyton!  Here's a little snapshot of our barn.

Days were spent at many National Trust properties, time at the beach, lots of walking following Pooh Bear's stomping ground in Ashdown Forest (my favourite part of the holiday), and of course a holiday wouldn't be a holiday without some thrifting and a car boot sale or two!  Those parts, I'll save for my next post.

For now, here's a little snapshot of our week.  Only 1 wet day out of 7 so we can't complain.

Right on with work today - self-employment and holidays just don't mix!  Hopefully I'll get a chance to pop by everyone's blogs later, oh and hello to my new followers!  See you during the week.