poppy

This is the second poppy painting and my favourite, it is acrylic on canvass. I painted it as a wedding present for a friend of mine. I love the way the centre of the poppy seems to come out of the painting. I love poppies for their deep colour, this was my second painting ever, so I was very pleased with the results. Sometimes I wonder why I don't do more painting! There are just not enough hours in the day. 

We are all a little fragile

I used to read lots of blogs, in fact I had subscribed to so many there was hardly enough time for me to write my own! I would create a new project, photograph it and be all enthusiastic about writing it up and showing the world what I had done, however, the first thing I usually did was look at what everyone else was up to. By the time I had seen everyone else's projects mine suddenly did not seem so great. Suddenly I would lose interest in what I had done, often not blogging it at all.

We are all human as children we are grouped together and put in order, tests tell us where we are in the scale of who is better at tests, that comparisons become human nature, we do it without thinking. We walk into a room and we notice who is thinner or prettier or who has the nicest dress, we might cover it up, we might smile and engage in small talk, but at the back of our minds is this small 7year old girl who knows exactly where she stands in the group.

What makes matters worse is that we censor what we write, we project a truth about ourselves that is not entirely the whole truth. Mostly because no-one really wants to read that you found a spot on your chin, but also because we feel that we have to have it together, because it seems everyone else is! So today's post is about not getting it together!

My friends are always giving me so much encouragement, they marvel at my new creations which really boosts me, but they also believe that I a some sort of super woman. A lovely friend of mine comes here to learn how to sew and making mistakes is part of the learning process but she told me she expects I never made a mistake! I told her I had to throw away most of what I made for years before another wonderful friend did exactly what I am doing, took me aside and very patiently helped me to sew.

So here is my little confession! Since I moved my cooker has not been getting up to the correct temperature, however this only became clear when another fault developed and I had an engineer come out. Well every time I have tried to bake cakes they have ended up flat as pancakes! They were often so bad that I did not even tell anyone I had made them! I would hide them in the bin. I could not understand why I was doing exactly what I had done for years but it just did not work.

I joined a marvellous ladies group here in the village called Blakes Belles, I had signed up for a cake decorating day and had to bring along some home made cakes! EEK! So I decided that I would buy a cake! big mistake! I did not hide the fact that I had bought my cake but what I did not realise is that shop bought cakes are very soft! Each time I touched my cake with the icing, a huge chunk would come away!

here it is!

What a disaster! It was so terrible but the teacher reassured me that it would all be ok! I watched everyone else smooth over their buttercream with envy! I found it quite funny and it made me realise that cheaters don't win! 

The teacher was correct though! Once the royal icing was over the top of the cake the disasters had been covered up! It was a miracle! 

I have always been wanting to try cake decorating, and the day was wonderful, once it got down to making things with the icing I was fully absorbed as was everyone else. The day was wonderful, everyone went home with beaming smiles because they had made cakes they were proud of! 

and so I did finally create a cake to be proud of, even if it was a bit of a journey. Like everything in life, it was a lesson learnt - nothing really is lost, it is just a case of perseverance! 

Golden harvest!

I thought I would try some different varieties of carrots on my little allotment.
I got these seeds from an on line catalogue they were a mixed variety some were purple others were yellow. They have grown up beautifully, and these taste divine!

I think carrots in the shops are pretty tasteless unless you buy organic, but by far are the ones you can pull up yourself, wash off and eat!

Carrots are very simple I found the hardest part is the thinning out, it seems so cruel to pull out the tiny seedlings, but unless you do the carrots don't have room to grow. The other great thing about carrots is that you can plant all year round, summer and winter.

Strawberry Shortcake Butterflies

A friend of mine gave me a butterfly cutter that came with a cake decorating magazine, I was having a tea party for friends and thought it would make a different version of the strawberry shortcakes. Mine were just a simple outline of a butterfly but you may be able to get the push button ones from a cake decorating shop that does the impression as well as the cut.

You will discover there are two types of shortcake recipes some versions create a softer mix which is added to a shortbread mould, but this recipe requires a mix that can be rolled out.

Many recipes will allow you to use either butter or margarine, but for shortbread it really does have to be butter, it is not only traditional but gives shortbread its taste, using margarine will give you a bland tasting shortbread. I know butter is very expensive compared with stork, but if you are going to the trouble to make something why scrimp on the ingredients?

200g / 8 oz of soft butter (leave at room temperature for a while it makes beating easier)
100g / 4 oz Caster sugar
250g / 10oz Plain flour
50g / 2 oz Semolina

To decorate: Whipped cream, strawberries and a little strawberry jam.
If you are using fresh cream you need to keep them in the fridge until ready to serve, or you could use buttercream.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, you will see the mixture gets paler the more you beat. When it drops off the beaters easily it is about right

Using a fork, gradually mix in the semolina and flour until the mixture finally comes together, try not to handle it too much or you will lose the air from the mixture.

Press together to form a large ball and then place on a floured surface.

Flour your rolling pin and roll out until it is about 1/2cm thick.

Starting at the edge of the dough, cut the butterfly shapes out carefully - press into the mixture and then use a fish slice underneath to transfer to a greased baking tray, then remove the cutter. It helps to maintain the shape of the butterflies.

Make in pairs cutting the second butterfly along the middle to divide the top wings, move the wings slightly apart from each other so that they will cook separately.

Using a cocktail stick or a butter knife, make indentations to the wings like a butterfly.

Keep cutting the butterflies in pairs until all the mixture has been used up.

Bake in a moderate oven, 160c / 325F or GM 3 for around 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Do not touch the biscuits until they have cooled a little as they will be very soft and fragile. After 20 minutes or so gently ease them off the baking tray and put them on a cooling rack, until they have cooled down completely. (essential as the cream will run if the biscuits are hot).

Take one of the flat butterfly biscuits and place two teaspoons of cream and half a strawberry on each side, and cover with a small spoonful of jam.

Add another small spoonful of cream in the centre, and then press the inside edge of the wing into the centre cream and allow to gently rest on the strawberry. Repeat for the other side.

Continue until you have created all your butterflies.

You can dust with a little icing sugar if you wish, or some edible glitter, and serve.

Lavender Harvest

The front garden gets full sun and very little rain so I planted a lavender hedge all along the front which has thrived.

The problem comes is what to do with it all? It seems such a shame to let it go to waste. I wait until the bees have had their fill and then bring it in to dry for a while.

Then I remembered I had some pretty organza left over from when I made some nets. I also adore my little baby lock overlocker, it makes it so easy to make these pretty little bags. My friend Jo taught me how to make the lavender bottles.

Lavender is good for us in so many ways, not only is it a calming herb, but an anti-septic too. These little bags are great to keep in drawers or the wardrobe as they keep clothes smelling fresh and ensures the moths don't take up residence in my favourite dress!

If you wish to find out more about lavender click here

Re-framing

I like re-framing, it is a challenge sometimes, especially today, I was in a foul mood because I had to go all the way to Portsmouth with my documentation to get the car taxed. I was mostly annoyed with myself because I had lost my paperwork, I had also not got organised enough to get the new address sorted, and now I was up against the clock to get it completed on time before the end of the month. Grumpy, impatient and frustrated, I drove towards Portsmouth. But then in comes re-framing, it is a way of changing the way you think, I was driving along on a Monday morning, the wind blowing through my hair because I had the roof down, and the sun was shining brightly.

I realised how lucky I am really, to have a car like this, and to be driving along with the money to pay for the tax and all the other things. My mood lifted and I started to enjoy my drive.

I also had a reframing session last week, I did not have to rush, I had taken another day's holiday and decided to take a leisurely bath. When I first took the flat I was a little disappointed that the bathroom did not have a window, the bathroom I had before had a lovely sunny window which made my little glass bottles sparkle. However, I lit a few candles and shut the door and the realisation hit me, that it was the perfect place to do meditation, because I could shut the door and be in the dark no matter what time of day.

So I no longer mourned the loss of a window in the bathroom, because not only do I have a mediation space, but it is one that I can use night or day.

Tayberries

It was a short spell of sunshine that made the idea of pick your own tempting as we passed Roundstone Farm. http://www.roundstonefarm.co.uk/

 The  fruit wasn't as well signposted, and it was a little muddy underfoot, so we ended up next to the bayberry bushes and could not find raspberries anywhere.

Tayberries are a cross between black berries and raspberries, but they have their own unique flavour.

This took days to strain but well worth the effort, it does mean that you get a very good jam base that can be used as a basis for sorbets and puddings, mixed with apple works well, or simply little jam tarts!

The syrup is good on ice cream, or combined with fizzy water for a nice long drink. The best thing about eating the jelly is the memory of spending the afternoon gathering the fruits together, it was the first bright day for a while and we picked them together.

There is definitely something goddess like, to have these little pots sitting in the pantry.