I give up......

It's a wet, miserable Sunday and I have kiddies to read to, animals to feed and lunches to make for pre-school. I was going to try and get my cupcake vs muffin comparison on the go and make some cupacakes to rival the lemon muffins I made a while ago, but yet again time, priorities and energy have conspired against me.
I am not going to fight it any more - clearly for me, the cupcake is a less useful and more treat-like cousin to the easy to make, easy to bake and useful muffin that is fast becoming a staple in our house.
Today I made some cheese, cumin and pumpkin muffins so that toddler cherub has some variety to her cheese sandwich option this week.
SOOOOO easy and tasty. That's it, the jury rules in favour of muffins if not purely for practicalities for this SAHM momma.

Long live the muffin.

Sunday sewing......

It's Sunday, it's pouring with rain and the girls are busy playing in a pile of cushions. So I have a few minutes to play with.....

I decided to run myself up a sewing machine cover, as I really dislike the white plastic sleeve that came with the machine. It doesn't look nice and it hardly encourages me to cover the machine when not in use and so dust has been collecting (naughty me).

I pulled out some check material I had bought to recover my ironing board - a super quick, easy job. I simply pulled off the old one, cut around it as a template and then sewed the new cover onto the old one by folding the edge over and sewing along the inside of the pull cord so that the cord was still free and was able to still pull tight underneath.

Anyhow, I used that as a lining and pulled out two lovely fat quarters for the outer cover. Patterns that would somehow convert the sewing machine into an attractive object d'art.......well almost!

 

 I measured up the sides and length and width of the old plastic cover and used that as a template for the cutting of the new one, so the base length I cut about 16 inches with an extra 7 inches either side for the side panels. The height came out at 12 inches with another 5 inches for the top panel.

I sewed up the long sides first and then the top edges  - I did this from the inside and then I turned the material the right way around and ran over every edge to give it a little more form when it sits on the machine. It certainly makes me remember to cover the machine when not in use now and that corner of my room is a little more interesting than before.

        

So the wee ones are needing entertaining now - but my toddler has decided she needs mummy to sew her toy iron a cover now too - how cute is that!

Oh for Spring........

Let's get some Spring cheer into the house and with it a beautiful scent to fill the senses with a promise of what is to come.......

A Balloon ball to lift my spirits.....

My car is old and tired and is now in need of some major repair work to make it go again. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. It' going to cost heaps to get it fixed.....probably more than the car is worth; however, I don't have four times the amount to buy a better second-hand car.
So........ it gets fixed and I have to deal with the bill.

And it is in the middle of this reality of cars and financial woes that I found myself reaching for some comfort in my fabric stash.

I looked online for a simple project that would be useful to my wee ones and provide me with a little happiness in a job well done.

So whilst toddler cherub was at pre-school and wee cherub snoozed in her cot, I launched into Emma Jones' beautifully simple Cloth Balloon Ball pattern and made one with tags, just for the fun of it.

There were three rounds of pleasure felt. One, immediately upon completion, I just loved how it looked - Two, when wee cherub woke up and her eyes widened at the colours before batting it round the room - and Three, when toddler cherub got home and squealed with delight at booting it around the house with her sister.

Cars will come and go, bills will eventually get paid off, although there will, undoubtedly, be others to follow in the future; but the moments with my wee ones and that balloon ball....free......actually, priceless and will be with me forever.

Mug Rug.....

I saw a free template, from Sara at The Split Stitch, for how to make these Mug Rugs at Wild Olive and I just LOVE them.

How cute is that?!

I was so excited that I ran for my fabric scrap box and pulled together my own version last night. It's a bit rough round the edges but not bad for a novice sewer first try :)

I didn't have any trim this time round for the front:

And I kept the back simple as the design is so lovely:



I shall take some time to design some embroidery side panels and get some nice trim to go down the middle too and I can see these shaping up as presents for family and friends coupled with a new mug and their favourite hot beverage, maybe some belgian hot chocolate and marshmallows...mmmm.......



recyclable, reusable, beautiful wrapping......

I am getting into wrapping presents in fabrics. I have long hated the huge waste of paper at the end of Christmas and Birthday unwrapping sessions. Totally environmentally deranged! But wrapping papers are gorgeous, I wasn't going to just hand things over in the bags they came in or heaven forbid completely unwrapped with no sense of occasion or surprise.

Then I found Bev of Flyingbags in Christchurch. She is big into Japanese wrapping styles and reducing waste.......

"In the tradition of Japanese furoshiki, Korean Bojagi and Chinese Baofu fabric wrapping is a wonderful and surprisingly easy way to dress a simple gift."

" 'Mottainai' is a Japanese word based on the idea of recognising the intrinsic value of something. Another way of understanding 'Mottainai' is to think about using something without waste."

 I have bought wraps from her through Trade-Me, which got me started and now I am choosing gorgeous fabrics and cutting them to size for presents. I am like a kid in a candy store when visiting fabric on-line shops, my eyes become organ stops and I can feel myself salivating! Ridiculous I know....

These wraps were from Bev. The small parcel is a flat book and I have pretty much followed a technique provide by Bev on her help sheets. The large box is a momma special for her wee one who is quite taken with wrapped sweets....she doesn't get any to eat so I thought I would give her one as a birthday present, her toy inside is so much more healthy than any sweetie !

But the recipients of these wrapped presents are loving them - it becomes a second present as the fabrics can be re-worked into something else or simply kept for it's loveliness (some wrapping turns into a mini fabric bag and so is easily used for other things like a pack bag for smalls or storing dry items). For those that don't want to hang on to them I get them back and reuse them. The ones within our own house get reused time and time again, and I know that eventually they may start to wear but they can be cut up and used in sewing and quilting projects, fabric labels........

In my opinion, one of the nice things about this craft is that you can make it up as you go along - if you get in touch with Bev she will be able to provide you with a myriad of techniques for wrapping particular items and I have found these fantastic, however.............you can play a little too:)

Like the bags I have made for the chalk mats I have sewn up for my nephews. Rather than wrapping their birthday presents in paper I have made long bags with fabulous 'boys toys' pictures, which is great to keep the present a surprise but then also becomes a way of carrying the mat and chalk bag around

Add a 'handmade' tag and it becomes a personal present made with love.

Egg epode......

Some try to find

more outlandish ways

to put you on our dishes

But the secret here

is not so wild

But to listen to your wishes.

The best of you

came from green grass,

and woodland chooks who toiled

to find their food and freely laid....

Serve simply, some salt, just boiled.

Don't get me wrong I love all sorts of dishes involving eggs. I delight in a freshly made egg custard tart and scrambled eggs and lemon curd and eggs benedict and scotch eggs........I could go on......

However there is something very special about having just come back from egg hunting............

and yes hunting , as our chickens are their own mistresses, they go where they please and come calling for top up food as they feel inclined. I am constantly aiming to chicken proof my veggies and fruits and the cleaning up of chook poop from the house deck and pathway is now only augmented by the guinea fowl!

But they are happy chooks and healthy chooks - no drugs of any sort here. They get worms, like any normal animal, and they develop a load they can deal with, their extensive lifestyle contributing to their good health. If they do develop a fatally high worm load then............that's just what it is.....fatal.......but this is very rare because we have a low number of chickens for the land area.

..........as I was saying before I sidetracked............coming back from egg hunting, boiling up one or two eggs whilst I get a cup of English Breakfast tea on the go. Then sitting down to the simplest of pleasures which is a warm hard boiled egg dappled with sea salt.....the firm smooth white splitting to expose the creamy bright yellow treasure inside, our chickens' yolks will always be the tastiest and most vibrant yellow of all.....

They so deserve to be sat on this piece of Royal Crown Derby

I also adore soft boiled eggs, but as these MUST have toast soldiers with them to be dipped in until the yolk runs all over the cup and plate below....they aren't technically the most simple way of having the egg ;)

Gourmet Grapefruit ......

It's pretty chilly here, and this morning what I would consider a heavy frost but I know South Islanders would just laugh....
So I decided to take some advice from the daytime sunshine and get some 'glow-on' inside the house, so the toddler cherub and I went out and picked our few grapefruit from our wee tree.

 (You will have to excuse the long grass....I was unable to get to it before the deluge came and now the ground is as soggy as anything and will need some more drying out days before I can attempt to take the mower in there! But the trees are doing okay, and I'll get to it.......eventually :)  I am sure everyone with land, animals and small children knows the situation!)

Having eaten one with a little sprinkled sugar, and it was tasty, refreshing and summery, I thought there must be a delicious way of enjoying these fruits without it being all over in one sitting. So after some trawling through the recipe books I decided to make a grapefruit curd and a marmalade. (I also had a small fruit left over and it zinged up a lentil, lamb neck and kumara stew just nicely)

The grapefruit curd was super easy - I just followed my lemon curd method but with the following ingredients.

Grapefruit Curd
1/2 Cup grapefruit grated peel (padded down in cup)
1 Cup Grapefruit juice (full to top not scant)
1 1/3 Cups caster sugar
2/3 Cup butter

It is lipsmackingly tasty and we are loving it on toast, in yoghurt and simply as a sneaky spoonful :)

The chooks have decided to lay a few eggs this winter, which is nice....I am wondering whether the arrival of the guinea fowl has prompted them to up their game?
So there is also quiche on the menu today. The wonderful added feature of the cooking that is going on is that the house is getting lovely and toasty!

The Grapefruit marmalade recipe was done using Marguerite Patten's second Seville/Bitter Orange marmalade recipe (a sweeter variety). It requires soaking the sliced up fruit along with pips (in muslin), overnight in water. Then simmering for about 1 1/2 hours before removing the pip bag. Adding lemon juice and boiling rapidly till setting point reached.
This is just lovely, sweet with a tangy grapefruit undercurrent. Someone in the family is in for a treat at Christmas.

Away with the fairies......

I am forever researching things to do with my wee cherubs that encourage their creativity, their resourcefulness, awareness of their environment, things that will foster their love of life, their wonderment and their joy in doing things with their hands. Baking and crafts are great for that, although I am a little bit overprotective at times and should let them get stuck in a bit more often (without hurting themselves of course).

Well, recently I came across the concept of Fairy Gardens at a lovely blog , The Magic Onions, that explores the Waldorf Philosophy. It spurred me on to give it a go with toddler cherub.

We have started our garden, I say started as I see this as an ever evolving project as she becomes more dextrous and her ideas become bigger and more challenging.

Momma did have to make the chair and teepee, but cherub potted the plants, placed the rose and flag and shells where she wanted them and waters her garden every couple of days.

She does go to it every day and check it, sometimes she picks parts of it up and moves them, sometimes back to the same place, sometimes to another place.
We talk about how the fairies come and rest their weary selves on the chair at night; cherub decided this allows them to fly home again and that is why the chair is still empty in the morning.

Then the other morning she noticed there was something sitting in the chair.....it was a little doll.
The fairies had left her a doll to say thank you for the lovely garden and chair.
Cherub hopes the fairies leave a doll for her baby sister, her momma and her daddy too......maybe.....

For now though she was content that momma could make her a little cot for her doll to have somewhere to sleep. I got the idea for this from The Good Morning Mother. Although hers were made using the needle felting technique, I haven't tried that yet so I simply cut some felt fabric up and sewed them together to make a cot.

I think needle felting is next on my list after making some felt toadstools......;)

Before then, it appears some little people have moved in!