Wednesday 21 December 2011

Benedictus

Just had to share this beautiful, beautiful song by Simon and Garfunkel. It's like plainsong with acoustic guitar......simply gorgeous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne-DXzlnw-8

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Christmas heart for Keith

Final post of the day!

I wanted to use some evergreens from my garden to make a wreath for Keith for Christmas.



Here we have ivy, rosemary, snowberries, holly and a variegated leafed plant that pokes through the fence from next door.












I was originally going to make a circle with the ivy and then add bits to it, but I found this lovely heart shaped base in Next. All i did was cut small pieces of ivy and tuck them in.








The finished piece. I went for simplicity in the end, adding a small sprig of mistletoe (bought) in the middle.










I feel really pleased with the finished thing. Keith loved flower arrangements - he was much better at it than me, having his family's artistic flair - and would have loved the home-madeness of this. We also joked every Christmas about me chasing him for a kiss under the mistletoe, so I just had to add some. Don't think you're getting away with it this year my love!!  ;-)   x x x

A walk in Thursford Woods

Had a day out with Daughter at Thursford Wood, which is owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. I chose this particular one because there is a position for Volunteer Warden going there, and it sounds just the sort of thing I'd enjoy. I've been a Primary School Teacher for over 25 years now and would like to have a complete change of job. I would love to work with nature in some capacity, or maybe with local history. Consequently I've joined several local support groups and aim to begin by volunteering.

So, back to Thursford....   It was very difficult to find as the opening off the main road is tiny. Once there, it has a clearly marked path and info board. As you can see from the pictures, there was a wide variety of trees of different ages, with some spectacular old oaks. I'd love to help take care of it - and the first thing I'd campaign for would be a big signpost to show where it is!!!  ;-)

Christmas puddings

Last week I attempted to make some mini Christmas puddings. I know they should have been made by/on Stir Up Sunday (end of November; week before Advent begins) but didn't get round to it. I found the recipe online at
There were LOTS of ingredients, which seemed to take forever to prepare! Here are some piccies....


Soak the dried fruit and orange zest in orange juice and alcohol.









Chop the pecans, mix with the already chopped almonds, then toast. I burnt the first batch and had to do it again!








Beat the eggs.












Flour and mixed spice.













Fresh breadcrumbs.






The recipe said 'molasses sugar'. Wasn't sure I knew what that was so used black treacle instead.












Add grated carrot to the dried fruit mix.







Now the fun begins! Cream butter and treacle then add eggs, flour and mixed spice. Mix all the rest in and hope your bowl is big enough!!







Spoon into your prepared basins.
















Place in baking tray and pour boiling water in, then cover all with foil and into the oven for 2 and a half hours.





All done. Now take out of basins, wrap in foil, and store till Christmas. They smelled delicious while cooking. Hope they taste good!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

2 blogs I've discovered

Just a quick post before I go to bed - discovered these two blogs this evening:

http://karenannavogel.blogspot.com/

http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/

Both are great for those who like reading Amish/simplicity type blogs.

On the first blog I was intrigued by the post on Sept 28th, about knitting looms. I can do basic knitting but I find it makes my thumbs ache. What they call a knitting loom seems to be a bigger version of what I knew as a Knitting Nancy when I was little. I used to make tubular dresses on it for my Sindy dolls, but the bigger ones could make socks! Have ordered a round one and a straight one from Amazon.

On the 2nd blog I found a great post for getting children (and adults too I should think!) to help out with chores. On October 17th the blogger writes about the list she gave her children; lists like this:
  • Sweep kitchen floor
  • Straighten rugs
  • Stand on a chair and sing your favorite song
  • Eat three grapes
  • Make your bed
  • Say something nice to your sister/brother
  • Wash your nose
  • Make sure there is nothing on couch besides the cushions
  • Clean vanity
  • Wash your hands
  • Read a chapter in the book you are reading
  • Dust livingroom furniture
  • Draw a picture of a butterfly
Genius!