Things that make you go Mmmmmmm (or Oooooh or Aaaaahhhh)

Hello there

I have been knocked for six this last week with influenza - yucky nasty virus.  So today, as energy levels are still way below par I am sending you a post full of delicious things of the visual and edible kind. 

These cakes were a treat yesterday afternoon - taking advantage of the very warm February sunshine, I was coaxed out to Wentworth with my other half and daughter.  Tea and cakes under a bright blue sky on the verandah of the cafe was just the tonic - now that's what I call medicene!!

And Ohhhhhh would you look at those beautiful primroses? So very, very bright and spirit-lifting after so many of those dreary, colourless days we've had around here.

And more flowery lovliness - a little bunch of buttery yellow tulips - these have been glowing like sunshine on my table this last week and make me smile everytime I see them.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of the highest order here.  This is about as good as chocolate gets.  Have you ever tried Raw Chocolate?  No?  Well neither had I - and I decided to order some from my friend Kate Tregellas who is an artisan chocolatier based in North Devon.  I was curious to try it as the health properties are second to none.
They also taste pretty damn good too - Im so happy to have given raw a go and if you are curious, you can contact her directly by visiting her FB page for more details of the fabulous flavour creations she makes.  Hot off the press news, she is currently working on a divine Easter chocolate range!!!

Oooooooohhh!! Now what have we here?!!

In my last post you might remember that I fell swoonily in love with a certain crocheted waistcoat.  Well, a bit of investigating on the interweb brought up nothing...I was starting to wonder if this waistcoat actually existed so I got in touch with the company to ask about it.  My mole at CK tells me it is going to be launched at the end of March but I'm too impatient to be hanging around that long, so as you can see - I've been getting busy....

...making my very own Cath inspired waistcoat.  Now, I want to just clarify - this is going to be my Own Pattern - I'm not copying anything here folks.  I was very inspired by the colours of the original one in the magazine (which is what caught my eye in the first place) and have picked similar ones from the Rowan Handknit Cotton range (thinking cotton would be nice for summer).  I also thought it would be fun to design my first garment, something I haven't attempted yet apart from a scarf which doesn't count, as it's just a long rectangle.


I have already started one of the front panels as you can see, and it's going really well.  I will of course do my best to work out an understandable pattern for you in due course, but when it comes to things like this, I tend to just launch head on into it with the idea in my head and hope for the best.  But I will do one, I promise.


I'm working it in a cluster stitch.  I tried a sample of granny stripe as I originally thought that would look good but afterwards I didn't think it suited the look of a waistcoat.

Although I do love the granny stripe - can I feel a blanket coming on?? No, no...I must stop tormenting myself like this!

Well that's it from me - I'm feeling in need of a cuppa - got to keep those energy levels ticking over, and a slice of that Raw Chocolate might be necessary too...Ooh, just before I go, many thanks to all of you for the kind comments you left on my last post about the Oyster Catcher textile art work.  Thanks also to all of you who stop by and visit my little world and read my ramblings, it's so very nice that you do.


Sending you sun~filled days and things that make you smile.


Love Julia x

A Feeling For Spring

It's that time of year when I begin to feel heartily fed up of the cold winter weather and start seeking out simple pleasures, little bursts of colour and clues that Spring is on the way.


Finding these glorious pink tulips, and daffodils was one of those signs - getting them home and popping them in an old jar made me almost squeal out loud with delight.  Flowers are such a simple pleasure, and although I don't buy them as often as I used to, I do really like having them in the house. 

Cookies are another pleasure here!! We made some of Nigella's yesterday (from Nigella Express) and boy do they taste good!  It was bitterly cold outside with frost still shimmering on the shed roof in the middle of the afternoon, so it felt very cosy to be busying in the kitchen with the Little One, mixing and stirring chocolate cookies...

Not to mention eating them...

Ahhhh....another pleasure...freshly baked cookies, a nice cuppa and a good mag to browse!


Mind you, we are trying very hard to get that healthy balance in our little home, and cookies and Sweet Things are considered as a bit of a treat, albeit very Necessary.  However, we have recently taken to eating copious amounts of this stuff too:

See that jar there in the middle?  That's our very own blend of Trail Mix.  You can use any kind of natural nuts, seeds and dried fruit that you enjoy, and I always keep a little tub of it in my bag for snacks on the go. 


Ours has 100g each of the following, in case you'd like to make some yourself:


Sunflower Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Chopped Brazils
Almonds (the ones with their skins on as they're higher in nutrients)
Dried Cranberries
Dried Sultanas/Raisins


You can also throw cashews, pistachios and apriocots in, grab a handful when you're hungry - I promise it will help to keep your mitts out of the cookie jar (not that there's anything wrong with a bit of indulgence here and there though! :)  It's great at boosting energy levels and is marvellously good for your skin and little internal bits and bobs. 


A very Big Pleasure this week has been finding hooky time with the Sea Pennies Shawl.  It's progressing slowly as I've only had the evenings to work on it, but every time I take it out I can imagine sitting outside first thing in the morning come summer, sipping coffee and eating breakfast under a blue sky, wrapped up warm in it's sea foamy oceany gorgeousness...ahhh, not long til we'll be doing that again methinks!

I also decided (after a practice and a good deal of frogging) that the larger circles weren't really working.  I could then see very clearly in my minds eye what the shawl would look like made with 100's of small Sea Pennies, finished off with that wave edge - I think it's going to be pretty good!


Would anyone be interested in a Sea Penny tutorial?  I just wondered if you would like to learn how to make them, and join them as you go...that way you might be able to begin your own Sea Penny projects too.


Let me know - if you do I will try and do a photo tutorial for you in the next week or so.




At this time of year when days are still inclined to be rather short and often grey and dreary, I think it's nice to have something to look forward to.  Which is why I have exciting dates circled on the calendar that involve the Tent and Camping!!  We are off to Adam Henson's Farm (the nice chappie off Countryfile) for a few days in the countryside come April!  Oh, the very idea of getting the tent out again, my little red whistling kettle, that flowery melamine....

Remember this? (*happy sigh*)


I'd love to hear what cheers you at this time of year - will you share your thoughts with me?
Go on, you know I'd love to hear :)


Sending you warm chocolate cookies, a jug of colourful tulips, and quiet moments to appreciate the Small Stuff.


Love Julia x

Day by Day

Hello dear blogging friends.

I am writing today surrounded by boxes of tissues and am generally feeling a little bit fed up. For the past week, me and the Little Girl have been suffering with a nasty cold. It all started at the weekend when the Little One's cough got so bad she was finding it hard to catch her breath...we rang our on call doctor on Sunday night for some advice, and to cut a long story short we ended up at the A&E of our Children's hospital as the doc was rather concerned....after being examined, she was given the all clear, but a couple of days later we were both still coughing our heads off. We felt things weren't as they should be so headed up the hill to our local doc, who pronounced us both to be with chest infection. Hmmmph.

Still, we have wrapped ourselves up and gone out into the back garden for half an hour today to enjoy the sunshine (which I assume is penetrating through vast swirling amounts of the volcanic dust we have heard about on the news). The skies are strangely quiet - our house is on the flight path to Manchester airport so we often hear and see aeroplanes heading in or out, but not today as all flights are grounded until the ash blows away!

We were delighted to discover our little cherry tree had dressed itself in a frothy gauze of delicious pink blossom! Other parts of the garden are being smothered by juicy purple coloured primroses which originated in my Grandads' garden many years ago...over time my Mum has taken cuttings and replanted and re-homed them throughout the years - they're still going strong here!

Our pot of spring bulbs is looking pretty now the tulips are out too...

...Im sure this variety is called Lemon Meringue, or something like that - I love the colours though, very reminiscent of that tasty dessert!!

So, due to the huge feeling of apathy around here, not much has been achieved art or craft wise - lounging, reading the new Country Living mag, drinking juice and herbal teas and watching Little One draw pictures has been about the extent of the efforts this week. Still, I have a little something to show you, something I made one evening last week before the deadly virus struck!

A little crocheted cuff for a jar!

I had seen something similar to this in a book on Amazon, and quite liked the idea that the coverlet stopped three quarts of the way up the jar instead of going all the way to the top. I added a little ceramic button to finish it off and have been using it in the evenings with a tea light in it - the glow through the crochet stitches is rather pretty but I'm afraid I couldn't get my camera to take a good enough picture to show you.

I made it using Rowan Handknit Cotton DK in white and aqua using half double crochet stitches for extra support (I find HDC work better with things like this instead of my usual double crochet).

I was thinking of making some more of these, and creating little wire hangers from craft wire so I could dot them about the garden when the weather is warm enough to sit outdoors - I imagine they would look quite pretty in different colours!

Being under the weather and not well really makes me crave wellness and getting out and about again as soon as possible. However, being ill again so soon after a recent head cold has made me sit and think a bit - I wondered why I was getting bug upon bug, and like most simple things, the answer was staring me in the face all along.

I was run down (without realising it), I do far too much and my diet is a bit rubbish.

(Well, that's to say there are perhaps one too many cakes in my diet and perhaps not as much of the green good stuff that there should be! :D )

With not much energy to do anything other than sit and ponder, I gave the matter a bit of thought - you could say I did a bit of a Body MOT, looking at my bod as you would a car you can safely say I've been running on a very low fuel tank for rather too long...which isn't good is it?

So I'm making some real changes. Things lie taking time for Me each day (even if it's just a nice soak in the bath) saying 'No' if something feels like it's too much or not possible - eating more fruit and veg (as well as the odd slice of cake here and there) and learning a bit more about the healing nature of food. I have started reading a book about nutritional health to pick up some tips and I'm hooked!! I had no idea there was a whole pharmacy in my backyard!! It's very inspiring and when I'm recovered from this chest infection, I'm going to be planting lots of immunity boosting salads and veg in my garden! :D

So, day by day, I am getting healthier and healthier...this is my positive affirmation to remind myself how important our little Bod's are, that we must love and nurture them as much as we love and nurture everyone else, otherwise they won't work properly.

Well, I've gone on long enough I think for today! I hope you are all well, and next time I write I hope to be fully recovered and full of zing and zest!!

Sending you quiet moments, cherry blossom, peach tea and sunshine

Love Julia x

Little Helping Hands

Look at this!!!

We decided to make some Easter cupcakes yesterday afternoon. My little helper was very good until I went to take a picture of the scrummy looking ingredients and she thought I wouldn't see her little hand creeping up over the worktop in a vain attempt to get herself some chocolate goodies!

'OOOOOooooh not yet!' I said - 'We have to decorate them first and then we'll have one after tea!'

A solemn face with chocolate smeared cheeks and chin looked at me and blinked slowly (yes, she'd already licked the spoon and wiped clean the mixing bowl). Not happy though, we had a bit of foot stamping and wailing but eventually the antics of Mr Tumble on C-Beebies lured her into the lounge and I got on with the icing of my little cakes.

The stocks of these are diminishing fast...I live in a house of chocaholics!

This morning we woke up to a light grey mist which the weather chap promised would give way to warm sunny spells - well, we haven't seen much in the way of sunshine so far but when I went into the garden this morning, I was delighted to find that our Lemon Meringue tulips were on the verge of opening!

This cheered me up immensley, as I am feeling rather distant from my painting work at the moment. I do not feel called to paint and feel more inclined to curl up in the armchair with a good book or my crochet (3 more squares completed last night folks, it is indeed becoming an addiction :)

I wish I could motivate myself at times like this - I am an excellent procrastinator and I am currently displaying top drawer tactics of avoiding. Its not that I don't like the piece Im working on, I think its because at the moment Im struggling to find enough time to devote to it...with acrylics and mixed media work I cant just dabble with it for half an hour - theres so much to get out and prepare, and then once I start Im generally engrossed for several hours. My days are quite full at the moment and come the evenings Im feeling so exhausted its enough to be twirling a crochet hook (which I do in a reclining position on a comfy sofa usually :).

Im also missing out on an art day this week too, as both my parents who usually have my little one for a day are laid up with a vile bug. Its not good news, me and my chap are meant to be off to Holmfirth tonight to see the Saw Doctors and at this rate Im not sure we'll be going - ah well, good job Im an 'everything happens for a reason' sort of girl...although Im not sure what good reason will emerge for us missing out on a good gig like that! Humph! :(

Still, on a brighter note, my sister in Suffolk has asked me if I want to pootle down for a few days - of course I would! I don't need asking twice! Tomorrow afternoon we are travelling south!! Hurrah!! Holidays!!!!!!! Im very lucky to have a sister who lives in such a pretty part of the world. Bury St Edmunds is one of my favourite places, a bustling little market town full of thatched roofs and gently subsiding old cottages with wonky windows and tiny doors! There are some gorgeous little shops and tea rooms, and another big plus point is that they are less than an hours drive away from Southwold!! Hurrah again!!!

Well, time for a coffee and a doodle in the sketch book - Im due back at the Childrens Hospital on the 15th and need to come up with an exciting design for the Magic Garden picture we've decided on for the next project!

See you soon!

J x