Oops

Sorry I’ve not been posting much. I will try and get my word on a little more frequently in the weeks to come.

For now, let it suffice that I am Queen of Ferelden…

Also, just out of interest – for those who live in a cul-de-sac or other sort of housing estate – do you mind if other people park in front of your house? I shifted S-’s car so that I could get mine out and left it in front of my neighbour’s garden. I got told off for it this morning because apparently her sister thought the fact that it was there meant that they had guests and left again. It all seems a little… Stepford to me.

So many distrations…

… so little time.

I am not writing so often at the moment because I am determined to be queen in Dragon Age: Origins.  This involves romancing an NPC called Alistair. Any non-Bub energy is currently invested in that.

It’s amazing how caught up in this game I am. It’s like living LOTR or something…

And it’s made me want to write fantasy again. I stopped doing that after reading the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons because I thought I could never write sci-fi/fantasy as good as that. I have come to realise though, that the writing does not have to be sparkling – simply passable – to tell a rollocking tale. I have lots of such stories in my head but haven’t dared write them.

But I will… soon. After I’ve read my George MacDonald books and finished Dragon Age.

If only Husband would get off the PS3.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,200 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Since I’ve not posted in forever, I thought I would take the cheat’s way out and repost an automated thing from wordpress. Also, the graphics are quite cool…

I will be posting more soon. I want to brag about my awesome Christmas present which I will be sharing with Misti, of Cakes by Misti (see blogroll for links).  We are going on the interail round Europe! How cool is that? My task at the minute is finding a pretty leather journal to take with me. All adventurers need a leather journal afterall.

If you’re wondering…

…where I am, I’m making this guy:

I found his Norfolk ‘Minicraft Kit’ in a charity shop months ago but finally needed a break from the relentless knitting. It’s been so, so much fun. I will post pictures when he’s finished.

Christmas Jam

If you’re wondering where I’ve been, my door is broken and I may have locked myself out. I may also now be nursing a cold as a result.

Otherwise, here is a recipe for Christmas Jam. It’s brilliant with pork, turkey, bread and butter… most things really. It’s essentially spiced cranberry sauce.

Christmas in a pan. This smells divine.

So, for the above festive pot, you will need:

2 Sainsbury’s bags of fresh cranberries. I think there was 250g in each… I forget though.
6 oranges
6 cloves
a stick of cinnamon
enough sugar

Juice your oranges and add the juice to the cranberries in a big pan. Save your orange peel and remove the pith (the white stuff) otherwise you will have bitter goo. Slice the peel into big chunks so that you can easily retrieve it and stud one piece with cloves. You’re boiling the peel to release the pectin and set the sauce though for a more jelly-like substance you might want to skip this bit and use a pack of pectin/jam sugar.

Anyways. Add your cinnamon stick and enough water to cover the fruit and simmer until the cranberries release their juices. After about 5 minutes though, you should remove the clove orange peel and the cinnamon stick or you’ll taste nothing but the spices.

Post straining.

Strain your red goo into a measuring jug and take a note of how much there is. Return the mixture to the pan and boil up. Add the same volume of sugar as you have of liquid. It seems like a lot, but the cranberries and the orange are both very bitter.

Lovely coloured jars.

Baby pictures

Though I swore I was never going to post face pics of Bub online, I couldn’t not share these in which she is modelling one of the things I didn’t sell.

Giggle girl!

"Hello world! I'm a smiler!"

Tricky things, ducks.

So, there you have it. Bub, in all of her bunny hat glory. I didn’t knit her cardigan, by the way. That was picked up for 50p in a charity shop. I’m not entirely sure how people can give away hand-knitted baby clothes – I have a box full that I can’t part company with. The pillow, however, is my own work. I made it at school when I was 14. I didn’t get a great grade for it because the applique wasn’t deemed to be complicated enough. I wasn’t really fussed – the faster I got on with the ‘boring’ sewing things, the faster I could switch to making food. How the tables have turned.

Buttons

So I sold 3 button magnets. Yes. 3. In total. For £1. Nothing else.

But I’m overwhelmingly positive about the whole thing. Not only was it great fun making all the stock, but it was also really nice meeting new people and swapping tips and ideas with other stall holders. The lady from Hand on Heart Designs was especially lovely and makes some amazing ‘kid friendly’ jewellery. It’s bright and cheerful without looking garish so… yeah. Win.

Over the next few days, I’ll be posting the items that didn’t sell in my shop (see the tabs at the top of the page for link and blurb). I’ll ship anywhere that the UK Royal Mail will deliver to and all products are ready to post straight away. I can arrange for you to collect from my house or from Cambridge too. That said, I won’t do daft things like guarantee the items in time for Christmas. I’ll also be listing my vast collection of vintage sewing patterns to recoup the stall costs and hopefully fund a few more.

And if anyone wants to craft swap with me, that’s even better!

My only sore point of the whole experience is that husband stayed up all hours last night, cooking me a lovely lunch to take, cutting strips of paper for the Danish Christmas star kits we did, fetching the printer down from the loft and fighting to get it working on Windows 7, baking ‘free sample’ Danish Christmas peppernut-cookies… his toiling was endless. When he wasn’t working, he was looking after a teething Bub.

And I didn’t do any business. All of his work to help me get going came to the sale of three buttons.

Three for the price of two.

Bad

I was about to tell you that last night’s sleep was the worst I’ve ever had, but then I realised I didn’t sleep at all. Unless you count those five minutes before the alarm during which I dreamt all too convincingly that I was sleeping in a haunted house which used to run experiments on ‘unwanted children’… which turned out to be monkeys.

I hate my subconscious sometimes.

If that little statement hasn’t scared you off completely, do come and see my at Risby Farmer’s market today. I’ll be the one with eyes propped open with toothpicks and nearly nothing on her giant stall table… watch this space.

Hella busy

So as you can imagine, I’ve been crazy busy in the run-up to Saturday’s stall at Risby.

Below are a few of the things I’m taking with me to sell. Some of them you may have seen before.

Even if they’re not you’re cup of tea, I’d still love to say ‘hi’ and see some friendly faces. The market starts at 9am in Risby village hall, Suffolk, and finishes at 1pm. As an extra incentive, Bub will be there from mid-morning.

Please excuse the dodgy photos. Bub has been pulling herself up on things so time with the camera is limited. Eyes must be forever on her.

Other side of the same cushions.

The third cushion

Super-soft grown up people hats.

Various hats shaped like animals for little people.

A little tank-top with matching hat. There will be some girl clothes too.

I’ve also got some mug cozies, possibly a Bee Cozy and some little toy-animal stocking fillers.

Madness

“Madness, Mother,” Bub’s gaze seems to say, “Why would I want the oatcake when you’re eating a cookie?” She dives for the cookie and licks it before I can stop her. Smiles abound as she spends the next half hour sucking on the thing so as to better disolve its sugary goodness for ingestion.

Her mother is mad, though not just on the oatcakes vs cookie front. I will be selling crafts I am yet to create at the Risby Farmers’ Market…

… on the first Saturday in December. It seemed ages away last night when I said I’d do it, but today, sitting down to knit, it occurs to me just how soon it is. You may not hear from me until it’s all over. You may, on the other hand, hear lots from me as I procrastinate. In any case, if you’re in the area that day and fancy saying ‘hi’, do come by and have a nosey at the organised people who will actually have products at their stalls…