More Than I Deserved

I was being a bit of a pain yesterday evening. (I can be, just now and then). I was in a bijou  stropette because we didn't have anything for dessert except shortbread biscuits, when I had thought we had a couple of mini magnums in the freezer,. Someone else must have eaten those. 

Anyway the OH came up with various alternative suggestions from a tin of rice to the shortbread to the raspberry ice cream and I turned up my nose at them all - for perfectly valid reasons - it was too cold for ice cream (although not a mini magnum somehow!), I'd eaten shortbread all day and didn't want any more, and I didn't 'feel like' rice. 

Not my finest hour and I knew it at the time, and I was a bit cross with myself for taking out my disappointment on him because, although I hadn't eaten the mini magnums, it was at least my fault as much as his that we didn't have anything I wanted for dessert. 

It was coming up to Masterchef time - yes , we are still watching it and yes Greg Wallace is still getting more unbearable each season, even though gazillions of us think every year that  that can't actually be possible, and the OH disappeared into the kitchen, from whence came some whizzing and buzzing and dropped cutlery sort of noises and then, just as Masterchef started he came back into the living room and delivered this to me. *

* In case you're wondering, he did make one for himself as well. 

Raspberry souffle. 

It was delicious. 

And I didn't deserve it, given how I had been behaving, but that did not stop me eating it. 

Books to Read Poster No 45

Every once in a while (and not nearly as often as I would like) the poster throws up something really good. And this was one of those times. 

The book was The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini. I avoided it when it first came out, partly because I didn't think it was 'my sort of book' and partly because I tend to avoid things that everyone is suddenly raving about. It's a silly attitude; there are far too many things I have put off for one or other of those two reasons which I have then thoroughly enjoyed and by my age I should have learned that. 

I loved this book.  It taught me a lot about Afghan culture, and recent Afghan history, but without serving that up in unpalatable indigestible chunks. It was all seamlessly blended in as part of the narrative. The story itself, and the writing were tender and lyrical and honest and moving - and in some places shocking. And  although the people in it were flawed they weren't completely  unlikeable as so many characters in too many books I have read recently have been.  With one notable exception, they were products of their upbringing, their environment and the circumstances in which they found themselves, and this made their stories, and the redemption arc of the narrator, all the more believable and poignant. 

A definite hit. It's been a while! 

It's a Small World

I've hardly ever mentioned my Dolls House here since I got it back to Orkney, although that was largely because there wasn't a great deal to say. My original plan had been to visit shops and browse  miniature fairs on our various trips south and furnish it slowly with things I picked out, having seen them first. This was because I made a mistake ordering fireplaces on-line when the house was being constructed and bought the wrong sort and I didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Covid put paid to any thoughts of miniature fairs and as far as I can ascertain there are no shops selling dolls house furniture in Scotland at all. I find this surprising, but the one I did find details of on-line proved to have closed down when we finally had a chance to visit it. 

 A good friend in American bought me some furniture for Christmas from her local miniatures shop and that was really almost all I had, and recently I realised that I could leave the place empty until a mythical 'one day ' when somehow I was going to have a huge choice of shops and fairs, or I could bite the bullet and actually get some stuff! So I got some stuff and the result is that I now have two rooms almost complete. 

Here is the maid and cooks bedroom. 

This is complete apart from a few more accessories 

And this is the library/study of the gentleman of the house. This is an illustration of yet another of the perils of ordering on-line. I was so fixated on ensuring I got the best price from the several firms who sell these things that I didn't double check the finish on the chair and ordered a walnut one rather than a mahogany one by mistake. D'uh. However I will replace it with a mahogany one in due course and the walnut one can go elsewhere. I still need a wing chair and a small table for this room, plus again, accessories, but I'm pleased with it so far. I think my fave piece here is the map chest ( left wall behind door) because I hadn't thought about getting one, loved it when I saw it from an independent small seller, and it only cost me £4.00 which was a bargain. And I have even found somewhere where I can buy miniature maps to put in the drawers! 

Clearer  view I think if you click on the photos to enlarge them. 

Not in the plan -

- but this one I did finish! 

We were having a deep clean and sort out of the living room last Saturday after the builders left and I found this part done on a shelf under a window. (As you do!)  I say part done; it only had Be ...appy and the dark outline of the beehive. So I picked it up, worked on it this week and finished it yesterday.  It was an enjoyable little stitch and I could even work on it without wearing my head magnifier,. since the fabric is so loosely woven and the holes relatively large. The magnifier is great, but a tad uncomfortable to wear. Now that it's done I'm not sure whether to try and find a frame for it or attempt to put it on a project bag when I have my next sewing lesson. We'll see. 

Also on the finished side of the line are these

made from grey left overs and an Alice in Wonderland set from My Mama Knits. I am so pleased with these for two reasons. The first is that they turned out to be a lovely colourful pair of socks. The second is that I know if you had said to me two years ago 'cast on the grey, make the rest up as you go along and by the way make them non matching' I would have run for the hills screaming in horror. Possibly a little creativity, as opposed to just following a pattern, is struggling to birth. 

 

Great Ear Rings - Shame about the hassle

I have raved here before about the Literary Gift Company. A couple of months back I go a15% discount coupon and because of that I finally succumbed and bought a pair of ear-rings I had been eyeing up for years. In my favourite phrase they were Not Cheap, but with the 15% off it was a price I could bear to pay because they were such fun. 

So I ordered them and a few other things and when the parcel came I fell on it with delight and anticipation - only to come crashing back to earth, mainly because of this

One of them was broken. Well not so much broken as fallen apart . I was really disappointed. Obviously I got in touch with the LGC straight away and they got the supplier to send me a post paid label so that I could send them back for repair. It didn't take long for them to be done and I can;t complain, although a little niggly bit of me says that actually the LGC should just have sent me another pair and returned the faulty ones to the supplier themselves. But you know, this way was probably quicker and less hassle all round and they were all very responsive and efficient. 

I don't know if this coloured my reaction to everything I had bought, but of the other three things only one was an unqualified success and the other two were a bit meh! 

It hasn't put me off the LGC though. I still look at the website sometimes and want to give them my credit card and say just send me one of everything until the card is maxed out! 

Books to Read Poster No 44

 

This was Misery by Stephen King. I didn't enjoy it, but I'm not going to be too critical because it is a horror book and horror is a genre that has never really appealed to me. Which would be why I had never previously read any of King's  books - although I am aware that not all of them are horror stories in the way this one is. 

Style wise I found it a bit repetitive and bloated; how many times can you describe someone screaming with pain and not have it become less effective on the reader each time? Subject wise I found it - well, horrific. 

On the upside it had some interesting things to say about writing, and writers, and the drive to write what comes naturally versus the desire to please publishers and readers and earn money, about what rights, if any, readers have over writers and their books (absolutely none of course, although the demented reader in this book would obviously argue the other way. But she is crazy, so draw what inference you like from that. And King is very good at ratcheting up tension, I did find myself holding my breath or on the edge of my (metaphorical) seat a good few times. 

So,  not for me, but probably excellent of its kind. 

Playing Tourist

So last Friday we went to Celina Rupp's which has become our go-to for coffee and cake, not that we do that as often as that phrase probably makes it sound! In any case on this occasion our main reason for going was to select  a gift for a friend which we duly did, but we did have coffee and cake at the same time and we also picked up the new Orkney Craft Trail brochure for 2023.  

Now it's a while since we paid much attention to this brochure, because we're not tourists here any more  and we know most of the businesses that feature, and really they sell things that tourists buy. However there was a page featuring a new-to-us textile artist with a gallery in Finstown so on Saturday, the weather being glorious, we decided to give ourselves a half day 'off' living here, be tourists and drive over to mainland Orkney and take in this textile gallery (which looked sumptuous) and generally enjoy the weather and the views, take  a little walk, whatever. 

Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know  what happened as regards the gallery. Here's the post I put up on there

So yesterday we went all the way to Finstown especially to check out a textile gallery/shop. Opening hours are April - October (check). Wed - Sat (check) 12 - 4 (check).

So imagine how thrilled we were to discover a locked dark gallery and this notice on the door.

Come Again?

That's a probable No.

As I said to a friend, the addition of Sorry and Please to this sentiment would have made a world of difference in my attitude to the concept of 'Come Again'.

It wasn't all loss. We did go and have a walk in Firth Park, where some people will remember I did a photography project a couple of years ago taking a photo on the same spot on the first day of the month every month for a year. For old times sake I stood on the spot and took a photo

and I used to always take a close up of some other thing that caught my eye while we were there and I did that too. 

I didn't record. at the beginning of this month the OH's favourite day of the year in Orkney, which is the opening of Geri's Ice Cream Parlour, although we did go there on opening day. We went again on Saturday and the OH had one of her takeaway Sundaes - I think the Salted Caramel. Nowadays I generally stick to cones which are better for me but which aren't particularly exciting to photograph. here's the OH's Sundae though 

which again, looked better in the old 'sit in 'days when it came in a glass!

And here are a few scenic photos of the Orkney countryside, although as per, they feature lots of big sky and in some cases big water as well! 

This one is taken form the high point of Firth park and I'm toying with the idea of repeating my project next year and taking photos from this point. Haven't decided yet.  

The hills of Hoy ....

...and the Ring of Brodgar

and Finstown 'harbour' in the sunshine. 

Sewing Lesson No 3

 

Bunting! Which I opted for so that I could get lots of practice at machining. And I certainly did.

I was quite pleased with this (it's twice as long as it shows in the photo with 12 flags rather than just 6) but it wouldn't all fit  on the right way round. I haven't put it up yet because there didn't seem a lot of point in doing that while the place was still filling up with dust. So it's put away until everything has settled and we've cleaned up. 

The fabric for the fronts came from a set of fat quarters I bought in Australia - the print on the black background show some native Australian flora  - and I bought some plain matching orange for the back. What is left of that is destined to become part of a project bag*, which is the next thing I'll be tackling, but not until May as my teacher is about to go away for a couple of weeks. 

*I'm trying to be good and use up leftovers because I don't want to find myself with a huge fabric stash in six months time. 

I felt this week that I was making progress, and I'm certainly enjoying myself, so that's all good. 

Yesterday I Baked

Possibly this wasn't the most sensible decision with a house full of building dust, but there are lots of doors between the office and the kitchen and it was fine. 

All I made was a few small buns. I used up the vanilla buttercream from the latest subscription bake ( and felt very smugly thrifty as a result ) and then popped a giant chocolate button on the top. It may not be subscription level of finishing off, but it did me. 

It also meant I was introduced to the totally alien concept of a resealable packet of chocolate buttons. Who needs that? 

Chaos Reigns

 This is because we have the builders in, 

It was planned - sort of. Ages ago the OH's  office shelves  collapsed. Quite entertaining in its way. Anyway the reason they collapsed was that the plaster board to which they were affixed was crumbling to dust and there was nowhere to get any purchase on them to re-site the shelves. We reported this to the builder we always use and he'd been promising to come and replace the plasterboard, and  rip out all the pine cladding on a couple of the other walls as well for ages. Since before he came and did the byre last autumn really. Getting rid of the cladding incidentally  was a very pleasing prospect because the amount of pine cladding there was in this house when we bought it you wouldn't believe. The rest has all gone, but bits lingered in the OH's office - largely because of the home owners  conundrum; you don't make the rooms you use the most nice because, well, you're using them, Every day. So his office and my study are the only two rooms in the house that haven't been redecorated since we moved in, and perhaps the collapsing shelves were the universe's way of telling us it was about time we faced up to the horror of clearing stuff out of the way so we could let the decorators loose. 

Anyway the builder finally came yesterday but, rather than just replacing the plaster boarding, he is taking sown the whole wall. Lest you think he's done this just because he felt like it I hasten to add that he talked it through with us and we agreed to it, largely because there is a two foot gap behind the wall, and taking down the wall  will mace the room two feet wider. Which is quite a lot. It also means it will need a new carpet, but let's think about that when  we get to it. It will be a much nicer room with all the extra space, which is what I am holding onto as the work gets noisier, and the house fills up with sandstone dust. All worth it in the end. 

I may be sewing,

 but I'm also still knitting. 

I showed off these earlier in the year

and mentioned my plan to make a matching hat, which I finished recently 

You can't really see the sparkles, but they do both have a sparkly thread through them. 

There are a few other projects on the needles just now which I hope to get off them shortly! Although one is large and troublesome. 

Books to read Poster No 43

 

It wouldn't be impossible to guess, but full marks to anyone who said Jane Eyre. And full marks to me for battling my way through one of the most tedious nineteenth century novels ever written - again! Although I faux cheated and listened to it as a free Audible book read by Juliet Stevenson. 

I first read this when I was seven and quite enjoyed it, because let's face it,  it's quite an exciting story of a little girl growing up, and winning out against the people who were nasty to her when she was seven. Hurrah! The memories I retain most clearly of my first read are the appalling scene where Jane is locked up in the  bedroom where her uncle died,  and then her later summons back to Gateshead where you discover her male cousin, who was nasty to her as a little boy, has turned into an even nastier man whose failings can no longer  be hidden from his previously doting mother, who is forced to admit that in fact none her children are  the little darlings she once thought they were. 

After that I've twice had it as a set text, once at school and once on an MA program. I've also read CB's other books and I have a lot more idea about what is actually going on in this text than I had when I was seven. And most of it I find  nauseating. This is hardly surprising since Jane the character is obviously a wish fulfilment version of the author, and a more nauseating example of middle class nineteenth century womanhood than CB is something I have yet to encounter. And I'm not holding my breath. The woman, and her creation Jane,  both make my flesh creep. 

And I don't think I can bear to write anything more about it. 

Given that I am only on Book 43, and therefore yet to hit the halfway mark on the poster, I feel I must put a little bit more effort into this. Watch out for  more posts over the next few months of books I never thought I would read. 

Sewing Lesson No 2

 So today was a zipped cushion cover. I thought the zip would be along the bottom but it wasn't it was part way up the back, as so

and here is the finished article in our sunroom

It looks good and I'm very pleased with it. My machining is still a bit wayward which is one of the reasons I have opted to make bunting next week, so that I get a lot of practice with it. Even though, as I made clear in this post several years ago I am not really a bunting person. (And yes that knitted bunting comes out every year and I am actually really pleased I did it.It's definitely become an intrinsic part of our Christmas. Possible the sewn bunting will follow it as an intrinsic part of our home decor. Who can say?) 

A Craft Plan Fail

So I had decided that I would cross stitch for an hour a day this year and that I would aim to finish four projects, one a quarter. I picked out four medium sized projects that were already started  and that seemed likely to be completable in that time frame. 

This was the first, which should have been finished by the end of March, and I have to record an epic fail.

This is where it was on 31st March

There isn't really a yellow line across the middle of the fabric btw, it's just a trick of the light. 

The reason I failed is not because there was too much to do, but that the resolution to stitch for an hour a day was latterly 'more honoured in the breach than th'observance'. This was partly to do with the compulsive nature of the massive Anthology Throw knit, and partly because it is easier to pick up knitting and just get on with it that organise myself with chart, threads, project, needle, pencil  and head worn (and not totally comfortable) magnifier for stitching. 

However I have picked it up again over the last couple of days so it is somewhat further on, and I hope to keep at it until it is finished. And then move on to the second quarter's project, which should be finished by the end of June. We'll see how that goes. 

Well, here's something I've intended doing for a long time

Every year for about the last five years I've said 'This is the year I learn to use my sewing machine'. I never learned at school because at the end of my first year of senior school I moved from a school that taught how to use a sewing machine in year two, to one which had taught the skill in year one. And as I was someone who liked to stay under the radar and not make a fuss I never told the sewing teacher this, which would have been a very sensible thing to do, and somehow managed three years of sewing lessons with my mother doing the machine bits at home leaving me with hand-sewing to do in class. Madness! 

A couple of weeks ago we went to a fund raising thing for Women's Aid Orkney and there was someone there advertising sewing classes and I thought, well this is my chance, so I contacted her. I had my first lesson last week and I made this

A lined tote bag with an internal pocket. The photo is largely of the inside so that the pocket shows, also the outside is boring as it is just plain cream. Obviously it would have been nicer to have a fancier outside, but the choice of canvas  in the one fabric shop we have in Orkney was plain cream, or navy with a white stripe and honestly, I thought that I would have enough to worry about without matching stripes. 

I say I made it but really all I did was cut out and sew where the teacher told me, so minimal input from me. I am hopeful that this will improve as time goes on. This week it's a cushion cover; it's not as though we are in need of any more cushions in this house, which suffers from cushion overload already, but it will teach me about putting in zips. So that's a good thing. 

Baking Subscription November 2022

 

This was the last box I got although having made it doesn't mean I am completely up to date since I still have two older boxes lingering on the kitchen work top. One is for pretzels, which I never got around to because we're not really pretzel sort of people and the other one is  a very fancy sponge with strawberries and cream, which there was no point in making when it arrived since I was keeping off fat in deference to my gall bladder. I expect I'll get around to them both sooner or later. Meanwhile this is vanilla chai cake, which, despite its name,  didn't have any tea in it but did have a small amount of mixed spice, cinnamon  and ginger.  Plus a vanilla buttercream and a cinnamon crumb to decorate. 

And why yes! the instructions did say to pipe the buttercream in rosettes through the middle and on the top. And obviously I didn't. I did fluff up the visible bits of the buttercream on the top though. 

The cake was very nice but extremely light; I had to leave it out to 'stale up' for 24 hours before I could even take it off the cooling rack to decorate. The cinnamon crumb was a waste of time and butter, and the only reason there wasn't far too much buttercream for one cake, and just a little bit too much, is that, having become wise to the ways of the manufacturer I only made 2/3 rds of the stated amount. 

We enjoyed eating it but it wasn't our favourite. I'm sort of pleased I've still got the strawberry and cream one to go as that might furnish more of a 'high' as the last one in due course.