Small Things

Normally I wouldn't bother showing you a picture of my pantry - this is just by way of demonstration as to how small things can change your day. In this case it was very small things - pantry moths........

The 'after' shot......

So, a quick change of plans meant no baking this morning but at least I know what's in there. Maybe tomorrow???

Sue xxxx

Some Sound Advice

Some wise advice.............

(From the Manning Regional Art Gallery where Margaret Olley's studio has been recreated.)

Coincidently a friend dropped by with these.......(or was it a hint?)

Anyway it spurred on some cleaning.........

.....and some walnut bread...........

Sue xxxx

More Treats and some Accidental Shopping!

The medical roundabout means a couple of small treats to keep the little grey cells amused.......these are the latest!

Mark Making is another approach for using stitch expressively. I have a number of related books but there's always something new to pick up on.....

Sorry - couldn't seem to crop this pic........

Double Wedding Ring Quilts is Victoria Findlay Wolfe's second book and follows on from the two part interview she did on Nancy Zieman's program. These programs are still available to view online at Nancy's website (see under Videos and give a great insight into Victoria's processes and as well as being very thought provoking....

 

And so to the 'acidental shopping'........coming home from the Doctor's we once again saw a sign for one of the seemingly eternally closing down rug shops. We had intended to look in there 'one day' and on a whim, stopped for a quick browse......(after all, this was supposed to be the final clearance???)

Around a corner, on the floor was this rug which stopped us both in our tracks.

After thinking about the size, colours and designs the shop assistant suggested we take it home on approval to see if it met our criteria. It went down on the floor and looked as if it belonged, in fact it looked as if it had been there all along.

The dog seemed to approve, so that was that!

Once again pic not great - apologies.......but you get the idea!

Sue xxxx

Bonus Upate

The correct ice cream making bowl has arrived........

.....and the wrong bowl has been returned......This time I checked the fit before I thought about anything else. Looking at the shape, the difference was so immediately obvious.........

I have ingredients and will give it a test run soon - and yes, the company deserves a good mark for their customer service.......

Sue xxxx

When is a Bonus not Quite a Bonus?

The final piece of the mixer deal arrived during the week so it washed and prepared ready for use, ice cream ingredients purchased and a plan put into action. All good in theory.......

So confident was I that I had even purchased waffle cones.......

With time on my hands Friday, and enough energy to test it out, I set about making the custard as per the test recipe, cooled it down and went about setting up the machine for action when we discovered it was too small for my mixer and didn't fit at all.........

This meant time on the phone with the company concerned and the response by the young man who took the call couldn't have been more helpful.

Within a short time he discovered that the error was in the warehouse (someone had simply picked up the wrong box - everything else was correct). He provided me with an authority to return number, a reply paid number so it could be returned at no cost to me and reordered the correct bowl for my mixer - so as long as it arrives soon they will get an A+ for customer service.........

All of this was well and good, however, it left me with custard that needed to be churned into ice cream........which also meant digging into the kitchen archives......

Lots of memories here.......

This left me with a dense ice cream which is overly rich and probably inedible - except perhaps in tiny quantities........the whisk on the mixer may have been a better choice but I was worn out by then......

At least the bread turned out well........

Passionfruit butter from the week before - ultra sweet.......something else to use sparingly.....perhaps as a steamed pudding?

Roxie seeing the New Year in............

......and otherwise keeping us amused......

Sue xxxx

A Couple of Treats

This post is so long overdue that both Christmas and New Year celebrations have come and gone so belated greetings on both counts. (In the middle of the renovations life had to make a necessary deviation  from the projected course which has required ongoing medical treatment and changed the order of things for a while longer.....)

So, even though I have been throughly spoilt with a wonderful new living space and kitchen, I felt a few more treats were in order to complete the renovation on the one hand and to bolster the soul a little on the other........

Since I wasn't able to shop in person I turned to online shopping - a potentially dangerous occupation when still in bed.

We have talked about pink bags before in an earlier post, so imagine how thrilled I was to discover that my order from my favourite kitchen supplier came in a pink box instead......it seemed entirely appropriate.

One overly large, pink box......

Fortunately the packaging material is fully biodegradeable and can be hosed away on the garden or in the compost.......

Inside, some new champagne glasses and tumblers to toast the future, some commercial quality cooking pans for the cakes I intend to bake and a silicone mat to drain said glasses and more to use as heat pads........

And to feed the mind, a couple of treats from my other favourite online shopping destination.........

A couple of sample pages......

A very interesting take on Art Quilt making - also involving the use of Haiku poetry and will hopefully lead to a piece  of work someday.......

And another idea to fill the gaps when a little new inspiration or a restful interlude is needed.......and the scraps around the house are threatening to overtake every nook and cranny.........

Making fabric from scraps.........

Another decision needing to be made - what to do when a faithful friend, after 39 years of hard labour, packs it it when mixing the dough for this walnut foccacia?

Back to the 'shops' to seek another bargain - and what a beauty. With a model runout the bonuses kept coming and seemed way too good to pass up - even though spending should have long ceased by this point.........

And just to round off this post so it doesn't drag out to the next New Year, meet Roxie, adopted a month ago and settling in nicely. More about her soon.

If there is still anyone out there reading this, thanks, hopefully not so long til next time,
Sue xxxx

Calling it Finished!

There is still furniture to be moved out of the garage and boxes to unpack but we are up and running...........

Back to more normal programming soon.......

Sue xxxx