Chillies!

So, these "Jiffy plugs" were given to us as a Christmas present to plant chilli seeds in. They're all from the South Devon Chilli Farm, and were given to us by Hagos's brother's family. They usually send us chilli chocolate every year too, and I have to say, they make some of the best chocolate I've ever tasted (and there were a few years when I tasted chocolate daily from all over Europe).  

This is them in their little propagator. It's very cute. I have it in Hagos's studio at the moment as it's warm and sunny (but not direct sunlight) in there.

And these are the types I've planted. The Cherry Bomb looks particularly exciting.

I haven't had much success with chilli plants. A couple of years ago the aforementioned brother-in-law gave us 20 packs of chilli seeds - far more than we could ever hope to grow, and I wasn't even a gardener then - and our gardening expert friends Janie and Ba adopted them all and their whole house was covered in chilli plants in little pots. They gave us one back to bring home, we put it in the bathroom (it was only about 8 inches high) and it grew into a GIANT BEANSTALK!! It took over the whole bathroom, grew up and along the beams, and it didn't give us a SINGLE chilli. I had to throw it out in the end because I noticed it was attracting little flies to it, and then when I looked at it very closely I noticed lots of little white things crawling all over it! Yuck! Immediately it was chopped down and put in the outside bin.

So, I'm hoping for more luck/success with these. Janie and Ba gave us another (normal-sized) chilli plant last year, which we grew outside and that produced THREE chillies, which I used in cooking and they were delicious.

These are my gardening bibles. I consult each one intensely about everything I'm planning to do, and then I email Ba to double-check everything with her. She's given me SO MUCH advice and help. I'll have to make her some extra-special tomato relish this year as a thank you.

Gardening is just great! During my daily morning tub-check I noticed that my garlic is already growing!!!

Gardening Season Begins!

It's so lovely to wake up in the morning, to know the sun is shining, and to jump out of bed, excited to rush outside and see how the vegetables are growing! Of course, having just planted them I know nothing will have changed so far, but it's exciting to look nonetheless.

The back three planters have potatoes in: 1st earlies Swifts and Pentland Javelins. The yellow planter at the front has onions, and the big tub beside it has garlic!

These are my Swifts before being covered up. I'm impressed with the planters I have them in actually, they have little pockets at the side so you can pull the odd potato out without upsetting the entire sack.

And the garlic I planted midweek last week. I love garlic, and I've never grown it before, so this is of particular interest to me, especially as it's French garlic, which tastes better than any garlic I've ever tasted. My half-French friend brought me some back from France once and it was amazing, so I hope mine will be amazing too.

I also sowed my chilli seeds. I didn't photograph them, and now they're snug in Hagos's studio so I will have to photograph them and post another time.

Happy Spring!

Shake and Bake Friday!

It was my turn to bake for our Shake and Bake Friday this week at work. I wanted to try something new, of course, and chose these triple chocolate cookies from Linda Collister's gorgeous book Christmas Treats to Make and Give.

They were good fun to make - melted chocolate combined with whisked eggs and sugar, a little flour, and chopped chocolate and walnuts thrown into the mix before putting splodges on a baking tray and baking for ten minutes until they were just baked.

The photo above is taken from the book itself because, uncharacteristically, I forgot to take photos of my finished product. My biscuits turned out darker, possibly because I used golden caster sugar instead of white. I also didn't bother drizzling chocolate over the top, so stricly speaking my biscuits were double chocolate cookies. Really, they didn't need any more chocolate! The house and oven smelled delicous for a day, and my work colleagues LOVED them, which is always gratifying.

Friday's Shake and Bake is turning out to be something we all look forward to, and it's a great shared experience. We're all interested to see and know what each other is making or thinking of making. 

After the momentous task of finishing the boys' jumpers (which they were chuffed with, according to their parents) I have now leisurely picked up my own stripy, long-sleeved TV jumper. I'd finished the back and front ages ago - at the beginning of winter! The pattern has short sleeves, and as documented in this blog I've already made three short-sleeved versions, but I realised I rarely wear them because it's usually either too cold to wear a short-sleeved jumper, or too hot to wear a short-sleeved jumper. I'm using the sleeve instructions from a bolero pattern, which is in the same book (Vintage Knits) and have only had to make a slight adjustment to the sleeve top to fit it into the body. 

I'm having a great Saturday so far. Hagos and I went to Cafe Rouge in town today for breakfast. We both had cafe complet - croissant, jam and butter with orange juice and coffee, and I read the Arts section of The Times, which had a piece by Jeanette Winterson in it. I always like reading her journalism though I've only read her first book Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, years ago, for some reason. I should try another.

Happy Saturday! (photo above of Meg contemplating the outside - she's loving the arrival of spring and the spring-time birds!)

The Finished Jumpers

The jumpers are finally finished. Never again will I attempt to knit two jumpers at the same time, with the same deadline.

I got up at 7.30am on Sunday, set myself up at the kitchen table with my laptop and the audio book of Pride and Prejudice, and sewed.

Sewing together is my least favourite part of knitting. I have to be in the right mood to do it and I'm rarely in that mood.

I also decided, because it had been part of my original idea, to re-knit the pockets with each child's name or initials. Nate was shortened to N8, as above.

And JJ of course was easy. The picture above is fuzzy - probably due to tiredness and feeling delirious that I'd finished - but you get the idea.

They are packaged up, ready to post tomorrow.

I'm also nearly finished making the game for the same family (everything I decided to make instead of buy at Christmas had problems. In fact, I don't think any of my home-made gifts were finished on time, jumpers, pavlovas, Yule logs, games...). I'll post photos of the finished game once the family has received it. I'm quite pleased with the concept and, of course, I hope they'll like it too.

Saturday so far

Lunch at Frank's Bar with the beautiful iitalla mugs.

One jumper finished (thank goodness).

One jumper to sew together (my least favourite part of knitting).

It is a beautiful spring day here in Norfolk. The washing is on the line, the sky is clear and sunny, and I have an urge to buy daffodils.

I'm just about to sew together Nate's jumper. I'm so looking forward to posting these off on Monday. It's taken me too long to finish what was supposed to be Christmas jumpers. I just hope they fit the boys and they get a good amount of wear out of them (and that they like them!).

Happy Birthday Hagos!

It was Hagos's birthday yesterday, and I decided a while ago to make him Bishop's Cake from an old family recipe his mum had. Bette made us Bishop's cake at Christmas, and on Christmas Day evening we had an Enid-Blyton-esque tea of home-made soup, Bishop's Cake, chocolate and ginger pieces, wine and coffee. It really was my kind of tea! We were so impressed by the Bishop's Cake that we took a copy of the recipe. Hagos said he used to have the cake when he was a kid, and there was an association of visiting his uncle Bill who had a grocery store. 

The only ingredient I couldn't get locally was Angelica. Next time!

We had a really lovely day, and went out to Pizza Express in the evening.

This is my new Thermos Flask! from the great people at Amazon. It means I can have non-stop coffee (well, two coffees is pretty much my limit anyway) while working in my shed. And in the afternoon, after I've been to the gym I can have a decaf earl grey tea waiting for me! And we can take it on picnics, or car journeys. It's so versatile :)

Saturday Projects

I'm so very nearly finished Nate and JJ's jumpers. Sewing the bits together is my least favourite part of knitting, hence why it's taken me two weeks between knitting all the parts and sewing the shoulders together to knit the collar (which I did mid-week - two full evenings!). Yesterday I did charts for their names/initials as I want to embroider (if that's the correct term?) N8 and JJ onto the pockets, which will then be sewn onto the left sleeve. The 'JJ' was easy to chart; 'N8' not so much! But I think it will be fine. I WILL finish the jumpers entirely by mid-week and am hoping to post them off by Wednesday. 

Hagos and I had such fun fixing our oven yesterday. It's been bust since before Christmas. First the fan spectacularly blew up (while baking bread), then the element broke too. So we've been without an oven, without home-made bread and biscuits and ROAST CHICKENS, for too long.

When we started out cooperating yesterday it initially wasn't going so well. I think we're both used to being in control and figuring out the best way of doing things, and our styles were clashing. But once I understood the mechanics of what we were trying to do (instead of just holding a screwdriver and following orders) we got on much better and pooled our thinking and problem-solving skills. Something we're good at. It took us a good hour and a half and we laughed a lot.

So I had to test it out and quickly made these Mrs Beeton's chocolate chip cookies. Having an oven is such a simple thing and something we take for granted, but being without really made me appreciate what having it means.

The cookies were ready for our nightly episode of the wonderful FIREFLY. Delicious!

Postcards from Penguin

So, I love books and I love stationery. You can imagine my excitement when I discovered 100 Postcards from Penguin - postcards of book covers! What a blisteringly great idea. 

They arrived this morning, and I love them all. There are postcards of book covers for every occasion.

I tried to choose four of my favourites to photograph, and had to stop when I reached eleven. I really love the old-fashioned simple orange and (off-)white covers with the title and author, but also the more progressive covers. The colours are beautiful. And aesthetically, this is what book covers should be. Not awful, scrappy-montage rubbish on shiny paper, but covers designed with only the book in mind, using wonderful colours and a matt finish.  

One of the postcards even matched my favourite mug! There are a few postcards I don't think I'll ever be able to part with. The postcard of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl are so distinct and easily-identifiable.

Okay, I need to calm down and get back to work :)

A wet, cold, muddy exhilarating bike ride

I've been wanting to get back out on my bike for the last week or so, and this morning - unusually for a Saturday - I woke up full of beans and determined to get out before Hagos and I went into town for brunch. It was so amazing to be out in the fresh air as the countryside whizzed by. I'm really looking forward to spring and summer.

After we'd had lunch at Frank's Bar (again) Hagos and I went our separate ways to shop, before meeting back at the car to come home again. I wanted to spend some time in the library looking for all things Martin Amis*, but I took a detour down a street that had an Oxfam shop on it, and in the window were a load of Ladybird books. I've long wished my very generous mother had kept my books and toys instead of giving them away, so I was really excited to come across this version of Sleeping Beauty, that I had as a kid.

I was trying to get a photo of the bride at the end, which I thought was beautiful at the time, but my ever-present 'helper' had to stand on it, as she stands or sits on everything I do. She is gorgeous though.

*Martin Amis has just published The Pregnant Widow, his first fiction book in seven years. I read Time's Arrow a few years ago and really loved it, and I read his memoir, Experience, too, and I dip in and out of The War Against Cliche, but I haven't read any other of his fiction, and I really want to read The Pregnant Widow, based on several interviews I've seen and read with him recently. So I got several of his books out of the library today and will make my way through them. I think I might still have to order his latest from my friends at Amazon though.

Potatoes aplenty!

I was very excited to collect my potatoes from my friend Ba yesterday. She had researched, deliberated and chosen the best varieties - did an amazing spreadsheet - and was kind enough to ask if I wanted 'in'. 

So we have 1st earlies: Swift and Pentland Javelin; 2nd earlies: Wiljers and Charlottes; and main crop: Pink Fir Apples. VERY exciting. I can almost feel the heat of spring and summer just looking at them (while sitting in front of the fire).   

Because writing isn't hard enough

It helps if you have a little friend on hand,

So that just as you're about to reach some clarity,

This happens.

Butter Fiend

As soon as I stepped into the shed her nose started twitching. I love that she's so assertive she just gets up and sticks her nose right in my lunch! She wasn't interested in the egg (sometimes the only way to stop her standing on the plate is to let her smell things close up. I picked up the egg and held it right under her nose), it was the butter she was after. I broke a bit of toast off and gave it to her to lick. She was then content to lick the butter all over her fur before settling down to sleep again. Ah, she's so sweet.

Winter Jumpers

The jumpers are knitted! Now they just have to be sewn together (one has to be pressed first), have their neckbands knitted and buttons sewn on and they will be entirely, completely and absolutely finished! I'm so looking forward to packaging them up and sending them off. I hope Nate and JJ like them!

In this state they remind me of a fish game I had when I was a child. Something to do with, the fish came in bits, like a jigsaw, and the object of the game was to put the whole fish together. I think dice were involved. The fish were all colour-coded, but I like to mix and match them, so they were multi-coloured. I won't be doing that with the jumpers.

Sewing together is my least favourite part of knitting. So I reckon - today I'll press the top jumper, then next weekend I'll knuckle down, sew the shoulders together and knit the necks, then I might save the remaining sewing together for another day. We'll see. I would like to send them off as soon as possible, before Spring arrives.

The pattern is a Sirdar, I think. The wool, as always, is Rowan. Pure Wool DK.

I've been really enjoying knitting recently. I briefly went back to my TV jumper while waiting to be able to go to John Lewis to buy an extra ball to finish Nate's jumper (I had already bought one ball over, thinking that would do but I ran out a couple of inches from the top of the sleeve. Luckily the dye lot is so close I couldn't tell where the join was). 

I've also been itching to set aside time to sew my tweed skirt, and I thought this weekend would do it, but no. Time went far too quickly for me. Next weekend for sure. 

My co-writer

My little co-writer loves spending the day in the shed with me while I write; except she gets a little outraged if I move around too much, or make noise (suddenly lifting her head and looking at me with a mix of disbelief and disgust). Last summer there was a daily battle between the two of us as to who would reach and claim the swivel chair first. If it was her there would then ensue a bigger battle to move her from the swivel chair onto the blanket I'd laid out specially for her, taking up one third of my desk. I wasn't always quick enough to place something on the swivel chair to dissuade her from jumping on it as working in the shed means I have a couple of boxes of books, my laptop bag, pens and paper to transport each day from the house. She, of course, is straight in, unencumbered.

Tweed Skirt

I love tweed, particularly the more colourful and striking weaves, though I love deep plain colours too. Last summer Hagos and I came across the shop Jack Wills in Edinburgh. I loved their jackets and their knitwear and their sleepwear and their socks, and the pants were cool too. I loved most of the shop. After that I decided to make myself and Hagos winter tweed coats (because, why buy something when you can make it yourself?). I got as far as buying a Project Runway pattern for myself (previously blogged about) but no further (so far). 

My local fabric shop, Anglian Fashion Fabrics, had a small selection of tweeds in and I chose the one above to make a skirt out of. I've cut it out (pattern the ever-trusty Amy Butler A-line skirt, but shortened) and it's hanging up ready to sew. I thought I might also get a bag out of the material (I love matching items). My lovely Mulberry bag is nearing its end, but I haven't found anything to replace it with. It's perfect as it is, so I thought I might use it as a template for making the tweed bag. It won't be as sturdy, of course, but I might get a bit of use out of it, and I can always make a replacement.

My aim for the last few years has been to plan and make winter items in the summer, and summer items in the winter, so that they're all ready for the correct season, but I've fallen behind this year and am only now getting round to making my winter skirts and jumper(s). My long-sleeved TV jumper (blue with orange kidsilk haze stripe) was put on hold weeks ago while I knitted jumpers for my Godsons, Nate and JJ. As I near the end of the second jumper I remember very clearly why I stopped knitting jumpers for children older than two. It takes too damn long! And two jumpers takes twice as long. But then having someone knit you a woolly jumper is very cool. I hope they both think so when they're finally finished! 

Hibernation

It's so cold here in Norwich; too cold to venture far from the fire, definitely too cold to go to the gym, too cold even to go out for dinner in the evening, or go to the cinema. Motivation to get the year started is also hibernating. Now that I've recovered from the flu I have an urge to get on with things, but the weather and the temperature both say, non.  

So, apart from photographing cat and bird prints in the snow, I haven't been doing much at all. Oh, I finally finished my cord skirt yesterday: I sewed the lining around the zip, and hemmed the lining and outer. I like it, though I think for the next skirt I'll skinny it up a bit. The pattern is a bit too flarey for heavier material. But it's fine to wear at work, which is what it was made for. I want to make the next skirt in tweed.

I'm ssoooooo looking forward to the snow clearing and the warmer weather coming and the gardening season starting.  

Under The Skin

So, after the excess of socialising and travel over Christmas, the days since I got home have been mostly spent with this book and this blanket (and a hearty thanks to Lemsip and Nurofen Plus).

It's more luxurious to do nothing after a hectic period. To really do nothing. I always have a list that I'm working my way through, and for the last few days I haven't tried to achieve anything at all. Some days have been spent entirely in pyjamas :) And it's been years since I spent the entire day reading.

I first read Under the Skin by Michel Faber a few years ago. I loved it because I absolutely didn't know where it was going, page by page. And I liked the language, and the ideas that emerged. I don't want to reveal anything about it as I'd really recommend reading it.

Tomorrow will be more of a back-to-normal day. But I've really enjoyed the last few days resting, sleeping, reading, watching TV with Hagos and Meg, and cuddling up under the blanket. My flu has pretty much gone.

Christmas and Willies in Scotland

We are now home after an extremely busy Christmas period where we drove a total of 900 miles. The weather forecast on Christmas Eve said not to travel unless absolutely necessary; there were multiple accidents in Lincolnshire (where we had to drive through) and snow was forecast for Yorkshire (ditto). It was very stressful making the decision to carry on with our plans, but I'm glad we did because the roads were fine (the BBC travel advice must've scared others off) and it was so nice to see our family and friends. The worst part of the travel was driving from home to the cattery, half an hour's drive, to drop off Meg. The country roads and our driveway were icy. 

These photos were taken at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh when we stayed with our friends Pete and Lyns and their kids. JJ always attaches himself to me from the moment I turn up to the moment we leave and he is the sweetest little person. One of the best conversations I had on the trip was when JJ and I were sitting in one of the rooms at the gallery while our friends milled around looking at the art. Instigated by JJ we discussed which of our friends had willies, and which didn't. These things are important when you're three years old. It was established that Haggis, Pete, Ian, Kevin, Paul, JJ and Nate all had willies. Paula, Lynsey, Connie, Isobel and Sam were declared willy-free.

So, now we are home. I drove from Edinburgh to Wetherby (the halfway point where we change drivers, get Costa coffee and food from M&S) and as soon as I stopped driving my body started shaking with flu. This used to happen to me when I toured with Hagos's band. No matter how long the tour: two weeks or two months - as soon as I got home I got a cold. My body had managed to hold out for as long as it needed to, and then it collapsed.

I spent most of yesterday in bed and am feeling better all the time. I had just completely exhausted myself before we even left, and with all the driving, socialising, and sleeping in strange beds on top of it all my body had just had enough.

So, now we're glad to be home and settled and calm and I'm looking forward to getting back to my own work, though I still wish we lived near our family and friends and could see them more easily and frequently.  

Snow; Snow; Snow; Snow; SNOW

This is the view outside my kitchen window this morning. Poor Meg is (literally) climbing the walls because she can't get out hunting and exercising. She goes out for seconds at a time and often comes CRASHING back through the cat flap.  

These are her footprints early this morning. Sometimes you just have to go out in the snow, even if you'd rather not.

And these are the bitesize Christmas Cakes I brought back from Diane's Pantry yesterday. I couldn't resist them when I got to the till.

I've been trying to finish Christmas jumpers for Nate and JJ, but this morning I have admitted defeat. I reckon, realistically, there is 12 hours' work to go. And I could knit all day today and have them both finished but I would be completely exhausted. So I will buy them a shop bought present instead, to go with the game I am making for the whole family. The jumpers will be sent in the new year, when I've had the leisure to finish them. Common sense MUST prevail, because I want to have the energy and relaxed-ness to enjoy my wedding anniversary on the 23rd December, and Christmas with our families. 

Christmas Tree

We bought our Christmas Tree today. I like short, dumpy trees and we found the perfect one. We decided not to put tinsel on it this year. It looked so good with just the white lights. So we left the tinsel off and just put the ornaments on instead. Now we just have to add the chocolate :) 

It's so nice having Hagos home - a real treat. I love it when we're both knocking about the house doing our own thing, and then come together later to watch a film, or earlier to go out for the Christmas tree.

An almost-finished Winter Skirt, and a new Walking Foot!

The above photo isn't great. I decided to take the photo after I'd unplugged the machine so it didn't have its light anymore! Anyway - it's my new walking foot, which I only discovered because I bought stretch cord to make my skirt with, and when I tried to sew the front to the back it stretched big time. I tried about three times and had to unpick it each time. So, a trip to John Lewis saved the skirt. I was very excited first time I used the walking foot. I also used a concealed zip attachment for the first time, which made a huge difference. I've been struggling to make my favourite Amy Butler A-line skirt with the wrong zip attachment all this time. It's a revelation to use the right materials. 

So this is the skirt, almost finished. I just need to slip stitch the lining around the zip, then hem the outer and the lining and that's it! I can see myself ending up in the fabric shop during my lunch breaks on Thursday and Friday! There are some tweeds I like. I could make these skirts in different materials indefinitely. 

I think the lining has worked out very well. Always - contrasting linings.

Blue-and-orange is the new purple-and-green

Last night I cut out the winter A-line skirt I've been meaning to make for ages. I got the material from Anglian Fashion Fabrics, the shop near my work. When I was buying the material I almost chose a blue lining, then I thought, why should I? I love contrasting linings - it seems to add a secret luxury to a garment. So I chose orange. It was only when I laid it on the table last night that I realised I'd chosen the same colours as my TV jumper I'm currently knitting. Perhaps blue and orange is the new purple and green.

I've had a lazy morning so far. Now I plan to do a little bit of housework, then have lunch, then sew my skirt. I really hope it turns out well because I'd like to make a few.

I also want to make some knitting bags and a bread bag from my Oxford Green material. We have a little padded seat next to the fire, recessed, that is covered in my knitting projects, music books, my iPod and camera live there too, and I'd like to tidy it up a bit. I thought if I made knitting bags for each project, just a simple rectangle with a pull-cord and stopper, with a tiny photocopy of the item I'm making attached to the cord, it would all look organised and would make it easier for me to pick up projects to work on. Apart from the current project, which is Nate's jumper, all other projects are buried in various types of bags. It's such a jumble. But it's another of those projects I've been meaning to do for months. 

Hagos arrives home about 4pm from Munich, hopefully avec chicken.