Fruity drinks and flowery cushions................

I made some raspberry vinegar for using in the winter; it's lovely in a salad dressing, and for making a drink - just a tablespoon or so topped up with cold water and a cube of ice. Well worth making - put your raspberries in a jar, cover with vinegar and a spoonful or so of white sugar, stir gently to dissolve, put a lid on, and leave for about three weeks, shaking gently from time to time. Strain into a bottle and keep in a cool dark place.
I amde black currant syrup too, which is ready for processing in the hot water bath today along with another jar of gooseberries, which looks really pretty - stripes of green and red gooesberries. Balckcurrant syrup - pick over the currants (no need to top and tail), put in a pan and cover with cold water; leave a long time to simmer very gently until the juice is extraced - can take a couple of hours. Strain the fruit out and measure the juice. For every pint of juice I add 10 oz of sugar, but this can be more or less to taste. Warm the juice and dissolve the sugar in it, let it get cold, then bottle it. For keeping, process it in a hot water bath for 25 minutes or so, then cool, label and store. Makes a lovely hot drink for the winter, just with boiling water added; another way is to freeze it in ice cube trays, and use one per drink topped up with boiling water.
Raspberry vinegar on the go:



I got the sewing machine out and finally got my cushion finished:

I've seen these around the blogs, and while I wouldn't want a traditional Union flag cushion in red white and blue (I have my reasons...........LOL), the floral versions really appealed to me, so this is mine, for the rocking chair.
I also got two skirts altered that have been hanging around for a long time; one was a button-through front denim skirt - a daft idea - keep slipping open and the buttonholes stretching and tearing - not made for practical life; so I sewed up the front opening and re-sewed buttons down the band, Looks just like it did, but easier to wear. The other job was altering my Good Life skirt as I call it. Now, I'm no Felicity Kendall (LOL), but I did have a similar skirt to hers in this TV programme - an old faded, genuine 1970s Indian cotton print skirt. I originally got it on LETS as a floor length wrap over skirt, which I shortened. The waist band got tatty, though, so I sorted it out and elasticated it, so I reckon another 5 years wear there :)
So, happy with all that, and now have an idea for the beautiful crushed velvet in forest colours that I have. Watch this space. :)