Unbought Delicacies: 26/04/2009

Friday, 1 May 2009

That lusty month of May..............

"The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit. For, like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in like wise every lusty heart that is any manner a lover, springeth, burgeoneth, buddeth, and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May" (Sir Thomas Mallory, Morte d'Arthur,c 1470)

And who am I to argue?:)

May already, the year seems to be hurtling by; it'a a beautiful day here, so will be going otuside for the morning very shortly to amke the most of it. Hope the weekend is as good. There are several projects I want to get up and running by the end of the summer - build a brick oven and or clay oven; sort out the cabin so I can maybe sleep out there occasionally, make it a little self-sufficient hide-away; make a cold smoker; set up and run a charcoal burner. I'd really like to spend more time outdoors, so aim to do so this year. Will try and conquer my unease about the dark.......

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Making an entrance

At last, the painting in the front porch is complete, which I an very pleased about. It's a lovely shade of pink, which looks really nice in today's bright sunshine :) The only thing left to do is the floor, but that'll be MrL's department, taking up the old tiles and putting down slate ones to match the hall.
The coat rack came from the tip :) - it just needed a good clean up and a wax, and although one of the top rungs is slightly wonky, it's a great find a while back. I'll put a basket on the top for gloves, dog leads, etc, then there'll be umbrellas and coats on the pegs, with teh shoe rack underneath on the floor.The front door opens against this, so will hide it a bit if it does become a bit of a jumble. On teh other side, we bought a very nice piece of oak, which MrL cut to size, and I polished up with homemade beeswax polish - even the shelf smells lovely! I've put up my celtic blessing roundel there, and a jug of spring flowers, and spruced up my sampler which bears the sage wisdom of "Dull women have immaculate houses" LOL

Monday, 27 April 2009

Feast day of St Zita

I love these quirky Saint's days, this one being especially relevant to me LOL. St Zita is the patron saint of housewives, servants and bakers, and is sometimes invoked by people who cannot find their keys.

More here:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/ZITA.htm

I will be baking a cake in her honour later today, and doing some of the never-ending housework!!

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life