The nightmare begins........................

.............  or how to transport 1 watercolour painting, 1 Victoria sponge, 1 Dundee cake, 1 Swiss roll, 1 round of shortbread,1 loaf of bread, 1 savoury flan, 1 pizza, 4 sausage rolls, 1 carnival loaf, 1 fruit tart, 1 gingerbread, 1 iced and decorated chocolate cake, 6 flapjacks, 1 crochet hat, 1 knitted pullover, 1 pair of knitted socks, 1 baby's cardigan, 1 Haaf cap, 1 framed cross stitch, 1 patchwork quilt, 1 glass and wire necklace, 1 recycled t-shirt bag, 1 stuffed sheep, 2 tea cosies, 1 fascinator, 1 string of crochet bunting, 1 skein of handspun wool, 1 wee wall hanging, 1 wall quilt, 1 jar of strawberry jam, 1 jar of raspberry jam, 1 jar of blackcurrant jam, 1 jar of courgette and lime marmalade, 1 jar of grapefruit and ginger marmalade, 1 jar of peach jam, 1 jar of chutney, 1 jar of picallili, 1jar of lemon curd and one jar of apple and redcurrant jelly over 20 miles to the showground this afternoon. Will be straight and even main roads I think, rather than the scenic route, whilst nursing a cake on my lap....................... I've made a new page up there ^^^^ with some photos :)

Homemade lemon curd

So simple to make, and incomparable to anything you can buy. This is my jar ready for the show, using the tried and trusted recipe I've used for years. 6 good lemons, zested and squeezed 4 oz butter 1 1/4lbs caster sugar 6 fresh eggs, lightly beaten Put the zest, juice, butter and sugar into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave until sugar dissolved and butter is melted, stirring well to combine.  Add the eggs, straining them through a sieve into the bowl, stir well and heat until thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon - don't let the water boil or the eggs might curdle. When thickened, pour into prepared jars, seal and label. Keep in the fridge, makes a wonderful present :) Also got these done - redcurrant and apple jelly and a Swiss roll - will need to make sure all the jars are shiny clean and tidily labelled :0

Autumn morning

A very cool start to the day here in the Vale - the mist was so thick I couldn't see the back field, or over out to the Vale at all.  Chilly too, when I took the dog out. Lovely to see what's about at this time of year, dripping elderberries, wild clematis, all sorts...............and cobwebs. Those lovely sparkly wet ones that you only get for a fleeting period at this time of the year

Not a scarf........................

One of the classes in the upcoming County Show is for a handwoven article; handwoven article usually results in most of the entries being scarves. I was so determined not to weave a scarf of any kind!  So I wove a wee wallhanging. I love it, and I'll keep it afterwards. I highly doubt if it will get placed in the show as there will be much more professional and technically perfect/more complicated entries than this, but I enjoyed making it and I wanted something a wee bit different to show. Maybe they'll hate it.............  lol It was woven on my smallest peg loom, only 8 pegs across, using a gorgeous commercial yarn called Bolivia which I couldn't resist buying although I had nothing specific in mind for it (I still have plenty left!). I added some beads and a decorated glass drop at the bottom and hung the outer warps over an elder twig from the garden. The whole thing is very 'me' :)