Unbought Delicacies

Friday, 10 February 2012

This made me cry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAYWEwB6Meo

Thought for a Friday

If you advance confidently in the direction of your own dreams

And endeavour to live the life you've imagined,

You will meet with a success unexpected

In common hours.

~Henry David Thoreau.

(thanks to Leanne for flagging the quote up the other day :) x )

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Emma's imagination..................

Hugely talented in my opinion, just fabulous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B78TL1pBKPE&feature=relmfu

I'd been saving these very pretty pink and white roses to dry for some pot pourri, and was looking about for a dish to hold them whilst I dealt with the stems and washed the vase out. First thing that came to hand was this, a dish that I love, bought at the tip for a few pennies, and made of painted metal, Italian. Couldn't have been more perfect if I'd tried, so they will stay as they are and I'll find a place for them where I can see them often :)

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

In my kitchen

Wednesday in pictures :)

Fire at River Cottage HQ

http://www.rivercottage.net/about/latest-news/barn-fire-river-cottage-statement/
This is very sad, but the main thing is that no-one was hurt. Having been there, I can confirm it's a lovely and special place. Hoping they can make good of it in time.

Testing , testing..............

Re-jigging of the sitting room continues, and I have got the woodburner re-lit. The kettle was acquired (from the tip) a while back, last summer I think, with a view to stove top tea-making. So it was brought out, polished up and set to work - boiled nice and fast, and am now able to use my pot holder I made for it too. Nice when things come together :)

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

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