ordinary days

I hadn't meant to be away for long. School holidays came and went. Although I was home, and it was both enjoyable and busy, unfortunately any well meaning intentions to blog flew out the window. Then I lost the internet for a week. Strangely enough I think it was what I really needed. I started and finished a novel. The house looked tidier than it had in years. I did some sewing. I started a new knitting project. I felt so productive. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt from that week.

 I think the hardest part about coming back to a blog when you've been away is breaking the ice again.

So I'll let the pictures do the talking today, just so that I can ease myself back into it.

The fire is on and a white fog envelopes everything outside. Ugg boots and an op shopped polyester fleece dressing gown are keeping me nice and cosy as I type. Dirty floors and extra washing are inevitable after the weekend. Which reminds me that the flannel sheets need to go on the bed today. It looks like today will be an ordinary day of cleaning up after the weekend. Ordinary, but good, I hope.

 I found this little assortment outside. The girls must have picked them and left them there.

Valley view.

School holiday soup lunch.

Painting with cut potatoes.

Pretty compost.

Holiday reading from my own childhood books.

From the garden.

Baking.

 
As above.




May your day be an ordinarily good one too. See you soon.

Julia's scarf

In the absence of anything crafty to post, I thought I would show you Julia's latest sewing project. She seems to have overtaken me in the crafting stakes lately, and perhaps I should be taking a leaf out of her book. She has taken naturally to sewing by machine, unlike her mother. Despite my own mother sewing often as a child, I was always too scared to learn. I remember avoiding the machine in the one term I did of sewing in high school. I still wonder how I passed that class.

I was pretty proud of Julia's latest effort, a scarf, of which the pattern came from Sewing School
2, a book that we bought her for christmas. She chose an assortment of floral sheeting she had in her very own little stash, and backed it with some Anna Maria Horner flannel that was in my stash. It always interests me to see which fabrics people mix together, and especially when that person is your 9 year old daughter.

I guided her throughout but she happily did all the cutting, pinning, ironing and sewing herself. Including hand sewing the loop hole by hand at the very end.

Perhaps my inspiration to get right back into something crafty may be sitting right in front of me. It does make me think that perhaps a small, uncomplicated project may be just what I need to get myself back into my sewing space.

christmas holidays

Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake. Just like last year.

Violet's Christmas stocking made up with a little old wool, needlework doily, ribbon and a little appliqued Liberty.

Christmas came and went this year without too much of a fuss. Sure there was that dreaded last Christmas shop, a fair bit of cooking (but not nearly so much as in other years past), and many days spent at home both with family and just ourselves. There has been some adjusting and compromising along the way as we haven't had the liberty of time that we've had in previous years. Sad to say not much at all in the way of handmade. Though Violet did finally get her stocking on Christmas Eve.

Brown paper, stamps we already had, string, bark, black marker and gumleaves made for budget wrapping this year.

 It has taken almost three weeks to really get into the routine of holidays. Holidays should be easy, right? Well, it is nice to imagine that it will be, but reality often reveals a different story. Sometimes all that time together brings out the very worst in us. There were clashes (I felt like I did nothing but break up fights amongst the kids for 2 weeks straight), there was the annual analyze your life discussions, as well as stopping to count all the jobs that need to be done around the house.

So although I have a small pile of pretty fabric just sitting there waiting to be made into a summer wardrobe of sorts, my house is only half clean and I have a sore throat, I can happily say that we are just now beginning to get into the swing of the holidays and truly enjoy each others company.  We've been enjoying homemade ice cream, allowing a few more treats than usual into the house (anyone else love panettone?), changing rooms around, long talks and having movie nights at home.

Funny, isn't it, that the week full of swimming lessons that I had been dreading has turned out the be the best week yet? But life is like that. Swimming lessons have gotten us all into the pool, with a coffee, lemonade or ice cream afterwards. Followed by a few lazy afternoons.

Our bottle fed calf has kept us grounded at home this holidays, but I think this has been a blessing in disguise. It has been good for us to just be at home doing home things.

Sadly it may be the final week that we are together as Daniel may be back to work next week. But I'm hoping that we can bring just a little holiday feeling with us as we get back into the daily grind of life. The odd movie night and a few more ice creams may be just what we need.

I do hope you are all enjoying and have enjoyed your christmas and new years break. Happy new year!

pictured

With all the busyness that the school holidays brought - kid's friends over, Bessie the cow and more kid's friends over, I'm afraid it all passed by in a bit of a blur. I can't pretend that I'm not a little relieved that school went back today. A little more organization the night before and this morning, enabled the drop off and milking routines to go fairly smoothly. It was nice to arrive home to a quiet house with a full milk can. A small bowl of popcorn is sometimes what it takes to gain ten minutes of quiet with a cup of coffee with no little person jumping all over me. 

Today is set to be a cleaning catch up day. The floors need mopping and the outside of the kitchen cupboards are not their best. Washing needs hanging out and sheets need changing. School holidays tend to wreak a little havoc, and they are certainly not the time to attempt any Spring cleaning. Which makes me wonder if I will even get to any Spring cleaning this time around.

I emptied out the camera the other day. There weren't many photos from the past few weeks. I believe the battery was flat on my camera for the half the holidays while I was looking for the charger. Time was not on my side these holidays. There is nothing very eventful here, just a few pictures taken around the house last week.

 

 While it has warmed up, we are still having cold days. Particularly early morning milking (Violets op-shopped hand knits)

Making lard.

First pig-tails.

Tea from Pop's old tea-pot.

Luca's Deckard. Picking the needles back up after an unintended knitting break.

Quilts and reading piles.

Bessie's milk cream line.

The Home Creamery, a book I have had for some time, is proving even more useful now. Last week it was ricotta and I would like to attempt the Farmer's cheese soon.

Dishes. Not a pretty sight, but it was a constant reality during the holidays. Some days you just feel chained to the sink. At such times I almost wished I had a dishwasher.


***

I could not end this post without saying how supported and truly moved I felt after reading your encouraging, heartfelt comments from my last post. It has made me feel that I do want to continue in this space, after a period of time that had me questioning whether I really wanted to continue or not. Sometimes there is a bigger picture at hand here, and if my little ramblings here brighten another person's day, encourage them to try something new, or make them feel that they are not the only square peg in a round hole, then that will make it all worth it.

So thank you, those that come back time and again, even waiting patiently when the posts are few and far between. I am afraid I am terribly slack and time poor as regards to replying to questions and emails, but please be assured that I value each and every comment and email that someone has taken the time to reach out with. I am truly thankful that your voices have helped make this space what it is.

inside the lunchbox

A few of you have asked what I pack inside the kid's school lunch boxes. So here it is. A week's worth of lunches. When we started this wheat free thing, it was very tricky figuring out what to pack in the absence of sandwiches. Afterall, it is what lunchbox packing used to revolve around here. Through trial and error I have slowly discovered what gets eaten and what doesn't (and nobody likes unpacking a lunchbox still full of food!).  I have found that if I have a few staples of real food such as eggs, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and cheese, then I can create quick lunch box fillers without packet food. Of course one or two baked treats a week doesn't go astray either, and I have found the most popular ones have been almond flour based. Sometimes I soak spelt flour for baked treats such as pancakes. Sandwiches are not entirely off limits, but these days they are usually rye, spelt or kamut sourdough, although not very often due to the cost.

Monday :
Buckwheat pancakes spread with butter and filled with grated carrot and cheese.
Popcorn cooked in coconut oil.
Mandarin.*

Tuesday :
Corned beef (leftovers from last night's dinner).
100% Rye sourdough* bread with butter.
Tapioca pudding from Nourishing Traditions.
Mandarin.

Wednesday: 
Sweet carrot muffins from From Scratch.
Nuts, sultanas and sunflower seeds.
Leftover bolognese style sauce with grated cheese.
Mandarin.

Thursday:
Sweet carrot muffins (links above).
Boiled eggs.
Sliced cheddar cheese, cos lettuce, celery and carrot.
Mandarin. Again.

Friday:
Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sultanas.
Grated carrot, camembert cheese and leftover roast lamb.
Sliced orange.*


*Lately I have been buying oranges and mandarins in bulk through Fresh Citrus Direct. I love being able to support farmers directly, and I have to say that that these are the freshest and sweetest citrus I have ever tasted. The oranges make the sweetest juice ever. Stored in the fridge they tend to last much longer than the supermarket variety.

*While I am still not yet venturing into the world of sourdough making, for the moment I have discovered a wonderful online sourdough baker, Hope Farm Bakery, for the occasional treat. (I ordered 5 loaves to save on postage, and stored them in the freezer).



So, yes, it is a tricky business, this lunch box thing, but it is good to finally feel more confident with changes. Thankfully my kids have not been too embarrassed with these homemade efforts, though there has been a few teasing comments in the past. Along the way I have tried to educate them as why we eat the way we do, and they seem to be embracing that, in no small part because a few of their friends eat in a similar way.

How do you handle the whole lunchbox thing?
Any ideas or recipes to share?

nituna

It took a few weeks of sewing, mostly in the evenings and late at night, but finally Julia's Nituna is finished and hanging in her wardrobe. Julia chose the pattern (Figgy's Nituna) and the red wool from my stash of fabrics. I am hoping this will help increase the wearability factor. This sturdy red wool has certainly done double duty. You might remember this skirt?*  For the lining I found a red floral quilting weight cotton, also an op shop buy. (See Daniel, all those stored fabrics do come in handy sometimes!) The buttons were a market buy last year.

*skirt update - I finally wore it out for dinner a few weeks back.

The pattern pieces came together well, but I did have a few issues with the welt pockets.You don't see the welt pockets? That's right, I just couldn't get my head around the instructions, so I changed it to the patch pockets. The first patch pockets I wasn't happy with, so I ended up making a new pair and lining them, which wasn't in the pattern instructions. But I'm learning that sometimes in sewing you just have go with your gut feeling. And who knows, perhaps one day I will tackle the elusive welt pocket.

I probably wouldn't recommend this pattern to a beginner sewer. Though the cut of the pattern is quite good, there were some gaps in the instructions and a few diagrams that might have come in handy, but for the most part it wasn't too hard to put together. Next time I will remember the dangers of late night sewing, as it never seems to work very well for me. This time I sewed the buttonholes on the wrong side. By the time I realised it was too late.

Overall though, I am happy with this little project. It is the first time I have sewn anything in the realm of coats or jackets, and I quite enjoyed the challenge. It felt like I was dipping my toes into the world of tailoring.

a few little things

A few little things brightening up life right now:

Nut loaf from Coming Home To Eat. Baked with spelt flour, sweetened with honey (speaking of honey did anyone else catch this story?) and I replaced the dates with dried apricots. Pretty good! Though I'm trying not to eat too much because it was made for a lunchbox treat afterall. I'm thinking the freezer option may be a good idea.

I received a parcel this week filled with the most beautiful handmade little clothes for Violet. Many of you will know the lovely Lea, and she was so very kind to pass these on. Aren't they just wonderful? Thank you Lea!

I finally made my first batch of playdough. It seems to be a hit, although the pink, red and green has now blended into a giant blob of funny brown. I do hope my crochet rug (cold frosty morning!) fared okay.

Slow but steady progress is being made on the Nituna jacket for Julia. She selected the pattern and the fabric (from the stash), while I chose the lining.  Hopefully it will be finished before Spring hits. I really should start sewing and knitting a season ahead!


What little things have been brightening your day lately?

simple little bags

 
I stayed up last night into the early hours of the morning. Sewing.  Which will probably not surprise you. Not tackling a project I needed to do (There's certainly plenty of them.) Of course not. But sometimes you need to break away from the invisible crafting list and just create a little something for the sake of it.

In the back of my mind I had been meaning to make a little bag for Julia to take her (always small) projects to and from sewing classes. So last night, after Offspring had finished, after the kids were in bed, I plugged in the sewing machine and set to work. It was good to be back! I'd been finding it hard to get any sort of motivation going in the way of sewing lately, and I think a small project like this was just the thing I needed. While I was at it I thought Violet may like a slightly smaller similar version.

 

I love the chance to mix and match old fabrics, and so I teamed a strong old linen tea towel with a mix of scrap florals, all (except the grey lining) originally from the op shop. I cut two squares for each bag, adding a pocket to the front and some lining. I used to be scared of lining. Until I discovered that it can actually be easier to line than to zig zag all the unfinished edges. Besides being a perfect excuse to add another fabric into the mix.

To finish off I quickly embroidered an initial on each. No too carefully because I was getting quite tired by this stage. Such is the way of late night sewing. In my experience late night sewing is really only suited to those free style projects with room for error. It was good that this project was one of those.

It turns out the girls are happy and ended up wearing them most of the morning. Stuffed with an assortment of books and small toys. The only problem was getting a decent picture amongst the school holiday chaos and dim lighting, and I didn't quite succeed with that. But not to worry, I think those simple little bags are just what we all needed.

Because we all know it's not just about the sewing.