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Friday 10 February 2012

Log Fires and Marmalade!

As it has been very cold and damp this week I decided to sort through my cross-stitch patterns and projects, and I found several half finished pieces - why did I not complete them?!  There are two Noah's Arks and a gorgeous half finished Quaker design - so I have promised myself not to start anything new until these are finished!  I have also had a major sort through of all my threads - DMC, WDW, GA etc. and now have them sorted by number and/or make - so finding my colours will be so easy - I should have done this a long time ago.
I have this week finished a sweet little Noah's Ark - this is for William:
and I also have sewn the bonus pattern from BBD Loose Feathers Winter, and made this into a small memorial sampler - a neighbour from my years in West Horsley Surrey died last year on his 85th birthday, so when I next go to Surrey I shall visit his wife and take this - it will last longer than flowers and I know she will love it:

So no new starts now until my half-finished finds are done and with the framer!
As it has been so bleak I decided to make Marmalade - the Sevill oranges are not in season long so I need to make the most of them, although I always freeze some each winter in case we run out before next January:  the smell is always so good and the larder shelves look happier full than empty:

I was watching BBC1 Breakfast this morning, and Don McLean (American Pie) was on:  he made me smile as he was commenting on the fact that we in the UK make so much fuss about the "small" amount of snow we have had - compared to Maine USA - he apparantly has a snow plough on the front of his vehicle so he can get out and about - horses for courses as they say!  We have had no snow down in our part of West Devon, but we did have minus 10 degrees on our front porch the other morning:
I am off up to Nottingham next week for my Mother's 92nd birthday, so this weekend I will do some baking and make some nutrious soups for her:  hopefully it will be a chance to catch up with my sister and her husband and also some long-standing family friends - and I will be able to do much sewing too as she is not able to get out these days. 
I will now go and light our log fire, and maybe a game a Scrabble this afternoon?  Sounds good to me!

4 comments:

  1. Have a great trip next week to your mom's! Those cross stitches are adorable. The marmalade looks delish! xo

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  2. 92 is a grand old age. Happy Birthday to your Mum.

    Orange marmalade so yummy xxx

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  3. Thank you both for the kind wishes for my Mum - yes 92 is an amazing age bless her.

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  4. LOVE the ark design, so pretty. And I admit to a bit of 'larder envy' here - to have but a few homemade marmalade jars all ready to go onto some crusty homemade bread....blissful!
    Hope the scrabble game went in your favour!

    BH x

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