Friday 26 October 2012

Sunbathing and Soup!

Brrr, it's a bit chilly today but at least the sun is out, so someone has made the most of the fact that it's shining directly onto my bed! (BTW I know he's a bit fat just now, I think I've been a bit too generous with his food ever since he got over his last illness!! Naughty me! :-O ) 


Today's autumnal recipe is one I made up myself (I don't really measure
 things out, I just guess so the following recipe is approximately what I put in it!) - Butternut, Butterbean and Tomato soup! Serves four people.


You will need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced into bite-sized chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 250g tin butterbeans
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 pints vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently sweat the garlic and onion for five minutes until soft but not browned.
Add the butternut squash cubes and cook one minute.
Add the tomatoes, puree, cumin, herbs, stock and seasoning.
Bring to boil and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the squash has softened.
Take the soup off the heat and blend it which will cause it to thicken. You can leave it a little chunky if you prefer.
Add the butterbeans and return to a gentle heat for 5 minutes.  Add fresh parsley and more seasoning if required.
Enjoy with granary bread and butter!

It's nice and comforting on a chiily day like this!

This afternoon I have been doing a little gentle crafting and my Christmas robin has made a reappearance!


See you soon!

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Productivity and Slurpability!

I had another great session of embellishment-making this morning:



My plan is for them to end up on tissue boxes, tealight packs and bookmarks, a bit like these:


And I semi-prepped a whole load of tealight packs (I can't finish them until I have tealights!):


I really enjoyed my dinner tonight - Sausage and black bean pot


Made with veggie sausages, it was delish!!

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Autumn Wanderings

We had some gorgeous weather this weekend and the sunshine brought out all the lovely colours of autumn! Himself and I took a couple of walks, including one at Beecraigs where there is a deer park.


This fellow (or fellowess!) looked at us a bit suspiciously!


I do like a sun-dappled path:


The lake was very still:


This looks like a leaf falling to the ground but it was actually suspended by a single strand of cobweb, swaying in the breeze!


We wished we'd brought something to sit on, the view was so gorgeous:


Some very slimy fungi -yeuch!


After our walk we came home to have a home-made chickpea and sweet potato curry, the leftovers of which I blended the next day to make a lovely soup!

And I've felt inspired by the autumn colours for this latest set of notecards:


See you soon!


Tuesday 16 October 2012

Perfect Weather For Crafting!



It was so wet and cold and miserable outside this morning that I almost didn't want to get out of bed!


But in the end I'm glad I did because it was the perfect weather for crafting!

And I soon had a production line going...


Which I then turned into these embellishments:


Which then became these mini notecards:


I love a crafty day!









Friday 12 October 2012

Doggy Day Out

Much as the weather has been distinctly soggy and unpleasant over the last couple of days I still like Autumn.     
I like snuggling at home with my big slippers on, drinking coffee and wearing lots of layers! We have had a couple of "proper" autumn days recently, which was nice: chilly, bright and crisp, leaves crunching underfoot.  It'll soon be time to start burning my fall-scented candles - yay!

I've booked into a couple of events next month, one of which I'm particularly looking forward to.  It's a Well Being and Gift Fair in aid of Canine Partners who provide assistance dogs for people with disabilities. As well as being a nice day out in a very worthy cause I'm excited because it means I can take along lots of my doggy-themed items, the newest of which are my magnetic calendar holders:



and my doggy notecards:


So I'd better get into production-line mode to build up stock because time will fly!

To keep me fuelled up for the task I will turn to my latest craft desk nibble- strawberry bonbons!!


Mmm!



Sunday 7 October 2012

Sew What's The Answer?

I was looking at this this lady's latest blog post and was interested to read her query as to the correct noun to use when referring to someone who sews.  Funnily enough, I had this same quandary a day or two ago when listing a new notepad for sale:


Is this suitable for a sewer (ratty, smelly-sounding word!) or a sewist (quite like this one!!)??

Which should it be? Answers on a postcard please!!

My Little "Helper"!

When I'm at my craft desk of an evening, working away, I often become aware of a furry presence appearing quietly by my side.  He waits patiently until I can ignore him no longer and then I allow him to jump (sometimes I have to help him, he's fifteen!) onto my lap, whereupon I must then reach round his bulk to type at my keyboard (the resulting typos are a wee bot anniying!) and any attempts at continuing with my crafting projects are a forlorn hope!

But when he's this cute who can refuse him?!


Meow!