Housebound

Still housebound here, I actually managed to get the car out, only to drive up the road and nearly miss a car swerve into the side of me. So the car has remained a good walk away from the house (I live on a hill and there are no cars driving down my road). I managed a food shop, so the fridge is full and stocked up on cake making goodness and of course extra Hot Chocolate and marshmallows. Keeping me warm in my sewing is is my quilt work, nothing like managing a big quilt to keep the legs warm whilst in my sewing room, its so chilly that it shows your breath as 'dragons breath' as it escapes your warm body into the cold air. I am hunkering down in the kitchen most of the time. My kitchen is a haven of warmth and love, it really is the heart of this family home. Its big enough to hold a big old pine table with a miss match of chairs around it, I religiously change the oil cloth cover monthly, this makes me happy. It has a small sofa in the corner that the children cuddle up on with cushions and quilts to keep them toasty. The floor is big enough for a train track to be laid out on and of course the kitchens the place all the food is prepared...
So my pile of books (see last post) sit on my kitchen table, and slowly I am devouring each book. It would only be right that I sit down with a cup of something warming and some sweet treat to help me in my reading.
Over the last few days I have made various cakes and cookies from the Hummingbird bakery cook book has each one has turned out fabulous and scrumptious...
My favourite so far being the marshmallow cup cakes... delightful
So the view from my kitchen window is still rather white, its so cold here and many layers are needed to keep warm, last night while I sat by the fire, I pulled out from my wool stash the biggest chunkiest yarn I could find and started on a winter warmer jacket on HUGE needles.

I have a big treat next week, I am going on a crochet work shop, now I have been doing a little crochet myself, all self taught, but I fear what I call a treble stitch is not actually what it is, so I thought it would be an excellent way to meet up with some fellow yarn type people after days, no weeks, of not really seeing anyone, and an opportunity to learn a new skill, but the best bit is to spend the Christmas money that is burning a little hole in my pocket with the promise I made to the giver to only spend it on something for myself.

Right time for a cup of tea to warm my fingers up and put the oven on and pull out my knitting, Oh how I love lazy Sundays, by far the best day of the week.

Can you hear it....

Can you hear it?

Can you feel it?

Its on its way... soon you will have that giddy feeling in your tummy, the winter will take on a romantic slant, it will be all about cosy nights around the fire, quilts over the knees, twinkling lights, hot chocolate with marshmallows or rich warming mulled wine in the local pub after a walk over the moors, all with the soundtrack of carols and Christmas songs from many years each one bringing you memories of time gone by.
OH my word, yes I am feeling Christmassy, it just kinda snuck up on me, suddenly it was November a grey miserable month for me personally, it marks the end of outdoor play, time on the beach and just being outside. November holds some unpleasant memories for me. So one minute I was looking out of my kitchen window to my view over the hills, watching the clouds racing across the sky bringing with them so much rain, feeling sad inside and desperate for brighter days. The next minute I am in my sewing room, going through my Christmas craft books and sewing in red, white and green fabric... MAKING ME SMILE!!!
Today I started the Christmas baking, the rich warming smells of cinnamon and spice, the warmth from the cooker chases away the blues, and the Christmas cake finally gets started...
The fruits steeps in brandy,I treat my boys to Christmas ham for supper (Nigella's Ham in Coke) and of course all the baking calls for the thick, runny jewel coloured delights of syrup and treacle...
Oh yes the tasty treats of Christmas are just warming the heart of my home right now...
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. I heard on the radio today a debate about the British adopting the day, it was described as Christmas without the stress of presents a day to count your blessings. I believe in our crafty blogging community we have the gift of counting our blessing anyway, but a day to think and share it with those we love, a day with food and tradition...yes Happy Thanksgiving.

Accepting Autumn...

Autumn is a funny time for me, I appreciate the beautiful colours I even look forward to the warm cosy evenings snuggling up in front of the fire with beautiful wool to knit with or cosy cord to sew. Spending time in my kitchen in the day cooking up hearty meals and of course getting my slow cooker out for all those warming stews and casseroles. But... I am a summer girl and of course Autumn marks the end of those long lovely days out in the fresh air, time spent on beaches and swimming in the sea, eating food outside and BBQs, flowing easy dressing, make up free thanks to the freckles the sun has blessed me with. Yes its a time of sadness for me. However with so much change going on in my life I am more accepting even welcoming this year of the visible changes on the land that mark the passing of time.
Yes, accepting... enjoying the dew kissed grass in the early mornings as I let the animals out to play for the day, the change in clothes as I pull out all my beautiful knitted tops which wrap around me like a second skin, re heeling my favourite boots and sorting out my socks and funky tights ready for the cooler days.
Of course if your a blog reader you can not helped but have noticed the many posts about the seasonal fruits, sadly my pair tree has a nasty disease and the pears are inedible this year, but the apples (not from my own garden but a welcome gift) are a treat this year, so on a cooler, wetter day whilst the babes worked hard at school, this Mommy peeled chopped and baked...
Topping up the larder and the freezer, little bags of apple sauce ready for a winters worth of roast dinners and of course Christmas Dinner with homemade apple sauce and pies for those times when you need a treat of a pudding... did I really say Christmas then?
Yes I accept the changes around me and this year I even embrace it, without even realising it I have noticed my selection of colours has changed from bright to darker earthy tones in what I wear and indeed what I sew.....

I wish you a wonderful week as day by day the leaves on the trees change and the grass needs mowing less...

Let them eat cake...

We had a little celebration in the 'Suzie Sews Household' a little birthday party.  Which was just the excuse I needed to pull out my favourite table linen and use my brand new muffin tray.  (Bought from the Pampered Chief at a PTA fund raising event).
Now I am not a big fan of gadgets and despite one of my favourite places within my home being my kitchen and I love baking, I actually have very little on the gadget front.  Now do not get me wrong, I guess if I thought about it I could easily go out and buy all sorts of goodies, I particularly lust after the beautiful food mixers that are indeed a piece of art in their appearance alone, oh and Santa if your reading this I would like it in red!!!  But the thing is it costs £300.00 and I use a hand blender that I bought many years ago and cost under £20.00.  It takes up less space so means I have more space for my ever increasing obsession with plates and crockery.
No, my kitchen is no show kitchen, it is the heart of my family, its the place we start the day and its the place most of our family time takes place in.  Its busy, its messy, usually noisy and quite frankly could be a lot cleaner.  The kitchen table is the centre of the kitchen, it is always cluttered with my latest knitting or sewing project, papers to sort through, the children's homework, a glass of wine in the evening, and of course we also eat at it.  Yes the table to me is more important than the gadgets I could have. My table itself has history as does the miss matching chairs, there is love, tears, joy and sadness polished into the wood of the everyday trails and tribulations of family life.  Shiny and new it is not!
But saying all of this I was particularly excited about my NEW muffin tray, I fell for all the talk of perfectly cooked moist cakes and the perfect Yorkshire puddings.  SO I thought I would have a play and I was not disappointed.  Later that evening we sung Happy Birthday before eager hands reached out for cakes...
Yes my kitchen is a welcoming place, as long as you like the 'homely' look.  Minimalist and designer are not words used to describe any place within my home.  Sometimes I lust after a simpler less cluttered area, that was easy to clean, but then I know my lifestyle would have to be different.  Personally when my children come home from school and they walk through the door, the smell of baking greets them and they squeal 'Mmmmmmmm Mommy's been baking' and they rush to the kitchen to see what after school snack awaits them, I smile, surly this is better than having a clean, tidy and trendy home, well almost!

Show and tell next, I have been busy...

Let them eat cake...

How quick the time goes... two weeks over with just like that.  I have to confess to it all being a little hectic and possibly not really the weather I was hoping for.  Yes I know the sun shone on most of England this past two weeks but sadly I seemed to have followed the clouds.It was all a bit mad, as it is when your with your children, managing play dates, cooking, serious crafty time and even getting some sleep in.  Our little break away by the sea was filled with lots of wellie walks and the usual Blyton-ess adventures.  Eating lots of yummy food and of course lots of chocolate eggs.
As for the Suzie Sews creativity, well that was a little slow on happening.  Some stuff was made including some summer sewing and of course I knitted whist sheltering from the rain, this helped keep the clouds from dampening my spirits.  
I spent time in the company of good friends and the children giggled their way through the days.  A special visit to a friend to attend the Christening of her special little girl, and it was a real honour to become a Godmother to her.  What a treat to be welcomed into the family and made to feel part of the gang.
So the children returned to school and to beat the post holiday blues I have been baking...raspberry and lime cake which came from the lovely Vintage Heaven.  A little time spent pottering around in my kitchen without the endless juice runs, can I have something to eat, can you come in the garden and play etc... so suddenly the house is quite and as I sat with my afternoon tea the silence was deafening...
The children returned home in a whirl of excitement, chatting away and up to mischief.  As they sat at the kitchen table and tell me the stories of their day I throw us a little supper together before they sleepily climb the stairs. Once  again the balance is restored...

Time for some serious time in my sewing room...............................................................

Pictures 1 Break for afternoon tea 2 raspberry and lime cake 3 in the mix 4 tea in the sunshine 5 supper  

The weather today is...

The weather today is...Cloudy with some sunny spells ending in a bright Autumnal evening...
Perfect weather for cooking up some of the autumnal offerings from the garden...a fruity curry as we return to the comfort foods of warmth and spice after all the fresh crispy salads of the summer...
The dark evenings are a time to settle down and finish off projects...(Front and back of the Jane Austin dress)
and to start on a fresh project (does it look familiar?)...
... whilst the children return to their indoor play and rediscover the much loved and treasured wooden train set that seem to find its way all over the house..."Please Mommy leave it out so we can play with it later"
Which means this track has taken over the living room, the hall, poked into my sewing room, the downstairs loo and is now heading towards the kitchen...CHOO CHOO!!!

My children love being outdoors and I always worry how they will cope when they have to stay indoors, after all you can only cope with being wet from the rain for so long...you know they always surprise me with their 'play' I am blessed that they love being in each others company and despite their age difference they manage to find a harmonious level at which to play together...long may it continue...

I wish you a fantastic, happy and healthy weekend...

Feeling creative...

Guess what...the computer has been down again...so its been a little slow around here on the posting front...let me assure you the frustration of it all is getting the better of me....saying that though it has meant that the free time has been spent catching up on the sewing and a little knitting... Remember this post right at the end, the photo of the two fabrics, the possibilities ended up being my summer bag, which is already getting plenty of use, the little flower just finishes it off and means I can co-ordinate the bag with any jacket by unpinning the flower off the bag and wearing it on my jacket...
It has been madness around here, the various failings continue, all silly little things but enough to rock the boat a little. This weekend it was the local Summer fair, usually I work in the craft room, as I had no babysitter for the children this year I chose to put my own kids first and go as a participant with them. I have volunteered in the craft room for nearly five years now so I was feeling a little odd about it all and not involved, so I put together a craft activity, a pile from my stash of card making. Also I agreed to bake lots for the cake stall...

So I dragged the children shopping for the baking goodies then I spend an evening baking. My older one asked me why I do this? We had a chat and I said 'You should be pleased that Mommy does this to help out the community that you are part off' I thought this would be a good example for him, his reply 'I do like it Mommy, but it means you do not play with us' Let me tell you this upset me. I was late arriving to the fair because of another 'Suzie Sews household glitch' plus I had a good old chat with my mate on the other side of the world which did cheer me up a little...
I ran into the fair to the cake stand and I was greated in complete innocence to the comment of 'Oh no not more cakes'...Yes by this stage I wish I had played with my children. Still for supper we had a few of our cakes for pudding and though I say so myself..very tasty and it made the children very happy.

SO its all going on and not all the way I wish. Its got to the stage that its laughable...I consoled myself this week with catching up on a little patchwork (see pictures) I even labeled all my blocks so I now know how many blocks I have to get done, just over half way through it now...

With the glitches on the computer I am still so behind I have a great Tag to follow up on and just some emails to return and ofcourse some blog reading...I will get round to it, please bear with me and thank you for your supportive comments and emails. Hopefully next week normality will resume...Normality...who am I kidding!!!

Have your cake and eat it!!!

Well the weekend arrived and after the week previous we had every intention to make the most of it in the most chilled out way possible, and that we did...we thought we would just chill out at home and relax, but with us having a PTA event in the evening and me being on the committee means I have duties and one of those was baking...so with my two little helpers... We got busy, there was cracked egg shells on the floor and flour swishing in the air as we mixed and stirred...

Then came the fun bit, the decorating of the cakes, would it be fairy cakes, royal icing or lashings of butter icing swirls??? We went for the later and of course the children wanted to add colour...so this they did... Once the cakes had been made, the washing up done and the table wiped free of its 'snow' effect...
We hit the garden for a little fun in the sun...and what more would I expect from my guys but to play in the water. They wore their wellies and PJ's most of the day...After a quick swim at the local pool...yes they did have a little clean before they went into the pool! We pottered off to the PTA quiz night...
By the time I got them home one was a sleep and the other one not far behind, so after a quick bedtime story and a cuddle the house was quite...
GLUG GLUG GLUG...I opened a bottle of wine, a bowl full of nibbles and a little lap sewing and I settled myself in for the evening with some knitting and sewing podcast's...Ahhh! yes, a relaxed and happy day all round...

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The following day the rain came down in bucket loads, so we hung around the house for a while and then we took a trip to a craft show and called in on my Mom for a cuppa...weekends like this are good for the soul!!!

Sparkle

Before I type on I wanted to say a heart felt thanks for the beautiful, thoughtful comments and emails about the last post. I Thank You, every comment was so special to me. It is with sadness in our hearts that we have to accept that life now carries on and when children are involved its even more important and to share in the Christmas joy is something that I feel is important. So it finally arrived around here...the Christmas Magic, the tree is up in all its spender, I have a usual tradition of putting on the Christmas music (which I play till all around me scream...NO MORE!!!) I make a pan of Mulled wine and the tree goes up in the evening so that when the children come down on a cold dark morning the house is transformed into a winter wonderland. Oh to see their little faces...well its adorable...
Along with the Christmas Magic comes all that making, I have just about finished all the makes for friends and orders, my poor friends I never know if they think 'Yippee Suzie's being sewing again' or 'Oh no not Suzie's sewing again' So this year I have not made my children's friends much, last year I went into mass production of appliqued T'shirts, I have however made the Mom's a little something. So now I am free to make the nice stuff, the ones without pressure...like the Pokemon Quilt for one of my children and a Moo cow for the other. I also want to make a few other little projects...Christmas mice and I am itching to have ago at fabric apples and pears...don't ask!!! SO Christmas Makes...Glue Gun at the ready and the buttons lay all around. Actually I miss lead you with this picture of my button wreath, I made it last year with a rather odd looking reindeer as its centre!!! But never fear a few more are getting made.
You just can not beat Red Gingham at Christmas, I adore gingham any time but red in December is positively essential around here. SO a few little ornaments that take moments for the tree, pretty effective, especially when the sparkly lights shine on them. Also for those moments when the kids have got 'tinsel fever' and you need to get them to focus...go pick a cookie cutter and make cookies...
Talking of which my older child and I like a bit of cookie making...sorry about the picture my camera is playing up when on close up...Ahhhh Santa PLEASE bring me a new camera...I have been such a good girl!!!!
These cookies are so easy...melted chocolate on baking paper...a big dollop of chocolate and push in a cherry and two silver balls (eatable ones) almonds for ears and curly wurly bits for the antlers...let them cool and there you are...full of sugar and all things unhealthy...YUMMY!!! AHHHHHH the panic is setting in...there are parcels to be wrapped and taken to the post office, gifts to be delivered, get together's to be arranged and cards to be sent out...I have a little help with the hand made cards this year...you all know Monkee Maker and her famous 007, well look what I got...two fab packs...they are adorable, funny and a little naughty...I know who I am sending each one of them to...Thanks Kerry.

So its a busy busy time. We must stop and make time for the people that are important to us, I had the pleasure of catching up with an old friend this last weekend, my knitting partner who moved away in January came over to stay with her gorgeous baby, you know when you have a good friendship when you don't clean up before they arrive...Sorry Caroline...did you really think things would change because you have been away for a year?

I got to see another old friend too...the best man at my Wedding came over and we had dinner with the children...I am also thinking of my friend and her family in Australia, this time last year they came to stay with us for a week, she is now living the dream, travelling, home schooling and many exciting plans for their future...Miss you Kate...Happy Birthday my soul mate all the way over there on other side of the world, if your reading this...Ring me when you can, guess who lost your contact number???

One lump or two?

As soon as I had finished the blog yesterday and the morning chores my little babe and me set to the kitchen...'Baking time Mommy I want to bake cookies' So this is the end result, kind of sweet eh? Well what a mess we got into, but what fun we had... First we put our aprons on and washed our hands with our new smelly soap. Then we greased the trays...
Made messy blobs of dough (with chocolate and cranberry) and once that's done its the fun bit of cleaning out the bowl...
Round two, time for the crispy cakes..gooey, runny, lovely, melted chocolate, look at this little poppet, doing a good job I think!
Funny how they disappear when it comes to the clearing up, the tasting was much more fun. Which brings us back to the first picture, we took the tray into the playroom and had our afternoon tea on the floor like a pic-nic, well with all the miserable rain there was no hope of having tea on the lawn!!!
Just so you do not think its turned into a baking blog a quick snap shot of my work area, well it is WIP Friday. As my work area is an ongoing work in progress it seemed like a fair photograph to post up today. Believe it or not this is actually the put away version. I am so inspired by all the lovely work rooms out there in blog-land and I have followed their progress with much love and interest...one day one day I might get round to doing something with mine, for now though as time is so precious I will make do, no not make do I love it, it was only a few months ago I moved off the kitchen table...Have a great weekend.