Autumn Morning JOY

What a morning! Thank you, thank you thank you! Having walked the dogs in such a persistent ''drizzle'' that you end up being soaked yesterday it was such joy to walk them in glorious autumn sunshine today! Could not resist these trees with the shiny red car so beautifully parked right in the middle. On second thoughts it would be better cropped to a tall slim rectangle? With less tree ? Will try that later.

What sumptious colours!!! All those reds and purples, then to almost black and brown : I must have taken 20 or more pictures and this is one of the best- possibly?

Just showing off the lovely pointy 5 petal shape of these leaves too. And then there was this weird yellow ''window'' in the composition???

In a different light the reds are sharper, less pink, less purple and more brown? I'll move on .

Some clever planning person put all these trees in a neat row: lovely contrasts.

Lucy pulled me to a differnt path from our usual route and THIS was on the way. I imagine little green fairies just behind those trees....MAGICAL.

This I feel will be turned into one of my embroideries very soon....On we went and across a bridge. Lucy played with other dogs and attracted a large Doberman- we think she may be starting her first season.( He was a boy and very interested in her) There she was on her back waving tiny paws at him, very funny.

Aaah another embroidery, definitely, do you like the composition? I do, LOVE those diagonals! Not my doing of course, clever nature. How come the reflected blue sky is blue-er than the sky?

Magic around every corner, this one will get an ''impressionist'' treatment I feel....EEEEEH! I'm getting all excited and shivery, I can imagine the threads, colours and stitches...Bits of chopped up fabric...Must get to my machine soon! I wonder if it will be up to it? My dear Pfaff has had an accident you see and stitches rather sporadically and eclectically now.

All this machine stitchery excitement was re- awakened at the Knitting and Stitching Show in London on Saturday and I have - just a few- photos to share about that soon! BIG THING is that I have decided to do- if they'll have me- the Stitched Textiles course at Windsor from next October so I have to get my socks on and finish my C&G level 3 machine embroidery diploma : toute suites!!! I am probably about 55%-65% there....

And if I state it here in PUBLIC then I HAVE to do it don't I?!!!

Voila this is today's finale. THAT BLUE is for me the best ever blue, I can't get enough of it. There's my shadow on the left I should have cropped it, I know but it amused me. Lucy was there too a second before but she moved before she was recorded.

There was crochet on the coach to London so before I go all ''embroidery'', there'll still be some crochet to share soon too!

Conkers and fridgecake, magazine inspiration

Fridgecake: Yummy scrummy! More of this later.

CONKERS! We did well in the end and this is a small selection of our pickings.

Ha ha now laundry is sooo much more fun! I used to have this enormous whicker logbasket and all the laundry ( and toys and unworn clothing etc) got chucked in by one and all and I had to sort it several times a week to identify which load to wash next etc etc Boooring.

Now I have invested in 3 lovely new laundry baskets: Crisp clear white for whites, Royal papal purple for darks and coloureds and a pale blue( not shown) for bedding and towels( boil wash).

As soon as one is full I can take it direct to the machine and voila: more time to enjoy the better things in life: like crochet or reading.....

Of course I'm still working on educating the members of my family but we ARE getting there!
And these 3 take up the same room as my elderly logbasket which has moved to it's rightful place by the open fire! Nights are getting colder after all. The Liberty bag holds all my pegs and it's been a joy to have been able to dry washing in the garden for all of September!
This was my happy haul in late September! I'm still enjoyong them all. How about THIS AMAZING BUS!!!! Miss E wishes THIS was the bus that takes her to school....
These mukluks are in the NEXT isse( #5) of Inside Crochet : aren't they beautiful? I'M IN LOVE!!! I was tickled pink by this picture....What can we feed such textured lips? Fridgecake!
Now I have to admit this is another recipe from the whicked-but-wonderful- Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

This is how their slices look: tempting? Well YESS SIREEE!

Miss E had been haranguing me for weeks for me to make this so I finally gave in:

2 packs of digestive biscuits and a load of raisins...

Almost 2 ( WHAT TWO??!!!) entire packets of BUTTER and oodles of golden syrup and cocoa.....

( Gosh I was really surprised it didn't use real chocolate...)
Combine the two really well and weight down with all the cans you can muster...

Then when it's cooled, deposit in fridge for as long as possible: try to play deaf to the many cries of: IS IT READY YET? CAN I CUT A SLICE?

We cut ours into small-ish squares due to my phobia of what so much butter would do to us and then they just flew out! I made this on a Friday and a week later it was all gone. And there was loads and loads of it....

They do look a bit like the book don't they?

P.S. Do not take out to take on walks or late treats on a warm-ish day as it goes very gooey and sticky and drops crumbs EVERYWHERE. Best eaten straight from the fridge.

Banana cupcakes and another dewy morning

Good morning, well it's morning for me and for now it's all good....
Isn't it magnificent? I took this on my cameraphone which I have not uploaded like this before and am just a little chuffed with it. This is 23 September very early when there was dew and mistiness everywhere. The cobwebs were just ENTRANCING and that's from one who is terrified of spiders! I do admire their lacy handiwork however!

Still catching up a bit as up to today I was sole driver for the past 10 days or so. JJ is recovering well but still quite shaken by the whole ''car crash'' experience. And then we've had the plumber in to replace a shower unit as it was leaking...Oh no what a nightmare! We've been using the girl's bathroom for over 3 months now and finally the happy ''Plumber Week'' arrives only to find that the cursed BQ installed ensuite of only 4 years ago was soooo badly botched that we have to have the ENTIRE ensuite redone. Oh. NO! It was mahem and hugely noisy yesterday with Thumps and Bumps going on all day so I'm glad it's quiet and peaceful again now. We are awaiting supplies as we hadn't ordered enough to redo EVERYTHING.

So : aren't misty mornings lovely? Full of mystery and promise. The last few days have been wet and ''white'' so it's nice to be revisiting this day in September when it started so misty and became so HOT and SUNNY!

There is an even better web here but the leaves are masking it's beauty.

Beginning to lift and the sun trying to shine through. Made this last night: like it? It's very warm and Miss E likes it so I'll be off soon to finish the pair. It's my own pattern and I 'll put it on Ravelry as soon as I figure out how to do that!

Funny isn't it how you can be feeling exhausted- I was ready for bed in my PY's- and you start playing with a hook and some yarn and then WHAM you're wide awake and happily crocheting away, getting all excited and time just rushes by unnoticed?

On a stitchery note: I made this for Miss E too and she loves it and wears it to school every day.

( biggest compliment ever if it can go to school...) I understand and also hope it will be in the next issue ( issue 5) of Inside Crochet magazine...!!!

Here are my Banana cupcakes: as promised! They are totally GOOD for you as I have tweaked an elderly ( from 1994) WW recipe.

YOU WILL NEED:

2 large bananas- ripe is best

2 table sp sunflower oil

3 table sp runny honey

300 ml skimmed milk

1 table sp cinnamon

1 teasp vanilla esence

220 g self raising flour

2 huge heaped spoons of reddy brek

0.5 teasp bicarb of soda

Topping ( OPTIONAL)

Icing sugar or Honey with a slice of banana or sweet topping or sauce of choice.

Or pieces of dried banana for decoration with some honey.

muffin tin and 12 paper muffin cases

( the big ones as sold in Asda)

Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius

In a medium bowl mash the bananas and add the rest of the ''green'' ingredients. Mix well and whisk if desired.

In a large bowl : sift the flour and mix with the purple ingredients.

Gently blend the contents of the ''greens'' bowl into the dry ingredients , mix well.

Then spoon the mixture into the muffin cases sitting in the tin, they take about 4-5 spoonfuls per case . Bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes until well risen and golden.

Leave to cool in the tin or remove to cool on a wire rack.

They can be frozen once cooled and eaten once thawed : warm in oven for a few minutes or in the microwave for a few seconds.

To be honest: our 12 barely last 3 days! There's been no call to freeze them yet! Ideal for lunchboxes!!!!

Miss Y eats hers plain, but Miss E ( She has a sweet tooth) adds a little chocolate sauce, icing sugar or honey on top as it's not quite sweet enough for her.

I hope you enjoy these, see you soon!

PS : I realise these are rather plain as they are meant as a healthy option for school, but they can of course be decorated in any which way!

Cuttlebrook dewy morning- autumnal start to a day

WHOOOOPEEEEEE!!!!!
This day in late September started with THIS in the post and then just got better and better....
Above is FUNFAIR in BA T'AT pure merino wool from the shop in Ilkley I have mentioned before in my Yorkshire holiday posts. I'd ordered some wool by phone and the colours were beautiful, but just not my cup of tea so they were ever so sweet and helpful and let me swap it for THIS!!!!AMAAAAZING! I LOVE IT.

Only problem is: so do both daughters.... Eldest particularly claimed it as hers for fingerless gloves/ arm warmers even though an earlier skein called BUDS OF SPRING is already a scarf she wears ALL the time..... The pattern for which , by the way, is coming your way on 20 November in INSIDE CROCHET magazine!!!!!!!!

I have to calm down. It's all so skippety hoppity exciting!

Ah. Quite a poor harvest of conkers so early on- well about Mid-September.

What's this then?

NO! Lucy you CANNOT eat conkers....She gave it a good try though.

We went for a very early walk: before 9 am. What a blue!!!! I just loved this sky and those silvery and white tones with the soft beige against the blue--oooh I feel a jumper or scarf coming on...

Flowers at this time of year?

Lucy: not on a lead: waiting patiently as asked to do by a ''WAIT and STAY'' .She's watching me take the photos above. Having galloped ahead. Sparkling silver dew: MAGICAL.

Capturing a dewy moment. The day is promising to be quite warm later....

Lucy jumping through all that wet grass: she's soaking wet and very happy.

A glimpse of glories ahead?

Lovely colours!

It will be even more red in a week or so. Still I like the contrast with the green and red together.

Nature knows a thing or two about colour theory!

Home again: sighing contentedly over such a skein of beauty.

Found some late roses in our garden....I wonder if Debbie Bliss has the same rose? I have seen some of her new wool- Autumn 2009 range- and it is EXACTLY this colour pink.

In situ, the kids trampoline in the background.

Oh no! Lucy saw me holding the rose and now she's decided to EAT it.

C'est la vie! It is still a magical day!

See you again soon. I have banana muffins and chocolate fridge cake to share later....