The Finel teapot is growing on me.  It followed me home one day when I was really searching for a retro coffee percolator (pehtoori).  I initially thought I would swap this little soul it in a heart beat, if a blue one ever came along.  Now it is just so jolly cheerful on the kitchen windowsill, sitting and keeping the cornishware company, that it may have won its reprieve.  You can see it edging its way into the frame along side the soap dispensers too.


linking in over here at Blackbird has Spoken

Our family has recipes that are held close to hearts and saved for just special occasions.  Christmas is one of those times. They are treated with such reverence, that it can be surprising to find out that secret family recipes can sometimes turn out to be not so secret, after all.

There are the beautifully chewy, almost butter-scotch meringues. Malt vinegar and a fickle oven appear to be the key in this one.  There is the dip that Gran used to make only on Christmas day. This was then rationed out on snax crakers for the following days.  It turns out that with help of onion soup, reduced cream and the recipe in fine print on the bottom of the can, you too can make dip like my Gran.

Then there is the pickled pineapple.  Mum found it one year in her "Triple Tested Cookbook"*.  It became her specialty.  She cooks it every year to serve with ham.  The vegetarian relatives can attest that it goes just as well with cheese.  It is one of those magical, "there's still time" recipes.  While the recipe recommends it sit for a week, it still tastes pretty good if made the night before.  Just the smell is enough to tell me it is almost Christmas and the secretly saved pineapple juice appeals to my sweet tooth.

The recipe is held in high regard, but I have heard rumours that one aunt passed a copy to a catering friend.  Further to that, the latest Dish magazine recipe boasts a glazed ham recipe tailored for serving with pickled pineapple.  If you feel the need to add something new to your table, here is the recipe for the original pickled pineapple.

1 can pineapple chunks
3/4 cup malt vinegar
1 1/4 cup white sugar
pinch of salt
6-8 cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Drain syrup from pineapple. Place vinegar, sugar salt and spices in saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add pineapple and boil a further 1 minute.  Cool and bottle.  Store in fridge for 1 week before serving with ham or chicken.

*  Well done to Lower Hutt Plunket Society for this 1959 Gem.  May all Plunket groups create such a legendary cook book.

I can't believe I hesitated when I saw this collector's cabinet.  The front panel slides up to allow you to place your favorite taxidermied stoat or other such treasures.  Today, I'm going for Christmas trees.  The panel even slides shut when it isn't being used to hang crochet garlands. I would contemplate collecting these cabinets, just for the irony of collecting collector's cabinets.


I'm linking my thrifty find over at Black Bird Has Spoken.

We love pop-up shops in our house.  Often there will be a book store, complete with scanners in the middle of the lounge.  Often, they will sell ice-creams and other treats from the car window.  While they are only pretend, I'm not sure whether to embark on the "stranger danger" or "drugs are bad, ok?" speech.  The Christmas shop above is the result of leaving a box of unhung decorations in the lounge.  How could you resist such exuberant shop assistants?

We have been making paper angels for the tree.  They are incredibly simple.  In the interests of angels for all, here is the tutorial.

To make your own Paper Angel you are going to need:

Colored craft paper for gown, wings and face.
PVA glue
Glitter
Sellotape
Double sided tape
Wool
Pens, glitter and stickers for decorating

Trace and cut  a circle from card and cut in half. We used a desert bowl, approx 180 mm diameter.
Decorate one piece for a gown and the other as wings.

Draw a smaller circle on skin toned paper. We used a spice jar, approx 45mm diameter.
Draw a face and glue hair onto the top.
Cut the circle out.

Sellotape the gown to make a cone.
Using double sided tape attach the face.
Fold the wings in half and check for fit, before cutting into the wing shape as below.
Using double sided tape, attach the wings.

Lastly, attach a loop and hang from the tree.

Before you get worried, this is not that picture.

E went pine cone collecting with her Dad.  After a few lessons in swinging a hammer from Granddad, they were off, separating cones and branches, filling the bag. 

It wasn't until afterwards that she remembered the candle holder she had seen in a shop.  It was a pinecone hollowed out to hold a tea light.  E drew her picture to explain to Granddad what she was talking about.    After a little explaining, the tools were gathered by Grandad.  E lost interest once the drawing was done, leaving me with tools and a mission.

After a bit of experimenting, I can attest, you will need a vice, drill, hole saw, spade bit and a chisel.  The green pine cones were easier to shape and are probably more fire resistant.  Despite her lack of interest in power tools, E was delighted to see her picture come to life.

There were suspicious noises and curious noises when we tried to get some photos of my new dress.  The friendly sheep were sneaking up on me.  They are not even my sheep.

The empty section next door is hos to a range of animals that come and go as the neighbors try to keep the grass down.  The sheep are usually content to follow us along the fence line.  Sometimes they will even try to stare down unusual visitors - from the safety of the other side of the fence of course.

However, today they had other ideas.  This one wants to be a model and write her own pattern reviews.  I am imagining something along the lines of "... romney wool vest with interseasonal adjustments, fits well, rather flattering on the more rotund sheep, looking forward to getting into the summer length sometime soon..."

For more about the dress, the pattern review is over here.

 While the sun was shining, we bundled the kids into the car and headed to the beach to see Grandma and Granddad.  With buckets in hand we were off on a beach walk.  Sticks were collected for magic wands and growing gardens.  We saw tiny washed up jelly fish. 

When armed with a camera, E takes a little more time to see what is going on around her.  It was also a enlightening to see what she had seen when we got back home.

I am totally enamored with a two year old called Abraham.  He's a rose.  My husband gave me this rose for my birthday last year.  It's called Abraham Darby and finally has enough flowers for me to cut swathes and bring them inside. 

As I get to grips with gardening, I am discovering why standard roses are desirable - easy to weed around.  Perhaps this should have been planted closer to the wall - again, easier to weed around.  Though, I am loving the sneaky iris stems that make their way through the rose bush and the aquilegias that pop up everywhere.  It looks like I have a lot to learn.

Floral arrangement is not one of my talents.  I live by the simple Martha Stewart ethos - 50 of anything will look stunning.  One day we might even have enough roses to get 50 of something, for now I'm just pleased to have enough to bring inside.

I was fortunate enough to find these Maudella patterns in the op shop recently.  It was an introduction to the beauty of both Maudella and non printed patterns.  I had never heard of this brand but was delighted to hear about the cottage industry beginnings of this pattern  on the BBC website.  Who would have thought that a Yorkshire woman toiling in her attic would launch a whole company that lasted close to 50 years.  Apparently some of the appeal lay in the name. While Maudella does sound a little like a feigned french accent saying 'model', the name has more to do with the designer being called Maude.

I love the hand (or possibly machine) punched labels, tack marks and diamonds.  I look forward to making one of these someday soon as they are just the right size for Little E.  She tells me she likes the top left one the best.  This is not because she likes the stylish kick pleats, instead she really wants the high heels that the model has.

 We are fortunate enough to live close to Cobblestones, the local settlers museum.  Every Monday night, I pack up my quilting and meet up with friends to sew there.  Occaisionally, as a family, we pack a picnic, take an walk and have an afternoon there.  Then on really special occasions, they have an activities day.

My kids run straight for the hospital.  This time I noticed the Florence Nightingale Pledge.  It's references to professional purity and abstinence from the deleterious had me chuckling.

We always have to check on the very tiny cottage.  Could you imagine 10 kids in a 4 very small bedroom house of about 40 square metres?

I love playing eyespy with industrial details - steering wheel mounted air conditioning, anyone? or going hunting for hand painted signs.

While it is open every day to the public, I look out for the special events, like this Sunday, when entry is free and the printing press is going.

I am loving "We Make Dolls" by Jenny Doh.  Now, I am not one to post review without trying a pattern or two.  As case would have it, two daughters, means two dolls.  There were sketches left lying around the house, with explicit instruction about colours and accessories.

This book profiles 10 ladies who make dolls - be they softies, jointeed bears or needle felting. I liked the way a range of styles were profiled.  I can finally put a name to the designer whose dolls keep catching my eye on pinterest - that would be Mimi Kirchner.  I love her tattooed ladies and woollen dolls.

My kids on the other hand were taken with the designs of Ana Fernandes.  The dolls above were based on her Estefania pattern that can be found in the book.  With a little tweaking, the dolls looked more like the collection of dolls E & H were coveting from the contents page.  My kids were frustrated by the teasers photos of dolls for which there was no pattern .  On the other hand I thought they helped to show the scope of each artists' talent.

The patterns in the book were easy to follow, with full size patterns for tracing at the back.  There is also a how to section at the front of the book that starts you off in the right foot - tools you need, some basic techniques etc. The break down of methods and materials is not as comprehensive as some books I have seen, but I feel it is all you need to start out.  You can move onto other books for more methods as your interests guide you.

All up, I would recommend this book.  It doesn't steal my heart like Hilliary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls.  However, this book is a wide survey of all that is wonderful in the world of making dolls and a really good place to start.