I have been thinking about getting ready for Christmas. These are quick to make, but would need to be made soon if they are to be dried for Christmas.

You will need
1 small orange (with minimal skin imperfections)
1 metal skewer
1/2 cup - 1 cup of whole cloves (best to get from a spice or bulk store as this will take about 3 small 40g supermarket packets)


Getting Started
Wrap rubber band around orange from top to bottom.

Using skewer, pierce skin to the depth of a whole clove (4mm, say) with piercing along the lines made by the rubber band.

Insert a clove into each hole.

Remove rubber band and place again to divide orange into 4 pieces. Pierce skin and place cloves along the new line of the rubber band.

Filling in the Quadrants

Pierce holes, about 6 at a time and place cloves, until each quadrant is filled.

Drying

Place orange in a warm dry location to dry until hard i.e. hot water cupboard or sunny window sill.

Check regularly for signs of mould. This can be given away by smell turing unpleasant or orange not drying out. To reduce chances of mould, choose your fruit carefull and try not to leave any piercing without cloves.


Uses
Once dried the pommander can be used as a decoration - with a ribbon to hang, or to scent the linin cupboard or wardrobe. I tend to tie a ribbon on them for hanging. Then I hang each one in the wardrobe and retrieve tham for the tree in December.

If dried properly the pommanders should last for a number of years however, the scent will fade gradually overtime.

I was in awe of the Pencil Rolls I've seen coming from the Pink Chalk design. I cut out the pieces to make one a few months ago and finally finished it on Friday. Then I thought about taking a photo. Little e spotted it first and while this isn't how I planned it, I will let the pictures do the talking.

I have been reading "The Creative Family" lately. I found it simultaneously inspiring and overwhelming. We're not ready for nature walks yet, or even family drawing time. But, there was one thing we could do and that is to start a vegetable garden.

I thought I would start small. There was a small grassy patch that was once a herb garden. I talked to Mum about it. Mum's a keen gardener. She knows about these things.

Mum offered me some newly divided strawberry plants. The next sunny day we got the strawberries in. They should have been in the ground months ago, but it's a start.

I talked to Dad about it and all of a sudden we were discussing kitset garden bed vs. build your own.

Then I come home to find a trailer full of branches in the back yard, my father filling them, and a grumpy husband. Dad had announced that I wanted the garden finished in the next two weeks. After determining that I said nothing of the sort it calmed down somewhat.


Before I knew it there was a trailer of sheep manure on the back lawn. Then after some careful measuring, it was joined by a load of timber. For a while our back lawn looked like a trailer convention.

I was left with little sets of instructions, like clear away the area before I'm back to put in the posts, I've cut the timber but you will need to level the pieces before screwing them on. The first of the beds are full and the old compost heap is gone. Now it's our turn to level the remainder before the garden shed gets moved on Monday.


We will get there, and hopefully well before that gardening Rubicon in late October, Labour Weekend. For now I dreaming of the things you can't buy, freshly picked sugar snap peas, scarlet runner beans, homegrown watermelon and sun warmed strawberries.