Around and about chez moi in early September ....

Title says it all really. Enjoy the photos.

New rusting tool glows in the evening sun 

The slow and careful burn of all those dreaded seed heads 

 This stone wall has not seen the light of day for a long while ... hence the need for the bonfire!!!!

Extra large, large and very small tomatoes are all available  ... and are all very delicious.

Thanks for being here.

NB Its still hot. 30C as I write ... what a wonderful summer we've had.

Leaves in stitch .... and other things

Good Monday morning ... hope your weekend went well.

We are still eating figs -rocket, avocado, goats cheese and fig salad was great with a from the garden/ market Spanish omelette.  And the fig jam is very good on scones. I have, at last, found a recipe using plain flour. Self raising is not available in France and my previous attempts have been less than light!
So thank you to https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/paul_hollywoods_scones_70005.



I am still stitching ... 24 fish complete and now its leaves and more leaves ....

Next will be the eyes of the fish ... suggestions on how to stitch these please.

And in case you missed my FB or tweet about this great post on journalling, here's the link

https://medium.com/@janfortune/how-to-cultivate-the-powerful-mindset-of-a-writer-a7ad6df6bba6

I've been thinking for a while that I should combine my morning pages notebook with my daily journal and the other notebooks I have - mainly to lighten my load when travelling. Jan's post has convinced me to give that a go.

I also need to explore more of the entries on Medium and maybe posts some of my thoughts there.

Meanwhile, I have at last found some French language podcasts at my level ... they are good to listen to as I hand sew.

Finally, away from the electronic world I'm going back to the garden to do some gentle and therapeutic clearing rubbish and weeding.

Back here soon ....

...

Briefly, a fig story

Yesterday was all about lots of beautiful and, somewhat overripe figs from our neighbours' tree becoming several pots of jam and a great accompaniment (glazed and roasted) to our supper.

Not forgetting that some have been frozen. On trays to begin with and then bagged for a real treat in the winter.

We're also eating them fresh, not quite as fast as we can but they are good to snack on when passing through the kitchen.

Paul says today is chutney day ... still a way to go before the tree is exhausted and we also have our own smaller figs ripening in this wonderful summer heat.


The end. Of the fig story. I'm sure you're pleased about that.

I'm off to quilt another fish ... only 7 more to do

and then I think I'll add some shadow lines and plants and leaves to the sashing. Photos later.


Enjoy your day. Let me know if you like fig jam. There's plenty here.

Thoughts on hanging stitched pieces ...

It is hot, 32C at 09 00 and so I did some brief morning Pilates indoors. The laundry is done and dusted, I hung it out to dry carefully avoiding the wasps nest that needs to be dealt with.

Now its time for doing things in the cool of this lovely house. The cool indoors is thanks to thick stone walls and the opening and closing of shutters and windows as the day progresses.

 - small break while I close the shutters to the midday sun .... and wow, look what came into the kitchen while I was there ....

Back to today's topic. (BTW the figs are very wonderful)

Some of you know that I've been considering ways of mounting and hanging some of the small stitched pieces I've made during the last few years. Quilts are the easiest! Add a sleeve to the back, find a pole to fit the sleeve and hook that up by the best means for the wall that suits.

You can see an example of that in the background of this photo. The Bargello Quilt is incomplete and finished. It should have been much larger but I ran out of patience with tiny fussy pieces.

In the foreground are five small stitched pieces of my dyed fabric ... my aim here was to see what stitch added to the patterns produced by the dye techniques.

This is a semi permeant hanging (!) to test whether I like it. So far, I do ... it's great seeing the pieces from afar as I walk into my room.

Each piece is tied onto (hidden) fishing wire and could be removed if I wanted to put them in an exhibition. My best guess is that they will still be there this time next year.


The next few pics show three embroidery pieces (hemp thread on linen) in box frames from Leroy Merlin. Easy to put together and inexpensive. I stretched each finished piece over foam board and fastened it with flat head pins. No glass as I like to see the 3D effect of textile pieces.  The box files are useful in places where fixing frames to a wall is a challenge. They stand up well and can be moved somewhere else if necessary.

The top piece is white linen embroidered with dark thread on a wherever the line leads basis, then mounted on hessian and linen and fixed to foam board with more flat head pins. Simple mounting to suit a simple piece.

 This is the Swindon Postbox, Inspired by the real thing in, yes, Swindon, made with painted fabrics and lots of free motion stitching.

It was stretched and mounted by the Framer in Fleurance. Very expensive and looks good but I realise that I can do this myself so a lesson learnt.

The edges are unfinished, this tends to be a theme of my stitching ....

And finally here, one more DIY framing, hanging on another beam. The piece is fabric dress pattern paper and old maps, printed with eucalyptus bark then lots of machine and hand stitching.

Probably not the best photo here - sorry!


It turned out to be just the right size and shape for that particular place and that place allowed the randomness of the edges to shine.

Here's a better photo of the piece ...

The fragrance of figs is reaching my room, and I hear sounds that tell me the jam making has started. I'll be back here soon.

Comments on the above very welcome. Please tell me what you do with your small stitched pieces, or any other small art works. Thank you.

Around and about our house ...

... things happen ...

fruit and vegetables ripen

 

and Paul has been blanching  & packing corn on the cob for the freezer  ... we're eating them every day  ... so sweet and juicy 

meanwhile just by the front door the newly hatched sparrow chicks can be heard asking for food and a parent prepares to deliver  

out of sight, the chicks are deep inside our wall 

 and I'm going very slow with some more eco dyeing  and rusting. This time with dyed fabric and old lace ...  presently its air drying, tomorrow a wash, more drying and I suspect it will have faded!

Thank you for reading this, comments welcome  -that way I know you  are there!!!!

Getting ready for a new deck ... plus a quilting winter challenge in progress

Well, the old one has given great service and some of it is still fine but much has had too much weather.

and lots of it will be recycled into some raised beds. This summer the beds along the fence have already given us so many peppers and aubergines.

It's wonderful to have a garden with lots of place to relax ... not that we need the hot tub at the moment!

Yesterday was also hedge trimming day.

I'm amazed at how much variety there is and now we can see all of it including the Medlar Tree full of unripe fruit that Poppy seems to love. Half chewed bits appear in odd places and surprisingly, the bits she swallows don't seem to have any ill effects!

And in other news I've started the Mole Valley Quilters Winter Challenge piece ...  A4 sized and using a small square of given fabric and my stash.


Here it is in progress and try as I may I cannot import it edited to be the correct way up! If you know how to do this please leave the answer below!

I keep fiddling with the lake and trees bit ... and have no idea how to best fix in place!  Updates may be posted and maybe the right way up.

Off now to make some banana bread with fruit that has ripened at speed in this heat ... back soon.

The final kitchen at Enmatte ...

Finally, Enmatte has a wonderful kitchen, its been a while in the making but its all we planned and hoped for.

It's spacious, with enough room for several cooks and their helpers, and possibly dogs underfoot!

One of its best features is the compost bin in the scene of the island. The wood surface can be used as a chopping board but so far I've not taken a knife to the beautiful surface!

 Its amazing how knocking down the walls between two small rooms and a dark hallway has given us this great front of house family space.

 

Perhaps, most importantly, it's proving to be a cool place to cook this heatwave summer -so nice to see so much of the garden from a room we spend lots of time in.

Off now for a cup of tea and meringue -the inevitable  byproduct of keeping hens and having new oven that need cheating out!!!

small stone 167/2014

raspberries & rose wine: on the nose – a sharp zing, in the mouth – a smooth mélange  

small stone 116/2014

strawberries, touched by dew, sweet and warm - handpicked breakfast aperitif

Learning to post on Pinterest

Spent more time that I should have this morning on Pinterest. Found a great website about book shelves in Mslexia  (http://www.mslexia.co.uk)  -my breakfast reading - and one thing led to another.

I've created a few more boards and pinned a few more items but still can't easily get images from anywhere on the web and uploading my own photos takes an age. Its time to ask James for some help. Also need to learn how to label the pics I take of my finished projects ...

NB Fish stock that simmered for a short while yesterday is great -smells deeply shellfishy and will make a great base for some chowder.

Catching up

Not at all sure when my last blog entry was –must have been before I spent a day baking some wonderful bread under the careful eye of Elizabeth, artisan baker at The Lighthouse Bakery  for more details see http://www.lighthousebakery.co.uk/. Now I know how to achieve a loaf with a nice round shape and shapely cuts   and that I have been treating dough far too roughly! My freezer is full of the great European bread we made –so far the Swedish Limpa is my favourite.  Definitely one to make at home especially now I have some lovely proving bowls to use.

I’ve also been bird watching twice these last two weekend –Dungeness RSPB reserve and the Barnes Wetlands Centre were full of swans, ducks and waders. My new binoculars have opened up a new world for me … Marsh Harriers one week, Lapwings the next to name just the best … this could be addictive. Watching birds from a hide is such a relaxing experience .. at this time of year the birds spend so much time preening and bathing –gentle activities that over a few minutes slowly reveal the shape, feather colours and personality of the bird. Must also mention the reed warbler … the book says its song is mechanical but the one at Barnes yesterday was beautifully in tune. And then there was the Heron … hunkered down on one leg over its chicks.

More details on both places at www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dungeness/ and www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/london

And in between all that my modem crashed but all is well now … more another day

To villanelle or not to villanelle

Had a good time in the Moodle chat room for the first workshop of this term’s online course. Some great poems, such a range of topic and form, including some experimental layouts that worked very well. I was called to task, quite rightly for the title of my poem … the other comments were very affirming. I just need to do some creative walking to give it a title that is worthy of the poem. For me a hard one..

Onto the second assignment –a poem using the words of a politician. Thanks to the internet  I found my material … and decided that the wealth of subject matter in one Ministerial speech was best tackled with form as a control. So my first draft was a villanelle …unsurprisingly it took a while but eventually sort of worked except the a and b rhymes are too close in sound. Transforming that out of the straightjacket of tercets and the two leading lines has led to something else … this needs a rest before another look.  More on this later.

In between poetry a quilt is quietly happening … fabric from my stash and a charity sale, 12 patch blocks and enough left overs to make some matching cushion covers. Easy sewing when often new thoughts about poetry and work arise.

Off now to make something for lunch/supper …possibly an onion tart and I might try my hand at Abel&Cole’s Rustic Irish Potato Bread  see http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/rustic-irish-potato-bread… looks like the sort of food for hungry floor layers!

Writing in the gaps

I’m writing while waiting for the squash to roast … we have an wood burning stove that’s great to cook on –the most important ingredient is patience. We’re almost out of left overs so its pasta in a  squash and smoked salmon creme fraiche and herb sauce tonight  and tomorrow someone has to go shopping. Typical post festive season in our house –last night Paul used the mushrooms in a risotto –perfectly cooked, very yummy, and there’s soup from goodness knows what that’s full of goodness.

My fabric blocks  are  ready for sewing. A task to be done in the morning light in the front of the house and with lots of attention to the one way designs.

Spent lots of time today on my poetry. I’m almost ready to submit two and have read the poems for the online workshop on Monday. I certainly wasn't;t the only one to stray from the task … but that's never the issue is it!  And in between just a little bit of work … a paper reviewed, draft agenda nearly ready and the pleasure of reading Islands of Privacy .. really enjoyed the chapters on secrets and the private and public aspects of wallets and purses –would have been tedious without the real data, or ‘what people said’ but was alive with the reality. of our choices and ways of keeping things to ourselves  She’s now discussing privacy and technology ..

Christmas Eve jottings

Wonderful sunny day –ideal for market shopping. It always amazes me how many boxes of oysters each fish stall has at this time of the year –the French really do the fish thing at Christmas. We settled for squid, prawns and a very large plump plaice.

Mince pies are made, there’s enough macaroons to feed the village & unsurprisingly lots of mayonnaise. The Christmas cake is covered with hand skinned, filleted and toasted almond, hazelnuts and pecans which means that the topping took longer to prepare than the cake  –but that’s what Christmas Eve is for.

James arrived late afternoon so now we have crackers. The present pile gest bigger each time I look –Crumble has given everything a good sniff so fingers crossed its all still intact in the morning.

Time to wish you all a Happy Christmas, and for one last check on the NORAD website –Santa was in Saudi Arabia last time I looked!

and the mist cleared

A typical Enmatte wintery day,waking to fog that finally clears for a sunny walk over the fields & into the woods. As usual the dogs, especially Crumble, covered a greater distance than me! There’s young wheat, freshly green, growing in machine controlled rows, dead branches covered with turquoise lichen and coffee coloured slippy Le Gers clay   .. much to pay attention to for more small stones.

Lots of creativity in the house today. I’ve started cutting fabric for a new quilt –so wonderful to be able to spread everything out and leave it all out until I'm done. Paul has turned the kitchen into a macaroon production line –he’s planning boxes of them for Christmas gifts. The pistachio ones get my top vote.  My turn in there next as the Christmas Cake needs decorating.

It feels good to be back into writing regularly again … even if its just this blog and a few practice small stones ..its putting the words together, towards more.  .

Monday, Monday …

The Christmas cake fruit is now soaking in the most wonderful mixture of spices and very good alcohol –ran out of any brandy but Remy Martin so that just had to do alongside the Rum, Port, and Angostura Bitters. These bottles only see the light of day at this time of the year  -what a blessing alcohol is a preservative.

Picked up my knitting –a pair of cable mittens-  for the first time in several weeks today  … not only had I forgotten where I was in the pattern but I’d forgotten what size i was knitting. Several hours and much unpicking later I made a little progress. Good job I had the distraction of looking at all the wonderful patchwork being done by my fellow classmates at the ‘show and tell’. My aim is to put the binding on my bag and have a contribution to the ooh and wow session next week.

Poem for the online workshop is coming along –not sure I’ve working to the brief  but I do have a draft of something unrelated to music that was inspired by listening to music –yesterdays accompaniment on my walk down Water Lane, in the fog and without a map –not really very wise so I’ve now ordered a local OS map for further and more knowledgeable progress in that direction.