Sourdough and social media ...

I should have added the common cold to this blog title because that is also occupying (!) me this morning. But nasty bugs are not nice, certainly not nice enough to earn a place in a title. Only when it allows me a good nights sleep and to resume going out will this bug be rewarded with anything!!!


 

 In contrast, my attempts to learn how best to post a Story on Instagram and how to increase traffic to whatever I do post anywhere are getting there.


I started with an Instagram story on the theme of Black and White ... the photos here speak for themselves  ... helped by the advice from Rochelle at https://thepersonaltrainingcentre.com

When I am with Rochelle she usually focuses on my need to work harder on the exercise bike or adds more weights to the triceps pull she has got me doing.

Yesterday I picked her considerable brain for hints about Instagram stories  ... you can follow her @ptcentre.  Look out for her videos on well being.

 

What about the sourdough? Well, my sourdough starter arrived 30 minutes ago via courier from Hobbs House Bakery, https://www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk, and @HobbsHouseabout.  So exiting. It is a very old starter and I feel part of its family now.

It needs looking after properly and has had a long journey. So now it is settling down in the fridge waiting for me to check out the information on the Hobbs House website about what to do next.

Meanwhile I need to give it a name -that is part of the instructions. I am not joking.

I need your help. Please votes for one of these three:

1. Leaf - because it came into my hands in the autumn.

2. Maud - because I don't much like the name and would like to learn to like by giving it to something lovely.

3. Samson - no reason, except I am gong to see the Opera, Samson and Delilah, in a couple of weeks.


Please leave your vote in a comment. Meanwhile, I am off to do as the label on the carton says ...

,,,

or maybe before that I should take my cold and its associated aches back to bed.  Like the sourdough I work better well rested.

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.

Happy New Year to all

Love and very best wishes to everyone who reads my blog .. and thanks for being one of my readers, Its too early in the year to go all postmodern on you but, for me, writing this without having just a few readers would feel strange. You can probably feel a but coming now, so here it is. But it would be great to have your comments … something for me to read! 

I’m writing this at home in France, an hours drive from the Pyrenees and, wonderfully to start the year, its 25C outside. I found a dry chair –it rained all day yesterday- and had my NY resolution moments of paying attention  in the sunshine.  Ideally, paying attention should lead to regular small stones of writing throughout January. I’m posting these on this blog having given up trying to figure out how to get them onto the Writing Our Way Home website any other way.

Our house is slowly getting back to normal after serving New Year's Eve dinner to 18;three courses and all around what looked like one table. I’m still finding champagne corks and the dishwasher is on its 3rd cycle. Yesterday was one of those long days that need some recovery time but are very special. We gathered guests as the day progressed, Paul & I bought wonderful fresh food from Fluerance market and then we cooked and cooked. or rather I cooked and everyone else moved floorboards from the van to the first floor until about 6pm. Then we got serious about the food,and became very grateful for two ovens … James did great service peeling veg and Paul took charge of the pheasant –recently at the wrong end of Vincent’s Dad’s shotgun. The result –a wonderful feast with just enough left over for us today.  I’m looking forward to another serving of the fish on roasted veg and just one more pear braised in red wine –a Delia dish that is so easy and looks stunning.

and finally, remembering my Grandmother on what would have been her birthday. I never got to share my love for patchwork and quilting with her –she would have had much to say about my hand stitching!!!

Spent some time today searching for recipes to use up what seems like an endless supply of runner beans from Sue and Armold's allotment, and french beans, and courgettes. The Leith Vegetarian Bible and The New Cranks Recipes seem OK in theory... more on what it all tasted like later. There's also raspberries and blackberries in abundance ..easier to use as I add yogurt and could eat them at any meal!
The aforementioned raspberries have their own family tree. Imagine 4-5 canes bought somewhere between Southampton and Portsmouth, planted at the end of a family garden probably in the late 1970's. As raspberry canes do they multiplied and we shared them, my Dad planted a few of the next generation in his Kent garden, circa 1985. A bucket full of their offspring were healed  into a small corner of our Northleach garden, neglected while other, sad things occupied our time in 2001. When I moved to Effingham and, its now 2007, these just about surviving canes came with me, well almost -they were planted up the road in Sue and Armold's allotment and have been, without doubt, neglected.  This type of care clearly suits them as they produce masses of wonderful berries and , of course, each ruby globe brings equally wonderful memories. I notice that a new generation of canes are ready. There's plenty to share so you, your spade and a bucket are welcome to collect some of these young ones this autumn. Take home a taste of our history... and begin one of your own.

Sending poems out into the world

… decisions about which poems to choose for where and then there’s the question of whether to enter a competition or send to magazines asking for submission. Not forgetting finding which poems are ready to go, if these fit the theme if there is one and keeping a record of it all. That’s the rant for today … more positively I’ve sent five poems to competitions and refined my poem excel spread sheet. Also, ordered the e-magazine Prole as my new poetry read for a few months, This will be my first try at getting a poetry magazine as a pdf via email… it has yet to arrive but I did pay for it eventually via PayPal –I think!!

Started the day with morning pages and the start of a poem about picking figs … I’m thinking of a series of How to poems. I’ve already started with How to Feed a Dolphin and Please a Tourist but maybe it could become monotonous?  Had breakfast, which included some of the figs that were asking to be picked, with C K Williams book The Singing, a re-reading of a collection that has lots to admire and learn from.

Finally, today, to support the cookery element of this blog a recipe , Take freshly picked tomatoes and red peppers,, set a tray full of the veg to roast with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic and herbs. Cook in a hot oven for about 40 mind until squashy. Whiz up in the food processor to make a great pasta sauce, don’t overwiz unless you want soup. A simple supper for an evening in the heat wave.