Procrastinating

Its only half way through February and I already find myself over-committed to too many projects.

Instead of doing the sensible thing and working steadily towards deadlines I find myself sitting on the back steps contemplating life.

And enjoying the sunshine :)

x

And then the rain came .... wet weather projects

View from my studio window 

Its been rainy and overcast for about a week  now. Not that Im complaining, I love this sort of weather and its always a good excuse to curl up with a project. Ive been working on finishing a couple of projects (new years resolution and all that) and Im excited that Im actually getting some stuff finished. 

100 Granny Squares

Ive been watching loads of tv so that I can finish my granny square rug (series one and two of Grand Designs on DVD - Im now inspired to build something, but thats another story). Ive completed the 100 squares and now its ready to put together. Being a bit new to crochet I wasnt sure the best way to join the squares, and found a fabulous tutorial at Attic 24. Not only was the tutorial fabulous, her whole blog is really interesting and well worth a visit.

Kochira the cat helping select the blocks for my Gate Quilt

Over a year ago I was part of an online patchwork bee - you may have heard of them. A group of people get together via the internet, and each month a person sends out their fabrics to the rest of the people in the group with some instructions on what they would like to have made. It was a great introduction to quilting for me (I also met up with some friends who were part of the group and I learnt some great techniques, as well a lovely excuse to eat cake and drink cups of tea). The down side is that some people are less likely to complete the project than others. Consequently, I have received finished blocks from half the group, and the other half seem to have disappeared!  

My block was inspired by a gate design I saw in Sydney (it also happens to be the same design as the gate on my little cottage - a very nice coincidence). It is a little tricky to put together, and it looks like I have to sew about 8 more blocks to make up for the missing ones sent out to the quilting bee. Thankfully Ive got a stack of DVD's to watch and its perfect weather to be indoors ....

x

My top 7 foodie spots to visit in London

I spent a number of years living and working in London. I caught up with a friend recently who was planning a trip to London and she asked me for a list of my favourite places to visit. Funnily enough most of my favourite places were food related! Anyhow, I thought I would share the list with you too

http://www.travelsignposts.com/London/eating-drinking/eating-out-st-christophers-pl

1.St Christophers place
A little lane off Oxford Street connects you to this delightful stretch of cafes and interesting stores. There is a Godeva (amazing chocolate) store along here which is definitely worthwhile checking out. They
make the best chocolate.

http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/2011/03/06/london-gems-broadway-market/

2. Broadway Market markets
This place is probably my best discovery of London. Although tucked away in the East End and a little bit of a trek to get to - it is well worth it. One of the more artistic yet gentrified areas of the east end there is a market which is less mainstream than spitalfields and the road is lined with interesting shops and cafes and bars. Its very arty. Love it. 

http://thisthatandtother.wordpress.com/category/places-to-drink/

3.Candid Arts Coffee Shop
My favourite cofee shop in london. Its tucked away above a gallery just behind Angel tube.
It is very shabby with a little bit of chic, dark and cosy and brilliant to be tucked away on a grey london day. Also around Angel on the weekend are wonderful 2nd hand / antique markets.

http://www.flat-a-porter.com/2009/06/15/la-fromageriela-fromagerie/

4. the cheese shop in marlebone high street - La Fromagerie
This little hole in the wall is full of great cheeses - and even if cheese isnt your passion it has a great cafe where everyone squeezes onto a long table and enjoys the rustic atmosphere. A definite must to check out. Next door is the Ginger Pig Butcher which sells organic meat and has great pies.

5. www.toptable.co.uk 
Great deals for cheap eats in London
This was my favourite website in london as you can join for free and get the most amazing deals at restaurants around london. Through this site we found a 15 pound curry meal deal in Islington. Delish!

http://london.randomness.org.uk/wiki.cgi?Hi_Sushi%2C_W1D_5LN

6. 15 pounds all you can eat sushi in Soho - Hi Sushi
This place has the most amazing value for sushi. we used to eat here often and it was always good. If you go for dinner, make sure you book as it is small and fills up quickly.

http://www.meemalee.com/2010/02/fry-up-at-smiths-of-smithfield.html

7. Smiths on Smithsfield

This place is very trendy and has delicious food and drinks. This area of London is the 'new' arty/trendy area and is worth an explore. There are lots of design offices and my favourite nightclub was in this area.

I hope you have enjoyed my virtual tour of London. Thinking about it, there are a few more places I havent mentioned, so Ill save that for a part 2.


 For those who have been, what is your favourite place in London?  

Kx

Cooking with Flowers - part 1

Just before Christmas my roses were flowering like crazy. They're just outside my back door, and stepping into the garden I was immediately surrounded by their heavenly perfume.  It was simply delightful!

The roses were so bountiful I decided to make some Rose Petal Jam. Its really easy and I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Rose Petal Jam

60 roses (petals removed from the stalk)

1kg sugar

1 litre water

1 ts citric acid

Place the rose petals, sugar and water in a large pan and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 20 minutes

Add citric acid and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

Whilst warm, pour the jam into sterilised jars and seal. (The easiest way is to put them through a dishwasher, or you can wash them in warm soapy water, rinse, and place upside down on a baking tray in a 150 degrees C oven for 30 minutes. The jars should be hot when the jam is ready to pour)

Makes about 6 small jars.

Whilst writing this I remembered that its not always easy to tell when the jam has set. There are a couple of ways to check this. 

1. Keep a small saucer in the freezer and when you think the jam is ready, drop a little bit on the saucer. If the drop gets a skin on it, you know the jam is ready.
2. Another trick is to use a thermometer. When the temperature reaches 105 degrees C the jam is ready.
3. Another trick is to omit the citric acid and replace with Jamsetta (available from supermarkets) this takes the guess work out of it and you get great jam, every time.

The great thing with rose petal jam, is that if it doesnt quite set you've got rose water, which you can also use in cooking.

A great recipe to use Rose Petal Jam is Rose and Almond Shortbread. I found this recipe on www.taste.com.au 

Rose and Almond Shortbread

• 
  
• 180g soft butter
• 125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, sifted
• 1 x 100g pkt almond meal
• 115g (3/4 cup) plain flour
• 45g (1/4 cup) white rice flour
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbs rosewater essence (I use rose petal jam watered down)
• 125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, extra, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and icing sugar mixture in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the almond meal and sift over the flours and ground cloves. Stir until well combined.
2. Use your hands to roll heaped tablespoonsful of mixture into 8cm long logs. Shape into crescents and place on prepared trays, about 3cm apart. Bake in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 25 minutes or until cooked through and light golden. Remove from oven.
3. Lightly brush shortbreads with rosewater essence and set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool and firm.
4. Dust shortbreads with extra icing sugar, turning to evenly coat in the sugar. Set aside for a further 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Enjoy! x

Raku with Kevin Boyd

Hello and Happy New Year to you all! 

I hope you had a lovely holiday break. Over the holidays I had the pleasure of attending a week long Raku Firing course with Kevin Boyd at the Canberra Potters Society. Kevin has over 20 years experience in Ceramics and specialises in Naked Raku!

Whilst I found parts of the course challenging (I haven't quite mastered creating forms on the wheel -  the clay is still boss!) I also enjoyed learning new techniques and meeting new people.

The first day we made forms for the raku firing. This was the first time I had attempted to make a bottle shape. 

On the second day, once the bottle forms were 'leather hard' we applied a terra sig (Terra Sigillata) slip which was then burnished using a soft plastic bag (like the ones from the fruit and veg section in Woolies). Terra Sig is a smooth, lustrous coating of clay which resembles a glaze and is virtually waterproof.  

The ceramic forms were bisqued in preparation for the raku firing. 

Then they were glazed using the glazes specially formulated for raku. We had the choice of using a crackling glaze, blue or green copper glazes.

Kevin demonstrating the glaze application techniques.

David stoking the raku kiln.

When the ceramic form is pulled hot from the raku kiln, it is then cooled down quickly (by blowing on it). This creates cracks in the glaze and allows the smoke to create black lines on the clay. 

The ceramic form is then placed in a garbage bin full of news papers, which ignite from the heat of the ceramics. The bin is sealed with wet news papers. Its the smoke from the fire which creates the black lines on the ceramics.

Pots that have been removed from the garbage bin are cooled with water. This helps the crackled glazed to simply drop off. 

My bottle forms emerge from the flames. You can see the different copper glazes on the necks of the bottles, the black is caused by flame and the black lines is where the crackle glaze was applied.

Bits of glaze still stuck to the bottle and were scraped off using a knife. It was a little like peeling eggs.

The finished raku bottles were polished with a bit of bees wax.

Lunch that day was wood fired pizzas cooked by Chris.

And assembled by Marika.

Whilst we were learning Raku and wheel forming, on the other side of the court yard another ceramic course was being taught by Bev Hogg who was demonstrating how to create expressive 3D figurative forms.  The results from that class were fabulous (sorry I forgot to take photos). It looks like I might have to participate in Bevs workshop next year :) 

Im dreaming of a green Christmas

Christmas for me is a chance to spend time with family and loved ones. Not a commercial event where so many unwanted gifts end up gathering dust or in the trash. So last year I decided that all my Christmas pressies had to be thoughtful and environmentally friendly! 

I set myself some rules: I wanted to give gifts that would be enjoyed, but would have little impact on the environment. So I decided that hampers were the way to go. Recycled baskets from the local opshop were filled with home made jams and chutneys (using recycled glass jars collected throughout the year).  

 

Handmade cards, decorated with beaded snowflakes (which could be reused as Christmas ornaments) labeled each basket, and exotic fruit added a touch of colour. Each basket included a hand printed linen tea towel (by yours truly). Although I didnt make the wine (thats another project on my growing list of things to do!) at least it was in recyclable glass bottles.

Ginger dipped in dark chocolate, and other delicacies  were wrapped in grease proof paper and tied with string.

Happily all the contents of my Christmas baskets were biodegradable.

This year my Christmas presents will be handmade again, and I am working within another theme. Its so much fun, but I cant give away any more.... shhhh its a secret until Christmas day x

The House on the Hill

Just around the corner from me stands a magnificent building that is falling into ruin through years of neglect. Fascinated by is presence and lured in by its air of mystery, a friend and I got a little closer to have a look.

Its the St John's orphanage for boys. A beautiful building, but Im led to believe it has a very sad history.

Many believe the place is haunted. It definitely had a desolate air when we went exploring.

Sadly nearly all the windows in the place have been broken and most of the walls have been graffitied. Rumour has it that a developer has bought it and is planning to turn the building into units.

Lets hope that the building is rescued and loved rather than demolished and redeveloped.

If I were rich I would turn it into a gallery - just imagine!