Manuel Canovas decoupage Christmas wreath

I love Manuel Canovas fabric designs but don't really do big price tags- so I thought a bit of decoupage from the latest " House and Garden" would do the trick!!
I was thinking pink/orange/black as a  different colour combination for the festive season- it's fun to come up with something funky for a change!
So I started with this " decoupage material " ( Thanks, House and Garden !!)- some lovely pages of the latest designs by Manuel Canovas, Zoffany and others, all in orange or purple.

 Then I made some decoupage baubles- here below.

Made a wreath from some cable reel-cast-offs like the material below - nice to  come up with a different texture-  ( and to recycle is always a plus )  :

Wrapped it round and tied with pink/purple ribbonns-  here is the wreath detail:

and enclose a detail and the final result of the wreath....
Detail:

and the final wreath:

Have you got any plans for Christmas wreaths? And which colours are you going to go for? I love your comments and feedback!!

Because it's easy....baking on a Sunday morning....

I love nothing more than baking on a wet , windy and dark weekend, and that is why I urge you to try the recipe here below.
It's super-easy and soo wondefully tasty, you want to bake it again and again and again.
Don't be put off by the idea that is has jam in it, as though that would be a cop- out , as it really isn't .The grounds almonds/raspberry combination is a lovely idea.
Besides, you could always use your own home-made jam if you want to ( although there really is no need! ).
I use Bonne Maman Confiture- raspberry , which is perfectly fine for the job.You will need to find a decent, rich-tasting rasberry jam.
Try it this weekend, I promise you, you won't regret baking it.
                                                         Bakewell tart
                                                           

Ingredients for the pastry:
275 gr flour
80 gr ground almonds
75 gr caster sugar
225 gr (cold) butter
3 egg yolks

How to make the pastry:
Mix the flour , the ground almonds and the sugar with the butter- rub it with your fingers till it's finely crumbled.( I suggest  you keep something near you to wipe your hands as inevitably the phone will ring at this stage , most times !).
Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl, then add these to the flour mixture to form a firm dough/ paste.
Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.
Sprinkle some flour on your worktop and roll out the dough, this should be no thicker than 2mm.
Take a 28 cm or approximately equally big pastry tin with a removable base, ( or if you want to go all pretty, get yourself a pretty earthenware one- the removable base is just easier ) , then butter it, and put the rolled out pastry in it.
This is a bit fiddly and bits make break off, but you can pat it all together so you have a nice whole pastry base.
You will now need to pre-bake the pastry before the filling goes in, otherwise , it won't cook and the dough will be  not done.So put a layer of baking paper ( or aluminium foil ) on the pastry, as if you put a sheet on a bed, let the sides curl up so it forms a little basket, and fill the basket with something to hold down the pastry so it does not puff up like a big duvet while it bakes- if you are very organised you may have some ceramic beans which are specifically for this job, but I have never bothered and usually grab what's in the cupboard and works equally well- which is dried pulses( dried white beans, flageolets, whatever you have handy ).
Fill the "basket" of baking paper  or aluminium foil  which is lying on the top of your pastry with the beans, ceramic or other wise, and bake for 25 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the oven, remove the foil or paper with the beans, and put the pastry back in again for about 5 minutes to get the pastry a bit more brown/ yellow.

Take out of the oven and start stage 2- the filling.In the meantime, turn the oven down to 150 degrees Centigrade.

 Ingredients for the filling.
200 gr rich tasting raspberry jam ( Bonnemaman for example ).
1 or 2  teaspoons vanilla sugar
300 gr butter
300 gr caster sugar
200 gr ground almonds
100 gr flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 medium eggs
3 or 4 table spoons flaked almonds

Spread the raspberry jam on the bottom of the pastry you have just baked.
Cream the butter and the sugar and vanilla sugar, then add bit by bit the ground almonds, flour, baking powder and eggs.
Mix well, then spread on top of the jam you have just put on the bottom of the pastry.This mixture should more or less fill the whole case, make sure you spread it evenly with a spatula.
Bake for 30 minutes, then take out and put the flaked almonds on the top in a random patter, just sprinkle them around on the top- then put the pastry back in and bake for another 20 minutes.

It's unbelievably good- give it a go!!Happy baking !!

Heavenly , heavenly haberdashery- and a before and after

                                    

A haberdashery is like a sweetshop to me- I just adore all the ribbons, colours and trimmings and all the combinations you can come up with together with the colours of fabric - just so extraordinarily exciting !
I once walked past a tiny dark shop in the neighbourhood I used to live in, and it was only because I had to wait for someone else to pass on the narrow pavement, that I stopped and glanced into a shop-window I passed by,  and discovered  my almost Number 1 favourite shop in the world- an old haberdashery ! It was filled from top to bottom with shelves, drawers and cardboard boxes full of everything you can dream of, whatever thread, button or ribbon you wanted.The young couple who owned it had taken it over from an old lady  and had still no idea what was in some of the drawers, as there was so much inventory to check .
So I always have some ribbons and trimmings one way or another lying around, which was just as well when I came accross a very sad little footstool .This was the material- a remnant- I had left over and the trimmings I had.

I do not have a full picture of the foorstool before- but I do have one of the fabric on the footstool .It was pretty grim, some faded green velour- and had definitely seen better days.

So a quick whizz around with my remnant and the trimings made for a much brighter little extra seat.
Here is the "after".

Don't you just love the silly bobble-fringe!!
So- are you also a trimmings -and-haberdashery affectionado, and have you any project you'd like to share? Or does all this ribbons and trimmings and haberdashery leave you stony-cold??
I look foward to your comments!!!!

I am linking this to
Twice owned Tuesdays

This was featured on Oneprettything here
 

Vintage re-work- adorable embroidery- before and after

I adore embroidery.How much time, love and effort has not been spent on the work above and here below.

Charity shops are mostly my hunting grounds for all these beautiful pieces of work.
In my mind's eye I can see these prim and proper ladies, Victorian, with swept-up hair and a tiny waist in long skirts, or maybe from the 1950's or 1960's with a beehive and multi-coloured petticcoats, embroidering away,on table-cloths, place-mats and napkins, sharing gossip and cups of tea with their friends in happy harmony.
And how pretty it all is ! And what a waste if you would actually use it! You only need one klutz who drops his cake- encrusted fork on the linnen or a tea-pot that dribbles a great splash of Earl Grey on the carefully embroidered roses and you will never be able to get it out again !
So I live in fear of stains by malcreant's hands and the Victorian ladies' work remains in a drawer.
And that is such a waste, really.So I came up with an extreme solution which I will show below.
Before: 1 table cloth, all four corners embroidered with a sprig of Lilac.
After:   4 scatter cushions, all with a sprig of Lilac- to pile on a luxurious bed full of coulours of blue, white, purple, green and lilac. Like this :

And like this:

And like this:

Extreme- yes, I agree. I could almost hear a little Victorian lady cry out in anguish as I put the scissors into the table cloth (  and I did feel a bit guilty.)  But I think she would be pleased with the result, as the Lilac embroidered table-cloth , now turned into Lilac embroidered cushions shine and smile out at me every day .
No longer any dwelling in a dark drawer, only to be taken out occasionally and admired and then put back, but looked at and loved every day.
Did I go one step too far ? Would you have left the table cloth as it was ? Or are you going to look at what you can turn from something unused into something used and loved ??

linking to
Room inspiration master bedroom

In praise of pansies

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Adorable, sweet and unpretentious.And with a heavenly scent.

                                     What can you not say in praise of the pansy or violet.

"Old blue eyes" Frank Sinatra sang already about violets, and a very sweet song it is too.

"She smiled at me so sweetly

Since then, one thought occurred,

That we fell in love completely

The day that I bought you violets for your furs".

Well, forget the furs, it is a bit cruel.

But plant some pansies and they will smile at you every day throughout the winter.

 Mine seem to like it here so much they even planted themselves in my gravelly drive.

If you want to go all the way, you can also make your own violet creams, dark chocolate with a pale lilac-y- cream/violet tasting filling, while you stare out at your baskets of little pansy faces.

I have not found a recipe for this yet but if I do I will share it with you.

Darling Divine Dresser- before and after

                                                                                 

Don't you just love a Welsh Dresser, bursting with favourite pieces of china and crockery, all mismatched  in a glorious mayhem of colours ?
Well, I didn't -I told myself.
No, no, not enough room in the kitchen-and  also ,of course, it wasn't  very hygienic or practical.
No, much better not !! I could do without a Welsh dresser !!
I did suffer the occasional Dresser Envy , looking through the latest "Country Living" , but you can't have everything .
Life Without A Welsh Dresser was perfectly fine.
Meanwhile , my kitchen cupboard-shelves started to bulge and sag worryingly under the amount of china I was collecting,  until to get something in the cupboard, you had to take three things out.
Until one day I drove home past a shop that had a great sign with "CLOSING DOWN"in the window.
In the road stood a really ugly little Welsh Dresser, so forlorn and dark brown, like a small, lost, wet dog, that
I felt genuinely sorry for it.
                                  The dresser- before ( think even darker brown - like black treacle).

Goodness, it was ugly.The only good thing about it, was that it was quite petite, so it would actually fit in my kitchen -and in my car .
"Are you selling this ?" I said to the man next to it .
"Twenty-five pounds -and I will help you put it in the car "he said.
It was a perfect fit .
I put it in the garage as I thought it too ugly to look at and needed time to think, about colours.
Eventually I decided on " Blue Ground" from Farrow and Ball - a colour that I had used before on a Lutyens bench in the garden.
I decided for blue mainly because the crockery I wanted to display ( Johnson Bros "Pareek" ) had yellow in it and I thought the contrast would work well.
And here is the "after" picture.

 Have you succumbed to Welsh Dresser-itis? Or are you living Life Without A Welsh Dresser ??
And what colour would you have gone for ??
Let me know what you think!!!
I am linking this to

Heart of the Home party- Favourite Cupboard

Jam today- jam tomorrow

Just a quick post to get you stirring those pots and pans over the weekend- I lost this on the recipe- page but here is again !
Happy Halloween !!

Apple Jam .
I have just planted three small apple trees this spring .The trees are all the size of a stout umbrella.One of them, called " James Grieve" is described in the blurb on the label as a " good cropper".
No mistake there-the poor umbrella carried 16 apples this year. To celebrate I decided to make some apple jam.( Instead of eating it in one go in an apple pie). The recipe is French and pretty tasty.Here it comes.

Confiture de pommes ( French Apple Jam ).

Ingredients:
1.2 kilo apples 
1 kilo sugar
1 sachet of pectin powder ( 8 grammes) - ( brand Tate and Lyle or other make ).
1 packet of vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 Big bowl of water with the  juice of 1 lemon squeezed into it.
4 clean jam pots with screw-on lids
1 Big pan ( so the jam can boil but cannot boil over )
1 Wooden spoon.
Scales.
Oventray.

How to make the apple jam  :
Quarter the apples, peel and core them, then chuck every apple quarter into the bowl with water and  lemon juice. This will keep the apples white/ green/ yellow (so they don't get brown and horrible ).
Once you have cored and peeled and quatered all the apples , stage 2 is getting all the apple quarters thinly sliced, then in thinly cubed.Think 1 x 1 mm !
Chuck the tiny cubes all in the big pan, add the sugar, the sachet of pectin ( don't breathe in, it will make you cough ) the vanilla sugar, and the cinnamon.
Stir the whole thing through- ( this can be a bit heavy going ) till you have a thick gloop.

Put it on a medium heat and cook for at least half an hour, stir with the wooden spoon. Don't go and do something else and leave it bubbling away.
Test if the apple is "done " ( = soft )- this can take quite a bit of time.( so say make it at least 40 minutes).
In the meantime - put your oven on 150-180 degrees Centigrade .Boil a kettle with water.
Spoon the apple jam into your jars.Screw the lids on the jars, put all the jars in an oven tray in the now warmed up oven.Fill the tray with the jam-jars up to 2  centimeters with the boiling water.
Close the oven and let warm up for 5 or so minutes. Then let the jam-jars completely cool down in the oven.
This seems to help with getting the pots to not spoil and the jam be OK.


Plum Jam .
Have a look if you have no plum tree if you can find some plums pretty cheapo in the supermarket. I never knew I had a plumtree till I saw some plums on the ground in the back of the garden last year- it had planted itself. Nature is fantastic sometimes.  This recipe is pretty easy.Practically hands-free.
Plum Jam .
Ingredients:
1 kilo plums
1 kilo sugar
1 sachet of pectin powder ( 8 grammes) - ( brand Tate and Lyle or other make ).
 4 clean jam pots with screw-on lids1 Big pan ( so the jam can boil but cannot boil over )
1 Wooden spoon.
Scales.
Oventray.


How to make the plum jam  :
Wash the plums, halve them , and take the stone out.
Once you have washed, halved and stoned the plums, chuck the plums all in the big pan, add the sugar, and the sachet of pectin .
Stir the whole thing through till you have a thick gloop.
Put it on a medium heat and cook for at least 10 minutes, stir with the wooden spoon.Let it come to a nice " rolling boil" as they call it.You will recognise what they mean by it when you see it.The boiling masse will boil and boil and rise slightly.That is why you need a big pan by the way.
Check if the jam is "done " by putting it on a cold saucer you put in the fridge earlier and let it cool down on it- when you push the jam with your finger it should crinkle a bit.
Put your oven on 150-180 degrees Centigrade .Boil a kettle with water.

Spoon the plum jam into your jars.Screw the lids on the jars, put all the jars in an oven tray in the now warmed up oven.Fill the tray with the jam-jars up to 2  centimeters with the boiling water.

 

Close the oven and let warm up for 5 or so minutes. Then let the jam-jars completely cool down in the oven.

 

 

 

 

 

Time for Tea and Scones

There is nothing more enjoyable after a long hard day , than to curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea and to bite into a freshly made scone, lavishly buttered and covered in home- made jam.
Absolute heaven!

Baking scones  is a piece of cake- it's super easy . Have a go! It's  best when you bake and eat them the same day (and with the recipe here below you probably won't have any left for the next day anyway! )..These are guaranteed fail-safe.Perfect for a rainy dark afternoon by a lovely open fire.

 Ingredients:
120 gr raisins
2 cups of cold tea.
450 gr self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
120 gr butter
salt
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons milk
home-made jam ( see recipe page )
clotted cream or - if you cannot get this- butter.
 How to make the scones:
Soak the raisins in the cold tea.Put the flour, baking powder and butter in a bowl and rub them together till they resemble bread-crumbs.Beat the eggs and milk with a whisk in a separate, second bowl, drain the raisins, and add them to the eggs and milk. Add the eggy mixture to the flour mixture .Add a pinch of salt.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.Butter an oven-tray and sift a fine layer of flour in it- a fine dusting will do.
Stir the egg and flour mixture well, till it becomes a soft dough. Roll the dough out on a floured work-space like your kitchen table- it should be about 2 centimeters thick.Use a glass or cup to cut out 10 circles , brush the top of the scones with a bit of milk, and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 12 minutes.

Let them cool down a bit, then cut across the middle, put some home-made jam on the scone, then on top of that some clotted cream.
If you have no clotted cream, butter the scones, then put a dollop of home-made jam on them.

Eat and enjoy !!! A quick and easy recipe so you can get baking this weekend!

Have a great weekend.

XOXO

Bea

The fun is in the journey- seed-catalogues in autumn - and a "before" and "after"

When the wind starts to blow and the rain starts to fall, it's a great time- to snuggle up warm and to start planning the garden for next year.
I have spent may happy hours at breakfast this year with the seed-catalogues of  Mr Fothergills , Thompson and Morgan and Bakker , deliberating what to grow and making lists - what to buy.
I don't have buy everything I want to grow - I save the seeds from the plants I grow myself .I let the seeds dry , then save the seeds in brown paper bags with a label and description .

This year I had a big project on- the front garden.
Let me show you the before-picture. It was an enormeous evergreen conifer , a tiny bit of lawn, and a whole hedge of Leylandii that had got out of hand.

                                                      Before

The conifer never stopped growing- and eventually it became too hard to wrestle yourself out of the car if you wanted to get into the house.
The Leylandii- I thought they were cute as they made the house look like a little cottage lost in an enormeous forest. But my neighbour was not happy and complained about evergrowing darkness, depression and headaches, roots, drains and poor soil, - those trees just had to go.
We swallowed deeply and called a tree surgeon with mountaineering skills.

That was very traumatic.I looked at the emptiness when the mess was cleared up and nothing sprang to mind.
Then I started to read my beloved seed-catalogues .Eventually I came up with a plan.

I did this : I planted a row of evergreen laurels where the conifers had been.Eventually this would provide some privacy throughout the year again. I also planted three rambling  Rosa " Albertine" against the fence.

In front of it a hedge of Rosa Rugosa- a trouble-free vigorous shrub with wonderfully scented roses and enormeous red rose-hips in for autumn colour.
This is the first rose on those little sticks of wood that are supposedly rose-shrubs. I watered the sticks  every night for about 3 months.

Then I came up with a symmetrical design  with an apple tree in the middle- for the area where the enormeous conifer had been.

I dug up the area and made raised beds from leftover wood.

I grew quite a few perennials and a whole lot of annuals as well, which were all growing away all over the house and in the garden shed.
Vita Sackville-West used to say, "grow a new plant from seed every year- surprise yourself"- and I grew
two annuals you can see below- which I never grew before - Nicotiana Sylvestris  and Nicotiana Landorfii.

The soil where the Leylandii had been  and which was full of roots, was thoroughly rotovated by yours truly's beloved partner till it was soft as eiderdown.

After the beds at the front were finished it looked like from this 

                                       

to this:

then later like :

                                                              and even later like this:

       

                                                              Dahlia" Bishop of Landaff".

The beds to the side where the leylandii had been and what had been rotovated  and first looked  like this :
                                                

                                                           looked later  on in the year like this :

                                                             and then even later like this :

                                                                    and then even later in the year like this :

                                              and like this ( above is Nicotiana Langdorfii)

                                                  (Above is Nicotiana Sylvestris)
The wind is blowing and the rain is falling , it's time to start planning the garden for next year.
What new plants are you going to grow??
Happy deliberating  and planning !!The fun is in the journey!!