Rose Vintage

A Thing About Bags!

Well I am pretty pleased with this little bag, it has turned out better than expected considering I had to make my own pattern! I followed a tutorial from Lisa's blog, one of many that she is willing to share with others. I just love the fabric, it's a modern print on a retro theme called Laundry Day! This bag was a tryout to see just how to put it all together before I use some real vintage fabric that I bought from Donna

It's a 1940's vintage cotton which I just fell in love with. The broach is an ebay purchase that I will add to the bag once it is complete. I have try and locate a more vintage type frame to use although I do like the clean lines of the modern frame. Unfortunately I have a feeling that this little distraction might become a bit compulsive as I find myself considering allsorts of combinations. I'm off to have another Google on handbag frames! Friday nights are sooo exciting in Kent!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Home Grown

I am quite particular about the food I eat and I like to know its origin if at all possible especially the meat and fish that I buy and cook for us. I think there are a lot of people today who are concerned about the amount of pesticides and chemicals that are used when our food is mass produced and reared intensively so I try to grow as many vegetables as I can and I don't spray them. We buy our grass-fed beef from friends who farm and we have a small flock of chickens. I also try to support local Farmer's markets when I can. That said, I would not say that I am a purist in the organic sense, it is just not always possible to buy or grow everything organically and certainly food that we buy at the local market is not organic  but at least we do know where it comes from. So I try to do what I can.

My organic 'Colleen' seed potatoes arrived earlier this week and once the veggie patch dries up a bit I will get them planted. We have had so much rain here that I think most things will be a bit late going in! No matter, there needs to be a bit of sunshine and warm weather to get them started off so it is not a great problem. We tried this variety last year for the first time and they were delicious! I was drawn to them simply for the name alone. My Mother's name is Colleen so it was as they say a 'done deal!' There is also a huge satisfaction in digging up potatoes.  I have always wanted a veggie patch and last year was the best year ever. If you ever toy with the idea of having a vegetable garden and you have the space, just get on and do it! It is one of the most rewarding things to do especially if you enjoy food and cooking and you really don't need that much space. There really is no comparison with shop bought carrots, even organic ones to those you grow in the garden. 

The eggs in the picture are from my Cream Legbar hens, they are a rare breed and lay the blue eggs you see in the bowl. The khaki coloured egg at the back is from one of my neighbour Lucy's hens. The hen is a cross breed of lots of different blue laying hens and her eggs are this colour! I have to be inventive with egg recipes especially during the summer. I have usually about a 10-11 eggs a day so I sell some to friends and it covers the cost of their feed. They also get most of the household veggie waste and they love a bit of pasta and rice! So all in all we waste very little and it all gets recycled! They naturally kept laying all through the Winter this year so I did not have to buy one egg from the supermarket. 

The builders are back at the moment but only to build a small porch on the back of the house so that we have somewhere to put coats and boots and so that the wet and mud does not go straight into the kitchen. They also made an exciting discovery!

What you can see in this picture is the original well to the house! It has been capped off but all of the pipe work is still intact and it leads to part of an old pump. I had noticed what I had thought was an old piece of pipe in the corner of the garden but had no idea that it was the original pump! I think we will try to get it going for the summer so I can use the water for the garden and the pots and baskets outside of the house. I was a bit conservative last year and only had one or two pots as we had a hosepipe ban and I did not want to waste water.

Well I think I will toddle off and check out the greenhouse, it's quite a sunny day today although chilly and I love the sense of being in the garden but sheltered behind all that glass! I really thought that Winter had returned with a vengence last week with a few snow flurries and some cold east wind.  I normally overwinter some tender plants in the greenhouse so I need to check them out and also get it ready for my tomatoes this year. One of the varieties I normally grow is Brandy Wine, a big tasty variety that are easy to bring on and lovely to eat. Hopefully I will have some photos of them later on in year when I will be asking for all of your lovely tomato recipes....Have an enjoyable Sunday!

Spring!

The first sign of Spring for me is seeing my neighbour Lucy's lambs in her front field. The field is right outside my house so I have a good view of them and of their antics! Everyday about 3pm they perform what is known in our household as 'lamby races!' A whole bunch of them race around the parameter of the field and always at the same time. It's the same year in, year out with all the different lambs that are born next door! It is really funny to watch.

This is Lucy with one of her new-born lambs. He will go outside after a couple of days, weather permitting! The mothers are very protective of their lambs and will stamp a foot if you get too close especially if they are a first time mother. My husband's family have been in farming for many years and my mother-in-law Jennie always had a 'sock' lamb to look after when she was a girl. Sock lambs are lambs that need feeding either because they are orphaned or because they are one of a multiple birth and the mother needs a helping hand. Jennie has always kept sheep as did her Father. I thought I would leave you with one of Jennie's poems which is about him. I find this poem very moving...

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The Shepherd

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With every new born lamb

I see his hands

Gnarled, weathered

Yet so able to deliver

That yellow squirming mass

Of unfolding anxious limbs.

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In every smothered bleat

Uttered by those mothering

Their freshly suckled young,

I hear his voice,

Gruff, confident and hushed,

Words for sheep alone.

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On every bud-burnt night

I hear his tread,

The rasp of boots on frozen grass

and see those misty mounds

He tends

Where the land lies sheltered.

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With every flower and frond

I lay upon this marble

I see a man

Who cleaves the burrs and briars

And tells of warmth and calm

In Spring to come.

My Best Find Ever!

This inglenook of ours still needs work and we want to restore it to its former glory. When we viewed our house there was no sign of an inglenook or its beam above. It was all covered in plaster, filled in with rubble and all you could see was a white wall. There was a small cupboard to the right hand side and at the back of it I saw the small oak seat that is so typical of a inglenook. One Sunday afternoon, my husband and my father-in-law thought it might be a good idea to find out what was behind the wall. Well. about one and a half tonnes of rubble later ( which went out of sitting room window!) we revealed our inglenook.  The original pothook is also still in place

Cherry's latest post on her Blog Tales from Pixie Wood talks about traditional values and I was interested to read the responses to her post.  So many people feel the same way and incorporate tradition and traditional values into their lives in lots of different ways. What a relief!  My way of 'doing my bit' for tradition is to try to restore the original part of the farmhouse back to it's former glory. I wouldn't say that it is completely back to the original, we have had a lot of damp to contend with so had to compromise with the flooring but we are doing the best we can.... 

Blue & White

I have been collecting blue and white china over the years and it is a real favourite of mine. Not all of these pieces are old though and some were picked up at boot fairs and a few were presents. I sometimes use the plates and tureens when friends come around to eat. I love it that nothing matches! The lady below is a 1920's posy holder, I'm waiting for the primroses in my garden to bloom so that I can make her look pretty!

Love is.....

The Aga you can see in the picture is something that my whole family (dogs and cats included)are drawn to especially on a cold winters day. I am not quite sure of its age, I think it is about 1960's as it was secondhand when we bought it. It is a very unusual colour for an Aga, a sort of powdery baby blue. Before I had an Aga, I could not understand what all the fuss was about and even now I'm not quite sure if I can quite put it into words but I do love it! I'm about to embark on some baking this afternoon ( I feel a recipe from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book coming on!) I thought I might give the Crunchy Top Lemon Cake a whirl. I had it at a summer fete last summer and it was just delicous.....