Trust

Mixed Media Art, Our Home, Painting, ,

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This word had been my salve over the past few months…

I have felt like “life” has been doing its own thing; things are moving so fast, sliding between my fingers, slippery, half formed: I can’t catch them and I can’t make sense of them until they have suddenly realised, transpired and I realise I had no control over them in the first place anyway.

I know we have no control over anything in life really: it’s an organic unfolding process that does it’s own thing. We can pull against or go with the flow. And often just be washed along in the torrent.

Things are changing fast around here, great changes over the next while, and I, in moments of complete anxiety, just hear and see the word trust over and over… and it brings such great peace.

 Trust what’s happening.

 Trust it will be okay.

 Trust all is well.

 

(I am part of the Design Team for a new challenge blog my sister Eithne, and the lovely Michelle have set up: Craft for the Craic. Every month they have set a new Craft Challenge based around a word: this month it is Green. Check out the blog here and join in! All arty/crafty adventures are welcomed; it’s a great way to see how different crafts explore the same topic in such unique ways)

A Visit To Woodville Gardens

walks, , ,

Last Sunday we went to visit a walled garden near Loughrea, Co. Galway, called Woodville Walled Garden.  Woodville House has a long and fascinating history, you can read about it here, connected to Lady Augusta and the nearby Coole Park in Gort.P1010953This garden, which, by 2005 was being used as a farm field, started its transformation that year, and nine years later is blossoming into something really, really beautiful, thanks to the vision of its owners; Marie the Head Gardener and the numerous volunteers. P1010944 P1010961 P1010947

They held “Snowdrop Day” there on the 8th of February; we didn’t manage to make that day, but went over the following day.P1010969 P1010968Despite it being bitterly cold, the rain held off the entire time and we had a lovely walk and tour around the gardens.

P1010955P1010949P1010956There is a museum, cafe and little shop in the old stables. It is so well worth a visit, and we are already looking forward to going back in Spring and Summer to see how it has bloomed.

A true hidden treasure.

Pasta Bake and Mars Bar Cake

Celebrations, Cooking, Home Education, Home-making, Our Home, Recipes, , , , ,

Today was wild. Apparently, thirty minutes away there was a mini tornado! After a quick run around outside this morning, everyone retreated indoors as the weather progressively worsened. And what do you do when you can’t go out? You bake.

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I made pastry last night in anticipation of whipping up a few apple-tarts this morning, but Grace declared today “Celebrate Daddy Day” and asked could she bake too. James was not to be deterred from anything exciting involving dough, flour, pastry cutters and the chance to make a fine old mess. Then Liam and Michael decided that they would pitch in too. So I was allowed to advise from the sidelines as Grace and Liam made apple tarts and Michael made mini tart-men (dough cut into man-shapes and filled with grated apple. Super finniky) P1010975(Graces’ apple tart is the one on the left, decorated with pastry shapes of flowers, men and hearts “for Daddy”. She spent the entire time, correcting me  as I explained what to do, telling me how “Ma” (my mother) did it, and did it properly at that. Epic fail on my part obviously!!)

James cut out men shapes too, and made dough “yourds” [swords] for them. Then waited by the oven door for them to bake (no patience) asking me every few seconds: ”Done?!” Eventually they were (longest ten minutes) and he huffed and puffed and blew them until they were cool, then gobbled them up with relish…20140212_140149

Grace drew a picture for Fergal for “Celebrate Daddy Day”:P1010976

We are getting married under an arbour and I’m holding the new baby. It gladdens my heart to see that I’m several feet taller than Fergal in this :-D

We stopped for lunch: I made this pasta bake last night, still had lots, so we had it for lunch. It was y-u-m…

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Chicken and Chorizo Pasta Bake 

(This is another feck-it recipe. I got together whatever I had, and improvised. As I encourage you to do too!)

2 large or 4 small chicken breasts (I had roasted two large chickens two days ago, and so had two large cooked chicken breasts which I used)

I chorizo sausage, chopped

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

Dash of oil

Cup of peas (I used frozen)

Approx 250mls of Creme Fraiche or Cream (Or natural yogurt if you were stuck)

100gms (I used half a tube) of tomato puree (Or a tin of chopped tomatoes, or a jar of passata)

Grated cheese (however much you fancy)

500g Penne Pasta

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Preheat the oven 180′C

Put the pasta on.

In a large saucepan, I added the oil, and, when hot, tossed around the onion. If your chicken is raw, cook it now first. Add the chorizo and garlic. 

Add creme fraiche/cream and puree, stir it all around. Add the cooked, drained pasta, and toss everything so it is well coated in the sauce. Put into an oven proof dish, stir in the grated cheese, bake for 15-20 minutes.

After lunch, I made a Mars Bar Cake as I bought some Mars Bars yesterday with this in mind (and we were celebrating after all). This is a Nigella recipe and is as moreish and delicious as you would expect!

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Mars Bar Cake 

(This fast started to turn into another Feck-it cake too: I found a few chocolate santas and some caramel Roses sweets that I threw in too. I tried to restrain myself there)

3 Mars Bars

2 Tablespoons of golden syrup

100gms butter (real butter please)

Enough Rice Krispies to coat

200g chocolate

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In a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the Mars Bars, golden syrup and butter.   When they have melted, stir in enough Rice Krispies to coat, then press into a tin lined with greaseproof paper. 

Melt the chocolate and pour on top, spreading out evenly.

Let cool completely before cutting into squares and devouring.

Art, Frustration & Apple Tarts

Altered Art, Cakes, Cooking, Crafts, handmade, Handmade dolls, Home-making, Mixed Media Art, Our Home, Recipes, , , , , , , , , ,

The way it is with me is this: I don’t post for a few days, which then lengthens into a week; then over a week, and unless I forcibly make myself write, I keep putting it on “the long finger”…

Not that I don’t have plenty to post here, and take many photos a day… it’s like a chronic laziness. Or perhaps I will pull out my trump card here and say 1) exhaustion (only nine weeks to go until baby makes an appearance!!) and 2) The return of my pregnancy sickness, which has been truly, a miserable turn this late in the pregnancy. I’ve been pretty queasy the whole way through; but on the upside, it’s not every night, only every other night (I’m, bizarrely, sick from about 8pm until 5am. Just to keep me on my toes) So I will stick to my great excuses and continue on in this post to far more lovelier things such as…

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Apple tarts! (or apple pies as some people *mistakenly* call them, cough cough Maud)

(The marble rolling pin was a present from my wonderful husband, who, incidentally, loves apple tarts)

20140208_150332It was forecast to be a pretty miserable weekend, weather wise, so Butterfly Buns (in homage to my sister who is Butterfly Bun Queen) and apple tart and custard were the order of the day…P1010914

James and I painted on Saturday for a while: I’ve been fiddling around with arty ideas, but just nothing was working. I felt like I simply didn’t have a clue what I was doing. So I painted randomly; I’ll probably use these, chopped up, for something else (my sister has set up a Design Challenge Blog here for all sorts of craft goodness. The first challenge was something with “heart” in it. My heart attempts have been disastrous so far) Hugely frustrating. P1010916James, as soon as my back was turned, would do a sneaky paint job on my page, which didn’t help either… Scut!!P1010972

I’ve been also dementing myself with Art Doll ideas… I know what I want to do, but just getting there is proving a challenge. A while ago, I made these forms, and on Sunday I tried to bring them further, but it just wasn’t working (I think I need to stick with cloth dolls for the moment, I’m finding papier mache too slow) P1010974So I gave them to Grace to decorate. She did one on Sunday and one on Monday: I was blown away with her ingenuity and creativity- nothing holding her back. It was really a lesson in free expression for me. She just adored doing these, and spent hours (literal hours) glueing and sticking (all the while with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth… just like her mother :-) )P1010971

Also, on Sunday, we went for a walk in Woodville Gardens near Loughrea, Co. Galway… but I’ll hold out and post that in a separate post or this one will never end…!

Paper Dolls and Blueberry Slice

Cakes, Home Education, Home-making, Homeopathy, Our Home, Recipes, , , , , ,

For Christmas, Grace received, amongst others, a beautiful book called The Paper Dolls (by Julia Donaldson and illustrations by Rebecca Cobb) We were reading it last night and afterwards talked about making our own paper dolls… which is exactly what we did, today!

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(note the bandaged finger: we had high drama last week when Grace got a long splinter embedded in her finger; it came out on Monday thankfully after a very anxious weekend and many poultices. Homeopathic Silica eventually pushed it out over night on Sunday in the nick of time before we went back to the hospital. Whew)

After we made the small paper dolls, we decided to make like-size ones: we had huge rolls of paper, thanks to my parents; so we lay it flat on the ground, then Grace, James and Michael lay down to be drawn around (Liam wanted to draw his foot only!!)

P1010893We had such a laugh doing this! And when we had drawn around the figures, they each coloured “themselves” in. James even drew a car in his hand with all of us in it:

P1010896Once coloured in, we cut them out and dated each one. James’ colouring doesn’t show up here, but he drew in details like each finger and eyes, the cutie. And Grace coloured in her bandaged thumb for posterity…!P1010906The mad “creature” attached to James’ foot is Liam’s foot, whom he has called ‘Kevin’:

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At the moment the giant paper children are lying on the kitchen floor waiting for their daddy to come home, making the kitchen look like a scene from C.S.I. :-)

And whilst I am here in the kitchen, let me share a delicious recipe from the kitchen of Wholesome Ireland; Blueberry Slice:P1010875I was originally going to make this with raspberries, but I cannot eat enough blueberries at the minute, the cravings! I made this recipe for Blueberry Slice almost exactly (I just addded 50g more blueberries). A gorgeously fruity delight! Thanks Caitriona!

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The Cherry Farm: e-course Giveaway!

Cooking, Crafts, Home-making, , ,

I’m really delighted to introduce Halina from The Cherry Farm who has popped over here to do a guestpost in conjunction with a giveaway for a place on her e-Course, starting on the 3rd of February 2014:creatingmagic

I’ve been a long time fan of this beautiful, gentle blog filled with gorgeous photos and wonderful ideas. The e-course promises to be an absolute treat, and we have one free place to giveaway on this blog!! Thanks Halina :-)

You have many ways to be in with a chance to win:

-comment here,

-like and share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc….

…and make sure to tell me so I can add your name as many times into the draw!

So, over to Halina…

Including Young Children in the Kitchen

 Cooking and baking with young children can be so rewarding for both children and adults.

 Some days you might prefer to just get the dinner done quickly and don’t want the extra work and time that it takes to include your children. I have those days and that’s totally fine.

By always rushing through the process, however, you miss out on a wonderful opportunity to work and learn together, to share one of the most important tasks in a family: preparing nourishment for bodies, souls and senses.

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Your children learn about healthy food along the way and might appreciate dinner much more if they are part of the process.

We always teach children important fine motor skills through various toys and gadgets although they could learn most of them by just helping you in the kitchen (and otherwise around the house).

Pouring, stirring and kneading are great activities for little hands. Yes, there will be messes and a bit of waste. But is it really a waste if your children learn early on how to feed themselves with good homemade food?!

IMG_2676Messes can be cleaned up together. Let your toddler wash the bowls or wipe the counter tops with a cloth (there are those motor skills again!) while you take two minutes to put everything away and clean up the bigger messes. Your child won’t only get better at working without making spilling everything  – you will also get much faster at giving them little jobs that keep them busy while you do the things that you want to do without “help”.

So what else could little ones do to help you?

  • As soon as they can stand up they can help you wash the vegetables in a bowl and hand them to you as you need them.
  • Another task for little hands could be peeling the dry skin off an onion or garlic cloves. They could also use a peeler to take the skin off carrots, courgettes, parsnips, potatoes…in the beginning that might result in peeling away the whole vegetable but they’ll get the hang of it eventually.
  • I always left my children handle knives (under close supervision) from an early age but that’s a very individual decision. We have a small red knife which they can use to cut soft vegetable like mushrooms.
  • If you feel comfortable with it you could let them grate cheese for you. Just tell them about the dangers but also show them your confidence that they can learn to handle these tools. Your kids will learn fast and be proud to be such a great help.
  • Kids can butter their own bread, cut cheese, wash grapes, crack eggs into a bowl, etc.

There really isn’t much they can’t do if you help them a little and show them how to do it.

IMG_2327 Once you are brave enough you can let them bake their own banana cake. Even a 2 year old can pour together a few ingredients that you measured out for him.

Provide the following ingredients in bowls, along with an empty bowl and a wooden spoon:

  • one cup of white flour (combined with 1 teaspoon baking powder)
  • one cup of wholemeal spelt flour
  • ½ cup of sugar (or less)
  • one egg
  • 1 to 2 ripe bananas
  • ¼ cup coconut oil

This activity is about fostering independence and confidence, so it helps to let go of perfectionism. Fortunately it is not important to thoroughly mix the ingredients so it’s a brilliant beginner’s recipe for a child.

Having fun in the kitchen and preparing healthy foods together is one of the best foundations you can give your child for a long and healthy life.

(This is a little excerpt from week 3 of my e-course “Creating Magical Days with your 2 to 4 year old”.) 

Tutorial: Easy 8″ Waldorf Snuggle Doll (with PDF pattern)

Felting, Freeform Crochet, Painting, Stationery, tea, ,

P1010870(These photographs were taken over a few days- and the body of the doll went from being purple to yellow! But needless to say, the colour is irrelevent; just so the photograph of the materials makes sense with the finished doll)

Here is the Easy 8″ Waldorf Snuggle Doll tutorial, with a PDF Pattern to download.  Should you wish to link, please link back here to this blog, and of course, if you make one, please do post your results here or on our Facebook page! Enjoy :-)

(P.S Make sure to check back tomorrow for a fantastic giveaway for a place on the Creating Magical Days e-course!)

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Materials:

7oz (200gms) Clean Wool Fleece (Sheeps wool. I was recently gifted Alpaca Fleece: haven’t used it yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do. It feels utterly, deliciously soft and warm)

1 1/2″ (4cm) wide stretch Tubular Bandage/ Stockinette 10″ (25cm) long (this is the tubular bandage that you put on actual injuries: you could try in a pharmacy for some if you don’t have a doll supplier: I got some perfect finger bandage in a pharmacy for the 4″ dolls)

Approx 12″x 7″ (30cms x 18cms) Dollskin/Skintone Jersey (you could dye a white t-shirt/baby vest with tea until the desired colour?)

24″ x 14″ (62cms x 36cms)Jersey/ stretchy fabric for the body and hat (Velour works beautifully, or an old babygro or t-shirt-top. For this doll I used a top witha bit of stretch that Grace had outgrown)

Strong thread (for face indents and under head. I used crochet lace thread: its very strong)

Needle and Thread

Measuring tape

Scissors

Sewing machine (OPTIONAL!! I hand-sewed all of mine)

P1020445-450x600Before you start, get to know the proportions of a Waldorf doll: The head is one quarter/part of the doll, the arms and torso make up another quarter/part and the lower body/legs  take up the last half/two parts.

Start with the head: You need to get a very firm ball as you will be moulding the shape of the head (I needlefelt mine to make it firm, but wrapping it tightly like here (the head moulding/ threading is more complicated, I am using a simpler version for this doll to get you started); or using a tight ball of yarn as the inner core of the head is another ingenious idea I came across recently here)

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Once I have a firm inner core, I wrap more wool around the ball, leaving some  hanging down under the head: this becomes the torso and keeps the head firm on the body. P1010786

Take your stockinette/tubular bandage, and stitch a running stitch around one end, pulling it tight to seal the tube. Turn inside out (Apologies, I know the stockinette looks a tad dodgy)P1010789 Pull the bandage over the wool “head” (I cut off the excess once I was happy it came down far enough)P1010791Tie tightly under the head where the neck would be (Using strong thread/crochet cotton)P1010814 There are many different ways of tying the head in order to make the facial indents to mould to face. I am using a very smple one here, perfect for this doll.

Taking the strong thread, double it over, and then tie halfway down the head. PULL TIGHT! And knot at the back. P1010815 For the nose (you could skip this part and draw/stitch the nose on after): draw a circle under the facial indent as a guide. Take your needle, threaded with a doubled over piece of thread, and imagining a clockface as a guide:

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start at 12, bringing the thread under to 6, catching some of the fleece fibres as you do.

Slipstich to 7, and bring thread to 1;

slipstitch to 2 and bring thread to 8.

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Continue the whole way around, pulling on the thread as you go, catching a wisp of fibres to create a little bulk in the nose…

P1010817 Next, using your skintone jersey fabric/dollskin, wrap a piece around the head, making sure to pull it with the stretch going around the head:P1010818

I pin it in place, then cut off excess, making sure I have enough to fold over each side, then sew it up the back, keeping the fabric pulled firmly:
P1010819 For the top of the head, i fold the fabrib down onto itself making the least bulk, and stitch in place:P1010820 Tie firmly with strong thread/cotton under the chin again. A little person is emerging :-) P1010821For the body: Print out the pattern onto A4 paper, and cut it out. Fold over the fabric, so the wrong side is facing out, and draw the pattern onto it. Pin the two pieces of fabric together so it doesn’t slip while you are stitching it (right sides facing each other)P1010822 Sew on the line, leaving the neck and hand spaces free. Carefully cut around, leaving a generous 1/4″ (1cm) seam allowance.P1010832 Turn the right way out, and you have the little body!P1010834 To make the hands,  cut out the pattern, fold over the fabric or cut four pieces (I find folding the fabric over and sewing on the double keeps the stretch correct) Sew on the line and  thencut out (Keeping the stretch of the fabric going accross the hands)P1010835 Here are all your pieces so far: head, body, hands.P1010839 Turning the body inside out, fold back the seam allowance at the cuff. P1010840 Stuff the hand firmly with wool fleece, then insert it into the cuff:P1010842 Leaving the seam allowance showing.P1010841 Sew around the hand-wrist, attaching firmly.P1010843 Turn it all right way out again.P1010844 Using a knitting or crochet needle, stuff the body with wool fibre, moving and adjusting it with your hands as you go to get a pleasant shape (ours like soft and cuddly, not to firm)P1010845 Put in the head: you will possibly have to re-adjust the wool stuffing when the head goes in, as I had to do here.P1010846 Too bulky and stuffed!:P1010847 Some of the plump removed… Once happy with the shape, sew the head onto the neck. I sew around a couple of times: small, tight stiches to ensure it stays in place.P1010848 [I should have sewn on the face next!! Anyway... moving swiftly on...] Next, I sewed the hat: cut out the pattern, place on the fold of the fabric, draw out, then sew. Cut out, leaving the seam allowance. P1010851 Fit onto the head, moving and adjusting until you are happy with placement…P1010852…then with small stitches, sew on.P1010853 As mentioned above, this next step “should” have been completed before the hat was put on, but at this point I sewed on the face:P1010854 And with a wax crayon, smudged on some pink cheeks:P1010855 And there you have it! Enjoy the joy it brings your Small Ones :-) P1010856 P1010857

PDF PATTERNS:

Snuggle Baby Pattern Part 1 PDF

Snuggle pattern Part 2 PDF

Simple and Delicious Tea Brack

Cakes, Cooking, Home-making, Our Home, Recipes, tea, , , ,

(I’m in the middle of trying to articulate the doll tutorial, so am posting this as a bit of light relief for me- and you!)

P1010865I’ve been having cravings for fruit cake; Christmas cake was to dense: I hankered after something moist and lighter. This weeek I received a small little recipe book from Odlums (my mother has an ancient Odlums book of which I have very fond memories been taken out to make pancakes every Shrove Tuesday) P1010868The book has recipes by Catherine Leydon, and the one that appealled instantly in my current desire for fruit cake, was the Tea Brack. I have to admit that I was very skeptical: it seemed far too easy with way too few ingredients to be as luscious as I needed; but once tasted, I couldn’t have been more than delighted.P1010859 I soaked the fruit in cold tea for a day or two, then measured out the other ingredients, it only took a couple of minutes to fold together, and an hour to cook.  I made double this recipe: my sister and brother in law were visiting, so we ate one, and I wrapped up the second for my fruitcake-loving parents P1010867(this cake stays moist for days and days wrapped in greaseproof paper, so a great standby for visitors or gifting. If you can resist that long)

Tea Brack (Catherine Leydon)

225/8oz Self Raising Flour

375g Dried Fruit (I just used raisins)

300ml/1/2 pint Cold Tea

125g/4oz Caster Sugar

1 Egg (beaten)

Good pinch of Mixed Spice

Place fruit and tea in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.

The following day, when the fruit has absorbed most of the liquid, preheat the oven to 170′C/325′F/Gas 3 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin

To the fruit, add sugar, egg, flour, and mixed spice to the bowl and mix well.

Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for approx. one hour or until risen and firm to the touch (you could inset a skewer to check it has cooked through)

Cool on a wire tray; then, when cold, wrap in greaseproof paper and try to wait for two days before cutting, slathering generously with REAL butter and eating many slices with a large pot of tea.

Snippets: Unicorns, Nests, Hens & Feck-It Cakes

Animal Husbandry, Cakes, Crafts, handmade, Handmade dolls, Handmade Gifts, Home-making, Our Home, Recipes, Sewing, Tutorials, Waldorf Dolls, , , , , ,

 

P1010794I have a whole 8″ Waldorf Snuggle Baby tutorial photographs- with PDF patterns for download!- most of which was done with our small boy beside me, or in this case, on my knee,  drawing “daddy and a yourd” (Daddy and a sword); but I have yet to write it out completely. Hopefully, over the weekend…

…As a member of the Irish Parenting Bloggers, I have a fantastic array of blogs to read. One of my favourites is Where Wishes Come From; this week, Sadhbh from WWCF posted this fantastic PDF pattern to make felt unicorns (for free download) I made James’ green one first (he is in green mode at the minute), and when Grace and Liam were deciding on colours, Liam asked for a Pegasus: a unicorn with wings essentially. Grace nearly expired with excitement as that was exactly what she was hoping for! And so, with a minor adjustment to the pattern to make the embroidered wings (which took the longest time: “if you just, you know, sew a few hearts and flowers and spirals and all the things I love on the wings…”) her winged unicorn came to life:

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…Fergal found two nests over the weekend that had been blown down in the storm… When we cut hair in our house, we always put the hair out in the garden for the birds to line their nests (not sure where this theory/idea came from!) On inspection of the second, smaller nest we saw it was lined with what looks like James’ hair!

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…I have photos of these hens when they first came to live with us a few months ago: they were living skeletons, having come from a battery hen farm. As soon as they arrived, our hens stopped laying in sympathy and despite eating the most extraordinary amount of food and growing healthy and plump there was ne’er an egg to be seen. This week, however, they have all started laying and we are having eggs with everything :-) I have spent the week baking: bread, scones, cakes; and Grace has been living on a diet of “breggy egg”(French bread): there is nothing more lovely than fresh eggs from the henhouse…

20140111_125940…Possibly the most popular photo I ever posted on Facebook: I “invented” the Feck-It Cake, a version of chocolate biscuit cake… The ingredients came from our cleared-out junk-press (cupboard): all the random left-over Christmas chocolate bits, mini bars and a half a tin of caramel… fudgy, choccy, yummy:

Feck-It Cake

Melt all the random chocolate bits you can find with 100g of butter and 100g of caramel (in a tin) Add in a packet of bashed-up digestives, (you could add fruit, nuts, rice krispies also at this stage) Press into a paper-lined tin, then melt 200g of chocolate, the rest of the caramel (I had about 100g left) and spread on top. Refridgerate until chilled (or dont, just until its set, then let the hungry mases delve in)

Heaven in a baking tin, frankly. P1010797

Let’s Hear it For Our Giveaway Winner!

Our Home

A week ago I posted a giveaway on this blog for a little Fairy Doll. Wow, the response was incredible!! Thank you to everyone who commented, shared, pinned, tweeted; the guilt that I don’t have a doll for everyone is huge :-)

Anyway! Let us please have DRUUUUUMMMM-ROLLLLLLL:
the winner of the giveaway is Dee, from Triskele Threads. Congrats Dee!! Please do go and check out her blog. Dee is “Irish lass living in Melbourne with my Aussie man and four young kiddos”… Her blog is FULL of crafty loveliness. I’m delighted that this wee fairy will be taking up residence with you, Dee, on the other side of the world!

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