Right ... Enough is Enough!!

I have stupidly gotten out of the way of doing craft projects which I must put an end to. I have too many projects on the go and they are all just taking too long ...

There is my Kate Davie's Puffin knitted Jumper;

A neon Aztec quilted blanket (my own design);

And my Parisian cross stitch designed by Satsuma Street.

So today I am taking advantage of the horrible wintry Sunday and picking up my cross stitch.

Here is what I achieved today!

47 Days of Summer - Week 1

Wednesday - First stop catch up wi this little munchkin, her big brother and their Mam

Thursday - Went for a blustery walk wi the four collies (dey wir rather excited)

Friday - First run of the holiday and the high winds nearly ended me

Saturday - Great road trip to Sumburgh Head Visitors Centre it's brilliant

Sunday - Me and EB went to Mareel to see The Fault in Our Stars then back to hers for bubbles and Scrabble 'Rock & Roll'

Monday - Little taste of my Second Home

Tuesday - Tried oot the Film Quiz at Mareel ... It's really hard!!!!

New Beginnings

I feel like recently I have been constantly apologising for how busy I am an how spars my blog is, now days. But this term has been one of the most exhausting (moving builds, HMI inspections and trying to get a grips with the new national assessments are only the icing on the cake).

My mam came down for a long weekend and we had a great time watching rugby, cooking and making a 1920s kimono for my friend hen night.

The finished kimono (aka my new dressing gown)

Well as I mentioned back in the summer holidays, my former flatmate lof (3 years) eft Orkney for the bright lights of Glasgow and I finally found a new flatmate, this was not a fun process and very stressful due to the lack of suitable applicants but she was like a ray of light and enjoys a lot of the crafty things that I do and we knew each other from work. While it has been a lovely 9 months or so she now also applying for jobs on the mainland and I had some big decisions to make. Stay and go through the stress of finding or not finding someone to move in or move on to a more affordable flat that I can live in on my own.

View from Murray's new flat

Tea at Cups in Glasgow

Had a great meal with old friends then we had a sing along to Evita at the playhouse in Edinburgh

In the last term I have managed 2 visits south to see Murray and currently planning the next to trips (one Edinburgh, one glasgow)

Well after very little search I found a HOUSE that I couldn't say no to:

Private parking

Coal burning fire

Conservatory

VERY affordable ... SOLD!!!!!

Well rented but it will do me right while I save for a mortgage deposit (ugh grown up funs).

Slowly tweeking things here and there to make it a home, lots of colour being used to counter act the red feature walls

Anyhoo, the house is very much a blank canvas it has some less endearing features left behind by previous tenants but I am really looking forward to making it mine and more importantly homely.

Home for Christmas 2013

In the first 24 hours I was home, I was kidnapped by my sister. She is in Edinburgh/Lincolnshire for Christmas with her boyfriends family.

SOOOOOOOOOO excited to watch Frozen with a gingerbread latte and brownie

She planned an early Christmas meal on the Sunday so we did it together...

This chappy had a nice brisk walk in the cold... We tired him oot wi all the hoose work

Nigel Slater's Christmas Trifle made by moi

One of my tasks was to draw up some novelty table decorations, was fun drawing again and considering it's from scratch it's no too bad if I do say so myself

She flew away on Monday so I was released back into the care of my parents where we cleaned the hoose, did a booze run to Mainland Stores, iced my Christmas cake, wrapped gifts etc.

My first ever Christmas cake, made by me (subtle ombré effect)

Once we wir finished we lit the fire and curled up in front of Scrooged with a dram. It's meant to be a rubbish day today (Christmas Eve) brally windy and rainy so I am hoping to get some serious knitting done even if I have to do it by candle light.

Molly trying very hard to get up on the new couch

What are you doing to keep warm this festive season?

Lead Up to Christmas

You might be able to guess from the absolute lack of posts that I haven't had much time for creative things. At the start of the school year I had surgery on my lower back so sitting up right was difficult then the new National Curriculum hit wis with a bang (I am a Maths teacher) and every spare minute was spend developing the course, materials and assessments.

It is now time to try me and dad's cider and it is very nice, dry but I like that.

I have managed to potter with peerie things over the year but disappointed that I still haven't finished my Aztec blanket (goal to finish that by end of January).

I have done another 4 rows but must finish it soon

 

For a few weeks me and the lasses would meet up on a Sunday morning and knit, I made a tea cosy from Smith & Jamieson's book... All that's left is to add a pom pom to the top.

As you may have guessed by now I feel strongly about homemade christmas gifts. I feel that now days people just give gifts because they feel they ought to but I like popping past a friend hoose with a peerie something and knowing that they'll get some joy oot of something I have spent time making. I definately do not do it just to get something back. When I wis a teenager whenever my mam and dad asked me what I wanted for christmas I would say a book, perfume or Lego... And I still do.

Festive fireplace, West End Hotel in Kirkwall

This year I had big plans for the peerie boys gifts (there are 4 of them now this year - congratulations to Gina & Robert on peerie Josie) but time ran away with me and then will be next years plan. Instead I made them some sock toys to keep their zebra's company.

Josie's first christmas gift from me ... A peerie sock teddy

 

Oliver's dad has a farm and on that farm they have a collie, so I made him a sock puppy

I also made Lucas a puppy as they have a beagle called Spencer and thought he'd like another.

Last time at was at Ryan's hoose there cat had gone missing so I made them a sock kitten

I made some christmas vodka for the man who started this craze in my flat, Murray my old flatmate, he would always make raspberry gin and something equally as tasty in the festive season so I thought he would appreciate this.

Making Christmas Pudding Vodka at the same time I made a pumpkin pie

Playing on Pinterest I found instructions for making candles which sounded straight forward and original so I made the lasses cinnamon candles in some beautiful glass tumbler I found. [In my excitement I forgot to take a photo of these so plan to beg one of the girls after Christmas Day]

What do you do in the lead up to Christmas?

Boozy Winter Preperation

Over the summer I made cider and ever since I wanted to try ginger beer. Whilst searching for recipes, I would find one that looked good then look a little further and find another recipe that seemed to supersede the last. I finally settled on one that used fresh ingredients and seemed to follow a similar pattern than the cider I had just made.

I got the recipe from a search engine but it turned out to be River Cottage which is always a good place for these type if projects. I was starting with cold when I heated up the lemon and ginger so I also believe this helped to easy my symptoms.

Currently the ginger beer is sitting in a warm place in my kitchen and I can't help but watch it when I walk past, it's fermenting beautifully and almost looks like it is fizzing.

Once it is ready to drink I'll let you know how it tastes... Can't wait!!

DECEMBER 2013:

Sadly this wasn't as good as I would have hoped, the recipe wasn't so clear on how long I should leave it (and my local home brew sales man scared me by telling me I hadn't made cider I had made a bomb) so I left it for 3 months. When I tasted it for the first time it was too dry and didn't taste of anything so I added more sugar after a while this turned to alcohol after a peerie start and the next time I tasted it it was horrible, not even suitable for mulling.

Next plan is to try a kit!!

Refurb Frenzy

During the Summer Holidays I had surgery on my back which meant that I was limited in what I could do craft wise but I was inspired a lot by various things that I read or watched. My parents travelled back to Orkney with me to help me get settled in without doing myself any further injury and so I took it apron myself to use there offer of help to do the things I really wanted to do.

The first trip was to my local butchers where I was spoilt for choice but on a mission to buy Ox cheek and make John Torrod's Ragu. Mam helped me prepare the ingredients and lift the, seriously heavy, casserole dish... Not without our disagreement but we fired it in the oven and headed to my local for an aperitif while it slowly cooked in the oven.

I also managed to take them, in a torrential downpour, to our local recycled furniture store. Once there my dad stopped moaning about the rain and my mam started making some happy noises and we wondered through the beautiful vintage and affordable furniture. I was aiming to get new bedside tables and after watch Kirsty Allsopp's Fill Your House for Free I wasn't scared to take on a challenge.

Here is what I found and how they ended up:

 

I am currently lying in my room with my new furniture around me and I still love them and the extra storage space they have provided, next plan is two try and get 2 bookshelves (one for the kitchen and another for my room). I may go a wander long later today.

Another inspiration was all the pictures that my recently departed flatmate has been sending me of his new flat in Glasgow:

My new flatmate, Lorna, was also inspired and has painted these chester drawers for her room.