Monday 9 November 2015

When does Jack Frost arrive?



After a weekend of mist, fog, wind, rain and more rain, I'd like to know when the weather will dry up and get cooler! I don't like this persistent mild wet weather, I hope the frosty but sunny days arrive soon.

Sadly the weather meant Jack couldn't get finished with his shed building, so instead we've almost finished the coving in the main bedroom. Just the tricky chimney breast to do (with 'inny' and 'outy' corners) and then it'll be over to me to caulk and paint the new coving. Our main bedroom will then be complete in terms of decorating. I'm going to buy a curtain pole (and curtains) this week, I'm getting a bit sick of our makeshift curtain (a big duvet cover pinned up!) but until we had finished the painting and decorating I didn't want to put some nice new curtains up. I did buy a book on curtain making as I'd like to give it a go, but I think I'll choose a smaller window instead of our huge bedroom ones (not sure I'll be that good!). We then need to finish furnishing the main bedroom; at the moment we're making do with two clothes rails, a few plastic tubs as bedside tables and a workmate as a TV stand!

I had a much needed hair cut on Saturday after god knows how long neglecting to find a hair dressers. I've had my hair cut by the same lovely lady for so many years that when I moved to Newbury almost 3 years ago it was really tough to find somewhere new (I instead opted to book a hair cut every so often when we went back to Cambridge to delay having to find somewhere new). I have however now found a lovely salon with very friendly staff members. The lady who cut my hair was lovely and it was a relief I have to tell you that they actually listened to what you're after. Hair cuts really aren't cheap anymore though hence why I don't go as often as I should. Jack's so lucky to be able to pop to the Barbers in the next village and have his hair cut for £5 but then it probably takes them less than 5 minutes to do it! Though the hair dresser blow-dried my hair beautifully (something I can never seem to do), it was totally wasted when I left the salon, scarpering to the car as quickly as possible in the driving wind and rain! Jack (ever the gentleman) told me how lovely my (bedraggled and now frizzy) hair looked nonetheless. We then rewarded ourselves with my favourite kind of weekend breakfast; sausage, egg and bacon bap!

I am nicknamed the Bacon Queen!

Other than venturing out to the farm shop on Sunday morning, the rest of the weekend was spent indoors (in the warm). We did brave the weather a few times to walk the dog but even he didn't enjoy the wind much! I finally managed to get my latest crochet project finished; I've made a scarf for my best friend for Christmas in a beautifully soft part-Alpaca wool. I can't post photos of the scarf yet in case she spots it on my blog! I'm very pleased with it anyway and after quite a few hours, it's given me a lot of practice with lots of different crochet stitches. I've been busy crocheting holly leaves and mini-wreaths too that I can either make into a sort of bunting or just hang in various places around the house - photos to follow once they're finished. I have also nearly finished our big crochet blanket for the bed, it's probably at double-bed size now and our bed is a king so just a few more rounds to do. I can't wait to snuggle up in it!

Jack's work colleagues love my baking so I made a giant fruit loaf yesterday which was probably all gone by 9am this morning! I always make mine quite boozy and leave the dried fruit soaking in white wine and brandy for at least a few hours before they go into the mixture so I hope they're not drunk now..

Making Fruit Cake

I didn't get any photos of the big fruit loaf but I did also make some mini fruit loaves, they're so cute! I love everything in miniature! Good things come in small packages, that was what I was always told :-)



Have a good week!

6 comments:

  1. Love the mini fruit loaves, I bet they loved there fruit loaf what a nice treat, I hope you manage to have a go at doing curtains, there not too difficult to master depending on the style you choose, there are lots of you tubes as well that will help :-)

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    1. Thanks Dawn, making mini cakes is fun! Had update from Jack earlier to say that the fruit loaf went down very well at his work, they look forward to homemade sausage rolls and mince pies next month! Thanks for the push Dawn, I might have an evening browsing YouTube to see how difficult it will be. Ideally I wanted pencil pleat and they don't look the easiest...

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  2. I'm looking forward to Jack Frost arriving too! Your mini fruit loaves look good, I have fruit soaking for a Christmas cake which I really need to make soon. I've been busy trying to finish Christmas makes for people, I'm looking forward to a bit of crafting for me soon xx

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    1. Hi Jo, yes I hope Jack Frost arrives soon, I like it when the ground is frosty and crunchy underfoot as opposed to sliding about in the mud! Yes seems like all you do is craft things for other people but it is nice to give homemade gifts instead of just buying everything (though mighty tempting when you look at the beautiful Christmas displays in some shops!). Hope you get your Christmas cake made, that's something I must attempt one year :-) x

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  3. Curtains are easy to make you just need a lot of room to work ;). Pencil pleats are not difficult at all, if you buy the material from a good shop they will be able to assist you with how much material to buy. I would go for a fabric with a simple or nonexistent pattern to make matching the pattern repeats easier. Have you looked in your local library for books, ours has loads on that kind of thing ;)

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    1. I think I'll have to give it a go; I want to do them in a solid colour fabric so no patterns involved, which makes it easier I suppose? It's knowing how much fabric as our windows are very wide. The lady in our local fabric shop is very helpful though so I may pick her brains :-)

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