Plum Chutney

Whilst at the supermarket the other day I came across 2 large bags of plums that were reduced to 49 pence - I couldn't walk past them because Plum Chutney came in to my mind.  Armed with my fruit, some onions and a bottle of vinegar I looked through some recipe books and struggled to find a suitable recipe, until, I rediscovered one of my Grandma's old books.

The recipe goes like this:
4 pounds plums - chopped
1 pound onions - chopped
half pint of vinegar
1 and half pounds sugar
half pound dates or raisins
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons mixed spice
Put all ingredients together in large pan, bring to boil and then simmer for approx. 2 hours until thickened.
Pour into sterilised jars and store for 2 months before eating.

I think the camera lens was covered with steam at this point !

And here we are.  Loads of chutney to keep us going all year - as long as I don't give it away for Christmas.  We'll see how it matures!

New Purses

Here is a selection of the new purses that I made for the Museum Craft Shop.  There's quite a mixture of sizes and fabrics so I am hoping that they will appeal to customers whilst doing their Christmas shopping!

And below is a purse that my daughter recently made for me.  She used some Herdwick woollen fabric (Herdwick are our local sheep) and then lined it with some beautiful Liberty cotton - a lovely contrast.  It fastens with a Mother of Pearl button.  Lucky me.

New bags for MOLLI

This week in between 'house' stuff,  I've been spending spare moments of time making some new bags for the craft shop.  We affectionately call the museum and shop MOLLI which stands for Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry.  I thought I should stock up a bit for the Christmas season.  Here are a few more.

These were all made from furnishing fabrics. Some of it is quite stiff which gives a good structure to the bags and some of it (mainly the William Morris designs) lends itself to a pleated design.  I often use the same proportions for my bags but it depends on the size of the fabric and what I have to co-ordinate it with, so no two are exactly the same. 
I have some purses cut out and waiting to be sewn up so hopefully I'll be able to show you those tomorrow.

Warmth at Last

From this ... to this ...  with a few swings of the axe (well quite a lot of swings actually)

 I thought that I would get prepared for lighting our new fire - at the last house we used to chop kindling on a daily basis - as and when we needed it but this time I thought I would have a good stash all ready - there's nothing more satisfying, believe me!

James finished the heating system at the weekend.  This wood burning stove heats up the water in a large thermal store which then circulates around the underfloor heating pipes that run all around the house.  Each room has a thermostatic zone valve which means we can choose to heat which rooms we like at varying temperatures - clever stuff.  It also means that there's no Gas bill!  However, lots of storing and carrying wood required, but we don't mind - it's a natural instinct and rather comforting to light your own fire for warmth.

Patchwork Cover

I was recently given a sample book of these lovely pieces of fabric - linen and cotton mix. There were 16 pieces all the same design but different colours or shades, so the obvious thing to do was to make them into a large patchwork.  I fiddled around with them to try and achieve a pleasing combination and this is the result.  I backed it with a piece of cosy checked fabric and am now imagining snuggling beneath it during these cold months.

Honister Green Slate

Our new worktop has now been delivered and fitted - it's beautiful!  This photo shows the markings well but it doesn't do justice to the colour;  it's many shades of lovely greens.
I found this information about how slate was formed and thought that you too may find it interesting.
"About 450 million years ago, the area around Honister Slate Mine was in the midst of
considerable volcanic activity. Volcanic ash and lava spread across Central Lakeland and from this the slate was formed. However, the slate was not formed simply from volcanic debris. It is a metamorphosed rock which was subject to strong earth movements millions of years later and this resulted in the parallel layers or veins of slate now lying at angles of thirty degrees below the surface. This metamorphism was caused, it is believed, by the tremendous pressures and increased temperatures exacted on the land masses when the continents collided, creating the unique properties of slate". http://www.honister.com/index.as

Of course I couldn't resist making a couple of little matching coasters for our mugs and also a pan stand - I'm feeling very protective of my new worktop!

Kitchen Furnishings

In anticipation of my new green slate worktops arriving I decided to smarten up my existing soft furnishings in the kitchen.  This old oven glove was looking shabby until I covered it with a green leafy fabric (William Morris design).  I just placed it on a single layer of the fabric and drew around it leaving a seam allowance all around the edge.  I then did the same again for the middle section and then for the pocket bits. With right sides together I machine stitched the parts together leaving openings where the pockets start.  After trimming the edges and snipping the curves I turned the entire thing the right way around and inserted the old oven glove.  Some top stitching finished off the pocket openings and all around the edge.

I have a bit of a soft spot for William Morris fabrics and therefore I tend to collect off cuts whenever available.  Whilst searching for something suitable I found that I had only enough of this Blackthorn design to make half of the seat covers for the old foam cushions on my kitchen chairs.  So, I used a co-ordinating gingham fabric for the other side.  Winter and Summer!

Looking at these photos I just realised that I should probably have ironed the fabric, but I think that there is always something better to do than iron, don't you agree?