quitting.

i quit this week.

no, not my job. but the period of frenzy that gave way to the deep discontentment at work was met by god's unfailing grace and we are back in a place of sweet contentment, affirmed in the knowledge that i'm here for a reason and a season (just a season longer than i had originally anticipated).

i quit photography class.

earlier this autumn when signing up for both junior league and photography class and adding that to leading bible study and actively participating in our church community and being intentional in my friendships and my marriage, oh and that small part of my day called work; i did wonder if i was biting off more than i could chew. perhaps i should listen to that internal prompting a little more? two weeks into class i knew it was going to be a bit much to handle. i knew because i was struggling to make it all fit. i knew because it meant that i was definitely out of the house three nights in a row. i knew because it felt like my life was spinning out of control. i knew because that angry monster of anxiety that's been on my back all autumn was getting bigger and louder and more overwhelming. i knew that something had to give.

but what's funny is that while dropping the photography class was the obvious choice - it's a finite course of 10 weeks, it was offered at our local community centre so it was relatively inexpensive, and i had only gone for two weeks so it wasn't as if i had half a term of work behind me - my first thought was to drop my volunteering with junior league. and so i got to thinking about it. because really dropping junior league didn't feel right. i had invested a significant amount of time and money and i did enjoy the people and the cause. so why was i thinking to quit it instead?

i think it was my own selfishness getting in the way. i wanted to do the photography course, but it was only going to benefit me, there wasn't going to be a significant impact to the wider world. now please hear me, i think we should do things in our spare time that bring us pleasure and joy. i already do a lot of those things. i read and knit and watch tv and go to movies and cook and workout. we travel extensively and have a nice home. i am not saying that taking a photography course wasn't a good thing to do, i am saying that one of those other good things i just listed would have had to go instead, and i wasn't willing to make that sacrifice.

for a couple of weeks i wrestled with quitting junior league, it didn't feel right and yet staying felt overwhelming. i took it to god in prayer and discussed it with le boy. i chatted about it with friends. and then i realised that actually, what i was being called to lay down wasn't junior league, it was the photography class. and when i did. when i made the decision, the feeling of relief that swept over me was remarkable. i need flexibility in my evenings. to spend time with my husband, to cook and keep our home, to go to the gym or see a friend for a glass of wine. i need the flexibility so that i can give of myself in the homegroup we lead, and the church we attend, and the volunteer activities i am invested in.

last night i realised the reason why this felt so right is because it lines up with our value statement. before we were married le boy and listed our ten values in order. i made a word collage with them and it hangs in our living room. and i realised that i had made the decision in accordance with those values. and then last night when i was worrying about one item over another, i realised, go back to the value statement, what we have decided is important to us as a couple - use this to make decisions.


our values in order are:

god
marriage
family
hospitality
community
health
adventure
learning
travel
service

and so when one part of my life conflicts with another, i will choose according to our values. in some ways it made the decision making process, the weighing up and going back and forth in my mind, the pit of anxiety in my stomach about making the right choice, simply disappear. i know we've already thought long and hard about what we value, so more often than not, making a decision in submission to those values will be on track as well. and that my friends is what i call a lesson in the freedom of obedience.

august.

it's been a week of catching our breath. the kind that you never feel finished. i mean really, how is one supposed to complete anything with hours of olympic coverage to catch up on? i miss my childhood summer holidays - it's the only time i remember having absolute freedom to watch tv for hours on end, how can a parent really say, stop supporting your country and go outside? plus it was usually 35 outside and humid and really midday and outside was less attractive, to everyone.

but now, i'm working and depend on sneaking peeks online during the day and using catch-up player in the evenings. it's a bit bizzare to live in the same city as the olympics. and it's great. plus it's bringing friends back to us for a week, so in my opinion, it's amazing!

this weekend will be spent assembling IKEA dressers (yes!) and organizing the last of our clothes. i can definitively say that  we officially have too many workout clothes. it's crazy. insane-crazy. i'm not sure i'd be exaggerating if i said that fully one-half of the combined wardrobe was workout gear. i told you. insanity.

we'll also celebrate our first anniversary - but that deserves it's own excitement. and post.

last week we started off the olympics with a viewing of the road race. there were high hopes for a british medal that just weren't to be, but it was great to get out and see the excitement of the cycling community, in a place we so regularly enjoy. le boy kept saying, "it's just so weird to see them cycling on my cycle route..." i'm going to diving on tuesday with a friend, and i'm so excited! and we're hoping to catch some more live events over the next week.

july recap: 

spiritual:

• i've kept up with the nehemiah study and LOVE it! such a great dig into the old testament, it has been a blessing on my summer. 
• memorisation has flagged a little, with travelling and a bit of laziness, but neh 2:18 has been a great scripture to think about regularly. 

mental: 

• completed three books in july, each of them such wonderful reads that i believe the deserve a little post all their own. but if you've not yet read the following, download them to kindle, rush out to buy them at your local bookstore, or click on over to amazon...beautiful, inspiring reads, each of them.
• a visit from the goon squad - jennifer egan 
• state of wonder - ann patchett 
• gilead: a novel - marilynne robinson 

physical: 

• i wanted to be active everyday of our vacation - this was easily achieved in the hot (but dry heat) california. not so easily achieved in ontario where our days were packed from morning to night and the humidty was almost oppressive. it reached over 40 one day, that did me in. 

creative: 

• plane crochet - a nice little basket for my knitting in the front room 
• diy around the house - pillow covers sewn, spray painted picture frames, lots of painting in a small room, dreaming up finishing touches 

::august intentions::

spiritual: 

• finish out the nehemiah study strong 
• pick up the last of my bible-in-a-year-two years plan and get to work on finishing it 
• memorise three scriptures 

mental: 

• reading 'the art of fielding' by chad harbach and finding it absorbing. 
• read something else 

physical: 

• i will admit that i've started weight watchers - and it's working! i've lost 4.5 lbs! which feels really, really good. i'm using the online plan and think that it might be the key to some success for me. i realised that really, i'm already so active that i have to change my eating habits (particularly that cheese as an afternoon snack habit)
• my trainer has me on a new four days a week strength plan and i would LOVE to actually hit the gym consistently four days a week - i'm looking forward to some serious strength gains this month! 

creative: 

• finishing the drapes and bits of home-dec sewing that are languishing (on my kitchen table no-less) 
• finishing off decorating the spare room and 'lounge' ie family room 
• begin my autumn knitting project. i realised that i needed to get going if i wanted to actually be able to wear it come the cooler weather - which here, is sadly, just around the corner

enjoy august friends - i just love the meaning of the word - to inspire awe and admiration - i am hoping that this month does just that for all of us! 

orange and turquoise.

the vacation was exactly what we needed, time away to recharge and reconsider and return! and return we have. the olympics get officially underway in a few hours, the city is a-buzz with lots of people and a feeling of hope, because really, isn't that what the whole thing's about? i love it. and i love that i'm here to experience it! we're catching the men's road cycling tomorrow seeing as they are coming through our neck of the woods (literally) and a kind friend has offered me a ticket along to some diving! so so excited. we'll try to catch the marathon and maybe the cycling time trial. and of course, we live in wimbledon, so there's always the crowd roaring just down the road. it gonna be great! plus some of our great friends are returning to this fair city for and we are hosting which just tickles me beyond belief. 

but in between spectating and working and hosting, we're on the diy path. our time in california was spent with dear dear friends who have the cutest little house just outside san fran. they've been in their place less time than we've been in ours, but are much more established. the whole - how to actually decorate a house has paralysed me. what if it goes wrong? i guess we repaint.

so this weekend my wonderful husband has agreed to paint the final room without any adornment. we've decided to keep with the soft grey that's been used in the bedroom and the living room, mainly because we have leftover paint, and because, well, it makes things easy and keeps the space feeling connected (or so say the decorating mags...)

i was lucky enough to snag some cool curtains from marvellous while i was home - in grey. so grey it is. with orange. we chose orange boxes some time ago for open shelving storage, they aren't going anywhere and actually, orange and grey really work. i should mention that this plan includes spray painting a ceramic statue of a horse bright orange. i inherited this from my grandmother (and have been assured it is of no value other than sentimental). and i love it. partly because she made it, and partly because well, it's going to be an orange horse. (grin)

ignore the homebase sign, it's just where we get our paint, not part of the design elements...

and turquoise, well it's predetermined. the kitchen already has bits, and apparently i'm drawn to it. i can't explain this. it just happens. it happened to marvellous also, there's shots of it throughout her house. i'm my mother's daughter. i probably say that once a week now...

so i'm framing three prints of butcher cuts (we're clearly not vegetarians, but really, i'm the grandaughter of a cattle farmer, so there's little hope for me there) in turquoise frames, and thinking of an oil cloth on the table and utilizing one of my absolutely favourite wedding gifts -a turquoise water pitcher. hopefully it will bring the the kitchen and dining room into a more cohesive space.

art on walls, cushions on chairs, drapes on windows. i know it's simple, it's just about getting. it. done.

sew-nice.

a few weeks ago le boy and i had a conversation that went like this:

him: hey babe, if we got you a new good sewing machine how long would it last? 

me: hmmm about 20 years. 

him: let's go tomorrow morning. 

and when we went to john lewis and spoke with the lovely and helpful sales lady, she informed us that yes, they do last 20 years, in fact they last longer :) i was pretty certain about what i wanted (a jonome) le boy, being the consummate value for money man, asked a lot of questions, maybe more questions than most men would ask in the sewing department, and definitely more than a man who won't ever actually touch a sewing machine should ask. but i kinda love that he did, because it means that he cares about the stuff i care about. (ok sappy portion is over). in the end we walked out with a janome, of course we paid for the privilege. 

so what else to do but put the new baby to work? 

and work she has!

wanting to dress up our bed i made a few quick throw pillows. the basic how-to for cushion covers is here with a great measurement guide for the most common sizes. 

i wanted to dress them up a bit and turned to martha for some ribbon inspiration.

for the loopy centre pillow.

and for the rosette.

i just pintucked the ruffle until i liked it and sewed straight down the centre of the ribbon.

all very easy and very very quick!

and for the thing i'm currently most proud of? the console table slip cover! an ikea expedit bookcase turned on its side and covered now provides oodles of hidden storage. the instructions and genius behind this is found from in the sept 2011 canadian house and home.

(and isn't the new chair pretty?) we're ambling our way toward finishing up the living room. in my dreams i'm sewing the curtains this weekend...

weekend plans.

this weekend i will:

• host dinner tonight for a few good friends, i prepped much of it this morning. i'm doing a lentil & tomato salad from ottolenghi's plenty, this broccoli & bacon salad by jamie oliver, and bbq'd sausages and chicken with our new favourite (and spontaneously created by me last week) sauce: tomato ketchup,  worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar.
• meet some old girlfriends for picnic (hopefully) lunch - haven't seen these girls in years! 
• buy a new sewing machine, mine has bit the dust and it's time to replace it!  
• go to the movies with my guy 
• sew a slip cover for a bookcase-cum-sidetable 
• enjoy a free day while le boy is in an incredibly long cycle race, luckily he doesn't ask me to attend as well 
• go to evening church and enjoy the late evening light on the walk home 
• listen to podcasts 
• chat with the fam 
• read more of my current (and excellent) book: canada by richard ford 
• block my recently completed cardigan! 

happy weekend. 

breakfast.

so breakfast is an important meal. according some, the most important meal of the day. and really, it does set the tone and the mood. good days for me include a hot breakfast. i love hot breakfast. cereal is on my 'ok, i guess' list of food. rarely do i love cereal, unless i'm in canada and have endless access to vector. something that doesn't exist here. i'm trying to find ways of making hot breakfast easier. many mornings we have eggs, which we love, but i'm picky about eggs. scrambled eggs cannot be hard or chewy in any way. they should be soft pillows of melt in your mouth deliciousness. this is not easy on the time front.

i'm going to experiment next week with both make ahead oatmeal from the kitchn. and freezer breakfast burritos, from a mash up of recipes that i've found online. and i'm going to make a batch of granola from the recipe i've used for a few years, but have neglected to make since we've been married - i think i'm just afraid that le boy will eat all of my efforts - c'est la vie.

but what's been really revolutionary for me? homemade pancake mix. just as easy as the stuff that came out of the box when i was a kid (also not sold here, after all the british definition of a 'pancake' is slightly disappointing - think a cross between an american pancake and a french crepe). from where else but nigella? oh how we love her.

from nigella.com

instant homemade pancake mix
from nigella express

i make this once every four times we have pancakes. i store the rest in an airtight container with the directions on the side, when it's time to make pancakes it's simple and easy. le boy prefers these to be served with bacon and maple syrup, but the additions to the batter and the topping options are endless.

for the mix: 

600g (4 scant cups) flour 

3 x 15ml tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1 teaspoon salt

40g (1/4 cup) caster (granulated) sugar

to make:

for each 150g (1 cup) pancake mix, add and whisk together:

1 egg

250ml (1 cup) semi-skimmed or full-fat milk

1 x 15ml tablespoon melted butter

directions: 
heat a pan over medium heat - i add my butter and melt it in the pan before pouring it into the mixing bowl (saving on washing up here!). drop batter onto hot pan, when bubbles appear on top of pancake it is ready to flip over. 1-2 minutes per side for golden brown pancakes.

while cooking the rest of the pancakes i tent the cooked pancakes on a plate with some foil (i don't have a fancy pancake dish, and i don't really want one, but it sure is pretty in the photo!)

a collection of thoughts.

life is ticking by here. it is how it should be. here's what i'm thinking.

• bright lipstick makes your face look better - even when you are looking haggard (which is how i was this morning) 
• i need to treat this recovery and rehab stage in the same way i'd treat a training programme for a marathon - with dedication and focus and realising that it will take up a lot of my 'free time' 
• knitting and reading are two of my favourite things in the entire world. 
• i feel better with lots of water in my system. 
• work (finally) got a microwave, and despite the concerns of microwaving food that float (no pun intended) around, i love the variety that has been added to my lunch selection
• shopping the sales makes me wonder why i ever buy anything full price? 
• wool for the latest baby blanket has arrived (no, not for us)
• february is shaping up to be a month of parties and entertaining and i cannot wait. 
• i love the quiet simplicity of january. 
• i am hitting up a local department store on my way home to buy some amy butler fabric on special, a.b. and marvellous should watch the post! 
• two adults generate an enormous amount of laundry - what happens when you add children? 
• nothing perks me up like freshly painted fingernails. 
• the this american life app rocks my world, and keeps me entertained on long tube commutes, get it. 
• i've just discovered the joy of using the steam room at the gym post workout, how have i missed this for so long? 
• god has redeemed so much in such a short space of time - and i am in awe of it all. 
• looking forward to date night with le boy tonight - we're doing sausage rolls from here (love this recipe!) and starting this series. snuggle time on the couch here we come! 
• i think i'll pick up some hyacinths tomorrow, my office needs a spruce up, starting with some colourful and sweet smelling flowers. 
• i need to decide on some houseplants, let's get something growing. 
• i'm starting to think about what i'd like to do in the garden this summer. 
• curtains are begging to be stitched - perhaps tonight before dinner? 
• getting back into a routine is more difficult than i realised. 
• i need to go to bed earlier. 

and a partridge in a pear tree.

i'm a bit behind, but here goes.

we decided to spend christmas just the two of us. we've had an enormous amount of travel this year, and with money short and limited mobility due to surgery six weeks earlier, we just wanted some time to be at home and be together. we are so glad we did! we realise that this probably won't happen very often and actually, sharing our first christmas together, just us, was such a special time.

to say this year's christmas was catagorized by food would be an understatement. we basically ate our way out of the house.

but shall we start at the beginning?

christmas morning was wonderful. we woke up and had our coffee in bed while we opened our stockings. santa was oh so good, bringing cute note cards, a 'keep calm' mug and a book i'm so glad to read - the meaning of marriage by tim keller - love it already. knew that i would!

christmas morning church is a tradition that we started last year, reasoning that with overseas family we might be frequently travelling during the period, but we'd always be able to find a local church. this year it was special to worship at our (new) home church and enjoy a church filled-to-the-brim with small children, oh so excited about christmas. we remarked that it was a fantastic way to remind ourselves of the reason for christmas - christ - and we hope to keep this tradition alive in our family!

we returned to begin the preparations for the feast and open our under-the-tree presents. it was a year of abundant blessings, our offerings were small, our hearts flung open, our bellies were FILLED.

i set to preparing the dinner that ended all dinners. and once it was all in the oven. we headed out for a walk.

prawns on a bed of winter greens with horseradish cream - i substituted prawns for scallops in the recipe, mainly because my fishmonger was all out on christmas eve, but we liked it so much it's getting a second chance at a birthday dinner in six weeks time!

king of his castle.

roast partridge, pheasant and guinea fowl - why go traditional when there's only two mouths? this was stunning and seemingly more appropriate and still an enormous amount of food!

the very best roast potatoes - use goose fat, it changes everything. and i'm not exaggerating at all.

for dessert we had lava cakes, i wasn't thrilled with them. partly they didn't end up as chocolate lava in the middle, partly the oven decided to stop working in the middle of them baking and partly we were just to filled with food to appreciate anything. lesson learned, in future, i'll go for a pre-cooked, light dessert!

the evening was topped off with watching the classic - national lampoon's christmas vacation, love it. and then suffering from a serious case of 'christmas-itis' we went for a midnight walk through our neighbourhood. it was so lovely to see houses lit up and trees in bay windows and the streets completely quiet, save our footsteps and the jingle bell on the collar of the cat that tried to follow us home.

bread.

it's such a simple thing really. bread. and yet in our home, it is essential for domestic harmony. i read an article by mark bittman years ago in the nytimes about no-knead bread. i thought it intriguing, but i also considered it to be rather impractical, what with so many hours of rising time required. but recently re-reading the articles, i realised that many people had tweaked this recipe to work for their own purposes. i've linked all the related content from the nytimes below, and here i'll go through my process.

i started baking bread out of curiosity and really, frugality. we are lovers of good, wholesome, artisanal bread. i am suspicious, to say the least, of grocery store bread, really it's the list of preservatives that i shake my head at. and while we're fortunate to live near an excellent farmer's market (wimbledon farmer's market for those who are local) with an impressive array of vendors, the bread we favour is £4 a loaf, and with le boy at the table, that only lasts a couple of days! and that's if he's distracted by other delights the kitchen has produced. needless to say, this was becoming an expensive indulgence in a daily necessity.

perhaps i could bake my own bread? perhaps i could feed our (small) family for mere pennies a loaf? and so i started experimenting. my first attempts were faltering. i started by following the quicker of the recipes to the letter. the bread was good, really an excellent first attempt, but the quick recipe calls for dousing the flour with yeast, and so the bread tasted yeasty.  we wanted perfection. in all honesty, i'm not great at following recipes and it occurred to me that perhaps i could get a loaf we were satisfied with, with less yeast, and a middling rising time. a compromise so to speak (or taste?).

and so with my willing taste-tester at my side, i began baking bread. and since i've started we've scarcely bought a loaf! i think we're spending in the neighbourhood of 40p a loaf. because this recipe calls for so little yeast the overall cost is negligible and really bread flour is about as inexpensive as any ingredient comes.

so here we go, the recipe for white bread. i'll be back next week with a follow-up of our very favourite, whole grain, seeded bread that follows on the same principles as this loaf, but with some small tweaks to accomodate the whole grains.

firstly, bread requires remarkably few ingredients - flour, yeast, salt and water.

to 3 cups of strong white bread flour, add 1/4 tsp of yeast and 1/2 tbsp salt. the long rising time allows for the small amount of yeast to distribute throughout the dough and means that the 'yeasty' taste that can sometimes characterize homemade bread is no longer an issue.


mix the dry ingredients and add 1.5 cup of lukewarm water. i mix the dough in a stainless steel bowl and use a spatula to get all the dry mixed with the wet. i'm hoping (not so secretly) for one of these for christmas. it's really important to make sure all the dry bits are incorporated, the dough will be shaggy, and nearly impossible to knead as it's extremely sticky.

at this point, cover the bowl and leave in a warm place. i put mine in the oven, using the 'rising' function. if you don't have this a warm oven from after dinner or a warm place in the house will suffice. ideally the temperature needs to be about 70 F or 21 C. the first rise needs at least 9-10 hours. i usually make the dough after dinner and leave it overnight, waking early on 'bread mornings.'


after the rise the dough will look like this

the holes are the indication that the yeast has worked.

at this time you need to heat your oven to full whack - 450 F or 230 C. and you need to heat whatever you're baking your bread in at the same time. this is an essential aspect of this bread. it needs to be baked covered. so a dutch oven or a covered glass pyrex would work. i use my le creuset ovens. caveat: technically le creuset knobs are only recommended to 400 F or 200 C, but i've been using both my ovens at this temperature for months now with no problem - plus i have absolutely lovely, wonderful ovens that deserved to be used and why not use them? i'll just replace the knobs if they ever get damaged. 

here's what i do next - pour a tsp of oil onto a flat surface, a kitchen board would work well, i cover my dough with aluminum foil, so i turn that over onto the counter, and smear some oil on it. 

pull the dough out of the bowl, kneading it a couple of times in your hands, and then shape into a round loaf form. turn the loaf form in the oil and return to the bowl, covering again. allow to rise for another 30 minutes - 1 hour, this is about how long it takes my oven to heat. 

once the oven is heated, take the baking pot out of the oven (CAREFUL it's very hot!) and drop the dough in - it should sizzle as the oil hits the bottom. 

bake for 30 min with the lid on, take the lid off and bake for another 15-30 depending on how brown you want the crust. 

according to what i've read it's the hot oven and the lid which makes all the difference. because this is a fairly wet dough this creates a steam action inside the pot which is why you can get a fabulous crust from this recipe (it's hard and crunches when you eat it). 

remove from oven, and place on rack to cool (i just use the stovetop as it's gas and sort of rack-like?)

and really, make sure you enjoy this with butter, there's nothing better. nothing. 

recipe: 

ingredients: 

3 cups strong white bread flour

1/4 tsp instant/fast acting yeast

1/2 tbsp salt 

1.5 cups lukewarm water

instructions: 

• in a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. add lukewarm water, stir to combine thoroughly, cover and leave for 9-10 hours in a warm place. 
• preheat oven to 450 F or 230 C - making sure to also preheat whatever you are baking it in, form dough into round loaf, turn in oil and rise for further 30-60 minutes
• carefully place inside hot pot and return to oven for 30 minutes with lid on, and further 15-30 minutes with lid off
• remove from oven, allow to cool, and serve warm

because of the high water content the crust will eventually become more soft, it hardens again if toasted or if the loaf is put into a warm (350 F) oven for 10 minutes. 

nytimes links: i very much recommend you read these articles if you're looking to develop your own technique, they gave me ideas and confidence to stray from the original recipes...

original article - 20 hours rising time

faster no-knead bread - 4 hours rising time

reader's comments - this was very helpful for tips and tricks!

something new.

'upcycling' is a huge trend these days. i'm sure our grandmothers would laugh if they heard about this - taking something that's no longer fit for its original purpose and giving it new life with a little creativity. part of the 'make do and mend' trend. that being said, i'm loving it. i constantly find things all over the house that can be made into something new.

most recently? old wool sweaters. i love wool - i mean i've usually got some of it tangled in my fingers and ready to keep another warm, but what happens when a sweater is past its prime? i had two sweaters that were in this condition. one sweater, the red one, is more than 30 years old. it originally belonged to marvellous, and i believe was purchased over here in the british isles (we have a long love-affair with this island in my family). i came into ownership about a decade ago and i wore that sweater to death throughout university. the moth holes and thinning elbows making it all the cooler. but now, it just looked pitiful. the second was a super cute short sleeved sweater that i accidentally shrunk in the wash...i tried to wear it a few times after that, but it was never the same. so what to do?

i felted the red sweater in a super hot wash and then dry in the dryer - this thing was half it's original size and had fuzzed up really well. i then cut off the sleeves, hemmed closed the arms and neck holes and stuffed a pillow inside. i then used an invisible stitch to close the seam. the white sweater was of course, already mainly shrunk and so i didn't feel it needed a second whirl. i followed the process a second time and had two sweaters-pillows with minimal sewing or effort. plus, i didn't have to buy any fabric or spend any time knitting to then felt it. and really, that's all folks. they are now sitting pretty in our living room, a little seating nook has been created with a footstool and a few cushions and that's a welcome relief because we are sorely short on seating at the moment!

grace.

i've recently downloaded a new app. 1000 gifts - based on the book 1000 gifts, by ann voskamp, which i'm currently listening to and LOVING. a great[ful] way to list daily thanks, on the go and with your phone. love it.

and so here's mine from today.

how she's always been right beside me.

candlelight illuminating humble (homemade) table.

pillows from old jumpers, now a cozy corner.

new wool waiting for fingers to fly. 

woollens wet on the line - waiting to warm.

a thoughtful gift from my most recent visitor.

 as we enter advent, remembering who HE is! (printable here)

get the app here. 

palletting.

we've got a large open space in our living room. the room is shaped in such a way that all the furniture needs to go on the edge of the room, i know, it's a design no-no, but really we're not able to do much else. so the centre of the room needs something to fill it. i have a love of reclaimed things, (which is awkward when combined with my love for ikea) but rarely do i approve of the price tag associated with such items. so when i saw this on one of my favourite online shops i thought - i can do that...

and so began my obsession with pinterest and pallets. my pallet board is here. and i found some ideas i liked.

but how does one find a pallet?

firstly, i should say that pallets are pretty big, about nine square feet, so one wouldn't fit in our car. but when you start looking, suddenly pallets are everywhere. i've seen at least five in people's trash in the last couple of weeks. what is most fortunate is that we live down the street from a carpet warehouse (bizarre, i know, but that's london for you) and i was pretty sure if we asked nicely they'd let us have one. so i dispatched le boy one morning, and indeed, he was allowed to take his pick!

and this is what we started with.

it was in pretty good condition, considering it's former life as a warehouse storage item. but pallets are made from rough wood and have some not so nice parts (read: big splinters). i'll outline what we did but i didn't take step-by-step photos because, well, i wasn't planning on a tutorial and i'm a bad blogger and i had paint all over myself and it was cold and really we all know how to sand and paint, right?

pallet transformation:

materials needed:
wooden pallet
sandpaper (coarse and fine)
dropsheet
paint for interior wood & brushes
pre-painting wash solution
wheels

steps:

• start by wiping down pallet with wash solution, we found some handy wipes at the hardware store, but even just rag with some water and vinegar would do the trick, allow to dry 
• sand entire pallet with coarse sandpaper, this will take quite a bit of time, but is worth doing well so that you get a good finish 
• wipe down again to get rid of all the dust (very very important!) 
• paint your first coat and allow to dry. because the wood is untreated it sucks up quite a lot of paint, consequently we painted it on quite thickly - if you are going for a fully professional look it's better to do light coats and more of them, but i'm ok with (and indeed want) a slightly more rustic look, so as this gets used, i'll be happy for paint to chip etc. 
• sand with light sandpaper (this allows the second coat to bind well to the first) 
• paint second coat and allow to dry 
• attach wheels, we used castors from ikea, 2/£10, easy to attach and they have brakes so the coffee table doesn't go flying across the room! 

total cost: £35

paint & supplies - £15

castors - £20 

pallet - free! 

pretty great savings. and i LOVE LOVE LOVE it. a lot. 

i'm linking up to take it on tuesday.

thirty::newlywed::food

::: to see all 31 days of posts please click here :::

slow sundays. in the christian faith, we are commanded to keep the sabbath. to slow. to settle. to sanctify.

it's been just that. a lazy morning in bed, relishing the time change here in britian, an extra hour today, delightful. and birthday brunch for one of our dearest. we braved the supermarket for the weekly shop and came home to the smell of apples bubbling away in the slow cooker. now, i'm going to change your life. should you not have a slow cooker - go and get one. find one on sale, or on an online swap site, or in the pile of items you received for your wedding and relagated to the back of the closet. do it. now. i'm an official convert. brisket is done. applesauce is made. a quick wash and we're on to a chicken!

at the farmer's market yesterday apples and pears were on three kilos for £3! a kilo was dumped in the slow cooker this morning. after six hours, it's heavenly.

apple sauce was always sitting in the bottom of our freezer at home. grandma kept the entire extended family stocked in apple sauce and canned peaches and pies. on nights in the deep of an ontario february these small reminders of summer were bits of gold. gobbled up, juices dripping down our small chins, bowls cleaned well enough to be returned to the cupboard. i'm not certain how grandma made applesauce, but as the homekeeper on a busy farm, with four children and many men to feed daily, i'm pretty sure there were times things were kept simple. grandma's applesauce was never the light straw colour of the store bought variety, and it tasted deeper, richer.  i can only now surmise this was because the peel of the apple was left on. in my hope to get the apples going before we headed out this morning, i decided against peeling. for one it seemed like a lot of work, for two, i generally believe that most things taste better with the skin left on...

we returned 5 hours later to warm cinnamon, sugar, apple smell. a quick peek told me the apples were mushy but not completely dissolved, i left them for another couple hours while we spent some time napping and reading on this grey late-october day. and dissolved they were. a couple minutes with the immersion blender and i've got the smoothest applesauce. it tastes almost as good as grandma's. but not quite. i expect i'll never be able to exactly recreate the taste of love canned in october and remembered in february.

grandma's applesauce re-interpreted

ingredients:

1 kg apples, cored but not peeled (over here i use cox, at home i'm a macintosh fan all. the. way.)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
zest and juice of one lemon
1 tbsp butter

instructions:

place all the ingredients, save the butter, in a slow cooker. set to low. leave for 6-8 hours until everything is completely mush and the sauce is a caramel brown colour.

stir in butter. using the immersion blender, blend until smooth.

twenty-five::newlywed::homemaking

::: to see all 31 days of posts please click here :::

 

 

if i'm honest, i cannot take full responsibility for this small tip. but i will gladly share the credit with my husband. currently le boy walks me to and from the train station every day. it's one of the silver linings of our current situation. when we get in the door and turn off the alarm, drop bags and kick off shoes, we wander down the hall. sometimes, i stop at the bedroom and change from work clothes into 'play clothes' (marvellous's word for the clothes that didn't get worn to school or work, it stuck. it's here to stay.) continuing my wander takes me into the dining room and the itty-bitty kitchen. and usually i'm quickly to work starting dinner.

on my best days i pause at the dining room table, the big, thick, oak dining table we're oh so happy to have been left by our landlords, and i light the candles. the thanksgiving centrepiece is slowly being eaten, or melted. and this is my first tip. light candles. we have candles everywhere - the bedroom, the bathroom, the dining room and the lounge. why not the kitchen? it's that itty-bitty. when i light the candles on the table, i take a second to pray for peace in our home.

tip two is where i can't take all the credit. i'd like to, but it wouldn't be neighbourly. le boy and i like to spend this pre-dinner time together, often he'll sit at the table while i'm busy in the kitchen, he sets the table and we chat about our days. and somewhere in there he reaches for the nearest laptop and turns on some music. we've been favouring classical as of late - it's just so calming. tonight i'm hoping we play this.

thanksgiving print found here.

light a candle. play some music. pray for peace in your home. and calm yourself. even the busiest home can be peaceful.