I moved house at last and that wasn't without it's trials, the place still isn't officially ours ~ the earthquake saw to that. We had just left the solicitors after signing off the paperwork for the property purchase when the quake hit. It seems all the paperwork and computer files were lost and we are now waiting for new papers to be drawn up and signed. At least we have a home to live in, many people haven't been so lucky.
We had left Latimer Square 10 minutes before the quake hit, we nearly called at Starbucks for a coffee but decided not to because the traffic is always busy around the city centre at that time of day so we headed away from the city centre towards home.
I didn't know what was happening when it first started, for a moment I thought the steering had gone as the car wouldn't do what I wanted it to, we were sliding all over the road and then I realized everyone else was doing exactly the same. I stopped the car and could feel the road undulating strongly beneath us, I could see brick walls falling down just up the road and when I looked at the lamp posts around us they were swaying like they really shouldn't be. I thought they were going to snap and come crashing down. It seemed to go on for quite a while. We just sat there in shock, people were running out onto the street for safety, vacating their homes and shops that were shaking violently. I knew it would have hit the city hard because the waves were coming from behind us, I remember saying to my hubby that it would be the Port Hills.
My next thought was my boys, one was at work and the other was in the city centre waiting to collect his car from a garage. I contacted them both immediately and was relieved they were safe but they were shaken up by it (my oldest Son was overseas on holiday when the Sept quake occurred so hadn't experienced the main quake). We headed home, the traffic was just terrible as you can imagine everyone was trying to get out of the city.
On the journey home I was wondering if the final chimney would have come down through the roof of the house - it was made unstable by the September quake. The other chimney had come down in September but for some reason this one was left standing ~ it was a high one too, about 6 feet and had twisted on the base. We got home and the chimney was still standing there on the roof. No damage to the house and everything inside was still in it's rightful place (we still hadn't unpacked everything at this point). The boys had just arrived home when there was a big aftershock that rattled the whole house. My Hubby got up on the roof and removed the chimney, I was frightened it would come crashing down on us.
We turned on the tv and could not believe what we were seeing, the city was in ruins. People were dead and missing. It felt as if it wasn't happening here in New Zealand, that we were viewing events in another far away country.
We were hit badly in the September quake, we had severe structural and internal damage to our home, lost a lot of our belongings (I know they are just things and don't really matter), we lost furniture that was smashed to pieces by the force. It has taken us nearly 6 months to get back on track, endless paperwork filled in for the insurance companies, numerous visits from structural engineers, the stress of it all, feeling unsafe even at the slightest tremor as the whole house would shake. I think moving out of that house and buying this one is what has kept my sanity intact.
Our new home is a one level farmhouse built of wood. It's on wooden piles instead of concrete (our old place was on a concrete slab and I'm convinced that's why the quakes felt so bad there). The ground we are on here is shingle and we are 140 mtrs above sea level, no floods or liquifaction ~ I feel safe here. This house has stood through both quakes, having only minor damage in the first one, I think the Farmer that built it over 70 years ago knew what he was doing!
Our village didn't seem to be affected, everything was open and normal, but that makes you feel guilty when you see what other people are having to put up with. There are entire housing developments in some of the suburbs that don't have power, water or sewerage facilities. My Husband keeps reminding me that we were without those facilities in September, we had no water for a week and no reliable power for 5 days but it still doesn't make you feel any better about it all. Many people have had to vacate their homes and many have left to start over in new places.
If I had come home to a scene of destruction then that would have been the final straw for me and I think we would have left here for good. We will stick it out and see what happens and I truly hope we have seen the last of the big quakes for along time.
For now I have things to keep me busy, I have a veg garden ready to plant up with Autumn/Winter veg and I aim get the dye pots out this week and concentrate on getting stock levels in my shop back to normal. I have a shipment of beautiful lace weight merino/silk yarn due to arrive any day now and I'm looking forward to working with it and creating some beautiful colourways. I will donate 50% of the sale price of lace weight skeins sold in March to the Red Cross 2011 Earthquake appeal.
TTFN
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
A spiffingly scorching Sunday
What a hot day we have had here today, a whopping 40 degrees. It's a little too much really when there are things you want to get on and do. The heat always makes me feel tired. However, I cooked lunch early today ~ I made Meatball Subs from Smittenkitchen. They were totally yummy and I highly recommend the recipe.
Secondly, we haven't moved house yet, there's a major delay due to the recent quakes.....I shall say no more. We should have moved in on Friday but now it's going to be at least another week and a bit away. So, what to do?
We have been at a bit of a loose end this weekend because of this, everything is packed up and ready to go, a lot of our possessions have now gone into storage (did I tell you the house we are moving to is roughly only a third of the size of this house ~ it will be fun!).
Since most of my knitting, sewing and other craft stuff is in storage for the time being, and I didn't want to knit anyway on such a hot day, I decided to make a start washing one of the fleeces I have had stored in a box for a while (glad I purposely left this one out of the storage pile).
This particular fleece is Romney, and is from a sheep that lives very local to me. I decided to wash the fleece using the little at a time method. So firstly I picked out the locks and tried to get a nice mix of the colours that run through the fleece ~ I wrapped them in a laundry bag, next I soaked them in hand hot water with pure soap added for about 10 minutes. Then I drained the filthy water and did the same thing again. It was rinsed in hot water twice but I left the fleece to cool in the water on the last rinse. I gave it a quick spin in my fibre spinner (a salad spinner) and laid it out to dry on racks on the patio. It was so hot that after an hour I turned it over and it was totally dry. The fleece has retained some of the lanolin and has the most lovely smell (I'm a secret fibre sniffer).
This is a picture taken before washing the locks. The colour range in this fleece is beautiful, from cream through to the deepest bluey grey although the majority is differing shades of browns.
I'm going to prepare all of the fleece in this way and card it on my drum carder. I will spin it into a worsted weight 2 ply yarn. It's a large fleece (approx 4 kg), so this is going to be an ongoing project for quite a while yet. I don't know what it will end up becoming, my Hubby and my Brother have both said they would like a sweater from it. I wanted to knit a nice throw for my new home, but I do have a pile of different coloured Shetland combed top to spin that I had sort of earmarked for that project. So we will have to wait and see. I do think it needs to be made into something special, after all ~ I read something the other day that said how a hand spinner will put between 200-300 hours work into a fleece, starting with the washing through to the finished product.
I have put a pair of small batts of this Romney fibre into my shop, I have 2 more to list later but that will be it ~ it's all I'm willing to part with!
Secondly, we haven't moved house yet, there's a major delay due to the recent quakes.....I shall say no more. We should have moved in on Friday but now it's going to be at least another week and a bit away. So, what to do?
We have been at a bit of a loose end this weekend because of this, everything is packed up and ready to go, a lot of our possessions have now gone into storage (did I tell you the house we are moving to is roughly only a third of the size of this house ~ it will be fun!).
Since most of my knitting, sewing and other craft stuff is in storage for the time being, and I didn't want to knit anyway on such a hot day, I decided to make a start washing one of the fleeces I have had stored in a box for a while (glad I purposely left this one out of the storage pile).
This particular fleece is Romney, and is from a sheep that lives very local to me. I decided to wash the fleece using the little at a time method. So firstly I picked out the locks and tried to get a nice mix of the colours that run through the fleece ~ I wrapped them in a laundry bag, next I soaked them in hand hot water with pure soap added for about 10 minutes. Then I drained the filthy water and did the same thing again. It was rinsed in hot water twice but I left the fleece to cool in the water on the last rinse. I gave it a quick spin in my fibre spinner (a salad spinner) and laid it out to dry on racks on the patio. It was so hot that after an hour I turned it over and it was totally dry. The fleece has retained some of the lanolin and has the most lovely smell (I'm a secret fibre sniffer).
This is a picture taken before washing the locks. The colour range in this fleece is beautiful, from cream through to the deepest bluey grey although the majority is differing shades of browns.
I'm going to prepare all of the fleece in this way and card it on my drum carder. I will spin it into a worsted weight 2 ply yarn. It's a large fleece (approx 4 kg), so this is going to be an ongoing project for quite a while yet. I don't know what it will end up becoming, my Hubby and my Brother have both said they would like a sweater from it. I wanted to knit a nice throw for my new home, but I do have a pile of different coloured Shetland combed top to spin that I had sort of earmarked for that project. So we will have to wait and see. I do think it needs to be made into something special, after all ~ I read something the other day that said how a hand spinner will put between 200-300 hours work into a fleece, starting with the washing through to the finished product.
I have put a pair of small batts of this Romney fibre into my shop, I have 2 more to list later but that will be it ~ it's all I'm willing to part with!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Not my usual topic.....
You may have noticed I haven't been posting much on here lately ~ there's a reason for that. I haven't had such a great time since Christmas, firstly I had an awful virus which left me with very little energy for a couple of weeks so I didn't do much of anything. Then there are the dreaded quakes ~ we are still getting them and we have decided to move out of our home ~ a decision which was made after a giant blue gum tree fell in the garden missing the conservatory by a couple of meters last week (after the water heating system crumbled to pieces and flooded parts of the house a few weeks previously, the cracks up the walls getting wider and wider, the list goes on and on) this house really shakes and rattles even with the slightest quake which I think is due to it being a 2 floor home.... my nerves can't take much more of it!
So we have placed an offer on a cottage a few kilometers from here which seems to have withstood the quakes far better than this house, just 2 chimneys were damaged and taken down. It needs a lot of renovation work but it's in the most beautiful setting.
I haven't done any knitting for weeks and although I have been dyeing up yarns for my yarn clubs I'm not dyeing for the shop at the moment and won't be for a while yet due to the house move ~ I do have a few skeins to list in the shop but these will be the last for the time being. I will post any updates here.
So we have placed an offer on a cottage a few kilometers from here which seems to have withstood the quakes far better than this house, just 2 chimneys were damaged and taken down. It needs a lot of renovation work but it's in the most beautiful setting.
I haven't done any knitting for weeks and although I have been dyeing up yarns for my yarn clubs I'm not dyeing for the shop at the moment and won't be for a while yet due to the house move ~ I do have a few skeins to list in the shop but these will be the last for the time being. I will post any updates here.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Recent Events....
Christmas came and went in the blink of an eye this year but here's a brief summary of events ~
Boxing Day brought us yet more (strong) earthquakes and more damage.
I made salted caramels that were so yummy they were eaten in less than 12 hours!
I didn't cook at all on Christmas Day, as promised.
Winter arrived here yesterday ~ just 10 degrees all day and only 5 this morning, I'm sure it's supposed to be Summer.
Santa was very kind to me this year, he brought: The Fry Chronicles, a red leather handbag I have been coveting for the longest time, Alan Bennett's Talking Heads audio book, Thornton's Chocolate, 6 skeins of Malabrigo Lace ~ 3 of Hollyhock and 3 of Azul Profundo, and a new Pandora bead for my bracelet.
I've been playing with my new drum carder and haven't knitted a stitch for more than a week.
I joined a KAL starting very soon and need to dye some yarn for it.
Boxing Day brought us yet more (strong) earthquakes and more damage.
I made salted caramels that were so yummy they were eaten in less than 12 hours!
I didn't cook at all on Christmas Day, as promised.
Winter arrived here yesterday ~ just 10 degrees all day and only 5 this morning, I'm sure it's supposed to be Summer.
Santa was very kind to me this year, he brought: The Fry Chronicles, a red leather handbag I have been coveting for the longest time, Alan Bennett's Talking Heads audio book, Thornton's Chocolate, 6 skeins of Malabrigo Lace ~ 3 of Hollyhock and 3 of Azul Profundo, and a new Pandora bead for my bracelet.
I've been playing with my new drum carder and haven't knitted a stitch for more than a week.
I joined a KAL starting very soon and need to dye some yarn for it.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Turkish Delight....yum
I made Turkish Delight for the very first time ~ I didn't realise how time consuming it would actually be.
I followed a recipe by Rachel Allen, I still can't understand why it uses both corn flour and gelatin as the thickening agents, all other recipes I looked at used one or the other.
Basically you start by making 2 things in separate pans: in the first pan you make a sugar and water syrup which you cook for around an hour until it reaches 125 deg on a sugar thermometer, the second pan contains a mixture that resembles cow gum glue and smells totally disgusting. In fact I nearly stopped at that point and sink-erated the whole lot. However, I persevered - the thoughts of sickly sweet rose scented and flavoured cubes of pink prettiness swirling around in my mind.
So, after the sugar reaches the correct temperature you throw in a bit of lemon juice whilst standing well back from the pan as the molten lava - like sugar spits everywhere when you do this. Then you slowly add the boiling hot syrup to the pan (while trying your best to keep a steady hand) of white glue like stuff (which is a mixture of the gelatin, corn flour and water which is cooked until thick) while whisking furiously. It's then cooked for around another hour until it's a deep golden colour. At this point it still smells absolutely awful and resembles wallpaper paste. I then added rosewater and a few drops of pink colouring and voila... Turkish Delight. I tipped it into a well oiled tray (and yes it still stuck!) then left it to set overnight. It had stuck in the tray so I had to slice it in half and loosen it all the way around and underneath with a large spatula, then it got tipped out onto a pile of icing sugar and I hacked it into cubes with an oiled knife, generously rolled it around in the icing sugar and put it into an airtight container.
Here it is:
This is just a small amount in the picture, the recipe makes oodles of the stuff.
I followed a recipe by Rachel Allen, I still can't understand why it uses both corn flour and gelatin as the thickening agents, all other recipes I looked at used one or the other.
Basically you start by making 2 things in separate pans: in the first pan you make a sugar and water syrup which you cook for around an hour until it reaches 125 deg on a sugar thermometer, the second pan contains a mixture that resembles cow gum glue and smells totally disgusting. In fact I nearly stopped at that point and sink-erated the whole lot. However, I persevered - the thoughts of sickly sweet rose scented and flavoured cubes of pink prettiness swirling around in my mind.
So, after the sugar reaches the correct temperature you throw in a bit of lemon juice whilst standing well back from the pan as the molten lava - like sugar spits everywhere when you do this. Then you slowly add the boiling hot syrup to the pan (while trying your best to keep a steady hand) of white glue like stuff (which is a mixture of the gelatin, corn flour and water which is cooked until thick) while whisking furiously. It's then cooked for around another hour until it's a deep golden colour. At this point it still smells absolutely awful and resembles wallpaper paste. I then added rosewater and a few drops of pink colouring and voila... Turkish Delight. I tipped it into a well oiled tray (and yes it still stuck!) then left it to set overnight. It had stuck in the tray so I had to slice it in half and loosen it all the way around and underneath with a large spatula, then it got tipped out onto a pile of icing sugar and I hacked it into cubes with an oiled knife, generously rolled it around in the icing sugar and put it into an airtight container.
Here it is:
Monday, December 6, 2010
The Post Lady delivered ...........
MY CSW9 PACKAGE!!!
I sometimes forget that I will receive a package when taking part in swaps, I become anxious about seeing if the package I have sent has arrived at it's destination and I forget one is on the way to me.
Anyway, my CSW9 package arrived today and it travelled all the way from Ramsgate in England. I loved the contents ~ my spoiler Sharon must have stalked me very well indeed!
My requested colour/theme was way out of my comfort zone this time but I am starting to run out of colours and thought it was time I tried something different to my usual red/plum/purple. I asked for a combination of cream, pale gold and hot pink and either a Cupcake or an Oriental theme if possible.
I received 2 skeins of the most lovely fingering weight yarn, a hand made needle roll with a matching notions purse (funny, I occasionally make these for my shop but have never made one for myself). Also included were Knit Picks DPN's and needle tips (in a size I keep losing/breaking), a great needle gauge, a pretty Union Jack purse containing an English coin, English magazines and recipes, cupcake cases, cupcake wet wipes, Options hot chocolate drinks, hand made doggy themed stitch markers, floral peg clips. My spoiler hit both my colour choices and themes which I was not expecting, here are some of the goodies:
On the knitting front I dyed a skein of yarn I received in another recent swap, this was an organic merino/silk blend from Ellen Norway. I dyed it in deep red/berry tones and have finally decided that I will use it to knit myself a Pettine shawlette that I will cast on today. I seem to have been in a bit of a knitting tiz lately and cannot decide what to knit next. I think my problem is that there are so many things I want to knit I can't put them in any logical order lol.
In my swap package was a recipe card from Tesco's for cheddar & cornbread muffins, so of course I had to make them didn't I? We take our own lunches to work and I think these will make a nice change to wraps or sandwiches. I made a couple of changes ~ I added some finely chopped spring onions, red pepper and sweetcorn kernels which I lightly cooked in a teaspoon of olive oil. I also added 25g of freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the cheddar to the mixture:
Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
50g butter, melted
150g strong cheddar cheese coarsely grated
300g cornmeal or fine polenta
150g self raising flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
280ml buttermilk
175ml milk
Preheat the oven to gas 5, 190 deg, or 170 deg fan. Use a tablespoon of the butter to grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
Put a heaped tablespoon of the cheese to one side for the tops.
Mix all the dry ingredients, including the grated cheese in a large bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients, including the melted butter together in another bowl or jug.
Pour the wet into the dry and lightly mix together until just combined. Don't over mix. Spoon into the muffin tins and sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve split in half and filled with sliced cheese, tomato chutney and salad leaves. The muffins can be wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.
I sometimes forget that I will receive a package when taking part in swaps, I become anxious about seeing if the package I have sent has arrived at it's destination and I forget one is on the way to me.
Anyway, my CSW9 package arrived today and it travelled all the way from Ramsgate in England. I loved the contents ~ my spoiler Sharon must have stalked me very well indeed!
My requested colour/theme was way out of my comfort zone this time but I am starting to run out of colours and thought it was time I tried something different to my usual red/plum/purple. I asked for a combination of cream, pale gold and hot pink and either a Cupcake or an Oriental theme if possible.
I received 2 skeins of the most lovely fingering weight yarn, a hand made needle roll with a matching notions purse (funny, I occasionally make these for my shop but have never made one for myself). Also included were Knit Picks DPN's and needle tips (in a size I keep losing/breaking), a great needle gauge, a pretty Union Jack purse containing an English coin, English magazines and recipes, cupcake cases, cupcake wet wipes, Options hot chocolate drinks, hand made doggy themed stitch markers, floral peg clips. My spoiler hit both my colour choices and themes which I was not expecting, here are some of the goodies:
On the knitting front I dyed a skein of yarn I received in another recent swap, this was an organic merino/silk blend from Ellen Norway. I dyed it in deep red/berry tones and have finally decided that I will use it to knit myself a Pettine shawlette that I will cast on today. I seem to have been in a bit of a knitting tiz lately and cannot decide what to knit next. I think my problem is that there are so many things I want to knit I can't put them in any logical order lol.
In my swap package was a recipe card from Tesco's for cheddar & cornbread muffins, so of course I had to make them didn't I? We take our own lunches to work and I think these will make a nice change to wraps or sandwiches. I made a couple of changes ~ I added some finely chopped spring onions, red pepper and sweetcorn kernels which I lightly cooked in a teaspoon of olive oil. I also added 25g of freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the cheddar to the mixture:
Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
50g butter, melted
150g strong cheddar cheese coarsely grated
300g cornmeal or fine polenta
150g self raising flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
280ml buttermilk
175ml milk
Preheat the oven to gas 5, 190 deg, or 170 deg fan. Use a tablespoon of the butter to grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
Put a heaped tablespoon of the cheese to one side for the tops.
Mix all the dry ingredients, including the grated cheese in a large bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients, including the melted butter together in another bowl or jug.
Pour the wet into the dry and lightly mix together until just combined. Don't over mix. Spoon into the muffin tins and sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve split in half and filled with sliced cheese, tomato chutney and salad leaves. The muffins can be wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December Already!
I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote anything here and that it's actually December!
Where on earth did the year go? Today my house smells just like Christmas ~ I'm making mincemeat.
We won't be having a traditional Christmas lunch this year and I won't be making a Christmas cake or a pudding either (shock, horror, screwed up faces when I announced this to my family). The reasons being:
It's too hot here on Christmas Day to have the oven going or to eat a hot meal so I made the decision to order a gigantic Christmas Ham from Mr Heck the German Butcher and I'll make some nice salads to go with it from our veg garden. If the men feel the need to put the BBQ on then so be it but they will be the ones doing the cooking. I will be sat in a shady corner knitting hopefully :-)
Christmas cake ~ this will be the first year in forever that I haven't baked one. After tidying out a storage cupboard after the earthquake where I discovered ~ sealed in a cake container ~ the cake I made last year totally untouched. I seem to remember this also happened the year before when I found half a christmas cake in the back of the pantry in the middle of Winter.
I think because it's the middle of Summer here you don't get the urge to eat things like this, maybe a mince pie is now my absolute limit and I thought I would never say this but I much prefer a fruit platter now ~ the berries are all in season at that time of the year. I can tell you that no one else in the house was happy at these new fangled ideas of mine because for years they have all been so terribly spoiled! Yet as much as I love our traditions I feel that now we live here we really need to try to change some things to fit in with this seasonal topsy-turvyness.
This will be our 4th Christmas in New Zealand yet each and every one of them have not felt 'right', not Christmassy at all, maybe the lack of family members and the weather have a lot to do with that, I'm not totally sure. I used to love Christmas when we lived in England but now I don't care for it at all because it only reminds me of what I am missing back home.
However I do have a christmas wish list that goes something like this:
Ashfords Drum Carder so I can work my way through the many boxes of fleece I have stored away.
A new Knit Picks yarn winder
2 skeins of some utterly scrumptious yet frivolous yarn that I would never dream of buying for myself in a colour that I wouldn't normally choose but that I would love
3 Merino sheep
3 Alpacas in Cream, dark brown and ginger colour
So today I tried to get into the christmas feel and made mincemeat ~ a recipe I have owned for many years but have never used. I cannot get suet here (traditionally used in mincemeat) so 2 years ago I made a recipe with no fat and a pint of brandy as the preserving element, nice but a little toooo boozy for my tastes. Last year I found a jar of Robertson's traditional mincemeat in a shop here and stupidly paid an extortionate $20 for it (it was a small one too). This year I decided to used a recipe that was from my Mother In Law (strangely she made it herself for the first time this year too), it's from an old Women's Institute cookery book from Northern Ireland in the early 70's.
I changed the recipe a little, I like to add dried cranberries and changed the spices by adding a little freshly ground nutmeg, ginger and cloves and reducing the mixed spice. I used a rind parer for the zest, it gives those nice long thin strips which after cooking look translucent and slightly candied. I used a mixture of half brandy and half rum as the alcohol.
Mincemeat Without Suet
6 oz unsalted butter, cubed
24 oz apples, peeled, cored & finely chopped
12 oz raisins
12 oz currants
12 oz sultanas
12 oz brown sugar
4 teaspoons mixed spice
rind and juice of 2 oranges
rind and juice of 2 lemons
4-6 tablespoon brandy, rum or whisky
Mix all the ingredients except the alcohol together in a large saucepan. Heat gently and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the apples are nice and tender and the juice has reduced to a thick consistency.
Add the alcohol and put into sterilized jars (wash jars in warm soapy water, rinse and place in a pre heated oven at 140 degrees c for 15 minutes, fill while still hot and seal carefully). This filled 5 medium sized jars.
This is best if made at least 3 weeks before using and will keep indefinitely if jars are properly sterilized and sealed and stored in a cool, dark place. Once opened store in the fridge.
On the craft front I have recently mailed out my final 2 Ravelry swap packages of the year and have hardly done a stitch of knitting of late! Seriously, I can't seem to get the time at the moment. I knitted a Norrie hat from my new Shetland Trader Book which arrived this week ~ I am so happy with it and can honestly say it's the first book I have ever owned/seen where I know I will eventually knit every pattern in it. I have yarns on order for Shalder and a few other projects which seem to be taking an age to arrive.
On the shop front it's been very busy throughout November, I've been dyeing almost every day. I'm dyeing lots of new floral themes inspired by my garden. Yarns are taking an age to dry because we seem to have had very high humidity over the past week and we have our dehumidifiers on constantly. I have a large order of yarn bases due in any day now including a couple of new ones ~ a new silk sock 50/50 silk/merino blend and a MCN sock yarn (merino/cashmere/nylon) which are both totally gorgeous. I've decided not to continue buying in the sublime sock yarn base I have been using - the last batch I received were rather knotty skeins and I dislike knots and don't like sending them to my customers either.
Pink Roses
Peach Roses
Magenta Rose
Aquilegia
Where on earth did the year go? Today my house smells just like Christmas ~ I'm making mincemeat.
We won't be having a traditional Christmas lunch this year and I won't be making a Christmas cake or a pudding either (shock, horror, screwed up faces when I announced this to my family). The reasons being:
It's too hot here on Christmas Day to have the oven going or to eat a hot meal so I made the decision to order a gigantic Christmas Ham from Mr Heck the German Butcher and I'll make some nice salads to go with it from our veg garden. If the men feel the need to put the BBQ on then so be it but they will be the ones doing the cooking. I will be sat in a shady corner knitting hopefully :-)
Christmas cake ~ this will be the first year in forever that I haven't baked one. After tidying out a storage cupboard after the earthquake where I discovered ~ sealed in a cake container ~ the cake I made last year totally untouched. I seem to remember this also happened the year before when I found half a christmas cake in the back of the pantry in the middle of Winter.
I think because it's the middle of Summer here you don't get the urge to eat things like this, maybe a mince pie is now my absolute limit and I thought I would never say this but I much prefer a fruit platter now ~ the berries are all in season at that time of the year. I can tell you that no one else in the house was happy at these new fangled ideas of mine because for years they have all been so terribly spoiled! Yet as much as I love our traditions I feel that now we live here we really need to try to change some things to fit in with this seasonal topsy-turvyness.
This will be our 4th Christmas in New Zealand yet each and every one of them have not felt 'right', not Christmassy at all, maybe the lack of family members and the weather have a lot to do with that, I'm not totally sure. I used to love Christmas when we lived in England but now I don't care for it at all because it only reminds me of what I am missing back home.
However I do have a christmas wish list that goes something like this:
Ashfords Drum Carder so I can work my way through the many boxes of fleece I have stored away.
A new Knit Picks yarn winder
2 skeins of some utterly scrumptious yet frivolous yarn that I would never dream of buying for myself in a colour that I wouldn't normally choose but that I would love
3 Merino sheep
3 Alpacas in Cream, dark brown and ginger colour
So today I tried to get into the christmas feel and made mincemeat ~ a recipe I have owned for many years but have never used. I cannot get suet here (traditionally used in mincemeat) so 2 years ago I made a recipe with no fat and a pint of brandy as the preserving element, nice but a little toooo boozy for my tastes. Last year I found a jar of Robertson's traditional mincemeat in a shop here and stupidly paid an extortionate $20 for it (it was a small one too). This year I decided to used a recipe that was from my Mother In Law (strangely she made it herself for the first time this year too), it's from an old Women's Institute cookery book from Northern Ireland in the early 70's.
I changed the recipe a little, I like to add dried cranberries and changed the spices by adding a little freshly ground nutmeg, ginger and cloves and reducing the mixed spice. I used a rind parer for the zest, it gives those nice long thin strips which after cooking look translucent and slightly candied. I used a mixture of half brandy and half rum as the alcohol.
Mincemeat Without Suet
6 oz unsalted butter, cubed
24 oz apples, peeled, cored & finely chopped
12 oz raisins
12 oz currants
12 oz sultanas
12 oz brown sugar
4 teaspoons mixed spice
rind and juice of 2 oranges
rind and juice of 2 lemons
4-6 tablespoon brandy, rum or whisky
Mix all the ingredients except the alcohol together in a large saucepan. Heat gently and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the apples are nice and tender and the juice has reduced to a thick consistency.
Add the alcohol and put into sterilized jars (wash jars in warm soapy water, rinse and place in a pre heated oven at 140 degrees c for 15 minutes, fill while still hot and seal carefully). This filled 5 medium sized jars.
This is best if made at least 3 weeks before using and will keep indefinitely if jars are properly sterilized and sealed and stored in a cool, dark place. Once opened store in the fridge.
On the craft front I have recently mailed out my final 2 Ravelry swap packages of the year and have hardly done a stitch of knitting of late! Seriously, I can't seem to get the time at the moment. I knitted a Norrie hat from my new Shetland Trader Book which arrived this week ~ I am so happy with it and can honestly say it's the first book I have ever owned/seen where I know I will eventually knit every pattern in it. I have yarns on order for Shalder and a few other projects which seem to be taking an age to arrive.
On the shop front it's been very busy throughout November, I've been dyeing almost every day. I'm dyeing lots of new floral themes inspired by my garden. Yarns are taking an age to dry because we seem to have had very high humidity over the past week and we have our dehumidifiers on constantly. I have a large order of yarn bases due in any day now including a couple of new ones ~ a new silk sock 50/50 silk/merino blend and a MCN sock yarn (merino/cashmere/nylon) which are both totally gorgeous. I've decided not to continue buying in the sublime sock yarn base I have been using - the last batch I received were rather knotty skeins and I dislike knots and don't like sending them to my customers either.
Aquilegia
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