herbaceous

Winter officially starts in a few weeks and it's getting noticeably colder here. I cooked a pot of pea and ham soup last weekend. And used my last bouquet garni bag from the pile I made a couple of years ago. I find the bags so much easier than tying bunches of herbs together. Fill with fresh and/or dried herbs - even pop in a few peppercorns - then draw up, knot and trim the twine. When your soup is done fish out the bag, let it cool down and put the whole thing into your compost bin. I made more bags today. They're quick to make - no accuracy or seam neatening required - just a little draw string bag made from cotton "butter" muslin threaded through with cotton cooking twine.

I've also been experimenting with drying herbs. I've probably left it a bit late in the season but I've started with oregano which thrives in my garden. I rinsed the oregano first and gently shook off excess water. Tied it up in small bunches and hung them in my pantry from a little makeshift clothesline. Apparently you should dry herbs in a cool, dark place. You need to leave them there until the leaves are crisp and brittle. This took three weeks. Once dried just crumble up the leaves and store in an airtight jar. From a decent bunch of oregano I harvested about one tablespoon of dried herbs - which isn't much but does prove how much more potent dried herbs are over fresh. I'm encouraged and have started a second batch. Next autumn I think I'll do a larger quantity but also try other herbs like thyme or sage. Have you tried drying herbs? What worked for you?

Reading: The rules do not apply a memoir by journalist, Ariel Levy. The blurb says "in 2012, at age 38, when she left on a reporting trip to Mongolia, Ariel Levy thought she had figured it out: she was married, pregnant, successful on her own terms, financially secure. A month later, none of that was true." I'm only up to the married part. Too soon to comment but so far, so good. ☺

sweet

An apron made from a tea towel for the grand one. 

To make an apron you'll need:

a tea towel

ribbon for the ties - I used 2cm wide cotton twill

a pair of "D" rings

Hold the tea towel up against your child to calculate the length, the width of the yoke across the top edge and the placement of the ties at the waist. Cut off any excess length and fold up and sew a narrow double hem. Draw a line on each side connecting the corner of the yoke and waist. Add a seam allowance. Cut away triangle corners and sew a narrow double hem along sides of apron. Attach side ties folding under raw edges. Double hem the tie ends. Attach the "D" rings to the end of one neck tie. Attach both neck ties. 

We had a great morning last week wearing our aprons and baking.

Ginger bread cookies

100gm butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt

1/2 cup plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line baking trays with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and soft. Sift and add ginger and baking soda. Add golden syrup. Gradually add flours. 

Gather the dough together using your hands and turn it out onto a well floured surface. Roll the dough out using extra flour so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and carefully place onto trays. Decorate with dried fruit - currants, glazed cherries etc. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.

fabric

Another pair of selvedge pillow cases like these ones - but mismatched this time - in "stone" and "duck egg" milled linen from The Fabric Store. This is a really nice mid-weight linen and comes in a range of beautiful colours with a handy striped selvedge.

And a small pile of fabric bought from the Auckland Quiltmakers Show held over the weekend. There were some amazing quilts on display. I feel inspired and encouraged to keep quilting. And overwhelmed that there are so many people out there making beautiful things.

Reading: Quilts around the world by Spike Gillespie - for just a bit more inspiration

Susceptible by Canadian illustrator and musician, Geneieve Castrée - comic/graphic novel, maybe autobiographical, about the sufferings of childhood and the release into adulthood independence. Tender, heartbreaking.

meetings

Meet my new plant Ficus "Samantha" in her newly decorated terracotta pot. Sadly I gave up on my maidenhair fern. I loved that plant and really tried hard to make it happy but, in the end, it got powdery mildew that I couldn't control. And, to be honest, it was so much work. I needed to water it almost every day. And mist it regularly. And whenever I went away I had to ask a neighbour to look after it which I felt was just too much responsibility. So now I have hardy Samantha who could actually survive outdoors (where a plant should be, really).

And meet tiny bear and tiny rabbit made using this free pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits. The rabbit is made from 4 ply wool using 2.25mm needles and the bear from 8 ply on 3mm needles. The knitting is very quick and uses such a tiny amount of wool. There's an excellent I-cord tutorial on Purl Soho - necessary to make the arms and legs. Putting it all together - sewing up and embroidering the faces - is a bit fiddly but worth it, I think.

Listening: Leisure by NZ band Leisure for a bit of grooviness

Reading: How to be a person in the world by Heather Havrilesky. A selection of questions from Heather's advice column Ask Polly.

absence

I have been absent from this blog visiting my mother-in-law in Surfers Paradise, Australia. She will be 93-years-old next month. She is quite amazing - still living independently and enjoying a busy social life. I had a break from technology taking only my phone with me and not using the internet. Caught up on a bit of reading and had wonderful swims in the sea at Surfers.

Now back into it, I've started this simple crib quilt using some fabric I bought in 2011 and adding some fabric-a-brac finds and a few new pieces. Cutting out the squares and sewing them together happened quickly over a weekend. I'm now hand quilting - a slow but relaxing process and a chance to listen to podcasts.

Some of my favourite quilting blogs:
a quilt is nice
diary of a quilter
crazy mom quilts
film in the fridge

Listening: Radiolab podcast

Reading: Can you tolerate this? personal essays by (New Zealand writer) Ashleigh Young

And a short (5 mins) film that I think you'll like My knitted boyfriend by Noortje de Keijzer

sunny day

A bit more Crown Lynn: Sesame Street bowls and a mug for the granddaughter. I, and she, particularly like the Bert snowman on the mug. I just wonder how many more bowls I need to get before we complete the alphabet.

And I've been productively occupied doodling on bread tags. This is a good rainy day activity for older kids - and some adults, it seems. Just make sure to test that your pens work on the plastic. It's disappointing to smudge your best work because the ink hasn't dried. I found that Sharpie permanent markers and Elmers opaque paint markers work well. If you're unsure about your design you can pencil it in first. And gluing on plastic goggly eyes works every time.

Reading: The elements of eloquence : how to turn the perfect English phrase by Mark Forsyth. This book explains the figures of rhetoric. It is surprisingly entertaining. Not something I can read from cover to cover but wonderful to dip into. Listen to an interview with the author here.

The secret diary of Hendrick Groen, 83 1/4 years old by Hendrick Groen. A fictional diary about life in a care home.

Listening: Podcast S-Town

bundle

I try to make a few things each year to donate to Little Sprouts and I gathered them up today ready for delivery. I've dragged my feet a bit on completing some of these things (I started the crochet blanket in September!) so it feels good to finally hand them over.

• the crochet blanket inspiration and tutorial here at meet me at mikes
• merino baby wrap tutorial on the fabric store blog
• the bound wool blanket inspired by "pure + simple" wool blankets on purl soho
• jumper from Panda book #205 Adorable baby knits. 

I learned something binding that blanket. I thought you always had to bind using bias binding. If you choose rounded corners for your blanket or quilt then you should use a bias binding that will curve around the corners. With square corners you can use straight binding. Who knew? So I tried that out for the first time on the pink blanket and it worked out fine. I mitred the corners. There's a great tutorial here for that. And this is my go-to video on how to join the ends of the binding - which you'll need to do with either bias or straight binding.

I have a few new things to get started on now. What are you making?

Reading: Today will be different by Maria Semple.