Ode To My Wellies

Wellies!  My wellies!

Oh how I love thee!

Without you, dear wellies,

Just where would I be?

(Tee hee!)

The 24th Door

When my brother and I were young, we shared an advent calendar. We’d take it in turns to open the doors each day and discover what pictures lay hidden there (no chocolate calendars in those days).

I don’t like to think I’m devious but, being older than my brother, I did cotton on several years before he did that whoever opened the even-numbered doors would get to open the invariably bigger door on Christmas Eve. And so each year on 1^st December, I would graciously tell him, ‘You go first!’. He thought me so kind. Then wound up puzzled and complaining on the 24^th. ‘She always gets the big doors!’

I’m blushing. And, if my brother is reading this, I’m sorry! Next time we share a calendar, I’ll go first.

These days, though, I get one all to myself. My mum still sends me one every year, even though I'm....well....old.  This year’s is a spectacular pop-up affair with jutting roofs and plenty of camels and sheep.

You know what? I’m going to save number 24. For my brother to open. For old times sake.

Sunday Sweet Treats

Sunday’s the day for sweet treats. Well, any day really….but mostly Sundays. And to those of you who expressed sympathy because I can’t eat sugar, there’s really no need. Over the years I’ve developed devious ways to make delectable goodies using alternative ingredients.

Funny thing is that when I make ‘real’ chocolates, I stick pretty much to recipes I’ve found, inherited or devised myself. But when I make their healthier equivalent, I never measure or follow lists of ingredients. Instead, I tip in a bit of this, a pinch of that as intuition and fancy dictate. Of course the downside to this is that when I come up with something extraordinary, I can never replicate it exactly. But then that’s half the fun of it.

Today’s delightful confections were a mixture of carob, lucuma, coconut butter, mulberries, honey and orange oil. They were drool-ably good. Like little balls of chocolate orange shortbread.

Still feeling sorry for me?

The Slug and the Caterpillar

A slug and a caterpillar have taken up residence in my camera. They show no signs of moving. Must be cosy in there.

Okay then, we’re talking a picture of a slug and a picture of a caterpillar. Not the real live slithery things. But just as odd. Because despite having erased all photos from the camera’s memory numerous times, the slug and the caterpillar remain. They never download along with more recently taken photographs. Just stay inside the camera and show up on playback.

I’ve clearly done something at some point to imprint these images on the SD card and there they will remain forevermore. I’m sure that someone more experienced in photography than I am could tell me exactly what I’ve done and even - possibly - how to reverse it. But you know what? I don’t want to know. I’ve got used to the company of these tubular creatures whenever I’m wielding my camera and would rather miss them were they to depart.

So just remember in future. All photos on this blog are brought to you courtesy of Helen, a slug and a caterpillar.

Jam Jar Vases

When I needed lots of cheap vases for the wedding I designed in August, I turned to good old jam jars.  Trimmed with hessian bands and lilac gingham ribbon, they were perfect for the country wedding they graced.

Since then, I've used the 'vases' in my own cottage several times.  They suit the rusticity of the place.

But it wasn't until today that I realised the full potential of the jam jar vase.  Wanting to leave a thank you present of flowers for a friend who I knew would be out at work, I went searching for a water container so that the little bouquet could await discovery without wilting.  And there were the jam jars.  Ping!  Revelation!  Jam jars furnish a perpetual supply of pretty vases to give away - which means flowers can be delivered ready-arranged and in water.

Why did that never occur to me before?