The Joys of....

:: GLITTER ::

When I said 'yes' you could have the glitter.

And when I said 'yes' you could also have the glue.

I did not mean you could decorate yourself Little Miss Boo.

I even gave you some paper!!

I suppose some of it did end up on it.....

...but then I guess that's the joy of 'creating!'

xXx

Gone to the Beach....!

Loving and.....a Special Request

It's a bit of a flowery posting today to be honest, but these truly are the things I've been loving all of this week despite it being a crappity crap and very trying week of the up most kind.

{sat under the honeysuckle wafting on the breeze in the evening}

With a hubby stuck at work (alllllll week) and most of my friends pootling off to Glastonbury today - I really must get more organised next year - I have been feeling somewhat sorry for myself. All self imposed I know!

(peonies, stocks and patchwork crochet}

So in the only (quick fix way) I know how to indulge myself is with a great big smile, splash of colour, sunshine and heavenly scent to fill our home (to the brim) full of flowers.

Yes shop bought ones granted, but some are also snippity snipped from our garden and with the amount on offer out there at the moment - in our little patch - it wouldn't be right not to bring a bit of the outside indoors and I'm a great believer in cut and come again anyway!

{a vase full of feverfew and honeysuckle snipped from the garden}

Anyhow, it's Friday - consider my cheeks well and truly slapped out of this mood - and the weekend is almost here so enough of my melancholy I can catch up with Glastonbury on the radio and goggle box and Mr T will be home today (at some point) so with BBQ's planned for tomorrow and catch up with friends (that don't do Glastonbury) all is not that bad at the end of this week in the Tabiboo household methinks.


Though before I love you and leave you I have a very special request from my wonderful and ever so talented friend Katy (in France) - should that of been the other way round?? Ever so talented and wonderful friend....mmmmmmmm, it all means the same I'm sure and you get my drift, right?!?

{heavenly scented roses cut from the garden}

Anyhow, Katy has a plea. She is currently in the midst of creating and making a quilt for a craft show in November which will then be raffled off for charity. The theme of the fair is Route 66 so she is going to make her quilt in all American fabrics.

The colour doesn't matter as long as they are by American designers - I'm going to send all my left over Anna Maria Horner and Amy Butler fabrics, but if any of you wonderful readers out there can help Katy in any way at all, no matter how small and could send her your off cuts that you may have stashed away - she is more then willing to paypal postage - then could you please get in contact with me and I will pass on her details.


Thanks ever so in advance - from both Katy and myself - I do hope between us we can help make this work for her.

Righto that's me done for another week. All that is left is to wish you all a fabulous weekend and most importantly, have fun!

xXx

ps. I couldn't resist sneaking this little picture in too - a spied on Little Miss T with her head in a book - the place I can usual find her these days!

Edited :: Katy has left a message in the comments box if it helps. N xxx

Bubbles and Counting

I think we are all starting to count down the days to the Summer holidays now - certainly in the UK that is.


Grumpy, tired and exhausted (and that's just me!!) I think we could all do with a good long break now.

Though with a good couple of weeks left to go I am most definitely hoping the pace of life starts to wind down a little bit from this weekend onwards.




With early morning swims and breakfasts at the beach, feasting from our allotment (jam, fizz, cordials and produce) lazy afternoons in the sun, siestas, eating al fresco and long warm evenings sat under the stars.

Oh yes I am definitely starting to count the days down now.

Happy (dreamy) Thursday

xXx

Rippling, Secrets and a Confession

Hello, hello - a bit of a late in the evening one for me.

To be honest I've had one of those days and even though I'm pooped - so please excuse this posting if it all comes out a one big jumble - all the little ones are now most definitely (and finally) tucked up in bed, big *sigh* so I thought I would spend my leisure time here, chatting to you - hope you don't mind?

Anyway........oh me, oh my well I never - lookie what I can do, finally!!!!!!!!!!


I honestly can't believe it - apparently I can ripple - wish someone had told me that a year ago!!

I'm absolutely chuffed to bits - can you tell?? I'll also let you in on a little secret - well two really and a confession, but I'll share the latter stuff in a bit!!


I'm now well away with my rippling. To my hearts content some would say annnnnd can you guess? I have the most enormous smile spread across my face - in a Joker kind of way, but not as creepy - every time I pick it up.

It is sooooooo therapeutic.

Okay, so that's my first secret, a stupid grin - not much of one really, but if you could see the silly contented look I have on my face of an evening when I'm sat in my own little world rippling along I'm sure it would make you laugh - a lot!


So how did I do it? I can hear you all ask because I certainly do remember that every time I've ever spoken about rippling it's always been in a negative 'boo hoo I can't do it' kind of way.

Welllllll the problem I have, always have is that tricksy foundation row.

No matter how diligently I count, concentrate and even sweat over that foundation row I can never ever get it right. Drat and blast and all those other naughty mutterings.


Then I had a thought one day, just out of the blue 'pop' it went into my head, just like that. Which is pretty amazing considering all the other stuff that is swimming around in there fighting for attention.

This is my second secret!

I thought :: what if I tricked that pesky foundation row, what if I - as my first full row of crochet - forgot all about starting to ripple, ignored it completely and did a row, my first proper row (into my foundation row) of double crochet just like that, bish, bash bosh!!

Then once I had completed that first full row of double crochet - counting all the way along - as my secondary back up so to speak - then started to ripple on the second row, could that work? Would that work?? Guess what?? It worked!! Yeeeeehaaaaawwwww.


No missed stitches, no frogging and starting again and most importantly absolutely no giving up what so ever muttering under my breath about another hour lost on something completely stupid, useless and impossible and thinking 'why oh why' does it always happen to me?!!


And as you can see I'm am merrily rippling along in my own little way. Not very conventional and probably completely against the rules, but if I could apply this little twist into some of my other crochet - foundation row/where needed - projects then I think I will be well away without a mutter or naughty word to escape my lips at all.

Now that's a big sigh of relief - for me anyhow.

So that's my two (little) secrets I guess I should move on to the confession.


Well it's like this you see, a little insy bit of time has slipped by since I first began this ripple. I would say a little - in Tabiboo years - it's more like a (cough) month.

I know, I know not sharing is absolutely no good and completely no fun at all - sorry folks.

I kind of began this ripple back in the middle of May with this stash and I even took the pictures back then. But then stuff happened, family came first and then we absconded to Devon - where I might add my ripple did accompany me - and since then I've kind of got caught up in other daily going on's.


But I can tell you............my ripple is coming on magnificently and it's kind of progressed beyond the couple of rows I've posted today, but I'll show you the full monty another day if that's okay as I still have a couple of plans to decide on.

Well that's it I guess - as good old bugs bunny would say 'that's all folks' - I am completely and utterly shattered now and I doubt even the lure of my ripple can entice me to prop my eye lids open much longer this evening.


Take care, have a good one and thanks for the chat and listening to me witter - it really does mean a lot to me.

xXx

Edited :: instead of doing a double crochet into your foundation row you could always just do single crochet.

Because I wanted a thicker first band at the beginning of my blanket I chose to do double crochet as my first row. But if you wanted a thinner first row then I guess single crochet is the way to go 'or' you could do your foundation row then a row of double crochet then maybe change the colour of yarn - if your going for a stripy look that is.

Of course I am no expert and I'm learning this as I go along myself, but if you're not too strict with the in's and outs, how's and whys of crocheting then I think this is a nice little cheat.

For my blanket I did - foundation row, 1st row double crochet, second row ripple stitch then on the third row changed my colour of yarn then - rippled for two rows, change colour, ripple of two rows, change, ripple two rows, change.......!

Hope that all helps?? N xxx

Strawberry Jamming {and a recipe}

Happy Monday everyone, did you have a good weekend??

Ours was fairly productive - in a jam making kind of way, but the weather - or lack of it - kind of put a dampener on our activities.......literally.


And talking of the weather, in a round about kind of way (yeah okay!) I hate to be the voice of doom, but it's the Summer Solstice today and do you know what that means?? It's going to be getting darker ever so slowly from now on in - where has our BBQ Summer gone?

Hey, ho there's always July, August and fingers crossed for an Indian Summer in September and October. Though I do seem to keep finding myself saying 'maybe next month' - come on it's June, no more excuses, pllleeeeeeese!!


Well as you might of guessed we made strawberry jam this weekend and not any old jam, but jam from the strawberries on our allotment which I have to say are the absolute best.

Well not the ones from our allotment that is, but homegrown ones (I feel) out do the shop bought (even grown in the UK) seasonal strawberries every time - that's only my opinion mind you.


For me, it's like bottling the taste of Summer 'or' fresh ripe juicy and sweet proper (no air miles attached) strawberries.

But if you have none of your own growing then I reckon 'pick your own' is the next best thing as homegrown always taste (in a biased kind of way) far nicer.


Anyhow, as the title explains there is a little recipe attached to the bottom of this posting if you would like to give it a go.

And if you have never made jam before 'you must' give it a go because once you have the quantities, simmering, sterilising and most importantly setting point figured out then it's as easy as pie.....or jam in this case - you could not taste any better.

Unless of course you are given a jar or two of homegrown, homemade from a very lovely generous friend that is.....mine already have dibs on - sorry!!

So here goes ::

:: The Recipe ::

1kg strawberries, hulled and quartered
1kg granulated sugar 'or' 500g granulated sugar and 450g jam sugar (with added pectin)
Juice of two lemons

**knob of butter

**sterilised jam jars

Before you begin place a dish in the fridge so it gets all nice and cold. This is so you can test the setting point of your jam later.

- Put half the strawberries and half the sugar in a preserving pan and gently bosh (bash) up.

- Put the pan on a low heat, warm the strawberries and sugar gently then add the rest of the strawberries, lemon juice and sugar and stir continuously until all the sugar has dissolved.

- Bring to simmering point stirring occasionally to prevent your jam sticking to the bottom of the pan and keep simmering until your jam comes to **setting point - this can take up to twenty minutes.

**setting point - test your simmering jam every ten minutes or so by dropping a dollop onto your pre cold dish. Allow the jam to cool for a minute and if it crinkles when you push it gently with your fingertip then your setting point has been reached.

When you are happy that your jam has reached setting point take it off the heat and then either stir gently if you have any scummy residue on top until it disperses 'or' add a knob of butter and stir it in gently. If the scum does not disperse then you can always skim it off with a spoon.

Once your jam has cooled slightly - roughly ten to fifteen minutes then bottle up into your sterilised jam jars.


**sterilised jam jars - we usually just put ours through the dishwasher as it has a steam and drying option, but as a secondary pre caution my nan always put hers in the oven on a very low heat just before she started to make her jam so that she could pull them out warm and straight up for bottling.


Label up and then your done. Leave for at least twelve hours to cool and set properly. Your jam should last for at least twelve months and once you've open a jar always make sure you keep it refrigerated.

I hope I've covered everything, but if you have any questions just drop me a line. I may not have all the answers, but I am always (most definitely) happy to help where I can.

And last, but not least - happy jamming!!

nb. since getting the book for his birthday last year Mr T always uses Pam Corbin's jam recipe, but I use a scribbled down recipe from my mum - the recipe above takes into account both ways of making it though you decide which you prefer ie. add more/less sugar (with pectin) more lemon juice or no butter....it's all about taste.

I like less sugar (I'm sweet enough as it is - awwwwww!!) but the kids like it super sweet - a bit like the three bears I guess, but there's five of us instead of three though with that hair, Little Boo would definitely be Goldilocks.

And that's it. Easy peasy.

Have a lovely day, week and 'Happy Summer Solstice' - did you stay up to watch the sunrise this morning??

xXx

Rufus

As from this week we have a new family member joining us at Tabi Towers - Rufus.

I finally caved in and we now have a little kitty cat - as the Littlest Boo calls him. You wouldn't think it was me that resisted for such a long time, but I have.


Though there is a story - isn't there always? - to the reason 'why' I have been so reluctant.

Basically - without going into alllllll the details - we have had a cat before. Our gingertom, our big fat gingertomas, my bagpuss, my baby......my cat.


Pre kiddies, pre Broastairs - even though he did move here with us - pre Tabiboo. But he got old, Little Miss F came along and four'ish' years ago he left us.

And then the kids got older!!

I think I am a well and truly worn down mother, in the nagging sense that is and 'oh boy' all three of them did a pretty good job on me because now we have Rufus - our new baby.


A beautiful - not quite a cat and not quite a kitten - race around the house at five in the morning, curling up in my bag and eating my wool, sits in my space at the end of our very shabby sofa (that desperately needs recovering) next to the fire!! Jumps at the birds on the other side of the window, loves chasing balloons, the kiddies toys, flies and moths (and has probably eaten quite a few) - Rufus.

And do you know what?


I think I'm melting!!


Have a wonderful weekend - we're going to be strawberry jamming!

xXx