The dog coat.

I can now post photos of the dog coat I knitted recently.  Fortunately, it fits perfectly and R is delighted with it.  She sent these photos.

Wednesday

I'm a bit bleary eyed after a very late night (late for me, I mean), so I'll keep this short.

Yesterday was lovely.  It was nice to get back into school and read with the little ones and I did some baking in the afternoon.  The evening saw me at the Hare having a good meal and chat.

Today is allotment morning so fingers crossed for better weather than yesterday morning.

Today's food:
B:  toast, etc, fruit
L:  soup, yogurt
D:  haven't decided yet.

I need my coffee!

Tuesday

Good morning.

It's not nice out there - very wet at the moment and looking as if it is set to continue for a while.  However, looking at the forecast, it is expected to clear up before I am due to meet Beth at the allotment so fingers crossed.

Yesterday was a busy-ish day but very pleasant apart from waking up at the unholy hour of before four!  That's not good and I paid for it later on with two irresistible snoozes.  After I'd done the internet usuals I managed to got back to sleep and slept through the alarm for about ten minutes.  Today I slept through for about 40 minutes.  Not good: either my alarm is losing its voice or my hearing is deteriorating and I suspect the latter.  I'm googling for 'very loud alarm clock' in order to get something better.  I don't often need my alarm clock nowadays, but I do sometimes.

Al and I went to the quilts exhibition at Hylands House and it was lovely.  I could have done with another visit as you get a bit brain dead after looking at a certain number of quilts and you will be pleased to know that I resisted the various fabrics and supplies that were on sale.  I did have a go at the raffle and, to my delight, won a lovely hand made drawstring bag which I want to deconstruct to see how it is made.

I took some photos but they haven't come out that well as the lighting wasn't always that good and I didn't like to use flash.  The quilts were lovely and the photos don't do them justice.

This is one that I really liked.  Each piece of the windmills has been cut from the same part of the pattern on the fabric to give different effects, sometimes of curved lines, of a flower, of three dimension or of movement and there's also a pattern to the arrangement of the background colours.  Much more clever than you would think at first sight.

After looking at the quilts, we treated ourselves to a restorative mug of coffee from the stable block cafe and the muffins and biscuits I had brought from home before leaving.

Once home I set to and made bread.  School's in again and it's back to baking for my customers.  I have to say, after faffing around with other kinds of bread, it was really nice to get back to my good, faithful, basic bread again.

While talking about bread, Thrifty Lesley has been investigating in her own individual way and has come up with a soda bread that uses sparkling water.  I'm not sure but I will give it a go and see how it works out.  I don't keep sparkling water 'on tap', so to speak so will get some this morning.  The value water is very reasonably priced and I like it as a 'treat' sometimes.

Before that, I am due in school today to share books with the littlest ones.  It will be nice to see them again.

Today's food:
B:  Toast and poached egg
L:  Not sure - maybe a soup from the freezer
D:  Out to the Hare with friends

Monday

First of all, may I introduce the hoot of owls that Beth and I (mostly Beth, very little me) have been making.

Cute, aren't they?  Obviously others thought so too because all but one of the big ones will be flying off to their new homes very soon!  One little one is spoken for and the others will grace our June Fair table, if they're still around by then.

Yesterday was a nice day.  Not entirely lazy as I cooked a dinner for four and also have nearly finished the cushion cover.  I'm on the button hole band now and just have a few rows and some stitching to do.

I'm not sure it will get done today though as we're off to a quilt thingy at Hylands House.  Here's a link to what we are going to.
http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/keene-quilters-patchwork-park

I have much to do before we leave so I set my alarm and, as a result, woke very early and couldn't get back to sleep again so got up.  I may try for another snooze soon.

Have a great day.

Sunday

It's a bright and frosty morning out there today.  I thought it was cold when I drowsily came to for a few moments much earlier and snuggled more cosily under my quilt!  Hopefully this is signalling a bright sunny day which will be nicer after yesterday's dull and dismal-ness.

I did a lot of knitting yesterday and am on track to finish my current cushion cover today, fingers crossed.  I really MUST start looking for buttons.  I will need sixteen of them - no, twenty - because I am doing four covers for myself and then there's the cushion I have made for someone else too.

I meant to post this the other day and forgot.  This is the latest pattern.  There's a lot more of it now, of course!

Today my friend is back and Beth and Alex are round for lunch.  That's about it - a nice, restful day with making dinner the only pressure!  I can live with that.

My meals.
B:  probably egg on toast
D:  cottage or vegetable pie with assorted veg followed by some yogurt
T:  some kind of salad - tuna or egg based.  I will ask my friend.

Saturday

Good morning!  It is chilly and damp out there but too dark to see what's really going on.  If we have another day like yesterday it will be good - glorious sunshine with spells of clouding over from time to time.  It was lovely.

What else was lovely was the trip to Cressing Temple.  How I have never heard of it or been to visit it before, I have no idea!  It's an 'ancient monument' one of the earliest possessions of the Knights Templar which has three Grade I listed Medieval barns, one of which is the oldest standing timber-framed barn in the world as well as a reconstructed Elizabethan walled garden which is lovely.

One barn is completely empty, a real 'wow' place, absolutely enormous.  The other has a museum display and a scaffolding so that you can see the old timbers at close sight.  It's all very touchy-feely with only a few of the exhibits in the whole site roped off.

I took some photos, of course, although the battery ran out as we entered the walled garden which means that, of course, I shall have to go back there again!

The rest of today's entries consists of some photos I took with occasional comments

Such old timber with built in woodworm!

A Victorian craftsman's initials (I think).

There's a blacksmith's shop . . .

. . . and a wheelwright's.

This is straight - honest.  Lovely wonky walls!

It doesn't show up too well but this upstairs floor is very uneven - look at where it meets the side.

A beautiful one room building containing a well.

Inside the bread oven in the baker's shop - thank goodness for flash photography because it was extremely dark.

The wheat barn (I think)

The only photo I got of the walled garden.

Friday

Hi, gentle readers.  It's a jolly chilly morning out there - frost on the shed roof, would you believe?  The sky is clear and the sun is shining: it's really lifting my spirits!

Yesterday was another typically April day, sun, showers and quite strong breezes at times.  One lot of guests departed and another guest arrived.  I made bread, soup and soda bread.  We talked, went food shopping and talked a lot more.  Lovely!

We were feeling frugal so, instead of going to the chippie, we bought oven chips and some cod in batter, a toffee cheese cake and some cream and paid less than we would have paid for the takeaway fish and chips and with no waste.  And I reckon it was less effort than driving to the shop, waiting around and driving back.  Almost as quick too.
Can't complain about that, can you?

The half and half no knead loaf went a dream.  The dough looked dreadful at first and I really had doubts, but after the long rising and the short proving, the resulting loaf was a bit of a stepping stone towards a sourdough loaf in texture and, to a certain degree, in flavour too.  It was a small loaf - I used half amounts so just right for me.

It tasted wonderful with my home made celery soup.  Mmmmmmmmm . . .

Today I will be making some banana choc chip muffins before we trot off for a visit to Cressing Temple.  It's fairly close (about half an hour's drive away) but I've never been so am looking forward to it.  Here's a link so you can see what it is.
http://www.visitparks.co.uk/places/cressing-temple/

Better get into the kitchen and get started.