Pink Green

Here Come The Girls...

My lovely sister Rachel came to spend this weekend with us while her hubby is away, and as Andy was working nights and sleeping days we had a very girly time of it indeed. When we get together food seems to form a huge part of  the planning. We are both good, homely cooks, and treaty food is a bit part of family time. My girls approve heartily and joined in with gusto too.

Friday night consisted of one of my favourite Madhur Jaffrey recipes - Red Pepper Chicken, and copious wine and a catch up in front of the fire once the girls had gone to bed.

Despite the grown up girls feeling a little weary, the not-quite-grown-up girls were full of beans and so we headed out of Cheltenham to show Rachel some of our favourite haunts. We hit Stroud Farmers Market first, where we bought bread, olives and cheese for a platter tea, plus scrummy Thai Yellow Curry for lunch from a street vendor, washed down with spiced apple juice.

After a little walk and a mooch we headed for another favourite place - Nailsworth - for more mooching in the stunning (but also, sadly, stunningly expensive) Sharland & Lewis.

Restorative cake was needed, so we had a cake sharing platter in a tiny tea shop. This was meant to be for 2 and was advertised as 'slivers' of cake. We had actually eaten one slice before I took this picture. It served 4 and we didn't finish it all. Doorstops would be a more appropriate description. The orange and poppyseed was especially scrummy.

Following on from that we waddled back to the car, and headed back to a more local, and much newer haunt of mine - the gobsmackingly beautiful Whole Foods store. Now, I am not normally one to get excited about a supermarket, but the pristine, stunning displays make me swoon every time I walk in! I am too afraid to take something in case the whole thing collapses, and I am sure that once you remove an item an alarm goes off and someone instantly comes out to replenish the display.

Oh, but the beauty of it all. I have to confess that having stuffed ourselves with cake earlier we weren't feeling foody, so left with nothing more than 2 yogurts, a bottle of pear and raspberry juice and a packet of mints.

A good hour of Just Dance, a platter tea and some late night crafting ready for a hen do finished off Saturday just nicely.

Sunday started with a trip to the car boot, as Rachel has a new, much larger, house to fill (and I helped her with that mission considerably). I bought a gorgeous, bargainous kitchen table for £30 which I have yet to photograph, and this gorgeous set of drawers which I bought to  sell on but decided I can't part with.

We spent the rest of the day chatting, laughing, drinking tea and chilling out. Now she has moved to just over an hour up the road I am already looking forward to the next girly weekend. I may need to diet in preparation though!

Did anyone else have a fun, foody weekend?

 

Breathe in the positive...

...and breathe out the negative.

I've just started yoga and this quote from the instructor in my first week has really stayed with me. I've just done week 3 and am feeling like a new woman. Who knew that an hour a week of deep breathing, adopting the tree position or downward facing dog, was just what the doctor ordered?!

The last few weeks then have been focussing on the positive. It's not always easy in January, when everyone around you is doing the fasting diet and the weather is pretty awful, but I've coped ok!

Aside from the yoga (which is hopefully going to strengthen some of the damage done 4 years ago when I broke my leg in some style)

the sun has shone (albeit briefly, but it was definitely there),

we had some snow,

the shops are full of tulips, daffs, pots of bulbs and primulas (some of which made it home with me),

I'm not doing the fasting diet so have been able to eat cake every day (and some of the biscuits on the staffroom table would have gone off without my help),

I have improved my knitting,

I didn't actually put on any weight over Christmas,

My legs didn't feel like jelly this week after yoga,

I have lots of things to look forward to in the coming days and weeks, such as my sister coming to visit (tomorrow - woohoo!), a holiday to the South Downs in half term, tickets to the theatre, drinks with friends...

In other news...

I had a lovely evening last night at the Craft Night In at Cafe Moochoo, in downtown Cheltenham. It is a fabulous cafe owned by my lovely friend Lara, and the evening was organised by the very talented Bex from Stuffed Nonsense (my daughter Ruth has a huge array of well loved Human Beans and Beardy Weirdys). I coaxed a friend along with the promise of teaching her to crochet, which I did, and there was a multitude of talented knitters, crocheters, printers, artists, embroiderers, some old and some young, and a good time was had by all. It was very inspiring, and I am already planning a trip to the wool shop to buy mustard coloured yarn to make a scarf, having got knitting envy! They are going to be a regular event, so maybe I'll see you there?!

(Photo: Stuffed Nonsense)

January has also brought excitment as I have had my best ever month on Etsy. Who would have thought that January would be the time that people want to buy vintage?! Thank you to everyone who has bought from me, either from Etsy, Folksy, fairs or shops. I feel 2013 is going to be a good year for Pink Green.

Sorry for the lack of photos to link with my writing - I'm out of the way of blogging and taking photos, and the light has been so awful. I'm not going to promise to post more frequently because when I do I never keep my promise, but you never know...

 

Things I'm Loving Right Now

1. Crisp sunshiney days - making me feel energised.

2. My new pillow from M&S - making me sleep well.

3. Spending an Amazon voucher on new books.

4. Fireworks.

5. The excitement of having 3 rooms decorated (although not loving the chaos that has caused in the meantime!)

6. My Pink Green business taking off in new and exciting ways.

7. My job at school (having had a few bleurgh days recently it's back to being fun).

8. My lovely friends, who are making me smile in many different ways at the moment.

9. The thought of lunch at Jamie Oliver's tomorrow with one of said friends to celebrate my birthday.

10. My art club.

11. My comedy dog.

12. Starting my Christmas shopping before the middle of December.

13. My children making me laugh until tears pour down my cheeks.

14. My sister and her husband finding a new house 2 hours drive closer to us than they are at the moment.

15. Several new vintage finds.

16. Just having had the first (but not the last) hot chocolate with Baileys of the season.

 

And, a much shorter list, but for balance here are some things I'm not loving right now.

1. Going to the loo by candlelight. Sounds nicer than it is.

2. Only having 2 available chairs for 4 people to sit on.

3. Getting up at 6.30. My new pillow (see point 2 above) means I am still dead to the world then.

4. Not being able to get to my camera.

5. Actually I can't think of number 5. It must the the Baileys ;-)

 

What are you loving right now?

 

Five Go Mad In Dorset

Wow - time flies when you are having fun. I don't know what has happened to October, but it has passed by in a flash. I could list all the things I have been busy with, but that would send you all off to sleep in no time, so let's gloss over the gap since my previous post.

I will, however, show you what I was up to last week. It was half term, which is cause for celebration in itself, but combined with my birthday (37 and counting!) and a trip to Dorset, it couldn't have been better.

This was our cosy home for the week, in the centre of Corfe Castle, the top of which could be seen from our bedroom window. You can just see Bodie escaping to make sure he was in the photo.

The castle (just in case you were wondering).

Although we are on the wrong side (or right, depending on your viewpoint) of the sign, I can assure you that we were all fully dressed, as was everyone else in sight. It was pretty Baltic on Studland beach that day, which was a relief.

A gorgeous building in Poole Harbour, made even more special by the name. Grace was very taken with it, but Ruth was a tad miffed they never have anything named after her.

Max Gate - the former home of Thomas Hardy. It was a fabulous house and the National Trust ladies were fascinating. We were told we could pick up anything we saw, read the books and sit on the furniture - not often the case with the National Trust!

Thomas Hardy's birthplace. I'm sure this has graced a few chocolate boxes in its time.

The steam train and station in Corfe Castle. We took the train into Swanage, where we sat at the station and ordered a new washing machine as it was the only spot in the whole of Dorset with a 3G signal and our washing machine gave up the ghost the previous week. It was definitely a clash of eras - not many people visit the John Lewis website on an iPad on a steam train I'm sure. It's arriving tomorrow and everytime I do a load of dirty washing I will think of the train ride. That will be frequently.

This nonchalant deer on Brownsea Island was much happier to have her photo taken than the hundreds of red squirrels we saw - they were so quick leaping away with mouths full of acorns that we only have russet smudges on our photos.

Brownsea Island from the ferry.

The Bucket Tree at Lulworth Cove. The owners have raised over £3300 this year for charity from passers by putting money in a bucket on the wall.

So, I am another year older, and as always I have made my 'new year' resolutions. One of which is to blog more. I feel I am getting more inspiration again and I am creating more time to indulge my creative side, so watch this space.

Roll on November...

 

10 Reasons To Love September

1. Dahlias

2. Doing jigsaws with Ruth on rainy days.

3. Nectarine and Almond Tart


4. Roast Dinners

5. Making Christmas decorations in the evenings.

6. Wearing shoes, not sandals (hiding the chipped nail varnish I didn't have time to do again).

7. Candles in the evening.

8. Sleeping with the duvet on.

9. The return of Downton Abbey and Strictly.

10. It's not long till half term!

I'll leave you with a very grainy picture of the female blackbird I have nurtured back to health over the last couple of weeks. She had an injured wing and was sat in the tree at the end of the garden. I couldn't reach her as she was still hopping around, so I put out some food and water in a place she could reach and kept an eye on her. After a few days she was able to hop down to the floor and back up again, and I saw her yesterday drinking from my pond and then flying up to the tree as if she had never had a problem. Her husband has been in constant attendance the whole time, chirping angrily if we went too close. A happy ending - something else to make me smile in September!

That Friday Feeling!

Why do I still get that Friday feeling even though I'm not at work for another 3 days and I've had 6 weeks off? It really does feel special - lie in tomorrow (just like the last 42 days!), dog walking (ditto), nice food (ditto) and wine (again, ditto). I'm off for a Singstar night at my good buddy Ruth's house tonight with a gaggle of good friends, which has been booked in for weeks. I can guarantee there will be a huge amount of hilarity and chatter as we haven't met up for quite a while so there is always lots to catch up on.

I've been busy crocheting, sewing and making things for my latest venture - the MADE Market next Saturday (8th Sept) at the Gloucester Folk Museum. It sounds like there are some amazing sellers there and it will be really good fun. I also like the fact that I can pre-book a Ploughman's lunch - so it will also be civilised! Please come along if you are in the vicinity - and check out the link above for the list of other sellers too.

Aside from that I have been pottering at home. We finally (after 11 years of hating it with a passion) pulled up the AWFUL laminate flooring we had in the dining room (not through choice - it was down when we moved in)to reveal gorgeous floorboards and a hearth. We are getting them stripped and a fireplace put in, plus then decorating the living and dining room. I'm leaning towards grey, and am off to get paint samples tomorrow. I am very excited about finally getting it done. It means so much more when you have planned it for years!

I finally managed to find time to finish a project I've been working on for a while over the Summer. This mosaic is of our house, and I made the clay tiles with the birds, leaves and initials, and then filled in around them with broken china. It was so much fun to make and will be a permanent reminder of this house. I just need to find the perfect place to hang it now, and finish off the rough edges either with some paint or with a frame.

I hope you are all enjoying the last few days of the Summer. I get very excited about Autumn and have already made several vats of soup and stew. The blankets have been dug out and the chimney sweep is booked. We need the fire though as I have a rule that the heating cannot go on until November unless there is snow!

I'll leave you with a few pics of items in my Etsy shop - enjoy!

 

 

 

That'll be Summer over then!

We had amazing weather the whole time we were in Southwold, unlike the rest of the UK apparently but it feels like that's probably it for sunshine now. My tan is fading already and this morning was the first morning for weeks I sat in my 'coming to' chair by the door with the door closed. Even if it is raining I like the door open, but it there was just a bit of a chill at 7.00 this morning.

I sat here with my customary two cups of tea and persued paint charts. We are having some bits and pieces done to the house in the next few weeks and I, for once, have no clue what colours I want. Normally I know instantly, but I am having a bit of 'decorator's block' at the moment!

Yesterday I dodged the showers and went to the Cotswold Vintage Fair at Toddington with my usual partner in crime, Stacey. We were remarkably restrained and I came home with a French tin, a Fire King jadeite jug and a Pyrex bowl in the same colour, plus a subscription to Pretty Nostalgic magazine. Not bad at all really. Unfortunately due to the torrential rain the road was flooded on the way home and we were too late back for me to cook tea for Andy before his night shift. So although I didn't get a telling off for the shopping, I was still persona non grata and had to send him off with a frozen Shepherds Pie while the girls and I had a take away!

I love this colour green so much, and it goes perfectly with my little terrier salt cellar.

I made up for yesterday by making a fantastic (if I do say so myself) Kleftiko (Greek Lamb Stew) with Rapeseed Oil Roasties, and I am now back in the good books. The recipe is from BBC Good Food and is really easy and tasty. Unfortunately it was hoovered up before photos could be taken, but it was definitely one to add to the list of regulars in my recipe book.

(source)

Aside from cooking, today has mainly been taken up with crocheting Christmas decorations (yes,really), jewellery making (in Autumnal colours to mirror the weather), and cutting out things to sew tomorrow.

Vintage pudding basins listed in my shop - perfect for your Christmas puddings!!

I've been busy listing on Etsy again, having been inspired by yesterday's lovely stall holders. I thought I would try to get organised and on top of things before we go back to school as I will have much less spare time then. I'm moving up with the class I had last year to Year 4, which will be fun but hard work. I have a pile of things to sew in preparation for my next fair - on 8th September at Gloucester Folk Museum. It is organised by The Made Project and should be fun. Pop along if you are free (I hear there is a good tea room, just in case you need further persuasion!).

 

Normal service resumed!

Wow - it really has been ages since I last wrote a post. Before half term in June in fact. I always find the end of term a manically busy time, and this one was no exception - working in 2 classes means 2 school trips, 2 end of topic celebration days, 2 end of term clear ups. We even had the joys of an Ofsted visit 2 weeks before the end which sent everyone into overdrive. We did really well though, so we can relax for several years now!

So, school stuff out of the way, the holidays kicked off in style with Ruth's 10th birthday and the acquisition of a new member of the family - Brenda the Hamster. I have always said "Over my dead body" to requests for more pets, but Ruth has begged for over a year, and takes great care of Bob and Bernard her fish. She talks to them and never needs to be reminded to feed them, so we thought that 10 was probably a good age to be responsible for something furry! We are all in love with Brenda, and Andy has been caught chatting to her on his way past Ruth's bedroom door when he thought no one was listening. Grace decided to spend her birthday money on a cage and hamster too, so Beryl the Hamster moved in yesterday to join the menagerie.

Beryl!

Birthday celebrations included a trip to Giffords circus with grandparents, my sister and her husband and a family friend all the way from Canada. We had a pre-show picnic in the field despite being a bit chilly. I've mentioned Giffords before, but it has become an annual event with more and more family joining us each year. There is something for everyone and one of the best shows I have ever seen. I'd be off like a shot if they offered me a job (not sure what I could offer in terms of circus skills but I'd muck out the horses!).

The festivities continued with the girls going to my parents for a few days unaccompanied - one of their favourite holiday treats. I took advantage and went to stay with my sister and bro-in-law up in Newcastle, and had a good old girly time. Rach and I had a stall at Tynemouth Market on the Saturday which was great fun - so many dogs, people and comedy moments (not least us setting the stall up facing the wrong way - a definite blonde moment!).

Isn't it gorgeous? The station canopy has recently been refurbished and it is a great setting. So much fun (and so many sales!). This isn't my photo by the way - we were too busy! (Source)

A few days at home to get organised and we were off again - this time all together, to Southwold in Suffolk. I had never been to this part of the country, but suffice it to say I will be going back very soon. It had everything - sun, sand, pubs, Adnams beer, crabs, boats, beach huts, vintage shops, more pubs, ploughmans lunches, a pier, fish and chips. The only fly in the ointment (literally) was the number of mosquito bites I had on my legs - the size of 50p pieces, oozing poison. They've since gone down but I am still glad I favour the maxi dress more than the mini!

Please excuse the photos in this post - Andy is out and I can't find all the photos he downloaded after our holiday of Brenda, Giffords or holiday. I am hopeless at resizing etc so these will have to do for now. I wish I wasn't so computer illiterate!

I have some more fairs coming up, and Etsy sales still going well, so I am spending a few days making, photographing and listing, so watch this space. Hopefully it won't be quite so long until my next post.

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A Long Weekend of Celebrations

Well, the red, white and blue has been out in force in Cheltenham (and the rest of the country, of course). We entered into the celebrations starting with a whole school picnic on the field, accompanied by the school orchestra, with all the children (and staff) dressed in the colours de jour. I went the whole hog and even did my toenails in honour!

Bodie decided he was feeling left out of all the celebrations (not being invited to the school one) and joined in our own Sunday afternoon tea party by donning a very regal and fetching crown.

Saturday was the scene of the Pub Pop-Up Vintage Fair, which was the highlight of the weekend for me if I'm honest. I met some lovely people, listened to some amazing live music, ate a fabulous barbecued hot dog and sold tons of stuff! I was really pleased with my stall, and I sold a huge range of things from jewellery and hair grips to the Brexton Hamper in the middle of this picture. I have to say it was a wrench to let it go - I get really attached to things, but it went to a really lovely lady who was thrilled with it.

As a result of the fair I have lots of new ideas and projects in the offing, including more of these fairs in various other pubs around Cheltenham. I am itching to get stuck in, but I'll have to wait a few days before any new plans are made - I'm off to sunny (?!) Cornwall for a few days. I feel I've earned a rest!

I hope you are all recovering from over indulging in cakes and scones over the weekend. I made two of these cakes - one for staff at school and one for us at home, and I have to say it was a triumph! The recipe is from BBC Good Food and can easily be adapted for everyday eating by just plonking the fruit on anyhow!

Cathy XX

PS Please excuse the crummy nature of these photos - they were taken on my iPhone rather than my camera.