A Teacup’s Tale, part 2

A few months ago, I began the story of my first china teacup purchase, made during my impoverished student years. Sadly, a crack developed and the cup could no longer be used to serve tea. Sentimentally, I wasn’t ready to trash it.

Receiving inspiration and instruction from one of my favourite Youtube persons, Debbie Shore, I decided to re-purpose this cup and saucer and turn it into a very useful “pin cushion”.

This is how to make one:

In addition to the cup and saucer,  these materials and supplies are needed:

a piece of cotton fabric, needle and thread,  a generous handful of stuffing material (I used kapok), scissors, hot glue gun and glue, trim

Cut the fabric into a circle, about 26 cm diameter. Thread the needle and sew a running stitch about 10 mm from the edge of the circle. Pull up the thread to gather the circle into a ball,  stuffing it as you go. Pull both ends of the thread and tie together. (The ball should be stuffed quite firmly).

Run a line of hot glue around the inside of the cup:

and adhere the fabric ball to the top of the teacup, placing the stitched side down.

Next, run a generous amount of hot glue around the depression in the saucer and adhere the teacup to it.

Finally, using more hot glue, apply the trim to the  bottom of the teacup where it joins the saucer. This hides any glue that may have oozed out. 

This has to be my very favourite pin cushion, ever! I love how it sits firmly on my sewing table and looks so pretty, too!

And that’s the rest of the story.

 

A Currant Event

This story had its beginnings many years ago when, as a child, I went with my parents to my great uncle’s farm to pick currants – both black and red. I remember being told that the black ones were to be picked individually. It was easier to pick the red ones because  they could be picked with their stems attached. I’m not sure how much I helped filling the baskets but it is a fond memory and I have loved black and red currant berries ever since.

Three years ago a DF gave us three black currant bushes to plant. I knew not to expect any fruit the first two years, so it was exciting to discover tiny green blossoms on the plants this spring and even more exciting was the fact that bees were buzzing from flowers to flower. Over the weeks since I have checked the progress of our very first currant crop, watching the berries turn from green to red to black. Finally, it was time to pick. Under the blazing July sun I sat at each bush and carefully picked the fruit sampling the odd one or two. 

When I had finished I’d managed to half fill a 3L basket – not bad for a first crop.

Black Currant Syrup

300g black currants

125 ml raw honey

150 ml water

juice from 1/2 lemon

Wash the black currants and remove any green stems that may still be attached.

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook very gently over a low heat for two hours.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth, and suspend the sieve over a large enough pan to contain the  juice.  Pour the cooked berries into the cheesecloth and allow them to drip overnight:

The next day pour the strained syrup into a sterilized jar and store in the refrigerator.

This yielded 250ml of syrup, (and about an equal amount of mashed berries):

Enjoy the syrup as a refreshing cordial: add a  large spoonful to sparkling water and ice.

The mashed berries: well I plan to mix a generous spoonful with my favourite unflavoured yogurt.

Black currants are an excellent source of vitamin C –  better than oranges!

Loving Lavender

The other night DH and I were watching an episode of Downton Abbey. One of the  characters, (Daisy), was busy in the kitchen stripping the dried flowers from lavender stems. She mentioned that the flowers were going to be made into sachets which would then be used to scent clothing and linen cupboards. Lavender scent famously repels moths as well.

It was a long, cold winter and I worried that my English lavender plants would be killed off. Happily all three survived, are in full bloom, fragrant and abuzz with wild bees.

Feeling confident about their ability to thrive in our less than optimal growing conditions I thought I’d try an experiment to see if I could propogate lavender from stem cuttings. I found abundant  information on the internet  with directions to do this.

The first step was to take a few woody stem cuttings using a very sharp knife:

After stripping the leaves from the bottom 5 cm and removing the flower from the top end I dipped the bottom end into root stimulator; natural unpasteurized honey.

I had prepared a clay pot ahead of time by soaking it overnight in water. When I was ready to take the cuttings I filled the pot with potting soil.

The prepared cuttings were then inserted into the soil, evenly spaced around the edges of the pot.

Finally, I enclosed the entire pot in a clear plastic bag and placed the pot in a bright window.

 

Only time will tell whether my experiment is successful.

Canada Day 2018

Happy Canada Day (July 1st) to everyone, whether Canadian or not.

The weather here is promising to be extremely hot and humid – a good day to get outdoor chores done early and head inside before the sun gets high in the sky.

The hiatus I took from writing this blog lasted much longer than intended, so now I have tons of catching up to do. It won’t be in any particular order.

Canada belongs to the British Commonwealth and  Queen Elizabeth is our head of state. Therefore, the wedding of her grandson, Prince Harry to Megan Markle was an occasion to celebrate. Having watched every one of the televised royal weddings in my lifetime, beginning with Princess Margaret’s to Anthony Armstrong Jones, I soberly realized that this one could be the last on television for many years.

Television coverage began  locally at 4:00 a.m. which meant rising early. A few days before, I planned an “afternoon tea” to celebrate  the wedding. For some strange reason, anyone I invited to join us at 4:00 in the morning declined. Alas it would be tea for DH (my dear husband) and me.

 

Our lilacs were at their best and very abundant this year and I didn’t mind cutting a few branches to decorate the living room. China teacups and tea service were set on the tea trolley.

 

Egg salad sandwiches, fresh baked scones, lemon curd  and strawberry meringues with whipped cream made up the menu. 

Fashion for watching the wedding on television: I wore coral coloured satin pyjamas,  and for fun, (since it was required of the wedding guests), a hat; DH was dressed in lounge pants and oversized tee- shirt. What a fashionable couple we were!

 

When the lovely ceremony finished, we toasted the couple with champagne and enjoyed our tea.