Ice cream

This was not done by following a recipe, it was kind of made up as I went along, but basically I made it because:

• I had some strawberries that needed eating/using up
• Using cream would have involved going to the shops 
• I remembered reading somewhere that bananas mushed and frozen make a good ice cream substitute. 

I liquidized the strawberries (I think about 300-350 g) and two bananas (the liquidized fruit came to just over a pint), added a teaspoon of vanilla essence and just over a tablespoon of yoghurt, stirred it well and then put it in the ice cream maker for it to do its thing. It could probably be made just as well without the yoghurt if you want a dairy-free version, or don't have yoghurt to hand. I just added it at the last minute because I remembered there was only a little bit left in the tub after breakfast, so I thought it might as well be used up..

And here's the result. Before it went in the freezer, I spooned it into individual tubs for portion-control purposes. I think I'll call it strawberry smoothie ice cream.

 My husband had the 'scrapings' from the ice cream maker and declared it tasted good - just don't tell him it's not real ice-cream or how healthy it is!

Where did February go?

I feel like I've blinked and missed February - I know it's the shortest month, but it seems to have zipped past incredibly fast this year!

Some projects I've finished in February:

Glittery socks - a friend sent me some glittery yarn she didn't want, so I turned it into socks ...

... and a couple of pairs of mittens

I finished the hoodie for Niecelet's first birthday

I knitted a couple of scarves

Okay, so three is more than a couple!

And I finished a throw I've been working on since some time last year.

I also spent an afternoon starting to get acquainted with my sewing machine. It was very exciting to sew two pieces of fabric together!

And then I played about a bit more and made this bag

I wouldn't want anyone to look too closely at the three rows of stitching around the top, as they aren't familiar with the word 'parallel', but it is a nice size for taking lunch etc to work and fits A4 paper in it, if I need to bring printouts home from work.

I've also sewn a bit more of my quilt, but I haven't taken a photo of that lately. 

So that was February (apart from tomorrow, of course). 

Put a patch on it

I was asked the other day how my hexagon quilt was progressing, so here's a photo. It is going slowly, because I'm easily distracted by other things - so much to do, so little time!

I've been shopping

I went past the Oxfam shop today and wanted to buy pretty much everything in their window display - it was full of sewing, knitting and crochet supplies. All things considered, I was pretty restrained and limited myself to three knitting, crochet & sewing magazines

and some bits of fabric that were grouped in bags at a bargain price.

Aren't they pretty?

The magazines are from 1968/1969 and I am going to enjoy looking through them. I may even make one or two things from them - although not the knitted bikini or the crocheted party dress. The fabric bits are not large, but big enough to provide me with some hexagons for my quilt and oddments for other projects.

Happy New Year!

2011 is here. I'm not really making resolutions, because I have ongoing things in my life that I want to change and carry on working at - some of which I may have mentioned in this blog. I do want to try to blog more, but I am aware how life can get in the way, so that is on a nice-to-do list rather than a resolution.

I managed to get all the Christmas presents finished in time, so didn't have to give this jumper with a sleeve missing.

And now on with 2011. Today I have baked cranberry muffins (or midi-muffins as I used ordinary cake cases for most of them), as when I went to the shops yesterday, cranberries were at a greatly reduced price :)

I have kept a few of these in a tin, but most of them have gone in the freezer bagged up in twos, so they are easy to grab for snacks/breakfast to take to work.

Wot no posts

I am still around and still making things. I've just not got enough time to stop making them and write about them. I'm currently wondering if it's acceptable to give a jumper for a Christmas present with a note attached saying "I O U one sleeve".

I am also in that state of uncertainty where I'm beginning to think nobody will like their home-made gifts and perhaps I should abandon them all and go to the shops and buy things (goodness knows what), like any "normal" person instead!

Making time

Life is always busy, but at this time of year in particular, there doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything, let alone enough time to stop and think.

I bought myself an Advent candle this year, partly because I love candles, partly because it is less calorific than a chocolate Advent calendar (and I shall get plenty more calories than I need from other sources this season) and partly because I dislike the commercialized advent calendars that most shops seem to sell these days (some places even just marketed as 'countdown calenders') that are basically an advertisement for whichever brand of chocolate is behind the doors.

The first day I lit it, I put on a Christmas CD and found myself sitting there letting the music wash over me from the first note of 'O Come O Come Emmanuel' to the end of the CD. (Okay, I'll admit that wasn't the first music I put on, but Wham's Last Christmas didn't quite have the same effect, so I opted for the CD after that!) So now each day, I am lighting the candle, sometimes with music, sometimes without, and using that time sit and be still, to pause whatever I've been doing (although my hands may be occupied, knitting or making cards if no brain-input is required as I find that helps me sit still and not jump up to do things), and to contemplate and pray. Not to think about the 253 things I want to get done in the next couple of days, or the person at work I need to email in the morning, but to take time out from the hustle and bustle and think about things that are important but that sometimes get pushed to the back of my mind due to lack of time. To contemplate the true meaning of Christmas, to think about friends and family who are in need or in ill health, to pray for those suffering, to ask myself the question 'can I help and how?'. Yes, my mind wanders from time to time; my attention span is not always great, but the flame there in front of me helps to bring my mind back to focus on what I want to be thinking about.

This is not something I have done in previous years (even when I've had a candle). But I am hoping it is something I can continue throughout this Advent and in Advent seasons to come. It may only take half an hour or so for the candle to burn down to the next mark, but I am discovering that that time can be the most important, the most precious, time of my day.