New puppy!

Not for me -  but my great friend A had this beautiful little bundle of joy for her birthday! As she had been talking for some time about her love for a little grey whippet, I was taken by surprise when I arrived to see this adorable little black puppy. However, I had planned my present which involved grey!!

Recently I have seen many cushions with animals like deer, foxes, dogs etc made out of a sort of patchwork background of tweed and velvet with the animal shape cut out of materials and appliquéd or free machined on the top - there were some examples on the front cover of Country Homes and Interiors magazine this month (October edition) - so I thought I would try my take on this, using the idea for inspiration.

As I knew A would be having her whippet, I decided to make her a cushion featuring a 'grey' whippet. Not having seen the little creature I looked on the internet for photo inspiration of whippets, then put together my best bet for what the puppy might look like and drew it out onto tracing paper, so that I could cut out the various shapes. I had some thick stripy cotton with blues grey and yellow that I used for my background, and laid various combinations of materials on top till I decided which to go with....

should I use red flowers and spots?

or blue flowers and spots? - I liked the spotty bib, and the pinky inner ear and grey face .....

....... in the end I went for grey stripes. I machined the shapes on very carefully and added some features to try and give the puppy a little character. I had practiced my free machine appliqué, but didn't have the nerve to actually try it on the cushion as I was all over the place with it! Then I added a patchwork strip onto either side.

For the backing, I used a yellow/grey stripy cotton - usually I make an envelope and add buttons as a closure on cushions, but I tried a new technique with a hidden zip. I found a very useful tutorial here. After making some bias binding I put my cushion together...

.... and here it is!

I was wrapping it up - and thought something didn't quite look right - I had forgotten whiskers!!!  so had to quickly add some.

He is such a cute little puppy, and growing so quickly!

BBQ and Tomatoes

We had our first BBQ of the year on June 1st, and have probably just had out last for this year this evening. We have had a really lovely warm sunny day today, so on the spur of the moment we thought we would have a BBQ for supper tonight.

 I was sitting waiting for the sun to go down to catch the sunset - but my stomach called so have missed it at its best!

 We have had a good crop of veg from the garden this year - lots of courgettes, french beans, broad beans etc. However, I think I planted my tomato seeds a little late - as although they have grown well and lots of tomatoes have formed they are still looking rather green. I'm hoping the recent warm spell will just push them into ripening - or else I will be making lots of green tomato chutney this year!

I tried two varieties - a small plum shaped one ( I can't remember the name of it) and also tried to grow the big beef type tomatoes that we love to eat in France. I think I bought these seeds from the Eden Project when I visited, and have grown them in the greenhouse where they have actually done very well....

.... we just need a little more sunshine so they will ripen.

French Alps part 2

Now for part 2 of my French Alps adventure.....
Day four, probably the hottest day of the holiday, we set off to visit Annecy and the lake. Such a beautiful town. When we arrived the market was in full swing, so we wandered around looking at the fruit and veg - I bought a string of garlic to bring home! It was so hot - 36 degrees, with no breeze at all.

Palais de l'Isle on the Thiou Canal

beautiful geraniums

We had crepes for lunch sitting under the shade of an umbrella at a side walk cafe, and then went to buy biscuits at the biscuit shop 'La Cure Gourmande' which is a magical shop piled high with the most yummy handmade biscuits and sweets. You can buy a tin from a selection and fill it with your choice, and you just pay by weight.

Then a stroll down to the lake

Lake Annecy

boats along the canal taken from Pont des Amours

Then we set off back home, but took a very scenic route right along the length of the lake - beautiful. 

Day five, and back in the saddle again. This time we cycled from Praz de Lys and headed up the mountain, instead of down like before. Again Richard drove down to the valley and parked the car for our return, then he cycled back up the mountain before we all set off together, joined by another friend from the apartments Jean. Uphill straight away! but only for about 3k, again I cycled and walked my way to the top, then it was miles of glorious downhill. I'm so glad I had my bike brakes overhauled before we left for France!! It was great, the warm air rushing by as we cycled through little hamlets, passed a lake, through a tunnel (very James Bond) all the way to the valley bottom at Mieussy, then along the main road to Taninges. Here, after a quick look around the weekly market as it was all packing up, we had a well deserved drink in a little cafe bar before heading back up the mountain in the car! The rest of the day we were cooking and getting ready for a BBQ that Catherine and Richard were hosting for friends at the apartments that evening. Good food, good chat and wonderful views of Mont Blanc with the sun just setting.

The next day, was a walking day. On the skyline looking out from Praz de Lys there is a huge cross, called the Pic de Marcelly, it is on the top of a steep ridge that can be walked from the village in a circular route. Again another very hot day, but we set off earlish to try and avoid the midday heat. We walked through the village and passed banks of beautiful lupins in gardens and growing wild in the meadows.

Then we started climbing up walking through some shady woods, listening to the sounds of the cowbells drifting up from below in the valley.

Then out of the shade, onto the ridge. This was our destination, it was getting closer and the path was getting steeper!

but we got to the top. The cross at the top is huge, and the view is magnificent!

This is looking back down along the ridge where we had walked up, with Mont Blanc in the hazy distance.....

....... and this is a little further down the path from the cross looking forward along the route we were taking back down to the village again.

My last full day, and we decided to go into Samoens again. Right in the centre of the town is an alpine botanical garden which hugs the side of the mountain. The garden is quite small, and the path is steep as it winds its way from the town some 80m up. It was set up in 1908, and since 1936 has been run by the Natural History Museum in Paris, with a research centre in the gardens. Apparently there are some 5000 varieties of alpine plants from around the world,

At the top is a sitting/viewing area which give fantastic views over the town. We had a look around the interpretation centre by the entrance, which had artifacts and old photographs of the gardens when it was being built and developed.

Then the next day was home for me, Catherine and Richard drove me to Geneva to catch my flight. It was the first time that we had had rain all week during the day, how lucky we had been with the weather. I was dropped at the airport, and Catherine and Richard waited for their daughter to arrive on a flight as she was spending the next few days with them.

I had a brilliant week away - a big thank you to my dear friends.

Jam marathon

The last few days have been a frenzy of jam making. The Victoria plums were all ripe and ready to be picked, the blackberries in the lane are still ripening so there are still lots around, and the crab apple tree is so heavy with fruit that I'm wondering if the branches will hold!

So the house has been a enveloped in the warm cosy aroma of fruit cooking and jam and jelly making.

At the moment we have made:

20 jars of victoria plum jam

12 jars of crab apple jelly

6 jars of blackberry jelly

Thats a total of 38 jars!!

Still with lots of crab apples to come from the tree!

I also tried making some blackberry chutney as suggested by C-C-C, I only made a small amount just to try it out....

.... and taste with homemade bread and cheddar cheese. Mmmm, pretty good - will wait for it to mellow a little.

Happy days :-)

Present for a 21st birthday!

This present was a little overdue. It is a 21st Birthday present for our great friends daughter, our children were at school together and grew up together, and it is lovely how they are all still good friends even though they are now all away from home making their way in life. We went to the party back in June, but somehow it has taken me two months to get the present finished.

I had the fabric, I had the ideas, I had the items to go in the basket - but it seemed to take ages to for the ideas to become reality. I wanted to use a fabric that could be wiped down, but one that wasn't too stiff and eventually found some Tilda (i think) laminated fabric. I also wanted to insulate the basket, to help keep things cool or hot so used some Insul-Bright as a middle layer with an outer layer of cotton. I made a pattern, which was quite tricky as the centre of the long sides arches slightly, and each side angles out slightly - so the dimensions had to be exact. I also found out later that using laminated fabric means that you cannot afford to make a mistake or else little puncture marks are left in the fabric!

I wanted to add a flap over the edge of the basket to help keep the liner in place with a bow. Again the flap measurements were awkward because of the arch in the basket, and the fact I wanted a straight line of fabric around the outside of the basket - not following the arch, if you see what I mean. Anyhow, here I am with all the layers together - laminated fabric, flap, insulated wadding, and lining - all pegged up and waiting to be machined around the top.

Top tip: when using laminated fabric, to avoid making creases in the fabric I rolled it around one of those tubes plumbers put around pipes.

I then made two insulated covers for the basket lid flaps, two lengths of material for the bows and a matching cutlery roll. Then filled the basket with picnic plates, bowls, etc and a lovely book 'The Picnic Cookbook' by Annie Bell .....

...... and finally H had her present! Congratulations on being 21 (belated)

....... and just a reminder of the magical party in the barn.