So What Do You Think About This?

One of my hot-water bottle covers needed to be replaced - it was a simple affair, but didn't cover the spout (that could be very hot) and had a cord to tighten around the neck, which wasn't easy to undo.
I thought through what I wanted.
A cover that was snuggly,
easy to remove for washing,
easy to use by leaving the bottle in when filling,
and not fiddly to make.
I came up with this:

Completely enclosed, brushed cotton for snuggly-ness (much nicer than an old blanket!), quilted with cotton batting and velcro for fastening.
It did take a bit of fiddling around, especially using the bias binding on the edges and through all the thicknesses. I probably didn't have a big enough eyed needle and it would occasionally skip stitches.

So, do you think that this is an idea to market?

I've Got Started ...

... on my re-worked Gallipoli quilt. I decided to remake a previous one, but using the same size limitations as with the Remarkable Symposium ANZAC Challenge - 1000mm x 600mm. I'm also trying to work on better design elements, but still using at least one new technique.
So here are the pieces so far:

 The letters spelling GALLIPOLI are in fabric I made printed with daisies. This represents the 'Daisy Patch', a patch of land that the ANZAC soldiers had to crawl across at Cape Helles.

This is the cover of the first ANZAC news bulletin that the soldiers designed in London, after leaving Gallipoli.

A sketch of the landing plan for 25th April 1915.

Having a cuppa was a treat for the soldiers.
I now have to figure out what I'm going to use as 'sashings' for these blocks that will keep them coherent. Plus, there are a couple more blocks to sort out.
As I go I also want to decide on the quilting for each and this will help to get it finished sooner.

More Saturday Snapshots

We had a hefty frost this morning. Chloe loves to get out there and roll in the grass:

The wattles are in flower - great colour for this time of the year, but not good for asthma:

And here's Molly, the constant mouser:

Enjoy!

The Weather Made Me Do It!

Yes, I know that it's winter, but I'm tired of all the rain! Thunderstorms and torrential rain today.
Yesterday at work I was processing a new book Untamed: the extraordinary adventures of the Swazi man by Davey Hughes.
I found his recipe for Never Fail Camp-oven Bread, and today was the kind of day you had to have bread rising in the hot water cupboard and then baking in the oven.
So here we are, mmm! mmm! :


just out of the oven



can you see the steam rising? how about smell it?

The texture looks OK. I was a little worried because there seemed to be a lot of sugar, but this just needs butter (and it is great!).
I'm going to include Davey's recipe, just in case you can't get hold of the book. So from page 288:
Never-fail Camp-oven Bread
6 handfuls plain flour
6 cupped hands sugar
2 cupped hands yeast
1 cupped hand salt
warm (not hot) water

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Bind with warm water.
Knead dough for 5 minutes
Shape dough to fit camp oven allowing for expansion around the sides. If you are cooking around a camp fire, Davey says about 15cm away and give it a 1/4 turn every 10 minutes for 40 minutes total (lid on).
(I put this in the hot water cupboard or if yours isn't very warm, the lowest heat in your oven, like 70deg celsius).
If it has risen, hang the camp oven about 20cm from the top of the coals (approx. 150 celsius heat) and bake for 45 minutes.
As you can see the measurements are very loose!
Davey says: " Six handfuls are just that, about as much flour as you can fit in your hand." A cupped hand is "as if you were using it to hold water to drink, filling it to the first crease of your fingers."

Just as an aside from bread making, I think that this book also promises to be an entertaining and informative read - that's just from the little bits I've read (and I'm not a hunting, trapping, adrenalin-junkie type of person!)

Cake Decorating

Rebecca and I went to a cake decorating display at The Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt at the weekend. Mostly it was the sugar decorations, and I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with the work on display - it was very hard to tell if it was sugar or silk in some cases - but the criteria for each section indicated what was/wasn't allowed.
Here is my favourite:

simple, elegant and beautifully decorated.
Now this one was in a different category, but impressed me because the size, work, and colour (I don't necessarily like it, but you have to admit, it's a work of art!):

Lastly, this one was made for eating - definitely not a work of art and not in the show! A gluten-free citrus cake for Sarah's birthday. It has citrus icing with crystallized peel - I didn't know how to decorate it really, plus it had to travel and as it was, it did take a tumble!

The recipe comes from Clevedon Cafe, I got the recipe from the New Zealand Chef site and halved it. Very yummy, quite dense and doesn't need to be iced (if it comes out of the pan OK).

Feed The Birds ...

.. that what she cries!

It's not often that the birds are lucky enough to eat what I throw out for them (Chloe usually finds it first and makes short work of it), but I managed to sneak up to get a shot of this family feeding on the bread.

I figure that feeding them occasionally, keeps me in good stead. At least I won't get dive bombed during spring!

Saturday Snapshots

my 'new' shoes

the fun soles

the daffodils are 4 - 6 weeks early!

this is such a gorgeous red!

kowhai flower buds

Enjoy!