Mmmmmmmm food

Well the weather has turned really cold and we have been doing a lot of staying in and cooking. Tonight we are having Sprats, (I mistakenly called them sardines at the fish shop today and the fish monger corrected me saying sardines are MUCH bigger...) the cheapest, most delicious and freshest fish one can find in this neck o' the woods with crispy chunks of potato and steamed asparagus. Just look at these little beauties.

On Tuesday night we had oxtail which Ricardo had made on the weekend and had cooked for about 5 hours, it was absolutely delicious. Beforehand he'd dressed a crab (cute hat & scarf) to have as an entrée....I don't really like crab that much, it looked good though and took ages to do, no wonder dressed crab is so expensive. I made Tart Tatin for dessert on Saturday night, which actually worked a treat. Made for a great breakfast on Sunday morning too with some unpasteurised cream we'd bought at a farmers market nearby at South Lopham.

Richard's post

You may not know that Ricardo the Magnificent is a keen Bellringer.

He passed a milestone recently at the huge Church at North Lopham built in 1526. A quarter peal is kind of like your first public performance in the Bell ringing world. It usually goes for around 45 minutes and takes a lot of skill and concentration. He rang on what's called an "inside" bell.

Dawn Pullan, the Ringing Master of the Southern Branch of the Norwich Diocesan association of bellringers (to give you her full title) said he was like a dog with 2 tails afterwards.

He's also been very busy making a kitchen for friends who live nearby. The photos are taken on his mobile and are unfortunately pretty bad. But you get the jist. The bechtops are all made of Iroko and very glamorous indeed. I'd kill for a kitchen like this.

Before.....with the new old oak beam that had to be put in above the stove opening.

And after...complete with flowers

Fame!!! No fortune ....yet

Ages ago I had a foray into the world of promotion at a thing called Image Loft it was fun at the time but I didn't think anything would come of it and I couldn't really afford the monthly fee to keep it going. I was featured in their orange crush summer promotion and started to realise maybe people out there might actually like my stuff.
I sold the featured orange striped cushion to a lovely girl in Guernsey. Somehow it's always more exciting when a complete stranger buys one of my cushions. She emailed to say thanks when she received the cushion and said she'd bought it after seeing it in their local GBG magazine. Seems that Image Loft was working behind the scenes after all. Here's a picture of the said cushion (click on it & you'll see it a bit bigger)

After this small success, I wrote a press release and put it up on Image Loft too and some more came of that. Now with a head grown newly large, I sent an email to the Norfolk Magazine They emailed a polite letter saying thank you we'll keep you in mind for forthcoming editions...(Don't call us, we'll call you). Then last Thursday they rang and said could they borrow 6 or 7 cushions for a photo shoot for the January edition...It works, it works. Now all I have to do is get my Conde Naste connections working!!!

Deer oh deer

This morning on my B.O.S bike ride I saw not one, not three but thirteen deer cross the road right in front of me. Any faster on that speedy machine & I’d have hoof prints on my high visibilty jacket. No photos unfortunately as I lacked a camera at the time.

Lovely Autumn weekend

We had the loveliest weekend. We'd both been sick with colds through the week so Richard decided to have a day off doing boat work on Saturday and we just goofed off. Not only Saturday but Sunday too. It was sunny & still, the perfect Autumn day. We went to Lopham Fen our favourite little haven of peace.
Here's Ricardo doing a spot of birdwatching...
No binoculars needed here because there weren't any birds. I don't know where they'd all gone, maybe to Australia to escape the coming winter. There were a few dragonflies about and three Blue tits at the end of the walk, prompting Ricardo to say quite innocently, "I love Tits".... Very peaceful though with the just the wind in the reed beds.
Somebody was meant to have a haircut on Sunday at Clarissa's so I took a last photo of the "Lucky curls". Alas though Clarry was busy & the curls are staying another week or so.
I'd kill for hair like this.
On Sunday afternoon, we went for a drive to a place called Horsey and a long walk along the beach. This area is famous for it's seals that come up onto the beach in Winter with their babies. I didn't think we'd see any but sure enough as we walked along seals kept bobbing their heads up amongst the waves. They're such wonderful creatures. So curious and sweet. Was it us watching them or them watching us?

Golden bolster

I just finished a lovely commission for a friend Jan.
It's her Mother & Father's golden wedding anniversary and she wanted a gold and white cushion.
Betty & Rod Wood, Jan's parents are two of the nicest people you could ever meet. Sometimes when I'm singing earnestly in choir at Church, I see them canoodling & giggling with each other. If my relationship could be half as good in 45 years time I'd be very happy. So it's nice to make something that I know will be part of their happy home for a long time to come.

It has cream silk Damask on the ends which is from Sudbury silk mills. The Mother of pearl buttons are antique and from a tiny button shop in Montmartre in Paris . The beautiful silk satin central panel is from an antique altar cloth I found in Walsingham. I think it’s Victorian but could be older with it’s unusual gold leaf & grape shaped sequins. The gold damask piping is from a small piece of silk that I had left after making a cope for David Hill. It's filled with feathers & is nicely squishy.