Guy Fawkes' Night

The annual celebration of Guy Fawkes' Night is one festival that I miss.  There is something magical about going out on a cold, dark evening to watch the ritual lighting of the bonfire complete with the effigy of Guy Fawkes after the dazzling firework display.

In my memory, I see the excited faces of the crowd, especially the children and remember crunching through the leaves walking to our local display.  Afterwards, we would return to the warmth and comfort of home, happy in having shared in the spectacle for another year.

For The Love Of Liberty

 

This latest sewing project was started a couple of weeks ago, but my busy schedule has prevented progress. 

 

I love these Liberty prints.  It is many years since I had a chance to visit the store, but I was fortunate to find the designs that I wanted online.  I won't share what I'm making just yet, but I hope to find time to complete these soon and than maybe I will post about them (or maybe not, if they end up as Christmas gifts).

The English Home

It is definitely a sign of Christmas approaching once December's magazines start to appear on the shelves.  The English Home is one that I only ever buy at this time of year, but I delight in reading about all those festive preparations and dream of the perfect family Christmas.

The approach of Christmas can be a difficult time for me, as it is when I miss my family the most and long to be with them.  Like many others who live in another country, I struggle with being such a huge distance from loved ones.

I try to make the best of Christmas and we do have some traditions from home which are comforting and reassuring rituals.  Baking the Christmas cake, Stir-Up Sunday when I make my Christmas puddings and Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge, to name a few.

I dream of returning home and having a big family gathering at Christmas.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this dream will come true.

Baby Steps

A recent project of mine was knitting a baby matinee jacket for a blogging friend, whose baby girl was born a few weeks ago.  I found this pattern online here.

I chose a pale lemon yarn and I enjoyed the process of knitting such a small garment.  It has been quite a while since I had a reason to knit for a baby.

This sweet pattern turned out well and I particularly like the diamond lace yoke detail and crown motif.  I know that the gift is appreciated and that once outgrown, this little matinee jacket will still be treasured.

NaBloPoMo 2015

November is here again and my thoughts have turned to NaBloPoMo.  The goal is to post every day for a month.  This is hugely challenging in a year when I've only managed to write 27 posts.  Life continues to be busy and very stressful.

I wrote last year that my motivation for undertaking NaBloPoMo was to find a purpose for my blogging and to stimulate the creative juices.  I suppose that this hasn't really changed.  What has changed is the amount of time that I have to dedicate to posting and reading blogs.  I am finding it increasingly difficult to participate in blogging because I have so little free time these days.

I hope to complete this challenge, but it is going to be a case of taking one day at a time.  There is no particular theme associated with NaBloPoMo in November, but I intend to write about the craft projects that I've been working on, as well as other subjects with which you will be familiar if you are a regular reader of this blog.  I hope that you will join me and visit to see how my online diary progresses.

Autumn

We are enjoying some late bloomers in our garden.  This hydrangea was very uninspiring earlier in the spring and summer, but now it is stunning, with huge blooms in pretty shades of pink and cream.

A Virginia Creeper is making its way up the chimney and the leaves are changing colour.

One or two flowers are still blooming happily in the garden, though with frost in the forecast, their days are likely numbered.

Cosmos Purity is a firm favourite, which I originally grew from seed and it popped up again this year after I transplanted some plants from our last garden.

Coreopsis Moonbeam has lovely yellow flowers which bring rays of sunshine to the garden, even on dull days.  

Sedum Autumn Joy really is a joy to behold.  I love the contrast between the bright green leaves and the pink of the flowers.

Hydrangea Little Lime is putting on a show too, with flowers that started off pale greenish-white and are now turning pink.

I'm enjoying all of these autumn flowers and I'm thankful that they have done so well, as the garden has been very neglected this summer.

Christmas Cake

I've never started baking my Christmas cakes this early, but I felt a need to do so this year.  I found myself drawn to the baking aisle of the supermarket and stocking up on dried fruit and marzipan.

There is something quite therapeutic about the mixing of the ingredients and the aroma of the essence and spices.

The disadvantage of moving house is that I'm now trying to become accustomed to a different oven. This cake baked faster than any that I've made in the past and I had already cut down the time to three hours when I set the timer.  It came out a little too brown around the edges, but it was ready in 3 hours and 5 minutes.

I'm certain that once it has been regularly fed with brandy over the coming weeks, it will be a very moist and flavourful Christmas treat.  

I drafted this post about a month ago, but did not get back to publish it.  I've baked two cakes as usual this year, but this is the first time that I made them in early September.