Sweet Mary

On a wet day the different shades of green in the garden are highlighted by the rain and seem to shimmer... my eyes are drawn to it throughout the day. It makes me dreamy and thoughtful. I am not keen on the very hot days we have had recently here in Hawkes Bay so these few days of rain are much enjoyed before the heat returns. More colour to feast on in the form of Amy Butler fabric pieces that have arrived very promptly from here along with a charm pack of Tilda fabric by designer Tone Finnanger . With the cooler weather I have been able to complete my summer project ( a secret for the meantime) and also list a few items in my Felt shop and Etsy shop. Either click on those words to take you there or use the links on the right side of this blog. I have also updated the look of my blog with the help of my multi-talented daughter and very pleased with the look so far, with just one or two improvements yet to be made.

Look at the beautiful foccaccia bread and rustic rolls that my daughter made for us yesterday! She used the Basic Bread Recipe from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef. Using Jamie's recipe was not a surprise as said daughter just loves Jamie.

I am easing in slowly to this new year of 2011- hope its a good one for you all. Since my last post before Christmas my time has been spent totally immersed in family time. We had visitors for Christmas including our daughter as the BIG bonus, home, just in time for the 25th. All the way from London but via Manchester to make sure she got a flight out of the UK after terrible weather had closed Heathrow airport. After the initial flurry and excitement we have settled into mooching about quite happily. Lots of baking has been done and as I write this I am awaiting home baked bread from the oven. Since leaving home and coming back again our daughter has surprisingly turned into quite an impressive cook. The above photo was taken a few days ago at the end of a very hot day - I think the temperature hit 33 celcius. A nearly finished bottle of home-made elderflower cordial, plums just bought from the local organic roadside stall, an empty punnet of strawberries, the last of the sweet peas,...