New potatoes, Old Potatoes, chicken chorizo stew….

What a scintillating post title huh?
(say it in the style of that old rhyme 1 potato, 2 potato and you're getting somewhere)

So what with the sunshine *audible gasp* appearing yesterday, and the sudden abatement of Mr Jim's illness (it didn't last) we took ourselves off to the allotment for a long overdue reckie.

And it didn't look too bad, actually. (must have been the sun, obscuring our view - I don't remember it looking so weed free last time I looked…)

Of course I wasn't actually prepared for this, so did not have any of the tools necessary to do any of the jobs I might have done if I'd have known there wasn't as much digging as I thought. (she rambles..)
So, I dug.

And look what I found!

Hmm. Last years 'new' potatoes. Is it wrong to dig up and eat Old New Potatoes almost a year after they were put in the ground?
Heck No.

And to prove it, we fine dined on one of the best 'leftover sunday dinner and surprise old new potato dishes' you'll taste.

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

Actually adapted from a good old netmums recipe… (particularly good when you don't have many fancy ingredients to hand and you want something easy!)

Leftover chicken from yesterday's lunch
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 large red onion
1 chorizo sausage ring, cut into chunks
450g potatoes (quartered new or old potatoes!)
Handful of pitted black olives
1-2 tsp cayenne chilli powder
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 pint chicken stock

In a large saucepan, fry the onion until soft and transparent, and add the chorizo chunks. When the chorizo juices start to run, add the chicken to the pan. 
If you are adding cayenne then pop it in now.
Finally, add the tomatoes, stock, tomato puree, garlic and potatoes.
Cover the pan and simmer on a low heat for about 20-30 mins depending on how small your potatoes were when you cut them. 
5 minutes towards the end of the cooking time add the black olives and give it a quick stir.

Serve with crusty bread (or sliced wholemeal if you don't have crusty to hand - it soaks up the juice just as well ;)

I've also made this as a risotto, when I haven't been in the position to dig up a glorious bounty of old new potatoes, and it tastes great too.

(However, I'd steer clear of worms if I were you….)

So, onwards into a new week, a February week, I wonder what's in store for us all? x

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Missing! (for a while at least...!)

Ah hello hello.

Indeed, I temporarily went missing in the latter half of last year!
Not actually you understand, but virtually, well bloggerly anyway.
I know, it happens, for whatever reason, and although not a week has gone by where I haven't felt a teeny bit of guilt for my lack of contribution, it was as easy to stop, as this evening it was easy to start again. So I guess I'll just come and go with the wind.
(Or hopefully when I've got something to share!)

And just in case you thought I haven't been up to much, (believe me I have, I promise) a little jolly artwork (unfinished of course) to say *hi* again....

I'll be back!
xx

Happy days..

Sunny days, peonies, and sketching. Good morning everyone! 

X

This week I'm mostly loving...

....this art from Clare Elsaesser.

I'm not normally a pink kinda gal, or a painting kinda gal, but the colour combinations and the mood of these really caught my eye.

I understand this kind of hiding - (behind pretty things) - it resonates with me. I have days like this.

I particularly like the 1st one, 'So Much', the stripey top appeals too.

You can see more of her work on her blog, and her etsy shop. 

x

Time flies

4 years ago today I held a brand new tiny 5lb 6 baby boy in his new home.
Today he's not quite so tiny, but he still feels brand new, every day he surprises me, makes me laugh and fills me with wonder.
I've just held his hand to help him to get off to sleep tonight. Today has been fun, and tiring.

Happy birthday little man x

That old chestnut...

So where does the time go?

It seems a hundred years ago we went to France. It seems a hundred years ago we came back!
I can barely remember it (except a beautiful beach, happy splashes in the pool and (of course) a few choice words exchanged when following a 'diversion' in downtown Rouen).
But yes, we did have a holiday, and we did return, I just decided I would like a little bit more of doing not much at all upon our return.
In reality this meant not much ipad/mac/pen/pencil but still much cooking/cleaning/shopping/school running.
Oh well.

Today was the boys long awaited school summer fair. Promises of sunshine, bouncy castles, face painting and candy floss. Hey, 3 out of 4 ain't bad. (you guessed it, no amount of parent volunteers could help run the sunshine stall today).
So after a damp day, a large piece of chocolate fudge cake and a cuppa I found myself thinking "ooh, i wonder what's been going on in the world of pinterest?" (as you do).
And there we have it, I'm back.

I came across this Buddha quote and found it to be rather apt, so wrote it up to share with you all.

Have a happy weekend. I look forward greatly to catching up with you all.

x 

Happy Holidays

We're off to France for half term.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine. Or at least a few degrees warmer than Blighty.

Whatever the weather though it'll be good to have a break, to escape the day to day, to see new things, eat good food, drink good wine (well, cheap, good wine) and be together.

Enjoy your week, whatever you're getting up to....

See you soon!
x

S'cat'urday Sketch

Am working on a little commission for a friends cat-mad daughter.
Loving the simplicity of this, although suspect I will have to bling it up a bit for the 9 year old in question!
Will post a pic of the final print at some point, but am considering this simple version for my etsy shop, as I already have had a few cat-a-holics asking for a copy.... if you're interested then please let me know too!

Happy weekends all

x

A bit of a tart...

Well, now that I've got your attention please let me explain, not that sort of a tart, but a bit of tart on top of a lot of cookie. Oh yes.

I wouldn't be any sort of a blogging friend if I didn't share this recipe with you all, because believe me these are lush. (whether you opt for the tart bit or not).

So way back in February our little rhubarb plant looked like this.

Cute, little and full of springtime promise. It certainly has delivered all it promised - and more.

So we are being inventive with recipes now - as much as I love a good crumble it's really only a pudding in our house, and these cookies? Well they can be eaten any time of the day, not just after a meal!! My very inventive title?
Rhubarb and white chocolate chunk cookies.
Descriptive non?!

Do try this at home (especially if you're experiencing an abundance of rhubarb) I find any fruit combo will work as it does add a lovely tartness to offset all that sweetness, but I guess you could also add nuts or dried fruit as well...the choice is yours. The not so secret ingredient to why these are so yum is the quantity of condensed milk they contain. Well, I didn't say they were good for you did I?!

 1 Cut up the 'barb into bitesize chunks cover with some sugar for 15 mins in the oven under foil.
 2 Get stuck in (now the time to bring in the little'uns) and mix that dough and that white chocolate!
 3 Flatten small chunks of dough into cookie shapes and press your rhubarb in the middle of each disc
 4 Pop in the oven for 25 mins and tuck in.

So this is my little version based upon our first try when we used raspberries and white chocolate. For the proper recipe instructions click the link!

And enjoy.

x

Sketch Time...!

This weeks inspiration came from Annie at knitsofacto - in response to my last few posts. Thanks Annie, these words really do say it all. Do check out Annie's blog if you haven't seen it, she's a very clever lady, always has wise words and lovely posts.

The poem goes on....

Dust if you must.
But there is not much time
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb!
Music to hear, and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must.
But the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes,
the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come round again.

Dust if you must.
But bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go, and go you must,
You, yourself, will make more dust.

...and is attributed to Mrs Rose Milligan from Lancaster. The poem was first published in the September 15th – 21st edition of The Lady (magazine) in 1998.

 One day I'll illustrate it all! (and nicely!)

What do you think of these wise words? Agree wholeheartledly or yearn for a tidy house? ; )

Happy weekends All.

x

Saturday sketch

Thank so much for your advice last week!
I have excelled this week in writing lists.
And on Monday and Tuesday I actually acheived what was written on said list!
It went a bit downhill from there, but hey it's a start.
And the above words are set to remind us all that even when you've got washing up to your ears and dust forming layers on your telly, don't forget to do the happy bits too.

And - the sun is shining so what's not to be happy about? ; )

x

On being an Organised Person

Morning All.

Been a bit quiet around here of late.

I'm having a bit of a lull me thinks, and I'm sort of understanding that this happens to me  occasionally, where I have to shut down a bit from the cyber world out there, collect my thoughts, do things without writing about them, draw things without posting them and get on with life I guess.

Not that I've actually done much to write about or drawn much to post because I have, I suppose, just been doing all the things I really should do all the time, but am not actually that good (read: rubbish) at doing.
I call this being an Organised Person.

I'm pretty frustrated that I'm so crap at being an Organised Person, because I reckon I did use to be pretty ok at being one a while back.
Then, for a time, I quite accepted that I tackled things as they came up, didn't have much of a diary on paper despite saying yes to doing pretty much everything (it was all stored in my head! when I remembered anyway) and got on with life in a sort of haphazard way.
It worked.
However, now, it seems, it does not work.
Increasingly I am rushing to do things, fit things in, forget things are happening and doing things twice because the first time it went wrong. And it's doing my head in!

I guess I need to get on with writing things down, more list making, prioritising, reading things PROPERLY and well, just knowing what I should be doing and when, but this seems like quite a difficult task in itself!

(It was easier when I 'Real Job and No Children' because that job was all I had to do, and not the other bits too. Or rather I did have to do the other bits too, but 'just' not the child bits which actually is what completely and utterly now is my reason for being.)

I love being at home, being my 'own boss' and especially not having anyone to tell me What To Do.
But in fact that is actually what I need.
This is an odd post for me and now I read through it a bit of a whinge, so perhaps I need to just stop feeling a bit sorry for myself and get on with getting organised.
But please, could somebody tell me how to do it?!



ps. My creativity has also stumbled a little this week. Inspiration came in the form of my jolly tesco's tulips. A Still Life Saturday Sketch this week folks! x

The Saturday Sketch

Hello friends.
We're up north for the last few days of the easter hols, so I have to admit I haven't been up to much sketching, but in true 'Blue Peter' style, here's one I made earlier... (and it was waiting for such a sunny Saturday to be posted in all it's glory!)

Wonderfully fitting words for today from a good friend of mine who has dabbled in a little songwriting and much guitar strumming in recent years. Thanks for the inspiration Tel!

Happy weekend all, hope to be back with more than just a sketch for you next week....back to school next week! xx

The Saturday Sketch

Can you believe it's still snowing?

This week, I've been mostly drinking tea.
That, and enduring outdoor school holiday 'fun' with the wind lashing my ankles and numbing my nose. Why is it that my children can play merrily in baltic temperatures 'sans' coat, whereas I have triple layer protection + big scarf + long gloves + hot beverage in cardboard cup, and I'm still freezing??!!!
Clearly I didn't go down the slide enough times or scoot with the wind behind me.
Oh well, at least I was the only one moaning!

Well, here's to a sunnier weekend, and guilty pleasure trip to Ikea. (Frames to be bought for a new print order - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)

Happy weekend x

The *slow* decorating movement....

Sadly, this is not my bedroom.

However, I am onto it. (as you know)

So far so good...

* Carpet chosen.

Thanks for all your comments I really very much appreciated them and they gave me good food for thought. In the end we stuck with the carpet idea rather than the wooden floor + rug idea and I found a lush colour that is very hard to describe but maybe 'seal' could be used... but  neither blue grey nor brown and *hopefully* perfect.

* New slate for hearth fitted today.

Thanks husband.

* Still to decide on bedding.

I really really want 100% linen but my wallet doesn't. Seen the Bodie & Fou bedding above? Yum. But £220 yum. So actually yum, but not yum.

Well, have seen a reasonable set in H&M and my virtual basket has been waiting for days for me to confirm the order but
a) I'm not that good at online shopping, my decision making process slows right down if offered time.
b) I'm dubious as to the quality and can't be bothered with the faff of sending it all back if it's rubbish.

Is this just lazy - should I just buy it - have any of you guys out there bought it and if so, is it nice and not like a scratchy new tea towel? Or is there a wonderfully cheap, wonderfully good quality 100% linen bedding company out there that I just don't know about? (wishful thinking I suspect!)

Happy weekend all x

ps I may just start a slow decorating movement (you know, like slow food? ) then I might just get away with quite how long it's taking me to finish this room of mine. x

The (Easter) Saturday Sketch...

..plus a bit of photo-editing to add some *sparkle* to our weekend!

Happy Easter everyone x

Reading the (wall)paper

Decorating a room means I am actually 'allowed' to spend (read:waste) time browsing online homeware stores in the hope I might come across something that's absolutely perfect for said new room that I can actually afford.
Well, the latter rarely happens, but I do tend to put in my all when it comes to the actual time spent waiting for it to happen.

I found this wallpaper today, from here
I like it, it's a bit quirky.

Its £128 a roll, so like I say, I'm still waiting for the stuff I can afford to pop up, but it would be great to liven up a dull corner.
(While I write this I am just thinking...my loft must be holding at least this amount of once read books so maybe I should just retrieve them from their darkness and stack them up in my dull corner..hey presto...what a saving!)

x

The Saturday Sketch #3 (and more)

Hello, hello.

How easily a week flies by!
So, can you guess what we've been up to this week?

Yep, inspired by Gillian's decorated start to the year, ( and my my hopelessly un-decorated bedroom for the past 10 years) I got cracking with some bedroom wall painting and dreaming of new duvet covers, prints and accessories for our little retreat.

I always think I quite like decorating.

However, I remember now, this is not strictly true.

 What I like is when its over.

And then the dreaming of nice this, nice that and nice the other can stop being dreaming and start, well, being.

I have already taken the bold step of choosing white, yes WHITE for the walls. I'm so lame!

This is so I can nick Gillian's idea of changing colour schemes when the mood takes me and it only involves swapping a few cushions and putting up a different picture - and not spending any of that 'big-ish' money. Top tip.

Yellow is up there too, a) because it is so cheery and b) because I already have a yellow eiderdown that is waiting to be unleashed into its full glory.

And undyed linen, as my headboard and curtains are staying (a lot of open weave ikea linen fabric went into making a valance, headboard cover and curtains and I"m not ready to replace all that effort on a sewing machine)

But the big decision now is choosing the flooring.

When we moved in we stripped the floor back to the original pine floorboards, and although I still love this look, the time has come for something a bit softer under foot.

But what colour carpet goes with white walls, natural linen curtains and a yellow bedspread?

('Natural' makes me nervous, because really it's just brown, and I'd like something a bit well, nicer than just brown.)

What would you choose? Have you seen any great pics that might work?

I'm really loving these prints from inaluxe and this Isa mountain range....and I'm thinking grey might be a good option....decisions, decisions...

Well, back to the painting. Woodwork now. Then the end is in sight. Hoorah!

Happy weekends to you all

x

The Saturday Sketch

I'm not sure I've ever posted 2 days in a row before, but committed as I am... here's your Saturday Sketch #2:

There's an empty wall in my bathroom, above the toilet.
I was inspired to fill it. (The wall, not the toilet.)
I'm liking this one!

Happy weekend to all, and thank you for all your lovely comments recently, they inspire me too, and are always a pleasure to read.
x

Writers block

It seems I am not alone in my recent brain-fug with regards to creating.

On a run-of-the-mill en masse nursery 'play-date' for Mr Jim at the local sweat-pit-that-is-a-soft-play-centre this week I discovered a fellow creative lurking within the plastic padded wall structure behind the curly-wurly slide.

She is writing a novel.

Or rather, not writing a novel -at the moment- as she awaits a flash of inspiration for 'the next bit'.


Aha, I said, I know that feeling! And I told her of my Saturday Sketch idea. I also pointed her in the direction of the lovely elephantine blog whose "Fiction Friday" might just inspire her in the same way.


We also decided that what was absolutely required was a meeting of 'creative minds' (!) at least once a week in the Waterstones cafe in town, where we would, well, drink coffee if nothing else, but hopefully inspire each other somehow too.


It was nice to meet someone new. Whose eyes lit up when I told her of quirky little ideas.


So when I came across this a-m-a-z-i-n-g typewriter on etsy yesterday, I immediately thought of her. 

Who could fail to be inspired to write if this was your preferred method?

(I know it inspires me to draw it...just look at those colours!)

xx

ps if you don't know Rachel's blog over at elephantine then do go and take a look, as well as the fiction she makes gorgeous jewellery and has wonderful taste when it comes to pinned images.