Snowdrops

Aren't these lovely?

Some signs went up last week for a 'snowdrop walk' at Keswick Old Hall, which is just about walkable from our house. We had guests to stay over the weekend so we didn't really plan to be able to get there. But we found ourselves with the opportunity so we pulled on our boots (still with clods of murmurating mud stuck to them) and wandered out, arriving 5 minutes before they packed up their slices of cake and went home.

The Hall itself is beautiful and with a great history all intertwined with the big Norfolk families, particularly the Gurneys. There was all kinds of sueing for causing things like 'emotional estrangement from wife'. Brilliant.

The chap who owns it now opens it for the snowdrop walk every year for charity, this year was St Johns Ambulance. The gardens go down into the woods by the river and were absolutely chock full of snowdrops - really, really beautiful. Despite our late arrival, we were made really welcome and followed a very well worn trail so there had obviously been plenty of people there during the day.

There were also tea and cakes and, being late, we helped them use up what was left... HUGE slices of coffee cake and chocolate cake, shortly followed by the need to walk the long way home to burn of a few of the calories.

Overal, it was a great reminder that you don't have to go far or make complicated plans to find something lovely . Hope you all had a lovely weekend too :-)

This has been an exciting week in the world of says alice...

I have finally made good on my threats and set up a little shop on Folksy. I know it is only a success after I have made a few sales and a bit of a reputation for great quality work and service, but just getting it up and running feels like a great leap forward.

I have made four different strings of mini-bunting to stock it with to start with. The royal wedding bunting has gone on (pictured here), and some greens and blues and reds. It's mini bunting so it is designed to fit mantle pieces and shelves, but, if I do say so myself, very cute indeed :-)

Check me out at www.folksy.com/shops/saysalice

Watch out, I'll be on Dragon's Den next!

Getting in line

You can always tell when I have been on a sewing roll, because my pins get all lined up in an orderly file.

This means I have been using them all at once, run everything through the machine in a batch and got into a real rhythm of putting them away in the tub next to the machine.

I have developed a real preference for these pins as well, probably because a lot of the fabric I have been using lately is patterned and the little metal pins blend in far too easily. These coloured pins were the cheapest of the cheap from IKEA and (now all the blunt ones have been weeded out) they are the ones I always grab out of the sewing box.

The sewing blitz is because of the plans for the new folksy shop that I hope to get up and running in the next few weeks. The bunting is now all stocked up and I have a few other things coming together as well. Only a half day to work on it today so I'll do some cutting out I think.

Hope all is well out in the blogosphere. Hope your pins aren't as OCD as mine!

New year? Where did it go?

Well, that wasn't exactly the way to start a blogging good 2011. Middle of January and no updates at all. Shocker.

Luckily the sewing hasn't been quite so sporadic. I have made a pair of cotbed duvet covers and pillowcases which took have hopefully eased the work of the dummy fairy, as well as a draught excluder and a couple of leftover strings of bunting.

The draught excuder is (badly) pictured to the left. It is double sided (check on the outside and floral inside) and has a tube lining that is held in by ribbon bows at each end. The idea is that it is easy to post and also to stuff. It works on our landing so I'll get a couple more done for the launch of the new Folksy shop in the next few weeks.

Next up is a doorstop design that I dreamt up over Christmas. I'm all about adaptability at the moment and hopefully this idea will make it possible to use a variety of stuffings and weights. Let's hope it comes together without too many tweaks.

What I am not telling you is that I have just made my worst set up muffins ever. They were supposed to be diabetic friendly, but the only thing they did really successfully was prove how essential butter, eggs and sugar are to cakes. Bicarb of soda might make a cake look OK, but the flavour just isn't there. At all.

Lesson learned...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is now very nearly here and the season of plenty has well and truly arrived. We still have a pretty decent dusting of snow so as long as it stays cold we look set to have a crisp white day, which would be lovely.

The snow has been less beautiful when it has been in the way though and it very nearly caused us to have to spend Christmas in Oxford. The road there was some of the worst driving I have ever had to do, with the option of turning around blocked by skidding lorries and fishtailing cars. While a Christmas away would have been lots of fun in many ways, it would have left a lot of our Norwich family with no Christmas dinner. And I would have had to find a way to use up a large bag of cranberries and a half hundred weight of sprouts in January!

Now we are home safely, it is just left to say Merry Christmas to everyone and to wish you all a fantastic New Year.

Oh, and I nearly forgot the pic. I'm sure it doesn't do it justice, but I love the shadows on the wall made by the twinkling lights on the tree. It's like the winter version of water ripples reflecting the summer sun. Except a bit chillier.

Have a wonderful weekend!

What's under the Christmas tree?

We were scrolling through our pictures from last Christmas and this popped up. Jester loves the outside coming inside and always make a beeline for a great vantage point under the tree.

Last year he even stayed still long enough for me to take a picture of him, even though I have managed to make Santa sit on his ear.

Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas preparations. It has well and truly arrived here, with the cake decorating done, the fairy lights twinkling away and the tree making the house smell amazing.

Today the season of plenty will be reinforced by the first batch of homemade mince pies, a ginger cake, wreath making, present wrapping and a curry for tea. Well, you can peak too soon!

I should also say thanks to everyone who ordered some of the Christmas bunting. I have been busily sending strings out all over the country which has been lovely and a great stepping stone towards getting a bigger range of things organised for the Spring. It feels like a challenge, but one which I am now really looking forward to.

This time last year I was halfway through serving my notice at work, considering what I was going to do with my new-found independence. Ooooh, I can feel a review of the year coming on....

Mrs Tiggywinkle comes to visit

Look who we found!

This little lady had curled up in one of our many piles of oak leaves - buried right at the heart of a huge drift outside our back door, but sadly right in the way of our delivery of firewood.

The poor sleepy thing had to be moved but luckily we have plenty of piles of leaves to choose from and hopefully she was just as snug under the hedge.

I have been watching out for hedgehogs in the area as we keep hearing that they are getting rarer so it is particularly nice to have one right outside out door.

In other news, the mincemeat is made and lined up ready to be distributed. It made the house smell amazing so lets hope it tastes just as good in mince pies! I have also been wrapping up a few 'says alice' purchases to send out, so it feels like the festivities are just around the corner.

And then... there was snow :-)

It's christmas cake o'clock

Well, the 2010 christmas cake has lift off...

The fruit is marinading, the butter is softening as I type, the spices are lined up ready to go and the brandy is, well, staying in the cupboard. The reason for that is the cake is a trial run for a wedding cake I will be baking next year and alcohol free is an option. Nut free definitely, alcohol free possibly. So we'll see how this one tastes.

I have also got a lot of mincemeat to make, which means a trip to the lovely farm shop up the road. I'm using a recipe from the River Cottage Preserves book, which uses Russet apples. I know there are lots of Russet trees on the farm so I'm hoping to get a bag of East Anglia's finest. The trick is to stick to getting the apples and to avoid coming home with a sack of spuds, ton of onions, pile of pumpkins, crate of cabbages.... you get the picture. It's far too good a shop.

I think it is something to do with the colder months - the instinct to stock up takes over. Until the freezer lid closes first time, every time, I must resist!

Holiday update

We have just returned from a fantastic week in Cornwall, rescheduled at the very last minute when our intended holiday in northern France was cancelled due to the strikes. You need petrol to drive across France unfortunately...

On the up side, we got a wonderful cottage at the last minute on Lizard point and got the opportunity to have a look around a very beautiful county. The pic is from Perrenporth beach at sunset. It got properly rosy and orange a few minutes after I took this, but I like the dog. It isn't ours, it was just very happy to be on the beach and in our photo!

We can recommend the fishing villages, stone circles, art galleries (the Tate in St Ives of course), the pasties, cream teas and the sea views. If anyone can recommend a good post-Cornwall diet, I'd be grateful!

Now we are home and getting back into the normal routine. I have a few sewing projects with a very fixed deadline of Christmas, so once the washing mountain recedes I think it might be high time to get started. Then there is jam and mincemeat to make, the christmas cake to make and a gazillion other long overdue jobs to do.

Blogging definitely important though. Definitely!

A new header!

And indeed a new logo - very exciting times for says alice!

I am very much enjoying having a graphic designer in the family and will be baking her many more cakes to say thanks for all of her hard work. There are more amendments still to come, so stay tuned to watch things develop.

I'm enjoying this, can you tell?