Beacons of Light

I do so love the glow of candles especially now the weather has turned it's driech face towards us for the foreseeable. For a long time I bought my candles from IKEA. I know the really expensive ones give off an amazing fragrance, but I don't think they are generally worth the expense. I'm mindful too of the ingredients used in candles, because some have nasties in them, I'm thinking of the really cheap ones here. I gave up on the IKEA ones last year as they didn't burn in an even manner and so were a bit wasteful. I have been buying my candles from Aldi ever since and I've been very pleased with them. At £3.99 a pop good value too. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I have a basket of tea lights languishing in our cellar. So in a bid to use up anything we don't want to take when we move house, I will be using them up, before I buy any more larger candles. I think that will save a goodly amount of money.

I've also been sorting out all the small bottles of toiletries that I have collected over the years from different trips away. You know the mini bottles of shampoo etc I have started using them up at home, again so we don't have to pack them up for the house move.

Finally Pictures of The Compost Heap Jelly

The jelly is untried just now, but as blogger is 'allowing' me to upload images at the moment, I thought I should. I'm also working on socks for friends. The ones in this picture are made from a vegan yarn, which in this case I think translates to bamboo. The label on the skein was printed on plantable wildflower seed paper, which I thought was pretty cool. Second pair of socks finished, unblocked at this stage and I have another pair on the needles.

I hope all my blogging chums are safe from the floods. It has been awful locally but we live high up so haven't been flooded. The storm did scupper our plans for a weekend away though. Keep warm and dry folks.

Compost Heap Jelly

I hope this little film will clearly show you all the doings and the makings of this wonderfully thrifty jelly, which tastes like a rindless marmalade. 'Pam the Jam' is an expert preserve maker and I have splashed out and bought her book, a muslin jelly bag with stand and also a jam thermometer, because she has inspired me so. Although my own compost jelly has cost me about 25p per jar I'm still in for a few pounds yet with all the extras I have purchased. I haven't finished my current jar of shop bought marmalade but when I do I will crack open my own home made jelly and hope it is as nice or let's be optimistic even better. I will of course let you all know. You can probably tell m'dears that I'm planning to make many more jams and jellies, as I do have a lot of frozen home grown fruit in my chest freezer. But I'm perhaps getting ahead of myself. I had hoped to post a few images of my making process and beautifully crystal clear jellies in recycled jam jars. Sadly at the moment, blogger is, for some strange reason not allowing me to upload images from my computer. I will work on trying to sort this out but if any of you folk have ever had this happen please can you let me know the solution. Bye for now.

Domestic Goddess

I've come over all Domestic Goddess. At the same time I've set my Autumnal mind to even less wastage and more mindful spending and not just with food and so forth, doing okay so far. I have made my 'compost' jelly, using up lemon and orange peel primarily, destined for the compost bin but via the freezer first whilst I collected the 2kg I needed to make the jelly. When I say jelly, not as firm as a jam, tastes like a marmalade, no rind and very clear. It was not without it's problems but I'll let you know more of that later. Using up the tomato crops for soups and making delicious meals in the slo cooker, Afelia (Greek dish using pork, coriander seeds and rose wine). And last night Beef Bourguignon, both hearty dishes incorporating our home grown onions, celery, potatoes and bay leaves.

What's cooking with you folks?

In Other Cultural News - Bryan Ferry's 78th Birthday

Totally delicious.

Frans Hals Exhibition National Gallery

I'm a huge fan of Frans Hals and will be hot footing it down to London in November to see this exhibition. Two of the paintings on show I'm very familiar with as they are on loan from my local stately home. They are mesmerising and I have stared long and hard at them many a time. I'm excited to see more of his work. This little film is well worth a watch, go on, immerse yourself in a little bit of magic.

This & That

This is kinda how I feel about positivity and gusto. Strength of mind is a wonderful thing but we are all susceptible to things beyond our control I know. Something I'm desperately trying to control is precision sock making. I'm making socks as gifts for friends this year to keep their tootsies warm and snuggly. I've finished the first pair. The yarn is marketed as a vintage yarn because of the colours. This is powdered egg. Made from Exmoor Blueface and Bluefaced Leicester sheep wool. They are I feel perfectly imperfect.

Here they are drying on their slim wooden blockers in the sunshine. I think they will look very tempting when wrapped and ribboned. Especially with a little parcel of home made chocolates for company. Are any of you already starting the present making?