Rainbow Cake

I made this cake a few years ago.

Oops, I wasn't meant to eat those things!

Learning the dos and don'ts of Whole30 is proving to be a bit of a tricky business!  I've managed to have corn with every meal today, and had peas at dinner time too.  Ooops.  We live and learn.

Breakfast: chicken and sweetcorn risotto

Lunch: chicken and sweetcorn risotto with salad leaves

Dinner: roast chicken, jacket potatoes, gravy, peas and sweetcorn

Fruit: honeydew melon

The last two days I seem to have done nothing but think about food.  However, there is a very helpful little paragraph on the Whole30 website:

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days

It isn't a trivial thing to do the Whole30.  I've been trying for 2 days, and I messed up on both days.  It happened by accident, not by design, and tomorrow will be a better day.

My guts were in uproar last month, and my energy levels were all over the place.  I want to get to a place where the food I am putting into my body nourishes me properly and doesn't cause problems.  

I've love some chocolate just now.  My body wouldn't.  This month has to be about my body's 'needs', rather than my brain's 'wants'.

Whole 30

July was not a good month for my gastro-intestinal system. The slightest little thing could set things off. Whole 30 was suggested as a way to give my innards a bit of a rest, and try to re-set things. A dietician recommended some rice was added to the standard Whole 30 program. This is wonderful for me as when my guts start acting up my go-to meal is chicken and vegetable risotto. 

"The Whole30® is our original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system." This is done by removing, for one month, grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. I already know that it is these food that are causing me problems.

Most days I am not hungry in the morning and breakfast isn't something that happens. There was some dairy in last night's dinner, and let's just say my system had a bit of clean out. This meant I was very hungry this morning. Many of the suggest breakfasts rely very heavily on eggs. They are another one of my trigger foods. Today's breakfast has been sweet potato, onion, leek and bacon.  

Lunch was a couple of gluten-free sausages with a green salad and some home made lemon mayonnaise.

Dinner came in the form of chicken and sweetcorn risotto.

Flowers are in bloom

My summer holiday project is coming along nicely.There are 11 colours of flowers, and currently there's two flowers of each colour.

It is working well to make a flower at a time, then add partial ring of 5 white hexagons. This gives a block of 12, and it tiles nicely. Then one flower of each colour is placed beside the part that has already been sewn and the family collaborates on a pleasing arrangement.

This fabric flower garden will form the top section of a double bed quilt. There will be a strip of one of the purples around the hexagon section. This section will be hand quilted by stitching about 3-5 mm away from the colored hexagons. It will make the flowers 'pop'.

I haven't quite decided what to do with the sections that will fall down the sides of the bed. They might well be deep sashings of white. I am loathed to try to buy any fabrics to match the existing ones as they were bought in Hereford, mid-Wales, and Chester. Hmm, I'm sure I could order more of the purple bought in mid-Wales. It was bought from Cross Patch in Velindre.

Granny's flower garden, part 2

The flowers continue to grow.

Birthday cake

A birthday cake made by the wonderful offspring.  When they brought it through, they were like two little children again, full of gleeful delight in their creation.

A Scrabble Bag

A friend commented on the picture of the Rummikub drawstring bag and said she really needed to make something similar as her Scrabble tiles are currently in an sock!

Being on holiday, having the rest of the fat quarter, and a bit of ribbon, I offered to make her a bag.  This is the result.   Tomorrow it crosses the Irish Sea to its new home.

Ideas for Sustainable/Eco Housing

For as long as I can remember I have been designing houses I would like to live in. At the Centre for Alternative Technology I came across a couple of ideas I really liked.

The first is using photovoltaic cells to form the roof of a cloister or corridor. On a bright summer's day it is rather like being under the dappled shade of a large tree. There's still significant amounts of light, and there's also shade too. Being photovoltaic, the roof also supplies electricity too. I had initially thought of it as being a way of creating a covered 'outdoor' space with good natural light, but this image from the University of Southampton has made me consider whether it would be possible to do this on the whole of the south-facing roof space. The big question would be whether it would be suitable in the winter.

A conservatory is a must. It provides additional living space in the summer, and in the winter it is an excellent thermal barrier, keeping the house itself a little bit warmer.

Cordwood construction struck me as a very low-tech way to build, whilst at the same time having visual interest and appeal. I'd love to try this for a garage or outbuilding. I'd prefer my house to be a bit sleeker, with clean lines.

In cordwood construction the "cordwood" or short pieces of debarked tree are laid on a bed of lime or cob mortar. The whole wall can be made this way, or an infill of a thermally insulating material can be used. The eaves of the building extend 30-40cms beyond the walls to throw off as much rain water as possible.

Another little bag

We packed the game Rummikub to play on holiday.  I thought I had made a bag for the tiles.  And it wasn't until the contents of the box spilled open whilst we were away I realised I had made a bag for the tiles, but I had given it to my Mam for her Scrabble tiles!

Time for another bag.  This one was made from half a fat quarter of fabric, and 1.25m of navy ribbon.

These drawstring bags are so easy to make, and quick as well.  They make great little bags for games, but can also be used to store bread, vegetables or as a re-usable present bag.

Little Living

This year we spent part of our holiday in a static caravan in mid-Wales.  The whole caravan was about a quarter larger than my bedroom at home!  

Whilst on holiday I learned a few lessons about 'little living'.  The first was the vast importance of tidying up as you go.  If things are left out beyond the time they are being used then the whole place looks untidy, cluttered and claustrophobic.  Tidy as you go.

Another lesson was the importance of good storage.  One very nifty storage solution in the main bedroom was a bed where the mattress could be raised to offer access to the divan.

My parents have drawers in their divan.  They are useful, to get access to the drawers at the head of the bed you have to pull the bed out, away from the wall.  This isn't practical if you need to use those drawers more than a few times a year.  At home, we have a wooden framed bed, no divan.  Under the bed I have a couple of large, flat plastic boxes with lids.  They are great for storage, but it gets rather dusty under there (if I am not diligent at evicting dust bunnies). 

Another lesson was I have too much stuff!  From books, to yarn, fabric and clothes, I have too much stuff.   Eight years ago when we moved into our current home we rattled around in it for a good while.  Now, there's stuff everywhere.  

It's time to use these lessons.  Since the start of the year I have bought no yarn.  My stash must have reduced, but I am having problems seeing much of a difference. At the start of the year I couldn't imagine not buying yarn for a whole year, but I reckoned I could make it until Easter.  At Easter, going until the summer seemed possible.  Now, 6 months later, I am ready decide not to buy yarn for the rest of the year.  But, I suspect I need to do something similar with fabric.  It's time for no new fabric either.  However, to give myself some wiggle room, I am going to say that I am allowed to buy just enough fabric to finish a project.

And each time I leave a room, I will cast my eye around to check that things are tidy.  I will tidy as I go.

Holiday creations: hexagon patchwork and project bag

This holiday, I decided I wanted to try a project that was small & contained, didn't need electricity, and was a bit different from my usual projects.

Doughty's of Hereford do a fantastic range of fabrics, and it was a little pack of 20 strips of patchwork fabrics that caught my eye.  Next I spotted a little pack of hexagons, and my holiday project was decided.

It feels very weird to be doing all this hand sewing.  But I am enjoying the simplicity of it.

At Christmas, the Beloved bought me some lovely yarn from Wool Warehouse, The yarn came in a drawstring bag.  I have been using this bag on and off since then, but over the holiday the bag started to fall apart.  This morning I remade the bag, making sure that all of the voile was carefully enclosed within seams.  I also added a much stronger cotton top to the bag.  

I love that the bag is see through, and I can easily find the little hexagons, the threads etc.  It is much easier to use than an opaque bag.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins

Today's time in the kitchen was spent cleaning the cooker, hob and surfaces. There was also so indulgence in baking - chocolate muffins with a cream cheese icing, topped with strawberries.

The recipe is the same as the Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins, but instead of adding the cream cheese to the middle of the muffin, it was spooned on the top. Also the milk in the recipe was substituted for apple juice. Both versions are quite delightful.

IronMay Challenge: Finished!

During May a grand total of 2.4 miles was swum, 116 miles cycled, and 26.2 miles walked!  I have completed 1.01 of an IronMan spaced out over the month.  

Apparently there's people who do this within 17 hours!  My poor body is still rather tender, and just plain grumpy.  It is a lot of physical active activity.  

100 Crafty Days: with a sudden halt in the middle, but a sweet bit just afterwards

Having an acute asthma episode(s) left me totally wiped out.  There are times when even sitting on the sofa takes effort, and during those times a person should do as little as possible.

It's also at such times I re-discover my love of the National Health Service.  It cost me more to take a taxi back from the GP's surgery than to see him, and come away with medication that makes it so much easier to breathe again.  (sigh) Breathing is something that should never be under-rated!  

After a week of being weak, I managed to swim half a mile on Friday afternoon. I'll be hitting the pool again on Monday afternoon, and again on Friday.  At this rate it is not going to be long before I've finished the swimming section of the slow triathlon!

I baked for a coffee morning, only to find I'm a day early.  Here's a picture of the cookies:

The top ones have a walnut half pushed in before baking.  The cookies on the bottom tier are the same mixture with a bit more flour added.  Then rolled into balls and baked.  They were then topped with some water icing and a jelly sweet.

And, (yes, there's more of today to describe), the lovely Mrs B was a very patient teacher today.  She talked me through how to crochet a star blanket.  The only problem is that my hook is a metallic red, and it clashes horribly with the red yarn I'm using.  Thankfully the red yarn is just the centre of the blanket, and I'll be able to clash some orange against the hook soon.  

100 Craft Day: a new chip, and a complicated pattern

It passed me by!

It's now 128 days since I last bought yarn. This means that just over a week ago I earned my Cold Sheep 120 Days chip.   It passed me by, and I didn't even notice.

Last night I was working on a pattern called 'Dutch Windmill'.  It was going well, and I decided to draw it to make it easier to piece it together. 

It wasn't until I had drawn it out I realised that the repeat is 100 squares!  The design is really simple in concept.  There's a tessellation of purple and cream plus signs, and in each plus there's a little windmill. 

Iron May: a rest day

Four weeks ago, if anyone had said that cycling four miles would count as a 'rest day' I would have laughed and laughed. Quite a bit can change within a month!

My muscles/joints were a tad achy due to use, and horrible weather.  I've long known that the best remedy (for me) for aching joints is to take some gentle exercise.  It feels as it the movement allows my joints and muscle to work out their kinks, and be far less grumpy. 

Iron May: mini triathlon

I can't express how delighted I am not to be in last place on the board!  I'm currently second last, but I can deal with this. It's far better than I had hoped for.

This morning on day 4, and having not yet exercised, I have cycled 17 miles and walked 3.  I'm right on schedule with the walking, and a bit over with cycling.  Today in my first swimming day, and I'm going to turn it into a mini-triathlon.  It starts at home with 4 miles of cycling, then a walk to the swimming pool (1 mile) and finishing with a swim.

There's a mini-challenge of a 'sprint triathlon', and I hope to be able to work up to that.  There's 400m of swimming, 10 miles cycling and 3 miles walking. 

One of the benefits of the IronMay is that I'm eating better food.  I want, crave, lots of vegetables and fruit.

100 Craft Days: A very crafty weekend

This weekend has been pretty full on.  It's been great.

Saturday started with a trip to Peel for the WOSAT festival of arts.  We met with Nicola Dixon, a wonderful Manx artist, and we bought a few tiny paintings and a large print.  These are going into my new craft room (it doubles as a dining room when needed).

Another artist's work we bought was Juan Moore.  The one that really took my fancy was a sepia water colour of a giant walking nose with a hankie.  When I was in my teens my parents could tell when I had wakened by the sneezing. My elder offsping has the same thing.  «sneeze» Ah, H has just woken.

Saturday also included a trip to Sweet Ginger.

This was primarily to buy fabric for C's blanket, but also to buy some new fat quarters for the Friendship Blankets we started at Messy Church.  I've managed to make 6 little lap blankets.  These will be given to people in the church family would would love to get along to church, but aren't able to do so. 

  

The crafty road trip concluded with a stop at Joan's Wools and Crafts.    

A few more fat quarters were purchased, as was a wad of fleece for backing C's blanket.

It was rather touch and go whether I would be able to get all the blankets finished for the Sunday service, but they were.  The minister invited me up to help explain what they were about, and was asking questions about Messy Church.  Six people who had been involved in the making of the Friendship Blankets came up to the front to hold them up so everyone could see.

At coffee time afterwards, one person asked that we do not stop with the blankets, and make more as people's situations change.  Another person said she would be very happy to get involved with the blanket construction.  Children and arty/craftsy adults said they would be happy to make more squares for future blankets.  I'm delighted.

Iron May: Top of the Leaderboard

I was the top of the Iron May Leaderboard for a whole 14 minutes.  Then my crazy friend came and pushed me off the top slot!

The relative rankings appear to be worked on how much of each stage of the triathlon a person has completed.  One mile of swimming counts for far more than one of walking/running, which weights heavier than cycling.  The swimmer of the mile would have completed 42% of the swim,  the marathon-er, almost 4% and the cyclist would be pootling along  at less than 1%.

So far, I've managed 8 miles of cycling, and 1 of walking.  After posting this I'm going to get in another mile of walking.

100 Crafty Days: Cooking up a storm in the kitchen

Yesterday was a high successful day with regards to the kitchen. Creative chaos was perpetrated, and deemed extremely tasty.

First up was apple and cinnamon pancakes at breakfast time. 

At dinner time I was inspired by a tale of a glorious Cottage Pie. The idea of a meat dish being topped with potatoes stayed in my mine.  My chicken dish started out with two onions sautéing in a pan.  When they has been softened, chopped garlic was added.  A few minutes later stock joined them, along with cream cheese and then end of a lump of Stilton.  Water was also added until it all looked saucy.

At this point diced chicken, sweetcorn, broccoli florets and sliced courgettes joined the sauce.  This was transferred to an oven-proof dish, and was finished off by adding sliced potatoes to the top, which were brushed with a little butter.  It was left in the oven until the tops of the potatoes were a beautiful golden brown and everything was hot and smelling fantastic.

The day was rounded off by 'apple roses' - apple slices tucked into a dough (gluten-free shortbread for me) and arranged in such a way as to look like a rose. The roses tasted fantastic, but a great deal can be done to improve them. Three big things come to mind. Use a softer dough. Cook the apple slices for longer - this makes them far more flexible, and this is required. And lastly, line the bottom of muffin tray. I buttered it, and that was not enough. The roses look good in the tray, but not so good when hacked around when I try to remove them!