I am in the
process of moving house – downsizing! My
garden is too big for me to manage and as my R.A is playing havoc with my
mobility I have decided to move to a smaller property. My new place has a garden a quarter of the
size of my present garden, however there is an upside, it is on the edge of
town and will have an outlook of paddocks and the Tararua ranges. My neighbours will be sheep and it will be interesting
to see what the cats make of them!
I am in the
process of getting rid of stuff! Lots of
stuff! I have been here 10 years and my
lordy I have heaps of stuff! On Monday I
took a large load to the local hospice.
Good, you would think, well I succumbed to the sight of some china. I have a thing about china, especially
teacups. I walked out the shop with two
sets.
This:
And this:
I adore the
green set, such an unusual colour, and I seem to have a thing about green at
the moment.
Yesterday
it rained, which is good as we desperately need it here. But it meant I couldn't get out in the garden
(I am in the process of tidying it up and potting up cuttings for my new
place.) I thought I would have a go at
making a tea cozy that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. I had it all planned
in my head, but discovered to my dismay that the ivory cotton I thought I had
was only remnants of a previous ball! I didn't want to go out and buy some as I was nicely settled so I made this instead:
It was just
big enough for my smallest teapot and I am rather pleased with it, I need to
sort out the decreasing rounds when I make bigger ones. I used popcorn stitch and it gives the cozy
enough thickness to not have to line it.
I had to
test it out this afternoon and it did keep the tea hot. To celebrate my new cups and the cozy I
decided to bake a cake, something I haven’t done for a while. It is a really quick and easy recipe. Pineapple Fruit Cake, very yummy.
Pineapple Fruit Cake
16 oz (450g) canned crushed pineapple
2 ½ cups dried
mixed fruit
1 cup castor sugar
4oz (125g) butter
Pinch salt
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup plain flour sifted with 1 cup self-raising flour
Oven temp 160 C
(360 F)
Mix the pineapple, butter sugar, spice, fruit, salt and
bring to boilo and cook for 15 minutes. Add Baking Soda and cool. When cold add eggs and flour. Mix and put in a lined cake tin (20cm) and
bake in lower half of oven for 2 – 2 ½ hours.
Allow to cool a bit before moving from tin.
I have
realised that I have now been blogging here for just over a year! Time flies.
I have enjoyed showing you all my makes over the last year and of course
visiting you all. However, over the next
month or so I don’t know if I will have time to post with all that I have to do
for the move. So, bear with me, and
hopefully normal service will resume at the end of April. I will still be working on my blankets and be
doing the odd doily when time and energy allows.
Ambrose is
finding this moving lark rather exhausting.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend.
Hope your move goes well and that you settle quickly, sounds wonderful. Love the teacosy.
ReplyDeleteMoving is always exausting and we always realize that we have to much stuff !
ReplyDeleteYour china are lovely ! And your tea cosy too !
Have a shinny weekend !
Anna
Good luck on your move, Zana! You found some beautiful cups, and your cozy came out very nice. Take care :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tea cozy Zana. The tea cups are really pretty. I love the green one as that is my favorite color.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Hello Zana, Oh I think those china cups would've had to come home with me also - they are just beautiful. As is your new tea cosy, love the sound of "popcorn stitch". Good luck with the move - its a huge undertaking, shall be thinking of you ... your new property sounds lovely though. Could almost be a photo of my Blackie there in your last pic, they are so alike those two. x0x
ReplyDeleteI hope that your move goes well and that you really enjoy life in your new home!! I look forward to your return to blogging when you are ready and hearing all about it! xx
ReplyDeleteYour cat is adorable! I LOVE cats :) Nice of you to share with us
ReplyDeleteAlexandra
EyeLoveKnots.blogspot.com
The tea cozy is cute and the tea cups look very pretty! I would love to have a piece of that yummy cake!
ReplyDeleteI have a thing for china duos too and love both your finds. I haven't been able to crochet as much lately but love seeing what other people have made and the popcorn stitch on your teacosy is just perfect. Good luck too with your move. I also wanted to say thanks for coming to say hi on my blog - now I am curious about which of your posts received over 1,000 views. Please do share so I can add to that number.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tea cozy and tea cups!
ReplyDeleteYour cat <3 :)
Good luck!
Your cat looks so sweet curled up on your cushion :) The green tea set looks very familiar to me, I'm sure one of my grandmothers had something very similar.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the packing and moving, always a stressful time. Just make sure you leave the crochet somewhere handy!
Jillxo
That cake looks very yummy thank you for the recipe, I will have to try it, I love the tapot cover, I need to make one too but my teapot dribbles so I should get a new one first. I am also thinking of moving as my garden is way too big for me to look after now but it's still in the thinking stages, I have lived here 15 years so there will be so much to get rid of too. Good luck with your move. :) xx
ReplyDeleteHi Zana, hope the move goes well. I have a thing about teacups too, I really need a nice way of storing them so they can be seen, at present they are just hidden away in a cupboard. I was given a book with lots of tea cosies in, I really should try one, perhaps later. I've made copy of the recipe and if I have a tin of pineapple in the cupboard I may well be making one of those today. xx Take care xx
ReplyDeleteI hope that the move went off without a hitch and that you are settled and doing well. Best wishes, Tammy
ReplyDelete