red, white, blue and a new cardigan

hello. today's post is a little bit of a mix bag. i just downloaded the photos from my camera and realised i have actually been up to quite a lot. it was one of those moments when for the last few weeks i have been wondering what i can blog about and there right in front of me were the answers.


we strung up the garden chillies before christmas. they were dark green as they were planted late and didn't have time to ripen before the colder weather set in. now look at them, and all the rather embarrassing cobwebs.


these beautiful tulips were given to me by one of my lovely friends. i was very touched they are so pretty i had to mention them.


i just loved the colour in this picture, it is so vivid. i don't know who took it probably franc which makes me love it more.

so onto my new cardigan. i bought this cashmere jumper from a charity shop for £1.50
and didn't really like it but the fabric felt soooo good i had to buy it.


i turned it into this cardigan. the picture is a little ropey but you get the idea.



ambika x

oh christmas tree

today the tree came down, the decorations are all neatly packed up ready for christmas 2012.


i just love my tree, it's magical. christmas would be nothing without it. the tree goes up on christmas eve and comes down today, as family tradition has, and always has dictated. who knows who starts these traditions but carrying them on is important, as well as starting new ones that is.



happy new year to all you lovely people

ambika x

beetroot brownies

if like me you have still have beetroots growing in your garden, allotment or window box, and are not sure what to do with them, try these little beauties. they are deliciously moreish and contain one of your five a day so they must be good for you, right??



ingredients
250g raw beetroot, boiled, peeled and pureed
200g plain chocolate
250g butter
250g golden caster sugar
3 large free range eggs
150g self raising flour

step 1
heat the oven to gas mark 4 180C
melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan

step 2
whisk together the sugar and eggs, then pour in the melted chocolate and butter

step 3
fold in the flour and then mix in the beetroot.

step 4
pour mixture into a lined tin and bake for about 30 mins, or until a skewer comes out just a little bit sticky (they are brownies after all)

ready to eat. yumm sooo good!

i also just wanted to share with you some christmas presents i wrapped using paper and tags made at the handmade christmas event which was held recently by saltash environmental action group.



ambika x

perspective

this is where we live.


i love it. the chicken run is bigger than our house, the shed is also bigger than our house and taller than the workshop. the living roof which we created about 3 years ago, has amazingly big flowers growing on it, and the birds in the sky above our garden have smiles and beaks. nothing amuses me quite like a 5 year olds perspective.

we have been baking a lot lately, getting prepared for christmas.


i took my wedding ring off when we were making these mince pies and forgot to put it back on. i remembered when we were out shopping in town. francisco said, "don't worry mummy, everyone will know that you're married by your happy face"

4 days till christmas, i get the count down daily, there is a lot of excitement here.

ambika x

the cold after the storm

isn't it always the way that the minute you sit down and start to breathe again the sore throat sets in. i woke up this morning with exactly that feeling, and am now drinking copious amounts of elderflower tea with honey to try and ward it off.

i picked the elder flowers in the spring, and dried them, knowing that when autumn came they would come into their own and be very useful. so what has been happening that has made life so crazy? well saltash, the small town where we live became a transition town back in january. We have just run a two week "making saltash greener" festival spreading the word and trying to get more people involved. have a look here to see some photos of some of the events that happened. so much has been going on since i last posted here. francisco finished pre-school with pirate and princess celebrations,



and started in reception class at primary school



the garden continues to bring me great pleasure, especially this colorful little bunch i picked the other day. my purple carrot and yellow courgettes.



and finally a little film which might make you smile. i am such a proud mum.



i should be posting here a little more regularly now that i have a bit more time on my hands

ambika x

red red radish

these radishes from the garden were such a beautiful vivid colour i had to take dozens of photographs of them. i think i get a little bit excited when anything i have grown is ready for the table. this year everything has been excruciatingly slow but finally we have salads leaves and radishes ready to eat.



ambika x

Pink tea party

i picked up this cute pink tea set at the charity shop today. Francisco loves it and insisted we have a pink tea party in the garden. we made heart shaped scones and ate them in the sun with bramble jelly and butter. it was delicious.




ambika x

when i grow up?

i have not written here for a long time, still been here visiting though, reading what my lovely sister has been up to. sometimes i feel as if we are living in a parallel world. we have been watching the same programmes, and doing similar projects, thinking similar thoughts, and the same flowers even decorate our homes. but somehow, somewhere along the road i have lost my ability to blog, or maybe i have just lost the ability to photographically record what we have been up to.

i have to admit that i have been in a bit of a creative funk which i am trying to pull myself out of. i don't mean to wallow in my lack of lustre but sometimes i find things in the creative community a little fluffy lacking the reality of life, or maybe just the reality of my life. the times when i just want to pull my hair out and scream because my child has pushed me just that little bit too far, or times when you have to stop yourself being mad because you know, its really you not them.

it is difficult not to compare yourself to all these people who seem so sorted and together. i am still not sure what i want to be when i grow up, and with my baby boy starting school soon, i really should be thinking harder about it all. so what do i enjoy doing? i love making fancy dress costumes, but i'm not sure that raspberries make much money, maybe if they teamed up with some cream.



i love my garden, these are my chilli's in there own little green houses.



and my broad beans finally in flower after so long in the ground.



i love going to the bike park with franc who has now started riding a skateboard, all his trousers have holes in the knees, he does look cool though!



i love this doodling robot too.



i love looking back at old pictures. it makes me realise how quickly time flies (an old cliche i know) but suddenly i get it. i am very grateful for every day and now i just need to find a good project to get my teeth into, and then decide what to be when i grow up.



ambika x

a few things from the start of 2010 (and before)

hello again. it's been so long i don't really know where to begin. we had a truly lovely family christmas, i made this print for my mum as her secret santa.


and i received some really beautiful amazing handmade gifts myself, this hand turned bowl and rolling pin, and a lovely hand crafted wooden spoon. i felt incredibly lucky.


christmas was followed by a barrage of fancy dress parties, an 80's new year, a movie star 30th birthday, and another 1920's 30th birthday party. i decided to make a dress for the 1920's party, in hindsight it was a little ambitious but somehow i managed to pull it off, and the dress actually managed to stay together for the whole evening! i forgot to take a photograph which is a shame but i'm sure someone has out there.

we also had some snow which has now gone, and managed to get a little bit of sledging in, our chickens were very bemused by it all.









this is cattyfly (a cat who can fly) he landed on francisco's pillow one night causing much surprise and many tears. after a lengthy discussion, cattyfly has now become a friend and we have been awaiting another visit with much anticipation. i have copied franc's picture and made a toy one for his birthday. This is very organised for me as his birthday is not for a couple of months.

and lastly, check out the size of my parsnip. i dug up this beauty just before christmas. i cant wait to get the garden planted up this year.



ambika x

black ink

i've been doing these drawings when i really should have been doing other things.



i have an introductory accounts exam in december. i cant remember if i have mentioned it before. probably not as it does not stimulate my creative senses, or seem to sit very comfortably in this space. anyway i have been revising and revising with a touch of drawing in the middle. a little light relief. i will be glad when it is all over.

ambika

i think i love you

i have been doing a bit more drawing lately. in fact i think i have the bug and find myself with pen in hand when i really should be doing other things. here is my latest doodling.


we have also found a new love for dips and dippers. it is great tonight francisco was eating raw broccoli, carrots, tomato, and cucumber.


yesterday i made some tahini. it was so easy. i toasted some sesame seeds and then ground them up in the pestle and mortar, and then added a little water until it made a paste. inspired by the tahini i have now made some cashew and brazil nut butter using the same method except adding a pinch of salt and using olive oil instead of water. it is so delicious.

ambika

rainy days

every time i look out of the window the world is immersed in a grey wet foggy blanket. it has been very depressing and now that finally, after several weeks, the sun is shining, i have found the energy to write my post. sorry it has been so long coming. here are a few things we have been doing to pass the time....

we decorated eggs by wrapping them in cheap silks



then we made them into small parcels and boiled them for 10 minutes



let them cool in a sieve



and then unwrapped them



the dyes from the cheap silks ran into the egg shells making beautiful patterns. far too pretty to eat but i am not sure how long they'll last



our good friend lisa came to stay and together with the help of last weeks guardian magazine, some flour and water glue, and a little time, we produced this masterpiece. i'm not sure who enjoyed it more francisco or us



ambika

life at the cottage

Well, life at the cottage has been really hectic lately. The beautiful warm weather has made all the plants go crazy and we have finally started eating some garden produce. carrots, peas, courgettes, and of course eggs.

up until yesterday only 3 of our chickens had been laying and we were beginning to think that janice would never produce an egg, anyway she must have heard us talking because she laid one. I am very pleased to have 4 laying hens as we seem to be getting through all our eggs. I never realised that we used so many. eggs in bread, cakes, drop scones, potato farls and that's not even counting all the other stuff like omelettes. they are also becoming really lovely pets each with their own personality. chicken mania stills reigns at the cottage.

we have had a few unwanted visitors in the garden lately, my artichoke plants are covered in black fly. they have been decimating my poor plants and to top it off i nearly killed them by dousing them in soapy water. in the end we decided to fight them off naturally with ladybirds and nematodes bought online from gardening naturally. lets hope they wage a good war and the right side triumphs.


I have also found some time to make a few bit and bobs that i have been planning for ages. the elastic in my old pj's had gone and i had been walking around with my bum showing half of the time. it was not a good look. anyway i knocked up these. not a real fashion statement but the pure comfort outweighs everything else and besides who's looking really when you're just relaxing round the house.


I also made this towel poncho for francisco. it is very snug and i am quite pleased with how it has turned out, and he seems to really like it which is the main thing. i really enjoyed working with towelling and think i will do some more projects for myself. i just wish it wasn't so expensive. so far i've not managed to find it for less than £8 a metre. if anyone knows of a cheaper way to buy it please let me know.

I generally spend a lot of my time on a self-sufficiency quest. this includes trying to rid our lives of nasty chemicals. if i don't understand what an ingredient is it makes me wonder why it's there. inspired by angry chicken, my sister stopped washing her hair with shampoo a couple of months ago and has got me onto it as well. the new system involves using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar read here for more info on the method, and the reasons why conventional shampoo is not good at all. on top of this i have also been very inspired by angry chicken's blog and have used her recipe to create my own deodorant. i love it and it works! i have been using it for about 3 weeks now and am very impressed. i scented mine with geranium and lemon and made a little pot for steph scented with pettigrain and sandalwood, it is a little bit more masculine. the pot shown here is for my mum as a late birthday gift. i think she will love it too.


ambika x