My favourite sounds.

I am one of those people who loves the sound of silence.  I need some to start and finish my day.  If I can get plenty in between then I'm happy too. Lately though I have been thinking about the sounds I really love and there are so many different things that make me sit up and listen.  As I am typing away on the keyboard I am aware that this sound is one that fascinates me.  I love the gentle clicks of an Apple keyboard. Not like the clatter that I made when I was learning to type on a Remington manual!

I have been indulging in a week of crochet - this is where I am with my squares:

I completed the squares from the larger circles as Lewis Hamilton drove his way to a thrilling victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. The little circles are stashed away for the coming weeknights. Two per night should be do-able. I came across another sound I like - the noise of the crochet hook on the table when I put it down to cut the threads. It doesn't work with wooden hooks. It needs to be metal.

Now do you want to hear something sad/weird? These little squares do not show the circle as well as I thought so I went trawling on Ravelry and found a square that shows the circular centre better. I couldn't get this out of my mind and had to try it.  5.30am on Wednesday found me sitting in the beautiful morning sun making one of these:

Obviously it won't fit in seamlessly with the other squares but I will be making some of these in the future. About an hour later I heard another sound I love, the gentle pitter patter of rain on the window when I am cosy indoors. The next noise was me blundering around trying to get ready for work because I got engrossed in the pattern and completely forgot the time.  If I leave after 7.15 even a few minutes late, the traffic on the A1M is a nightmare. We meet every morning at 8am. Made it by the skin of my teeth.

That morning I discovered another sound that makes me feel good inside. Delibes 'The Flower Duet' - and that got me thinking about all the music that makes me feel good:  piano, violin and clarinet solos top the list. The silky sound of Madeleine Peyroux, the haunting voice of Etta James. The deep tripe rattling drums in the 1812 overture. Is it then the feel of the sound, like the chattering noise of mah jong tiles, the clickety click of chocolate chips before they melt? The crunchy sound of pure cotton sheets as you flick them over the bed - am I strange or do you have sounds that stop you in your tracks just so that you can listen with pure pleasure?

I was very organised this morning and got our Sunday dinner prepared and all the ironing done before I sat down to crochet to the sound of F1 cars (sadly not a patch on previous years because they've changed the engines this year). We haven't has a roast for a few weeks but I got a nice little joint of pork yesterday. Enough for the dinner and some cold cuts after.

A tip from my mother in law - use two small eggs or an egg and an egg white (they freeze well) and your yorkshires stand tall! 

Talking about eggs looky look!

One of my little silkie hens has laid an egg - don't know which though. How sweet are they are and dinkie compared with a normal hen egg.

Sorry about the crochet fest but I got these done too:

From a pattern that Karen B kindly gave me.

And a mandala pattern to be sent to Lucy at Attic 24 for Yarndale 2014. I'm quivering with excitement for that but it's not until the end of September. Some things are well worth waiting for though.

I had to have a smoothie to celebrate! 

Saturday's choice was banana, blueberries (frozen), blueberry yoghurt and a splash of milk.

I'm not keen on drinking too much milk with my smoothies due to the extra calories it provides but have found a good alternative - almond 'milk':

Which became a Sunday mid-afternoon pick me up.

Apricot and almond smoothie with some milled linseeds for extra goody nuttiness. Almond milk makes lovely rice pudding too. Fruity smoothies are my weekend indulgence. The vegetable smoothies are more energising, especially the dark green ones.

Now I'm going to dive into my sweetie jar just for the hell of it.

Non-fat treats. Then I'm going to do - well, nothing, I'm all up to date. Pure joy. A couple of chapters of my latest book 'Bad Luck and Trouble' by Lee Child, watch a bit of 'Vera' and record the last bit for tomorrow, a good night's sleep in my cotton sheets (aahh) and I'll be ready for the week ahead.

Coming up for air

I've been on hold for a while because of huge commitments at work.  They haven't changed much but I'm just coming up for air. The air this week arrived on Wednesday:

But I had to wait (not patiently) until Saturday morning until I could start these:

A granny square with a circular centre

Second circle

The last round turns it into a square

 They are totally addictive - I couldn't help myself 

By Sunday night I had to discipline myself to stop this hooky-fest.  I sewed all the ends in and these are the first 21 squares of my 144 square blanket, inspired by Lucy of Attic 24. She is the queen of lush colours.

Other things have been going on, so here is a quick photo tour of the goings-on at Strawberry Patches:

The Silkie chooks are full size now - but which way are they facing!

Ben is at the 'I wish I could pickle them' age: 

Napping...

More napping

Testing centrifugal force

Wearing porridge

Cooking Special K

Cooking tea (let's hope he's a tidier cook than his Daddy)

just being cute...

Still drinking strange concoctions (me, not Ben):

 

Spinach and apple

Mango, guava and lime - always worth a rummage in the cheap fruit section for overripe things that would have been really expensive.

Blueberry and pear, bacon toastie and Machu Pichu coffee - I love breakfasts on a Sunday.

Mother's Day:

Me to Steph and....

Steph to me. (The boys do things for their Mammy, dig, cook etc as I don't like them spending their money on the commercialisation of a special day but it's nice to have a someone who does pretty!).

Beautiful linen napkins from the White Company when I went in to Newcastle and, strangely, found myself in their shop.

What better way to show my gorgeous coloured eggs thanks to my hens. (None from the Silkies yet though).

Re-cycling pretty jars:

The lids are covered with tissue paper

Painted with light buttermilk, then a plaid pattern added,

Green hearts painted on top of this,

Some pen work added and some buttons put in.

I have more jars to do!

There has been a bit of a yellow theme in the kitchen:

Mango ice using jars we got from an Indian takeaway.

Creme caramel

Tarte au citron

Omelettes (in case you are worried about the cholesterol these happened over a few weekends - not all on the same day!)

A teenage girl I know found herself in the family way and abandoned by her own family, so the ladies at work are putting together a hamper of things for the baby and some nice stuff for her too. The baby was due last week but no sign yet. These are my contributions:

A cardigan made from Sirdar Baby Bamboo - I decided to make the 6-12 months size.

A cot quilt - 'Cute as a Button'.  It was super quick to make and I have just got some turquoise fabrics to make another version with a pattern to follow.

I've been having a lovely time at High Street Quilting teaching, chatting and laughing with the ladies who come to the class. If there's one thing I've discovered about teaching, it's how much I learn.

So that's a round-up of the things that have been keeping me sane.  Today I'll be making some revision materials for the Year 11 exams and then a BBQ for tea. Tomorrow it's back to the maelstrom that is my life at the moment.

Would I change it? Probably not. As Diane Ackerman said: 

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well."

Which list shall it be today?

I have been a life-long list maker. I make them because

a) I have a terrible memory

b) I try to pack as many things as I can into the available time

c) I hate getting somewhere without some essential item

d) I have a terrible memory

When the boys were little we used to go camping in France. Weeks before I would start with a list of lists that I needed to make:

1. Clothes
2. Toys and journey entertainment
3. Washing gear
4. Tool kit for the car
5. Toiletries
6. Kitchen items
7. Maps, money, passports
8. Any other list that occurred

That was part of the holiday - the exciting run up - the extension to the actual ten days or fortnight that we spent away. We usually arrived without something but it was often only one thing. Those lists were fun. Lately though I seem to be finding the lists a bit depressing - am I trying to cram too much into my life or am I just not getting things done that I should?  

Yesterday on my list was to do housework and shopping so that I could get some serious work done today - how sad is that?  I scrapped that list. Alison and I went to the Cotton Tree for some much needed fabric. We are so lucky with quilt shops in and around Durham and Northumberland. I haven't seen better anywhere and the Cotton Tree has so much to choose from. These little beauties will be lovingly transformed.

We had a lovely cup of coffee with two sweet treats (half each) which were so nice I have just been testing some recipes for Thursday's Quilt Class at High Street Quilting. (Looking forward very much to seeing everyone there as I was in Oxford last Thursday) 

Golden Orange and Walnut Flapjack and Millionaire's Shortbread, recipes courtesy of BBC Good Food:

Spooning the marmalade glaze over the flapjacks.

Sadly I took my eye off the caramel for about twenty seconds whilst I emptied the washing machine (washing is always on my list!) and the mixture 'caught' so there are little specks of darker caramel in the millionaire's shortbread.  Will have to remember to stand over it when I make Thursday's batch.

But the star of today's baking has to be the No-Knead Bread.

A gloopy dough waiting for the oven to heat up.

 The loaf just out of the oven and I must wait for a while to cut into it.

And the exciting bit - what will it look like inside? Light and airy but still with good texture and chewiness. Mmmmm

I came across this recipe on the Attic 24 blog. It takes minutes to mix and 12-18 hours to rise so I think this may be a Friday night regular.  Warm bread for Saturday morning breakfast sounds so good doesn't it?

We are up to July now on 'Picture the Year'- remember it's free to download.

It was warm and sunny yesterday so the chooks had a little freedom in the back garden.

They are not far off full size now and they are making more of a clucking noise than a cheep cheep. They are very tame and you can't help but smile when you look at their funny little heads - just like chimney brushes! It won't be so long before they can go into the main pen.

We are going to have a pork and cider casserole tonight. I usually use a pork shoulder joint because they are good value for money and the meat doesn't dry out. This will serve four handsomely and costs about the same as the millionaire shortbread!

My brother uses this recipe for pheasant as well but he uses Calvados and stock to cook it in. You need to be light-handed with the cream though only a couple of spoonsful. Dee-lish with creamy mash and savoy cabbage.

So how have I managed without the list today? Not so good - I've ended up with lots of things to do at the end of the day, so perhaps the lists will have to stay. I'll just not have to beat myself up when I don't have everything crossed off. 

Last on my list today will be my new book. I have just downloaded another crime thriller - Silent Witness by Rebecca Forster.  It's the second in the series, the first was Hostile Witness which I enjoyed. I'm happily working my way through the Jack Reacher books too - I've just finished number 8 and have 10 to go.  I don't want to read them too quickly so I intersperse them with other books.

Sometimes I have difficulty reconciling my hobbies which are mostly creative and quite girly with my pastimes like thrillers and F1 racing and rugby. Must be something to do with growing up with two brothers and having two sons. My girly side struggles to come to the surface.

Well I'm going to have a walk down to see John, Steph and Ben with gifts of biscuits before Will eats them all. I wonder how long it will be before Ben grows out of cuddles? The blink of an eye no doubt.