miss marie's miscellany

Stripes

A peek at my latest crochet. Another brilliant idea from Lucy at Attic 24, they are wrist warmers. Just the thing for the weather of late.  They were quick to crochet up, in fact these only took a couple of evenings. I'm enjoying a purple clothes phase just now, so it fits in with my colour scheme too, with a splash of pink and grey-blue for contrast.

I made mine quite long as I hate having a gap between sleeves and gloves, nothing worse than wrapping up to keep out the cold and then letting it in!  I'm pleased with how they have turned out, so pleased that I'm going to make some more, in different colours; and if I receive some favourable comments from friends, their Christmas presents could be sorted too! They'll be having their first outing later today.

Pleasing things

Leaves on the grass. Next door's cherry tree is shedding its red-brown leaves, and I will rake them up and bag them to make leaf mould, a treat for the garden soil next year.

 

Breakfast berries; my favourites, blackberries and blueberries.

The sun shining in through the window, and the shadows cast by the wisteria outside.

And a TV pleasure! Tonight I'll be watching the final of Masterchef: The Professionals. I'm a Masterchef addict, I love it  in all its guises, be it professional cook, ordinary bloke or celebrity; I really enjoy seeing the good (and bad) food made by the contestants, and I love the colourful, flavoursome and sometimes over-the-top comments from the judges. I don't have a favourite to be the winner, I'm just going to settle down and enjoy whatever happens!

Baking day

It was grey and wet yesterday, so I put the oven on and made some granola. I like this for breakfast with fruit and yoghurt, it really keeps me going without that mid-morning snacking urge!  There's no fixed recipe, and I used whatever nuts and seeds I have in the cupboard, but I try to have roughly 1 part seeds/nuts to 3 parts oats.  I put the seeds(  pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds) and nuts(hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, cashews and pistachios) into an oven dish and roast for about 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently. I mix some oats with a tablespoon each of honey and golden syrup (you might like to use more if you have a sweeter tooth than me) and when the seeds/nuts are just starting to turn golden brown, remove them from the oven, mix everything together in the same dish and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes; again, keep checking it and stir frequently. It's ready when the nuts look a deep golden brown, but be careful not to burn them! Let it cool a little and add dried fruit of your choice if you like. It'll keep for a few weeks in an airtight container.

 

As the oven was on, I made some biscotti too. Another easy and moreish recipe! It uses American cup measurements.

2 cups plain flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 eggs 

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts, chopped roughly

Heat oven to 180 degrees C/gas mark 4. Grease a baking tray. Combine the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs, then add to the dry mix with the oil and the hazelnuts; mix well to combine. Shape the mixture into 2 rectangles of at least 1 inch thickness, place on the baking tray and cook for 25-30 minutes, till the top doesn't give when you touch it. Remove from the oven, cool for 10 minutes. Cut each log into 1 inch thick slices, place on baking tray and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack. They will keep for several days in an airtight container. They're a little softer and chewier than shop-bought ones, so you can enjoy them on their own, but they are even better with a latte or cappucino!

 

Autumn leaves

The colours of autumn are looking beautiful at the moment. I walked in the park yesterday and loved what I saw. It was a lovely day, sunny but a bit cool, perfect autumn weather. 

 

This is the way I usually start my walks in the park. I love the shadows on the path in the above photo. The paths around the park are all lined with trees so there's big opportunity to enjoy all shapes, sizes and shades of trees with turning leaves.

 

The colours are breath-taking, they shine with a real zing on such a bright day.

 

I love the golden yellow above, it really is mellow yellow!

 

When you're surrounded with such rich hues, it's hard to feel sad at the coming of autumn. Although the leaves are turning and will fall, I love the variety of colours in the transition of the seasons.

 

I'm trying to get fitter so am planning a lot more walks like this(and some cycling too). I feel really encouraged now, after seeing all this wonderful colour. I hope I can keep it up come the winter!

 

Hope you are enjoying some autumn colour and sun wherever you are this weekend!

Tulipmania

I went a bit mad with the bulb buying! The reasoning behind this is that I love tulips and during last spring I spent quite a few pounds buying cut flowers to have in the house. So, for next year, I thought I'd have my own cut flower bed filled with tulips so I can enjoy them inside and out! 

I just have the small task of planting them all now! But it'll be worth it for the blaze of colour, come April and May.

This week I am crocheting....

more hexagons for my blanket. 

 

A bit bigger since I last showed here! But still, I've a long way to go till it fits a king size bed. 

I also started a scarf using a ripple pattern with 2 shades of grey and a green flecked wool. 

I like the colours together, they compliment each other beautifully, and  the fine wool crochets up into a pretty lacy look with texture.

I don't think it'll take too long to finish. The weather is definitely dictating that scarves and gloves will be required soon, so I'm getting ahead of the game. I feel a chilly winter is coming. If this turns out well, it could be a good idea to make a few more to give as Christmas gifts. More on that plan to follow!

Blow away the cobwebs

Sorry I've been AWOL for a while; I've been spending some time with an unwelcome visitor and these friends for company.

I think I'm on the mend now!

Yesterday I took a trip down the coast to Irvine, to get some sea air and walk on the beach. 

 

After a week of coughing and sneezing, I needed to get out and blow away those cobwebs. It was a lovely day for a walk, a bit windy but lovely and sunny. The beach was quiet too, with only a few dog walkers and in the distance I could see 2 horse riders trotting along. 

 

I felt so much better for being in the sun and fresh air. There's nothing like being by the sea on a beach, I find it so calming and soothing in the summer when the sun shines, and love it when it's stormy and blustery in the winter, very bracing and invigorating. I would love to live by the sea, that's a dream that I hope to realise one day! 

 

When I was going back to the car, I saw a little girl laughing at her dad who had, for reasons best known to  himself, waded into this harbour up to his bum whilst fully clothed and was walking along with soaking wet jeans! Funny! I tried not to laugh, well, until I'd walked past, then I had a good giggle too.

 

Amazing how an hour by the sea can have such restorative powers!

Bits and pieces

An interesting piece at the BBC about the growing trend towards 'make do and mend' and the increase in sewing machine sales since the recession.

Continuing my William Boyd theme, I found this article written by him in the Guardian, an A-Z of A how parks have inspired novelists.

I went to see 'Julie and Julia' and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci who were superb (Oscar-winning performances maybe?). If, like me, you have a little touch of the autumn blues, this film will cheer you up, I can vouch for that!

My new shoes; I bought these in purple, my favourite colour at the moment. They look lovely, are comfortable too, they make me a good 2" taller and I feel like the bees knees when I wear them! What more can you ask for in footwear?

A trip to the theatre last night to see this powerful production of  'The House of Bernarda Alba'. I wasn't sure if moving the setting to present-day Glasgow would work, but it did, very dramatically with some great performances from the all-female cast.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

September collage

Time marches on, and 2009 is speeding past. I can hardly believe that it's time for another monthly collage. September has been a good month; lots of happy things to look back on.

Glasgow University

At Glasgow Uni for a concert, I took a few photos of the wonderful buildings on the campus.

It really is magnificent, how wonderful to study in such splendid and inspiring surroundings. The university has been in existence since the 15th century, but these buildings were erected in the 19th century when the university moved from the ever-growing city centre to the leafy (and now trendy) West End of Glasgow.

The views across from the uni to nearby Kelvingrove Museum are grand too; here it is seen through the trees of Kelvingrove Park

A lovely last day of September. Autumn colours with sunshine, let's hope it continues like this for a while longer!