miss marie's miscellany

In a pickle

It's been a good year for courgettes but there are only so many of them one can eat before a mountain of them start to take over the kitchen! I've been looking for some different ways to use them up and happened upon this brilliant recipe. It uses up quite a stack of courgettes and the smell is heavenly. I didn't have exactly the same spices as the recipe; I improvised and used cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black onion seeds, mustard seeds, pink peppercorns and chilli flakes.

I'm looking forward to tasting them, once they have matured a little!

July 2011

July was a pretty good month, and even if the weather was a little variable, there've been a lot of sunny, hot days; I'm not a great sun lover but even a pale person like me needs some brightness and warmth!. I had time to chill out and do some thinking about what happens next, there were quite a few birthdays of family and friends, and I visited my hometown of Liverpool, which is where I took this month's photo, down at the Pier Head where there were celebrations for the centenary of the famous Liver Buildings. It was a beautiful evening and the sky looked amazing, as you can see.  Happy times :-)

  

Daily snapshot:5

Sunset from my bedroom window tonight.

Daily snapshot:3

The weather has finally become warm enough for flip flops. I treated myself to a nice shiny new pair and some lovely silver nail polish to match. Even though it's a bit overcast, it's still warm and I feel summery at last and quite glam in these!

June 2011

Things have been hectic for a while in these parts. You've probably noticed a slight lack of posts recently, for which I'm sorry, real life has taken over for a bit; lots of worries about money and work, which I don't want to bring here. I'm trying to keep positive and this blog is one of my escapes from the austere times in which we are living. Just so you know, if I'm a bit absent for a bit, there'll be stuff happening; but I won't be gone for long!

June has been quite a good month in the end, and I've had some good times. And lots of cake! I think the cake kept me sane..........as they say, Keep Calm and Eat Cake. The photo was taken in Belfast overlooking the river, where I stayed in a very smart apartment, complete with its own gin & tonic balcony!

 

 

Roses

Today there are roses outside

and in

More of the indoor ones very soon........tomorrow, hopefully!!

April 2011

Cherry blossom inspired - part 2

Just in time for the cherry trees to be in full bloom, I have finished my African flowers with a Japanese twist cushion cover.

I really loved this pattern, it has a nice relaxing rhythm to it, and I enjoyed all the different variations of the colour combinations.......very pretty, in my opinion.

I made one side of African flowers, 18 hexagons in total and 4 half hexagons (very useful pattern to be found here, and a big thank you to Anne at Andamento for providing me with the link to this) and the other side is a large granny square in the same colours.

I couldn't find any buttons to match the colours, so I decided to try a tie fastening, just 2 colours chained together and crocheted onto the hexagon edging.

I think the little bows look pretty and they seem more secure than a button fastening, so after a great deal of hesitation and procrastination on my part, I think it was the right way to go.

Now I am hooked on these, so I've started making some more in a different colour scheme.

I hope your Easter weekend has been fantastic!

 

 

 

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In the garden yesterday

Ah, yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, just perfect for some alfresco dining

Some tulip admiration

My cat friend who often pops by for a visit!

My new boots, oh how I love these; they rock!

Cherry tree covered in beautiful blossom, just breath-taking this year

More tulip love

And of course there was a some hooky goings-on, always very lovely to do this whilst sitting in the sun. I've just about finished this and  I'll be able to show you the finished article very soon

More of the same tomorrow, as the forecast is for a scorcher!

Tantalising tulips

It's time for my favourite flower of all, the tulip, to burst forth in the garden.......I know in warmer climes you will have been enjoying them for a couple of weeks (head over to Jane Brocket's blog for some floral eye candy, she is the Queen of Tulips!) but we have to wait a bit longer in Scotland. Today I spied a couple of lovely flowers already starting to show their gorgeous silky petals.

This lovely deep pink tulip is looking so good - I planted this a couple of years ago but it didn't appear last year, so I thought it had been a casualty of the freezing winter weather. But it must have just been having a year off!

I love this tulip so much; it really looks like it's on fire, with its glowing orange petals. I happily spend quite a few long moments just gazing at this beauty, it is completely mesmerising.

There are lots more ready to burst forth, some old  and some new; something really special to look forward to.

Wishing you a happy weekend!