Sunday 3 June 2012

Long To Rain Over Us..........

                                                                       Very Wet Lovage

No, not a spelling mistake, just a comment on the state of play,weatherwise, for the past 15 or so hours, and no let-up in sight. Not wishing to labour the point.........

                                                "Raindrops on Roses....tra la la...."

                                          Ladies' Mantle sparkling away prettily

Ok enough with the rain. Here's what we cheered ourselves up with on the supper front last night.

                                                 Chinese Fish Broth with Noodles

No, bear with me, it was great. I sauteed off a very thinly sliced red onion, red pointy pepper, 3 cloves garlic and a few button mushrooms. Threw in a handful of cherry tomatoes. Added a couple of hefty shakes of Chinese 5-spice. Laid a freshly caught and cleaned rainbow trout on top and covered with fish stock.  I chopped and added the usual garden herbs - parsley and lovage I think. At the last minute I thought to add a couple of anchovies in oil. When it was bubbling I broke up a good handful of spaghetti and bunged that in, then tore up the remains of the spinach from the salad drawer, lid on, slow oven. When ready to eat, I removed the trout, deboned and chunked the flesh, and served. Bloomin' good it was too!

So while we're enjoying the colour, here's what I found between the living room and my sewing room, all old stuff but bright and.....er....beautiful? Well, I thought so at the time!

My Caravan Blanket. No, we don't have a caravan.

                                       My version of Lucy's Granny Stripe Blanket



                                                              My Lucy Bag

I did make leaves for the flowers on the original bag I made, but unfortunately I crocheted it in acrylic wool which s..t..r..e..t..c..h..e..d until it was HUGE enough to hold my entire wool stash; it is buried at the moment under quilts so fortunately I can't show it to you! Second time round I used cotton and it held its shape, but by the time I'd made the flowers I had had enough!

Here are some crazy patchwork bags I made back in the dark ages - I used to teach a workshop on making these - Exotic Embellishment - Not for Minimalists! was the title.
                        Notice the beads at the bottom - I called this Muggers Beware!



                                            Details from a couple of smaller bags

        I was really into making machine-wrapped cords, too. I made yards and yards of them!


 


It seems I was never off my machine in those days. Now I only use it to whizz up a few seams and binding. Oh, and a little free-machine writing and scribble embroidery. But that's only recently, and for the craft fair. Nowadays I am much more into Slow Cloth, having become entranced by the work and words of Jude Hill - check out her blog Spirit Cloth, especially her archive.

Well, folks, I really hope the colour has added a little cheer to your day, and most importantly, for those of you involved in any outdoorsy happenings for the Jubilee - I do hope this rain stops for you and you have a wonderful, DRY celebration!


28 comments:

  1. Hope the sun will shines for you, Lynne :o) Mmmmm...chinese fish...looks delish. Love your colourful caravan blanket and your bags too! My favorite is the crochet one! Need it :o) right now!
    love
    Natasha

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  2. Yes, just what I needed, a splash of colour!
    Thanks Lynne!

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  3. Love your post title Lynne! Very apt! Your blanket is gorgeous, such fab colours! And loving the bags too!
    Victoria xx

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  4. Well, Natalia, I'mafraid the rain still has not stopped 9 hours after I wrote this post! And the poor choir at the Jubilee River Pageant - we thought they might have given them an awning or something to keep them dry - they were SOAKED!

    Actually the colour reproduction isn't all that clever on the blanket - it looks a little on the grey side here, and it really isn't. But I'm glad you like it. It keeps my feet warm in the morning while I do my meditation; I am always in my bare feet!

    Thank you all for your lovely comments, I felt we all needed an injection of colour, glad it was appreciated!

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  5. Hello Lynne--I saw your comment on Jude's blog today and wandered over...just love your little bags--so neat with the beads...happy bags Julierose

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  6. Hi Julierose, nice to meet you. I see from your blog that you and your chap are musicians - not that I'd call myself a musician exactly but I do enjoy making noise on strings and reeds. But not whistles flutes clarinets oboes or anything like that.Not those kindsa reeds!

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  7. i'm another bare foot woman :0)
    beautiful colors in those wonderful crazy quilt bags.
    Jude has brought so many of us together. i love her work.

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    1. Hello Joan, yes, I'm always being told off for wandering down the garden in my bare feet, ut life's too short to find shoes. Thanks for commenting, and yes, we have obviously been drawn to the same blogs, you quote alecto in your recent post - a very thoughtful read I thought, this morning. Speak soon,
      Lx

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  8. We're just starting to see some sunshine today, the roses were weighted down with rain drops. Lovely colourful caravan blanket!

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  9. Glad you got some rain, we need some! Love your patchwork bag.
    Dorothy

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    1. Hi Dorothy, yes, we got rain! Yeah, we do need it, but I thught 36 hours solid was over-kill! Thanks for the comment.

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  10. Hi Jenny, lovely to have you visit. Yes it was like The Flood, wasn't it? Sunny today but cold.

    Noticing your post about Morris - I meet up with Nick, fiddler to Moulton Morris, each summer up at Buxton, Derbyshire at Fiddle Hell (but not this year as too much happenin' here on domestic front.) I'm more into Molly dancing, but do know a fair number of Morris men- and women. It's a small world! Lx.

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  11. I have the granny stripe blanket and the bag too, courtesy of Attic 24. She inspires me a lot actually, her influence can be seen around the house. And I love your crazy patchwork, embellished bags. I would love to be able to make something like that but it's this thing I have about things being lined up and neat... mentioned it before haven't I?
    Great that the rain stopped, but apparently we're due for more later in the week. Ah well, saves watering the crops.

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  12. There are very fine lines separating relaxed/sloppy and meticulous/obsessive. I have a struggle with my two, it seems you have similar problems with your two!

    I wonder how many Lucy bags / blankets there are, world-wide?

    As I ype, the rain is hurtling down, and I believe we are in for it tomorrow also. 'Oh to be in England..........'

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  13. Sounds like you had perfect weather for your fish broth. The broth sounds delicious!

    Love the colourful crochet and your bags.

    Hope the rain has let up.

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  14. Well, it's a bit grey today...Wednesday morning, and it has rained all night again.
    Hi Miriam, think it's curry tonight, I need warming up!

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  15. Ooh I like the sound of that broth!

    I've machine wrapped a few cords in my time ... isn't it funny how these things fall in and out of fashion.

    It's mostly been a grey day here again ... nice to find such a colourful post to brighten it up :D

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  16. Hi Annie, it was a very nice broth if I do say it myself! Thanks for commenting; yes, I was doing a lot of 'modern' stuff then,'art quilts', lots of 'technique', using lots of new 'product'. And of course many people are still doing this, and have developed those techniques and contemporary quilting into the bargain. I think my dabbling days are done now, however, and I'm quite content to settle back into the 'slow quilt' movement.

    Sunnier this morning after awful yesterday - J has just been up to clear the gutters this morning after all the rain!

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  17. Thanks for visiting my blog - have come over to see who you are and will definitely be following your posts - another crazy quilter I see! Love the bag.

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    1. Sorry, my reply got missed off - or rather I wrote it but didn't press publish. Sigh.
      Thanks for 'following' it amazes me where people pop up from! And yes, have reciprocated. I wouldn't say my days of crazy quilting are over, but I'm not of a mind to be doing any at the moment. But never say never, I suppose!

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  18. Hi Lynne, thank you so much for your kind thought, I really appreciate it! Now I am a little bit calm. Fortunately we live 70 km far from the epicentre and here in Parma we had no problem and our house is intact and in addition we are moving in another region, in Fano (Marche) in view of our wedding. Thank you again for your thought, have a nice day!

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    1. Amelitienne, thanks for visiting, and very glad to hear you are away from the worst of the earthquake epicentre. Looking forward to reading about your move and wedding plans!

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  19. Catching up with your recent posts has cheered me up along with your splash of colour above. The cheeriest thing was your bandaged toe ... many posts ago, but I am a bit behind! Maybe see you soon. xCathy

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  20. Hi Cathy! Welcome back to Cold Rainy Haily Britain after your hols. Any idea how the SUnshine Award works?Oh, will be emailing you re visit.Lx.

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  21. Hi, this is my first time visiting; such a lovely blog. Your Chinese Fish Broth looks absolutely yummy and I love all your colourful work! x

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    1. Hello Shirley, thanks for visiting- I popped over to your place and left a comment, we ahve a lot in common, it seems!
      Lx

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  22. This post is a real blaze of colour. I made a blanket last July and then two cushion covers. I was a bit crochet out but I have been seeing so many lovely projects recently I think I had better get those hooks out again.

    You do live in a lovely village, picked a great day to take the pictures. I originally come from just outside Newmarket and my Mum still lives there. Small world really.
    Many thanks for visiting my blog and becoming a follower.
    x

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    1. Hello, yes, it's lovely to meet you. I'm finding so many great blogs through blogging. It's even better when some people become real blog-friends. I'm loving it! (as they say!)
      Lx

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