Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!

Back again from the States! Gosh it was hot there. Michigan does have warm summers, but it's been so long since we've had really hot summer here in Devon that I forgot what it's like to sleep with the sheets stuck to your sweaty body. Delightful, I know.

I travelled in patriotic style -- see, even my luggage supports team GB!

My sister's wedding was lovely -- I stitched up a small contribution to her big day.

Meanwhile, my other half set sail with a little love note from me.

And now I'm back, ready to tackle the upcoming craft season. Are you ready for it? Maybe this will inspire you. I came across this stash of vintage goodies in my mother's archives.

And I bet you thought wasabi tape and coloured twine was a modern trend!

Still taking my business course. Wish me luck -- I have to give a business presentation tomorrow! I've stocked up on breathe mints and antacid tablets just in case.

Off in search of warmer weather!

Busy, busy, busy here as per norm! The weather has been terrible, so I'm escaping England later this week for the very hot US. I figure two weeks of extreme heat will make up for the lack of summer here. So besides packing and cleaning, it is also the end of school. Here are two teacher gifts I've whipped up. I love doing book jackets!

Still plodding away on my business course. I think I've narrowed down my business idea to a manageable niche market. Next big job to tackle: making enough product to fill a craft table because ... YES! I'm going to book my first REAL show. Can you feel the sense of panic? So as soon as I get back I'll be locked in my craft room (read: guest bedroom converted into a craft room by a big sewing table). Other major source of worry -- I have to do a business presentation when I get back too. Ugh.

See you in a few weeks! I'll be back with suitcases stuffed with crafting goodness!

Happy Fourth of July!

As I was going through my computer and blog doing some (late) spring cleaning, I came across this chap and thought it was the perfect time to send him out. So a big, “Happy Fourth of July” to all my American friends and family! Isn’t he striking? Unfortunately, there is no note on him as to name, location or date. The backside is just a blank postcard.

Yes, this posting does mean that I intend to start blogging again with some regularity. A few weeks ago I made the decision to start selling my handiwork and actually get paid for my hard work for a change! I’ve enrolled in a business start-up course, thanks to my local council and the EU, and now I am on the rocky road to self-employment. Of course I thought I would record my trials and tribulations along the way! Have you set up a business? Do you have any pearls of wisdom for me?

So where am I starting? Market research. I guess in a nutshell that means: who sells what to whom at what price? To find out I’ve been surfing the crafty net and pounding the local craft scene.

I started at the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey, Devon. This was obviously as much for business as pleasure. As usual, my wish list was long. I fell in love with the following crafters and artists: Jane Booth Ceramics, Helaina Sharpley, O Golly Gosh (Elaine Hughes), Kirsty Elson, Rachel Eardley, Katie Almond Ceramics, and Sarah Culleton. A fav, Poppy Treffry was there being very cheery and chatty. I really appreciate it when exhibitors make an effort to talk to customers! Another fav, OPI (Jane Ryan), was there too. I wanted another piece to go with the one I bought last year (below), but I’ll have to save up my money a little bit longer.

A few trends did catch my eye at the fair: I saw lots of seasides, cottages, postcards, and multi-media collage art. Other trends I love at the moment: retro fabrics especially Horrockses and French Flo. Latest craft purchase: vintage snowman fabric from Donna Flower. On the nightstand: Mollie Makes -- I don't have much time for anything else at the moment, 'though one of my friends wants to force me to read "50 Shades of Grey".

Product-wise, I’ll been turning my attention towards Christmas. Gasp! Already! Yes, this year will NOT catch me unprepared! First though I have to finish three wedding gifts and four half-made items of clothing. Hah, right.

Bad Blogger! Bad, bad blogger!

The company has gone, it is a rainy day and rather than face the pile of unwashed laundry, I decided it is time to get back on the blog. Yes, I know -- I've been a bad, bad blogger. I hope to redeem myself.

So what have I been up to? We've now settled into the new house, have unpacked all boxes, had three sets of guests and a big birthday party for my daughter, and made a quick trip to London. Now at last my days are settling down and I'm getting back into a routine again.

Craft-wise, I've done a lot of little projects (picts to come) and I'm slowly working through a big Cath Kidston cross-stitch project. I've just decided that cross-stitch isn't my favourite, but I'm determined to finish the thing off anyway. I did do one fantastic thing -- I went to the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey. Despite the wet weather, it was a great show. I got to meet people like Poppy Treffrey and Priscilla Jones! I admit that I was rather timid and didn't say too much for fear of appearing like a babbling fanatical stalker. I've admired their work for some time and it was fantastic to see them in person. I'll show you what I bought in my next post. I do regret that I didn't budget more spending money and that I didn't sign up for any of the workshops. I'll be more prepared next year!

I'm off now! Time to slog my way through all the blogs I've missed.

On the move!

I haven't forgotten about you, I'm just up to my neck in cardboard boxes! My daughter came home yesterday and got mad because, "There's no place to play anymore!" Moving day is just a few days away now.

At the moment:

• I'm still keeping tabs on what's happening out here in blog land. I'm currently loving Nana Company -- I wish I was so talented!
• I'm dreaming of retro-Scandinavian style -- just google "Scandinavian tea towels" to see what I'm talking about. Suddenly I can see my new house decorated in mid-century modern. Now if I just had the money to do completely refurnish my house... 
• I'm eating lovely spring veggies! More asparagus and chicken pie or rhubarb crumble anyone? At the moment I'm also perfecting my goat-cheese and vegetable lasagna and my split-pea and sausage soup. Please watch The Great British Food Revival for more mouthwatering recipe inspiration.
• On the nightstand -- Enchanted April (v. seasonal), Baking Made Easy and The Handmade Marketplace.

It is lovely and sunny here at the moment, but I'm trying to hold off any spring fever just yet. I'll wait 'til we're moved in before I start sprinkling tulips and bunnies around the house!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day a little early this year as my other half is away this week. It was a bit subdued this year as my husband has been away a lot, the weather continues to be miserable and now we have to start re-packing for the next move. I even had to buy my own flowers! I normally cook up a fancy dinner for the occasion (honey roasted duck last year), but this year he requested steak and chips and my daughter requested ice cream for dessert. I couldn't be bothered to argue.

As it's been too wet to go outside my daughter and I have had plenty of time to work on our Valentine's Day cards.

I love stitching on paper, so I stitched up card stock and brown paper to create this valentine card holder. There is an opening at the top to slip cards into. I embellished with a paper doily and vintage buttons. Check out Cathe Holden's Just Something I made for a tutorial on mini bunting. I continued the vintage-y feel with the vintage button wreath. Find the tutorial on Hobby Craft.

For my daughter, I stitched up this from Kidston's Stitch. See my last post for a book review. I am currently on my third project from the book. As a finishing touch, I printed a sweet little graphic onto card stock and glued it onto a jewelry bag.



Things are moving on the house purchase now, so if my posts are a bit erratic that's why! Have a very happy Valentine's Day!

A new home, a few old projects, and a couple of book reviews

Keep your fingers crossed for us! Our offer was accepted on a house. Let's just hope the sale goes smoothly and quickly. The house is everything we were looking for in a house. We were hoping to find something a bit more in the countryside, but it seems wishful thinking to expect a rural setting, a short-commute to work, and good schools and shopping could be affordable. Anyway, I'm trying not to get too excited as nothing is certain until you have a key in your hand.

Here are a few pictures from the countryside here:

As my husband is now back to work and my daughter has started school, guess who is job hunting? Now that we're in an English-speaking country I have no excuse for not working. Ugh. It isn't that I don't want to work, I just hate the interview process and I'm worried about finding a job I like in this current era of unemployment. The prospect of self-employment is very appealing, but as what? If you could start over and begin a new career now, what would you do?

As far as the crafting goes, the progress is v. slow. It doesn't help that I can't access some of my stash and I don't have any space here to work in. I have been embroidering. My cottage triptych is on hold, mostly out of frustration. For some reason my transfer pencil marks on my muslin have disappeared mid-way through and now I have to re-transfer the remaining image. Has this happened to anyone else? So out of childish spite, I've started a new project.

I mentioned that over Christmas I picked up a few new books, one of them being Cath Kidston's Stitch. As I haven't tried cross-stitch before, I immediately started working on the cover project (materials are included with the book). I already own Make and Sew. I liked Make. This and The Kitchen Linens Book by EllynAnne Geisel got me stitching in the first place. Although some of the projects and designs are too basic, there was enough to propel me on. I still refer to the book as it contains a few of Kidston's more iconic designs. Word of warning though, the instructions on some projects are vague or just plain wrong.

Enamoured with Make, I bought Sew. Being fairly adept with embroidering, I wanted to expand my sewing skills. Overall Sew was a disappointment. I think there are better sewing books on the market, especially for relative beginners like myself.

Luckily Stitch was a return to what I loved about Make -- easy to follow projects that put a fresh and unique spin on an old craft. Sure, I know there's a limit to how many pillows one can make, but this book has actually made me want to try cross-stitch for a change. A few of the patterns are questionable, but I can't wait to stitch up her cowboy!

When I was backing up my photos from 2010, I realised there were two projects from December that I didn't share with you. (Word of advice -- take time to back up your photos! I learned this lesson the hard way when my last computer crashed.) As we were leaving Germany I gave a few handmade thank you presents to friends and teachers. Both projects were quick and easy. The images for these came from Flickr and The Graphics Fairy.

I couldn't resist these little purple flowers. I'm not sure if they're really violets or not, but I glued a perfume label on to the pot and used the same image to make the butterflies. These were given to my daughter's Kindergarten teachers.

This little pocket was inspired by Lori Lundy's jean pockets featured in the volume 4 issue of "Somerset Holidays & Celebrations". I quickly glued on vintage images, scrap lace, velvet leaves and my favourite vintage button. I tucked a thank you letter and my favourite recipes inside and presented it to a friend who gave my daughter riding lessons. In exchange for her lessons, I taught her children some English and sent her a regular supply of English and American bakery.

 I hope they know how much I appreciated their hard work and friendship!

New home, new adventures

Hello again! Well, we finally made it back to England in one piece and survived Christmas admirably. Our home is hopelessly small and depressing, but it is just temporary until we can find a place to buy. So until then, we're living out of cardboard boxes and having a lot of fun house hunting. I love house hunting -- dreaming of what living in each place would be like and how you would decorate/improve it (with an unlimited imaginary budget of course). I haven't seen the place of my dreams yet, but I'm sure something will turn up!

Haven't done much crafting, but I did spend some Christmas cash and picked up a few new supplies. Think I may try my hand at ATCs. I'm becoming a serial crafter -- I pick up a new book or magazine and think, "I want to try that!" This doesn't mean I'm giving up embroidery -- I've got a cottage scene in the works. I haven't forgotten about my other half-finished projects either, I just can't find them yet in our boxes! They must be with my lost pillowcases.

One less project to finish

Tah dah! Another project finished! Amidst the chaos and cardboard boxes that are taking over my house, I did manage to finish off another project. This one has been hanging around for ages. I admit that I'm only responsible for about 30 percent of this -- my badgered husband did the cutting, sanding and painting. I don't think he minds doing these kinds of things for me as it keeps me from complaining about how much he spends on tools.

These little houses are made out of reclaimed wood (they used to be part of a bed), so they aren't perfectly smooth and square. Each side has a letter or a small graphic and they read, "Home", "Hope", and "Love", though others keep coming up with new and interesting letter combinations. My most of the illustrations came from The Graphics Fairy.

I've enjoyed doing these "grown-up" letter blocks and I'll try my hand at a few more as long as my husband's patience holds out!

Still here, for a little while longer at least

I honestly do have a valid reason for the last month's silence -- my parents were here, my husband was seriously sick, and we're now preparing to move next month. We managed to survive the first two admirably, but the last one may give me an ulcer. I mean really, who in their right mind moves just before Christmas?! After almost four years of living in Germany, we're heading back to England. I love living here -- great house, neighbours, school, etc -- so I'm just a bit reluctant to move. My other half is trying to shake me out of my pessimistic mood and I'm sure he's right that we'll find a place that we love just as much as here (just don't tell him that).

So needless to say, most of my Christmas projects are now cancelled and I'm just working on a few unfinished pieces. I did manage the following:

• Halloween: Got my lanterns and my daughter's trick or treat bag done just in time. Both are Martha Stewart projects. I love, love, love the felt bag -- it was easy and quick and guess what I'm making an Easter tote out of.

• In the Kitchen: Next time a friend says, "I don't have time to do anything with these; would you like them?" Don't believe her. My neighbour handed me a bag of quinces. Not knowing anything about them, I accepted. I'm starting to suspect that she doesn't like me anymore. After a few days of cuts, bruises, burns, and a house stinking of quince and burnt sugar, I produced something akin to quince cheese and quince jam. Never again.

• Christmas projects: Got my Christmas cake and mincemeat done last week. Don't think I'll have time to much more, but maybe after the move I'll have time for gingerbread men or a last-minute Christmas pudding. Am doing a vintage Christmas pattern stitch along, but am v. frustrated with it at the moment. Made an elementary mistake in choosing a red and white Santa to go on a white towel. Santa's face completely disappears! Ugh. May have to rip out his head and start again. On a more positive note, a friend came over the other day and taught me how to make German stars! Guess what I'm decorating the tree and my presents with this year. I couldn't resist making a few of these mittens too. Not sure if they're going on the tree or if I'm going to tie them around presents. If I can get enough done by Dec. 1st, I'll put numbers on them and use them for an Advent calender.

There are a few more projects I hope to squeeze in before the move. I'll try to post them if I do. If not, you may not hear from me until January. Wish us luck!

The living dead and a few Halloween projects

Dripping, drooling, moaning evil zombies have nothing on us this week. My husband and I are just getting over the flu and between the two of us coughing and wheezing, I don't know how we sleep. I normally make this chicken noodle soup with ginger (sunshine in a bowl), but today I'm going to make this chicken curry soup with coconut and lime as it is easy and flavourful. Hopefully normal breathing with resume tomorrow.

The flu may have slowed me down, but I've managed to have a bit of a clear out. Summer clothes are packed away, wardrobes have had a once over and now I've just finished off a few projects that have been lingering around. Remember this one?

Yes, I've finally found a decent frame for my "39 Squares" project. I mounted the fabric onto a canvas and then hung the canvas in a great shadow box from IKEA. I should have bought a bunch of these while I was there!

I also finished this off for my husband's birthday:

This was my husband's favourite t-shirt. He bought it while we were dating and last year I finally forced him to retire it. Rather than tossing it into the rag pile, I turned it into this banner for his office using directions for a placemat.

Then I came across this left unfinished from last year and went right into Halloween mode.

Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it now, but it may end up on a felt trick or treat bag next week.

Now in the full Halloween spirit, I did this:

I've always wanted to try my hand at decoupage, so here's my first effort. This candy tin is decorated with images from The Graphics Fairy. I pestered my other half to punch two holes, strung it with a black velvet ribbon and stitched up the orange flower ribbon. Not too bad for a first effort, if I do say so myself. What am I going to do with it? Fill it with my favourite Halloween treats and hang it near my sewing seat.

This sunny, dry morning I started these soon to be Halloween lanterns, found here at Martha Stewart.

I also have plans for these, but I'm not telling yet. Maybe they'll be done for my next posting!

Plum crazy!

The local plum season is here again! I love the German plums here – they’re about the size of goose eggs and are wonderfully sweet with just a hint of tart. They’re great for snacking, but they’re even better to cook with.

Now last year I went a bit crazy and ended up with three buckets full of plums. I made plum jam, spiced plum cheese (something akin to overcooked jelly) and plum and apple chutney. As you can imagine, we are still eating these preserves off. Therefore this year I will to be more controlled. At the moment, I only plan to make a few cakes.

As the neighbourhood children have stripped the wild plum trees of their fruit already, we headed off to the nearest pick-your-own orchard, Obsthof Schneekloth on Sunday. This is one of our favourite local haunts during the summer fruit season – we ramble around the orchards, stop in the café for a dreamy cake, then my daughter runs around the playground or the small animal petting area (guinea pigs, rabbits, and goats galore).

We gorged ourselves on these:

We hauled home just over a kilo of these:

Of which I made this, a plum, almond and ricotta cake:

Hmmmm, I don’t think I can just stop there. Maybe a bottle or two of plum cordial is in order. Or maybe a pan of plum leather. Or maybe a jar or two of pickled plums…..

In other news, I did finish my project for the DOW Wednesday Stitch Along. I chose Floresita’s “Bear in Mind” pattern. Sorry, couldn’t find a maker or pattern number. As I admitted, I did start this a bit early – I was too eager to wait. The phrase “a nice stitchy indulgence” got my brain going. I’ve been sitting on these fabrics for awhile waiting for a useful project, so what better use than a cover for my book of stitches? The poor book does get bashed about a bit in my embroidery bag, as I take my embroidery with me when I can.

The stitching turned out all right, although I learned that I need to practice my blanket and satin stitches. I had to redo the eye and spool a few times. As you can see, I gave up and used good old backstitch. I am practising satin stitch on my current project and am slowly improving.

In all, I enjoyed this stitch along and can’t wait for the next one!

My verdict on German foood

Can you name this veg?, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

I love to cook and, having lived in Germany for the last three year, I am frequently asked what I think of German cuisine. Sad to say, I have added very few German recipes to my repertoire. This isn’t because I don’t like the food here, it’s just that I’ve experienced few traditional German meals that I’ve wanted to recreate and many of those were either beyond my cooking ability or ability to translate. The German influence shows up in other aspects of my cooking.

To put it simplistically, German families have a different approach to eating from our experience. Breakfast is a continental affair – cold cuts, cheeses and fresh rolls are a must. Lunch, the largest meal of the day, is served hot and those that can go home for a meal with the whole family. (Note of interest: German schools, except kindergartens, do not serve lunch.) Dinner is small, similar to our lunch, and features more cold cuts and cheeses. Between meals, Germans snack often – second breakfasts, cafes with strong coffee and gorgeous bakery, and eis cafes (Italian-influenced ice cream parlours) provide irresistible temptation. Failing that, sweets are always on hand. My mother was astonished that our grocery store’s sweets section was larger than the canned fruit and vegetable section. This speaks volumes about the national diet – high in fat, sugar, salt and beer. I think what saves them is self-control and that Germans are much more into exercise than either Britons or Americans.

As with any cuisine, when German food is good, it’s very, very good, but when it is bad, it is appalling. The worst offenders include:

• Currywurst: This favourite fast food will horrify any British curry lover. Take an indifferent sausage, fry it, drown it in sweet and mildly spiced ketchup, and sprinkle any old curry spice, neat, over the top.
• Mett: My neighbour and her family rave about this one and were the first to introduce me to it. It’s an open sandwich comprised of raw pork mince on a buttered roll, topped with raw onion. Enough said.
• Minor offenders (I just don’t like these because of personal preferences): Pickled red cabbage – this sweet and sour dish appears as the vegetable side of most restaurant main courses. Matjes – pickled herring in a cream sauce. Thinking about it, the Dutch may be to blame for this one.

That’s enough of the negatives. Since moving to Germany I have changed my shopping and meal-planning habits for the better. I now shop seasonally and locally as I depend on our bi-weekly market for fresh produce. The markets here are fantastic – friendly and helpful, they provide not only great local and seasonal products, but also an excuse to meet friends for “café and kuchen” (coffee and cake) in the town centre.

For me, the best of German food must include:

• Bakery: The bread here was an epiphany for me. It is fresh, wholesome, and comes in a huge variety. I know hope to avoid buying a loaf of pre-packaged, gluey, sliced white bread ever again, so much so that I am learning to make my own bread. Beyond bread, the bakery, cakes and tortes are to drool over.
• Eis Cafes: mmmmm, lovely Italian gelato!
• Hearty Soups: one of these split pea, lentil or potato soups will keep you warm through a cold, dreary day. I am currently perfecting my own version of lentil soup with sausages.
• Christmas Cookies: the reputation is well deserved. Store bought is OK, but for the real deal, find a generous soul who’ll let you sample her stash. A neighbour took pity on me last Christmas and gave me a crash course in cooking making. When the season nears, I’ll clean up my notes and share them.

Really, in all, it’s a miracle that I haven’t put loads of weight on while living here.

My final advice to those planning a visit here – do your research beforehand to locate a good traditional German restaurant before travelling as they are worth seeking out. If you can’t find one, save your money and buy your staples from bakeries, butchers and markets. Splash out on cafes instead. You are more likely to stumble accidentally upon a good café than a good restaurant.

What do I miss from Britain? Good quality cheese, sausages, brown sugar, mayonnaise, affordable lamb meat, fish ‘n chips, curries, gastro pubs, cider. What do I miss from America? Good bagels, peanut butter cups, and my favourite restaurants.

Thank goodness for pack rats!

I haven't really mentioned much about my trip to America over the summer. It was stressful, maddening, lovely and rewarding all at once as usual. Unfortunately, the airlines are making my trips harder and harder with these luggage restrictions! Do you know how heavy a jar candle is?! Not only do I do most of my clothes shopping there, but I also come back with my most important craft supplies.

Coming from a long line of pack rats, I am lucky enough to source many of my vintage materials right from my mother's basement. This basement treasure trove is my unending source of inspiration -- I never know what I'll find when I start digging. The collection is just as funny, touching and beautiful as the three generations behind it. 

These two images are a sampling of my latest haul back from America. This time I came back with lots of lace, trim and buttons. I did manage to pry one feed sack from my mother's clutches. I only got away with as much as I did because I promised that everything would be put to good use. That is easier said than done. Some of these items belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother and it is a bit daunting to start cutting them up into pieces. I think I'll need a hit of sweet sherry in honour of my ancestresses before I hack into the above lace tablecloth!

The Summer is winding down...

Clay Pipe Museum 3, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

Whew! What a summer. The weather may not have been great -- either cool and wet or scorching hot -- but it has been jam packed. After three weeks in America, nearly a week in England, and another week of entertaining guests here, life is starting to resume regularly scheduled programming. My other half is back to work, my daughter is back in school, and I am finally able to sit down and write.

On Saturday, I realised that the blackberries have just come into season here when most of the neighbourhood children appeared with sticky, red stains all over themselves. I got up extra early yesterday fearing I missed out and armed myself with a bucket and step stool. After a few hours, several bramble scratches and a bad nettle rash, I returned home triumphant with my booty. Sadly the resulting jam only filled two jars. But two very lovely jars they are!

My main sewing project at the moment is a piece for the Flickr "New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns Group" vintage pattern stitch along. I had it in my head that the piece needed to be done by 1st September, so I'm nearly finished with it. Stupidly, I've just realised that the deadline is actually the end of September. I'm rather geeked about my project and can't wait to share it!

This project has inspired my next one -- a fabric book featuring vintage embroidery from different generations of my family. The last issue of Sew Somerset featured beautiful fabric books that I can't wait to try my hand at.

The top picture is from my trip to England. Broseley, in the middle of England, is home to a clay pipe museum. This factory was the last of its kind in England. As it was pretty much abandoned in 1960, it acted as a time capsule, preserving so much information about this industry. Today it is home to an interesting little museum that gives us a glimpse into early industrial life. On an interesting side note, my husband's great grandfather owned it!

Welcome to the New and improved Past Perfect Postcards

Coming soon. I was never terribly happy with the title Past Perfect Postcards -- too cumbersom and formal. Tea Potty Time fits me much better. I hope to have this place cleaned up and in order in no time!

My summer schedule

Bus skirt detail, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

As you can tell from my lack of blogging, I am now in full summer mode. For the last few months we seem to be either getting ready for visitors or getting ready to visit someone. Things have been hectic and it looks like nothing will change until mid-August. This is not to say I haven't been working on projects. I've managed to finish a few things in my free evenings. So, to keep things short and sweet I will summerize:

Geeked about:

• Flying home for a three-week holiday: I don't get homesick very often -- except around the holidays and just before a flight!
• My latest book order: The Complete Book of Sewing, Sewing in No Time, Sew!, and Preserves.
• Decorative trim: I am in love with pom-pom trim, crochet lace borders and velvet ribbons!

Projects on the go:

• An Alice in Wonderland pillow for my sister.
• My 39 squares piece is essentially finished. I just need to decide what I'm going to do with it now.

Projects I've somehow managed to actually finish:

•  A crinkle scarf from a terrific Ruffles and Stuff tutorial.

• A baby shirt for my cousin's daughter. The wonderful Wild Olive pattern can be found here at DMC.

• A recycled jeans skirt embroidered with a VW camper van. I took an old pair of jeans, turned them into a skirt and embroidered them with a camper van. You can find the image by Googling "VW camper van coloring pages".

Spilled all over the kitchen:

• My annual strawberry jam
• Homemade salad dressings -- homemade green goddess salad dressing beats a bottle of ranch any day.
• Salads with beans and/or couscous
• Elderflower and lemon cordials
• Cooked fruit desserts -- crisps, cobblers and tarts galore!

Whew! I think that just about covers it for the moment!

A moment of rest

Craziness, sheer and utter craziness -- the last two weeks have been bonkers. At one point we had six people here sharing one and a half bath. Then in the middle of it we travelled nine hours (due to terrible traffic) to Monchengladbach for a wedding. Well, the house is quiet again for the moment and I'm just now catching up on my blogroll. There's one terrific blog that I just started following -- Tea Rose Home. At the moment she has a Mother's Day giveaway going on. Please stop by! Although I'm newish to sewing, she has a number of terrific sewing tutorials that I think I can even follow. In flickr news, Graphics Fairy now has a flickr group. I've added pics of some of my work.

Gotta run for now -- I'm hosting a tea party tomorrow and I haven't even started preparing! The all-home-made menu (as of this moment): scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, porter cake, banana bread, cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches (all with crusts cut off of course), tea, coffee, and lemonade. Pictures to come!

Unexpected Pleasures

Black Forest Torte, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

We had a relative fly over to see us this past weekend and now we're not sure when he's going to leave! As soon as he landed, European airlines started to cancel flights because of the Icelandic volcano. Looks like he'll be here for at least another week (if the air clears by then)! I really should say that it is nice to have him visit and we're glad to have him stay so long. It is just a bit disruptive to our plans though.

I do like having out of town company. Once I get past the stress of cleaning and cooking, I enjoy playing tour guide. Visitors give us a good excuse to forget daily, mundane responsibilities and to do all the fun things I haven't done in a while -- window shopping, playing tourist, and eating really indulgent cakes at lovely cafes while watching the world pass by. Strangely, I'm really good at doing those things.

The weather has cooperated nicely for our visitor, so we spent part of the weekend on the windsurf/kite surf beach at Pelzerhaken. As my other half is a windsurfer, this is our home away from home. Luckily there is a good cafe and a playground here to keep the rest of the family entertained.

Despite having company with us we're off to a wedding this weekend. I've never been to a German wedding, so it will be a bit confusing to follow the ceremony. This one should be doubly interesting as the wedding is in German and Turkish! I'm also looking forward to seeing some of our friends there that we haven't seen for a while. Have a good week!

Gromitz Kite Festival

Kite Festival, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

Last weekend we visited the Gromitz Kite Festival. As we wore shorts and cycled there last year, it felt like the beginning of summer. This year we drove and wore winter coats, what a difference. Unfortunately, there wasn't very much wind, so only a few kites actually made it up on Saturday. We still had fun though. There were children's activities and my daughter had her face painted, so she was happy.

During the summer, we frequently visit the town just for a pleasant half day out. Gromitz is a nice little town with a terrific beach. The immaculate promenade is new (ish) and is lined by little cafes, restaurants and shops. Playgrounds and toilettes are conveniently spaced out down the beach, so it is very family friendly. Our favourite Eis Cafe is pictured below. My husband loves the mint chocolate, I love the coconut ice cream, and my daughter loves anything pink. They have a huge selection of ice cream, which I think is made on site. They also have a good beverages and kuchen (cakes and tortes).

The town is also home to two other attractions that we love. The indoor pool, located right on the beach front, is fantastic. My daughter loves the kiddie pool and the wave pool. The second attraction is Obsthof Schneekloth, a pick-your-own fruit farm and cafe. This year we are definitely not going to miss the cherry season here!