Festiveness

I found this teatowel in a charity shop in Winchester, never used! Very suitable for the time of year. Perhaps I will try the pudding recipe next year.

Hope you enjoying a nice prolonged festive season!

Christmas Swapsie

Lakota over at http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/   organised another swap; and my partner this time was Norma (find Norma and her gorgeous quilts and sewing projects at http://rosyragpatch.wordpress.com/ ). It was great fun finding things for her!

I decided on a sewing theme, and as one of the items had to have a connection with a Christmas carol or song, I found some Holly and Ivy fabric to make a needlebook.

And here's what Norma chose for my parcel - all perfectly selected!

 



 

Norma made this lovely teacosy.

 

And this jug is beautiful!

 

 

Thanks so much, Norma, and big thanks to Lakota for another great swap, and a chance to meet another blogfriend!

Christmas Eve

I hope all your festive preparations are going well. Cranberry sauce made, and cranberry vodka, braised red cabbage with apple cooked, cake marzipan-ned and decorated, mince pies baked. House smells lovely! Christmas pudding needs two hours' steaming tomorrow, and the nut roast I will make in the morning.

To Midnight Mass later, then a hot chocolate, one present, and bed, ready to wake up early, and enjoy Christmas Day! Hope all of you do too. Thankyou for all your good wishes, and I send my best to you; a Very Merry Christmas!

Edible Christmas gifts

My Christmas gifts for the other Senior Leaders at school this year were Peppermint Creams. I hadn't made them for years, so it was nice to dust off the recipe again. I made little square white ones and green round ones. I found some sweet snowflake bags in the Poundland shop, which were perfect!

The last week of term flew by, with Carols, Celebration Assemblies, pantomime (Cinderella), and our End of Term Service on Friday in the Cathedral. Then a lovely lunch in The Ship, in Kennington Rd, and a cup of tea with Lizzie and Peggy, her gorgeous Kerry Blue terrier.

On Saturday a quick trip down to see Mummie, help her with a bit of shopping so she is all ready for Christmas.

Love this castle, made from sugar cubes, in the window of the cake decoration shop in Christchurch.



And this wonderfully imaginative sweet Nativity scene in the delicatessen, with oil and vinegar as Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, and a bread roll as Baby Jesus!

Giveaway winner!

The winner of the Christmas Cupcake book giveaway is ......... Mama! Congratulations! I'll get it off to you straight away so you can get busy in the kitchen in time for some festive culinary treats!! Thanks to all who left a comment.

Festive Giveaway!

Welcome to my first Giveaway! A little book of sweet ideas for Christmas cupcakes. All you have to do is leave a comment below and I will draw a name at random in a week's time, on Monday December 10th.

The Giveaway isn't just limited to UK readers - I will happily post anywhere!

 

Good luck! Mr sky-blu-pink will make the draw on December 10th.

Christmas cake

This Saturday was Christmas cake day! A big square one to divide up and share, and a baby round one for Mummie. They will be marzipan-ed and decorated with fruit and nuts as it's just me that likes icing! The whole house smells spicy and Christmassy already!

 

 Ingredients weighed and prepared ....

 



 Mixed, stirred and oven-ready......

 

I'll show you when they are decorated and ready.

 

How are your Christmas baking preparations coming along? I have a giveaway tomorrow to inspire you! Watch this space ............

Stir up Saturday

I made my puddings on Saturday this year as I was busy all day on Sunday, singing at Peter's church for their Patronal Festival of Christ the King, and then later playing in Vivaldi's Gloria at All Saints Putney for Alison's choir. A lovely day of music-making, and also lovely food - a shared lunch at Christ Church, and high tea with Catherine in Putney.

Here's the 'Before' picture ........

 

They have had 6 hours steaming, just need a couple more on the day. One for us, one for Mummie, one for Breda.

Teddy Axtell goes to a Conference

It was our annual Take your Teddy to School Day yesterday, to raise money for Children in Need. I was going to a Conference at Brunel University, so Teddy Axtell came with me. He offered his vast knowledge and experience, which was greatly appreciated, and he enjoyed the buffet lunch.

 

 

French Fancies

My trip to Lille was rewarded with these lovelies, in the deliciously named 'Ding Fring' for 1 euro 50 all in!

These very typical bowls (bargain for 1 euro 50 each in Monoprix) complement these gorgeous tins I bought recently from Happy Loves Rosie's shop. She got them in Lille as well. Check out her beautifully bright and cheerful blog here: http://www.happylovesrosie.co.uk 

Happy Halloween!

Woooh! Have fun bobbing for apples, trick-or-treating and eating pumpkin pie, watching out for ghouls, ghosts, witches and sorcerers!

 I love pumpkins; their shape, colour and taste.



 I snapped these marvellous examples in Lille yesterday; more about that later.



  How sweet are these little tiny ones!

Made of marzipan! How delicious!

Happy Second Birthday, Blog!

sky-blu-pink is two years old tomorrow!

 

Thankyou for visiting, and for all your sweet comments, dear readers!

Autumn

Autumn is well and truly here, but a bit damp for my liking. I love cold crisp days with bright sunshine and blue skies, but there is too much precipitation in the air at the moment! These wonderful pumpkins and squashes were on display in the organic Whole Foods shop in Camden.

I was inspired to make  roasted butternut squash, carrot and parsnip soup, with warm spices, and very nice it was too!

Nice Green Cafe

I went to the Vintage Fashion Fair in Primrose Hill yesterday. Cecil Sharp House on Regents Park Road is worth visiting for the building alone, a classic Art Deco red brick with a fab Bloomsbury-esque mural in the main hall. I found some very nice vintage buttons which I shall show when they adorn the cardigan and jacket I had in mind, but the real star is the Nice Green Cafe in the basement. So pretty and shabby-chic, rather like the Neighbourhood cafe in Liverpool.
(here: sky-blu-pink.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/neighbourhood-cafe.html).
Just how I'd like my kitchen to look!

 

 

Worth the walk from Camden Market if you want to avoid the crowds for a tea / coffee break with delicious homemade cakes, it's always quiet and peaceful, Today I was treated to a glimpse of some Morris Dancers (fit young men with big sticks who looked more like Rugby players!) and some graceful Regency dancers floating round in circles, like a rehearsal for a Jane Austen adaptation-for-televsion!

 

Still a few blooms clinging to life!

 

 

 

I wish they still sold monkeys and talking parrots here! Instead, it's a Tea Shop!

 

A couple of interesting things decorating buildings near Mornington Crescent

 



Pretty Finds

I had a good haul at the charity shop this weekend. I can justify taking home with me little things that don't take up too much room, if they whisper my name!

A little French Arcopal ramekin, and a polka-dot ceramic cupcake case, which will become a candle for a Christmas gift.

 



 This lovely Coalport teaplate, circa 1910. in beautiful condition for being more than 100 years old.

 

And pretty fabric, which will become a couple of bags.

Basket No. 2

Another basket, this time for Shani for her birthday. A lavender theme, her favourite smell. There is a purple bracelet I found in Hythe when we went for our planning weekend, a lavender soap and a jar of the plum and lavender jam I made, and a little daisy shaped tea light holder. She was really pleased with it.