Dollshouse - The Kitchen Scullery

Hello everyone.

First of all, thank you all for your continued support and good wishes as we have been battling colds. I am a lot better, although I still get tired easily. D is also improving now and looking forward to her half-term break.

Not much has been happening this past week, with the weather wet and unpredictable. Therefore, I thought it was time to return to my dollshouse for another peek into this tiny world.

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We have reached the final room in the basement, the kitchen scullery, a place just as busy as all the other places we have visited. 

At the back of the room is the brick-built copper, which supplied hot water for a variety of uses in the house. 

Nearby, a maid is busy trying to reduce the mountain of clothes to be ironed. Hanging from the ceiling above are other linens drying and airing. It has been a busy day for the maid, with other items still waiting to be washed in the laundry sink and then put through the mangle to squeeze out excess water. 

In the doorway, Madeline has a tray of dishes for Jane, the scullery maid, to wash up. She is eager to speak with both women, as she has some gossip to share. 

Meanwhile, Jane is up to her elbows in washing up and is wondering how Mrs Wilson can conjure up so many dirty pots and pans! Once that job is done, she will probably be needed to help peel vegetables for the meals being prepared. 

Life is never quiet in this understairs world, but fortunately it is a friendly place to be.

After seeing all the work below stairs, next time we will be visiting a much quieter place, right at the top of the house, where the maids sleep for a few hours each night, and the housekeeper has her rooms.

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Putting the room together

This was actually the first room that was decorated in the house. There were so many things that I wanted to include, and my enthusiasm was running high. 

In the back-left corner, I have put the old copper and added a pan to take out hot water. On the other side of the room, I have added the door to nowhere. It gives the illusion of another room or space beyond, especially with the dog lead hanging on the door.

I plan to set up several activities in this room, starting with laundry. I fitted a Sheila Maid to the ceiling and draped some fabric over to represent drying washing. A Sheila Maid was a ceiling-hung clothes airer that used a pulley-and-rope system to raise and lower laundry.

The ironing board has a small apron that the maid is ironing.

I also had to include the mangle because it reminded me of the one my grandma used in her cottage.

At the front of the scene is the scullery maid with the mountain of washing up. I carefully glued pieces onto the drainer and filled the sink with even more crockery. Jane is one of the few dolls so far that I have dressed myself rather than being pre-dressed. It was a challenge, but it was worth it. 

To finish off, I added a table with folded linen, jugs, baskets, and wall units, which I also filled with appropriate items. 

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Returning now to the real world:

I hope that you are all well, and if you live in an area that has been stormy over the last few days, I pray that you and your loved ones are safe.

Have a good week, everyone.

Crochet, Cheesecake and Colds

Hello everyone. I hope your week has gone well. 

In this small corner, the cold/virus army has descended and caused a real nuisance for all three of us. 

Not feeling very active this week, I pulled out the crochet blanket I had been working on pre-summer and managed a few rows while snuggling under it. It is one of Lucy's blankets from Attic 24 and has been a real stash-busting project, using up lots of yarn. I have two more colour rows to go, lots of ends to sew in and then a border all the way round the edge. It's a gentle, easy project to work on when not feeling 100%.

Meanwhile hubby, who had less of those pesky cold germs, made this amazing cheese cake. It is a recipe by Jane Dunn of Jane's Patisserie and is a No Bake Millionaires Cheesecake. She does have a website but unfortunately this recipe is only in her books. There are plenty of other cheesecakes to try as well as other delicious baking on her web site. I'm sure the recipe hubby made had a million calories but it was so delicious.  

I'm hoping this cold-filled corner will be better very soon and normal life will return. Until then, we continue to fight the cold/virus war. 

Have a good week, everyone, and I wish you a cold- and germ-free week.

B x 

Holidaying in September

Hello friends. 

I'm back again after a short break. I hope you have all enjoyed the past few weeks. I have missed being here and am glad to be back in this space. It was really lovely to read all your comments and well wishes, which D kindly posted for me.

A couple of weeks ago, hubby and I enjoyed another cruise holiday visiting places along the Aegean and Adriatic coastlines. 

We started in Corfu, a well-known port of call, and the above picture was taken from the ship while we were still at anchor. 

While we were on board for the two weeks, we enjoyed some amazing entertainment from the show team, guest acts, and other very talented artists around the ship. 

We also had fun at several craft sessions and met lots of friendly people, including Erin, one of the lovely crew members.

Have you ever tried painting with coffee granules? No! Well, neither had I until this holiday. This was my coffee artwork. 

 

On one of the sea days, we took the opportunity to play crazy golf and also later on joined a group of other guests for some wine tasting, which was a lot of fun.

 

We docked for a few hours in Koper, Slovenia, and visited the Museum of Saltmaking. This showed the restored salt-bed pools and some of the buildings and living quarters of the old salt-worker families. There were also plenty of artefacts and stories to bring the skills and challenges of salt collection to life. 

We made several ports of call in Croatia - Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. Here are just a few images of this enchanting place.

During our second week, we visited Piraeus, in Greece. We have been here before to see the Acropolis, but this time our travels took us to the Temple of Poseidon, which D visited earlier in the Summer. She was absolutely right to say how windy it was. But it was an amazing site to visit whatever the weather.

We stayed on board the ship in Santorini, since we had visited several times before and didn't want to use the tender. Here is just a reminder of those wonderful white buildings along the high cliffs.

In Souda, Crete we visited  the small historic St George's Monastery known for its 19th century olive oil production. The ancient oil press is at the end of twelve stone arches and there are also the remains of four other mills within the area. 

And finally, some picturesque views of Argostoli, Kefalonia, before we returned home. Some of the backdrops used in the film 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' were filmed here. 

Holidays are over for now, and life returns to normal for us. I'm settling into Autumn, planning the jobs I need to do and the crafting I would like to do. There may still be some day trips out.

Whatever your plans are this week, stay warm and safe and have a great time.

B x

Green Tomato Chutney

Hello everyone.

The tomato harvest is finally over for this year in this small corner. This week, all the plants have been dug up, and the last red tomato fruits have been enjoyed. However, I also had quite a large number of green tomatoes to deal with. 

Thursday was chutney-making day. I have made chutney a few times before but never with green tomatoes.  I used the BBC Good Food recipe. The only ingredients I changed were using some soft brown sugar instead of Muscovado sugar, and adding a slightly overripe eating apple.

To add a little interest to the finished jars, I added ribbon and a couple of green beads to imitate the tomatoes in the chutney. Now the family have a new chutney to enjoy. I will certainly be making it again.

Hubby and I will be away for a few weeks now, but will be back in October. Enjoy the rest of this month, whatever your plans are. 

See you soon.

B x

Update

I have removed the link for the recipe and just direct you now to the site I used. Not sure what happened with the link but thank you for letting me know, Jan.

Snowshill Manor- the Collection

Hello everyone, welcome to 'Back2OurSmallCorner' and thank you for taking the time to visit.

Last Monday was the final bank holiday in August for all of the UK except Scotland. The forecast had been for showers, but we decided to go out anyway and hopefully dodge any showers. We headed out to Snowshill Manor and gardens, which is in Gloucestershire. The property is now owned and maintained by the National Trust, which meant free entry for both hubby and myself.

The main building is typical of Cotswold properties, and although it dates back to the 16th century, its most famous owner was Charles Paget Wade, who owned it in the early and mid 20th century. Wade can only be described as an eccentric who liked to collect a vast amount of items that interested him. 

Wade restored the property as he was an architect himself, but he never lived in the manor. Instead, he lived in a small priest's cottage in the garden and used the manor to display his vast collection. However, Wade did not want it to be set up as a museum, and his eclectic style is evident in every room. His motto was " Let nothing perish". 

Here are just a few glimpses of Charles Wade's vast collection.

While we were inside, the promised rain arrived, but very kindly stopped when we wandered around the gardens. These are laid out as a series of outside rooms and also include a dovecote, the model village (photos below), a kitchen garden, an orchard, and a small sheep field. 

Back home, I have been working on another project that has been collecting dust in my craft room. I bought the piece of slate about 5 or 6 years ago, intending to make it into a useful kitchen item. I really love the artwork on the narrowboats I have seen on the canals during our travels, and I wanted to include something similar in this project. I didn’t feel confident in my painting skills, so I decided to use some wonderful self-adhesive stickers instead. After applying the stickers, I added a spare white kitchen tile. We also varnished the slate, and now I have a brand new cheeseboard!

And so a new week begins. Whether you are due for sunshine or showers, take care, everyone, and have a great week.

B x