Hearts and Cake

Hello everyone!

D here today, and I would like to share with you some things I have been up to this week.

On Friday, we had a staff challenge where we had to work in teams and bake a cake based on a chosen theme, and you all know how much I enjoy baking!

Since Valentine's Day is coming next week, I suggested my team do a Valentine's Day-themed cake. We went with a Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and decorated it with red and white fondant hearts. Unfortunately, the frosting was a bit too runny, but overall, I was delighted with our team cake.

It certainly tasted wonderful!

I have also been planting some garlic in my little garden patch. As a cook, I often use garlic, and it felt like an excellent idea to grow it myself. I also intend to grow spring onions, radishes and beetroot here.

Mum and I have also started to chit some potatoes ready for planting in a few weeks time.

It is half term next week, so Mum and I will be up to mischief, no doubt. 😊

Whatever your plans are for next week, I hope you enjoy it.

D x

All About the Fruit

Hello to you all.

I hope you have had a good week and the weather has been kind wherever you are. It has been warm enough at times this week for me to get outside in the garden, which is one of my favourite things to do. 

I found this lovely small clump of snowdrops just poking their heads above the ground early in the week. Unfortunately, when I looked a few days later, all the pretty white heads had gone - nibbled away. When I looked on Mr Google, I was surprised to learn that snowdrops are high in sugar, so maybe a night-time critter had a sweet tooth for them this year.

Or it could just be slugs, of course.

This week has been about the fruit in my garden, preparing the ground and pots for the season ahead. I pruned our apple tree to keep it manageable and planted some rooted gooseberry and black currant plants into pots. We also had two more large gooseberry and black currant bushes that had been taking up a great deal of space in raised beds, which we have replanted in pots with fresh compost.  

The last fruit that found a new home this week was the rhubarb: the wooden raised bed it was growing in had disintegrated over time, so a new place to grow had become essential. I split the plants and discarded the oldest parts before replanting them in a larger plot.

I have several other jobs I want to get done in the garden this month. Still, if the weather is unkind, I can continue to work in the greenhouse preparing for seed sowing time.

Meanwhile, indoors, I have started a new cross-stitch project. It was the final item currently in my craft box. I shall be working on this over the next few weeks, but I thought you would like to see the start and keep you guessing as to what it will be.

Have a great week ahead, both inside and outdoors.

See you next week 

B xx

Matchstick Crafting

Hello everyone.

Welcome to our last post of January 2024. Where did that first month go?

This week, D and I are sharing the crafting of another family member, my wonderful husband and D's dad. His particular interest lies in working with matchsticks to create 3D models. 

Some years ago, he started making trinket boxes from matchsticks using thin card as the backing to form the shapes. This hobby later developed into some of the models in the photos.

Each model took an awful lot of matches and glue and even more patience.

The vessel is a replica of the Mary Rose ship, which was commissioned as a naval flagship by Henry VIII between 1509 and 1511.

Mississippi River Boat

Medical helicopter

BAE 146

Airbus 340

Steam train and tender

And finally, a traction engine and mini fire engine.

Have a great week, everyone, and we hope the sun shines wherever you are. 

Take care.

B and D

Anyone For Tea?

Hello to all our friends.

As you have probably realised by now, D and I enjoy doing many things together, and we wanted to make 2024 a year when we returned to spending more time reading. We discussed some of the books we had read at school, and of course, Shakespeare came up in the conversation. 

Although we read several of Shakespeare's plays in school, it was never for pleasure. We wondered if we would feel differently now, so we have made a start on our first play, Henry VI Part 1. 

To help us with this, D found 'The Hollow Crown' film series based on some of Shakespeare's historical plays. While it is not the same as seeing a live performance, it gives us a better understanding of these plays.

How many plays can we read this year? I enjoyed this first play and look forward to the next one. 

And on starting other new tasks, I finished another project I hinted at last week.

A kernel of an idea had been swirling around in my brain for nearly two years: a coaster bought on one of our short breaks, and I wanted to do something special with it.

During the past few weeks, D and I have been reorganizing things in the kitchen, including the location of the kettle and hot drinks, which led to starting this project.

I needed a frame with some depth to hold the items, and this box frame was perfect. After giving it a quick coat of medium oak varnish, I used background papers from my card stash and a few teabags from the tea caddy. D wrote the message to add a little humour to the piece before we added the final touch: the teaspoon!

Here is the display in its new home next to the kettle.

We also have more good news about the kittens and cats my son and his fiancée foster.

Dolly and Quincey were the first two cats my son and his fiancée fostered. They have been with them for about a year and are now three years old. This week, the cats have found a new forever home together.

On the same day, a new tiny kitten joined the fostering family. 

Meet Eddie. He is a tiny ginger ball of fluffy mischief, much like Toby.

Three weeks into 2024 and both D and I are looking forward to the rest of the year. We hope that you will have a great week and stay safe whatever your plans are.

                                     B and D x

Can You Do That In A Minute?

Hello and welcome to our blog. Thank you for visiting.

January can sometimes be a quiet time of the year as we reset our lives after the celebrations of December. In this small corner, we are trying a few new ideas to help us start and finish some projects: no real resolutions, but a few things to make our lives flow better.

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While we have never really been ones for New Year's Resolutions, we have started something called: "Do It In A Minute". Mum saw it on someone else's blog a few weeks ago - unfortunately, she can't remember which blog, so thank you, whoever you are. The general principle is that if you can complete a task in a minute, you should do that straight away, and I have taken to this idea like a duck to water. 

I can't believe how effective it is as I am constantly doing those small tasks that I often keep putting off. Sometimes, I even do multiple tasks in a row.

My bedroom has never looked so tidy: the tea mug graveyard and floor-drobe have gone. Hopefully, it will stay that way!

D x

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I have also found a way to encourage the completion of some of my creative tasks. D had a large wooden box that she wasn't using, and I adopted it to put a few projects I am currently working on inside. The box is in our living room, so I can see it whenever I sit down in there. I plan to finish those projects and tasks before moving on to anything new. When the box is empty, I can start a new project. Anything too large for the box will have a reminder note instead. 

This week, I made another felt owl in different colours, similar to the one I made at Christmas. I shall keep him out for a while, as it is still officially Winter, and he looks cosy in his red scarf. As you can see, there are a few projects in the box for me to get on with. Have you started anything new yet this year?

Whatever your plans are this week, D and I both wish you a great week. 

January Begins

Hello, and welcome to 'our small corner'. Beverley and D hope you have had an excellent first week of 2024, and we look forward to sharing our blog with all of you. Thank you for visiting.

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The page has turned, and a new year has begun. What will 2024 hold for us in this small corner? We will let January start to unfold and see where it takes us.

There are no specific resolutions here, but D and I will try to read more this year. I finished reading Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' at the end of December for the first time. My younger self would have dismissed this book from any reading list, but now I find it enjoyable following the tales of a mixed group of individuals on their way to Canterbury. It painted a colourful picture of Medieval England.

A new year has also seen us in this small corner having major clear-outs in the house. Hubby is working on clearing the garage of years of collected bits and pieces that might be useful- no, they won't! At the same time, D and I have been attacking the bedrooms and bathroom. We are feeling very pleased, and the house is starting to breathe again.

Garage before clear-out

Garage after clear-out

The first non-Christmas project of the year has been to revamp a picture frame with a bit of decoupage.

The crochet yacht was one of the first things I made when I first learned to crochet; however, the frame was a quick fix that never quite seemed to work. Now, it feels complete.

The happiest news we have to share with you all this week is that this sweet little rogue, Toby, will leave his foster kitten parents to begin a new life in his forever home today. He is such a character and will quickly settle into his new place. Good luck, Toby. 

However, your year has started, D and I wish you a happy week ahead. 

Happy New Year 2024

 

To all our friends,

We wish you a very happy and peaceful New Year.

May your hopes and dreams come true in 2024.

💖xx

Beverley and D