INDIAN BEAUTY

Good Morning to you,

I thought I had escaped the winter viruses as I have felt so healthy, but alas,  they have caught up with me and I am unwell.

So today, I thought I would share some pretty things from India for you to admire. There will only be the odd word.

Beautiful jewel tones

Turquoise

 Pink,

Red

a little more turquoise

White

Silver

and Gold

I have to go now, as George is coming up the stairs.....he thinks I am in bed!

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE

Good Morning to you,

Tell me, if I were to ask you why toast was created, what would your answer be?

I would have to say, it was created as a perfect accompaniment for homemade marmalade.

I had intended to buy some Seville oranges this week, as they are only available for a short period of time, but a friend of mine gave me 3 juicy grapefruits.  We halved one of the grapefruits and shared it for breakfast, but the remaining two, I decided to keep, so I could make some grapefruit marmalade.

The sunshine in the photograph was a happy accident and has enhanced the golden colour of the marmalade. The tablecloth I am using is one Phyllis embroidered as a young  woman,  over 60 years ago.....the stitches are so neat.

Let us get started. Gather your ingredients and equipment. You will need,

1 preserving pan

or

1 large deep, heavy based, saucepan

1 saucer

4 medium sized glass jars
4 wax discs 
4 lids

I save  glass jars for making jam and marmalade. Sterilize the jars, by washing with soapy water, then rinse. Pour boiling water over the jars then place them in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a dish washer to  sterilize the jars.

INGREDIENTS

 

2 large grapefruits 
weighing approximately 800g



juice of 2 lemons

1kg preserving sugar

Place a saucer in the deep freezer

Put the grapefruit into a large saucepan, filled with enough water so they float freely.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours, by which time the grapefruit should be very soft.

Add more hot water from a kettle if the liquid is evaporating.  I found I topped up my saucepan 3 times.

Drain, place the fruit on a board

Slice the cooked grapefruit thinly and remove pips.

Then chop the slices, using the whole fruit,
pith and all.

 

 Put the chopped grapefruit back into the saucepan,

add the lemon juice



and sugar.

Let the sugar dissolve over a gentle heat and then bring to the boil until setting point of 110 degrees centigrade is reached, which will take about 15 minutes. 

If you do not have a sugar thermometer, use the saucer which we placed in the deep freezer. 

Take the saucer out of the freezer and carefully place a teaspoon of marmalade onto the cold saucer. Chill for 2 minutes, then push the marmalade with your finger, if the surface wrinkles, the setting point has been reached, if not, boil for a little longer and test again, but remember to place a saucer in the deep freeze again.

Remove the marmalade from the heat and  remove any film which had formed on the surface with a slotted spoon. I allowed the marmalade to stand for 15 minutes, then stirred to distribute the peel.

Ladle into warm sterilized jars.



Cover with waxed discs.
Leave to cool before adding the lids
and labelling the jars. 

I should have waited a couple of days to test the marmalade, but I could not wait, I enjoyed some on hot buttered toast for my breakfast this morning and I was not disappointed. There is nothing like home made marmalade.

Ivy always made her own marmalade, jam and chutney's.  Whatever was in season, it was bottled, to be used later in the year. Although grapefruits are not a seasonal fruit, they were a kind gift.

I found this recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. This is an unusual method as normally I would put the pips, flesh and pith into a muslin bag....but this way there is much less fussing. The hardest thing is making sure the water does not evaporate when boiling the grapefruits.

Next week I am going to test this recipe with Seville Oranges.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I shall be joining,

Karen from My Little Home and Garden
Natasha at Say G'Day Saturday

WHITE ON WHITE

Good Morning to you,

I am very excited to tell you, that we are  planning a trip to India. On our return there will be lots of photos and recipes to share with you.

The downside is, we have just returned from the doctor's surgery after having two injections, one in each arm, so we will both suffer with aching arms tonight, but, a small price to pay for such a wonderful trip. 

So, onto nicer things.

Today, I want to show you a cushion I have finished. It is plain white fabric, with white beading, and do you know, I am really pleased with the effect.

 It sits beautifully against my blue  bed linen.

Here are the corners in a little more detail. You can see, I have mixed the beading with the quilting. I decided to densely bead the three ovals, but I wanted a lighter feeling for the centre heart, so to achieve the effect, I attached the beads randomly. 

The original design was for a single quilted line around the centre, but I felt the piece needed a little more. The effect I was looking for was a necklace of mismatched fresh water pearls. 

Which you can see a little more clearly here.

I cross hatched the centre with a quilting stitch and added a single bead at each meeting point.  

I also decided to quilt the back of the cushion. I felt the front was pleasing to the eye, so the back should be the same.

Now can you guess what I quilted?

Yes, I think you've guessed!

My favourite....a Heart!

I drew the larger heart shape first, then I drew the smaller heart. Then I decided the smaller heart needed more defining, as a single quilted line did not appeal to me.  I quilted freehand until I was happy with the look and then did the same with the outside of the heart.

I am not a planner, my starting point is usually the beads or an item which is not meant for sewing, such as the medallion I used in my brown bead work See here I start, without a clear idea of how the piece is going to look when it is finished. This is not to everyone's taste, but for me it works, as I get a feel for a piece as I am working on it.

I thought I would mention the iron has been bought and all the squares for Danielle's quilt have been ironed....so I am making progress.

I am pleased to report that after two weeks of snow, it has all disappeared....I am able to get out and about to enjoy some nice walks.

Whatever you are doing this week, enjoy yourself
and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways

Claudia from Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Kathryn from The Dedicated House
Connie from Family Home and Life
Marelize at Stitch by Stitch

A BOOK WITH TWO TITLES

Good Morning to you,

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, I told you about my trip to Heaton with Gloria.   I mentioned I had found a few treasurers.....well I have one for you today.

This book has two titles, 

Mattie and Bessie

or

Climbing the Hill

I could not see an explanation as to why a book would have two titles, but as you can plainly see from this photograph, Mattie and Bessie is in larger print and Climbing the Hill is in smaller print.

This book was presented

to,

"Ada Laidler

for reciting at the Winlaton

Wesleyan Sunday School Anniversary

June 3rd 1888"

There are four prints in the book

The first caption reads,

"Her bonnet was roughly torn from her head,

and Tom Raynor stood holding

it by the string."

Here are a couple of sentences to enjoy.

"Here we are, Mr Wilson!"

"Sit down, dears," said the old man;

"take off yer bonnets, and we'll have

some tea."

and,

"Now that's just about the wonderful'st

thing I ever hear tell on,

to keep prayin',  prayin' and 

never stoppin', till yer wakes up one

mornin' and finds just what yer bin' prayin'

for under yer very own winder - and socks too."

just a little more for you,

"She was seated upon the ground,

with his aching head in her lap, while

little Bessie bent over him, stroking

him with her thin little hand, and

murmuring now and then,

poor Tom! poor Tom!"

I have shown you the Contents page

because at the start of each

chapter there are beautiful

illustrations like the one

below.

and again for Chapter 1.

At the end of each chapter

I found these lovely

little designs,

they look like a beautiful 

full stop!

I couldn't resist showing you the

list of books which could

be bought for the price of one penny

or for the price of half a penny.

This is a lovely little book....yes well worn, but that means it has been well used. I wonder how Ada felt about receiving this book, in a time when the majority of people did not own books. 

Do you remember, when I told you that Ivy, as a child had to make a choice, she could have bread and butter or bread and jam, but not both. See here  Comparing the cost of bread and butter in the 1888's to the cost of a book, I would imagine Ada's family were relatively well off as to own a book in 1888 must have been quite a treasure.

I also wonder how many hands this book passed through before it came into mine....there must have been many.

All I can say is I am grateful this little book came into my possession with all of it's hidden history. 

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

Before I go, this week I will be joining,

Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage

and

Karen at Sew Many Ways