Winter Reading...

The weather has been cold, crisp, frosty and very beautiful.   A nice change from never-ending rain and flooded fields.

I should have taken advantage of the fine weather to get outside and rake the leaves from the lawns, or to continue cutting back some of the shrubbery.    Instead I have taken extra-long walks with Toby, visiting some of the places which were inaccessible due to the poor drainage of the clay soil around here.

We have walked miles through the fields, skirted ancient woodland, and I have pondered about the countless feet which have walked these pathways since the days of yore - the people, their daily lives, clothing, footwear. 

I get lost in my thoughts but, luckily, one part of my brain keeps a look out for wildlife and things of interest.

On one occasion I saw an enormous flights of geese making their raucous way to somewhere else, a common enough sight around here, but what made this particular group special was that they had a flock of much smaller birds flying with them, inside the 'V' formation.  A sight I have never seen before.  They looked sparrow-sized, but could have been a little larger.   I wondered whether they were 'hitching a lift' taking advantage of the aerodynamics provided by the motion of the much bigger birds.

Home again, home again.  Rub-a-dub-dub-dub/paddy-paws/paddy paws.    Good boy Toby.  Sit!  Have a biscuit...
Good boy.
All gone.
Off you go!

Time for a cup of tea and a quick read.

None of that Marie Kwondo (or whatever she calls herself)  nonsense around here. 

The old piano stool makes a handy table/repository for my current books/research material.    I should work at my desk, down the other end of the house, but Toby and the cats are not allowed down there and they hate being left alone when I am in the house.

Duty calls, I need to get on with housework and also with writing a few more Christmas cards, but all that can wait for half an hour.

Old recipe books and books about the history of food await.

In many ways I would rather dig and delve into the books than cook.   However, I cannot deny that I like trying out new (to me) recipes from these old volumes.       At the moment I am particularly interested in old Lincolnshire food, though one would really need to be a meat-eater to do full justice to all the local dishes, many of them require pork, for country folk depended on the pig to keep them fed. 

Luckily I have found a very traditional dish which has so many variations and traditions associated with it that it will keep me happily occupied until Christmas.   No meat required.   Thank goodness.

More in a day or two.

Feel free to ignore my ramblings, I know it won't be of interest to many, but the blog will help me to keep a note of my various attempts.

Enjoy the week. 
Keep warm, be safe, be happy.
x




 

Magic Pain Killers and Peg Dolls

Even if I were able to obtain laudanum these days I definitely wouldn't know how much was in a drachm, however, thanks to M L Riley, and her little black book of handwritten kitchen notes and recipes from 1892, I now know that a drachm is 2 salt spoons.   It would be even more handy if I possessed a salt spoon.


Magic Pain Killer

Spirit of harshorn, 1oz
Olive Oil, 1 1/2oz
Cayenne Pepper, 2 drachms
Laudanum, 2 drachms
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp brandy

Shake well in a bottle, rub the affected part with it.   It removes pains and swellings.   It is a magic remedy...allegedly.    Recipe taken from Annie's Edwardian Cookery Book.


Drawing Ointment
(for festering wounds)
Soft brown sugar
Household Soap

Mix one ounces of soft brown sugar with one ounce of plain household soap which has been softened by being cut into shavings and mixed with a teaspoonful of warm water.  Work well together so that you have an ointment consistency.  Spread on a piece of lint or clean cloth and bandage on to the wound.     from Hebridean Cookbook by Lillian Beckwith

I am thankful that I don't need either of those at the moment, as long as I remember to get up and move about every now and then, and keep doing the back exercises, a nuisance, but they do work.

I have moved on (for the time being) to making some peg dolls for the bazaar.  People request these year after year, I suppose they make useful little 'extra' gifts.   Each doll is unique, no two are dressed the same because I enjoy making them that way, dressing some for a day out, others for a day in.  They are my 'everyday' angels.

These three peg dolls are the first in a new range.   Madness!   They each have a hand sewn skirt/underskirts, plus tiny hand knitted jumper, some have hats/bags/mittens, according to my whim.

I still have some of my mother's old knitting needles and a few balls of wool.   This style of dressing the pegs came about by my need to do something fresh to relieve the boredom and goes to show, that despite the fact that I have never taken to knitting, all those years of attempting it, learning the basics and how to do some of the fancier stitches for Aran patterns, shapings, etc, but mostly just from 40 years of watching my mother constantly knit, have actually paid off.

I just made up the patterns for their jumpers and so on.   It wasn't exactly rocket science, but I was quite chuffed with the result.     My mother would be thrilled to think that she had managed to teach me this much!

These little snowmen will have hooks driven into their heads, they are tree ornaments, both sides are painted up as snowmen.     Not my original idea, I saw it somewhere else, unfortunately I can't remember where, so I can't credit them.   They are very cute, fun to do, though I could wish for a steadier hand - time creeps up on us in the most peculiar ways.


These, along with my fancy angels, all sequins and lace, are my offerings so far.    I have some other ideas simmering, so watch this space.

My self-allotted task today will be to paint some pegs to resemble 'Nutcracker' - no doubt the wobbly hand will show up, I can only hope that this adds to the charm.  😀

As you can tell, not much housework is getting done these days.      A quick dash around with the hoover and, occasionally, a duster, plump up the cushions, and that is about it.     My creative head is full of ideas but I keep getting interrupted to make meals, mow lawns and help cut back the wild growth from summer.   

All this sewing/knitting/painting time is allowing my mind to roam free and I have had lots of ideas for incredibly interesting posts - of course none of them will make it to the blog because I haven't got the time.