Question: What can I achieve in fifteen minutes?
Answer: Quite a lot, I am discovering.
Over the last fortnight I have transformed my life by asking myself to devote 15 minute spells to improving things (kind of Flylady style but without all the rules).
The problem with me and my aspie mind is that I'm a thinker and a perfectionist. I will sit down and think my way through all of the things that need doing and all of the problems I may face. I will probably write a list or a plan or even a schedule for staying on top of them but when I'm finished organising and visualising, not only have I wasted a lot of time but I have convinced myself that I can't possibly do it now because I haven't got the time/energy/resources to perform the task perfectly. So I don't.
Not surprisingly this can lead to domestic chaos and so a couple of weeks ago I bargained with my inner perfectionist - What if I just spend fifteen minutes, twice a day on whatever housework task seems most pressing at that time? What if I just devote fifteen minutes to the laundry every day? What if I spend two sets of fifteen minutes working in the garden?
The results have been wonderful.
Firstly, I have discovered that a LOT can be achieved in fifteen focused minutes of work. My house is clean and tidy (not like a show home but like I wouldn't be devastated if someone showed up unexpectedly). My laundry basket is empty. My garden is starting to look like a garden and not a waste land.
Secondly, once I got into the groove of it and started seeing the benefits of my efforts, when fifteen minutes are up I find that I actually want to do more.
These fifteen minute stints around the house and garden have turned into a routine and I'm so pleased that I have found a way to get on top of things without procrastinating or beating myself up about what I have or haven't done.
Another kind of fifteen minutes is going on, too. My knitting is getting fifteen minutes of fame!
A couple of months ago I joined in at the last minute with a charity knitting project. Mind the Gap is an award-winning theatre company that works with learning disabled and non-disabled artists as equals and they were asking for people to knit 50cm squares for "a big fat knitted surprise".
We were supplied with the wool and given free range to do what we wanted with the design. My square is green and I made a garter stitch border and improvised the Mind the Gap logo on it.
Last week the project was unveiled in Barnsley. The knitted squares have been used as part of the Immovable project which is about overcoming challenges. The immovable block was turned into a giant Rubik's cube using the knitted squares and it appeared on the news - see the video here, my square is featured at 00:24 if you're interested!
The Immovable block is in York this weekend, outside the minster. It will be dressed up with the knitted blocks again tomorrow (11am-7pm) if you fancy going along or if it's too far away you can have a peek at it on the live web cam (just press play).
What could you achieve in fifteen minutes?
This year I have decided to make much less preserves than in previous years - there'll be some chutney and probably a batch of hedgerow jelly at the end of the Summer - because we don't use a lot of jam in general and everyone I know has probably had enough of jars of jam as gifts!
I have to admit that I'm craving the process more than I thought I would. The answer is, of course, fruit curds!
Fruit curd only lasts about a month so it is made in small quantities and it's so tasty and smooth. With the berries not quite in season yet, this week I made lemon curd and then took it a step further by using it as a filling for rolls.
I still make lemon curd using the basic recipe from Festivals, Family and Food (100g butter, juice and zest of 4 lemons, 4 beaten eggs and 1lb sugar) and I haven't had any reason to wander from it - I find it very reliable.
My rolls were made with the exact same dough I use for cinnamon rolls (link to my recipe) but using the lemon curd as filling instead of the cinnamon butter mix. My dough recipe turns out more like pastry-type bread than standard bread doughs which is really decadent with the lemon flavours.
The lemon curd is a bit messy when you're rolling/slicing etc. so be prepared for sticky hands. Some will leak out of the bottom of the rolls whilst baking but don't worry because it sort of caramelises in the bottom of the pan and tastes amazing!
These lemon rolls work out well by themselves as a breakfast pastry type thing but we also ate some decorated with icing and lemon zest for our afternoon tea.
I'm looking forward to Apricot Curd when the time is right - my favourite summery breakfast treat.
Do you have preserving plans for the upcoming bounty of Summer?
P. S. In case you missed it on Tuesday - there's still time to enter my double giveaway!
So, you may have noticed that I've been doing a lot of blog meme type things in the last couple of weeks. This is partly because I don't feel like I join in with the blogging community enough but it's also because I'm spending a lot of my efforts in the garden at the moment and if I blogged about that every day then you'd all tune out, I'm sure! I'm just experimenting - trial and error stylee - to see which ones I like, although bloggers are such lovely people that I'm finding them all friendly. I had so much fun joining in with Yarn Along last week that I think this one will be here to stay.
Knitting:
I haven't done a lot of knitting this week. I have really wanted to but my hands are a bit gnarled from the gardening and sometimes I don't feel like sullying my beautiful knitting with my jagged, soil stained fingernails!
I haven't touched the lace that I showed off last week and I still have the second sock to turn as I haven't done much waiting around anywhere and Cameron told me off for not watching him swim last week so he got my full attention this time around!
However, after seeing all of the beautiful green yarns in last weeks Yarn Along, I was inspired to cast on a project with my Tolhuaca Multi and a pattern I saw on someone else's blog (sorry - I've forgotten who it was!). It's a Vinelle Cardigan - a free pattern(!) and nice and easy to follow once you scribble over it with the errata from the ravelry notes.
I'm making it slightly larger that I need because I want it to be a comfy cardi that I can wear over almost anything. It's working out slow but gorgeous. The Tolhuaca Multi is cotton and is making a satisfyingly light but sturdy texture that will be welcome at the end of Summer - which is when I envisage finishing it.
I bought this yarn with a Summer cardigan project in mind so I'm thrilled to have finally started something with a pattern I understand. It makes all the difference when your pattern doesn't feel like it is written in a foreign language, doesn't it?
Reading:
Again, not much reading going on - I usually do my reading in the bath but it has been too hot for baths this week and I don't think my books would appreciate a cool shower as much as I do.
After I told you about some of my favourite seasonal books last week, Hannah informed me in the comments that there is a follow up book to Pocketful of Pinecones called Lessons at Blackberry Inn and I jumped on it because, as you already know, Pocketful of Pinecones is one of my favourites. I'm enjoying the book, so far. It includes more details about the main character's domestic routine which is a big pull for me. I love the cross stitched cover, too. Thanks for the recommendation, Hannah!
Lots of people are telling me that the weather is too hot to knit - are you knitting at the moment?
Most product review offers get rejection emails from me nowadays but when this offer dropped into my inbox I was intrigued because a similar idea had crossed my own mind in the past.
Toucan Box is a monthly box delivered to your home with a different theme each time. The box contains everything that is required for the projects and activities suggested inside and also contains an accompanying story book.
The company is run by a Mum who found that her children were frustrated that they didn't have all of the supplies in the house for projects and I love that she was inspired to create something for others who will no doubt be experiencing the same frustration.
When I agreed to review the box, my skeptical mind wondered if it would be cheap plastic foam and felt tip pen type projects but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the materials are really good quality.
I received the Bird themed box which contains activities such as making a bird feeder, a toucan family, a bird glider and a peacock collage. The box contains everything you need from coloured paper, paint, glue, colouring pencils, lolly sticks, wiggly eyes, (gorgeous) pipe cleaners and feathers right down to the bird seed to put on your completed bird feeder and even a lovely new story book.
I am genuinely impressed with the Toucan Box and if I had younger children (I would say the box is aimed for around 3-8s) I would definitely be signing up for a monthly box which works out at less than a £5 a week, cheaper if you sign up for a year. I also think that a box or subscription would be a fantastic gift that a whole family could enjoy together.
Lucky for you - I have two boxes to giveaway!
This is a low-tech giveaway - if you would like to win a Toucan Box then simply leave a comment below.
The winners will be picked at random on Sunday 3rd June 2012.
Good luck!
It was another wonderful weekend here in the Home Baked household.
The sun was shining, much gardening and knitting was done. Windows were flung open and the laundry basket was emptied, thanks to being able to line-dry several loads of washing each day.
There was a visit from one of Cameron's school friends and so home baked chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream milkshakes were made.
I made two brand new (to us) meals which were both big hits (that almost never happens!) and we had a very fun evening giggling at the cheesiness of the Eurovision Song Contest.
There was also time to visit one of my favourite vintage fairs - it only comes around a few times per year so I always try to get to it when I can. Today, I thought I'd share my loot with you and join in with Magpie Monday.
As Cameron's friend was visiting later that day, we got up really early to be able to fit in a visit to the fair and so I was the third customer through the door. The fair had only just opened and it was a delight to be searching for goodies without crowds of other people doing the same and also, being there early means that you can be satisfied that no one has snapped up the best bargains.
The most exciting things were these pyrex dishes.
I already have one of the smaller refrigerator dishes so it was wonderful to add to my set. They are in really great condition - no chips or anything. I think the larger of the two will have a multitude of uses as it's a loaf pan shape and size.
Double pointed knitting needles! These came from a huge jar of needles and I had to separate them out into sets, which took a while, but it was worth it as I got three sets for £1! When I got them home I was quite impressed with my estimates for their sizes - they were all needles that I didn't have yet.
There were a lot of those lovely coloured plastic needles but I have a few sets of these and have discovered that unless they're quite thick (6mm+) then the needles are dangerously flexible and prone to break. They are pretty, though, aren't they?
I picked up Marguerite Patten's ABC of Simple Cooking which is a little bit fragile but I think that a well used cookbook is a good omen for what's inside - obviously someone got a lot of use out of it. It has pencil markings next to some of the recipes so perhaps I will start with those - were they someones family favourites?
And I also came home with (I think, I can't find a date on it) a 1970s Be-Ro book. This book is in such good condition you might think it was new if it weren't for the dated photographs. Be-Ro books are incredibly well tested and so are such reliable sources for recipes. I use my copy (2005ish) a LOT but I noticed that this older version has some recipes that are not in my copy so I snapped it up.
There were so many wonderful things at the vintage fair - beautifully embroidered linen tablecloths which were sadly out of my price range, lots of tea cups and jubilee themed things, magazines for machine knitters in pristine condition... it's all such fascinating stuff, isn't it? I wonder what (if anything) people will be searching for from today at vintage sales in 30+ years.
How was your weekend? Have you picked up any thrifty bargains lately?
I've had the button in my sidebar all year but today I'm finally joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along which combines three things that I love - knitting, reading and sharing them with you!
Knitting:
I am working on a lace project that I found in a book at the library. It is supposed to be a table runner but it's working out very narrow (and on gauge, too) so it may well morph into a scarf before I finish it.
I'm knitting it up with Wendy Supreme 100% luxury cotton in a colour that seems to change, depending on the light, from a chocolatey brown to a dark aubergine purple. I really like the colour and am enjoying knitting lace. It's a simple 12 row repeat and - I know I'm always saying this, but - lace is not anywhere near as difficult as I had expected it to be.
Socks, of course.
I like to have a set of socks on the go as a portable project for swimming lessons, youth club and all the other moments when I'm waiting around.
These socks are teal Rialto Aran and I'm improvising the pattern using a gansey style ladder panel.
The Rialto is so soft, it's delicious to knit with!
My afghan blanket is having a little rest. I managed to catch up my squares last month and, determined not to fall behind schedule again, I knit my May squares in the first week so I will have to wait until June to get the patterns for my next set of squares.
I'm on strip three of six, each strip having nine squares each which means I'm almost halfway through (which sort of tallies with being almost half way through the year, I suppose!). I'm super proud of myself for sticking at this project. I didn't think that a blanket would ever be an achieveable goal for me but it looks like it will be, now. In fact, I might even be inspired to knit another one!
Reading:
I'm reading far too many books at once, as usual, so it was hard to pick what to tell you about. I plumped for one that I'm returning to the library today - Moro East, written by Sam and Sam Clark of Moro restaurant and cookbook fame.
While this is a recipe book, it's intertwined with stories about people they met on their Hackney allotment site in the East End of London, which was then bulldozed to make way for an Olympic stadium in 2007 so quite a topical book for this Summer.
The foods are simple and look delicious but I was slightly disappointed about the same spices being used over and over in the majority of the recipes. It got a bit samey. The photographs of allotment life and outdoor cookery really fired me up into a Summer mood, though, and I'm inspired to try new ways of making and eating flatbread - which I've been experimenting with quite a lot this Spring.
What are you knitting and/or reading right now?
A few months ago when I asked what you thought of this space and what you might like to see more of, a few people said they enjoy hearing about books I'm reading but that they'd be interested to hear more about books that I already have on my bookshelf and use regularly. I love this idea!
I will need to split these posts into categories, as I am an avid reader and constantly gain inspiration from my books. I thought I'd start today with books that help us to live in a way that follows the seasons and the wheel of the year.
Possibly one of my all-time favourite books - and the book I have written here most about - is All Year Round.
This book follows the year around with crafts, activities, foods, direction for the seasonal nature table and more.
I love the conversations that the authors have at the front and back of the book about how these things can work practically and also the beginnings of each seasonal section where they set the tone specific to the time of year.
I quite often visit the Autumn sections of All Year Round and Festivals, Family and Food when I'm feeling blue!
Festivals, Family and Food is a similar book but with a larger focus on food. It has a lot of recipes in comparison to All Year Round, including my favourite parts: The Preserving Year and the sections on herbs, picnic foods and homemade sweets/teatime treats. I think this book is slightly less abstract than All Year Round with less talk about gnomes/faeries etc. Dare I say, slightly more grown up?
The Children's Year is another similar book but with a focus on crafts. I think this one is pitched at families with very young children but have got a lot out of it.
Festivals Together is of a similar style but is more multi-cultural and is a great educational tool. The stories are wonderful and it's a great way to learn more about festivals from religions we are less familiar with.
I have written about Pocketful of Pinecones before here. It's a fictional story about a mother in the 1930s embarking on home education and following the Charlotte Mason - nature based approach.
What drew me most to this post was that it was a story I could relate to - home education in fiction is quite rare and so I really enjoyed it.
The late Elspeth Thompson's The Wonderful Weekend Book is one of my favourites. It's aimed at adults and follows the year around with ideas, recipes and suggestions for making the most of our spare time. From flowers in a vase and shells in a bowl, learning the ukulele, planting a garden, making jam or starting a new hobby - it's a great resource for when you're feeling stuck in a rut.
Grow something to eat every day is a book I bought a couple of Winters ago and I love that it extends my growing season. Often I lose interest in the garden once the autumn weather sets in but this book not only has useful information for the most popular growing seasons but also things to do in Winter - forcing bulbs, home made sprouts, windowsil gardens etc. It's a book that will appeal to children as well as adults that don't want to read encyclopedic knowledge before getting their hands in the soil.
Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book is another book that I have written about before. It's everything you love about an Enid Blyton book (the cheerful dog character, the children etc.) but is based around walks in the countryside and learning to spot different varieties of plants, trees and flowers, identifying bird calls and so much more. It's a great book to follow through the years and the chapters are nice and short so that you can read about the first walk in February, for instance, and then go on that walk and look for the things the children found in the story. I am still learning a lot from it.
A new book in my seasonal living collection is Soulemama's The Rhythm of the Family. It is everything that I have come to love about the style of Amanda's blog over the years and contains a little bit of what most of the above books have to offer with some detailed instructions, practical hints and, of course, gorgeous photographs.
I hope you enjoyed a little walk through of one of my bookshelves. I hope it wasn't too long-winded. Some of these books will be in your local library - I borrowed a lot of them before deciding to purchase for myself.
If you have any questions or suggestions about books you'd like to hear more about then do feel free to ask in the comments.
I thought I'd tackle craft books next week...
What a weekend we had! And I barely took any photos, it all whizzed by so quickly.
Cameron went on a trip out to the countryside and came back so muddy that the washing machine couldn't remove it from his jeans.
We went to hear Rudy Simone (author of Aspergirls and other books) talk about autism which was fantastic - she signed my book and asked about my knitting! I had high expectations from Rudy, considering that her book is the only one I have read on autism that didn't make me want to throw it across the room, and she did not disappoint. I got a lot out of it and recommend you go and see her if you can. I might write more about it at another time when I've finished digesting it all.
We had intended to go to Haworth 1940s weekend but the weather was a bit miserable. We have been before and it is wonderful - I recommend going along next year if you can. There are loads of photos on their twitter page so you can get an idea of the amazing atmosphere.
I spent a lovely time winding new cotton yarn (Araucania Tolhuaca Multy) and casting on a new project whilst watching a film.
I baked delicious Oaty Vanilla Biscuits from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity and an asparagus tart for Sunday lunch.
I did my 30 minutes a day (and more) in the garden, cleaned the house and did a weeks worth of washing and ironing.
My Mum came to visit and brought me her current patchwork project to look at.
Mum and my little sister Liv have been working together on it and I'm in awe of their perseverence because, as much as I love patching, I'm not sure I have the patience for an entire quilt sized project (and this is the second one this year). It's all hand stitched over papers, aswell, not machine sewed.
I love the bits of owl fabric peeking out.
She made me this crocheted mat, which I love. Isn't it pretty?
The fan shapes and the colours are right up my street and as I demonstrated on Friday, my crochet skills aren't up to anything much so that makes me extra appreciative!
We did a tour of my garden, had a good chat and went for a walk (and the sun came out!).
After Mum left I had a lot whizzing round in my head so I popped back out to the garden and started weeding. Without realising it, I weeded on my hands and knees for an hour and a half, without stopping, just mulling things over in my mind.
Despite my early night last night I feel like a weak, fragile thing this morning. I could do with a weekend to get over the weekend!
That title is making me wish I had incorporated lollipops into the post!
Last Monday a few of you were asking about the rainbow ring that was in my Hello Monday post. Truth be told, it's a bit of an experiment and I wasn't sure how it would turn out.
I got the idea because my Mum made me this beautiful crocheted snowflake decoration for Christmas - isn't it gorgeous?!
Not that you can tell from my terrible photograph (please excuse the filthy windows) but it's white and silver and has beads, too.
It's been hanging in the window on my landing since December and cheering me up immensely however my Mum would be the first to tell me that snowflakes should not be hanging at the window in May so I reluctantly decided to make something to replace it until snowflakes are more fitting with the season again.
Crochet is not my strong point - I'm self taught and mostly just make it up as I go along. I could never make anything to compete with the intricate decoration that my Mum made but I could make something clunkily cheerful to hang there for a few months.
I chose the rainbow yarn which is just an acrylic yarn that I picked up for 50p per skein at my local wool shop (you might recognise it from other projects such as the star shaped knitted mats or the rainbow weaved coasters).
I crocheted into a wooden ring, much like you'd crochet into a ring of chain stitches and I loved the effect the yarn had this way - rainbow stripes!
When I had got all the way around the ring I crocheted an edging into the stitches on the outside of the ring (single, double, treble, treble, double, single), repeating to get sort of petal shapes.
I wish I had left the project alone at that point, really, but my original idea was to have a crocheted sunshine in the centre of the ring. I made one and attached it last night but I don't like it and may well cut it off, yet.
It's slightly reminiscent of a dream catcher, isn't it?! What do you think - should I cut the "sun" back out?
