A few weeks before my new granddaughter was born, I started making her a little quilt for her cot, so she could have something a personal gift from Granny.
I bought quilting squares with pink colours and a pink backing material, watched a couple of "Youtube" step by step videos on how to make a simple quilt and away I went.
It's not perfect and I don't think I'll be taking up quilting as it's far too fiddly for my liking.
I hope little Elli will treasure her baby quilt 😊
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| The pink backing |
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| The finished quilt |
Usually once a year I make home-made soaps to use at home and to give as Christmas presents, using the Cold process method with involves combining oils with sodium hydroxide lye which causes a chemical reaction called saponification. These soaps should then only be used about 6 weeks later.
Recently I've been working with the Melt and Pour method where the soap ingredients that I purchase have already gone through the saponification process.
I'm loving this method as I find it is more compatible with my artistic vein and I can use soap dyes and fragrances and my imagination to make all sorts of different soaps.
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| Coconut and honey soap (left), Gelato (top), Oats and Brown sugar (right) |
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| Summer berry lollies, tiny butterflies to be used in glycerin soaps (left), a cupcake soap and Seascape soap |
The soaps on the second photo were from my second soap session and I've got lots of ideas and more soaps to come with transparent glycerine where the tiny butterflies above will be inserted.
Right now I've been giving a couple of soaps away as gifts, but eventually I would like to sell them at Christmas time or as party favours for weddings, christenings, etc.
What do you think, do you like them?
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In our garden some of the fruit trees are fruiting, others have just finished and others are just starting...
The fig tree in our front garden is still going, and I think I can still pick enough fruit for my third batch of fig jam. Recipe here.
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| Fig Tree which I had to cover to prevent birds from eating the figs |
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| Fig Jam |
The passion fruit vine is flowering and fruiting (yellow ones). I have a purple one too, but that one is still just starting to flower.
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Passionfruit vines
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The mango tree, that only gave us 4 mangoes last year, has this year given about 30 mangoes!
A few were picked on by birds which made me very angry, so I covered the remaining with newspaper to hide them. Eventually they started falling onto the grass and I would quickly bring them indoors.
I've just picked the last one on Tuesday this week and I've still got 4 in the fridge (slightly green) hoping they will last until Jose comes home on the 18th so he can taste what he planted. They are delicious and the aroma is amazing.
And the 2 Papaya (paw-paw) trees are bearing plenty of fruit, but since we are in Autumn already I'm not sure the fruit will ripen.
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| Papaya trees |
