Crafts at the Cube

Worcester City centre hosts a craft market most Saturdays in the guild hall. I often peruse and usually find myself purchasing the odd item in an effort to support local crafter.  

There's a good variety of stalls including jams,  preserves and chutneys, sewn items, knitted bits, beautiful glass pieces and wood carved coasters. The wares are all very reasonably priced and I'm seriously considering doing a couple of fairs ahead of Christmas. 

My sister bought the girls some fabric mice and they have been enjoying making them mouse houses from shoe boxes- more on that when they're finished.

 They were lovely little mice and each of the children chose a mummy and baby mouse although it was difficult on deciding which to select.

They really enjoyed the craft fair and I'm really pleased since supporting crafts has to be encouraged and passed down if it is to continue in its progression. 

The next day was another opportunity to see local crafters only this time even more locally in Malvern at the Cube community centre. There was a family fun day with large inflatables, face painting, live music, children's crafts and craft/ clothes stalls. 

I didn't get a proper chance to look at the stalls unfortunately as it was threatening to rain and the children were too excited to stay still.

They loved the giant slide which was a good choice as it appealed to a broad age range while Granddad listened to the band play 'all along the watchtower' amongst some other rock classics.

I was really impressed with the face painter who was so well priced which I admit is a relief since the last few events locally have been charging  £3/4 each child which isn't feasible with 3 little ones.

The girls also painted some pebbles before we had our picnic. The cube is a great venue for lots of activities including theatre,  musical gigs and music/dance lessons. An amazing service that the cube offers is a repair café which is a free service. I took my sewing machine to be fixed and.... It is working again!!! It was free and took 10 minutes. So, enough of this- I'm off to sew :D 

Italian cooking

Some weeks are just so busy it's hard to find time to do basic things like cooking. With hubby away and a conference to attend, I was very grateful for the forward planning I did over August Bank holiday when I prepared, cooked and froze some good home cooked meals. This was a fresh one but I've included it as I realise I have been favouring the flavours of Italy. This was a vegetarian canneloni that I made up while a friend was staying. I will definitely cook this again. 

I used spinach (salad type), asparagus and broccoli a my main veg but added spring onions for flavour. I used lasagne sheets and rolled them by hand which wasn't as hard as I'd feared. But I added chopped mozzarella to the veg mix as I rolled the pasta. I made up a basic tomato sauce using red pesto, tomatoes and traditional spices and poured it over before sprinkling parmesan cheese over the top. I served garlic bread to start and then the canneloni was  accompanied by roast potatos and caesar salad. It was delicious and very well recieved by all!

One of my make ahead dishes was meatballs. I usually use beef and pork with breadcrumbs but this time only used beef and an egg to help bind and hold the meatballs together. I also added chilli and paprika which was a different take on my usual cumin and coriander with the staple garlic and oregano. The egg doesn't hold them as well as breadcrumb but it does make for a better taste. For the sauce I used a carton of tomatoes, puree and some cherry tomatoes which also add texture to the sauce. Finally I placed the meatballs in an over proof dish and poured the sauce over. These are still waiting to be devoured.

I totally made this one up using the ingredients available so chicken cut into goujons, fried and then sprinkled with oregano, sage, basil and parsley. I cooked the onions and pepper in a separate pan in garlic. Placing the chicken in the bottom of the ovenproof dish, I layered the peppers and onions on top, then a layer of pesto with more cherry tomatoes and cooked before removing, leaving to cool and freezing.  I served this with pasta this week and was pleasantly surprised. Italian dishes all go down well with our children and are so easy and can be served with a variety of carbs; potatoes, pasta or garlic bread and as a healthier option roasted med veg or caesar or balsamic salad. Bellissima!

Puzzlewood

I start my new job this week and so I hope you indulge me one last post about a family day out.  Soon I fear the mundane routines of life will absorb my mind but as Autumn closes in, I always feel more crafty and anticipate more makes to share.

Back to the title of this post though.  My husband works at different venues and was asked to visit Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean.  It is about an hour and 15 minutes away for us so reasonable with a 2, 4 and 6 year old but not something we would do every week, despite wanting to.  It really was a fabulous day out which was cheap and varied.  We arrived at 10 and left at 5 and the kids didn't complain of being bored once.

     "Puzzlewood is a unique and enchanting place, located in the beautiful and historic Forest of Dean. Explore a mile of meandering pathways, with its fantastic tree and rock formations, through this 14 acre ancient woodland. It has an atmosphere quite unlike any other wood you have visited.  As well as the woods we have lots of animals, a willow maze, indoor mazes and a toddler racing track, an outdoor playground, plenty of picnic benches, a cafe and gift shop."

 The woods are beautiful and I can see why they've been used as the set for Atlantis, Merlin and Dr Who.

Puzzlewood gets its name from hosting some great mazes which really kept all of the children well occupied.

There were lots of animals there and a funny pony who liked to play football!

When the sun was shining, they played in the park area which was mostly natural play materials with a beautiful backdrop of meadow and paddock.

There was this car track which the children came back to throughout the day which was supposed to be for those under 5 but it was a quiet day so Fiona joined in on the fun.  I really recommend Hazelwood and am pleased we got to visit when we did. I'd like to visit in the autumn when the trees are more muted but for now I'll have these lush memories of tall moss covered trees with full, dense canopies of deep green leaves filtering the sunlight onto my little family beneath.

Toft Manor; Alpaca farm and Cute Crochet HQ

The very lovely Sam from Betsy makes had a giveaway last week on her blog for any comments made on her charming Dave Scuttle and I was the WINNER yay!!! The prize was a family ticket to the Toft alpaca shop near Rugby, where Kerry Lord was running demonstrations, workshops and a farm tour as part of the launch of her new crochet book 'Edwards Menagerie: Birds'.  Dave Scuttle was based on a seagull from Kerry's new book which is packed with beautiful variations of birds.  A novice to crochet and a county neighbour to Warwickshire, this was an opportunity not to be missed and so off I went with my sister and our 4 children in tow.


We set off early but traffic it took us over an hour and a half so we arrived after Kerry had begun her workshop.  The cheerful and kind staff happily entertained us with pom pom making before we had delicious cake and coffee in the swish cafe.

The children then did some wet felting although they didn't have the greatest of patience or perseverance in the presence of hunger and so we hastily had some lunch before a tour of the farm.  I can't stress enough how important the staff were in making our day so memorable as our tour guide Caroline was superb with the children .  They held her hands as they walked around and asked questions and she was patient and kind to them and Monica was super with making the pom poms which all made me calmer and more relaxed, thus enjoying the whole experience a lot more.

 We arrived back after the tour as Kerry was beginning to discuss her journey into crocheting and how her 2 books came about.  I have seen her on create and craft previously and knew a little about the luxurious Toft Alpaca wool that she uses in her patterns but also enjoyed listening to her talking about the books.  She was friendly and engaging throughout the day and even signed my book which I purchased with my sister after seeing the demonstration pieces in the shop.  We also bought some alpaca finger puppets for the children which were packaged in lovely totes; very useful for future yarn projects such as the panda called 'Fiona'.  That is an intermediate pattern so may not be attempted for a while yet but along with the book, I received an additional 10 patterns by email which includes a reindeer, sloth and badger.

The quality of the Toft products are certainly luxurious and can sell themselves. I'm really keen to get started but the main thing I took away from the day was that it would not have been what it was if not for the staff.  I will definitely revisit Toft Manor, perhaps without the children so I can really focus and improve my crocheting, but Kerry did mention another open day in December 19th where there will be more opportunities to visit the farm, see demonstrations and further activities for children which I fully intend to attend.

Huge thankyou again to Sam as I would never have done this if not for the giveaway you did :D

Knight School at Grey Friars

Our nearest National Trust site is Grey Friars which is a medieval house in the centre of Worcester.  They have been holding activities on Friday's during the Summer holidays and so off we went to become knights for the day.  I only had my mobile so the pictures aren't great quality but I think they give an insight to our experience.

There was a gentleman who demonstrated the difficulties of putting on armour (especially without a squire) but was very good at developing rapport with the children and also very patient as he was bombarded with questions and comments from some of the more vocal little ones.  He performed this task and told stories in the main hall which was beautifully preserved and simply decorated with tapestries, paintings and floor coverings sympathetic to it's medieval roots.  Upstairs there were more rooms laid out appropriately but we headed straight to the children's room where there were dressing up clothes and toys.  Whilst the children were occupied, I had a quick look around.

Unfortunately it was raining so the mock battle outside was brief although the children really enjoyed engaging in war shouts and bashing their foam swords against their foe's.  Without the aforementioned entertainments, the site has little to offer youngsters however these activities made it very accessible and timely for my niece who is learning about Medieval Britain in school in September.  It occupied us for a couple of hours and I would definitely consider returning again soon.

Homebody Quilt

I follow a couple of other blogs and was delighted to see that Jo Avery from myBearpaw blog has posted today about a new quilt she has made that is featured in Issue 25 of Love Patchwork and Quilting.

Homebody Quilt

I have been working on a 'home sweet home' quilt and this is hugely inspiring and I thought I'd share it with you.  Hopefully I'll have my own quilt to share before Christmas perhaps!  I have shared these pictures on here before but include them again now as a glimpse of my take on the theme.

Jane Austen clothing exhibition at Berrington Hall

I have mentioned lots on here lots of times that we have a National Trust membership and I was delighted to see that there was an exhibition at Berrington Hall which is one of their sites and therefore we had free entry.  The exhibition included clothing from various film and TV adaptations of Jane Austen's books including Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow.  Austen is one of my 3 favourite authors and this was a very exciting opportunity to see the clothes in an appropriately beautiful setting.

The clothes were created using authentic fabric and dyed to colours which would have been available during the early Victorian era and whilst beautifully romantic, it was easy to see how they were also impractical.  Recent programmes like Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge have addressed the influences that changed fashion and clothing to what it is today but seeing these dresses in the flesh illuminates these reasons even more so. All this said, I will still take great joy in the escapism that Austen's books provide, now with further illustrative ammunition to fantasize about being a wealthy Victorian débutante reading and sewing all day with balls to entertain me in the evenings (without actually booking myself into Austenland).

The dashing outfits and costumes for the males were equally effective in prompting thoughts of living in that earlier era *swoon*.

I do recommend the exhibition for historical fashion fans and Austen readers alike although Berrington hall is also worth a visit anyway.  It has beautiful gardens and they were offering several trails for in addition to dressing up opportunities for children (and brave adults).