A Matching Footstool

A while back I went on an upholstery course and transformed a sad old chair into a piece of comfy gloriousness.  (See the work in progress here and the finished piece here!)

I quite fancied the idea of having a matching footstool and have been keeping an eye out in the charity shops for something suitable.  The other day I found the perfect little stool at a very bargainy price and just the right size for the leftover fabric I had from the chair.

As much as I upholstered the chair very properly and traditionally, the stool was a quick-fix job.  A piece of upholstery foam and some tacks and within half an hour I had a perfect little piece to go with my chair!

Step one, I took the tragic fabric and very old squashy foam off.

Next I stretched the fabric over the foam and tacked it in place.

To do the corners I just tucked the fabric in, cut off the excess and put in some invisible stitches to hold it all in place.

I tacked a piece of cotton over the bottom to hide all the messy bits, 

screwed the legs back on,

and hey presto!

It's the perfect height for resting one's feet as well as being all fat and stumpy and cute!

It also fits perfectly under the chair so keeps out of the way when not in use - pretty, tidy and a bargain, I love it!

Pancakes!

I had a few friends round for pancakes yesterday evening which was fab!  Even fabber was the fact that I managed to be super organised and make all the pancakes in the afternoon so that by the time the door bell rang I was totally ready and could host properly.  This makes a radical change from previous Shrove Tuesdays, which have usually involved me opening the door sweating and covered in batter, ushering guests hurriedly into the house and rushing off to rescue the now burnt pancakes whilst trying to keep people out of the kitchen which looks like baking themed Armageddon has hit...

Needless to say I am loving the whole make-the-pancakes-in-advance thing!  I had everything prepped and ready in the afternoon:  crepes, drop scones, chocolate sauce, berry coulis, maple syrup and lemon juice and sugar.

  I tucked the pancakes in the oven at gas mark 4/180C with a foil cover just before my guests arrived and was then able to place a whole stack of hot pancakes on the table when we were ready: success!

Fascinators!

Finally I have got on with actually making some fascinators that I've been mulling over for ages.  I've had such a delicious time rummaging through my collection of vintage fabrics and buttons and then stitching away at these beautiful little headpieces, I hope the wearer gets as much pleasure as I did making them!

Visit my Folksy shop to browse the collection!

Here's a little sneak peek...

Homemade Pizza (Best Pizza Ever!)

This is so easy to make and definitely beats takeaway/shop bought pizza for flavour and price!

Makes enough for 2 people

For the dough:

8oz/200g strong white bread flour

1.5 tsp fast action yeast

1tsp salt

1 egg

1tbsp oil

4floz/100ml warm water

For the tomato sauce:

1 large onion

1 large clove garlic

1 400g tin chopped tomatoes

Pinch oregano or basil

Toppings:

Mozzarella, cheddar (use a good strong/mature one to get lots of flavour without having to put too much on!), goats cheese, pepperoni, ham, pineapple. mushrooms, caramelised onions, spinach, olives, artichokes....the possibilities are endless!

Mix all the dough ingredients together and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth and stretchy.  Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about an hour.

Meanwhile make the sauce: finely slice the onion and fry in a little oil until soft and golden.

Add the garlic and fry for a couple more minutes.

Add the tomatoes and herbs and some salt and pepper and simmer gently for about 15 minutes until it has reduced slightly.

When the dough is ready turn it out onto a surface and knead for one minute.  Roll it out to whatever shape you want and place on an oiled tray.  The tray I use is about 30x40cm and I push the dough all the way to the edges.  You can roll it fairly thin as it will rise slightly in the oven.  Turn the oven on to gas mark 6/200C.

Spread with your tomato sauce.

Top with your favourite toppings!

Bake for about 20 minutes (flexible depending on how thick your base is and how many toppings you have), until the edges are crisp and starting to brown and the centre is a heaven of molten cheese.

Slide onto a plate or board, cut into pieces and serve straight away!

Winter Sunshine

The last few days have been absolutely beautiful here in Plymouth; a run of perfect days full of burnished blue skies and bright winter sunshine.  Now we are back to boring grey skies and dull light I feel like I need a reminder of how gorgeous it really was.

On Sunday I decided to go and bask in the sunshine and also have something more exciting for lunch than just nibbling whatever was in the fridge by myself at home.  I parked up near the Barbican and walked (or rather waddled which is all I can manage at the moment!) the whole length of the sea front and back again with the sun warm on my face.

It was beautiful.

The sky was a perfect pale blue, the sun pale but bright and warm and the sea was completely calm and an amazing clear turquoise colour; Barbados eat your heart out.

By the time I made it back to the Barbican I was decidedly the hungrier side of peckish and ducked into the nearest fish and chip shop to get some lunch.  I carried my prize to a bench in the sunshine and tucked into the crispiest fish and fluffy chips and enjoyed a bit of people watching.

On the way back to the car I spotted a Peacock butterfly sunning itself on a car, such vibrant colours in the pale sunshine, a hopeful hint of Spring's immanency!

Distractions - Simple Pleasures

It snowed!





I purchased my first bunch of narcissi of the year, they smell wonderful!

I went on a crisp bright walk and found some pussy willow.  It's all soft like teeny tiny curled up animals.

The catkins danced in mute delight.



There are tiny signs of life starting to emerge.

I made pikelets (sort of free-form crumpets) and ate them dripping with butter and washed down with tea and the company of my lovely neighbours.





I reminisced over a lovely walk Edward, the bump and I went on before he disappeared off to sea.  

Home Alone

So Edward went off to sea again yesterday and I am all abandoned and alone once more.

I started the day totally wallowing in self pity and feeling sorry for myself, but by lunchtime, having spent the morning curled up in an armchair making my way through several cups of tea, too many chocolate digestives, a giant milky coffee and a couple of nice shiny magazines, I was feeling slightly better.  Still gloomy and sad, but now at the point where I could think about doing something productive and distracting rather than just wallowing.

My afternoon comprised cleaning dusting and baking, by which point things were looking up, it's hard to be gloomy when you have a lovely clean house that smells of baked things.

Today I went to Honiton to spend the day with a friend.  Honiton was picked purely because it was halfway between us both, but it turned out to have just the things we needed for a nice day out with a not-seen-in-a-long-time friend.



As soon as we arrived we headed straight for the nearest cafe and talked and talked over coffee.  By the time the main news had been covered we were getting peckish, so we nipped across to Boston Tea Party for lunch.  Suitably sustained, we then went to investigate the high street, pootling round the charity shops and rummaging in a fabulous antique shop.  (The best kind - rammed with teetering piles of things and reasonably priced!)





I was very restrained and managed to only purchase an ice cream scoop and a pair of sugar tongs; both quite obviously necessities one can't live without....

Exhausted by all our hard work, we then went for tea and buns to keep our strength up on the drive home.



The sky did glorious things on the way home which was a lovely end to a lovely day!