Mount Edgcumbe

My parents came down for a couple of days last week and we snatched one of the brief windows of patchy sunshine and went for a walk at Mount Edgcumbe.  I realised quite how out of practise I am at taking photos; I totally forgot until we were halfway round!

We walked round the coastline and then up through the woods to the folly at the top of the hill.

Mathilda wore her new bonnet and snoozed most of the way round!  The bonnet is the latest gorgeous knitty creation from my mum - a grey and pink stripey in soft bamboo.  Cute!

There were so many gorgeous little flowers everywhere - a whole field of bright, sunny buttercups bobbing cheerily in the breeze,

and swathes of gorgeously blue speedwell growing valiantly through the grass.  

The sun just about made an appearance at the top of the hill.  Almost.

We walked back down through the woods and the Camellia collection.  The woods were full of bright green  new growth and sprinkled with jewel-bright flowers.  The ferns were in full flow, all curly topped and delicate.

Foxgloves are one of my favourites, I love the velvety soft flowers with their delicate freckles and the bright orange pollen, carefully aligned up their bright green stem.  I managed to refrain from wearing them on my fingers...

There was an amazing old tree which looked like it had been drizzled in golden syrup,

and a beautiful tree with twisted bark.

Then we hopped back down to the Orangery for a coffee in the sunshine, before taking the ferry back across to Devon...all of which I totally forgot to photograph!  

Liberty Playmat

I have recently, finally, finished a project I started months ago!  It's a gorgeous playmat, with appliqueed farm animals in Liberty lawn, which is now perfect for Mathilda to practise her energetic leg-kicking and grinning while I have my breakfast.

It's a very simple project so here is a step by step guide should you wish to make your own!  If not for a baby you could always make mini ones for sitting on at the park/beach!

Trace your shapes onto bondaweb and cut them out roughly.

Iron them onto the wrong side of your fabric, then cut out carefully and peel off the paper.

Lay out all the shapes and pin in place.

Iron each one when you're happy with the positioning and edge with a narrow zig-zag stitch on a sewing machine.  If you don't have a sewing machine you could edge the shapes by hand in blanket stitch.

Layer the applique piece, a piece of wadding and a backing piece and pin all over making sure all three pieces are laying smooth and flat.  Quilt the pieces together by stitching through the three layers in whatever pattern you want.  You could do diagonal lines across the whole thing, outlines around the applique shapes or separate shapes in between them.

You can buy bias binding for the edging or make your own as follows:

Cut 3cm wide strips of fabric at 45 degrees to the grain.

Join the ends and stitch across with a narrow seam.

Open the seam and press flat.  Trim the edges.

I then totally forgot to take any photos of the next bit!  Pin the bias binding to the the front of the mat, right sides together, and stitch with a 0.4cm seam allowance.  Press the binding towards the edge of the mat and press 0.4cm under along the raw edge.  Fold the binding over the edge of the mat, pin to the back and stitch in place by hand.

And you're done!

All you need then is a gorgeous, chubby little baby to lie on it!

She loves it!

Lemon Curd

I meant to post this weeks ago and totally didn't get round to it, but no matter, here it is: a bit of lemony sunshine!  Shop-bought lemon curd doesn't even compare to this utterly heavenly concoction, and since it's so easy to make, you need never buy it again!  Just beware, it is dangerously delicious...

3 large or 4 small lemons

8oz/225g butter

1lb/450g caster sugar

5 eggs

Peel the lemons using a vegetable peeler (try and get as little of the white pith as possible) and place in a double pan (- place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl and keep checking to ensure it doesn't boil dry).

Add the butter, cut into pieces, sugar and juice of the lemons, don't worry about the pips going in!

Stir gently until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Beat the eggs one by one and pass them through a sieve into a separate large bowl.  Keep stirring them as you slowly drizzle in the lemon mixture (also through the sieve and make sure you squeeze all the juice from the bits in the sieve), then pour the whole lot back into the heatproof bowl and return it to the pan.

Heat the mixture, stirring regularly, until it thickens.  You can tell it's ready when it goes opaque over the back of the spoon (see below for before-it's-ready and after-it's-ready pictures!).

Pour into hot sterilised jars if you're keeping it, or just cover and leave to cool if using within a couple of days.

I used mine to make a lemon curd and poppy seed swiss roll.

It is also delicious in shortcrust pastry tart cases (don't overfill them or they overflow when you bake them).

It will keep for up to three weeks in the fridge, if it lasts that long!

It is delicious sandwiched with cream in a Victoria sponge, stirred into yogurt, served with meringues and cream, made into ice-cream or spread thickly on hot buttered toast (which can lead to the steady consumption of entire loaves of bread and alarming quantities of butter, but what better way to spend a Sunday morning?!) yummm....

The First Few Weeks

It's been so amazing watching this gorgeous little person growing and changing over the last few weeks.  It's wonderful seeing her turn from a wrinkly squashy newborn into a real chubby baby!

We had the best time footling about, snuggling and going on walks before Ed had to go back to the ship and off to sea.

Luckily Mathilda and I had some gorgeous warm weather to cheer us up.

Some people are very perky at 4am...

But there is also lots of sleeping going on - it's hard work being small!

It's magical watching her grow more and more alert, and I am currently enjoying huge gummy smiles - such a wonderful thing to wake up to!

I am becoming more and more inventive with distraction techniques, anything to buy a few extra minutes so I can brush my teeth or do the washing up!  The bug-in-a-rug technique is a current favourite.

The distraction works both ways, the days are flying by and I am crossing them off and counting them down until Ed gets home and our little family is complete once more.  Three weeks gone, four weeks to go...I can't wait!