Colourful Autumn Squashes...."To Autumn"

I've been busily weaving more baskets whenever I get the chance & as it's definitely Autumn here now, with those lovely misty mornings that turn into hazily sunny days with the leaves starting to fall, my inspiration has turned to the wonderful shapes & colours of the Autumn squashes that abound at this time of year. As Keats famously wrote it is the ..."SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness"........"To swell the gourd"...& my gourds in the veggie patch have definitely excelled themselves this year. They have now been turned into jars of chutney that will last me at least until next Autumn!

This little basket contains Turks Turban squashes, Sweet Dumplings & a Butternut Squash, all nestling in straw.....one Turks Turban couldn't fit into the basket!

basket weaving addiction!

It's back...I'm still trying to kick this basket weaving addiction & failing miserably! Here's the latest addition to my growing collection of filled baskets...breads, buns & croissants this time.
I've been making so many croissants & I always like to have the "real" thing in front of me when I'm making something, so guess who has been eating far too many warm buttery croissants! I make it even worse because not only do I like them warm & spread with loads of butter, I then go & add loads of golden syrup too...not good for the waistline. I'd better stop making the miniature croissants otherwise there'll be absolutely nothing miniature about me! :-))

Hallowe'en is coming early!

I'm not a huge fan of "themed" miniatures but I have been working on a Hallowe'en order for a while now...Real Life sort of got in the way a little, not to mention the lovely weather we've been having....but at last, I'm slowly making a bit of headway & this little carving Jack o' Lantern board is one of them! It seems that I've been making these boards for so long now that each year it gets more & more difficult to make them different from the year before...I guess the next step for 2011 will be "light up" lanterns! :-)).
It's been so difficult to find the time I need to get into the mini sweatshop recently that I actually made two & I'm having to list this on eBay tonight as I have nothing else!  Please make the weather change here!!

This, for me, is quite impressive...2 blog posts in less than a week!! :-))

Slowly getting back!

I'm slowly,oh so slowly getting back into the mini sweatshop after the wedding & all the houseguests...it hasn't been helped by the fact that we've had a glorious week here (very unusual for Durham!!) & I just can't bear to be inside while the sun is shining...I need it to change, quickly!!
Remember that I said that I was addicted to basket weaving...well, throughout the chaos of the last month or so, I've surprised myself by having actually managed to make one or two basket pieces & today (as the sun went behind the clouds, thank goodness!) I eventually got one of them filled!

I'm getting quite fast at the weaving now but I need to work out how to make square shapes...I'm getting a bit fed up of always making round or oval baskets..any suggestions are more than welcome!

This tray with a domed lid was just crying out to become a sophisticated ploughman's....no chunk of Cheddar here but some Stilton, Brie & a tiny bit of Cheddar with some rustic breads & tomatoes....instead of the pint of beer more normally associated with a ploughman's..this one has a glass of red wine (although it would always be white for me, as red gives me a migraine!)

I do hope that no-one wants to "gladly crush it"..........

Phew!

Well it's all over now....all that remains is to get the house back to some sort of normal state! The final family members left at lunchtime today, all the sheets have been washed, ironed & beds remade......with a bit of luck I'll be able to make a start on the huge backlog of commission work tomorrow. I can't see me getting out of my mini sweatshop for a full week!
It was a great day, despite having been the victims of a seriously convincing con woman who purported to be a caterer...even down to employing a Masterchef finalist as her "chef".....any English people reading this who happen to live in the North East of England...if you ever need caterers for goodness sake DO NOT even glance the way of Northumbrian Caterers...they'd be lucky to manage to cater for a soup kitchen!
The alcohol flowed freely though & the party didn't wind up until 6.35am when the DJ finally packed his gear & left......A great party!
This is a photo taken of my beautiful daughter Kim, by my nephew James in one of our fields......not many brides would muck about in a field of thistles on their wedding day!  www.jamescummingsphotography.com

Probably the last post before "The Wedding"!!!

Very quickly, as I have my oldest daughter & her family here & it's bath & storytime now, here is the most beautiful, red oak, handturned, fruit ring filled with a selection of my handmade fruits!  The ring was turned by Bertie Pittman (you can find his fab turnings in his Etsy store - BertiesMiniatures) & measures 25mm in diameter & I filled it with raspberries, pears, peaches, cherries & apples. Only a week to go now & hopefully the weather here will improve for the wedding right now it feels like winter, is p*****g down & blowing a gale...lovely!

Something sweet!

Less than 2 weeks to go before the wedding is all over.......maybe it was to console myself that I decided to make this sweet little confection! I wish I had someone who could make the real thing for me to eat with my coffee ( & that's all day long!!), although it would probably be so very much quicker to make the real thing than it is to make the miniature...this took me 3 nights to make!! Close your eyes & pretend they are real!!
These macarons are not the ones that almost everybody raves about, the Laduree variety...as far as I'm concerned these are 100% better than those & they come from La Maison Du Chocolat...as the name suggests the filling is a dream of a chocolate ganache......eat your heart out Laduree!!! .....Before there are any complaints...I'm sorry about the lack of accents...I DO know they should be there but just don't have the time to write this in word & copy & paste!!!! Sorry!