Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Sun, Sea & Sand....(& plenty of Mojitos!)...here I come!

It's that time again, thank goodness, when I'm off to the desert to stay with my youngest & the new baby....not so new anymore, but 6 mths old now & becoming her own little person. So I thought that before I go ( a week today & too much to get done before then...help!) I'd leave you with the last few things that I have been working on!
Recently, apart from a slight diversion into toffee apples, or caramel apples as they are known Stateside, I've been in a really fruity mood!

                                                           An overload of fruits!

                                                        A bowl of pears with a branch.

 

 A bowl of plums & a branch!

                                                 A bowl of cherries & a branch......this is getting monotonous so, finally, "Making Toffee Apples" featuring a magically "floating" apple in the process of being covered in yummy toffee!



These will be appearing on eBay in the near future, after all, I need to be able to pay for my holiday in the desert! LOL

Monday, 24 September 2012

It's been ages........

Where on earth does the time go? I can't believe that it's so long since I blogged...it seems like only yesterday that I was making fruit trifle, not over 2 months ago! It'll be Christmas before I know it!

I've been making some Halloween "bits" recently, even though Halloween isn't big over here in the UK, it's still fun to put some pieces together!
 Indispensible for any self respecting witch.....some severed fingers preserved in formaldehyde!
 Some moist Graveyard brownies!
& some good old cupcakes decorated for Halloween with a fondant witch's hat!

Saturday, 14 July 2012

Fresh fruit trifle!

I've had the resin out again & this time there were no heart attacks or any other distractions to bother me...apart from the fact that I swear I'm beginning to go rusty!  It has not stopped raining for over 2 weeks now & when I say "raining", try thinking monsoon-like rain.....but without the heat! It actually stayed dry yesterday so I managed to get the grass cut in most places...there were other parts of the garden though that were no-go areas...unless I wanted myself & the grass cutter to sink, never to be seen again!
I began to get excited today.....grey skies, but no rain....how silly can I be.....guess what...yep.... it's absolutely chucking it down again

Anyway, even though it is a dessert that I wouldn't thank you for.....I can't stand anything "cakey" in desserts & the thought of soggy sponge fingers drenched in alcohol, lurking in underneath the lovely fruit filled jelly & whipped cream, is enough to make me run a mile!

I much prefer the miniature version of it......it's not edible & therefore safe!




Monday, 9 July 2012

Hundreds of clams, setting resin & heart attacks!

This time last week I was totally oblivious to the chaos that was going to engulf me the next day & was happily making loads of tiny clams.....a long, drawn out process where each shell is made separately, baked, a tiny clam added, baked again & then finally the 2 shells put together &baked once more.  On the Monday night, I heaved a sigh of relief...all was ready for mixing the resin the following morning & FINALLY putting the "Making Clam Chowder" together!
Tuesday morning dawned with still no inkling of things to come...the hubby seemed his usual self & went off to cut his elderly parents' grass (taking advantage of a very rare dry day!) & I happily mixed up the resin for the chowder.  BIG mistake!

I had just filled the pans & sour dough bread bowls & was just about to add the prepared clams when he came home.....now anyone who works with resin knows that there is a "perfect time" to add things to it to stop them sinking to the bottom & out of sight.....my resin was just at that stage when my hubby decided that he would suffer an MI (heart attack)...pretty inconsiderate timing I would say! :-)  You can imagine the organised chaos that followed....a call to the ambulance service...2 of which duly arrived, which was just as well as the ECG monitor in the 1st one kept saying "No Battery", 20 mins later we were off with blues & twos blaring to our nearest cardio hospital 45mins away.  I've always wanted to be an ambulance driver as in no way could I be described as a slow driver & am in love with the idea of peeps getting out of my way when I want to get somewhere! LOL......getting to ride in one was the next best thing I suppose!

4 hours later the hubby was out of emergency surgery having had a 12" clot removed from his coronary artery, a stent fitted & saying that he felt better than he had done for a long time! You'll be relieved to know that he came home 2 days later & almost a week later seems to be making a very good recovery! Just as well as you might have guessed that I'm not the best nurse to be had!

Meanwhile back in my workshop, my resin had set beyond the point of being able to add anything to it & I was about to despair....all that work wasted...see why I call the timing inconsiderate! LOL.....the good news, however, is that with a bit of effort, I managed to save all my work of the few days before & against all the odds, my clam chowder was completed....& I had enough clams left to put together a pan of simple steamed clams.  So all is well (at the minute).........both hubby & clam chowder are well!



Friday, 29 June 2012

A little bit of game!

I've been feathering pheasants over the last week, I sold out of all but a mallard drake on my website months ago & have just never found the time to sit down & replace them. When I tell you that each & every feather is scaled down & added one x one to a polymer base, you might understand why I sometimes "drag my feet" when it comes to making them! I have to be in the mood!

 A Brace of Pheasant hanging traditionally!

 A hen pheasant on her own!

 A lying cock pheasant

& finally, a cock pheasant on a log.

So I finish them & am all ready to sort out my website, only to find that the damned website server appears to be down...grrrr....not only can I not work on the site but can't even access it.....they'd better get it sorted soon otherwise there will be smoke pouring out of my ears!

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Lots of little jars!

I seem to have been filling lots of little jars over the last few months so I decided that a little shelf full of jars would be cute & I knew that somewhere in my stash I had just the little shelves.  It took me longer to find the shelves & then paint them than it did to make the jars! One of these days, I'll surprise myself & be so organised that I know exactly where to find things!



Eventually though, they were worth all the effort...I love them! :-))

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Hundreds of tiny peaches!

I have been making peaches.....by the hundreds it seems! Whole peaches, half peaches, peaches with stones, peach slices......I think I mixed just a little too much clay & there was no way I was going to waste it! Here a few of the pieces I put together will all those peaches! :-))






I think it'll be a while before I make any more peaches!