The heart of the American Mid-West in October - Pumpkinland

The change in seasons here is a little like turning off a paved tarmac road onto a gravel farm path - you can really feel the difference, and it's very sudden.


Today at school my children spent 25 minutes in a mandated fetal position while the tornado sirens wailed. It was their first time. I was at home in my pyjamas wondering whether to crawl under the house. After the storm passed, I felt uneventfully, I saw a huge tree in our neighbour's yard had blown down just like that.


Despite the adrenaline rush of the Fall arriving (or Autumn, as I really WANT to keep calling it, please), there are many much more gentle signs of the season which are probably visible in most Western countries at this time of year, but are celebrated in a particular lavish bounty in these rural American parts.

Yes it's the pumpkins. Huge ones, tiny ones, white and the all-important orange, lumpy and smooth, striped, flattish or roundly fecund. If you visited here only once at this time of the year, you would be convinced it was the only thing they grew all year. 


Now, something has made me very pleased and grateful. In England, they "do" pumpkins at Halloween, and then they feed them to the pigs (or the garbage truck). Some very resourceful, recycling types may make spiced pumpkin soup. But, in essence, British people do not believe pumpkins to be truly edible.

In Indiana, I believe they have come up with every possible way to cook a pumpkin. Now this seems very practical to me, considering how many people's porches are currently lined with them, and at $3.99 a pop, you could spend your week's food budget for the week right there in one big orange blow-out. So why not make the most of your seasonal display's nutritional value? (By the way, I am not advocating this at Christmas unless you are into edible Christmas tree decorations - dried fruit is apparently very attractive).

The reason I have been extolling the virtue of the cooked pumpkin is because the Americans are not only using their resources wisely (yes, I said it), but they are also doing it deliciously. I will share my favourite local recipe with you shortly, but if it doesn't take your fancy, do a Google search for some of the following:


Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Cobbler, Pumpkin Torte, Pumpkin Meringue Pie, Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Pudding, Pumpkin Mash, Pumpkin Preserves, Pumpkin Butter, Pumpkin Cupcakes and Spiced Pumpkin Latte (yes you get this last one at Starbucks).

My favourite recipe was served by a dear friend at Sunday Lunch, after a delicious main course of Cheeseburger soup. Yes, we are in America, and I couldn't get enough of it.


Pumpkin Crisp (or Crumble in English).


Ingredients
2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crisp Topping

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped or dried coconut (optional)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease an 8" square baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla until smooth. Pour into prepared dish.
In medium bowl combine brown sugar, oats, walnuts, flour and cinnamon. Add melted butter and stir until combined.
Sprinkle topping evenly over pumpkin mix.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until center is set and topping is golden brown.
Serve warm with whipped cream and cinnamon if desired.

Image: http://www.goodlifeeats.com

Laundry Love

My sister-in-law has recently moved into her dream house. She deserves it too, after 16 years of tiny London apartments. Visiting there last week, she proudly showed me the large section of her kitchen which is going to become the "Utility" as they call it here in England, or the laundry. I expect she will put quite a lot of thought into how it is going to be organised, and so looking at that blank space I thought, what would I do if I could design my laundry area from scratch?

What a fun project! I know that a lot of people have to make do with the space under their kitchen sink, and haul the ironing board out of the wardrobe in a panic in the mornings to get the shirts done. Well, what if we could all have our fantasy laundry room? It can't hurt to dream a little...and then once we're inspired we can see what little touches we can bring from our fantasy world into real life, just to make things a little more enjoyable.

So the first thing I did was start drooling over the great stuff you find all over the web on design sites, and in magazines - you know those laundries that have been put together by a stylist and will never be touched by tumbledrier lint or bits of grass from inside your son's socks.

This is my dream fodder...

Hirondelle Rustique

Style At Home

Centsational Girl

Now, having waded through hundreds of inspiring photographs (after a while, you think you don't really want to do up your laundry room anymore...) I have to ask myself, how on earth does a normal person do ANYTHING inspiring with a real-life laundry? I mean for goodness sake, please tell me who has enough space in their house to have a laundry room like this?:

Hampton Design

So, back to the real world. Now, I did find a couple of normal, real-live women who have attempted pretty fantastic laundry-room makeovers. Here are a couple of examples:

Centsational Girl took this

and made this

Not bad right?

However, I think I would tire of this after a while. It's smart, and pretty but after a while I would forget what it looked like before.

No, what I am going to need to make laundry interesting are some unusual touches. I am going need the things I use to be beautiful. So, what about some handmade laundry soap?

un arc-en-ciel dans lavabo

Yes it's lovely, but it may get a little tedious having to grate all that soap. However, having a couple of bars next to the sink with an old grater ready to wash your pretty lace undies...now that's practical and stylish. And how about getting an old wash basin too...vintage utility items have an immense beauty, unique to each item because of the years of hard work put in on them by women just like us.

Not sure my white shirts would like the rust though...

Practically, though, it is quite easy to find the more old-fashioned laundry accessories, brand new. Wooden pegs, for example, are gorgeous and sturdy. And of course, you can go mad with storage items.

Country Living

So, to finish off, I did a bit of leg work for you to source some beautiful and practical laundry-room basics which you can buy online. So get yourself a cup of coffee (or tea), maybe a yummy piece of cake, and using these basics, build yourself a dream laundry (or at least just dream it).

Gorgeous Ironing Board Covers (you could get two and change them seasonally) are $25 from Etsy.

This cotton drawstring bag with pegs is on sale at Raw Edges Studio for $12.80

Isn't this sunshine yellow tin wash tub gorgeous? Guaranteed to brighten even the rainiest washdays. It's $40 from Sigmosaics.

And this is my favourite, because I have always used an old Ikea bag to keep my lost socks until their partners show up again.

It's $18 at Handmade By Bette.

Well, I could go on forever. Let me know if you use any of these ideas, I'd love to see what you're up to!

CHA CHA CHA - the art of retro and vintage

I have told you once before about my very talented friend Megan (remember the great photography site!). Well, there is no end to Megan's creativity. When I visited her in London two years ago, I discovered that the living room of their very gorgeous Victorian semi was full of...yes you guessed it...STASH!! Fabric, lampshades, vintage retro finds. I think Megan's husband Hugh is a saint to be not even bothered by the loss of a room in the house to eye candy.

The purpose behind the stash (there always is one of course!) is Megan's online shop which sells the most unique and original retro and vintage finds, including lighting, furniture and clothing. Let me give you a little taste...

An original 1950's Lloyd Loom chair re-upholstered in original Alexander Girard fabric.  Is it not a thing of true beauty?

Megan sources original vintage fabric, and can upholster furniture and lampshades as request. Doesn't this just take you right back to the seventies?

The great thing about Megan's store is that she has taken the hard work out of sourcing vintage. She has a fantastic eye, and you can be guaranteed that anything she has chosen will have that stylish "kick".

I am the proud owner of a vintage wallpaper-covered scrapbook, and address book. Isn't this a great idea! Especially if you are not courageous enough to cover a whole wall in it!


Take a look at her shop and be inspired!

Don't put it off until it gets you down.

You may have picked up that my family and I are emigrating to the United States at the beginning of August. We have already done two international moves, so this isn't too big a deal for me. However, this is the first time we have moved with our kids at school age, two pets, and all our stuff, to a place where we have no connections (except the new ones we have already started to make!).

Can you imagine the to-do list?

Well, my problem is that I haven't even known where to start making a list. Usually I'm pretty good with stuff like that, but this has been way out of the box for me. I have been handling the move on a "first thought, first action" basis. In other words, by the seat of my pants.

This has not been great for stress levels, and a new blogging friend of mine inspired me with her post to actually do something about the nebulous feeling of ought-to and better-do that was weighing me down.

I put it off no longer. I made a list.

This is my Life Book which is a wonderful planner designed just for busy women. I went straight to the monthly planning section at the back, and wrote down all the things I need to get done by the end of June. There was a lot. Then I did July.

After this, I went to my calendar and made a list of things I have to do every day (including housework, emails etc) and the time I needed for that.

Once I had worked out my daily load, I fit in one of the big tasks from my June to-do list onto each day where there was space for it. I left some days free, like Sundays, Father's Day and the three days before the movers come to pack the house.

It's all in there, now all I have to do is take each day as it comes. Wow, what a relief! And the best part is, I know I can get it all done on time.

So here's a quick recap of the easy way I got everything off my chest and onto my calendar.

1. I did a "brain dump" of all the things I could think of that I needed to do, and wrote them down on the month I needed to get them done. I also wrote down how long I would need to finish each item.

2. I did a list of the daily jobs I needed to do and how long each would take. (Grouping these to Home, Computer, Town, etc helped so that I could do them all in a block of time in the one place).

3. I got my weekly planner (which already has commitments written in it) and worked out how much time on each day I had (after my daily jobs were done) to get a job done from by "big" list. Then I slotted in just one item into the day that had time, making sure there was some free time too! Scheduling it meant I could relax and forget about it until the day came round, knowing I would still meet my deadlines!

Have you got any strategies for getting through big events, or seasons of change in your life? Comment and let me know!

I shared it at
 

My best things - No. 1

When you move countries, as one does, one starts to realise that there are certain things that are more important than others. This is because every item costs something to be packed up by a lovely man or woman in a box, put on a ship, and sailed by a captain and crew to the port near our new home.

If you think about it like that, you realise that some things you couldn't care less about. Other things you feel sick in the bottom of your stomach at the thought that someone took the trouble to sail it all the way over the seas to another continent. Like my mum who moved house during a very busy time in her business. She had no time to clear out her drawers or cupboards. Everything was packed, including a drawer of pens most of which didn't work...

There are also things that I would never part with, no matter how much they cost to move, like my vintage Alfa De Luxe Sewing Machine. She's a beauty.

Some things I have collected over my life so far that have moved with me wherever I go. This is because they are small and light, and they somehow convey to me the sense of home, no matter where I am. I decided to feature some of these special objects because they are wonderful things to collect over your life knowing that you will be able to take them with you, perhaps even into the nursing home when you are really ancient...

My first object brings me so much joy every time I walk past it. I get little glimpses of my darling children's faces at different stages of their lives.

The great thing about this mobile is that it is cheap and easily available at Amazon. You could do so much more than using photos too. If you have done anything creative with one of these please leave a comment with a link!

I bet you saw this on

or

A walk in the morning.

I know that I am mightily blessed to live in an idyllic English Country Village. As we are moving on from here in a couple of months, I thought I would celebrate a little of the unique Englishness we have been privileged to partake of (especially in the Spring time).

As I occasionally do, this morning I took a walk through our village, Hinton St George, population 400, to Dorothy's Tea Room to have a cup of coffee.

The roses are in full bloom, and the spring flowers pregnant with bees.

I know this shot could have been taken fifty years ago, but I promise you I took it this morning.

Dorothy's is a quintessential English Tea Room, serving cream scones, fresh cakes and delicious coffees (as well as lunches for the hungry) in an assortment of china. They sell local crafts, host speakers for the over-50s, and are generally community minded. We always feel welcome there. And they are extremely generous with their clotted cream.

So, after a satisfying walk, I made my way home and I am glad I will always have a record of the simple joys of living in England.

A Kim and Aggie Makeover

Every morning I check through my blogs and see photographs of beautiful made-over rooms by talented DIYers and amateur designers. I have, in the past, had a bad habit of moving the furniture around or painting walls different colours, while my husband has been out. Either that, I would plan the new layout, and wait for him to get home so he could move the furniture! It was all to satisfy my desire to give my belongings new life, perhaps to show off a neglected artwork, or create a new little world of style. I always find room makeovers energise me and get my creative juices flowing.

Unfortunately, rooms can only be madeover so often. So I find myself looking at other people's beautiful homes and feeling frustrated.

This morning, however, I had an idea. Kim and Aggie of How Clean is your House? work miracles on the most disgusting and depressing homes without buying a single piece of furniture, painting any walls, or adding accessories. All they use is a LOT of elbow grease, and a knack for sorting and organising to bring order and sparkle to people's homes. I have been amazed at how beautiful someone's home can look if it is loved, and arranged with a careful eye. When I walked into my bedroom last night, after an incredibly busy weekend most of which was spent away from home, I realised that I had the perfect setting for a Kim and Aggie makeover.

This is what it looked like first thing this morning.

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I can't wait to make this pouf.

Because we will be shipping our stuff to the United States in two months time, I have to restrain myself from making this gorgeous "pouf" (excuse my French). I have a pile of assorted fabrics that my mum-in-law collected over time from various sources and then handed over to me (much to my excitement). I have sorted them into colours that match, and have been looking for projects that will compliment the variety of colours and fabrics.

I keep them in this gorgeous wicker picnic basket, which I will have to leave behind (sob) because of customs rules.

The tutorial can be found at Design*Sponge. Now I just have to be patient...

A Morning in the Life of... and a much-needed confession

This is how my life goes most mornings, but as you'll see a little later on in my morning I made a decision.

Woke up and prayed with my family - here (note pink fluffy blankets)

Had crumpets and maple syrup, and fresh Americano coffee for breakfast (made with our special stove-top espresso maker)

Got kids dressed and ready for school
Enjoyed peace and quiet while reading my daily blog feeds

More coffee, shower, clean up kitchen, sit down to my computer. (This is the view from my workspace)

Get hungry.
Decide to make new yoghurt cake recipe my mum sent me.

Just mix everything in one big bowl and put into cake tin or alternatively makes about 24-25 cupcakes.

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1 cup sunflower oil

2 cups sugar (I use about 1 1/2 cups)

3 cups self-raising flour

pinch of salt

3 extra large eggs

1 tspn vanilla

mix together with beater until smooth.

180 degrees for about 45 mins  (usually little less) or about 20 mins for cupcakes

Why is it that, no matter how hard I try, I can't manage to make cupcakes without a mess?

Now, with a fresh cupcake (no frosting because I ran out of icing sugar) and a cup of tea, I will tell you the decision I made.

I have been reading a lot of what I would call "creative" blogs for the last few weeks and they are all beautiful. Each might have a different focus, such as parenting, photography, fashion, interior design, craft. I find them inspiring, but I was reminded this morning of something important.

It read the blog Stuff Christians Like. It challenged me to write more.

You may have noticed (and this is the confession) that I have been posting a lot of short posts with pictures and links. This is because I have had serious bloggers block, and did not have anything to say. So in essence I was being lazy. The thing with pictures (very image-heavy blogs) is that they don't take any mental work, or brain-power to appreciate. You look at it, you get inspired, and it's done. Reading a blog, absorbing the ideas and perhaps critiquing them, takes more time, more mental energy. And yet that is the kind of blog I want to write. 

So, my decision is that I will try to step up to the plate on this one. I have had a few weeks of experimenting with my blog, and now I am going to try and make it my very own instead of a clone of other creative blogs. That is dangerous because I might lose all my readers! But I am tired of trying to create something that looks like a thousand others.

Don't worry, I will still post pictures! But I will attempt to get my brain bubbling again and put some thoughts down as well.

Thanks for your patience while my blog personality matures!