First up this year: grape jelly.
I finally got a good set after years of trying. I added the juice and rind of two oranges. Definitely helped the flavour too, but maybe a tad less ground cloves next time!
Rocco somewhat underwhelmed
Some years ago, I began crocheting squares from some cotton yarn from my stash. Squares are good to take on holiday, as they are small and you can just take a few at a time, but it also means the project progresses slowly… Anyway, I was getting near the end of the cotton, so it was time to decide what to make from the finished squares.
First, they had to be blocked, then pressed. 
I ended up with 33, just the number for a shrug pattern I found. The photo below was taken on the bed while I was away in Cambridge – the whole project was still small enough to take in my rucksack!
The assembled shrug had to be blocked again after I had crocheted the squares together.
Here it is being worn as a shrug:
But the sleeves have buttons, so you can also wear it as a shawl…
…or a scarf!
Very adaptable! But do I store it with the wraps, the shrugs or the scarves??
I am spending a few days in Cambridge with a group called “Free to Believe”, studying Tom Holland’s book “Dominion”. This afternoon we had some free time, so I went for a stroll around Cambridge. In true Wheeler fashion, I wandered away from the bustle to the river, which was much more pleasant.
There were dog walkers, ducks, a heron and a couple of teenage swans. But I wasn’t expecting cows!
Well, the dress is finished; I still need to make a chemise to go underneath the stays, which go under the dress.
Then I can get even more creative and make a turban. Otherwise, I will have to wear my wig…
We finally managed to find a day when neither of us were busy AND the weather looked reasonable, so it was off on a train to Hastings. The train was a bit delayed due to an “incident”, so Rocco was getting a bit bored:
A lovely journey down in a quiet carriage and an excellent (and chatty) conductor. As usual, we left the train at St Leonards Warrior Square and walked down to the seafront through the gardens:
Finally, we got to a bit of dog friendly beach and Rocco could let off steam:
Then a quick trip along the pier; all surprisingly empty:
All too soon, it was time to find our pub for lunch. Rocco was (as usual) very well behaved, and I rewarded him with some trimmings from my steak. After lunch, we climbed up to West Hill (it was easy for me as I had a very enthusiastic dog helping) and Rocco could have a good run around while we enjoyed the view.
We then wandered back to the Hastings Station – and sat in our air-conditioned train until it was time to go home.
A lovely day out!
The dress is mostly assembled; the front is a bit lumpy and requires further work, but I am pleased with the back:
Once I am happy with the front, I only need to hem the sleeves and skirt.
As we get ready to pass our old trailer tent on to a new home, I feel very sad that an era has come to an end. I don’t feel ready to give up camping just yet:-(
But oh, what times we had!
While I had a subscription to Gardener’s World Magazine, I sent off for some mini plug plants, which only cost the postage. They arrived in what looked like an impossibly small package, but inside were 30 tiny plants in 30 tiny pots.
They were quite damp and seemed to be happy, but I thought it best to up-pot them pretty quickly.
It turned out that some of the tiny pots actually held more than one seedling, but I put each pot’s worth into one of my home made paper pots.
Now I am left with 30 tiny plant pots. Can I find another use for them, so they are not single-use plastic?
That is in quantity, not size! For the past however many years, in the same way that we did when I was growing up, I have done a swap in May and October of the winter and summer clothes which are put in the camphor wood box while they aren’t in use.
This spring I was prompted to start early, and my aim was to reduce the (embarrassing) number of clothes I had so there would no longer be any need to keep the out of season ones separately.
So I took over the front bedroom for several days and emptied my wardrobe and drawers onto every available surface. The beady eyed may also see the kirtle and coif in the foreground.
The shoes alone covered the bed!
I almost succeeded in my goal – there are only heavy winter coats in the camphor wood box now, and there are four bags waiting to go to the charity shop. Furthermore, the clothes I do have are better organised. Result!
Having finished the construction of the kirtle itself, I then had to deal with the lacing; making the holes down the front was easy enough…
… but then the eyelets had to be hand stitched. This was extremely fiddly!
They weren’t too bad when I had finished, but they were rather too small, so I had to lace them with embroidery thread rather than cord. However, once it was waxed, as per instructions from Gemma, it was more or less acceptable.
Meanwhile, I began making a coif. This was made out of unbleached calico, which was what I had, and entirely hand stitched, which I was rather proud of!
And so the medieval peasant costume is finished!
I will need to make a more appropriate undergarment at some point, rather than a 20th century thermal vest!!
