Sugar and Spice (and all things nice!)

No Topsham market this week, so I decided to take a leaf out of a new book I'm reading at the moment, which I'm sure you've all read before me! In case you haven't, it's called "The Thrift Book" by India Knight:

The leaf that I selected this weekend was marmalade making! Again, I'm sure that lots of you can do this with your eyes closed, but this was my first time. I'm fairly pleased with the results, but practice makes perfect! (My husband is quite content to act as guinea pig). Next batch is a Nigella Lawson pink grapefruit recipe, very simple sounding - if it works well I'll post the recipe.

How amazing that this.....                .....and this.....

.....produces this!!!

So, along with marmalade making I made some spice biscuits for a friend who was coming for tea as well as cinnamon and vanilla sugar all ready for Christmas baking.

                        Tea for two.....                    

Preparing for Christmas!

(The lovely sweetpeas in this photo were grown by Lainey - thank you!! xx)

                       

After all this much-enjoyed domesticity, time to relax in a lovely hot bath!  So - candles lit, wine poured.....

 

.....a lovely end to a lovely day!

Warm Wishes for a wonderful week

Cally xxx

Have a Good Week

Well this weekend was my last Topsham market for a while; as they are getting so booked up with requests, we will all just have to wait our turn to be invited back. So I will now turn my attention to getting my Christmas Cupboard well stocked for the next few months!!

Here are a few snaps of our offerings....

 

I also wanted to tell you about the most WONDERFUL book that I have just read called "The Power of Kindness" by Piero Ferrucci - I certainly do not want to be evangelical or preachy but I found it so inspiring and comforting that I just wanted to let you know about its existence in case it spoke to anyone else.

And as we have been doing some feel good postings recently, here's a few thoughts for the week!

 Warm Wishes for a wonderful week

Cally xxx

A woman's work is never done.....

Well (as we hoped) just like last year we are having a lovely early September, so the pussycats and I have been making the most of it..... 

me by getting out in our postage-stamp garden and the pussycats by sunning themselves on every available surface! 

 

Though our littlest one interrupted her sunbathing when she heard some rustling....
 

  

A little scene I set up for you to look at........

  

Comfy seat ready for tea and biscuits.......

 

The stream at the bottom of the garden....

And while the sun was shining, I couldn't help washing every thing in sight!!  Bedding, rugs, quilts, cushion covers- nothing escaped,not even the two teddies that live on the bed; as you can see Rosie Bear was quite happy to be out in the sun:-

but Rolo Bear - he was not amused!!!

 

But the story ends well and now they are cosy and comfy together.....

 

Here's hoping that the sun shines on you all this weekend!

Warm Wishes, Cally