Tea Break on a Stormy Saturday

In this part of the world it's rough weather right now. Strong winds and torrential rains make our little old house groan. (And leak.) It's dark, but cosy and warm inside. Barely enough light to take a few photos. Nevertheless, I did & I thought I'd pop around to share them with you.

It's the perfect weather to cuddle up inside and thoroughly enjoy your teatime. And so we just did!

Also, I'm happy to announce that I'm a contributor to Mollie Makes' Red Nose Crafternoon magazine, with lots of other crafty bloggers like Dottie Angel and Attic24. For more details please click here and I will update you about it in another post as well. Yay!

Many thanks for your kind visit. Happy weekend!
♦♦♦

The first blanket and sunshine

Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments on my last post.
It means a lot to me that you take the time for reacting

- and that you liked my blanket ;-) - so thanks!

Meanwhile I managed to catch of bit of the glorious sunshine
in our little corner of the world.






















A good book, a throw - in this case, the first one I ever crocheted, with the the first granny square I ever crocheted... and it shows ;-), sunshine and tea. Life can be good.

Enjoy.

Dots

This teapot was a present - many years ago - from a dear friend,
when she came to visit me from England.
Yesterday I felt it urgently needed a matching hot pad.
(Does that kind of urge sound familiar to you at all,
or should I better consult my doctor?)

I applied the dots after crocheting the white circle.
Each dot is a bobble stitch made of six dc (American terminology).

•••Wishing you a lovely day•••

About a promise and crochet...

You might or might not remember that there was one thing
I never ever wanted to crochet.
A potholder.
Or so I thought when I first learned to crochet...

Well - unless you're new to this blog,
you know I didn't keep that promise to myself.
Not quite.

There was one other thing of which I thought:
Not in this life.

And there you are.
A tea cosy...

So much for principles, hey?
Enjoy your weekend!
(With a nice cup of tea perhaps?)
♦♦♦

Bobbles & Pastels

Wow... It has been a long time...
Too long.
No time for crocheting or blogging.
And I'm way behind answering emails...























Just before this very hectic period started
I whipped up this granny square potholder.
Pastel colours & bobbles on the front, plain white on the back.
























Although I wasn't present online during the last weeks,
there were a couple of very sweet mentions of this little blog:

♦ Anna from Bashmachok's World made this lovely tulip scarf.
♦ Heather from Vintage Grey made this gorgeous Peaches & Cream potholder.
♦ Solvi from En Stovel og en sko made this beautiful doily.
Do check out these lovely blogs from these very talented bloggers!

It's wonderful to be a small part of the international blogging community,
to be inspired by all those talented people out there.
Thank you!

Have lovely day!

Pink meets Hemp

Last weekend I made this potholder.
(Yes, another one...)
The front is made of organic hemp yarn,
the back & edging of cotton.
I quite like the combination of the rough & soft textures.

If you're interested in the pattern, it's as simple as it looks. :-)
The front is a granny square of nine rows.
The back is a solid square, also of nine rounds.
I used a 3 mm hook.
The pattern for the back is as follows (American terminology):

♦ Chain 6 and slipstitch to form a ring.
♦ Round 1:
20 double crochet (dc) in the ring. Join with a slipstitch.
♦ Round 2:
[in 1 dc of the previous round: 2 dc, chain 2, 2 dc. Then 1 dc in each of the next 4 stitches.] 4x.
Join with a slipstitch.
♦ Round 3
[in the corner space: 2dc, chain 2, 2 dc. Then dc in each of the next stitches till the next corner space.] 4x
Join with a slipstitch. 
♦ Rounds 4-9: repeat round 3. (The number of stitches between the corners will increase.)

For the loop you can use a key chain as a base, then single crochet on it.
You can sew or crochet it to your potholder (I did a bit of both.)
I then single crocheted the back and front together, using the cotton (one round).
To make an edging I used the crab stitch, which is fun doing.
It's a backward single crochet; on YouTube you'll find lots of great tutorials.

Okay, that's quite enough about one potholder.
I hope you haven't falling asleep. :-)
Thanks for visiting! Wishing you all a very fine day.

♦♦♦

Gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Happy New Year!
May 2013 be a happy, crafty, creative, sustainable
& an animal friendly one...

This time we didn't make any traditional oliebollen for New Year's Eve,
but a coconut & lime cream pie instead -
from Vegan Pie in the Sky.
I wrote about that wonderful book before: here.

And to be honest...
When I state something like 'we made a pie':
My task was confined to picking a recipe. ;-)

Anyway. It was the first time we had this pie,
and it didn't disappoint! At all.
Creamy it was indeed... Mmm.

So, before we ate the rest of it today,
I managed to take some pictures. (Only just!)

To end this first post of the new year:
I'm absolutely thrilled by the fact that there are a growing number of people interested in this blog. :-)
I find it terribly exciting to have visitors from all over the world.
Thank you for visiting and commenting.
It's appreciated, a lot!

I hope you had a good start of the year too.
♥

Vegan Treat of the Month ***Chocolate Hazelnut Flapjacks***

Oops, incidentally I skipped the vegan treat of the month in October.
Time to make up for that with this very easy, but very rewarding treat.
Flapjacks!

They don't look much on these pictures, I know...
However, they truly have a great texture and are delicious.
This week I made them for a friend who loves them.

Another plus: it doesn't take much time to make them,
and you can make a bunch of them in one go.
They keep good for at least a week in airtight tin,
but honestly: they probably won't last that long.
Oh, and they're not expensive!

So, what do you need? 
(makes about 30-35 flapjacks)

450 grams (16 oz) rolled (porridge) oats
300 gram (10oz) margarine
150 gram (6 oz) black molasses (or treacle)
150 gram (6 oz) brown sugar
100 gram (or to taste) fairtrade pure chocolate chunks 
100 gram (or to taste) roasted, unsalted hazelnuts, crushed/cut into half
pinch of salt

You can replace the hazelnuts and chocolate with dried dates, abricots, cashew nuts, almonds, raisins... Anything you like really!

How to make the flapjacks?
Preheat the oven at 190 degrees Celsius.
Melt the margarine, sugar and treacle in a pan, stir & be careful not to burn it.
Mix in the oats, the hazelnuts and the salt. Stir thoroughly.
Press half of the mixture into a square or rectangular tin (mine is about 30x15 cm).
Put the chocolate chunks on top, press gently into the mixture.
Then press the other half of the mixture into the tin and completely cover the chocolate. (This way the chocolate won't burn.)
Smooth over the surface with a spoon.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
With a sharp knife: mark into portions while still warm, then leave to cool.






















♥ Best enjoyed in the company of a dear friend,
with a good fairtrade tea served in mismatched vintage cups...

It's such a perfect day... For a sneak peek

While autumn winds are blowing,
it's nice to snuggle up inside
bake & enjoy a cupcake
or two...

Vegan of course.
The crocheted doily is a thrifted treasure.























So, I figured this might be the right setting for a little sneak peak,
of a crochet project...
Since the colours coordinate quite nicely with the cupcake
- if I may say so.






















Still searching for a nice lacy crochet border pattern for this throw.
But first: finish making all the granny squares.
Still a lot to go...

Weekend snapshots

Both the teacup and the plaid with the green flowers
(of which just a snippet is visible) are thrifted.
The first in The Netherlands, the second in India.

 Oh yes... Pompons...

 A thrifted footstool with crocheted cover...

Crochet project in the making...

Kidney Beans Brighten Up Any Teatime

Q: 'Where do you, as a vegan, get your proteins?'
A: 'Why - brownies of course.'





















With these brownies this conversations can become reality.
Main ingredient: kidney beans. Love it!

\
♥ Animal Friendly Teatime

The Good Life & Some Escapism Too

What a lucky coincidence: having a couple of days off,
while the weather is actually quite nice.

I just had to spend some time in our very petit urban garden...
And since I had time on my hands, I decided it could do with some
pompomifying.

So there I was, a grown up woman,
spending several hours of her life making pompons like crazy.
- Oh oh. Is that escapism or what? -

Of course there was tea to be enjoyed...

These pelargoniums are such a bright shade of pink, it's hard to get a decent picture them. Love them though.

The plaid on the bench is actually a mattress I bought in South East Asia
(without the stuffing).

One more picture of the pompon bunting doesn't do any harm, does it...?

Let's have a cup of tea and just enjoy the moment

When I was young (a veeery long time ago), there was a choice between tea or coffee.
Not between hundreds of kinds of different tea or coffee.

So much has changed since then! The choice is quite overwhelming.
I enjoy many cups of black or green tea a day (organic and fairtrade of course).
Usually while working - but taking a teabreak is a guilty pleasure.

I never use a water cooker.
Apart from the fact that they're plain ugly (which spoils much of the teafun)
they use way too much energy.

No sir! I put my old fashioned kettle on the fire to brew my tea.
Sure, it takes a bit longer, 

but there's a kind of joy in the anticipation,

the ritual of choosing the tea, 

filling the tea strainer,
pooring the boiling water on the tea,
wait a few minutes... And enjoy...

Vegan pie to die for

After a small hint from my side
(Pleaeaease bake me a pie - please?)
Mr. H. decided it was a good day to try a recipe from
Vegan Pie in the Sky
Another fabulous cookbook from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.

He decided to try his hand on the Lagusta's Chocolate Raspberry Tart.
Kudos to him for that choice.

I tell you it's really hard to catch this pie's gooeyness on a photo,
but I gave it a try.
Although it meant having to deal with small hints of Mr. H.
(Can we pleaeaease eat it now - please?)

If you're vegan or not: the pies in this book really are to die for.
To make it (just a little bit) more complicated:
The recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Pie was borrowed from Lagusta's Luscious,
definitely a site (and vegan chocolate shop) to add to your favourites!

Vegan Pie in the Sky is well written and funny.
If you click here you'll find some sample recipes:
Like Pear Frangipane Tart and Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie.

Highly addictive stuff...

Teatime!

Whether it's at home...

With a homebaked vegan muffin...

Or outside on my terrace - on those very rare sunny days...

I do enjoy teatime.

In my cuppa

I live on tea.
Well...
But seriously, I drink lots of it.

But only: Fairtrade & Organic.

Source: Scarborough Fair

I will not have it any other way.
Especially not after visiting quite a few tea plantations over the past years

in India, Sri Lanka, Laos...

Breathtaking landscapes / Stunning architecture
– like this former tea factory in Sri Lanka.
(Now turned into a hotel where, BTW, I stayed a couple of years ago.
Yes - it was nice.)
















Others are still in use as tea factories.
The conditions under which most teapickers still have to work

are beyond words. It is often modern slavery.
They don't have a choice.

We do.
Paying a few cents extra for our tea can make a huge difference for them.
So yes, only Fairtrade & Organic
In my cuppa.