Ehrmann Tapestries.

A few people have commented on the Ehrmann tapestry in one of the photos on my last post so I thought I'd post a picture of what it will look like when its finished!
Its my sister Jody who is doing this one although in the picture you can see my daughter Mica having a go at it.

Then theres this one which I am making painfully s-l-o-o-o-w progress with.

And this little beauty sat here unopened waiting for Kia to come home from university and get stitching!!

Hope everyone is enjoying a little bit of spring time at long last...its been absolutely beautiful here this past few days!
Em xxxxx

Blah and Busy...

Hello blogiverse its been a while since I last I last posted because I've felt a bit blah...nothing really I could put my finger on just blah!!
And then inbetween the blah-ness I've been busy, busy, busy!!
I've been getting my crafty bits and bobs organised..I tend to take up an entire settee with all my bits so I got this trolley to try and free up some seats, it didn't wotk, I just have more stuff to hand to spread out all around me!!

 I've been busy making lots of little things!

And I've been enjoying saturday night craft at my Mums house!!

I better point out Jody made these not me, otherwise she might shout at me!!

  Hope everyone has had a great weekend.
Em xxxxx

Cookery Bookery

In view of my renewed interest in cookery and my constant quest to find new and interesting ways to liven up my vegan diet, I thought it was about time I started to write down all these recipes in a book rather than on the backs of envelopes or letters home from from school!

So I finally put this little beauty that my girls bought me for christmas 2009...how cute is it!

 Another thing I've done is pull out all my cook books to have a look through them and see what recipes I like the sound of that can be easily veganised, and although I haven't actually looked at any of them yet I did find this...

This was my Grandma's, and whilst flicking through it there are so many recipes I remember from my childhood.
My  Grandma was one of those old ladies who always had a tin full of home baking ready for when you visited...these 'maids of honour' were always a popular choice at her house!

 Also hidden away in the BeRo book I found this recipe for parsnip soup, which was a little bit poignant because its my Grandmas handwriting and she died almost 8 years ago and I still miss her.

 But never the less She has left me with a delicious sounding and simple to make soup which I will try out very soon and report back!

Em xxxx

Breakfast With A Twist.

I really didn't fancy my usual yogurt or muesli breakfast this morning and I'm not greatly fond of toast unless I have something spectacular to spread on it, so this morning i made this for myself...

Garlicky Mushrooms and Olives on Toast, (you pile them on rather than spreading them).

   
Heat some olive oil and a pinch of mixed herbs,
lightly fry a small finely chopped red onion and three finely chopped cloves of garlic.
Add some chopped black olives and a good handful of finely chopped mushrroms.
Fry until the mushrooms are just turning golden.


Pile onto hot buttered toast, add salt and pepper to taste.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm 

Em xxxxxxxx

Queen of the Stoneage Bookworm.

This isn't so much as an update on my recent reading but an update on some re-reading of old favourites.
One of my absolute favourite series' of books ever has to be the 'Earths Children' series by Jean .M. Auel.

There are five books in it so far...
1. The Clan of The Cave Bear.
2. The Valley of Horses.
3. The Mammoth Hunters.
4. The Plains of Passage.
5. The Shelters of Stone.

Each one is an amazing story in its own right and forms part of the whole great series of books.
Set during the last Ice Age about 30,000 years ago in what will one day become Europe.
The general premise of the books for those that haven't read them is.

Book 1. Ayla a young Cro-Magnon girl of about 5 years is orphaned and alone after an earthquake, she is adopted by a group of travelling Neaderthals looking for a new cave to call home.
The main idea of the first story is about the differences between the two very different types (?) of early humans.
After a series of sad events Ayla has to leave the group of neaderthals or 'The Clan' as the call themselves.

 Book 2. Continues her story as she survives on her own with no one but a horse and a lion cub for company for years until she saves a man of 'The Others' as her type of people are referred to by the Clan.
Again a big factor in this story is about how the two different cultures view each other as Ayla explains to the man she saved, where she came from and how she as a woman of The Clan is expected to behave.
The man (Jondalar)  is amazed to learn that his Neanderthal counterparts are human because most of his type of people consider them little more than animals.

Book 3. Concentrates on Ayla's re-intergration into society after many years living alone and how she has to face down a lot of unpleasantness because of her Clan upbringing.
Ayla is eventually adopted by the Mamutoi people who see past the name-calling and nastiness and recognise her for her many talents.

Book 4. Sees Ayla and Jondal travel across Europe to his home in what will become modern day France. All along their route they have to face up to mis-trust and narrow mindedness but they also meet many new and interesting people.

Book 5. Ayla has yet again to learn how to intergrate with a whole new people as Jondalars people are very different to the Mamutoi. Once again she faces bigotry at the hands of these new people because of her childhood but with the help of her new friends and family overcomes it.
Book 6. Is out on 29th March and I am so EXCITED about it!!!!

I dont want anyone to feel cheated because I've sort of glossed over the content of each book, but they are so amazing I'd recommend everyone rush out and buy them instead of me spoiling them by saying too much about what happens.

Happy reading and happy Monday for tomorrow.
Em xxxx

February Makes.

I know I'm a few days late but I've been waiting for a few days to post these makes as some were gifts for my Mum and daughter Kia.
So here's what I made last month...not very much really because I seemed to spend a lot of time reading and a lot of time stitching away at my tapestry.

Crochet Bunting for Kia.

Crochet Bunting For Jody.

Little Heart and Egg Cosies For Mum

Red Pepper Soup.

Kindle Case

I'm hoping March will prove to be a more productive month...although I've still got a ton of reading stacked up!
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.
Em xxx