homemade

wooden candlesticks

2012-05-17T08:15:06Z

Oak and cherry wood, rounded with an axe, smoothed with a drawknife, and turned on a pole lathe.

These pieces were so much happiness to make. The oak needed some wrestling at first, it is such a hard wood, but I loved working with the possibilities for shaping a bigger piece. I experimented with various chisels to cut under and form simple lines. Elation! Such good work. Our homemade candlesticks will look quite elegant, I should think. I must wait til I reach my father’s woodshop in Canada in June, to make bases for these candlesticks.

I’m awfully sorry to say that I must save up all my stories of boat-building, cheesemaking, plant-dyeing wool and upholstering chairs, for June and the summer beyond it. Now I must give my attention to packing up the old cottage, our beloved English home, and sending it off in a boat for a new life on the west coast of Canada. I’m full of sorrow and joy about this! I’ll be making photographs of my last adventures here, and tweeting, if you’d like to follow my last days in England. Please do page through appleturnover’s spring archives and look for me here again in the very first week of June.

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tailor's chalk

2012-05-16T08:04:46Z

Like a set of wooden drawing pencils, or an ink-filled fountain pen, I adore tailor’s chalk for its simplicity of form.

Just a flat shape to grip, a sharp edge to mark fabric with, a pure substance that harms neither the cloth nor the tailor. I have great respect for the ecology of a product that leaves nothing to throw away when it’s done. Even a broken piece remains useful. I love to use this chalk for measuring and marking in quilting and dressmaking. And isn’t it a pretty object?

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sprouting broccoli

2012-05-15T07:12:06Z

Purple sprouting broccoli might take a lot of patience, only I forgot it was there, and had a gorgeous surprise in early May. It’s awfully late to bud, having missed both March and April entirely. The children are mad for it, breaking the stalks off and nibbling it raw as they play in the garden. This is a good thing, as it is a cut-and-come-again sort of plant. A whole year ago we’d planted out the seedlings from the greenhouse into the vegetable patch, hoping that a bit of netting might keep the deer off. They’ve ignored it, all the more for us.

After the dull winter, those purple stalks are seriously thrilling! It’s sculptural leafiness is very pretty too, I’d plant it amongst flowers in a cottage garden.

I love to cook sprouting broccoli simply, as I do kale, just tossing in a bit of butter, with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of sea salt when it comes out of the pan. Fresh from the garden it is tender and rich. Absolutely worth the wait. If you remember that you’re waiting. When I’m settled in Canada I’d love to plant some of this, it is my sort of vegetable.

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papermaking

2012-05-10T13:20:06Z

Making paper is such simple pleasure. A little circle of friends made some together today. We began, like bread bakers, a day or two in advance, ripping a dozen sheets of paper into small pieces and leaving it to soak in a few cups of water. One family cooked theirs up and spun it through the food processor to get a fine pulp; the others just rubbed the soaked paper for a few minutes, til the fibres came apart, to make a rough, porridgey texture.

You’ll need a screen. We had ready-made screens and homemade screens. An embroidery hoop with a pair of fine tights stretched across it works surprisingly well. You’ll also need a tub wide enough to accomodate the screens, and for good measure, a bit of mesh and a sponge to help press the water out.

The children ran round the garden collecting flowers and leaves to add to the paper;

Plucked the petals from their stems and threw it all into the mixture in the tub, with a bit of extra water.

Ready? Here we go. Slip the screen (screen-side-up) under the pulp, and lift it up to catch a layer of paper. If you don’t like the effect, tap it out and try again.

If you choose to, lay the mesh over the pulp on your screen, and press gently with the sponge to release water, frequently squeezing out the sponge. I’m not sure it is necessary, but we admired the look of it after.

Set the screen somewhere warm to dry for a few hours. It’s far too miserable to leave ours outside, sadly. We’ll pry up our homemade paper with a butter knife, and show you later!

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carpet beater

2012-05-09T08:33:28Z

Carpet beater. I was ever so pleased to find this simple tool at a vintage market in Winchester and got it for a song. Any English period piece worth its salt has a carpet beater somewhere in it.

Not much more than an ornately bent bit of green wood, it forms an excellent shape for knocking the dirt out of a rug. Rather a good thing to do, deeply satisfying. Those Victorians again. Our front door mats need a regular and thorough beating to kick the country mud out of them by the middle of a mucky spring like this one. Of course, the carpet beater has a darker history, of corporal punishment, one of those traditions we’ll happily let go of!

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pastures new

2012-05-08T07:15:56Z

Each spring, round about the beginning of May, the beautiful, gently tended herd of cows at Old Plawhatch Farm is turned out to pasture. The whole farm comes along to witness their extraordinary reaction. We were lucky enough to join them.

Great joy! Springing and leaping and rolling in the green grass! Isn’t it something? It is unforgettable, to see these enormous creatures kicking up into the air with happiness. The milk from these cows is extraordinary too. We’ve been enjoying the gorgeous food from the farms in this bit of Sussex for just a short time now, not quite two years, and the experience is one we will seek out for the rest of our lives. Which brings me to my news.

With great joy and tremendous sadness, we are leaving England. My sweetheart, my children are English and I’ve grown to love this place dearly, as home, these last four years. We have grown such a beloved circle of friends. The old traditions and skills I’ve learned here have been amazing, the history, we’ve only just begun. We will be back, often. As with every summer, we’ll be returning to Canada, only this time when we say good bye to the dear old cottage, we’ll be sending our belongings along behind, by boat and then train. We leave at the end of May and I’ll be rounding up my studies and projects here. I’ll be writing from the Pacific coast and on adventures beyond beginning in June.

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writing desk

2012-05-03T07:07:13Z

One of the traditional skills I’ve been studying is quite compatible with a predilection for fixing up old furniture. The fine art of haggling. I once read that if the seller doesn’t bargain, they always feel they should’ve asked for more, and if the buyer doesn’t bargain, they always feel they should’ve paid less; when they both negotiate, everyone goes away feeling quite satisfied with themselves. At any rate, between antique shops, online auctions and vintage markets, I’m in training. Just recently I bargained my way into a great deal on a neglected old painted secretary desk. The writing desk came home with us, to be refinished like several pieces I’ve worked on at the old cottage.

The yellowed paint was sanded a little and lightly coated with Old White chalk paint, and I removed old paint from the ornate handles with a dull scouring pad; they came up beautifully, though I admired some of the texture and left it. The good old fashioned leather inlay needed a gentle scrubbing and oiling to restore, it’s a beautiful surface to write upon with just a sheet of paper, though I’m usually working in a sketchbook or writing book. My fountain pen will be a natural match for the piece, when it returns from Germany where it is kindly being repaired, as I had the ill fortune to drop the lovely thing and crack it. Now the desk needs a coat of wax to protect its surface, but I’ve been too impatient to use it!

I adore this bit of furniture, I am thrilled to find it is such a well considered design. All of the drawers lock with a charming key, along with the desk that opens and shuts so elegantly. I love that I can lock up my work for the night, put it away, finished. I’m so pleased to have a devoted place for writing, with drawers and cubbies to keep all manner of papers and objects that didn’t have a good home before. My laptop fits it well, and having a dedicated place to work on it means that I don’t feel I am always working, and that work is everywhere. The top of the desk is just right for a collection of inspiring objects to gaze at, though I can see a bookshelf would also fit beautifully, and the leather inlay has clearly been used just as much for cups of tea as for writing. Ideal companions. If I could persuade my tall child to share, I think her typewriter would look debonair on it. My first experiment in painting fabric, an upholstered chair, had one more coat of a linen shade and is the perfect fellow to the desk, pretty, comfortable and ergonomic no less. When not in use the bureau looks dashing in the corner, which I consider an achievement for a workspace. Secretaire. Well made.

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flower press

2012-05-02T06:53:56Z

A flower press arrived in the post, sent to us by a sweet old friend of the family. A flower press! How lovely! Such a delight as the little girls and I have been dreaming of one.

Simply a couple of boards with layers of cardboard and paper, sandwiched and screwed tight with wing nuts. Smart. This is a particularly cute one.

For our first try we plucked a few petals from the tulips we’d picked on the farm last week. May flowers from the garden are next. Thank you my friend!

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mrs beeton's

2012-05-01T08:22:12Z

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, 1861, a guide to all facets of running the Victorian household.

I love it particularly for its colour plates of an endless variety of beautiful dishes;

For such beautiful little prints, and such fascinating style and language;

And for its illustrations and discussion of household tools, solutions, recipes, remedies. It’s an extraordinary bit of history to page through. I had a peek at Mrs Beeton’s apple turnover recipe, of course.

FRUIT TURNOVERS (suitable for Pic-Nics).

1278. INGREDIENTS - Puff-paste No. 1206, any kind of fruit, sugar to taste.

Mode.—Make some puff-paste by recipe No. 1206; roll it out to the thickness of about 1/4 inch, and cut it out in pieces of a circular form; pile the fruit on half of the paste, sprinkle over some sugar, wet the edges and turn the paste over. Press the edges together, ornament them, and brush the turnovers over with the white of an egg; sprinkle over sifted sugar, and bake on tins, in a brisk oven, for about 20 minutes. Instead of putting the fruit in raw, it may be boiled down with a little sugar first, and then inclosed in the crust; or jam, of any kind, may be substituted for fresh fruit.

-Time.—20 minutes.

Sufficient—1/2 lb. of puff-paste will make a dozen turnovers.

Seasonable at any time.

I love that she calls pastry, simply, paste. So it is! Patisserie.

This is a 1906 edition of the book, first published in full in 1861. I’ve borrowed it from a friend and found it full of yellowed clippings and ads dating back from the 1920’s. Entrancing stuff.

The book is available to read online, and for a bit of social history along with a look at Isabella Beeton’s life, there’s Sophie Dahl’s The Marvellous Mrs Beeton.

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kinfolk

2012-04-28T16:42:32Z

herriott grace

2012-04-28T16:38:31Z

amanda jane jones

2012-04-28T16:36:56Z

bicycle clip

2012-04-25T20:34:50Z

There were a number days of such beautiful weather, they put me in mind of riding bicycles to the beach. On our little trip to Winchester I came across a set of bicycle clips just like the ones my father used to lend me to keep trouser legs from sweeping a pattern of grease from the gears. Simple and effective. Also a little bit nerdy in a charming, bicycley sort of way, particularly when forgotten on as one walks round the shops.

Well yes, I did fall for the graphic design, too. However, there will be no bicycle riding for me til these spring storms blow well and truly over. I shall be quite preoccupied with rather an exciting photo shoot in the old cottage next, so I hope you’ll forgive my absence! I’ll be back next week, hoping for May flowers.

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flower farm

2012-04-24T20:57:18Z

Not so far from our little cottage is a flower farm. We drove across Kentish countryside full of bluebells and blossoming orchards, to visit the land where Blooming Green grow row upon row of gorgeous flowers. We’ve something very special happening this week, and we wanted to pick flowers ourselves, ones that are in season, local, and grown with as much care as the organic food we eat.

One day I shall grow my own cutting garden, inspired by this gorgeous bit of England. If you have something special you’d like to pick your own flowers for, do visit Blooming Green Flowers, they are so wonderful. Thank you ever so much, Jen & Bek!

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honeycomb smocking

2012-04-19T08:41:33Z

Perhaps the last of my studies in textural sewing with linen, one more toss cushion. (Though now that I think of it, I have a penchant for rosettes that I haven’t yet explored.) This piece uses true smocking, in a honeycomb style, very different from the shirring I’ve used before. The smocking is worked by drawing together even gathers on the reverse, and then on the right side, joining a pair of gathers, slipping invisibly up to the next spot over, sewing it to the gather beside it, and so on, so that a diamond shape begins to appear. Pardon? I’ll let Ginny over at Buttons and Bobbins illustrate this one. The stitched effect echoes my knitted honeycomb handwarmers and pleases me greatly.

There you are. It isn’t difficult, just perfect for a rainy night watching an old movie that you know well enough to look away from frequently. I find it charming to look at, the soft diamonds with hard edges, cousin of the kissing pleat.

An education, so far. A variation on the kissing pleat pillow, a quilted and piped piece, this honeycomb project, knife pleats, a second kissing pleat cushion, a ruffled experiment, and the tufted pillow. Someone seems to have made off with the shirred cushion to keep them cosy on the antique sofa, which is next in line for some attention. Tell me, which one do you like?

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