Teething, rain and quilts

Aug 26, 2014 | 9 comments

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There are still a few teething problems with the changeover of the blog to a new host. The subscriber widget on the right is one of them, it seems to be refusing to sign people up for some reason.

I’m also not sure that the new posts are being emailed to people either. If you are a lovely follower, do you still get emails?

Technology is great when it works and a big pain in the rear when it doesn’t!

Overall tho, I am very pleased with the new design. The theme being used offers more possibilities than the old one and I will be exploring them over the next few weeks, with the help of Lemoneye, a local firm, who are looking after the site now and who have put a lot of hours into it.

In Heathfield, for the last 17 years, every Bank Holiday Monday, we have a French market, Le Marche. What a shame it was this year. The weather was appalling. It rained cats and dogs all day. I usually go. It’s an all day event with bands playing and entertainment, all free. And loads and loads of stalls. Lots of French produce, hog roast, paella, and all kinds of interesting things to look at, listen to and taste.

I didn’t go this year, and I’m not sure how many other people did. The park and ride car park was almost empty. Such a shame, these things take an enormous amount of effort to organise.

fabric strips for a patchwork quiltI stayed in all day and started the quilt I’m making as part of the wedding celebrations of my younger daughter. I have time, the wedding isn’t until next June.

fabric strips sewn together for a patchwork quilt

Her theme colour is purple, so we foraged some purple based fabric from charity shops where she lives in Bexhill. On Monday, I prepared it and cut some up into 4″ strips and started sewing them together.

cut up fabric strips for patchwork quilt

patchwork fabric squares

Finished the first square today….proud face 🙂

completed patchwork quilt panel

The stripy fabric is a charity shop shirt, the flowery one is left over from a previous project, the plain purple is a charity shop duvet cover. And do you recognise the darker purple floral one?  It’s the same project leftover fabric I used for the dolly I made recently. The only thing that will be bought new is the wadding for the middle. There is plenty of fabric in the duvet cover, and a white sheet bought at the same time, for the backing.

I shall do some more this evening. Haven’t decided whether to sash it with purple or white yet. I shall wait until I’ve made a lot more squares, then decide.

 

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Lesley

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    Hi Sarah, glad you are finding the nutritional stuff useful. It does take a while to do, but I like to see how many calories etc recipes are, so thought I’d include it here.

    Hoping the email problem will be sorted soon

  2. Sarah

    Lesley, thank you for your blog I find it very inspirational. I really appreciate you including both the nutritional information and the cost.

    I am not receiving any of your emails, which is a shame, hope the problem can be resolved quickly.

  3. Lesley

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    Thanks for letting me know Kay. Hopefully we’ll get this annoying ‘feature’ sorted out soon

  4. kay

    Hi Lesley
    I’ve been following you since the springtime. Thanks for all you share, I really enjoy reading your blog. Sadly I am no longer getting updates by email

  5. Eliza

    Thanks, Lesley. I’m in the States so I’m very intrigued by the prices of basic items where you live (to compare). I am shooting for US $2.00 a day (if possible) and I figure, if I work with your recipe ingredients and hints and tips, even if I can’t make $2.00 a day, I will be in the ballpark of close to the lowest I can get away with, and still have decent nutrition, which is extremely important to me. (poor health from poor nutrition is no bargain! Especially here, where healthcare is so expensive…)

    I made your broccoli pesto last night and it was fantastic! Also tried the lentil-carrot soup and I can see why this is one of your standbys — delicious, filling and cheap.

    Yes, I have noticed the same thing here with regard to prices: quietly doubling the cost of the most basic pantry staples. It is disheartening. But also, we have similar price advantages by buying at Indian (or other ethnic) stores, which I tend to do. Here, we are fortunate to have Indian, Latin, Asian and Middle Eastern markets nearby.

  6. Lesley

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    Hi Eliza,
    Big changes afoot for you by the sounds of it. Challenging times.

    I am going to update the meal plans with the current prices from mySupermarket. Going to use a table to show the original price, and the current price. It will be an interesting exercise seeing what has changed over the last year. I am disgusted that supermarkets think it’s perfectly alright to quietly double the price of an item in the basics ranges.

    I try to be very specific when I price things. I am very aware that people have very varying shopping opportunities. So if I can say exactly what something costs, people will have a chance to know what price they need to pay to make the recipe at the price given. And to know if an ingredient suddenly doubles, if the recipe will still be in their budget or not.

  7. Eliza

    Hi Lesley, I just found your blog and love it. You think a lot like I do, and I really appreciate all of the detail you put into the pricing. I’m at a point in my life where I am undergoing a major shift in the household, from 4 people down to one (just me). I am also experiencing a significant drop in income, and need to drastically reduce all expenditures. Your way of doing this is teaching me a lot, thanks.

    And I did subscribe last week, and have not received any email notifications yet, so I guess this is not quite working yet.

  8. Lesley

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    Very glad you are finding useful stuff, that’s what I like to hear!

    Re the emails, Brendon at Lemoneye has just gone on a well earned break for a week with his family. He will be helping me to sort it out when he gets back. I have been trying to find what the problem is and just can’t find anything that it could be.
    There’s also this little wrinkle of the gravatar being so big it obscures the comment. I’m putting dots on the first few lines ATM

  9. Jane Stansfield

    Hello Lesley. I have been following your blog for a while now and really enjoy it. Your recipe’s have been ‘life savers’ at times! Just to let you know that I have not received any e-mail updates since the new system started. I have re-entered my details but still no luck! The new patchwork looks lovely – really like the colours! Jane

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