Neep lanterns...

So, its fast approaching Samhuinn which is the Celtic name for Halloween. Here in Edinburgh, Samhuinn is greatly celebrated with the Beltane Fire Society processing down the Royal Mile, and celebrating Summer's last party before Winter takes over and the dark nights draw in (the picture is one of the processions I took part in.). Samhuinn is also the Celtic new year, so its a time for leaving things behind and looking ahead to the year to come.

The Celts believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhuinn; because some animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.

It is also traditional in Scotland to make a scooped-out rutabaga called a "neep lantern" ("neep" is short for turnip).

My friend Sarah came round the other day and we made neep lanterns which was great fun - it was my first time ! You can read more about them on her lovely blog here.


Happy Samhuinn !

Gingerbread men...

So I was on early morning Tilly duty this Sunday, and being confined to the kitchen so as not to wake the rest of the household, I decided Tilly and I should do some more baking. ( I since discovered last week was National Baking Week which explains my recent splurge !)....

I decided to make some gingerbread men with Tilly, partly as I had all the ingredients already and also because I had a cute cutter that I had got for my birthday last year and not yet used...the recipe was simple :

12oz plain flour
1 level tsp bic. of soda
2 level tsp ground ginger
4 oz butter
6oz light soft brown sugar
4 level tbsp golden syrup
1 egg, beaten

Sift the flour, bic. of soda and ginger into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar. Beat the syrup into the egg and stir into the bowl.
Mix to form a dough and knead until smooth.
Divide into two and roll out on lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Using a cutter, cut out figures and place on baking sheet.
Bake in oven at 190 for 12-15 mins, until golden.

Tilly loved helping to roll out the dough and press down on the cutter to reveal the cute gingerbread men.....

Mmmmmm...delicious, and all the late risers in the house thought so too !

The Do lectures...

The Do lectures are a yearly event in Wales where a bunch of incredibly inspiring people get together and talk about what they 'do' in order to inspire others to 'do' things which may make a difference in the world.

I am very proud of my friend Alice, who is a farmer, and being a gorgeous young woman is rather unique ! You can watch her brilliant lecture here. It is just wonderful, and I love her to bits...
I also discovered the work of Maggie Doyne, another amazing young woman who was speaking at the lectures this year. Alice has written a little about her on the blog. And from there I looked at Maggies own website and journal, which blew me away - I recommend you check it out for yourself.

Muffiny goodness....

After a short beak due to a hectic summer full of weddings, parties and adventures and of course the Edinburgh festival, I have finally got back into some baking. I had baked some cakes to sell at a local cafe over the summer and it had re-inspired my love for all things baked and delicious !
I bought the delicious book Muffin Magic and up until last week, had not made any of the recipes...
So Tilly and I have had a busy week whipping up some muffins ! First were the peanut butter and chocolate chip variety , closely followed by the lemon and almond.....
Both have gone down very well in this household, and next up are the blueberry muffins, which I imagine will be a firm favourite with Miss Tilly as she loves those little blue berries so so much !

VSO visitors...

So it feels like way back when, but during April, May and June this year, we hosted two lovely volunteers through the VSO Global Exchange programme. One was from the UK and the other from Bangladesh. It was a great experience for us, and Tilly enjoyed having extra people around the house to play with and entertain her.
During their stay, some of the team were interviewed for the Guardian blog. The team got involved with loads of community projects and organisations, and I even managed to rope them into being volunteers at the Knockengorroch festival too !
We enjoyed meeting all the team, and getting to know more about Bangladesh. I would definitely recommend being a host home and we hope we get the opportunity to do it again in the future if they come back to Edinburgh !

Bag...

Ever since Tilly started nursery I had wanted to make her a little something to have there, that would make her feel a little bit special ! I took the idea of a bag from the great Cupcakes for Clara blog .
It was really easy, I chopped up an old duvet cover I had got from a charity shop and then used interfacing to make the fabric for the letters a little more stiff and easier to cut out and sew the blanket stitch detail round the edges.
Now I know all Tilly's odd and ends will be safe in one place at nursery and when she gets a little older she'll have a cute little tote bag to carry round !

Where to begin ?...

I have been away a long long time ! Not sure where to begin to update this on the past eight months ! I have been taking a few photos of the creative projects along the way....so hopefully I can fill in a few gaps !

May was a fun filled month...going to Knockengorroch festival again...Tilly loved it as usual, all the music, colours, people and highland cows !!

I also had my first weekend away for a hen party. It was great fun..I missed Tilly lots, but it was good to get away. We were staying in these tipis. After the success of the birthday crowns, I made the hen a special crown to wear over the weekend :


Then it was the actual wedding..and things being tight this year, I scoured the local charity shops for a dress and found something brilliant for the bargainous price of £6. It only needed a few minor adjustments (and some shoulder pads sewn into the chest area for padding!)...and it was perfect !


My partner Andy is a keen homebrewer - always making lots of very delicious beers and ales. We decided to put a few brews on for our friends's wedding and it was our first joint creative project as he brewed some great ales and I made some pretty labels for the bottles. We were both really pleased with the results, and all the guests who got to sample them agreed !!