Recent weeks of other busyness has meant no time for blogging, so my apologies for not posting, "not good enough Kristeen"!
Before I go overseas on Wednesday (did I tell you I am going to London, Isle of Wight - onto to Paris and the South of France ) I had to post about yesterday's little gem of a moment.
As part of the 2013 Handmade conference, I attended Rosemary McLeod's Master Class on 'Never throw anything away: Clever tricks from the rag bag 1920s - 1950s'. I knew it would be good as had I attended her talk on aprons at 2012 Handmade and loved it.
Now this lady deserves a 'gong'! She is an absolute national treasure. I am in awe of her knowledge of old textiles and craft, her collection is just fantastic. She held the audience spellbound (with our 'oohs and aahs') for over an hour with her stories and sharing with us the delightful pieces she had collected over the years. They were mostly found 'ratting around' in thrift shops although she lamented the shops are not what they used to be (I agree but you can still get the odd bargain or treasure).
She commented on the difficulty of how and where she stores her treasures and I cast my mind back to the things I have held on to over the years and the things I had to toss away through lack of space (and carting them from one house to the other). Darn! I really wish I had kept that handmade and embroidered cooking apron with matching hat. It was a masterpiece! Luckily my dear daughter shares my passion for historical textiles and 'homemade' crafty things so I know my little treasures will not be 'biffed out' when I pop off but will be passed on into good hands.
Of course Rosemary is also a very successful columnist and writer. She has recently published a new book called 'With bold needle and thread', it's gorgeous and I plan to buy it on my return.
Yes, I am heading off for a little jaunt, catching up with old friends in England and spending time with great friends in Paris and staying in a villa for two weeks in la Motte in the south of France. I hope to post many stories on food, wine and a bit of song. We plan to spend a lot of time perusing the markets finding stuff to cook (and drink) each night. I know it will be lots of fun, it's just the getting there that I find a bit of a pain.
On a completely different note, yesterday I made the 1974 Edmonds Cookbook version of the Date and Walnut loaf. It was so divine, definitely an oldie but a goodie. As our afternoon tea guests were tea and coffee'd out, we ate, the still warm loaf, lavishly smeared with butter suberbly matched with a magical glass of reisling.
Now I probably won't get that combo in France....
Before I go overseas on Wednesday (did I tell you I am going to London, Isle of Wight - onto to Paris and the South of France ) I had to post about yesterday's little gem of a moment.
As part of the 2013 Handmade conference, I attended Rosemary McLeod's Master Class on 'Never throw anything away: Clever tricks from the rag bag 1920s - 1950s'. I knew it would be good as had I attended her talk on aprons at 2012 Handmade and loved it.
Now this lady deserves a 'gong'! She is an absolute national treasure. I am in awe of her knowledge of old textiles and craft, her collection is just fantastic. She held the audience spellbound (with our 'oohs and aahs') for over an hour with her stories and sharing with us the delightful pieces she had collected over the years. They were mostly found 'ratting around' in thrift shops although she lamented the shops are not what they used to be (I agree but you can still get the odd bargain or treasure).
She commented on the difficulty of how and where she stores her treasures and I cast my mind back to the things I have held on to over the years and the things I had to toss away through lack of space (and carting them from one house to the other). Darn! I really wish I had kept that handmade and embroidered cooking apron with matching hat. It was a masterpiece! Luckily my dear daughter shares my passion for historical textiles and 'homemade' crafty things so I know my little treasures will not be 'biffed out' when I pop off but will be passed on into good hands.
Of course Rosemary is also a very successful columnist and writer. She has recently published a new book called 'With bold needle and thread', it's gorgeous and I plan to buy it on my return.
Yes, I am heading off for a little jaunt, catching up with old friends in England and spending time with great friends in Paris and staying in a villa for two weeks in la Motte in the south of France. I hope to post many stories on food, wine and a bit of song. We plan to spend a lot of time perusing the markets finding stuff to cook (and drink) each night. I know it will be lots of fun, it's just the getting there that I find a bit of a pain.
On a completely different note, yesterday I made the 1974 Edmonds Cookbook version of the Date and Walnut loaf. It was so divine, definitely an oldie but a goodie. As our afternoon tea guests were tea and coffee'd out, we ate, the still warm loaf, lavishly smeared with butter suberbly matched with a magical glass of reisling.
Now I probably won't get that combo in France....
