Vinca?Think-a-Cards

CHD AWARENESS DAY

2008-05-20T10:47:00.002+01:00

Polly Sadly Departs

2008-05-19T10:42:00.004+01:00

Good Heaven's Boy's & Girls; what a long time since I've set finger to key for this blog! It's amazing how time gets away with itself to the detriment of all, isn't it?

Anyway, I have decided in my infinate wisdom to wrap up this blog, for the sake of decency, peace of mind and every other excuse under the sun! In reality, I appear to have set myself too many tasks and I am finding it impossible to keep up with them all; so it is back to the drawing board and the original plan.

Polly's Peri-wrinkle's & Peircing's and Vinca's A Thinka; the original blogs had initially been indended as forae for anything to do with Polly in general and cards in particular. Somehow, in the grand plan of things Polly got a bit side-tracked and spread herself a little too thinly; while trying out the various webhosts and formulae offered. The result? No cards, a grand prix for my friend Jean in France which is now almost two months late and too few hours in the day to attend to household duties (ah! that's soo sad!)...

If I come up with a solution to my most recent dilema; ie finding a way to copy this blog and redistribute the contents according to their suitability, I will. Meanwhile; to keep up to date with my extra-ordinary exploits click on the links in the side-bar and you will be magically transported to the present day...

So for now; it's a case of "So Long..." rather than "Goodbye!"

Much love to you all

Polly Peirce
Mad woman and Purveyor of Hand-made Greeting Cards & Wedding Stationary extra-ordinaire

Polly's Got What It Takes...

2008-03-08T13:06:00.002Z

At last I am all set to go! Actually, I've been and gone, and come back again; but I do now have all the magic ingredients required to make up a batch of twently more wedding cards. Phew!

Actually, it was a bit hairy. I was beginning to despair of getting my hands on the last two ingredients; white vellum and white mulberry tissue with silver threads; both of which were proving to be somewhat elusive. I'd love to know where I picked then up in the first place, but seeing as it was probably a while ago, I have no idea!

We now have a proper craft shop in Tullamore; which stocks exciting things like tools, accessories and card blanks. The J&M Stationer's in The Bridge Centre has extended their range of bits and peices to fill a whole shop; okay, it is a small shop but it is better than no shop and I am sure that the range they stock will expand with time. I just hope that they get the custom they need.

Funnily enough though, it was the old shop that stocked the white vellum and a trip upstairs to Balcony Books resulted in some white mulberry paper, which is a bit thicker than the stuff I was looking for and had no silver threads in it, but it's a close second. If only I could rembember where...

I am hoping that once I've finished on the internet and checking out my e-mails, I'll be able to get the bulk of the work completed this afternoon so that I can deliver by either tomorrow or Monday. I know that it'll be a weight of Eda's mind and I will be able to get on with something else then, with a little bit of extra cash available for nice things, like food!

Wish me luck...

Polly Peirce

Polly's Soo Brave...

2008-03-06T21:11:00.003Z

I had an interesting day today. At first light; the artificial dawn created by my Lumie Body Clock a short while after the real one worked a treat, maybe because I went to bed early last night. Okay, I didn't go to sleep early but I did go to bed and watch TV early enough; unfortunately I did watch the somewhat lacklustre film epic Bewitched! Oooh; talk about waiting for something to happen or even for the whole thing to be finished...

The result of all this was that I was wide awake and bushy tailed. I even ventured into the kitchen on two separate occasions to supervise the boys eating their breakfast's and make them a packed lunch each. Two trips to the village later and one post on Polly's Peri-wrinkle's and Peircing's I sprang into action and took myself off into the garden to pick a few early daffodils. My daffodils have double centres and are quite striking with their rich yellow colouring, creating a nice contrast to the dull grey days of the late winter/early spring.

I'd intended to take the flowers with me, as a thank you gesture to Erica who had donated the prize I was cashing in on today. Very quickly, I won a place to attend a course called Create The Life You Want, having entered The Day In A Bathrobe Competition organised by iamawham.com.;
unfortunately they're still gracing the kitchen table!

If it weren't for the inspiration provided by Darina Loakman; founder of this organisation that provide advice and resources for Work at Home Mom's in both Ireland and the UK; I might never have considered starting out in the card making and wedding stationary business.

I'd been inspired to contact Erica; having I spotted a congratulatory e-mail sent over a year ago. I thoroughly recommend giving your inbox a thorough Spring Clean from time to time; the results can be very interesting!

The meeting was interesting, and resulted in me doing something very brave; which I wouldn't have had the nerve to do beforehand. As Erica is both a healer and a life coach; we had agreed that she would provide four sessions on an individual basis, rather than risk missing out on this course. For a variety of reasons I simply haven't been able to attend the original prize of Create The Life You Want, so we decided on a different course - of action. The result will be much the same; although I will have her undivided attention, of course.

My main task for today was to define the meaning of success and set myself some goals to work towards. I dare say that for me to approach a well respected award winning Irish retailer with a business proposition would suggest that today's session was a success. I am feeling optimistic and more motivated, realising that without clear goals it can be difficult to get sufficiently motivated to chase your dreams...

Meanwhile I turning to more immediate matters; ie involving the making of an additional twenty wedding invitation cards for a girl who's getting married in just seven weeks time and is still adding people to the guest list. Initially I'd thought I might have a few problems getting hold of the cards themselves as they are quite special; being a lovely lavender pearlescent metallic finish with matching envelopes. Thankfully my favourite craft shop, The Art & Hobby Shop at the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare came to the rescue; they just so happened to have all five packets readily available and put them to one side for me; "Thanks Gordon, I appreciate that!"

Things will hopefully progress smoothly and I should be able to deliver the extra cards on Sunday. Once again, finger's crossed...

Oh, I almost forgot; about my really clever plan for success? Watch this space and all will be revealed; eventually!

LOL

Polly P

And Jean Asked Polly

2008-03-05T16:08:00.006Z

Yesterday I somewhat proudly announced on Polly's Peri-wrinkle's & Peirci ng's that I had finally opened up shop to the world of cyber shopping. After months of preparation I finally pulled my finger out and took that leap of faith which bridges the gap between the planning and the doing!

If I am honest, I probably wasn't ready before yesterday and it would have been a bad move to have jumped onto the ever growing bandwagon before then. I should imagine that my fear of failure, as experienced by most of us probably surpassed my fear of success, by about 1%!

My products, hand stamped and crafted greeting cards, photographic cards and unframed photo's of beautiful subjects noticed by the lens of my keen and trusty camera are unique and certainly different from many of the up and coming cottage industry's efforts. Although Ireland is certainly behind the rest of the world; even the UK, we do seem to be catching up rapidly, unfortunately, much of what I have come across is mass produced and computerised.

Hand's up! Yes I do use the computer too. I use microsoft word to allow me to print any inserts; especially the ones done on the transparent paper called vellum. This type of paper is particularly heat reactive so I prefer the luxury of inkjet printing, secure in the knowledge that
it will still look good when the recipient opens their invitation.

Having said this it is possible to emboss stamped messages or designs onto vellum, but it does required a bit of care. The finished effect can be quite stunning, especially if colour is applied to the underside of the paper. Generally speaking; however, invitation stamps do not go into enough detail for wedding invitations, ie time, date, cordiality, etc.

Another tecnique which can be used to add detail to vellum is that of dry embossing; which involves the use of gently pressure applied to the underside of the paper, using a brass or plastic stencil for the design. Again, this does require a degree of skill and attention to detail, as it can be easy to perforate the paper and ruin your design. The finished work is definately worth it though, but maybe not for wedding invitations as it is too time consuming...

For wedding inserts I would definately recommend the use of an inkjet printer and the abandonment of traditional tecniques. For the outside; however, it's a different story altogether.
Obviously, it is best if simple designs are employed, restricting the use of time in a project such as a Wedding if probably best, if the costs are to be kept down.

Time is an expensive commodity and of course the more time spent on each card will ultimately result in more cash being spent. This said, it is possible to produce stunning cards without going through hoops in an effort to make it fancy; the quality of handmade cards will generally speak for itself...

As for me; I have just spent a hectic afternoon tracking down five packets of lavendre lustre A6 cards. My friend Eda, whose wedding is just seven weeks away, discovered on Tuesday evening that she had added an additional twenty people to her guest list. This is in addition to the nine extras I'd already given her free gratis!

The only difficulty this poses for me is getting my hands on the cards in the first place. I had made it clear to Eda that I don't carry a stock of special cards; which these of course are, due to the prohibitive cost of doing so; not forgetting that VINCA Cards is essentially a cottage industry working on a small budget. Rather than panic I reassured her by saying "No problem! Consider it done. Just give me a couple of days and they'll be yours."

Arghhh! Seriouslyh though, it's not so bad as I now know who to contact initially; This is none other than the manufacturer. Although they cannot sell to the public direct, they are very helpful with regards to locating a supplier locally; which just happens to be my favourite craft shop. Happily Gordon of The Art And Hobby Shop has put all five packets to one side for me to collect tomorrow.

The cost of each card should remain the same as no additional postal charges will have been incurred and I'm off to Dublin tomorrow anyway, so I can pop in and get them on the way there.
By the time Friday evening comes I hope to be able to deliver the extra cards; thus making one Bride-to-Be very happy and avoiding a whole lot of stress for me! Phew...

Anyway, to return to the title of this post; in my eagerness to get everything up and running I neglected to include the size of my prints. It's a good lesson to have learned and I truly am grateful to my newfound cyber friend for her constructive critique.

Why not click on one of the thumbnails in my Mini ETSY in the left hand side bar and check things out for yourself...

Geashill Wedding Organizers...

2008-02-25T14:33:00.001Z

Well, I did it! What? I finally finished my friend Eda's wedding stationary, signed, sealed and delivered by last Tuesday and paid for; all by Friday evening! Ah, bliss...

Okay, so we did have a few mishap's along the way; mainly the combination of my appalling memory and equally bad handwriting/shorthand, but even this turned out for the best. The bride and groom changed their mind at the last minute and opted for a slightly more traditional wedding script, which looks absolutely fabulous. Phew! Imagine the outcome had I remembered which of the slightly more modern and funky scripts they'd chosen? Ah well, all's well that ends well and I've learned another important business lesson: always make legible notes and offer a formal contract...

It's so nice to business with decent people. True, I've known this lassie for donkey's years. She's the daughter of a neighbour and a good friend and quite honestly you couldn't ask for a better customer. This young lady is the same with everyone, straightforward and to the point; insisting in paying the wedding photographer months before he has produced the album, etc. What a shame then that the one person who had the capacity to bring so much pleasure to this bride to be turned out to be quite the opposite...

From the initial trying on session the person concerned has been hassling my friend for money; by telephone, text's and e-mails. Fair enough, if the family had a bad reputation this might be understandable; except that they don't! What's more, the outfitter provides little more than a dressing service, ie you see, you try, you buy and that is that; providing a minimal service in such an unpleasant manner that she has the capacity to ruin what should be one of the happiest days of a girls life.

It's unfortunate then that the one person in our village who has an outstanding reputation for making some of the most stunning wedding gowns was overlooked. Eda's absolutely furious with herself and her outfitter, and there's no point in saying "... maybe next time!"

Not only are we lucky enough to live in a quaint old fashioned village, sporting a fabulous stone walled green we are also lucky enough to be able to offer services which most girls only dream about. Wedding Gown's, alterations, photographers, wedding stationary and outside catering are all to be found within a stones throw of the village green!

Is Panto Out of Date?

2008-01-14T12:09:00.001Z

Apologies to any readers who had noticed my absence for the past couple of weeks. I have been taking a well earned rest from blogging; while catching up with stuff in the real world. For example my house is relatively clean; even the scullery floor is clean-ish thanks to the leaking of the dishwasher and washing machine.

On the whole Christmas was lovely. It was very restful and everything ran as smoothly as clockwork; actually that is what I would like to say, if only it were true. There was only one glitch in our schedule and that was the fact that the Lingoustine weren't defrosted in time; plus the fact that it was only at this stage that I realised that they weren't pre-cooked! As a consequence of this things on the catering side were slowed down a little, but they were definately worth waiting for.

Following our 1kg lingoustines tossed in the wok and served with a traditional salad, mary rose sauce and a wedge of lemom; came a slightly overcooked Goose with all the traditional trimmings and a bottle of sparkling wine. After this we abandonned the idea of dessert!

The next celebration was that of St Stephen's Day. We visited DG's parents; who live not too far away. More salad, garlic bread, garlic mushrooms, home-made bread, soup, wine and my personal favourite Bread & Butter Pudding.

Then we celebrated DG's little brother's 30th Birthday on the 30th! We had a great night, with all his family and a couple of close friends. The food was good, the wine was good and the company better. When EG (DG's little bro) was presented with a Magnum of Heineken lager he was both confused & chuffed at the same time, to the extent that the joke was shared with the rest of the pub later that evening.

Instead of bringing in the New Year at the local Ball, we decided to see it in at my Mom's kitchen table; playing cards and enjoying a glass or two of refreshing sparkling rose. The two boys were both up & celebrated with us; LB having outright refused to go to bed & BB having had at least two full hours sleep before being woken, at his request, for the witching hour.

Together we watched the fire-works over the River Thames in London, but we didn't link arms or sing Auld Lang Syne, instead we opened a new box of chocolate biscuits to go with our celebratory coffee's. The children insisted on dunking their biscuits into our coffee and were a little disappointed at how much of an anti-climax the big event was, after all.

Next morning saw us all up and dressed fairly smartish; we had a date with destiny; Snow White at the Liberty Hall Theatre. Words defy me to describe the fun had by the cast and the audience. I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed myself so much in ages. The whole formula had changed, with new dance routines, new costumes and it was simply a breath of fresh air.

Congratulations to Karl Broderick; the composer and writer behind the production, Alan Hughes and all the cast. They were TERRIFIC! Unfortunately this is the last year that they will be appearing at the Liberty Hall Theatre; mainly because it is due to be demolished later this year. The panto is on the move again; this time to the tiny Tivoli Theatre in the Liberties.

Dinner on New Years Day was served on newspaper 'plates' on our knees, in the car outside Leo Burdocks. Cutlery? Our fingers! As usual LB; the little boy who hates fish, ended up eating quite a bit of my cod!

One final warning: don't get too many bags of chips if you do visit this bastion of haute cuisine, they will always chuck a few in with your fish and one large portion of chips did the five of us, with some left over!

I'm off to Polly's Pantry now, for a mug of tea to warm me up. After that it's off to my craft studio for a couple of hours to work on some wedding stationary for a couple. I agreed to provide them with six samples by the last week in January. Due to artistic differences it now looks as though this number will be doubled and probaby trebled, so I haven't got much time to waste.

Art Deco Photo-card Range In The Making?

2007-12-20T17:26:00.001Z

Recently it was my grandmothers’ birthday; 13 December 1919 Winifred May Smith entered this world. We didn’t celebrate her birthday this year, somehow it just seemed to pass us by nice and quietly. She would have been 88. She passed away in 1984 and still we remember her…

… we still sit at her dining room table; side by side with happy memories conjured up by the passing of years.

These days her beautiful table sits beneath a south facing window; in my Mum’s stone built cottage, the rich walnut surface protected by a quarter inch sheet of plate glass. We have spent many hours at this table creating new memories; playing board games, doing jigsaws, playing kaluki and of course sharing the occasional meal.

When family comes to visit; from the UK, this is where we sit to entertain them. The curved antique decadence of the art deco dining suit is only spoiled by the fact that the original green leathered chairs were replaced some decades ago by a set of four heavy set square chairs belonging to another era altogether.

BJK has recently acquired cutlery, courtesy of E-Bay; appropriate to the age of the dining furniture concerned. The bone handled knives being described by a good friend of ours as being “pearl”. Can you imagine the care required to look after such a precious cargo, if indeed it were available in the first place?!

The original cutlery is elegant and slim, being original EPNS from the 1940’s lies hidden carefully away; it is difficult to use and reacts strongly with my mouthful of gold crowns! BJK’s new purchases were meant for every day use; yet strangely enough, they remain hidden away too!

Within the hidden drawers of the matching sideboard; protected by yet more plate glass, lie various dinner services. One belonging to each of the three generations I am lucky enough to remember; my Great Grand-Mother, my Nan-Nan & of course; my Mum. In the centre cabinet, behind its decorously curved door, various artefacts are stored, amongst bottles of spirits and soda; the doors of the other two cabinets each hold two bracketed shelves, for the storage of glass tumblers.

At ceiling level hangs an elaborate chandelier . It is not elaborate in terms of glass or crystal beading; rather the gilded arms holding the five electric candles supported by a deep green disc of what appears to be marble.

The holders themselves are probably creamy coloured bakelite moulded in the shape of molten wax cascading down the sides, just like a real candle. Unfortunately only one of the original light bulbs remains intact. These were a work of art in themselves; made of frosted matt glass, a creamy white colour at the base, swirling up to a hot red flame, remarkably like the candle it represents.

In the golden panelled entrance hall hangs a second period light fixture. This one is of a simpler variety; again with gilded fixtures holding a frosted matte white glass balloon shaped shade; there is nothing particularly ornate about this piece but it does speak to us of times past.

The whole house is like this, with the occasional modern convenience appearing incongruous amongst the older more genteel pieces. Until recently a 1960’s teak coffee table housed not only the modern television set, but also my late father’s pride and joy. The now outdated black hi-fi components which stood at equal height, a writhing mass of tangled wires untidily hidden to the rear was sent on sabbatical recently; due to the fact that the CD player has been worn out!

The extensive collection of mainly classical music suspended, in its equally black casing, above the art nouveau sideboard isn’t the only music treasured in this household. Surprisingly the modest looking cabinet in the far corner of this room holds over three hundred original tracks recorded on the fragile gramophone records of the early twentieth century.

It is possible that much of what I have grown up with is of some intrinsic value; however, I don’t ever want to part with any of it. One day; eventually all of it will be passed down to another generation – mine! I only hope that the two dudes will appreciate all of this the way I do, for if nothing else it is a window on the past which will of course be long forgotten if it is not recorded for posterity.

Christmas is one of those times when we remember both our past and look towards our future. It can be a happy time for some; for many it is a sad time as we realise those who are missing from our family circle, of course they are missing at other times of the year too, but somehow it always seems worse at Christmas.

It is the habit of our family to talk about the dead as though they still walk among us; not in some vane hope of reincarnation more in the realization that they will never be truly gone if we remember them. When we see butterflies in the winter it is one of our dead returning to check up on us, as one soul leaves this world we always see another enter it. Life is for living and that is what we do…

And on that happy note, I am going to go and do something else on my list of things to be completed before the big day. Perhaps I will take some photo's of the items mentioned for inclusion on this post at a later date, and maybe they would also make handsome subjects for my next line of photo-cards. Hmm, now then, that's food for thought isn't it…?

Cards versus Christmas

2007-12-18T11:18:00.000Z

I don't know why; but, amongst shortages of time and not enough of me to go around generally speaking, I am beginning to think that I am beginning to spread myself around just that little bit too thinly.

You know what I mean; don't ya? It's a bit like when you put jam on your toast; if you do it the dieters way you can barely taste it, but you do know that it is there. If you do it the other way, you put a generous portion onto the toast and enjoy the taste sensation for what it is; scrumptious!

Speaking of jam, although I am running very much behind now in my preparations the Christmas celebrations; I noticed yesterday that I am running very short of the stuff. Not only that I still have to make a batch for presentation as gifts while cleverly making room in the freezer for all the baked goods I had promised myself I'd make. Having said that; I am now thanking my blessings that I didn't make any rash promises to anyone bar myself!

I thought that I was so organised, and earlier on this month had publicly congratulated myself on how organised I was regarding presents and cards. What a shame my Fibro flared up and left me on a different planet, hardly able to move due to the pain in my shoulder & neck, followed by lumbar region and various different bodily particles elsewhere!

Debilitating as the pain may be; I always find that my mood will fluctuate accordingly, probably due to the large quantities of pain relief taken at this time! The combination is fatal and leads to a general slowing down of proceedings; resulting in the abandonment of several tasks I had promised myself I would undertake. It is very disheartening.

The Christmas Cards which the boys had stamped out way back in Easter suddenly became obviously in needl of embellishment, leading to the slowing up of their dispatch. I have to say that I am actually very pleased with the end results, having used papers from the Die Cuts With A View - Christmas Stack. If I get around to it, I might actually post a picture of one... (I'll have to check the copyright status first, of course.)

Regarding all the other projects, for example the creation of a mini-album for the grand-parents, I am definately very much behind schedule. I now find myself with exactly twenty-four hours to complete something which I have never attempted to do! Help! I only managed to find the right paper for it last Friday...!

Actually, I don't suppose that it'll be too difficult, it will comprise mainly of pictures of the boys, and heaven knows, we have plenty of those. It's just the time factor that is the problem really; let's face it, I can make cards so I can do this! Thankfully Cubs is finished until mid-January, so I do have a little time at home this evening. Thank Goodness for that!

Saturday is my only day off this week, and it's LB's birthday. It would be nice if I could enjoy it too, wouldn't it. We'd better go and find the party invitation stamps and make the invites. He's hoping to have a bit of a sleep-over, with tons of ice-cream, pop-corn and other boyish delights, already he's placed his order for the cake: Tiramisu no less!I wonder if I could make tiramisu icecream? To top it all the Lemon Snickety film is on the TV, which he really wants to see. All in all it shouldn't be too bad at all, at all.

My works Christmas party is on Friday night, but I am seriously thinking of cancelling it at this stage, as I am simply not up for it. I haven't seen many of my colleagues & friends since this time last year and am having misgivings about for a variety of reasons, not least because I'm a bit concerned that it might impact badly on LB's birthday.

Let's face it, if I'm going to make a load of cookies, ice-cream, cakes and maybe even lemonade for Saturday, a load of sweets and cookies for Christmas, jam & preserves and finish decorating the Cake, I am gooing ( freudian typo; pun not intended) to need all the time I can get, aren't I?

Oh, did I mention that the Scouts are going to be offering a gift wrapping service at the Bridge Centre in Tullamore from 12 Midday to 5pm on Sunday? Ah well, let's be grateful for small mercies shall we; at least I am not fit enough to have to try and hold down a full time job as well as all this!

If I pace myself and take rest as I need to, I will survive to enjoy the memories of this years festive season.

Seasons Greetings!

Polly Peircex

Housewife Humbled

2007-12-05T14:23:00.001Z

Amongst the various blogs and websites that I like to browse on a semi-regular basis; there are too many to do this daily, is The Humble Housewife.

I first came across Deborah; the lady who writes this blog, and several others on an Irish craft site; CaraCraftSupplies forum. Being a humble card maker myself it was inevitable that eventually I would stumble across some Irish craft workers and perhaps even meet up with some. It was beginning to get a little lonely out here in The Bog all by myself...

Anyway, this morning during my ramble through the blogosphere I paid a little visit to The Humble Housewife and lo & behold found Vinca's-in-tha-Kitchen! on her blog links page! Thank you for that Deborah, I'm thrilled!!! Not only that but I also found a smashing blog Ice-Cream Ireland dedicated to Ice-creammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...!

In case you haven't already guessed ice-cream is one of my absolute passions in life. When pregnant it is good quality ice-cream that I crave and luckily my GP's husband was a dairy farmer who just happened to make the most delicious jersy ice-cream as a sideline. Both of the lads share my love of ice-cream, which is a bit odd because their father hates the stuff!

In honour of the occasion I am going to post my favourite ice-cream recipe; Classic Dark Chocolate Ice-cream from Joanna Farrow & Sara Lewis's '(The) Ice-cream Book'. This is just so simple and very, very yummy.

I prefer to use my Philips HR2300 Ice-cream maker that the boy's bought me for Christmas a few years ago, because I simply don't have the patience to do it the traditional way. The best thing about doing it this way is that you just bung it into your ready frozen ice-cream cooler which just does the job for you as its blades just go round and round, just watch the fingers though!

As a taste-tested recipe I can definately recommend this recipe, not only for its simplicity in the making, but also for flavour. Considering that we made it on Easter Sunday one year; they boys having donated their excess of chocolate eggs to the making, this one definately deserves 10/10!
Anything less would be an insult to both my children and the authors of the book whose recipe we followed.

Believe it or not, half way through making up this recipe our eighty-odd year old neighbour; Mrs G called us to explain that one of her chickens had gone missing and could we help her look for it.
Always the good Samaritan, I dashed down to the nearby railway track and up the field in search of the escapee, who had actually by this time found her way home.

Meanwhile, inside the house two little boys were sacrificing the last of their chocolate to a very good cause by attempting to melt their easter eggs. Unfortunately they had decided to use the fifty or so year old metallic, enamelled bowl which had definately seen better days.

In so doing they caused arcing within the compartment; causing the chocolate to overheat and burn, permanently damaging the inside of the microwave oven and the ruination of a second batch of ice-cream! Laugh? I nearly died!

Thankfully, all's well that ends well and what could I say? They had after all donated nearly all of their booty to the cause... click here to see the recipe concerned.

2007-12-03T13:15:00.000Z

Time really is running out, with only a few weeks left until Christmas all my good intentions appear to have disappeared. My mission for November was to have all of my Christmas shopping, ie presents and all but perishable foods purchased well in advance of the festive season.

Last week, just before December, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and bought our Christmas dinner, namely a nice juicy frozen goose. That in itself is no mean feat, as goose is not standard fare in this part of the world and a fresh one from the butchers shop is estimated to cost at least €100.00!

Lidl, however, is a wonderful shop. There are those who flagrantly disagree, but I think Lidl is great. Not only does it sell foods which are not usual in not so sunny Ireland, it sells them at affordable prices too.

One example of this is Parmesan cheese. In the larger chain supermarkets it retails in excess of €3.30, whereas Lidl have sold it for a significantly lower amount in the region of €2.50. This of course is a godsend for anyone who loves to cook!

They also have a terrific range of wines to choose from; particularly if you are fond, as I am, of Spanish wine. This week they are promoting their wine conoisseur's selection, which is actually very good. If you know what to look for there are some terrific bargains to be had.

One particularly good/bad thing about Lidl is that from time to time they have special promotions, which take up floor space/are very good, depending on your view point. When it's American week when we stock up on obscene amounts of maple syrup and marshmallows.

For baking week they sell their own brand cooking chocolate which is lovely, with 55% cocoa content it tastes every bit as good as some of its more expensive counterparts and is divided into handy peices, which can be hard to break off. However, they're even harder to bite off if you're in the middle of a chocolate craving!

In the run-up to Christmas they sell all sorts of continental fare, including spiced Gingerbread, Stollen & Panetone; we're onto our second already! For the less adventurous they do also sell lots of more traditional stuff too & I think I am right in saying that they were nominated as the best store bought Christmas Cake last year.

Another really good thing about Lidl is that there are two branches located locally; each within a ten mile drive. One branch appears to cater for a certain type of customer, while the other doesn't. It's great! I get the best of both worlds, when Tullamore runs out, I just head off towards Portarlington instead, which is what we did when the Husquavarna Petrol Chainsaw was on offer!

So, all in all I think that despite everything we're doing pretty well in our quest to enjoy Christmas this year. Plus we'll be lovely and warm infront of our nice log fire!

Keep up the good work!

Polly Px

Encouraging your child to read

2007-11-28T13:04:00.000Z

Welcome back! Today I am blogging (having read this post I wonder if that should read Bragging?) about LB's culinary expertise.

Just like his Mum, LB is a hard-nut fan of home-made cookies. Like any child of nearly 10 years old he will eat just about anything, so long as it looks like a cookie, but he just loves home-made.
There's no school today, so LB is at home with me for the day.

Being a lazy reader, I find that the best way to encourage him is to buy books and comics about subjects that interest him. Even the dreaded Pokemon involves some reading; so I can at least rest easy that he is putting it into practice even when playing computer games.

LB is just mad about cooking. When he announced his boredom earlier this morning, I suggested he go and read his new book for a while; he'd done that yesterday & wasn't that interested. However, LB did come up with a practical alternative & took himself off to the kitchen for a little recreational baking.

Being an accomplished cook at his tender age is no mean feat. LB is a boy's boy; climbing is one of his favourite pastimes and the higher the tree, the better the FUN! Both boys’ spend hours outside in the open, creating tree-houses and dens, considering the world that we live in now I consider myself very lucky to have two such normal children.

Anyway, back to today's session in the kitchen. He started making ginger cookies but ended up creating his own recipe for Cinnamon buns due to the fact that he lost his place in one of our many child friendly cookery books!

Going back to yesterdays post about microwave porridge, BB & I had a chat about it and he was delighted to realise his mistake, ie not enough water. This morning he repeated the process using 2 cups of boiling water and still the result was beige in colour and unappealing to the eye!
I wonder where he's going wrong?

2007-11-27T15:23:00.000Z

Thinking about yesterday's post I would really like to get in touch with my cousins in France. I love France; I really do!

Following what could have been a very serious road accident in St Malo, France I discovered just what a wonderful place it is. I met some unpleasant people, some disinterested people but most of all I met some very nice, down to earth people.

Even those who were unable to help us, in terms of the local insurance office or the Opel dealership were patient and kind to us. My french is not even good enough to be rusty, but I made the effort and it was reciprocated; in the end we got there and back again, in one peice.

Suffice to say that very little harm was occasioned to the people involved in the afore mentioned accident, however, the same could not be said for our poor car. There and then it died. The travel insurance people were superb in their care and attention and we got an additional ten days in France.

During our extra time we discovered a french craft store; Cultura which has outlets all over the country. Oh boy, what a breath of fresh air! It was like waking up and finding yourself in heaven. Until that day I had never seen anything quite like it and unfortunately while I have been to a few craft stores since I haven't seen anything like it since.

My first collection of rubber stamps and inks came from the St Malo branch of Cultura. Of course at the time I had very little idea about how to use them; despite this I still managed to turn out a few very personal occasion cards for special friends and relatives.

Next yearI would love to to pay my cousin a visit. Not only would I love to visit the local craft store, markets, etc, but I would also really like to see her and her lovely family. They were so hospitable; when less than a week after our eventful visit to France, we went off to to visit her in Yorkshire, England for the first time in twenty years. It was, despite the intervening years, just like going home.

Wouldn't it be nice to send them some Christmas, Easter and Birthday cards written in their new language?

The Wonder's of Modern Tecnology

2007-11-27T10:06:00.000Z

Last week I decided to give the recipe for my style Microwave Porridge on my other blog; Polly's Peri-wrinkle's & Peircings. For some reason I was under the impression that this was foolproof cooking at its quickest and its best.That was until the day after I published this culinery triumph...

Having poured over the most concise way of detailing the easiest recipe I know, I was asked by my eldest son BB if I could tell him how to make, yep, you guessed it Microwave Porridge! As quick as a flash I handed over the family secret, in retrospect I wonder should I just have pointed him in the direction of my blog?

Ever since, BB has been making himself a huge bowl of wall paper paste for breakfast before he leaves for school. It is beige in colour, thick & gloopy and I don't think he's managed more than a couple of mouthfuls before being called to the car. Perhaps this is by design?

This morning, in exhasperation I tried one of his creations and it lived up to my expectations. It was half cooked, stodgy and inedible, okay, so I exaggerate slightly... It was also smothered in sugar and floating unattractively in a pool of cold milk.

Not one to be accused of wasting food I took the notion to heat it up again; having first added at least half a cup of boiling water from the electric kettle & transferred it all into a large capacity pyrex jug. After something like five minutes the familiar 'bing' announced that MY breakfast was ready for the taste test.

A quick stir; to break up any lumps and distribute the heat evenly and we were ready for take off. The first thing I noticed was that there were several dark coloured UFO's in the mixture. Thankfully these turned out to be none other than raisins which added a lovely, natural sweetness to what could otherwise be a very bland mixture indeed.

Now don't get me wrong; my children are very capable people. At times I wonder if they are too capable for their tender ages. From a very early age the boys used to 'help' Mummy in the kitchen, they would supervise from the dizzy height's of the counter top instead of sitting being ignored in the play pen.

I suppose it is a natural progression that they have both develloped incredible skills in the culinary arena since then. It is not unusual to find that breakfast is made and already on a tray to be brought down the hall for that ultimate of luxuries: breakfast in bed.

Certainly, it knocks the sox of hotel room service and is generally far nicer too, not least because you don't have to leave the nest to let them in! This service is delivered on an irregular basis, at times the choice of breakfast fodder is questionable, ie two Jaffa Cakes and a pot of nice strong tea! One thing which is always reliable is the smiles on everyone's faces; even on Christmas Day at 4.00am!

Tonight we are going to be cooking. It is time for me to demonstrate the why's and wherefore's of Microwave Cooking. BB; I am sure would enjoy his chosen breakfast far better in the knowledge that it was at least cooked.

While we're at it, I have a surplus of fruit & vegetables left over from last weeks basket.There's no point in wasting food this week; then buying extra next week, is there? As I now have the time to do these things; I'm going to need some freezer room. There's a whole head of forgotten celery, which'll be handy for soups and sauces over the winter.

As we're running low on jam at the moment, I'll hunt down my Microwave Strawberry Jam recipe; using the fruit from the freezer and also one for Microwave Marmalade; using the left over fruit from the basket.

Vinca? Think-a-Cards!

2007-11-26T15:56:00.000Z

As pennies are short this year; due to my change of circumstances, I have decided that most of my gifts will be handmade; probably by me. The most precious gift of all is the gift of time, the time taken to choose or even make something special for loved ones. In my minds eye I envisage presenting my near and dear ones with boxes of exotic delights and home comforts; previously reserved for the aristocracy. Reality unfortunately has in the past been somewhat different!

I vaguely remember back as far as this time last year; when I added at least a dozen glace cherries to a jar containing the very best of vintage brandy. The plan was that at some time before Christmas those same cherries would be coated in chocolate, placed gently in petits fours cases and presented to BJK as a well thought out gift. Meantime, those same cherries are still residing on the top shelf of my refrigerator; I’ll bet they’re just yummy by now!

Another problem is that from time to time, the same BJK; whom I love dearly (she’s my Mum!) decides that SHE is going to have a go at making various confectionary. The announcement is made; I quiver in my boots and say absolutely nothing! Later on, I will go home and sulk. Some time ago my triple-distilled Rose Water, which has over the years been carefully stored in a dark bottle, in a dark cool place was kidnapped. I should perhaps explain that it had been previously commandeered by BJK; with the express intention of making Turkish Delight. There goes another of my brilliant idea’s, not to mention the coconut ice, peanut brittle, cinder toffee/honeycomb and peppermint creams…

Recently; that is over the last few years, a great English tradition has finally made its way to these shores; Homemade Fudge. Its thick, creamy, caramel-ly taste sensation just happens to be another favourite in our house-hold. The one company who, it does seem, to have made a success of Fudge production is to be found over in The Burren, in Co Clare, I am sure they do mail order but seeing as I am in possession of recipes for the afore mentioned fudge I will not be investigating any further! I have sheets and sheets of grease-proof paper, pretty tissue paper and brightly coloured card for packaging. Somewhere in the data banks hidden being this brightly coloured screen I also have templates for variously shaped handmade gift boxes. I also have rolls of plain brown mailing paper, oomph; I just love the smell of it! My intention is to hand stamp all our own wrapping paper; finishing each gift off with a beautiful bow.

I have other projects in hand also, ranging from making jewellery, pin cushions, calendars, albums, etc. My mind’s eye is unfortunately somewhat over imaginative; though always creative, and has designs on knitting hats, making lingerie, wreath’s, potting up bulbs in pretty containers, etc. Maybe I will manage to produce some lovely jars or boxes of home-made cookies instead, some ice-cream maybe, or even some jams and preserves? It all sounds so very good, and indeed it is; if only there were enough hours in a day!? Oh; there is just so much to choose from and with only 29 days to go I should really get going…

Smellies are always a good bet too; assuming you know what your friends & family like. There is nothing worse than opening that beautifully wrapped gift box, only to discover that you can’t abide the scent or that it brings you out in a horrible rash. I’ve been investigating the possibilities of bath melts, cleverly disguised as confectionary, with only the best of subtle aromatherapy additives.

Stationary is always a lovely standby for Christmas. It is a shame that by the end of St Stephen’s Day/Boxing Day most of the set will be gone; but then there is a certain satisfaction to be obtained from writing one’s Thank You notes on something really special, isn’t there? So, having already sorted out my own greetings cards, perhaps this is the best place to start; after all, I am the expert, aren’t I? (I make occasion and greeting cards for a living!)

Seeing as I am passionate about my photography and am currently broke, I have about eight rolls of film to be developed. Thank heavens for the lovely digital camera BJK bought me. I have been able to capture some terrific shots, of which I am quite proud, while the cost of production has thankfully been limited to that of printing them out. I could employ them for other people’s pleasure in numerous ways.

Considering I am 100% certain that the boy’s grandparents are NOT reading my blog, I do intend to spend a few hours completing a digital album for them this year. I may even; time permitting, go so far as to produce a nice effort using older, more traditional techniques. As I am not a scrapper, and am actually a little over-awed by the idea this really will be a challenge for me, however, it would be worthwhile as I am sure they miss the boy’s a lot and we don’t have a great deal of contact with them any more.

My Christmas cards ARE all already to go. Well; save the stamping of some special Christmassy greeting and the signing. The boys and I did this as far back as last Easter, forgetting that many, many days would intervene in the meantime. This year I am going to post them all; in fact I thoroughly intend to purchase the self adhesive roll of postage stamps this week, the flyer from The Post Office tells me that I must get my letters to New Zealand off by 7 December and my parcel to my cousin in France by the 9th.

To be fair, I do sound as though this year I am both enthusiastic and organised. Most years I find myself full of enthusiasm and with little time available to even buy ready made and find myself horribly disappointed that once again I have let myself, family and friends down. I have taken the hand-made pledge ; unfortunately I had already purchased a number of surprises in department stores, before I came across it. However, the vast majority of them are going to be surprises indeed and very old-fashioned in style.

Maybe by this time next year I will be doing all of the above and silk screen/batik printing and cutting things into asymmetrical shapes with my brand new jig-saw which I have yet to play with! Soap making is definitely a project for the following year, perhaps to combine with the bath melts and aromatherapy massage oils? LOL!

God is Good, Have Fun and Be Merry!

Polly x
Vinca Cards