September saw so many beautiful things including a Mandala

Hello lovely readers, it seems that I have been a little quiet here lately, but I intend to make up for it in buckets today as I have heaps to share with you. September has been a beautiful month here in the North of England as we were blessed with beautiful clear skies and warm autumnal sunshine. This meant that far too much time was spent on my yoga mat outside and far too little time holding my crochet hook, logging into my computer or let alone mention the old sewer that seems to be gathering a great deal of dust of late. I did however manage to turn my September Monthly Mandala, that I wrote about here, into a cushion and I must say that I am rather pleased with the outcome. It has been my intention for a while to make a ripple blanket, but seeing that I still haven't managed to get around to it, this seems to at least satisfy a small part of that chevron urge, for now anyway. 

 Sadly the light at this time of year is not particularly good in this little space of ours and to be honest the photo doesn't really do it justice. I don't know about the rest of you in the Northern hemisphere, but there has definitely been a shift in light and rooms are feeling much darker (and colder). I have started lighting candles again and there is no doubt that autumn has finally kicked his cold toes under my blanket. For me this change most certainly became most noticeable after the appearance of the Harvest moon this month, did you see it? Oh my it was really spectacular! They say that it tends to be larger and more colourful than other moons due to the tilt of the earth and the reflection from the atmosphere and I have to say that it looked so very big and colourful from the bedroom window.

September has been a month of harvest here too, with runner beans, cucumber, beets, and lots and lots of kale making it into our kitchen. Fortunately it also seems that we may even have enough Kale for another month or two, which is a blessing as we do love a bit of Kale in our house. Have any of you tried making kale chips, if not you must, its so easy (kale + olive oil+ salt+oven=delicious!). I also enjoyed the last of our delicious apples and am currently thinking of ways in which we can squeeze in another apple or pear tree in the garden, but I am faced with the slight dilemma that the little wendy play house is in the exact spot I would like to plant it, so I might have to wait a few years for the kids to outgrow their little space. 

September has been a month of struggle with my health, but it hasn't stopped me from becoming even more obsessed with yoga than I already was (not that I thought that was possible!). I was also incredibly lucky to enjoy two days of being taught by the very talented yogini, Kino MacGregor. Lets just keep this short and say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, I really enjoyed every minute of it even though my batteries were a little flat at times, it definitely is a memory I will always cherish. Here is a little memento of my weekend with Kino.

September has been a month of slowly getting back to warmer foods and soups. I have experimented with Vegetable Soup, Tomato and Basil soup and made my all time favourite Carrot and Coriander Soup. For those of you who follow me on instagram @Scrummytritious, some of the recipes are there. For the rest of you, here is the recipe for my vegetable soup.

So basically to make the vegetable soup, you are going to need:
Tablespoon of Coconut oil
7 Large Carrots
3 Large Courgettes
3 Onions
2 Stalks Celery
A generous bunch of fresh Coriander
2 Cubes of gluten free vegetable stock (I use Kallo Organic)
1.5L of water
Some Himalayan Rock salt & pepper to taste

Method
Chop all your vegetables (medium size chunks). Gentle fry the onions and carrots for around 5 minutes, then add the celery and cook for around 5 minutes before adding the stock and water. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer and then add the courgette. Cook for around 10 minutes max and then add the coriander before blending it partly with a hand blender, leaving some chunks of vegetables in there. Enjoy!

Septemeber also saw the return of a loaf of bread to our lives. We have now been Paleo gosh for around seven to eight months and even though I wasn't having much bread before I was still enjoying the odd bit of grains, like rice and things baked with brown rice flour every now and then. This recipe for this delicious Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Bread is completely Paleo and made with ground almonds. I use ground almonds often, but have never thought of making a savoury bread with it and I must say it was delicious and I will definitely be making it again very soon. 

September saw our gigantic sunflower come into bloom. For some reason we NEVER succeed in planting sunflowers and even though we planted over seven establish seedlings, I think the Raven's and Jackdaws must have been too quick to dig out the seeds still attached to the plant. Does anyone else experience this? Fortunately for us, this beauty was overlooked and how very special for us. 

 September also finally saw the final touches going on to our stairs that has been a WIP for many many months. Earlier this year I had this massive urge to remove the rather tired looking carpet from our stairs. To be honest it is something I have been meaning to do ever since I since I received this beautiful book from a friend for Christmas 2012. The problem you see is that I never thought I would have the guts to pull and see what mess lies beneath an old tattered carpet. Well it seems that one very cold and frosty January morning, those worries and concerns where very far from my mind, instead I felt brave and ready to conquer all (I must have had a mild does of brain freeze one thinks). I must add here that it has taken me a little longer than anticipated, but I got there in the end and wow, what a transformation. I love this idea and it has made such a difference to the light and feel of our very narrow staircase. Thank you Sarah Moore for your wonderful inspiration, it seems collecting old wallpaper does come in handy after all. I used an eclectic mix of mostly old, but a few modern prints are hiding in here too as I really like the combination of old and new. 

Last, but not least, September has also been a month for yet another monthly mandala and this month it was the rather sweet little mandala pattern by Zooty Owl as mentioned here. This fun little Granny Mini Mandala pattern is super quick to work and as I have also come to realise, it offers some rather fun alternative possibilities, but more on that another day. For now though it is show and tell time. 

So for any of you who have joined in the yarn mandala fun, please add your mandala below. For next month I thought it might be fun to try Marinke Slump's 12-round mandala. For anyone interested you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

Wishing you all a beautiful October.

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

An InLinkz Link-up

A sweet little crocheted Hexie showermat

Today I quickly wanted to share a sweet little hexie shower mat that I finished a few weeks ago. I am quite a neutral kinda girl, especially when it comes to the bathrooms, I like whites, greys and muted colours, so I figured it might be time to step out a little and inject a spot of colour into our very grey shower room.

I used Drops Paris yet again largely because I know exactly what I am going to end up with. I know from experience that my stool covers and step cover get a great deal of daily use, which means they are often hanging on the washing line and always come out looking like new. A shower mat is something that you want to wash often so this is the perfect yarn for the job. It has already been washed and as expected it came out looking even better than when it went in.

So basically it is 29 hexies all sewn together or join as you go and you end up with a rather lovely shower or bath mat. 

In fact we are loving it so much that I will soon have to make one for the bath room. They really don't take that long to throw together (if you ignore sewing in those pesky ends!). 

A short and sweet post today. Wishing you all a fantabulous day!

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxoxo

This week

I have been enjoying

 

 

 some time under my eidie reading

 

pink Himalayan rock salt you can read here about the benefits to our bodies

these pretties

 



 

picking up my knitting needles again for the first year in errm 28 years. I really wanted to teach myself how to knit again this year and even though I have only done a little bit, it's been fun.

finding Iced Zoo's in a UK supermarket after all these years, aren't they pretty?! I used to love these when I was a kid, especially slowly licking off the animals and then devouring the biscuit. Now the kids can have a little taste of South Africa and I can enjoy getting them out

 



of my new Orla Kiely jar that a friend gave me for Christmas.



writing a line a day with such a pretty pen, thank you Andrea

 

 



the repetitiveness and almost hypnotic state that comes from crocheting my Spring throw

 

 

splurging on some super foods in preparation for my new toy that should hopefully be here any day soon

 

 



preparing my quilt for quilting

 

 





some time with a poorly Es choosing the fabrics and

style for her bedroom quilt to be

 

 

finding a couple of treasures in the charity shop

 

and filling one of them with gorgeous smelling and tasting herbs

 

for the first time opening up my spring throw to appreciate my WIP

 

 

 

enjoying the view of the snow whilst quilting my first quilt.

 

Hope you have all enjoyed a creative week and I look forward to popping over to see what everyone else has been crocheting. Joining in today with Chrissie and Marianne for their Blooming Crochet-a-long.

 

 

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo



'Hung up on Retro'

When I read on Daisy's blog about Lucy Voilet vintage second in the series retro/vintage hook up, my pulse increased and I am sure my breathing became more rapid. I instantly knew I wouldn't be able to resist this genius idea. If you haven't seen any of the blogs who are participating, go over to Lucy Voilet Vintage blog and scroll down to the bottom to have a complete visual feast!! Its also the place to link in yours if you haven't already done so. The good news is that there is still some time left.

Now, our house is much more vintage in the classic/antique sense of the word than retro and although I absolutely love all things retro, for some reason I am always drawn to the more classic/antique look of furniture as it just fits in well with my love for old furniture and all things French. So here are some corners around our little home.

Starting with the heart of our home, the kitchen

 

 

As mentioned in a previous post, I love using old apple crates for a variety of purposes and Recipe books is one of them. Both the lovely copper pans (which I use) and this very lovely French shelf came all the way from France. A bit of woodworm treatment, sand and some paint later and I am never parting with it.

This very sweet little Edwardian sewing table is just adorable (in my eyes). I bought this red rug from a Brocante in France for about £2, a steal!

 

 

 Love Love vintage china!

I love old bread tins, and anything enamel for that matter and I think they offer great storage solutions. We have another which I use for cat/dog food.

 

These mirrors have travelled around the house, they started on the stairs, but then got moved to the kitchen and they now enlighten our conservatory. With each transition the arrangement got smaller, but fortunately I have repositioned them somewhere else in the house as I don't think I can part with any of them. My five year old asked me the other day, 'why don't I have a mirror in my bedroom Mummy?' It made me giggle and offcourse there was a moment of excitement at the prospect of finding yet another lovely vintage mirror, ooh such pleasure! In my opinion one can NEVER have too many of these. They always remind me on my granny's house, which has so many special memories. The one thing I love about Vintage things, is the memories they evoke in us!

I love this old school map which I reckon dates back to around the 1950s, I love all the holes and marks in it, I bought it as a gift for my doh (darling other half).

 

This bureau is the little corner in our house where cosmosandcotton evolves.

 

This very lovely lampshade is one of my favourite things in our house, don't ask my why, but I have my little attachments.

 

I am sure it is obvious by now that I like to paint furniture, but this piece is never leaving us. It used to be our sideboard, but it is now our TV stand. I just love the handles and doors, they are so beautiful.

Hats, hats, hats and what better way to hang them up than this very lovely French hat rack.

 

Good old vintage glass bottles, they always remind me of Mum.

 

 

Now for the bedrooms

I really have a thing for old chest of drawers. I think they ooze so much character and charm and if I had space, I would have a few more. One of the chest of drawers is a family heirloom and so is the jug and basin. I also love both those mirrors (yip more mirrors!). At some point in the future, the wardrobe will evolve with a little paint.

Now for the kids rooms, I am not sure whether this is a product of enjoying my school years, but I had set our years ago to get some lovely old desks for the kids. I just love them and all the marks and scratches that comes from years of sitting in class. This very sweet little chair was also originally from an old school, but have since been painted.

 

 

This Puss in Boots was mine when I was a little girl.

 

 

My little sewing corner, this little ladies writing desk is just such a beautiful piece of furniture and although it is most probably a bit on the teeny side for sewing, I love this little space. Then there's my lovely lady (a recent find) all the way from Paris.

 

Now for a very untidy toy corner in the kids little play area

The toys are stored in an old ammunition box from the Second World War and I am not sure of the age of the pram, but I love.

 

 

Moving to our conservatory

 

This is my favourite piece of furniture in our house. Its a Parker Knoll chair, which I got off freecycle! You can just imagine how elated I was when I saw it, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Even though it is in desperate need of recovering, I simply can't as I love the look of all the fabric falling to bits, it oozes character.

 

This little Victorian button back nursing chair is so lovely and I am not sure what these little tables would have been used for?, but again it was another piece of furniture I couldn't resist. Don't you just love that dog. Es picked it up at a charity shop and said that she wanted it, that's my girl!

 

 

So this is where some of the mirrors ended up and I love how they bring the garden into the house and speaking of which...

 

There is always a little more room for some vintage china, and having found the idea on Pinterest, I couldn't resist.

 

So these are our little vintage corners around our house. Home has become such an important part of my daily being and I enjoy seeing it evolve, change and grow with seasons and also with time and age. Thanks for looking through this very picture heavy post, that's it for now till later.

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo