Monthly Quote: August

First of all, my apologies for being a day late in posting my quote for this month (and also, July?! Where did you go?? And what about all the blog posts I had planned to fill you with? Oh well.) I have a very good reason for being late, actually. I don't know if you recall a somewhat enigmatic sentence in one of my previous blog posts? I mentioned something about "exciting future plans" that were "yet to be revealed"? Well, the time has come for me to share our exciting news with you, blog readers:

Alasdair and I are moving to the countryside! We have been given an amazing opportunity by my dear parents. They own an old farm house (in addition to their own beautiful house) that used to be the accommodation for farm labourers once upon a time. The house has been empty for many years now, but recently my mother and father have been thinking about renovating it. Instead, they asked me and Alasdair if WE would like to do it up, and live there, so we can try out living a more self-sufficient lifestyle. We've been dreaming about living in the countryside, having some sheep and goats, some chickens and a big vegetable garden, for many years, so we hopped to it immediately, of course. It'll be lots of work, since the house needs a considerable amount of TLC before we can move in, but it is so exciting! I feel so grateful and happy about this, I don't know what to do with myself. I channel all this positive energy into working on the house, which brings me to this month and the true purpose of this post, to share an inspirational and lovely quote with you. I was so busy tearing down the old panelling on the last outer wall on our "new" old house, that I simply forgot to post anything yesterday. I hope you can forgive me, and that you'll enjoy the quote and pictures I've decided to share with you for August.

“Where does it all lead? What will become of us? These were our young questions, and young answers were revealed. It leads to each other. We become ourselves.” 

 - Patti Smith, Just Kids

 

 

If you want more regular updates and photos of our renovation (which will take a significant chunk of our time), please check out my instagram account, I'm @elise_albrektsen there. But,  I will of course share  progress pictures, and some before/after-pictures, on this blog, too. 

Have a wonderful week, dear readers! 

x, Elise 

Edited to add: The yellow house in the top photo is not the house we will be renovating, but just a lovely little house I spotted. : )

 

Monthly Quote: July

This month I've chosen to share a quote that is close to my heart, one that makes me smile and relax. Hope you like it!

 

"If you have a garden and a library,   

you have everything you need." 

- Marcus Tullius Cicero . 

And now I'll go and watch my tomatoes grow. Bliss!

A pair of shorts and gained confidence

At the start of June I decided to get sewing, and this time do it for real! I've been meaning to really really learn how to do it for a long time, but never gotten round to truly work on it. So - I set out with an inspirational quote at the start of the month, to remind me that learning and perfecting a craft takes time, and decided that June 2015 is the month that I get really into sewing.

After a few very hectic last weeks at work, I don't have much to show you at this point, but I managed to make a (wearable) muslin of the brilliant PurlBee pattern City Gym Shorts, plus a finished and really cute looking pair of the same shorts:

 

  Practising patience has been challenging - I have such clear ideas of how I want my garments and projects in general to look that I often disappoint myself. But taking the time to sew a muslin first and following all the steps of the pattern carefully has really been eye opening. It takes a lot of skill to sew! And even though I'm only a beginner now, I think that some day, if I keep taking my time with this craft, I' can get really good at it. So here's to another month of crafting and sewing and knitting and just plain having a good time. (Can you tell that I'm on holiday?) 

What are you making? 

X, Elise

Summer and seagulls

Some pictures I took on holiday in Kent - just figuring out how to make my digital photos as nice as my analogue ones. Enjoy!





Both photos taken with my Canon 400D, with my 50mm lens.

'Tis the Season...

... for redcurrant jelly! At least here, above the arctic circle.

Here, long overdue (I think these photos are from july/august 2012), is my post with the excellent red currant jelly recipe I hinted at two years ago. I found the recipe in the lovely book Jam, Jelly & Relish by Ghillie James, and I'll write it in full as written in the book, for you to enjoy also.

For about 1,5 litres of Redcurrant Jelly, you'll need:

"1kg red currants, washed but kept on their stems
about 500g granulated sugar

Put the redcurrants into a pan with 500ml water and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the fruit is soft and has burst open to release its juice. Pour into a jelly bag and leave to strain through overnight."



"Measure the strained liquid into a jug. Weigh out 450g sugar per 600ml redcurrant juice and put both into a pan. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, then increse the heat and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 15 minutes then test for a set. Continue to cook util a set is achieved, then pour into warm sterilised jars and seal."



Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the jelly in the jars, but the jelly had the most vivid red colour, and it was sweet yet tart like a good redcurrant should be. The jelly set perfectly following this recipe, and I was very pleased with myself afterwards. James' book is full of recipes for other types of preserves, including a very interesting sounding "Strawberry and Rose Petal Syrup" that I'll have to try some day. Hope you try this jelly out!

Photos taken with my Pentax MX, 35mm film, 200 iso.

All text in quotation marks are © Ghillie James.