tales from the white coated and safety goggled world of tea cosy knitting...and some other stuff

as some of you may know my day job involves working in a male dominated industry in an office full of men...now one of these men values the restorative qualities of a nice cup of tea (as I do myself) and along with certain other redeeming features of his this shared passion for tea (well, for time away from our desks making sure the kettle has boiled, at least) has ensured that we have become good friends over the past 8 or so years since we met...Anyway, Nich turned 40 this year. When I enquired what he would like as a gift he asked for a tea cosy, as he'd been given a shiny new tea pot for Christmas...

...(exhibit A)...
(note the attractive fossil)

I jokingly told him he would need to furnish me with dimensions if he wanted a snug fit in his custom built cosy and he duly turned in these...

...(exhibit B)...
(note the attention to detail - though I did have to work out the circumference myself, can you believe that?!)

He is now convinced that the knitting practice is one so scientific that it involves not only the most precise measurements but also the wearing of safety goggles and a white coat (although I think he may be secretly hankering back to his previous existence as a research chemist). Which makes me laugh...very few things could possibly be less scientific than my bus knitting...

anyway, the cosy has been cast on and will be unveiled at the weekend...watch this space...

I am again overwhelmed by the number of comments to the last post...it was great to read about everyone's favourite seaside treats and I am now more determined than ever to get myself to Portugal to check out the wonderful clams, squid and other seafood mentioned, along with the chilled white wine...now that sounds like my kind of place (not until I've shaken the half stone or so I put on over my four days in France though...unbelievable! never knew one moule could have such an impact!!!). The British contingent do love their fish and chips and sandwiches it seems, while seafood also figures large for the North Americans. To be honest it ALL sounded delicious to me.

My new friend the random number generator tells me the winner is no 16, which appears to be Varenia (whose stitching looks a lot more professional than mine - oh dear...). So Varenia, drop me an email with your address and I will pop the lavender sachet in the post to you in sunny Southern California.

It was, as always, lovely to discover new blogs out there and I'll be popping by them all to say hello as soon as I can...

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of something I've been playing with recently...just to add a bit of colour...


ps time for a tea tasting update...I invested in some Russian Caravan tea today (the kids were intrigued by the name) as suggested by a number of people previously - mmm, I quite like it. The smokiness isn't as pronounced as in Lapsang Souchong (obviously as it is a mix) but adds a lot to the flavour...I could quite like this one...might try with just a dot of honey, if that isn't against the tea drinkers code of course

Le Crotoy...moules and tea...and a petite giveaway

just back from a magical short break in Picardy...Le Crotoy to be precise

the moules were fabulous, as anticipated...

the town was lovely in a quiet way...had that wonderful salted weathered air that I love so much

...ramshackle peeling buildings

...aged colours

...shutters and "shutter keepers" no idea what these are really called but they are beautiful in their detail
indispensable in a country that relies so heavily on its shutterage to keep that which must be denied access out

...wonderful light, which I was keen to let in

...and a hotel which served the most divine afternoon tea...

my new flavour of choice is thé de Chine à la rose, très délicieux...

while pondering the deliciousness of our beverages my companion in the act of "taking tea" and I did decide that these beautiful and delicate teas are probably best appreciated in a gorgeous French coastal salon with a decided lack of smallfry in attendance...

something that can be tricky to recreate at home...

the children had a ball too of course...

now, it has just come to my attention that this is my 50th post (how did that happen?) so to celebrate I am going to do a very petite giveaway...leave me a comment telling me your favourite thing to eat when by the seaside (moules for me) and I will enter you in the draw to receive a little handmade lavender sachet...


these are made from the very pretty Alexander Henry cho cho (butterfly) fabric and will be finished off as soon as I relocate my pinking shears, which seem to have taken a little holiday of their own...

a last post on Easter...and the winner of my heart...

1. serendipitous find inside the church at Stoven, 2. Easter on beach Southwold, 3. snow and headstones in Stoven, 4. Mr G issuing Easter Egg Hunt directions, 5. hunting for eggs in snow, 6. huts southwold easter 2008, 7. goose egg and easter chicks, 8. huts southwold easter 2008, 9. boats southwold 2008, 10. egg hunt ON, 11. boats southwold 2008, 12. easter display 2, 13. easter display, 14. easter snow 2008, 15. easter sunday 2008 southwold, 16. unusual easter bunny 2008, 17. stoven church easter, 18. huts southwold easter 2008, 19. no need for tea cosy, 20. huts southwold easter 2008, 21. easter chick biscuit, 22. easter display goose egg and bunny, 23. in the graveyard easter sunday 2008, 24. grey pier snow easter sunday southwold 2008, 25. egg in snow suffolk easter 2008, 26. easter heart, 27. easter display 3, 28. lichen slate and snow

we went to Suffolk to visit friends for Easter, it snowed, we drank lots of tea and prosecco (as you do), ate lots of chocolate and fish (as you do too) and had an all round lovely time...a wonderful and much appreciated down time for all of us...mmmmmmm

(not quite sure why my mosaic turned out so tiny, but there you go...seems a bit ridiculous when the titles dwarf the image to such an extent but you sort of get the idea I hope)

came back late on Monday, was straight into work on Tuesday and so finally managed to pull the name out of the hat last night (or the number out of the random number generator, it being the 21st century and me being a time-pressed blogger) and the winner of my heart is...commenter no 23 hurrayic who has a lovely blog and left a lovely comment...

but thanks to everyone who commented on the last couple of posts, and indeed on all my posts ever - your comments make my heart sing, every single one of them...I would love to reply to every one individually but blogger doesn't give me details for all comments for some reason, but I do visit every blog and leave a comment where I can...

have a lovely week

belated St Patrick's Day greetings...and a giveaway, at last...

somehow it has slipped my mind until about midday yesterday that it was actually March 17th...I think it may have been the Sunday lunch and afternoon spent with my friend Jane and her family...there is something about fine food, crisp white table linen and glasses of beautifully chilled prosecco that do it for me every time...and on Sunday afternoon did it for me so well that I forgot what day it was on Monday!

anyway, it turns out it was St. Patrick's Day yesterday...I got a late call from my new old pal Marty at RadioFreeNation asking whether I'd go on air and witter about the day a bit and obviously it would have been churlish to refuse...the kids were in bed and I was too hungover to knit...I don't think Marty quite appreciated he would be interviewing the woman who forgot it was St Patrick's day but nevermind that... if you want to hear a bit about the day as celebrated in Southern Ireland in days of yore (that'll be the 70s and 80s folks) click here...

SO...Lá Féile Pádraig Shona Duit, my friends...(you can probably guess what that means, if not email me for a crash course in Gaelic!)

now seems a good time to stop wittering and offer a little giveaway...so leave me a comment to any post this week and I'll put you in the hat to win one of my little hearts...if you can't think of anything else to do with one they take kindly to having pins stuck in them...

tell me Something Nice, about something that makes your heart sing...