The Sewing Dilettante

Well, it's hard to believe, but my little Gracie is 4 weeks old today! She remains perfect, of course, and I'm really beginning to experience the wonders of motherhood, as you can see...  (From the wonderful Wikimedia Commons ) I'm the cow, not the smiling, happy lady, just in case you were confused. Moo. (Reading this over, I realise it sounds like I'm not smiling and happy, which couldn't be further from the truth! I also just happen to feel very much like a dairy cow!) xx Tina

Well, we've made it to the other side! Our little bundle of joy was born on 27 December, weighing just over 3 kg and measuring a pretty astonishing 52 cm. (She takes after her dad in the height category!) Naturally, we think our little Gracie is the most perfect, beautiful baby in the world!  We're settling in at home now and getting to know each other, so things will be slow on the patchworking/baking front for the next little while, though we did manage to pop in very briefly on Saturday afternoon to see the lovely Bee Blessed ladies. And, we got home from church yesterday morning to find the most amazing package of goodies for both mum and tot from the  ever-generous Sarah . There was a fantastic Russian doll wall hanging, two amazing little taggy squares, two lovely, bright FQs for my stash, and lots of lovely lotions and potions for some special mummy pampering time! You can see the wall hanging and taggies on  Sarah's blog . Thanks again, Sarah!! I'll u...

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. In fact, hubby and I are tucked up cosily on the couch, recovering from yesterday's excesses and anticipating D(elivery)-day tomorrow. Who knows when I might have a chance to post again, so I wanted to share a few festive photos before wishing you all the very best for 2013 and signing off for a little while. First off, my Christmas cake went down a real treat yesterday! I was concerned that it would be dry in the middle, but it was perfectly moist all the way through! Despite the dark exterior, the crumb was surprisingly light, both in colour and texture, and the marzipan and icing were just thin enough to add a little almond-y sweetness at the end without overpowering the cake itself. Yum! We cut slivers of cake to have with coffee right after Christmas lunch, even though we were all stuffed to the gills, and after a much-needed brisk walk, managed a bit more. I mustn't have been the only one to sneak...

Yesterday, hubby and I decorated the Christmas cake . We cheated a little bit, using ready-made marzipan and ready-rolled icing, but, hey, we're novices. Plus, we were both in agreement that this was not the time to faff about making our own marzipan and icing! Still, I'm pretty happy with the end result. I had some fun with PicMonkey 's Christmas effects.... As you can see, we kept the decorations simple. While I learned how to make sugar roses in my abortive cake decorating course recently, I never got to do anything remotely Christmas-related. I suppose hubby and I could've experimented a bit, but once again, we opted for simplicity and ease, if only for sanity's sake! As we decorated, we nibbled on the bits of cake I sliced from the top to give an even surface, and they were delicious, even if I do say so myself! Rich; fruity; redolent with cinnamon, cloves, and a touch of whiskey; and exceptionally moist! Here's hoping that's true of the whole ca...

I don't have a picture to show you today, but I do want to share a couple of links, which, when followed, will more than make up for this post's lack of visual stimulation! You see, I forgot to mention yesterday that this past Saturday was our final Bee Blessed meeting of 2012. Fueled by some warm mince pies topped with dollops of seriously strong brandy butter, and festive mulled punch (thankfully non-alcoholic, or else we would've all had to stay over night to sober up!), we managed to work our way through an impressive amount of cutting, piecing, sewing, and quilting. You can check out photos of what we got up to over on Judith's blog . I quilted the fantastic blue antique tiles quilt, and there's also a lovely pic of the finished rail fence quilt I mentioned a while ago.  We're taking a break now for Christmas but are back together again come 5 January. Obviously, I'm not sure if I'll be making that first meeting of 2013, but I'm looking forwa...

Yesterday was my first day of maternity leave, and, while I managed to stay in bed until almost 11, I also realised very quickly that relaxation isn't my forte! Especially when there's nesting to be done! The nursery is all but ready to go, and we've got all the necessaries laid out in their appropriate places, but what we don't have is a freezer full of food to feed us in the first few hectic weeks after Baby H's arrival. Naturally, I had intended to prepare a variety of delicious and nutritious freezer-friendly meals over the past few months, but life got in the way. The best laid plans and all that. Yesterday and today though, I managed to bake a couple of batches of biscuits - one chocolate chip, one white chocolate and pecan - to pop into the oven straight from the freezer when friends and family call around. I also threw together a lasagne and a few other hearty, satisfying casseroles, and am now smugly patting myself on the back. Such self-satisfaction, I sus...

Well, the ECV last Thursday didn't work, and another scan this morning showed Baby H is well and truly comfortable the wrong way around! I've actually been scheduled in for a section now, and though there was talk last week of this taking place before Christmas (i.e. next Friday!), it's actually going ahead just after Christmas, which is a bit of a relief. I was starting to panic about the idea of the baby arriving so early! And, plus, it means there's still plenty of time for a somersault!  In the meantime, though, I'm frantically nesting and trying to tie things up so that I'm both mentally and materially ready for baby's arrival. This week, therefore, I've finished hand sewing the binding on Frankenblanket , wrapped Christmas presents, done about a thousand loads of laundry, and put up the Christmas tree!  Ikea's finest.... the house now smells all lovely and balsam-y! Today is technically my last day of work, and, luckily, I've mana...