Felted Flowers

I haven't done any felting for months but having joined Pinterest and finding some wonderful felted items on there I was once more inspired to root out my stash of merino wools, order some more and get felting.

 I can't show some of the things I have made as they will be Christmas presents and the recipients may read this but here are two flower corsages I have made.

Of course I am still a relative beginner and aspire to be able to make such lovely things as these shown below.

Source: ley-art.livejournal.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

The items below are what is called nuno felting where merino wool is laid on top of silk and the wool fuses into the fabric to give different textures.  I haven't tried this yet but am very excited about having a go at it.  I absolutely love this scarf.

Source: flickr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Christmas Chutney

My kitchen smelt very Christmassy yesterday when I was making chutney as the recipe used ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger.  I've never made any before but thought I would try Nigellas's Christmas Chutney as my first attempt.  I halved the recipe in case it all went wrong but I was really pleased with both the look and, more importantly, the taste of the chutney.

These little jars from Ikea, at 99p for 3, are ideal for small quantities and I will definitely be making more to give as presents.

Christmas Cake

This year one of my friends has made her Christmas cake from one of those Waitrose Delia's packs where everything is included for you and even the dried fruit has been pre-soaked in booze.  I have always (and probably always will) made my cake from the recipe my mother used as her mother did and goodness knows how far back into the family it goes.

The rather tatty and cake mixture splattered recipe that I wrote out 34 years ago when we were first married is slavishly followed every year.  I have never ever iced a cake in my life as we always have a rich Dundee cake and it must be served with Wensleydale cheese!

The cake is in the oven now (minus quite a few spoonfuls of the mixture as I adore raw cake mixture) and it smells delicious!

Do you buy your cake or do you have a favourite family recipe?

My Haven

I recently hosted a give away for an enamel sign from Ramsign and someone told me they were disappointed they couldn't enter as their house didn't have a number, which was a shame. We have both here. Our house was built in the 1890s and has always been called 'The Haven' which I think is a lovely name for a home. It is certainly my haven as I love my home and whenever I am away from it I can't wait to return.

We recently bought some rusty letters and have mounted these above the inside of the front door.  We have also had a new wooden front door and window fitted as the previous owners had installed a upvc door which was totally out of keeping with this house.  I have painted the inside but still have the outside and the porch to paint.  Then the floor tiles outside the door are all wrong, especially the colour and we could do with a better number sign (though, of course I couldn't enter the competition).

I also bought the EAT letters which are in the kitchen

though I never need reminding to eat especially where these blueberry muffins, baked yesterday, are concerned.

We have also been adding some new things (new to us) on the wall in the hall.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

You Tube Dog Talking

You may have seen this already but it makes me laugh each time I watch it!

And the winner is....

And the winner is Jonathan.  Thankyou for all who entered the giveaway which was offered by Ramsign who manufacture quality enamel signs.  I am sure Jonathan will be delighted with the sign he chooses for his home.

Giveaway Ends Tonight

Don't forget my giveaway of an enamel sign from Ramsign ends at midnight tonight.

Birthday and Bodhi

Last weekend it was my birthday and our daughter came to stay with her new puppy, Bodhi.  He is a miniature Schnauzer, miniature poodle which is a recognised cross breed called a Schnoodle and he is a little sweetie!  He is just 12 weeks old so was able to venture out for his first walk and socialising with other dogs.  We went down to the beach and he was in his element running around and dragging seaweed along to play with.  Of course the walk took simply ages as so many people stopped to tell him how gorgeous he is (these compliments are totally wasted on dogs and babies!!) and he wanted to make friends with everyone.

This weekend Bodhi is coming to stay again but I hope he doesn't leave me quite so many presents this time!

Enamel sign giveaway

The lovely people at Ramsign contacted me recently to see if I would be interested in giving away one of their enamel signs to my readers.  After looking over their products I'm really thrilled to be hosting this giveaway.  Ramsign are a Danish company who sell beautiful hand-crafted porcelain enamel signs that would add a vintage touch to any home.

Ramsign have offered my readers the chance to win one of their classic house numbered signs.  If you win, you'll be able to choose from any of their five different styles of house number (from one to five digits).  They will ship it out anywhere in the world for free, so international entries are welcome.

The rules
To enter, just leave a comment on this blog with your email address.
[+1] For an extra entry, tweet about this giveaway by pasting this into your tweet: "Enter @ohsovintagecouk giveaway and win an enamel sign from Ramsign http://tinyurl.com/677ketc"
[+2] For two extra entries, blog about this giveaway and link to the Ramsign website.  Make sure you leave me a comment to let me know you've done so.

The giveaway closes at midnight (GMT) Monday 14th November.  Good luck!

Northumberland

We have just returned from a week's holiday in Northumberland and what a stunning county it is!  We stayed in a really pretty cottage in the Breamish valley.

Being National Trust members we visited a lot of their properties to get our money's worth of the membership fee!  This is Dunstanburgh castle which is on the coast.

We also visited Wallington and Cragside.

These two houses had amazing kitchens; these are always my favourite rooms as I like to look at all the items of cookware and kitchenalia used in bygone days.

 An early dishwasher.

I just love this cabinet of moulds.

We also visited Alnwick Castle where some of the Harry Potter films have been filmed.  It is the home of the Duke of Northumberland and is crammed full of beautfiul and priceless treasures.  Sadly photography was not allowed.  We had lunch in the Treehouse restaurant which was novel!

 We weren't able to do or see as much as we'd hoped as time ran out but we will definitely return.  The scenery is breathtaking and the locals very friendly.

with the odd exception!!