GREEN FINGERS


It's raining here, in fact the whole of Great Britain has been under a rain cloud for the past few days. I would be so bold as to say that all summer long the whole of Great Britain has been under a rain cloud. Sadly this was the year I chose to plant my first veg patch; avid readers will remember the lush green shoots in the how does your garden grow? post. And still I was undeterred by the sarcastically entitled bumper harvest pictures. So late last week I thought it was time to harvest the last of my home grown bounty - lets just say it won't even keep the family going until the end of the week let alone through the winter. 




Although I feel the vegetables photographed beautifully, no amount of photoshop or good lighting is going to make these meagre morsels seem more mighty!

A VERY HUNGRY ... QUILT

We have been commissioned to make a quilt for an imminent new arrival.


So we've been very excitedly planning this one with its particular theme and the opportunity to use all the bright colours that we love!


More photos and the finished article coming soon ...


ARTHUR BISPO DO ROSARIO

I found myself with a few hours free this week so decided to pop into London for a visit to the V&A Museum to see an exhibition by Brazilian artist Arthur Bispo do Rosario. This is a small show of some of the artist's work made during his fifty years confinement in a mental hospital and they're all made using found objects. He reconstructed objects that were important to him and represented all the things he wanted by his side at the Day of Judgement; it is an intimate glimpse into what he held dear and made me consider the question 'what things would I grab to save from my burning home?' Most of us would choose our photos, they are our memories and link to the past, just as these objects were to him.

image courtesy of The Great Artists

Using discarded hospital bedding he embroidered large banners depicting flotillas of boats, fairground scenes and pens of farm animals, all peopled by scores of individually worked figures and lines of text. They are full of his own iconic images and reminded me of altar pieces.

image courtesy of flickr.com

I also loved these beautiful boats decorated with colourful flags, models of sporting equipment and embellished jackets. I found it touching and uplifting that he had a fundamental need to create and would definitely recommend the show-which runs until 28th October 2012.

Whilst you're there, if you love colour and pattern the ceramics section on the top floor of the V&A is definitely worth a visit. Not only do you get stunning views across the roof tops of London but row upon row of sumptuous decoration, I love the boldness of the designs which date back hundreds of years - no minimalist beige here!



These are some of the objects that caught my eye -


I love the geometric pattern of this dish from Paris 1878



Stunning bright yellow plate and flower pot from the Netherlands c.1760


And how contemporary is this plate? Probably made in Venice and dated 1520-40. I want that one thank you very much!

VERY CHERRY

Last week a massive crate of cherries came our way courtesy of a local farmer. Never one to waste food, let alone free food, we set to work planning how best to use the fruit. "Mmmm cherry crumble or my favourite cherry pie" the family cried out, but as designated chef I don't like cooked fruit, so to cook or not to cook? That was the question...

Oh the joys of the internet, a quick flick through the blogging world and I came across a lovely recipe for Cherry Crumble Cake by The English Kitchen. A few tweaks to the recipe later (I seriously dislike cinnamon!) and I had whipped up a new favourite cake for the family; so good that we thought we should share.

I have included my version of the recipe below, the only slight changes I have made are to the quantity of cherries (the original 350g wasn't enough even in my smaller tin)

For the cake:
400-450g of pitted fresh cherries
150g self raising flour
50g sugar
1 large free range egg
30ml milk
100g melted butter

For the crumble:
30g plain flour
30g sugar
30g butter (room temperature)
Handful of almond flakes

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch cake tin with removable bottom and line with baking parchment.

   

Gently melt butter, take off heat and whisk in the milk and egg. In a separate bowl sift the flour and sugar, make a well in the centre and pour in the milk/butter/egg mixture. 


Whisk all the ingredients together to form a smooth thick batter. Pour into your prepared cake tin.


Feeling all fancy I went for an organised pattern for my cherries but as you can see the 350g just didn't go far enough for me (and my tin is smaller than 8 inches). Next time I would cram as many in as I can which is why I have suggested using 400-450grams of cherries. Always better to have too many then you can eat the left overs!


In another bowl sift your flour and sugar for your crumble topping, add the butter and using your fingers rub the mixture together until you have a crumbly breadcrumb consistency. I added flaked almonds to my topping to add extra crunch, I judged the amount by the look and feel of my crumble topping - more almonds = more crunch!
When the topping has a fine breadcrumb look sprinkle over your cake and pop it in the oven. Bake for 30 -35 minutes until risen and golden brown on top. If your unsure insert a toothpick in the centre of your cake and if cooked it will come out clean. 


Leave to stand for at least 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to completely cool. Now reader I have to share with you my mistake, I didn't have a removable bottom cake tin to hand so I opted for a normal cake tin; BIG mistake. I had to flip my cake out losing lots of valuable crumbly topping. Lesson learned - I shall invest in a new cake tin.


Slice and enjoy!

ANTIQUING AT ARDINGLY


Last week, despite a very busy schedule, we managed to squeeze in our annual visit to the International Antiques and Collectors Fair held at the county show ground in Ardingly. This is a huge event held four times a year with traders from across Europe selling furniture, curiosities and general second-hand loveliness - there is something to interest everyone here.


It was a beautiful day and armed with plenty of money and comfortable walking shoes we set off in search of some vintage treasures amongst the acres of farm sheds and marquees.




How fabulous are these two bone-shakers?


Apothecary set, fluffy chicks and skulls in a cage anyone?


This stunning framed textile was made from individual folded pieces of fabric overlapped and attached to a back cloth. We thought it may have been a floor rug but if anyone can enlighten us we'd love to know more. We didn't ask the price but felt it really should be displayed in a museum. 


It broke our hearts but we had to walk away from this lovely plan chest!


But this is what we did take home with us -


Pretty French spices jars


Gorgeous olive green textured lamp base from 1960/70's


Belgian wooden puppet, used in a previous life to animate  historical feats of derring-do


Czechoslovakian glass baubles - love these!


We loved this old net with its lovely metal detailing.



Wooden blocks with a picture puzzle on two sides and the alphabet on another - can't wait to use these


A good day was had by all; our friends took home between them a set of garden furniture, a vintage crochet blanket and curtains, some old garden tools and a ship's lantern. Can't wait until next year!

BORIS' BASH


What an amazing couple of days we have spent at the Thames Festival in London, we're not sure if there are enough superlatives available to describe what a fantastic time there was to be had!


This is the first time we've attended this event (both as a seller and a spectator) and, as with all 'firsts' there can be a certain amount of trepidation - from issues of stock levels to the basics of 'what if it rains?' but we can honestly say the whole event was fan-tastic!


Instead of having the usual market stall or table we opted for a park bench to display our products - this was a good way to flex our creative muscles and mix things up a little and it worked really well. Our pitch was a few metres away from the riverbank so we were easily able to view St Paul's Cathedral and the Gherkin in one direction and the top of the BT Tower the other way (three of the featured buildings on our London Skyline print of course!) There was live music to keep us entertained all weekend long and a carnival show with fabulous costumes.



Really we couldn't have asked for a better weekend, the weather was sunny and warm and we met so many lovely people; it's great to be able to chat with all our customers and to meet fellow stall holders. Our nearest neighbours were great - Holly Francesca Beyond Fabrics and Black Cactus London, hopefully we will see them again soon out and about in the designer / makers community. Special mention should be made for Mary from We Make London for all her hard work which made  the days run so smoothly ensuring it was a stress free and enjoyable environment for us traders.


The grand finale to the celebrations was a spectacular firework display (best we've seen since the Millennium) but now the hard work really begins as there was a lot of interest and some custom orders to keep us busy. Oh, and then there's that thing at the end of the year they call Christmas!


TROLLEY DASH

It's been a busy couple of days in the studio this week, incase you've missed our self promoting we are going to be selling all our lovely London themed home wares at the Thames Festival this Saturday and Sunday. Super exciting but as is essential at any event one needs to be organised!

Whilst planning our stall layout at home on Tuesday we couldn't avoid the obvious - the best way to display our lampshades is to hang them. A quick browse round the internet showed that Ikea had the cheapest top reviewed clothes rail on the market, so for the sake of Clementine & Bloom we set off to the store.

The plan was nip in to their market hall, grab the clothes rail we wanted and hot foot it back to the car. Well we just couldn't resist a wander along the aisles; we both agreed we didn't 'need' anything but were able to justify our actions as 'market research'.


Although Ikea goes against everything we hold dear as makers - products that are made to last, in small quantities to ensure you have something a little different in your home - we can't help but think that Ikea does fulfil a need; a bit like buying a take-away dinner instead of slaving over the cooker all night, it's a quick fix. Ikea is a guilty secret that makes us want to redecorate; in fact we want to downsize and revolutionise our lifestyles with compact living and quirky storage solutions.

Needless to say we came back with more than just the clothes rail. Below our some images we took whilst we were there, we particularly loved their True Blue section (and even bought these oh-so-useful storage boxes!). It's clear our 'market research' exercise turned out to be more personal than business.



Check out these beautiful blooms, all fake but styled together like this they looked freshly picked from a summer garden!