jennie_jay

"Golden" Christmas....

2009-12-23T16:54:52Z

Pottering around with the Christmas preparations, I was struck by the colour coordination of the homemade fermented fruit drink (my grandmother's recipe), the stock from the Christmas ham (in the jar), and the swede mash gratin... The picture is a bit boring, the items look and smell much more interesting in real life.

The fruit drink is like Nanny Ogg's scumble, made mostly from apples. Dried fruit is the base, I didn't have any dried rose hips or it might have been a bit more red. It's rather exciting to make, it's my first try. I have fond memories of exploding bottles when it was corked too early...

A less fond memory is when I drank too much of it as a very small child, got tipsy and p**d on the livingroom floor. My sister very obligingly reminded me of the incident when I phoned her to ask about the recipe. Need I say that I'm not letting my children have more than a very small taste?

Girl.... er.... WOMAN POWER!! I fixed it!

2009-12-14T22:20:58Z

Our kitchen tap had been groaning and leaking. I asked husband if he could fix it, after some humming and hawing he said he thought we'd better buy a new one and have a plumber instal it..

So I went to the bathroom & kitchen stuff shop and explained the symptoms. "You need to change the ceramic discs and valve body" the nice young man said. He got out the parts, and gave me a drawing, and a special big spanner for the wotsit thingie... So..... I went home, turned the water off at the mains, and... FIXED IT! I changed the valve body, ceramic discs etc...

I am very pleased with myself. Saved xxx money and boosted by self-confidence and feel that I am a good role model for my children...

I've caught my daughter hanging out with Prince William!!!

2009-11-28T16:02:19Z

Shock, horror?

Not really, it's not what you think, but it made me laugh when I saw it. On my lace pillow.

I have some "mother and babe bobbins", with my children's names and birth dates pyrographed on them, and a miniature bobbin in the hollow body of the bobbin. A while ago I bought a Prince William mother and babe, inscribed "Prince William of Wales born ....." and inevitably the two bobbins would run across each other sooner or later on the lace pillow..

There are all sorts of commemorative bobbins. I have one with the text "The Falklands are British", another commemorating the discovery of the sunken Tudor ship the Mary Rose, and various British Royal commemoratives. Pretty things with sparkling shiny beads, just what I need in the November darkness...

The last battle in Sweden - 200 years ago

2009-11-24T20:13:01Z

The very talented Elolinona sings her own song, about the latest, and hopefully last, battle on Swedish soil.... 1809. Against Russia.

Obsessions.... my daughter has discovered "Twilight"

2009-11-22T17:09:32Z

"Hello, I'm Jennie and I'm a Phantom-addict"

This is how I've introduced myself in various places. Because that's what I am. Among other things, of course. Not many of my Real Life friends (the ones I meet every day) understand my obsession. Which is why I am eternally grateful to the internet and its endless possibilities of finding others who share this particular interest...

We now have another budding obsession in the family since my daughter has just discovered Twilight, and is starry-eyed about it. Anything that gets her reading books has my vote, but I will be keeping an eye on her, of course. She's going to see New Moon with some friends, and has strictly forbidden me to go to same performance. I think I'd better see it too, to see what it's all about.

I'm looking forward to studying the blossoming of fandom in someone else....

Lacemakers do it on pillows..... and other cheerful messages on lace bobbins

2009-11-08T21:12:45Z

Have just bought some bobbins on Ebay, by my favourite bobbin maker David Springett. These have sayings pyrographed on them, one of which was "Lacemakers do it on pillows".

I also have bought "Blow the dust, let's make lace", and "I will do some housework tomorrow".

Little things that make me happy.

Phantomy echoes...

2009-10-30T15:36:28Z

Daughter made waffles, and put one into a plastic box in the fridge, saving it for breakfast the next day.

To make sure no one ate it she wrote a note and stuck it on the box:

My waffle
Do not touch!
If it is gone, dire consequences will ensue.

It reminded me of the ALW Phantom's threatening notes in "The Phantom of the Opera". The tone was pretty much the same.

Must check the moon

2009-10-26T20:57:34Z

Am tidying up and re-organizing my "home office". Daughter is changing rooms, moving into our "office", my husband will move his stuff into her room, and I'm moving my paperwork & files into our bedroom, because that's where I have my computer most of the time. Also, husband is.... disorganized.... ie he doesn't keep things in the order I think they should be. So I don't want to share "office space" with him any longer... He can have the room to himself and I shall close the door!

Not really too happy to have a work space in the bedroom, but I don't see the shelves of files from my bed, and I hide away my laptop in the cupboard at night.

Have had a sudden burst of reorganizing and tidying up both at home and at work.... have found that this often coincides with the waxing or waning of the moon, must check the moon and see which it is... Aha, waxing.... must try to remember that until the next time.

I am The Mom (seditious cupcakes and sibling conspiracies)

2009-10-07T18:52:25Z

My son wanted to have a computer LAN thingie with his classmates, one of whom didn't have a computer of his own. So my son negotiated with my daughter to borrow hers. She agreed, on condition that he let her make cupcakes for him and his friends, and that he vacuum her room three times. They drew up a contract and signed it. (I'll be saving that).

Anyway, she and I made cupcakes. The ones with green frosting we decorated with World of Warcraft Horde signs we made in chocolate.

On the pink ones we wrote I <3 WOW etc in white icing. On one we wrote I LOVE MOM, thinking the boys wouldn't notice. They did though, but thought it funny. So did my daughter and I. My son said afterwards: "Mum, you really ARE The Mom" (as in "The Mom Song" see my earlier entry). I'm taking that as a compliemnt

And now it's show and tell:

Perhaps not, after all. Interesting revealations...

2009-09-10T19:16:33Z

Told my son what his sister had said, about not wanting the rabbit to die a virgin.

"Well he isn't. Probably" he said.

"What?"

"Well, you know, that weekend training camp we went to, rabbit jumping?"

"What??"

"Well, you know, he sort of got away a couple of times. Or so."

"HWHAT???"

"Well, yeah, you know, and there were these girl rabbits. Like.... ummmm. Aaaw c'mon mum, you know what I mean, you've got kids."

I'm making HIM tell his sister about it.

"Yeah, you know, that's cool, it isn't as if rabbits care about virginity, they just want to mate, I'll explain it to her," said the Young Man in the House and sauntered off.

Cute kidde quote of the day: "I don't want him to die a virgin"

2009-09-09T21:08:05Z

Our grey dwarf lop-eared bunny, Hoppe Ludentass, Jumper Furrypaws in English, is now seven years old. A bit lopsided in the face, it happens with age in lops I've been told, but lively and sociable.

Today my daughter said: "Mummy, can't we let Hoppe become a father? I don't want him to die a virgin."

Well, what do you say to a plea like that! I've explained to her that not having babies is probably NOT a major issue for Hoppe.

ASHES

2009-08-27T20:20:43Z

A response to my previous post about the sale of the crypt above Marilyn Monroe, translated from Swedish:

Imagine a place, a tree, a pine that carries on growing, where your ashes can be scattered.... when you no longer breathe with your own lungs, but in all simplicity be one with the lungs of the tree... I want to be there one day...

We often go to E's pine.

(You're welcome to translate what I've written)

Hugs

Sis.

I want to be cremated, too, and have my ashes scattered. Haven't yet decided where.

That way I will be nowhere and everywhere. And when you think of me I will be with you.

Passing into eternity next to Marilyn Monroe

2009-08-24T11:17:04Z

I haven't been able to make up my mind what to think about this yet.

The widow of the man who rests in the crypt above Marilyn Monroe is selling the space on E-bay. The bidding ends in a few hours, and has reached a staggering $ 4.6 million.

The blurb from ebay:

Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe. This crypt in the famous Westwood Cemetary in West Los Angeles currently occupied above Marilyn Monroe is being vacated so as to make room for a new resident. "Spending Eternity next to Marilyn Monroe is too sweet to pass up", recently quoted by Hugh Heffner, who has reserved his place in eternity next to her. The lucky bidder will be deeded a piece of real estate that he or she will make their last address. And below you will be Marilyn Monroe. In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her.

Apparently the widow is hard up and needs the money. Well, money is better spent on the living than on the dead, IMO.

I sort of wish someone like Madonna would buy it, and leave it empty, to give Marilyn some space! How silly, it doesn't make any difference to the deceased, does it.?

The chase never ends. Even in death Marilyn Monroe is an object of desire to many.

's Gravenmoer lace on my pillow

2009-08-14T17:26:21Z

Am half-way through my piece of 's Gravenmoer lace.

There are different ways of making lace, you can knit, tat, crochet or make BOBBIN lace. This is a type of lace from the town of Gravenmoer in Holland. It distinguishes itself by some special stitches, and by the motifs it contains, that are linked to this town. It contains windmills, boats, flowers and trees.

This is what it looks like so far, it's hard to show it off, there are so many pins and only a small part is visible.. When it's completed I'll mount it with parchment in a frame and hang it in a window.

This piece uses over 50 pairs of bobbins. All these are made by an English bobbin maker called David Springett. His bobbins are my favourite. So I am a lace bobbin geek/nerd too....

Another bobbin maker makes exquisite lace bobbins from bone... am planning to order some special ones from him. Among them something commemorating "Phantom of the Opera".

There are commemorative bobbins for all kinds of events, ranging from births and deaths, to hangings (in the 19th C). Every now and then a hanging bobbin turns up on Ebay.

Yay! Halfway through!

2009-08-13T19:55:43Z

Have been struggling with my 's Gravenmoer lace project, the diagonal half-stitch sections have been so hard to get right.

But now I'm halfway through the piece I have to make and don't think I've messed up. The Perkinneke, Honeycomb, Roseground look OK, too.

Am working with fine cotton thread, that puts itself right, I don't need to pull on the bobbins as much as with a coarser linen thread. Then again, I can't make too many mistakes because each time I undo a section it wears on the thread and increases the risk of it snapping.

Silk is easier to work with in the sense that it is very tough, but falls smoothly into place.

Enough lace geekery.

But it's fun.

Stomping slugs.... ugh...

2009-08-06T19:48:01Z

We have a slug invasion in our garden. When they come out in the late evening, I pick them up and dispose of them, to put it euphemistically.

Have also tried stomping on them, but the dull plop when they explode makes me feel sick.

They're incredibly slimy and devastatingly ravenous, a real pest.

Souvenirs from England

2009-08-03T19:48:58Z

Two absolutely brilliant kitchen utensils.

A sauce boat for separating the fat from the stock, and a carving fork. The lethal-looking fork is great for holding the chicken/joint/steak/or whatever in place when you're trying to carve it, and also has a hand protective thingie to flip up if you need to carve towards yourself without endangering your fingers..

Simple things that make me happy.

There's no pleasing some people....

2009-08-03T18:05:46Z

I tried a new dish today, that the kids actually liked! Hooray.

It was chicken quarters, baked in the oven on a bed of mixed veg. Potatoes, red peppers, red onions, carrots, squash. Bunged in the potatoes first, to get them going, in a butter-greased tray, then added the chicken after 10 mins. 10 mins after that I chucked in everything else (after tossing with a splash of olive oil in a plastic bag).

Salted, turned everything over every 15 mins or so, but with the chicken always on top.

It came out very rich, juicy and full of flavour.

Kids liked it so much they finished it off. Darn, I'd meant to have the other half for our lunch tomorrow.

There you go, no pleasing some people. Either I'm complaining because they don't like the food, or I'm complaining because they eat too much...

I have just ruined my son's live for ever.

2009-07-23T16:22:26Z

Again.

getting into the Guinness book of records for being the filthiest and most stinky teenager ever.

I made him take a shower, yesterday. And made him wash his hair. With shampoo, this time. Yes reader, he will sometimes try to "wash" his hair without shampoo. He has also been known to try to shower without getting wet. We were driving to my in-laws and I didn't want to be sick in the car.

Faced with the possibility of having his mum throw up over him persuaded him to hit the bathroom.

Why do teen boys like to stink?

I've just poured a bucket of water over the neighbour's cat

2009-07-21T17:08:07Z

I saw it sitting outside our rabbit's run and snuck upstairs with a bucket of water. It was the perfect target from our bedroom window, so I poured.

The cat flew a metre into the air, and dashed straight ahead, ran up the side of the outside of the rabbit pen, down the inside, up the inside and down the outside. And out of the garden.

The rabbit just looked surprized. He's a calm little bunny.

I wish I could have filmed that.

Before you report me for cruelty to cats, I want to inform you that this cat has maimed and killed pet rabbits in the neighbourhood. One neighbour's rabbit was mauled so badly it had to be put down, another neighbour's pet was rescued just in time, and survived, but required surgery.

We've talked to the cat's owner, who has put a bell on it, and said it's OK for us to pour water on it if it comes into our garden. I hope this has deterred it from coming into our garden again, but I'm not counting on it. I've secured the net over the rabbit's pen, and will be checking more often on it.

The "Tama Mama" - and other new levels of parenting

2009-07-16T17:31:58Z

In Sweden we've coined the expression "curling föräldrar", curling parents, meaning parents who do everything for their children, literally sweeping the ground free from all obstacles in front of them. A term derived from the sport of "curling" where you shove a "stone" towards a target and the other team members frantically rub at the ice with brooms to make it go far enough in the right direction.

So, a "curling parent" is basically a parent who "does too much".

I am not a curling parent, I hasten to add.

I have advanced to another level.

That of the "Tama mama". I don't know if you are acquainted with the electronic gadgets called Tamagotchis? Quoting Wikipedia, to save you from googling it:

"The Tamagotchi (たまごっち^?) is a handheld digital pet created in 1996 by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. Over 70 million Tamagotchis have been sold as of 2008.^[1] The Tamagotchi is housed in a small and simple egg-shaped computer. Three buttons (A, B, and C) allow the user to select and perform an activity, including:

Feeding the Tamagotchi a piece of food or a snack.
Playing games with the Tamagotchi.
Cleaning up a Tamagotchi's waste.
Checking its age, discipline, hunger, happiness and other statistics.
Connecting with other friends "

My daughter has three Tamagotchis, and went through a very intense period with them a couple of years ago. They distracted so much in school, that they were banned.

Daughter was distraught.

If she put them on hold/paused them during the day, they wouldn' t grow. If she didn't look after them, they would fall ill and die.

Solution?

I took them with me to work, and looked after them there. My friends fell over laughing when they heard about it.

I became quite attached to them, and my friends call me the "Tama Mama".

Now, what are your name suggestions for the mother who logs in on her daughter's Stardoll site when she is away, just so she can earn the extra points by logging in daily???

A lace bobbin for every occasion....

2009-07-12T19:31:54Z

Ah yes.

I was wondering how long it would take.

Lace bobbins in commemoration of Michael Jackson, on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LACE-BOBBIN-MICHAEL-JACKSON-MEMORIAL_W0QQitemZ230355464625QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_Lace_Making_ET?hash=item35a24171b1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1688%7C293%3A9%7C294%3A50

Dorothy Sayers anecdote

2009-07-11T19:08:56Z

In England we visited an old friend, in more than one sense of the word. Mrs G is over 90, she taught me and my mother to make corndollies, among other things, when we lived there.

Her daughter J now showed my daughter how to spin, and Mrs G taught my son how to set fire to things with a magnifying glass.

She also told me yet another story about one of my favourite authors, Dorothy Sayers, who wrote detective novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy Sayers lived in the village next door to Mrs G, and although I don't think they ever met, there were points of contact. They shared the same family doctor, and so on.

Anyway, Mrs G told me this anecdote about an encounter a friend of hers had with Dorothy Sayer's.

Mrs G's friend was going to London. In honour of the occasion she'd dressed up in her best hat and coat, and actually bought a FIRST CLASS ticket on the train! The train carriages did not have corridors, you got on the train straight into your compartment.

Mrs G's friend had got on the train, and at Witham station, the door to the compartment was flung open and very large lady climbed in. It was Dorothy Sayers. She was very tall, and quite large. People who knew her say that the statue of her in Witham doesn't do her justice. She was larger in life. Anyway, she settled down, and glared at Mrs G's friend, and said in a very loud voice:

"You see some strange people in first class these days!"

Mrs G's friend quickly responded: "Yes, one does, doesn't one. And they get in at every station!"

I wonder what happened after that.

18th Birthday cake

2009-07-03T19:18:49Z

My son wanted to surprise his friend with a cake, and I helped him out. It's a glutenfree chocolate sponge base, with chocolate frosting. The white bits are icing.

Originally he wanted it in the shape of a beer can, but that was too complicated and he settled for a glass of Guinnness... Apparently it tasted all right, too.

"Spinning Jenny"

2009-07-03T18:58:58Z

"Spinn spinn dottern min, snart så kommer friarn din...."

"Spin, spin my daughter, your suitor will come soon..."

as the song says.

In England we visited Mrs G, and old friend of ours, in more than one meaning of the word. I've known her for a long time, and also she is in her nineties now. But full of life and with a great interest in life. I always feel so "energized" when I've visited her. She is an authority on vegetable dyeing and eagerly looks forward to each new season with new plants to pick and test, together with her daughter. She

When we visited her this summer, Mrs G taught my son to set fire to paper with a magnifying glass and her daughter showed my daughter how to spin wool.