Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Saturday 24 August 2013

Mainly making.

This is a post about excesses....

If I'm not doing something a little on the creative side, I get itchy fingers.
I've had very itchy fingers recently.

So Romy and I set to - making cards. I'm not exactly sure why. The Spanish don't send cards except on very rare occasions. Nor do they give bunches of flowers to say thank you, or cheer up, or well done. They do appreciate it when I do it but so far, we haven't changed the habits of a lifetime.
There will be some craft fairs coming up as we move towards the cooler weather and maybe there will be some interest if we try and sell them there. Cards and chocolates...it's a nice combination. Otherwise, we may have an excess of cards on our hands. Especially as I've ordered a whole load of card-making goodies from the internet that haven't yet arrived...

Mine
Romy´s


Here are some of our attempts...I tell you which are mine and which are those of my 9 year old daughter because you'd struggle to guess! She is fantastic!



Romy's



This one is mine
And this is a joint effort 


One of mine

And one of Romy's

And another of mine.


This is mine - an attempt to include chocolate! I might work on this idea....

And this is today's effort on my part, which includes the map that Mateo drew. I rather like this one...



Today's efforts at making included all the family - Ruy was particularly pleased with his burger arrangement. And recently, he has been taking his Scotch Pancake making to excess too! We've had them for about 6 days in a row....

(I have no idea why there is a paintbrush on the table...)



And we have a GLUT of cherry tomatoes so this morning, I spent a good hour cutting them in half before setting three trays out to dry in the sun. I sprinkled one lot with herbs and chilli flakes as well as salt and I've already bottled those in olive oil to eat in their nearly dried state. They are absolutely delish!!

This tray and another will go out again tomorrow for another drying session. I want some that are totally dry that I can keep in a container and pop into soups and sauces. The rest will be to add to salad dishes or to eat as a little tapa with some bread and olives. Yummmmmmmm.



FR has been doing wonders with the piles of vegetables that our neighbours have been foisting generously passing on to us. We have had gallons of gazpacho; we've eaten swiss chard (or acelgas as they are called here) fried, boiled, steamed and sauted - in tortillas, with potatoes or on their own. We have eaten lots of pisto and/or ratatouille with the abundance of courgettes, tomatoes, aubergines and onions we've received - adding our very own peppers from the garden.

Yes, we've been busy.

And now I am off to make some fig and orange jam with a huge tray of green figs that was given to me this morning!

Has the summer given you an excess of anything good?




16 comments:

  1. I seem to have missed summer...too busy running from one job to another.

    But I have had a superb excess of good kind friends to see me through it all.

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  2. Well, take it from me, summer has been good and I'm so sorry you've missed it this year. However, I think an excess of good kind friends sounds like the perfect sort of excess to have.
    There's still some summer left - enjoy what's left.
    Axxx

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  3. Brilliant!!!
    Here in the UK I'm just a little rattled by by the huge promotion of sport in the media - there's hardly a mention of this kind of creativity as an activity for children. And I hear from teachers & schoolchildren that Art is being squeezed out of the curriculum too. Like you creativity of all kinds has always been a way of life for me. OK, I was never very good at sport - but that doesn't mean I'm not fit and active!

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    1. Two of my children 'have' to draw - they get withdrawal (ha, hadn't meant the pun!) symptoms if they don't have a pencil in their hands. It's such a shame if children don't get the opportunity to express themselves in a creative way. Like you, I wasn't sporty and hated team games, but love swimming and walking and used to do yoga every day. Prefer making cards these days!
      Axxx

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  4. The cards are lovely. I don't know whether there is much of a card sending tradition in France, but the cards on sale in local shops are dreadful. I know a couple of English women who have started up small scale businesses selling hand made cards...probably, mostly to ex pats who cannot find what they want in the usual shops. using Mateo's map is brilliant.
    As for the tomatoes....and the fig and orange jam.....fabulous. We are going back to France the day after tomorrow, after a completely crazy 3 weeks when I feel as if I have spent most of my time backwards and forwards on the M62, from Hebden Bridge to Liverpool and back. I am sooooo looking forward to seeing my fig trees. They were looking good 3 weeks ago, so I am hoping they are just perfect now. I also have great plans for the olives, and possibly even the grapes....but that might depend on whether I can acquire the minimum of wine making kit....and understand what I am doing. Looking forward to seeing you....soon. Jxxxx

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    Replies
    1. The expats here do buy cards - from our local British shop. I shall put a few of ours in there and see what happens. I'm definitely going to do some chocolate Christmas cards...
      I'm short of blogging material, which is why I posted so many cards! But we are having a lovely summer and not altogether pleased that the end is now in sight and school is beckoning again.
      I made three jars of jam this morning and will be able to make another 9 I think, with all the figs I have. The recipe you will find by following the link in the post above and then following another link - of course, I have adapted it but never had a bad batch. I'm sure your figs will be just perfect for jamming! We have a glut of grapes too - small and with seeds, but lovely eating grapes, so no wine making for us this year.
      I'm sure you will make the very best of the next few weeks in Caunes - and of course, I can hardly wait til the end of September!! Axxx

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  5. The cards are lovely - Turks didn't send cards in the past but all of a sudden, it is the in thing to do. The ones with chocolate are a great idea - how about some with seeds for the garden when your sunflowers have gone to seed. I can't wait to finish work so I can start doing crafty things again. (9 days to go!)

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  6. I'm sure it will catch on here too, Annie. I have a really good idea for Christmas cards with little chocolate trees that I hand pipe. Great idea about sunflower seeds though ours are showing no signs of producing any seeds at all - they've been drooping for quite some time but no seeds are forthcoming. I shall stay hopeful...
    You've had a very busy summer, haven't you. It will be so nice to 'stop'....and do all the other things you'd rather be doing! Counting down with you.
    Axxx

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  7. The cards are beautiful, Annie, both yours and Romy's. I have a friend who makes the most lovely cards, and I've often wanted to have a go, given the price of even the most ordinary-looking cards in the shops. Perhaps I ought to get some of the makings....

    As for those sun-dried tomatoes and the thought of fig and orange jam, as well as your harvest abundance of gifts from your generous neighbours, I'm feeling just the teensiest bit envious. :-) We had a huge glut of cherries as all three trees fruited at once instead of in succession, but sadly have had to leave before the apples were ripe this year.

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    1. I warn you now, Perpetua... it's as addictive as blogging was to start with only costs more to do! Masses of ideas swirling round the head all the time and then the need to buy more and more stuff to put them into practice!
      We have had SO much from our neighbours it's incredible. We took them some of our cherry tomatoes this evening and I've made sure some of my jams have the labels in Spanish as they will be given as tokens of appreciation once I've made a few more pots.
      It's a shame you had to leave things behind - I'l bet the apples are wonderful. Hope someone will collect them and enjoy them.
      Axxx

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  8. Yours and Romy's cards are wonderful, Annie, and I would be the one to buy the chocolate one, knowing exactly which friend to give it to (if I didn't eat the chocolates myself, that is). What a great activity to be involved in.

    Our garden plot has also been abundant! We've eaten, given away, and harvested cherry and Roma tomatoes galore. Yours look so very delicious. I don't have quite enough to dry. Hmm. Must think about that for next year.

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    1. Thank you Penny. I wish you were nearer - I have so many tomatoes, I could have given you some to dry...we honestly have far too many! Next year, I think we'll make more space for peppers and melons. So lovely to eat melon from the garden!
      Axxx

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  9. That's the second time you've mentioned Fig and Orange Jam ... stop torturing me with the thought woman, I'm drooling here! And those tomatoes look pretty yummy too!! I think I may need to move to Spain!

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    1. It's cooling down nicely, Annie...though it gets pretty hot whilst making jam! It is probably my favourite EVER. And my tomatoes dried beautifully in the sun...I am very happy with my produce, I have to say. Thank you! Axxx

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  10. The cards are lovely. I wish I was good at making things. The only thing I have been reasonably good at is making things with clay...pots and dishes, etc. This was a good pastime when we lived in Avanos (Capadoccia) because it was a pottery region with red clay from the river, so I was able to get my hands on some.

    Our figs are coming along nicely, I've had the first handful from the tree and they are the green ones, so I am definitely going to try the recipe with orange...sounds delicious.

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    1. I think being able to make pots and dishes is a wonderful skill to have, Ayak. I wish I could do that - or at least make something really useful!
      The fig jam really is wonderful - I've done 7 jars of it so far and have some more to make tomorrow. And I've made a delicious cherry tomato sauce with courgettes too - I guess we'll have pasta with it tomorrow. FR has been busy too - making shelves in our bedroom. I'll show you those when we've finished it. Axxx

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