Summer Paints Pages

Yesterday I treated myself to some new craft materials. But I am most excited by the double sided pages that Summer painted. When she gave them to me she said they were covers for a book. I was touched that at 6 years old, she understands what is important to me! I have scanned the four paintings and will make something special with them. I love the
yellow lined page... this will be great for journalling.
Meanwhile I am still working on the Alice in Wonderland mini album and have just 2 pages to complete. I will be going to my monthly crop on Saturday and want to take the finished album with me. A good excuse to spend time on it tomorrow, I think.
I mentioned last week that I am planning a creative retreat with friends in a Gypsy Camp. I have been busy preparing a mini album kit for each of us and that in itself has been fun. I wondered what I could use as the pages, as I loved the theme of Alice in Wonderland and using pages from the book. Then I found a Day Book that I have never used. As well as being laid out like a diary there are beautiful flower illustrations and borders around each page, so this will be perfect. I am adding lots of embellishments and printed papers, and I am getting quite excited about starting another mini album.

In a Pickle....

No squash in this pickle, but I found a wonderful way of using other vegetables from the allotment. I have always been wary of making Piccalilli as I was never sure if the sauce would be as good as the Barton brand we love. However, I decided to give it a try and made my own adaptions after looking through recipies. Delia Smith can take credit for the sauce recipe, but I added green tomatos since we have so many as well as cucumber. runner beans, and onion from the allotment. I just had to buy a cauliflower as it wouldn't seem like Picalilli without. Result - lovely crunchy vegetables and the most delicious sauce imaginable! I may not be buying Bartons in future!
I also made some pickled beetroot and onion and cucumber pickles. I just love the chopping and preparation, so soothing and satisfying. And at the end of the day, with my jars lined up, I get a warm glow of pleasure.
By the way, I found a useful way of pouring thick pickle into jars. I thoroughly washed an empty 1 litre plastic milk carton, and cut off the base. I filled it with the pickle (lid on!) and the heat of the pickle made it pliable, so I could easily pour into the jar with very little mess. This worked much better than a funnel or anything I have tried before, so I thought I would share this idea.
I should wait for 3 months before trying the Picalilli, but I think this might be too long! At least it will be ready for Christmas and I may make more jars as gifts.