Rain dancing

Its been really hot and muggy the last few days and I'm feeling all sticky and horrible :(. A thunderstorm has been forecast tonight and we should get some rain tomorrow and Sunday :) Hopefully that will clear the air a bit and give the vegis a bit of a drink too.
Crafting again for 3 swaps I'm involved in. One New Age one, One Newbie/Vetran swap and one Global Village swap. I'd been running a bit low on inspiration for a while so I'm glad my crafty brain cells have kicked into life.
I should start the wardrobe refashion next week so no more clothes buying for 6 months. If I fall of the wagon I have to apply for parole! I'm not quite sure how this works but I'm going to try and stick to the pledge.
Picked up some cool wool the other day from Oxfam. A big bag of mohair wool in pinks, dark green and dark purple. I'm not quite sure what I'll use them for but it was £1.99 for the whole bag. Bargain! Also picked up some pretty beads today too. Nice glass ones in mauve and purple. They were £2 a bag :)

Summer Solstice

Came back yesterday evening after a brief camping trip so we could see sunrise on the Solstice at Stone Henge. We got there about 2.30am and the place was rammed! We tried to get closer to the stones but we had no chance. As it got closer to sunrise though we found a good spot and settled back to watch the planet do its thing. A lot of people seemed to go around 4ish (mostly the drunken teens) so it got a lot more chilled. Sunrise was a bit cloudy but exceptionally cool. Its not often you stop and just look around you and really think about how amazing our planet is. As we were watching the sun come up I couldn't help but think 'we are watching our planet turning'. The mix of people there was just amazing. So diverse, every nationality, age, faith, you name it.
Around 5ish we were able to move closer and got to walk among the stones. This was the most amazing thing. You don't fully comprehend from pictures just how enormous the stones are. They're massive!! And for the first time in years you could get up close and touch them. It was like putting you through the looking glass and touching another time. Absolutely magical. A few druids amongst the stones which I was pleased about. It sort of feels like their day so I didn't like to think that they were pushed out by the 'festival goers' in the crowd.
A truly amazing experience and I will be posting pictures on flickr shortly so they'll be up to see soon.

Wordrobe Refashion

Signed up a couple of days ago to a 6 month pledge of the wardrobe refashion challenge. The idea is that you don't buy any new clothes for that period of time and all new clothes are made from existing clothes or second hand. The only exemptions are underwear and uniform (if you wear one for work). I was going to sign up for just a month then I though sod it. I buy most of my clothes second hand anyway and I want to get back to making some stuff myself so I thought I'd do 6 months. One of the other conditions (which will probably be harder) is that your meant to post something on the website every week. Hmmm. I can but try :)
What else?..... I've been back making rolls again. They're just rising at the moment and will put some in the oven in a bit. I also made some fruit scones which are yummy :)

Onions and Leeks

Had a very productive and cheap day today. Got up early and went down to our local Watercress Gardens, had a bit of a chill at home 11.30 - 2.30 and then went down the plot for 3.5 hours work. I did absolutely tons of weeding. I think the Parsnips will be happier as a result. Got rid off any competition for water! :) Also pruned the stinging nettles a bit. We've got a patch at the end of the plot which we're leaving for the Peacock Butterflies. There are tons of caterpillars nomming away. We've got a feeling that our 'crop' of Stinging Nettles isn't quite what our neighbours would like us to grow but such as life. I'm sure I read something a while back that was encouraging people to keep some Stinging Nettles, if they had them growing, for the Butterflies. Another month or two and they'll have done their thing so we can cut it back.
I'm now worn out and quite achy but its been a nice day. We also got our first proper veg crop - some leeks and a couple of big onions. Ate those tonight it our own adaptation of Bubble & Squeak :) Very tasty :P.

Hot and sticky

Another baking hot day today! Had a bit of a potter round town and picked up a few bits of the bits I needed to make flapjacks. Then did a bit of baking :) The flapjacks have come out really well and are really tasty. I'll post a pic at some point if I remember.
The person in the US who I was doing the craft swap with has got her bits and pieces that I made her and really loves them. I'm so chuffed. She took a picture of the bits I made her so I took a copy to post here. I hope you don't mind Sugar :)I forgot to photograph all the bits before posting them. I only thought of it after I'd come back from the post office. Doh! I really enjoyed making them and it was nice making for someone else. I'm joining another couple of swaps soon. One with newbies and vetrans and one 'new age' themed one.

Should hopefully be heading down the allotment in a bit. We haven't been down for a couple of weeks and the compost bin is totally choc-a-block and needs emptying!

Fruity Flapjack

Ingredients

• 8oz Margarine
• 2oz Sugar/Splender
• 2 Tbsp Runny Honey
• 1lb Porridge Oats
• 3oz dried fruit
• 1 banana mashed up

• Preheat Oven to 180c and line a low baking tray with greaseproof paper
• Melt marg with sugar/splender and runny honey
• Mix oats, dried fruit together in large bowl
• Stir in melted marg,honey & sugar and banana
• Pour into baking tray and squash down into all the corners. Cook for 30 mins
• Take out and cool for 5 mins then cut into pieces
• Leave to cool completely and then eat :)
  

Crafters Block

I seem to have it a bit of a creative block the last few days :/. After rushing around making all the bits for the swap I'm in I've somehow mislaid my crafting mojo. I've been having a look around at other blogs to getting my brain working so just starting to get a few seeds of ideas. Watch this space :)
On the plus side, I got my Goody Bag from the swap I've been involved in \o/. I was so chuffed today when it arrived. Loads of stuff including a really beautiful ring and some lovely earrings. All very me :) The bag was also exceptionally cute and had a big bat on it ^^. It looks a good size for taking on holiday with my toiletries in. I like to have a cool bag to take to the shower block :). I hope she likes all the bits I made for her.

Omnomnomnom

Just polished of a bowl of ice cream with yummy, alcoholic, raspberry jam :P. Also baked another batch of date and walnut rolls :). Its been a bit of a foody few hours.
Also, finally finished the crafty bits I have been making for the swap. Its all parcelled up now so off to the post office tomorrow. I hope she likes what I've made. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that she does.
Treated myself to a sewing magazine today so I'm thinking of having a go at making myself a top from scratch. There's a nice pattern in the magazine and I've got quite a bit of fabric so maybe at the weekend I'll give it a go. Also picked up a cheap book on jewellery making from Oxfam bookshop too and a crochet hook. I need to find myself a good tutorial online though as I've totally forgotten how you get started with crochet! :/ I've stalled a bit on the scarf I was knitting. I think its probably because the weathers warmed up. Its not really scarf weather now.
Also got myself a very cheap doily to try out a t-shirt idea from CO&K. You use the doily as a stencil and spray a light mist of bleach over it and it should leave a really cool pattern behind. I think I'd better put on something I don't mind bleaching and be careful about where I try this out. I don't want to accidently bleach the carpet and everything else.