Marmalady's Blog

The Infidel's Cemetery

2010-04-24T20:59:00.008+01:00

I first heard about this fascinatingly-named place in a crime novel set in the Peak District. (To my shame, I cannot now remember the title but the author was Stephen Booth). As a lot of local towns, villages & landmarks were either used or still recognisable from their literary counterparts, I was intrigued by the mention of an old disused graveyard on a road I frequently travelled between Wardlow and Ashford in the Water.

Research on the Ordnance Survey maps showed that, indeed, there was a plot of land marked as "burial ground", not far from the well-known beauty spot Monsal Head. Even knowing of its existence and approximate location it was very hard to spot, and on a narrow country road not easy to park up and explore on foot.

Today, however, many happy circumstances combined. I had time to spare, my camera with me, and a nice sunny day. I was able to find a field entrance to park in not too far away so I now have photographs of this forlorn and desolate last resting place.

The easy-to-miss entrance

Once through the hole in the wall, the sign reads "Thieves will be Prosecuted "

Inside the graveyard, the graves are very overgrown -- just now it is easy to see where stones and graves have been but once the brambles grow in a few weeks it will be difficult to walk around. Gravestones that are still standing lean at crazy angles and are covered in ivy.

Despite it's name, this small burial ground is not for infidels, but was used by local Baptists from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. When some of the epitaphs were recorded, it was noted that none were biblical or made any reference to God or Jesus Christ and so it was given its exotic name. According to some stories, the graveyard is haunted by a man dressed completely in black and a woman in grey who flits between the tombstones. Neither were in evidence in the bright sunshine, but I can well imagine that on a dark misty night it could be a very spooky place!

Making Whoopie!!

2010-04-17T22:26:00.008+01:00

According to the newspapers & TV, the craze for cupcakes is over. No longer will people be eating these very pretty to look at but often over-sweet confections.

So, you may ask, how should I satisfy those cakey cravings?

The answer is -- the whoopie pie!!

Despite its name, the whoopie is not a pie - no pastry is involved at all. It consists of two cakey-biscuity rounds, sandwiched together with buttercream.

As I was on the lookout for new items to add to my Farmer's Market Stall, I decided to give them a try this weekend. They sold pretty well -- many people having seen them on TV during the week and so recognised the name.

The recipe said it made 6 large (ie cereal-bowl sized) whoopies. I decided to make them a bit smaller, so I got 9 whoopies about 3 - 4 inches out of the mixture:

the unbaked mixture

they spread a bit in the oven -- next time I might use some of my jumbo muffin cases to keep them nice and round!

However, once sandwiched with buttercream, they didn't look too bad! And tasted even better !:)

My first batch followed the recipe and so were a chocolate "pie" with vanilla buttercream, but they lend themselves well to many combinations of flavours. I am thinking of a lavender pie with lemon buttercream for the summer -- or maybe strawberries & cream for the Wimbledon fortnight!

Milestones 2

2010-04-01T22:16:00.002+01:00

Another milestone reached is my 3rd Etsyversary -- 3 years since I opened my first shop on Etsy! Overall it is a reasonable success - although, as in real-life, sales are variable. I have just had a flurry of Easter sales, but it had been pretty quiet since Christmas.

I had hoped to reach 500 sales around the same time -- but stuck a few sales short. I am now on 493, so I am sure it won't be long before the magic figure rolls around.

Opening on Etsy was certainly the start of quite an on-line "empire" -- I now have 4 shops plus my own website and between them all I have at least one package to post most days :). Ironically, the least successfull is my craft shop, Marmaladytoo - as I had originally joined Etsy in order to sell my crafts! I have also got accounts on various other selling venues (Folksy, Coriandr, MyeHive) in order to reserve my name - though I have not yet set up shops on these sites.

Find my shops here:

Marmalady.etsy.com for baked goods & preserves
Marmaladytoo.etsy.com for crafts
MarmaladyAllsorts.etsy.com for destash supplies & vintage items
MarmaladySupplies.etsy.com for baking supplies

and of course my own site:

Marmalady.co.uk

Milestones 1

2010-04-01T17:46:00.009+01:00

Several milestones have been reached or approached over the last few days!
Last Sunday, our Lizzie reached the "grown-up" age of 30!! Wherever did all those years go? She celebrated with a nights clubbing in Manchester on the Saturday night -- and also managed for all her various friends not to fall out with each other! (for those in the know -- this is quite a feat as there is usually at least one member of the group not talking to another one - so maybe they are all growing up after all ;) ) On the day itself was a much more sedate celebration -- a meal at an Italian restaurant for about 20 of her friends & colleagues.

Her present from us (apart from the chocolate cake!) was this superb bag from etsy seller redrubyrose:

Mrs Beeton

2010-01-03T14:32:00.003Z

One of my Christmas presents was an early edition of Mrs Beeton's Family Cookery. This is a fascinating read, as it gives an insight into the daily life & meals of the average income family pre-First World War. The book assumes that the household has a cook and one maid, so the "Lady of the House" has some supervisory and hands-on duties concerned with the running of the house.
The recipes are arranged in alphabetical order of main ingredient or name of the dish and cover quite a range of international dishes as well as plain basic British cooking. Some will be well worth trying out but others I do not fancy!
One recipe that I cannot imagine anyone eating with relish is this idea for left-over sprouts:

Brussel Sprouts Saland
Ingredients: Cooked Brussel Sprouts, salad dressing, beetroot
Method: Toss the sprouts lightly in a little salad dressing, pile in a salad bowl and decorate with beetroot.

My poor neglected blog

2009-12-31T16:09:00.004Z

Oh dear!

I havent blogged since February!! How do I sum up 10 months in a a few minutes?

The most important change to our lives has been the redundancy/retirement of Peter. He had not been enjoying the travelling over to the office near the airport, so when his team of 4 had to be reduced he volunteered to take redundancy. At nearly 60 he did not expect to find another job near to home (and hasn't actually been looking all that hard!) so has had a lot of spare time to spend on his railway, taking long walks etc. It has taken a little while to get used to him being home all the time, but we are getting a routine sorted out now.

My marketing has continued -- we still do markets at Buxton, Bakewell, Whaley Bridge and have added Castleton to our monthly schedule. Takings have been variable - some surprisingly good markets and some very disappointing ones too. Here's hoping next year will see improvement all round. Sales on Etsy have also been variable -- very few during the summer but quite a rush during December -- in one week I spent about £100 just on postage!!

On-line sales have been boosted by the opening of a 4th Etsy shop -- MarmaladySupplies -- for baking disposables such as cake tin liners, muffin cases etc which has worked quite well. I have also taken the plunge and launched my own website --so I am now a dot co.uk!! -- Marmalady.co.uk . This was with the aim of selling my edibles in sterling -- but the vast majority of sales (averaging 1 or 2 a week) have been of my baking supplies.

There have been a few family events during the year too. In March my 86 year old father was taken suddenly into hospital with kidney failure and we were warned that at his age the outcome might not be good. After 3 long weeks of his grumbles he was fit enough to return home, and with his medication re-jigged has been fitter than for quite a while. His dementia however continues apace and he is still easily tired by any mental or physical effort. We are due for another round of hospital visits shortly as he has now been diagnosed with prostrate cancer - we will find out how serious it is at his next appointment in mid-january.

In July my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a family party. Not many people reach this milestone - so it is a shame that Dad can't remember it!

My mother's youngest sister, Hilary, had been unhappy in her rented house in Romiley for a while so we were pleased to find a nice flat in Chapel for her. The move was difficult as she has the family failing of being a hoarder - decided what to part with was hard!

Lizzie surprised us in November by announcing she was off to Australia for 6 weeks over Christmas -- a holiday she is thoroughly enjoying. She is due home at the beginning of next week - the time seems to have gone very quickly.

I think that brings me up-to-date on the milestones of the year. Have just looked over my goals for 2009:

to lose some weight and keep it off -- well I am finishing the year about 2 lb lighter, - my max weight loss was about 10 lb

to be more organised generally -- ummm fail I think!

not to fret over things & people I cant change but concentrate on things that can be improved -- think this one has been reasonably successfull

My goals for 2010? probably similar to last years -- with the hope of more success!

De-cluttering

2009-02-22T22:28:00.003Z

Clutter abounds in our house and time has come (others would say is way over-due) that action must be taken!

According I took a table at the Girls Brigade Table-top sale yeserday.Unfortunately, although I did make some sales, the majority of the takings were from marmalade & cakes. And what space was liberated was more than taken up by the boxes of railway magazines that somehow made their way into the house from a railway exhibition!

However, all is not yet lost in the de-cluttering stakes. I have now opened a third etsy shop, MarmaladyAllsorts for my de-stash supplies & vintage items. Imagine my delight when I actually sold a cup & saucer this morning! A small start, but a start non the less! I hope to be adding stock regularly!

National Marmalade Day -- Feb 15th

2009-02-15T16:44:00.003Z

Today has been designated National Marmalade Day, so this post is about my marmalades!

After 3 weeks hard work, all the marmalade oranges were finally processed! (Chopping oranges can get soooo boring!! lol ) Most are in the freezer for use throughout the year, but I also made 150 lbs of marmalade of various sorts.

I am trying out 2 new varieties -- Golden Marmalade which is a mixture of oranges, lemons and carrots and also an Orange marmalade with Earl Grey Tea -- inspired by seeing a marmalade-flavoured tea!

Also this year, I have jazzed up my marmalade names -- hoping that an eye-catching name will inspire people to pick up a jar --and result in a sale! It has been fun & also brain-taxing during the last few weeks to think of appropriate names for all my varieties -- or new marmalades if I come up with a name that doesn fit any of my existing ones!

Today, I have re-vamped the marmalades in my etsy shop -- I have added a section for Marmalades ( rather than have them in with other preserves) and added several new varieties. I have also taken some new photos, and edited the listings to include the new names

It's that time of year again!

2009-01-19T14:02:00.011Z

January is seville orange season -- the time all marmalade-makers have to buy their oranges for the year ahead. Acordingly, this morning I collected 8 boxes of seville oranges weighing 40 lb each! So for the next couple of weeks I shall be living and breathing oranges as I get them all chopped, cooked and frozen!

According to the leaflets in the boxes, this year's oranges are from the Ave Maria Farm in Mairena del Alcor, Andalucia, Spain.

Sunday shopping & culture

2009-01-12T13:52:00.003Z

Yesterday we decided to go into Manchester for some shopping and culture. Due to husband not checking the opening times of the shop he wanted to go to, the shopping aspect of the trip was truncated! I did ,however, buy a nice summer blouse for only £5.40 in Debenhams sale.

After a lunch of delicious soup at a cafe we pressed on with the second part of our day -- the Holman Hunt exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.

As it was the last day of the exhibition it was quite crowded --there was actually a queue to get into the rooms of the exhibition. It was an excellent display of a lot of his most famous paintings and some lesser known ones too.

Holman Hunt's religion-inspired works have never been my favourites amongst the pre-Raphaelites although his earlier ones like Autumn Leaves are nice. I must say tho, that i am warming to his "Light of the World" now I have seen the actual painting rather than just reproductions of it.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T09:21:00.002Z

Another new year already! Where did the old one go?

Last night we went to out local Italian Restaurant (the Vecchia Italia) with a group of friends as we have for the past 20 years or more. As always the food & company was great. Usually on New Years Eve there is a good party atmosphere as midnight approaches. Last night was a bit weird tho. The restaurant was full when we arrived, but most diners left as soon as they had finished eating, so at the magic hour, there was only our party remaining to celebrate! Was this a result of the recession, the bitterly cold & frosty night or did everyone have somewhere better to go on to ?

I don't like making New Years Resolutions -- it is too dissappointing if I have failed to keep them up even through January let alone the whole year -- so instead here are some of my goals for the year:

to lose some weight and keep it off
to be more organised generally
not to fret over things & people I cant change but concentrate on things that can be improved

Happy New Year everyone!

It was Christmas Eve and all through the house....

2008-12-24T09:55:00.003Z

.... it is absolute chaos!

After a busy December for Markets & on Etsy (there's a lot of people getting fudge for Christmas this year!) I still have a lot to do before tomorrow! (so why am I sat here? lol)

done:

presents all bought (I hope!)

food all bought

lounge tidied

still to be done -- in no particular order:

dining room to tidy & vacuum

bathroom to clean

best table cloth to iron

best china & cutlery to sort out & clean if necessary

presents to wrap

stuffing to make

alternative christmas pudding to make

christmas tree to erect & decorations to put up

sort out what I am wearing tomorrow --and hope its clean & ironed already!

have a bath & wash my hair

and anything else that occurs to me as the day progresses!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Prosopagnosia

2008-11-22T18:07:00.003Z

Prosopagnosia -- an almost unpronouncable word for a condition that makes every day life very difficult for its sufferers. A more descriptive term is "face-blindness" - the inability to recognise faces -- in extreme cases even those of your nearest and dearest. There is no cure, just coping strategies that vary in effectiveness.

It was quite a surprise a year or so ago when my brother announced he had this condition very severely -- none of the family had ever suspected he had this difficulty. Since he sent us various links to articles about the condition we all took the on-line test. My results came back as borderline as having a problem -- I just thought i was bad at remembering people!

Today he has been featured in the Guardian Weekend Magazine with an article on the subject in which he describes his difficulties: I don't recognise my own face . He has also written more about his condition on his website here: http://www.barryw.net/me/pa/prosopagnosia.html

Out and About at Markets and Fairs

2008-11-20T09:46:00.002Z

With the Christmas shopping season well under way, here is a list of the markets and fairs I will be attending:

Sunday 23 Nov - Marple
Sat 29 Nov -- Bakewell ( as part of Derbyshire Country Markets)
Thurs 4 Dec -- Buxton
Sun 7 Dec -- Poynton
Sat 13 Dec -- Whaley Bridge
Sat 13 / Sun 14 Dec -- Buxton Winter Wonderland
Sat 20 Dec Bakewell ( with Derbyshire Country Markets)
Sun 21 Dec -- Marple
Mon 22 Dec Buxton

I am hoping to have plenty of Christmas cakes (both plain & iced), Christmas puddings, Mincemeat and Mince pies available at each event

Messing about with card 2

2008-10-22T11:23:00.009+01:00

As one of my crochet necklaces did not sit well on the jewellery display bust i made yesterday, I have adapted the design to make a shorter, wider bust. This has worked well -- and will also add height variations when in use on the crafts stall.

My second "make" for this morning is on a slightly larger scale -- a Christmas Tree for my decorations. Again a very quick and simple make. A large oblong of corrugated card cut in half along the diagonal and then the two halves taped together to form a large triangle. The whole piece then covered in green wrapping paper. An old square christmas card box doubles as a "tub" / support -- and is also usefull to store extra decorations!

Messing about with card

2008-10-21T14:19:00.006+01:00

Having had a very busy & successfull weekend at the Great Peak District Fair, I have been catching up on housework and occupying myself on gentle, less tiring tasks yesterday & today.

I found a link to a "how-to" on making gift-boxes so dug out my box of old Christmas cards and made 3 little boxes very quickly:

As they are made from recycled cards they have writing inside the base --but they are fine for using as a decoration on or under the tree at Christmas. For actual use as gift-boxes I will cut some plain card to size for the base -- or use some unwritten cards! The size of the final box depends (naturally!) on the size of the original card -- and the trick is finding cards with good centred images.

The other card make is courtesy of Boojewels -- a simple jewellery display card. It was super-easy to make and looks very effective. This one is my first one, and I will be making more and trying them out at this weekend's markets!

My next task will be to devise an easy & effective display board for my crochet christmas decorations --watch this space!!

2008-09-23T13:32:00.003+01:00

What better way of spending a sunny autumn afternoon, than taking a walk down an English country lane? Childhood memories of picking blackberries always come flooding back -- along with the scratches and nettle stings! The recent fine weather meant I was able to take a bucket or two on a walk down the lanes. The blackberry crop is a bit scarce this year -- but the hedgerows abound with lots of other berries so I picked quite a variety -- blackberries, elderberries, rosehips, hawthorn berries and rowanberries. With the addition of some apples & sugar they have made some delicious Hedgerow Jelly.

Crochet Necklaces

2008-08-21T13:25:00.003+01:00

As always, I took some crochet on holiday with me. This time I took some fine cottons and as well as making some bookmarks I have been experimenting with crochet necklaces. The first was 3 yellow flowers on a green chain. I added some vintage buttons to the centres of the flowers on my return home. The second is in an off-white and is more free-form - it still needs some beads or buttons adding to it yet.

I am pleased with the results and will be making more of these -- particularly the flower one in different colours.

Partial Eclipse

2008-08-01T15:02:00.003+01:00

This morning there was a partial eclispe of the sun. I managed to find the eclipse glasses that we bought a few years ago when we saw the total eclipse in Cornwall, so I was all set to look at the eclipse without danger of damaging my eyes.

We had lovely blue sky and sunshine first thing, so I was in high hopes of having a good view. All started well, at about 9.30 I had a look and thought I could just see a little bit out of the sun. But then thick clouds came over so I couldnt see any more for a while. The grey clouds kept coming & going so I was in & out of the house like a yo-yo every time it looked like the sky was brightening! I also tried to take some photos with the not very accurate technique of holding the eclipse glasses over the camera lens -- this is about the best shot I got!

As good as Rick Stein's!

2008-07-27T18:53:00.006+01:00

Last month, another stall-holder at Marple Farmer's Market bought a jar of my Three Fruit Marmalade. She said she loved Rick Stein's version, but could not buy it very often because the postage made it rather expensive. She had tried many other Three Fruit Marmalades but so far none had been a patch on Rick Stein's. Well, today she gave me her verdict -- mine was "as good as Rick Stein's !!" So that is quite a feather in my cap!

The next stall to mine was Penny from The Jolly Brewer . She did very good trade, and I treated my husband to a bottle of her Taid's Garden Ale, while I had Lucinda's Lager. Both were most delicious and much enjoyed with our late lunch on my return home. I will definitely be buying more next time! Anyone from the North Wales & Cheshire area should look out for her products!

Muffin Dish

2008-07-19T20:37:00.004+01:00

Here is my latest ebay purchase -- a muffin dish by our favourite china company Plant /Tuscan. The design is one that most antique dealers call "exotic birds" but we call "Aunty Amy's" because Peter's Great-aunt Amy gave us a tea-set of this design as a wedding present. She had been given this tea-set by her employers when she got married in the 1920's and comprised 12 place-settings of cup, saucer and two sizes of square plate, along with cake-plates and sugar bowl. The milk jug had got broken at some time in the 1930's during transit when all the family pitched in with china and other help for a family wedding. Looking for a replacement milk jug was the start of a great collection of Tuscan china as along the way we found many lovely designs by this little-known company. When we did eventually find a milk jug in this pattern it came with another 9 place settings and also a coffee pot & hot water jug ! Other additions to the set means we could (in theory anyway!) have a tea-party with matching china for over 25 guests! One day we mean to set the table for such a party and photograph the set in all its glory!

Get Folksy!

2008-07-15T09:54:00.005+01:00

I have now signed up for the new UK-based site for hand-made craft items, Folksy. It is only a few days old as yet so there are still many bugs and glitches to be ironed out but the people who run it are quick to answer any queries that may arise. When it is up and running properly it will be great to be able to sell my items in pounds sterling - something my UK friends cannot understand about Etsy is the need for me to list in dollars.

I did cause confusion by asking them if I can sell my foodstuffs, and for the moment the answer is "no" while they consider all the legal implications and come up with a well-thought out decision. So in the meantime I am just putting some of my crafts on there. I have only got a couple up so far but will be adding more over the next few days. Check out my shop here.

I haven't got any markets this week so am taking the opportunity to get stocked up on preserves -- yesterday I made over 60 lb of marmalade ( 3 different varieties of seville). As my lavender is about ready for picking, I think today I will get some lemons to make Lemon & Lavender Marmalade -- and possibly some apples for Apple & Lavender Jelly too.

Today is St Swithen's Day --and by tradition if it rains today it will rain for the next 40 days & nights! So far it is fine and reasonably sunny so fingers crossed we have a good summer! Apparently he got to be patron saint of the weather because his burial in Winchester Cathedral was delayed by extensive rain.

Time I Blogged Again!

2008-07-06T22:32:00.007+01:00

Am surprised to find its over a month since my last post!
What has been happening in that time?
Over on Etsy we had a secret swap --lots of lovely items have been excnanged --see here : http://www.flickr.com/groups/ukswapmay/pool/

I got these from Pippindesigns :

A lovely felt purse, a leaf brooch and a Marmalady badge. I really like the badge and have worn it at the Farmers Market.

It was Poynton Farmers Market again today. It started off slowly but in the end sales were reasonable. Once again I tried out some new items --some like my Apple & Date Tea-Loaf and Cheese & Walnut Loaf are resurrected from things I have made in the past, others like Bara Brith are totally new. I also made some Strawberry Shortcake -- looked spectacular and attracted some good comments. I sold 2 out of the 3 I made so we had one left for tea!

June 1st

2008-06-01T18:08:00.003+01:00

Today I was at Poynton Farmer's Market, which attracted a good crowd despite the rain. Best sellers today were my Lemon Curd and Chocolate Crunch. An added attraction to the market was a colourfull display of dance by Poynton Jemmers, the local ladies North-West Morris side.
Coming up this week is the regular Buxton Farmer's Market on Thursday and on Sunday we are once again attending the popular Edale Country Day.

I have been trying out a few new recipes recently-- some of which have worked better than others! My Nanaimo bars (another Canadian recipe from a friend) were a total write-off -- the base was far too dry and just crumbled as I cut it. Once I have got the balance of ingredients right, it should be a good addition to my range. I had better success with Moo's Choc-chip cookies --though they spread alarmingly on the tray when cooking! Mega-cookies anyone?
One for trying out this week is a Carribean Fruit Cake. The recipe has fruit soaked in brandy but I will probably substitute rum for a more authentic Carribean touch

Marmalady the Super-hero!!

2008-04-16T08:58:00.004+01:00

On checking my emails at bedtime last night, I had a Google-alert to this fantastic cartoon image!

I love the picture and as I had just finished making 40 lb of marmalade it felt very apt! It often feels like I am collecting all the jam-jars in the world (I certainly have a garage-full and frequently find bags of them left in my front porch!)
On poking around the site, it turns out that the artist is another Etsian : http://inkfingersutter.etsy.com/ .

He does screen-printed T-shirts, so maybe I will commision a T-shirt of the picture to wear at my Markets

Super-hero Marmalady (and many other super-heroes) can be found here:

http://www.thesuperest.com/archives/2008/04/14/s77_marmalady/index.php#read.

April -- the fool returns!

2008-04-01T09:53:00.002+01:00

I have finally got around to returning to my poor neglected blog! I hope I will keep up with it better than before but who knows?

Yesterday I started a diet, but disappointingly the scales hadn't changed this morning! I am determined to lose at least a stone by the end of the month, so when I go to Tesco's this morning will be stocking up on fruit, veg, salads and such-like healthy stuff!

What else has been happening since I last blogged? Not much --my life does not alter very much!

Etsy sales of my baking continue to do well -- I have now been on Etsy for a year and have made over 200 sales --which works out at an average of 4 a week.

I have also opened a separate shop for my crafts --I felt they were overlooked amongst the baking , particularly by international people who only saw I did not ship baking overseas. So far I have only made 1 sale - to a fellow UK'er --but its a start!

http://Marmalady.etsy.com
http://Marmaladytoo.etsy.com

Prize winning marmalade !

2007-09-01T22:14:00.000+01:00

I am a happy bunny today !
As I had a weekend free fom markets, I decided to enter Sparrowpit Show. This is a little village show about 3 miles away. Despite there being classes for sandwich cakes and quiches i decided to have a rest from baking and just enter the preserves and craft classes. I entered my Strawberry & Apple Jam, Mixed Fruit Chutney, Three-Fruit Marmalade and also a crochet doiley in the Craft section. It was good to see quite a few entries in all classes -- shows the art of home baking & preserve making is not yet dead !
When I went back after the judging, I was thrilled to see my marmalade had won FIRST PRIZE !! I was disappointed that my chutney & jam had not even been placed but competition was obviously keen !

Where to start ?

2007-08-30T16:32:00.000+01:00

Once again time has run away with me and several blog-worthy things have happened without me writing them up.

First off, the EtsyUK Retreat in York.
This was a fantastic weekend of crafting, drinking, soft graffiti and generally getting to know some of the other people from the world of Etsy. It took place over the weekend of 17 - 19 August at Queen Margaret's School Eskrigg York. We had the run of the Art Block for the weekend and had a great time learning new crafts. On the Sturday evening while waiting for the take-away to be ready, we decorated some lamp-posts & other street furniture with adverts for etsy.
pictures from the weekend can be found here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Lyn.Helps/EtsyGoesToYorkAugust2007

next , Craft Magazine.
I had been informed by Etsy Admin that I was to be featured in the Etsy advert in the summer edition of Craft, an American magazine. I had heard that it was out about 10 days ago but wasnt sure if I would be able to get a copy as Amazon only had the spring edition. Well, last week I managed to find That WH smiths had several copies in stock ! They have featured my flapjack ( http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6910721). Its a pricey magazine at £7.99, so i dont think I shall be getting it regularly --though there was a couple of ideas in it I will try "when I have time!"

and finally some fun -- Maurice the dancing Shreddie
Moo ( http://moocowhandknits/ ) makes knitted shreddies just like the advert and gives them all names. Several Etsy Ukers now have one. I asked her to make me a Maurice, and then made him a costume to match Chapel-en-le-Frith Morris Men. When Peter wore him on Monday night, the others had not seen the advert so the significance was rather lost ! Here he is in kit:

that is all I have time for now, hopefully will write more regularly in future!

Uk Etsy going to New York

2007-08-15T12:30:00.000+01:00

Some members of the Etsy UK Street team are heading off to New York in December to take part in a craft fair at the Etsy Labs.
They will also be taking some items from other UK sellers, so to help off-set the stall fees and incidental expenses, the team have opened a shop to raise funds. There is a good mix of items already donated -- from notecards to teddy bears! to check it out -- click on the link on the right! I have donated some Christmas gift-tags that I spent Monday evening making. I never realised just how long it takes to string 64 gift-tags with gold thread!

Perseids

2007-08-13T13:13:00.000+01:00

At the moment the Earth is passing throught the Perseids Meteor shower as detailed on NASA's website : http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/11jul_greatperseids.htm?list31471

We went out last night at around 11.30 and were lucky enough to see a few meteors. There were 2 or 3 definite meteors and a few more that could have been , or might just have been my poor eyesight playing tricks ! We were too tired to stay up till 2 or 3 am when the meteor show was supposed to be at its height but will have another look tonight!

Farmers Markets

2007-08-12T17:48:00.000+01:00

Have just had a few weeks without any markets , so have been busy stocking up on marmalades and chutneys. Have now got several varieties of chutney maturing nicely, and well stocked up with marmalade!

This weekend saw us at two markets. Saturday was Whaley Bridge, a market we have done many times before --but this time in a new venue, the Uniting Church. The move was successful with some new stalls as well as the regulars. It was nice to see many new faces amongst the customers too.

Sunday was the first market at the Little Mill at Rowarth. this is a very ou-of-the-way pub, popular as a Sunday lunch venue. The weather was rather unkind, with several very heavy showers, but there was a good flow of customers. We had a good day, and will be doing this market again next month.

On Saturday we finally heard that we have got a stall at the Great Peak District Fair in October. This is an extremely busy 2-day fair - so we will need to be organised and get stocks made well in advance where possible!

Blogged again !

2007-08-02T23:41:00.000+01:00

Bunny (www.bunny.etsy.com) bought some flapjack for a friend and he has been kind enough to blog about them !
Thanks Nils!
http://jawatron.blogspot.com/2007/08/best-flapjack-in-world-probably.html

Catching Up

2007-07-27T09:47:00.001+01:00

Well ! I can't believe I have been home from my holiday nearly a month now and still not found time to blog it properly!
We had such a great time despite the heat (the Mediterranean was having a heatwave at the time) and wished we could have stayed longer in many of the places. Doing both Pisa and Florence in just one day was nowhere near enough time. Greece was also fantastic and a place i would like to go back to.
For anyone still interested, the photos (some of them anyway -- we took hundreds!) are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Lyn.Helps/CarnivalFreedomMediterraneanCruiseJune2007

Since getting home and getting over the cold/fluey thing we brought back with us, life has reverted to its usual humdrum state. We have a couple of weeks gaps between markets so i am trying to use the time well --both to get the house tidy & clean and also to get stocked up on preserves.

I have also listed a few more craft things over on Etsy. I have now been on there 4 months -- the first things I listed are due to expire now ! I need to take better pictures of them before re-listing. The talk in the forums (fora?) is about getting ready for the "up-coming holiday season" meaning Christmas! It seems way too soon to me to start thinking about listing Christmas items ! Maybe I will get started on crocheting snowflakes so I am ready for the "Christmas rush" when it does feel a bit closer.

I'm Back !

2007-07-11T09:17:00.001+01:00

I haven't posted here in so long -- not because I have lost interest but because of a number of reasons limiting my time on-line!
Firstly was a very busy baking week leading upto the main reason for my absence :

My cruise !! - 12 days of cruising around the Mediterranean and visiting lots of interesting places --I will write a more detailed post about this later!

I came home with the most horrendous cold/ fluey thing that meant i spent 2 days in bed dosed up with paracetamol & cough mixture before getting back into the kitchen ! I don't think I have had a cold in over 2 years so this was a real shock to the system!
My lovely etsy friends could barely contain their impatience for me to be well enough to bake flapjacks for them and I have had several orders since my return !

What a Weekend !

2007-06-11T08:47:00.000+01:00

Having booked ourselves into 3 markets in 4 days, my friend Sandra & I knew we were going to be busy, but we have exceeded all expectations!
The first was Buxton Farmers Market on Thursday. We have done this market before as part of Buxton Country Market (which has now ceased trading) but it was our first time selling as independant traders. We were a bit disappointed with the spot we were given but in the end had a good days sale.
Saturday was Whaley Bridge Farmers Market and Anniversary of the opening of Whaley Bridge Railway Station. This meant an all-day event instead of the usual morning market. It was a gorgeous hot n sunny day so we were very glad of the gazebo to shade us & the cakes! There were crowds of people all day and our produce was very popular. We had baked what we thought was enough to see us through the weekend, with maybe doing a few extra bits on Saturday evening for Sunday, but by the time we packed up at 4 oclock we had less than a dozen cakes left! So Saturday evening was then a frantic time baking late into the night so that we had something to put on our stall on Sunday!
Sunday saw us at Edale Fun Day --an event Buxton Country Market has attended for many years. It is always a good day with lots of things happening through the day. The weather started off a bit cool but soon warmed up when the sun had burnt off the early morning mist. Once again we sold out of cakes and also sold a lot more marmalade & jam than we expected!

All in all it was a very good weekend -- exhausting, but well worth the effort !

Flapjacks blogged again !

2007-06-05T10:41:00.000+01:00

Charlotte (www.charlottenarunsky.etsy.com) has been kind enough to blog about my flapjacks ! thanks charlotte xx
http://www.charlotte-narunsky.blogspot.com/

Marmalade Making

2007-06-03T10:53:00.000+01:00

I have just found this wonderfull witty blog article about making marmalade ! It manages to combine bugs bunny, french "adult toys" , and marmalade !
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/02/seville_orange.html
I would have loved to have left a comment but couldn't find a link to do it, so i've sent the author an email instead !
I have been making Rhubarb & Ginger Jam the last few days -- but my writing skills are not good enough to make it sound as good as David's marmalade! Just walking to the bottom of the garden to pick rhubarb does not match upto wandering through french markets! I am hoping there is still enough rhubarb left to make up a batch of chutney, but i think i might have to wait a little while for that.

UK Etsy May Flower Challenge

2007-06-01T08:34:00.000+01:00

The UK Etsy challenge for May was a flower item. There's loads of beautiful entries -- I managed to do 4 flowery things this month! Now its time to vote to see whose is the best !

My favourite is this gorgeous necklace from Sakura :

If you want to see all the entries have a look on our Flickr page :
http://www.flickr.com/groups/uketsychallenge/pool/
and it you want to vote go to this thread in the Etsy Forum:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5116967&page=1

Next month's challenge is for fairies --haven't decided yet what to do for that one !

Cards, bookmarks

2007-05-28T14:13:00.000+01:00

I have finally got the cards finshed that i painted last week. Most will get listed on Etsy over the next day or so.

I have also listed 3 bookmarks -- this floral one is my favourite and is my entry to the UK Etsy challenge for May:

Flapjack

2007-05-25T15:53:00.000+01:00

The lovely Kezz (http://kezzaroo.etsy.com/) bought some of my flapjacks and has written about them in her blog ! (http://kezzaroo.blogspot.com/)
thanks Kezz !

For those of you who can't wait for me to add more goodies to my Etsy shop, see my website (http://www.geocities.com/marmascakes/) for details of other things I can make !

Salt Dough

2007-05-17T13:34:00.000+01:00

Inspired by a book from the library, i have another go at saltdough. When i did it with the kids we always got lots of air-bubbles which spoiled most of the pieces. This time it is much improved but still not absolutely perfect. I am hoping to make some fridge magnets or brooches out of them if i can find some small magnets to stick on the back. I think they might need another coat of paint before i varnish them.

Rainbow

2007-05-13T00:18:00.000+01:00

Weather has been very changeable today -- some brilliant sunshine & some heavy downpours. When the two coincided we got some terrific rainbows :

it doesn't show well in this pic --but it was actually a double rainbow -- there was another faint one above the one you can see here. More pics on my flickr page :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8110522@N04/?saved=1

Say Hello !

2007-05-10T09:42:00.000+01:00

I have been looking at my site visitors statistics. I am getting visitors from all over the world , which is great !
Most visitors are being referred from a link in the etsy forums but there are a few random ones. I would love to know where you are & how you found me , so please say hello & leave a comment if you feel like it !

Etsy down

2007-05-10T09:37:00.000+01:00

Etsy was down when i logged on this morning --and still is now !
I hope all the professional whingers don't give the admins too hard a time when they finish working on it -- i got very fed up last time it went down --stopped reading the forums in the end apart from posting in the "thank you etsy" threads

Saturday

2007-05-05T17:55:00.000+01:00

I have finally got around to listing some more stuff on etsy. I have still got some more to go up -- but at least i have done the photos, worked out the postage etc so shouldnt take too long when I have time to do them.

I have also signed up for a free flickr account for posting pictures on. So far i have only got a couple of christmas cakes & a birthday cake up, but hope to get more cake & craft pics up soon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8110522@N04/

Featured Seller!

2007-05-01T14:42:00.000+01:00

Today I have been chosen as featured seller on the Etsy Greetings Blog !!

http://www.etsygreetings.blogspot.com/

May 1st Mayday on Eccles Pike !

2007-05-01T09:29:00.000+01:00

Chapel-en-le-Frith Morris Men had a beautiful morning for their annual dancing at dawn celebration of May Day. See here for pictures of previous year's dancing : http://www.jingle.plus.com/cmmindex.htm
Despite the small audience (only 4 this year!) they danced a good long set to greet the sun , arriving here for breakfast around 6.30. Many bacon butties and much toast & marmalade consumed !

Next outing for the Morris Men will be next Monday (May Bank Holiday) at the celebrations on Chapel Market Place during the day then out again in the evening at Old Glossop (who forgot about Bank holidays when arranging the programme?)

have now been given some photos taken this morning ! the first is a lovely view of the sunrise at 5.45 am , then a team photo at 5.46 am.

work in progress

2007-04-26T15:13:00.000+01:00

here's a pic of various glass items that i have been painting recently. I will get them baked this afternoon and then take proper photos ready to list them on etsy over the weekend

Tomatoes

2007-04-25T11:45:00.000+01:00

My poor tomato plants looked decidely sickly this morning -- they should have been potted on days ago ! Have now got them into 3" pots so hope they will recover! Must start looking out my large pots and preparing some ground ready for when they need planting out !

Wednesday

2007-04-25T10:15:00.000+01:00

I have finally got round to up-dating my web-site (http://www.geocities.com/marmascakes/) to remove a couple of items that are sold, and add some more varieties of marmalade. As I am doing better with sales on etsy, I am not sure how much longer I will keep it up as a selling venue. It is a good place for me to keep a list of all my marmalades tho.

Friday

2007-04-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

Although i have not added anything here this week I have been busy painting cards & glass things. I hope to get some photos done later today / this weekend -so check back for a peek before they go into my Etsy shop ! (www.marmalady.etsy.com)

Welcome

2007-04-15T17:34:00.001+01:00

Welcome to my Blog !