Victoria Plum's Homegrown Blog

Baby Knitting!

2011-11-08T14:36:00.000Z

Two friends of mine are about to have babies ... so I have been busy knitting little bits for very little people! I have a huge amount of this lovely Rowan wool and find it is perfect for keeping precious little newborns warm.

This cardigan, hat and booties is for the baby who is due ... any time now!! The patterns are from the lovely "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies" by Hadley Fierlinger.

So now I need to get knitting for the December baby! And start various Christmas knitting projects! I'm finding that there really are not enough hours in the day to get anything done anymore!

Winter Knitting Part Two!

2011-10-04T19:37:00.000+01:00

Here they are!! I showed you one glove back in August and I have finally finished the second one!

Now that Little Miss Plum (at 13months, can't really call her a baby anymore!) is in bed at a reasonable hour (6.30pm!) I have time to get some knitting done in the evening, I have also started up a knitting group where I work and joined the new local knitting group which meets every other Friday! Knit-tastic!

I have just started to cast on a beret for Little Miss Plum using the same wool as my gloves. I think that it will look very pretty!

My best ever jam!

2011-09-27T22:45:00.000+01:00

I must tell you about my jam!

This isn't like my blackberry jam which was rock solid ... or my rhubarb and ginger jam which turned to toffee in the pan.

This is lovely, 'firm' (can you use 'firm' to describe jam?) strawberry jam!

Remember our allotment plot? (More of that another time ...) well, this summer we picked 11lbs of strawberries from our patch! 11lbs!! Most of these were scoffed, still warm from the May sunshine ... but a good proportion were picked by Mr Plum while I was staying with my parents and bunged in the freezer.

So I defrosted ...

After my runny strawberry jam incident, I made sure I got sugar suitable for strawberry jam!

I popped to John Lewis and got a sugar thermometer

Sterilised my jars

Mmmmmm 8 jars of delicious jam! I will have to make scones this weekend!

Happy Birthday Baby Plum!

2011-08-20T22:01:00.002+01:00

Can you believe that my beautiful girl is one year old?

Here is the card Mr Plum slaved over to send in to Cbeebies. Hopefully they will show it!

Happy Birthday Baby Plum!

We are having a party this afternoon - so will let you know how it goes!!

Baby Plum is Almost 1 Year Old!

2011-08-18T21:01:00.000+01:00

Baby Plum is One year old on Saturday!

Can you believe it? Where has this year gone?

We are going to have a little tea party to celebrate and I have been busy baking today, while Baby Plum settles into her nursery.

I have baked some lovely cupcakes - which, unfortunately I am unable to share with you as Blogger won't let me upload the photo ... and of course, a "Number One" birthday cake for the birthday girl. When I dropped her off at nursery this morning one of the staff said that they were going to have a little tea party for Baby Plum tomorrow afternoon and I could provide a cake if I wanted...so I knocked up a victoria sponge! How exciting!

I'll post more cakey pics on Saturday.

Winter Knitting

2011-08-13T21:11:00.000+01:00

I know what you are probably thinking .... gloves in August? Has Victoria Plum gone stark raving bonkers??

Well, having spent the last year or so knitting baby bits for Baby Plum and other babies I thought that it was about time I knitted something for little ol' me.

I wanted something quick and easy ... and I figured that this was the right time of year to start my winter knitting! Here is the first glove!

I picked up this lovely multi coloured yarn in the John Lewis sale and thought that it would be a perfect match for a bargain jacket I got in the Joules sale which has 3/4 length sleeves. Perfect.

Anyway, enough nattering on here ... I'd better get on with my second glove!

For those who follow me on Twitter, you'll know that the London riots were scarily close to the Plums. Mr Plum wrote about them on his blog - if you are interested in those awful few days from our perspective have a read here. Thank you for all the lovely messages of concern.

Fruity Infusions At The Berkeley

2011-07-13T11:31:00.000+01:00

On Monday I met up with my two oldest and dearest friends for afternoon tea. Baby Plum was still a bit scabby from her bout of chicken pox, so she stayed at home with Daddy Plum.

It was a bit of a novelty having a day out and not having a pram/sling/nappy bag with me! I thought I would make the most of this rare baby free day!

I headed into town and popped to the John Lewis haberdashery department where the clearance sale was still ongoing (finishes on Sunday, I think!) and picked up some wool to knit myself some gloves with!

I then popped to work and met a friend for a quick drink to catch up on the news and gossip.

After that I met my friends for a lovely afternoon tea at The Berkeley. As you know, this is the home to the fashionista's afternoon tea and I have blogged about the wonderful cakes before. Previous seasons can be found here, here and here. We are all fans of lovely cakes, aren't we?

This time I was lucky enough to try out the new fruity infusions. Don't you agree that fruity/herbal teas quite often smell better than they taste? Mmmm smells of lovely fruit, but tastes of dishwater? Not these infusions!

These lovely fruit infusions are produced by Spiceway and rather than a dusty ol' tea bag in your cup you put a couple of teaspoons of delicious dried fruit into your cup ...

Add freshly boiled water ....

Allow the fruit to infuse... I had a spicy apple tea which would be absolutely perfect for a chilly winter's afternoon. All apple and cinnamony! Delicious!

Then drink (the picture below is the Funky Fruit tea). At the end you can eat up the fruit from the bottom of the cup which is now like a compote!

A lovely cup of fruit tea!

Melt in the mouth shortbread buttons

2011-07-08T14:01:00.000+01:00

I was inspired by Retromummy to make a batch of yummy shortbread shaped like buttons!! Retromummy was inspired by the May issue of Country Living - so this idea appears to be bouncing from the UK to Australia and back again!

I'm looking forward to a biscuit with a nice cup of tea this afternoon!

What are you baking this weekend?

Knitting for Winter Babies

2011-07-08T11:05:00.000+01:00

A couple of my friends are expecting babies this Winter so I thought I would start a bit of knitting for them nice and early!

I don't know whether they are expecting boys or girls so had a brainwave! Rather than just stick to blue/pink/yellow/cream, I would use some more of this lovely green yarn and knit a basic layette cap (from my current favourite knitting book Vintage Knits for Modern Babies).

Inspired by my favourite flower fairies I am then planning to add either little green leaves (in felt) around the top of the hat for little boys or pretty pink petals for little girls. Of course, I just have to knit a big one for Baby Plum to wear this winter!

I'm really pleased with this pattern - so quick and easy to do - even with a chicken poxy baby in tow!

Vintage Apron Dress

2011-07-04T20:45:00.000+01:00

Here it is! I have finished Baby Plum's little apron dress. I am rather pleased with the finished product!

Here is a detailed view of the pocket. I bought the ladybird buttons at the Knitting & Stitching Show I visited back in January.

The neckline was a bit tricky. But with help and advice from lovely people on Ravelry, I worked it out. The button holes went slightly awry (i.e I followed the pattern exactly) and the button holes had vanished! Anyway, I have stitched the straps together for now and added another couple of ladybird buttons. I'm thinking of making a little felt ladybird to put in one of the pockets as a little surprise for Baby Plum!

If only computers had smell-o-vision

2011-07-02T21:44:00.001+01:00

I couldn't resist these beautiful stocks when I went shopping yesterday. They smell so beautiful and remind me of my wedding bouquet.

A Work In Progress: Part Two

2011-07-01T21:39:00.000+01:00

I thought I would give you a quick update on my current knitting project.

I'm rather proud of the amount of knitting I have managed to do of late. This has coincided with Baby Plum going to bed a bit earlier and rather than passing out on the sofa exhausted, no longer having a night feed and getting at least 8 hours sleep now means that I have got my evenings back!!

I have a few concerns about the back of the dress (right side). It looks like a completely different shape to the front, but please be assured that this is just because I have it on the circular needles. I still need to cast off. I am a bit worried that the button holes may not be in the right place and have prepared my self to unpick the last few lines of the back of the dress and re-do them, if needed!

Another day out in London town!

2011-06-13T19:19:00.000+01:00

This weekend my sister-in-law and her boyfriend came to visit. We thought that it would be fun to head into town and visit a couple of museums.

Mr Plum was keen to head to the baby friendly areas. The Science Museum had an area called The Pattern Pod which was aimed at 5-8 year olds, Baby Plum had fun chasing fish on the interactive floor! There was a whole area called "The Garden" aimed at under 5's so Baby Plum spent some time in there with her auntie and uncle.

Next we popped next door to the Natural History Museum. Baby Plum was fast asleep in her pram, so auntie and uncle had a look round the museum while we had a cuppa in the cafe and a wander around the shop!

What a lovely day!!

Baby Plum enjoying a pain au chocolat on Sunday morning!

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside!

2011-06-09T09:55:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday I headed into London to meet a friend for lunch. This was one of those exciting last minute-ish things as my friend was on a flying visit back from New Zealand and was only going to be in London for a couple of days! It was lovely to catch up with her. I hope she comes back home again soon.

There is always something interesting going on along the Southbank. If you find yourself in London and at a loose end - head down there! You won't be disappointed.

As I headed towards Giraffe I was greeted by this ...

and these ...

deckchairs outside Foyles? What is going on??

The seaside theme was all part of the Festival of Britain and the "Summer of Fun". There were exhibits inside the chalets, but it was a bit of a tight squeeze to get me and Baby Plum inside along with all the tourists!

A lovely sunny afternoon ... yummy food and fun with Baby Plum!

Strawberry Jam

2011-06-08T10:06:00.001+01:00

I forgot to tell you about my jam!

I made strawberry jam with the first batch of berries we picked from the allotment.

Unfortunately I didn't add enough lemon juice to the jam so it is very runny at the moment. My mum found some remedies to sort out runny strawberry jam, so I will be having a go at thickening it up soon!

We picked about 10lbs of strawberries from the allotment! Our allotment neighbours even commented to Mr Plum that they thought we had the best patch on the site! Hmmm...I bet she pinched a couple! ha ha!

Our freezer is bursting with more strawbs ... I'm planning on making some more jam and some ice cream. Yummy!

A Work In Progress

2011-06-07T10:51:00.001+01:00

I have been knitting Baby Plum a little pinafore dress since February!! It's taking ages as I'm finding it hard to juggle Baby Plum and my crafting, but I had a good go at it last week while staying with my parents. I have now completed the back and two pockets! I will shortly begin casting on the stitches to begin the front of the dress.

It's a lovely pattern from "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies" by Hadley Fierlinger and I am using the wool I picked up half price at the Stitching and Craft Show earlier this year.

I'll keep you posted with it's progress!!

Girls in White Dresses ...

2011-06-06T11:16:00.000+01:00

On Friday me and my parents went to Woodstock for the afternoon. After a lovely lunch we had a stroll through the town and popped into a lovely shop called Perspective.

Nana Plum treated Baby Plum to some beautiful dresses! We got a bit carried away and couldn't resist them! The dresses are a little big for Baby Plum at the moment, but will be perfect for next Summer!

I thought that you would like to have a little look ...

Nana Plum can't resist a sailor style collar!

I just can't wait until Baby Plum can wear them!

Of course, I will be knitting a pretty pink cardie to wear with them ... and maybe making some lovely little hangers to hang them on! If I have time!!

Can I have a pea, please?

2011-06-05T20:01:00.000+01:00

Hello!

Thanks for all your lovely comments...I think I was just in a bit of a funk :) A holiday in Kent and a week in the Cotswolds (with my parents entertaining Baby Plum lots while I had a rest!!) has left me feeling refreshed and ready to get back on here!

Mr Plum has been busy on the allotment. I have to admit that when we took it on I had a romantic vision of spending my maternity leave down at the allotment with Baby Plum in her pram sleeping or playing. Unfortunately that wasn't to be as it has managed to coincide with Baby Plum going through the "separation anxiety" phase (and how long does this last?!). It has meant that we have found it very hard to keep on top of the upkeep of the plot as we have been away a lot. While I went to my parents last week, Mr Plum was down the allotment each evening digging, weeding, weeding and more weeding!

But, we are starting to see the fruits of our labours! We have had about 10lbs of strawberries from the plot! I have made a batch of jam (more about that tomorrow!), my mum whizzed up a couple of jars of strawberry sauce yesterday and I have stacks of berries in the freezer (ice cream?)

We have also had some peas!! Eaten last night for dinner. Delicious!

Gratuitous "baby eating homegrown strawbs" picture!

Bloggywobbles

2011-05-27T21:40:00.000+01:00

Hello!

I know that I have said it before, but I really don't know where time goes!

I barely get time to read blogs let alone write posts anymore! I just haven't been inspired to write about anything, and I couldn't put my finger on why ... and then I realised - I don't think that I do very much worth blogging about anymore. I've banned myself from baking as I was putting on too much weight, I hardly get the opportunity to pick up my knitting needles as once Baby Plum is in bed I am generally passing out in front of the tv with exhaustion, I started a bit of sewing back in March ... I burnt some jam in April ... I went out for afternoon tea a couple of weeks ago.

When I started this blog in 2008 I was a very bored civil servant who sat at a computer 9-5, Monday to Friday and felt that any bit of creativity I had once had had been beaten out of her by "the system". Starting this blog and writing about the stuff that I love to do (pretend I live in a lovely little village, baking, knitting, gardening etc) made me realise that there is so much more to life than sitting in an office, day in, day out. I felt inspired by other crafty blogs to get on and make stuff!

I have been on maternity leave since mid July (oh no ... due to go back to work in August) and my days are spent looking after the beautiful Baby Plum (now 9 months old - can you believe it?). My days are a mix of fun baby clubs (rhymetime and lots of coffee mornings), play dates with other babies, trips to the swings ... being a full time entertainer! I don't really get much time to do anything else.

Do you want to hear all about my day to day life with Baby Plum? Therein lies a problem itself as I'm a bit weary of the internet and don't like too much personal information 'out there' and by telling you all about me and my baby just seemed a bit too personal and how could I remain anonymous with more and more detail about my life going out?

The blogs that inspired me back in 2008 were the crafty ones and now more and more I find that I am drawn to the Mummy Blogs and the Baby Led Weaning blogs...I had always felt that my blog, although a happy mix of all kinds, did tend towards to crafty side of life...should I now rebrand?

But tonight I made some jam! Strawberry jam with berries from our allotment!

So I now have something to tell you all about, if you are still interested? I hope so!

Is someone getting married?

2011-04-28T22:11:00.000+01:00

Love them or hate them ... it is hard to escape tomorrow's nuptials!

I'm very excited! If we didn't have Baby Plum in tow, I would be tempted to hop on the train into London and have a look!

The Plums will be celebrating the Royal Wedding with a champagne breakfast at home and then onto friends for a BBQ in the afternoon. I promised the hostess that I would bring along something Royal Wedding themed ... do you reckon my Victoria Sponge with Berry topping will go down well?

Hurrah! Congratulations to William and Catherine!

How will you be celebrating the Royal Wedding?

I've been neglecting an old friend ...

2011-04-15T20:01:00.000+01:00

My garden.

We've been busy working on our allotment and I am sad to say that my poor little garden has been a bit neglected.

I was out there this evening planting some more seeds (courgette and purple sprouting broccoli) in the greenhouse. I wish we had smell-o-vision on the computer as the aroma was amazing! The air was thick with the scent of lilac. It was so so beautiful. Mmmmmmm

Here are a few pics

Lilac and cherry blossom

Apple blossom

More competitions!

2011-04-11T09:20:00.001+01:00

Yes, I have recently won two competitions! I never win anything (and will be choosing my third competition carefully, I tell you!)

This was another twitter competition where all I had to do was retweet! And I won! hurrah!

This is a lovely lovely book, full of yummy recipe ideas for little people. So far, Baby Plum has enjoyed roast vegetable fingers, guacamole and will demolish a whole bowl (baby sized, of course!) of delicious hummus.

We are looking forward to trying out other recipes as Baby Plum gets older!

You can buy Jennie Maizels "Finger Food For Babies and Toddlers" here and can also follow Jennie on Twitter

Baby Led Weaning: Our adventures so far!

2011-04-05T11:32:00.004+01:00

April already! Hellooooo!

Well, Baby Plum is now 33 weeks and we have been enjoying weaning for the last seven, or so, weeks.

I hadn't really given weaning much thought but as she hurtled towards being 17 weeks old and my other Mummy Friends began to give their babies purees and baby rice - I started to look into it!

I don't know where I came across the term "Baby Led Weaning" first. Probably a blog. But it made sense to me.

The basic premise is to hold off weaning until your baby is 6 months old (and their digestive system is more developed) and offer them food. No, not purees and mash. Your food, the food off your plate. Some broccoli? Mmm. Roast vegetable fingers? Yes please! Some fajita veg in Chiquitos - YEAH!!

I didn't know when to start. But Baby Plum knew when she was ready for food. It was the day she grabbed a banana out of my hand and shoved it in her mouth!

I love banana!

Not the best self portrait - but here we are enjoying fajita veg salad!

I'll have a full English, Mummy!

I love Mexican tortillas! Can I have some more guacamole please - it makes a lovely face pack!!

I do spoon feed Baby Plum her breakfast as I can't cope with porridge being spread around my kitchen each morning!

The thing with BLW is that food should be fun - Baby Plum will play with most of her food rather that eat it all up. She does eat some of it (her nappies are proof of that!) but her main source of nutrients continues to be her milk feeds. She sits at the table with me and Mr Plum each evening and has some of whatever we are eating. She has tried so much food! It is great fun.

Spring is here!

2011-03-21T15:12:00.004Z

Well, Spring is here, so it is time to get out into the greenhouse and plant some seeds!

The Plums spent the weekend down on the allotment - you can read more about that on Allotment Plot 7A

But what is the point of a weekend of digging and soil prep if you haven't got any plants to plant in it?!

Above is my afternoon's work. We have:

Tomatoes

Peperone, Money Maker, 100 & 1000s, San Marzano, Roma & Ailsa Craig (I do like to try a variety of tomatoes!)

Aubergine

Red Marconi Pepper

Looking forward to waiting for the seedlings to appear!

Spring Flowers

Baby Plum has been poorly for the last week with a nasty bug. She has perked up over the weekend and has spent the afternoon sleeping in her pram in the garden. She is now awake and demanding my attention, so I had best be off!!

Babywearing: A Review of My Wonderful Snugbaby Sling

2011-03-16T09:35:00.004Z

Those eagle-eyed readers among you may have noticed this logo appear on my blog a month or so ago ...

Well, I entered the competition and I won!! Yes, I WON A SLING!!!!

Here we are in front facing mode ... Baby Plum is mid raspberry blow ... she really likes to blow raspberries!

I bought myself a bog standard Mothercare sling when pregnant. I knew that I would want to carry Baby Plum this way sometimes, but didn't research the whole sling thing as much as I should have. In fact, although a very good friend of mine is a self confessed "breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth nappying mama" it didn't even occur to me to ask her advice on which sling to get .... anyway, a few facebook whinges about my sling later, and my friend suggested I look at all the different slings in the market, and maybe visit a local sling meet to try them out.

I did look at the different slings, but was put off by the fact that the baby is only held in by a couple of knots ... and the price, having already forked out for one sling, I couldn't really justify the £60 odd quid being charged for other slings.

Well, that was a mistake as it would have been £60 odd quid well spent! I have worn my new sling quite a bit since collecting it from the Post Office depot last week. I have tried baby Plum in the front facing and inward facing positions (but not on my back yet!) and it is so comfy for me and the babe. In fact, it does not feel like I am carrying 16lbs of baby on my front!

The material is lovely and I was able to choose my design (I went for this lovely Blossom design), the sling is reversible if Mr Plum fancies wearing it, but doesn't want the blossom design!

I would definitely recommend this kind of sling to anyone who is looking to try out a spot of babywearing!

Baby Plum is a bit poorly at the moment, otherwise I would have tried her out in the hip wearing position and be in the greenhouse!

Allotment Plot 7A

2011-03-10T09:00:00.000Z

The Plums are very proud to announce that they have finally reached the top of the local allotment waiting list and have a plot of their very own!

Yes, we have an allotment!!

I know that I vowed NEVER to grow tomatoes again ... but I think that I just don't have the space or the sunshine in my little garden and am hoping that I will have more success over at the plot.

Follow our adventures over at our new blog where both Mr Plum and myself will be writing about our digging and building (Mr Plum) and delicately planting seeds (me!)

Spread the word, allotment themed giveaway once we have 50 followers!

I'm back and I'm making stuff!

2011-03-09T15:06:00.004Z

Helloooooo-ooooo!

Hope everyone is fine and dandy!

I'm back!

I've been very busy lately - but have been keeping up with all of your lovely blogs, and even finding a moment to leave a comment or two! But, I have decided that it has been too long since I last posted a blog ... so here I am!

Here is a little birdy toy I have made for Baby Plum ... I am planning on making some more with different fillings (sand, rice, beans, bells...). She liked it and put it straight into her mouth! I used a cute little pattern from CK's "sew" book.

Where does the time go?

2011-02-17T20:39:00.004Z

Apologies for the radio silence on here! I really don't know where the time goes ... well, I do have a pretty good idea ... she is now 6 months old and an absolute darling!

I have so many blog posts drafted in my head! I'm off up North for the whole of next week to stay with my inlaws - but once I am back home normalish blogging service will be resumed!

Coming soon to a computer screen near you ...

My adventures with Baby Led Weaning

The Plums Walk the North Downs Way

The Monthly Make Challenge

52 Makes Madness Challenge

More Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

I won a Competition!

Possibly a review or two ...

See you soon!

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

2011-02-09T11:00:00.002Z

At 5.30pm, me and Baby Plum settle down in front of the TV to watch Jamie's 30 Minute Meals!

My parents bought me the cookbook which accompanies the series for Christmas and I finally got around to trying out one of the meals.

There are a lot of non-believers out there! But as Jamie explains in his book and on the TV - you need to get your into your 30 minute mind set!

Do you have all your ingredients ready?

Have you got your food processor with the coarse chopper ready? Kettle boiled? Knives and chopping board?

Pans ready?

30 minutes (and 4 seconds!) later ... Spagetti Alla Puttanesca (with quorn instead of fish), crunchy salad, garlic bread and silky chocolate ganache. Delicious!

(Apologies for the photo - I really should have unwrapped the garlic bread a bit better before taking the pic!)

Giveaway Winner!

2011-02-03T22:39:00.002Z

Congratulations to Lissylou ... you are a WINNER!!

Lavender Cupcakes

2011-01-30T21:15:00.001Z

Again, not the best pic - but here are two of the lavender cupcakes I made for the girls at my Baby Massage class this week!

I was a bit dubious at first, but have to admit that they did taste rather lovely!

January Monthly Make: Pixie Hat

2011-01-29T20:51:00.003Z

Here is another pixie hat I have made for a friend's new baby ... apologies for the quality of the photo but I am having issues with iphoto (and along with feeling a bit snotty, having just eaten a disgusting meal cooked by my own fair hand (I forgot about the pasta while trying to calm a fractious baby!) I have lost all patience with it!!)

This hat is my January entry into the Felt Fairy's Monthly Make Challenge!

Naughty Victoria Plum Does Some Baking

2011-01-23T18:09:00.001Z

I have had to cut down on my baking!

I was baking cakes and eating (most of!) them. This wasn't helping my attempt to lose the 'Mum Tum" (ahem! and the rest!!)

But I love baking soooooo much!

I was given the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for Christmas - and decided that I would bake some cupcakes to take to my Baby Massage class on Friday morning.

I opted for the 'Black Bottom Cupcakes' ... initially I thought the recipe sounded a bit fiddly...but it wasn't at all. Oh my goodness! Dark choc sponge, with a dollop of cheesecake filling (did I mention the chocolate chips?) topped off with cream cheese frosting ...

D E L I C I O U S!!!

And went down very well with the girls at Baby Massage.

I'll be making the Lavender Cupcakes for next week's class!

Ooooh Fabric and Yarn!!

2011-01-22T17:12:00.004Z

I have just got back from a very successful trip to the Stitching and Craft Show at Sandown.

I had a budget in mind (and I almost kept to it until I saw some yarn which I couldn't resist!). As I only have one my month on my full salary before I go onto statutory maternity pay, I thought I would stock up on the crafty bits and bobs I need to see me through the next few months (I will be heading to The Felt Fairy once I have been paid!)

I couldn't resist these fat quarters .... I love the Beatles fabric! Maybe I will make Baby Plum a funky Elvis skirt for the summer?

I bought a couple of bargain 5 half meter rolls of fabric. I am thinking of making a greeny blue patchwork quilt and well, I just couldn't resist the Liberty (style?) fabric

Let's not forget my first love ... Knitting!!

Some lovely Rowan yarn (is 10 rolls excessive?) It was half price, so couldn't not buy it now, could I? I have a lovely pattern for a knitted pinafore dress. Baby Plum will look cute as a button in it. And talking of buttons, I picked up some gorgeous ladybird buttons to accessorise the dress with!

And my final purchase ... this lovely little book ... I will be making Baby Plum some knitted veg!!

This wasn't a huge show and I was a little disappointed that there were no jelly rolls of fabric for sale as I had planned to get one (being a little bit of a cheat for my first quilt!) and I would have liked to get a Clothkit for myself and Baby Plum. I went along with two of my crafty pals Brocante Belle and HannahRosie.

Brocante Belle has recently started blogging - she was also a bored civil servant (like me and Mr Plum) but she escaped!! She needs a bit of encouragement to keep blogging about her creations - so go and take a look at her patchwork quilt - it was the first one she made and is fabulous!

HannahRosie is a crochet whizz ... I am very jealous of her lovely crocheted animals. I have added a link to her Ravelry page (if you are on ravelry, take a look!) Baby Plum is very lucky to be the proud owner of one of her crocheted donkey's!

An Award!

2011-01-13T21:49:00.000Z

The lovely Justine over at Emma Bear Forever has awarded me a Stylish Blogger Award! Thanks!!

I need to tell you seven facts about myself and then award another 15 of my favourite blogs.

Hummmmm seven facts about me:

1. I grew up in the country and moved to London in 2001 as a compromise - Mr Plum refused to move to the country and I refused to move to the North.

2. I have been vegetarian since I was 14 ... so that will be 19 years then!

3. I love to read

4. I had a baby in August 2010

5. I live in London but never ever see anyone famous ... and yet friends will visit me and see a hundred famous people on their way to my house!

6. I love chai lattes and ginger biscuits - they are my one weakness apart from ...

7. ... Afternoon Tea, as Spencer Tracy said "when I die I want to go to Claridges"

I would like to nominate the following blogs which both cheer and inspire me:

1. Retromummy

2.Mary Poppins

3.Smilernpb

4. The Victorians Didn't Even Like Pink

5.Scented Sweetpeas

6. Thrifty Mrs

7. Vintage Vicki

8. Do You Mind If I Knit?

9. Kelly's Recipes For Life

10. The Felt Fairy

11. Emma Bear Forever

12. Red Gingham

13. Faerie Nuff

14.Lululizinlalaland

15. Florence and Mary

Odeon Newbies

2011-01-12T18:33:00.003Z

Today me and Baby Plum went to the pics.

Yes, that's right - I took my baby to the cinema!!

We watched "The King's Speech" at the Newbie screening at Streatham Odeon this afternoon.

The sound is turned down slightly, the lights are turn up a little, lovely ladies walk around with tea and biscuits, some babies cry (mine didn't!), some burp and fart (that one was mine!) but we all managed to enjoy a wonderful film! I am so glad that I have discovered these screenings!

I know that Picturehouse cinemas also have similar screenings, so I will be checking these out in future too!

Baby Plum: Time to Wean

2011-01-12T17:42:00.000Z

Can you believe that Baby Plum is 5 months old?

I am starting to think about the next stage of our adventure! I have exclusively breastfed her for (almost) 5 months ... but due to Health Visitors making me panic about her weight (not putting weight on as fast as they would like) and teething making breastfeeding hard for her, I have decided to move onto formula feeding. I do feel a bit sad as I would have liked to have continued to breastfeed for a bit longer. But heh ho!

I am beginning to think about weaning!

I definitely don't want to start before her 6 month birthday but am thinking about trying 'baby led weaning'. Through my google searches I have found some very interesting articles and blogs on this subject - in particular This Mummy Loves ... I thought that Dawnie's idea of sitting her daughter at the table when she was 5 months old while she and her husband ate dinner was a fantastic idea. We sat Baby Plum in her Bumbo while we ate on Sunday ...
daddy ... can I have a sip of beer please?

I have ordered a book from Amazon and look forward to giving it a try in a few weeks time!

A Monthly Make 2011

2011-01-11T22:17:00.000Z

Annie, the Felt Fairy is organising the Monthly Make 2011. Do you pledge to make something each month? I do!

Pompom Pixie Scarf

2011-01-10T20:04:00.001Z

A scarf to match the Pompom Pixie Hat!

Woohoo! A GIVEAWAY!

2011-01-10T08:00:00.000Z

I had a few extra followers over the festive period which took me to over 50 ... and as promised, I will be holding a giveaway to celebrate!

You will get an entry for each of the following:

1. Become a follower of this blog

2. Add my giveaway button to your blog

3.Follow me on Twitter

4. Leave a comment on this post letting me know whether you have done 1, 2 or 3 ... or all three!

I haven't decided on a prize yet ... it will be a surprise!

The lucky blogger will have their name pulled out of a biscuit tin at

9pm on 30 January!

Good Luck!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-09T20:52:00.005Z

I hope you all had merry Christmases and are enjoying 2011 so far!

The Plums had a lovely festive season spending two weeks visiting our families. Baby Plum was the centre of attention with lots of cuddles from both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles. Mr Plum and I even had two nights out! I even finally got my hair cut!

I was spoilt rotten ...

My parents had my Jamie O book autographed for me!

Fave smellies and a new CK sewing box

Uggs, ipod, chocs, CK dressing gown, CDs and more books ... I was a very lucky girl!

Awww ... baby Plum this afternoon - worn out after a trip to B&Q with her daddy!

So, what does 2011 have in store? Well, I have eight more months of maternity leave and eight more months of doing lovely things with Baby Plum. We started our baby massage classes on Friday at the local SureStart centre - fab!

I am also planning to do more sewing - I am planning to make a quilt and have a go at a Clothkits creation ...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T15:20:00.004Z

We made it.

5 hours for a journey which is usually 2.5 and an hour at Oxford services to feed Baby Plum ... through ice and snow, we made it to my parents house! Greeted with hot tea and homemade biscuits ... we were so relieved to be here!

So now it is Christmas Eve, the choccies are out and the carols are on the radio.

Merry Christmas to you all!

I will be back in the New Year - enjoy your festivities!

(A Bit Early!) My New Year's Resolution

2010-12-19T07:31:00.004Z

I've woken up on a snowy, icy Sunday morning feeling a bit glum as we had planned a lovely family Christmassy afternoon - but I think that the roads will be too treacherous for my parents to drive down to London ... snow is only good when you don't have to travel anywhere. I'm really hoping that we will be able to get to my parents for Christmas ... I have been looking forward to spending Christmas with them since last Christmas (with my inlaws! ha ha ha). Actually, I have been looking forward to Christmas with my parents since the last Christmas we spent with them in 2008!

Anyway ... having relinquished my side of the bed to a 4 month old cutie pie, I am sitting in the living room with a steaming cup of tea reading a few blogs and thinking about the last few Christmassy things I need to get done....and planning my 2011 craft projects!

My new year's resolution for 2011 is ... to make a patchwork quilt!

Just the one resolution ... and am prepared for it to take the whole year ... but I just need to lay my hands on some lovely fabric ... hmmmm

The lovely Retromummy is having a fabric giveaway over at her blog - fingers crossed for me!

Go over and have a look!

Truffles

2010-12-18T16:39:00.003Z

Every year I make truffles ... but I think I am going to have to stop as this year I think I have scoffed more than I have actually made!

Here are my white choc and raspberry truffles ... (I made 10 last weekend - not sure where they (ahem!) disappeared to!)

And here are my chocolate orange truffles ...

You can find the recipe here

Lebkuchen

2010-12-17T21:37:00.003Z

On 1st December, Ruth over at The Pink Whisk began her Twelve Days of Christmas recipes ...

On the first day of Christmas the Pink Whisk sent to me ....

Lebkuchen

The plan was to make these biscuits and give them to friends as pressies....but I have only just managed to get them done (with a bit of sparkly glitter!) so I will take them home to my parents next week ... if there are any left!

Christmas Cake!

2010-12-15T10:41:00.002Z

Here's my glittery holly Christmas Cake! The glitter looks a bit yellow in the pic ... but looks all lovely and sparkly in real life!

I had some help with the decorating ...

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Christmas Stocking

2010-12-11T23:09:00.003Z

Here is the Christmas Stocking I have finally got around to making for Baby Plum! I can't wait until Father Christmas fills it full of goodies for her!

Christmas Cake and Experimenting with Babywearing

2010-12-07T09:00:00.000Z

Having spent last week sat mainly on the sofa holding baby Plum because i) of the snow and ii) baby Plum has decided she hates her cot/gym/bouncy chair ... everything that isn't mummy! I thought I would give "Babywearing" a go ....

So I popped Baby Plum into the sling and headed into the kitchen to marzipan my Christmas cake ...

This year I have followed Ruth Clemens excellent tutorial so I sliced off the slight dome

Then ate the bit I had sliced off ... delicious!

One marzipanned cake ... not sure how much Baby dribble made it into the cake!!

Turns out that Baby Plum also hates the sling so I am back on the sofa, catching up with Replay, doing a bit of knitting, and babe in arms!

Blackberry Brandy

2010-12-06T14:11:00.004Z

I have made Sloe gin for the last couple of years and thought I would try something different this year ...

I put equal measures of blackberries and caster sugar into a jar ...

And topped it up with the cheapest brandy I could find (Sainsburys Basics was under £8)

As with my Sloe gin, I will shake the jar regularly and leave to steep for about 6 months ... I hope that it will be worth the wait!

Feeling Festive

2010-12-03T11:16:00.006Z

The pictures don't really do my cosy little living room and justice ... remember the Christmas bunting I made last year?

Our lovely new fireplace and gas fire which we have finally had installed!

And our tree!

Welcome to my blog to any new readers who have found me recently ... how about a little giveaway when I get 50 followers?

Getting ready for Christmas

2010-12-02T22:12:00.000Z

So, here we are ... December 2nd.

Tree's up (but not decorated yet!)

Christmassy fat quarters purchased from Croydon Christmas "Craft" Fair (it was terrible, truly terrible! Not a crafty pretty thing in sight!)

Christmassy books out and cluttering up the coffee table. My Plum is getting a bit annoyed with my random piles of craft stuff which are springing up around our flat. I will tidy them up ... in due course!!

The Christmas Handbook was a present from Father Christmas in 1988! I love the fact that my mum and dad wrote in our books as children ... I have had this book for 22 years! There is even a random dried flower in the front!

Christmas cutters and moulds retrieved from the cupboard. Now I just need to decide what lovely goodies I will make this year!

Vintage Pixie Hat For Baby Plum

2010-12-01T21:48:00.004Z

Here is a bit of knitting to show you ...

A "Vintage Pixie Hat" from my "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies" book.

I started this hat back in October - but as with most of my projects - when it comes to sewing it together ... it ends up at the bottom of my pile!

I used some odd balls of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky yarn, which is sadly now discontinued and I don't have enough to make some matching mittens. I will have to have a hunt around for something similar. I lined the hat for extra cosiness. I think it looks very pretty.

The only problem is that the strap isn't long enough to get round Baby Plum's chin!! Ha Ha Ha ... will have to attach some ribbon, methinks.

I will post pictures of Baby Plum modelling the hat tomorrow!

Jumping On The Christmas Pudding Bandwagon!

2010-11-24T21:50:00.004Z

Blogland has gone Christmas Pudding crazy!!

Crafty Helen has posted a tutorial to make lovely felt puds ... but I only had a little bit of brown felt left (and had decided to have a day at home after two days of dragging Baby Plum out and about!) ... so I have made these lovely little slightly padded tree decorations. I'm very pleased with how they have turned out and am about to hop over to The Felt Fairy to order some more felt!

Pompom Pixie Hat

2010-11-22T09:31:00.003Z

Here is Baby Plum modelling the very cute Pompom Pixie Hat which I have made for my friend's baby ... doesn't she look cute!!

This hat was so quick 'n' easy to knit - I managed to knock it up in just over a week. I did make one little mistake and have sewn the strap on wrong - but I don't think it will matter!

The pattern is from The Knitted Nursery and I will be making a matching scarf to go with it!

The pattern suggested using ggh Big Easy yarn - but this was impossible to get hold of (even in London, shock!!) so I have used Rico Creative Cotton instead - it works a treat!

Christmas Is Coming ....

2010-11-15T06:27:00.003Z

On Saturday me and my Mum headed to the Country Living Christmas Fair!

So many lovely things ... it was a little overwhelming!

I managed to resist the temptation to buy too many things for Baby Plum ... but am regretting my decision to walk away from the pretty animal rattles I saw. Oh well!

I got a couple of pressies - a new bag for my Mum (she is a bag addict!) and something for Mr Plum.

Unfortunately I was then stricken down by either food poisoning (did anyone else have an egg sarnie from the Wyke Farm cafe?) or a stomach bug (Mr Plum was also very ill on Saturday night) so had a nightmare journey home rather than having a nice dinner with my parents.

On the plus side - I have lost a good amount of weight this week!

Peach Crumble Cake

2010-11-14T08:37:00.000Z

Having managed to put on another half a stone since delivering Baby Plum in August (don't ask how* - I thought that breastfeeding was supposed to help you lose the 'mum tum'?!) I finally realised that enough was enough and that it was time to go back to Weight Watchers .....

On Monday WW released a new version of their programme "ProPoints" where all the components of food are taken into account, not just the calories and saturated fat. It seems to make sense ... and I am sticking to my 51 points (sounds horrifically high when you are used to being on 18 or 20 points a day!). I'm doing it online at the moment as it is easier for me .... I lost 4 lbs in my first week - am hoping that I manage to lose something this week!

I've got my NCT friends coming round tomorrow for tea and cake so have knocked up a Weight Watchers cake - Peach Crumble Cake. I have never made it before, it looks ... ermm ... interesting! I have recalculated the ProPoints and it is 5 points a slice. Not bad eh?

I thought it looked suitably stodgy for a blustery November day ... I'll post the recipe once I have tried it!

[* living off chocolate digestives for 6 weeks probably didn't help ... and then there is all the cake, cake, cake, cakey, CAKE!!!]

Blackberry Jam

2010-11-10T10:03:00.000Z

I didn't manage to pick many blackberries myself this year ... but luckily a friend of my parents kindly gave me a couple of pounds of berries! So I made a little bit of jam.

An update from Plum Cottage!

2010-11-09T09:37:00.015Z

Where does the time go?!

I'm a little behind with my posts as have been busy with Baby Plum and enjoying a lovely 10 days in the country with my parents. Feeling rejuvenated by 10 days worth of fresh country air and my mum's scrummy food ... it's time to stop sitting on the sofa feeling brain dead and start to get on with things!!

First things first ... Christmas Cake!!!

You may remember me making my boozy fruit back in September ... I have been stirring this lovely concoction of fruit and sloe gin since then and finally got around to making the cake! You can find the recipe for the cake on The Pink Whisk blog. This is the first time since I started baking Christmas cakes (back in 2002, I think) that I have not used Delia's recipe ... and sadly, the first time that my house has not been filled with the beautiful smell of Christmas as the cake bakes. Not to worry, I'm sure it will taste divine - and there will be plenty more opportunities for Christmas smells, I'm sure!!

I have also been avidly watching Jamie's 30 Minute Meals (the joys of being at home at 5.30!) and decided to whizz up some frozen yoghurt. Yum Yum and so easy to make.

Get some yoghurt

Get some frozen fruit

A bit of honey

Chuck it into the mixer and whizz up

Delicious!

My eighth marvellous make has been some sundried tomatoes .... not my homegrown ones obviously (yes, still a little bitter about those!)

Last year I had a fabulous family holiday in Venice

While meandering around the tiny streets, over bridges and down dark alleys, I picked up a packet of sundried tomatoes.

They have been languishing in my cupboard ever since!!

That is ... until the day Mr Plum decided to knock up some pizzas!

Unfortunately I didn't realise that we couldn't just bung a couple of the tomatoes onto the pizza! They needed preparing first....which is what I have now done!

In 15 days time we will hopefully have a jar full of lovely tomatoey-garlicy-basilly goodness!

An exciting delivery!

2010-11-06T18:15:00.000Z

Just over 24 hours after I placed an order on www.cucumberpatch.co.uk for a batch of Rico Creative Cotton ... it arrived on my doorstep! Fantastic!!

I will be using this wool to make some cute baby hats and scarves for Christmas pressies...hopefully, if Baby Plum lets me!

The return of the tea shop!

2010-11-05T08:04:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago, Mr Plum drove us to Bluewater for a trip to John Lewis. Very exciting!! I have only recently discovered Bluewater - it is about an hour away on the M25 from our house and far less stressful (for me and Baby Plum, anyway!) than heading into the West End for a trip to the shops!

While having a wander around we spotted a shop which was due to be opened called "The Cadburys Cocoa House" .... oooh, thought I, a shop dedicated to wonderful Cadburys choc! mmmm mmmmm

Last night on the local London news there was a feature about the Cadburys Cocoa House ... it is a TEA SHOP!!!

And even more excitingly, a tea shop in the style of a Lyons Corner House. Obviously, being 33 and a bit years old - I have never been to a Lyons Corner House - but being an avid reader ... they feature so often in novels that I do feel like I have been there many a time! What a refreshing change from all the Starbucks and Costas which line our high street. The owners are planning to roll out more of these Cadburys Cocoa Houses ... hopefully there will be one a bit nearer to me!

Unfortunately Mr Plum is off work with a bad back ... but hopefully once he has recovered we will have another trip to Bluewater to have tea!

Scones ... not the Paul Hollywood way!

2010-10-12T11:51:00.004+01:00

My name is Victoria Plum ... and I am a baking addict.

I KNOW ... Baby Plum is asleep ... so I should be SLEEPING! Everyone tells me this

"are you sleeping when your baby is asleep?"

NO!

I'm a morning person. I always have been. Once I am up, showered and dressed - I want to get on with stuff! Once Baby Plum is washed, dressed and fed ... she is quite happy sitting in her rocking chair which I move into the kitchen if I am pottering around. She is now having a well earned snooze in her chair!

This evening I have got a friend popping round after work. This is a treat! I don't often get people popping in ... one of the downsides (one of the many!!) of living in London, I suppose. All my friends are spread out all over the place so to meet up with them takes weeks of organisation, cancellations, reorganisations ... you get the picture!

So, I thought we could have "high tea" ... so have baked two batches of scones (fruit and cheese) and thought we could have these with bagels, sandwiches and fruit cake. And tea of course.

After making the Sugar Crusted Fruit Scones from The Pink Whisk - I have to say that I didn't really like the sugar crust....so I thought I would have a look at Paul Hollywood's Scone Recipe ... I have never seen such a lengthy and detailed scone recipe! Scones are supposed to be a simple tea time treat ... you shouldn't have to read an essay of a recipe to make them!! So, I went back to my trusted scone recipe. Yum Yum!

The recipe for my cheese scones can be found here

Talking of tea ... did you hear today's "A History of the World in 100 Objects" it was very interesting and I recommend catching it on the iplayer while it is on there. The history of that quintessentially English past time of drinking tea ... with tea from China and India, sugar from the West Indies ... the only "English" element was the milk!

Have a listen now!

Veggies ...

2010-10-11T19:55:00.004+01:00

Wow!

Wasn't today glorious?

After a walk down to the supermarket, Baby Plum and I headed into the garden to pick the final veggies and have a bit of a tidy up.

The last courgette...these have done really well this year!

The last two cucumbers ... not 100% sure whether these are edible!

Arghhhhhh!! More green tomatoes!

Peppers ... I neglected these, so didn't get as many as I do normally....oh well, this summer I was busy growing a baby rather than growing my veg!!

52 MMMC Week Five: My Best Ever Cup Of Tea Cake!

2010-10-10T11:09:00.000+01:00

Here it is ... perfectly risen - no sunken middle or peak this time! Made for friends who had trekked all the way down from Hull with their (gorgeous) 2 year old to visit us and Baby Plum.

You can find the recipe here

The Knitting and Stitching Show!

2010-10-08T11:16:00.003+01:00

Well ... some may call me brave, some may call me just plain stupid! But ... off I trekked with Baby Plum in a papoose up to Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show!!

So many wonderful bits and pieces to look at and buy ... unfortunately taking a 7 week old to a show like this was a little bit stressful - and I couldn't really concentrate as much as I would have liked to on purchasing lovely crafty bits!

I had gone to the show armed with a list of wool I needed for my latest projects from The Knitted Nursery ... but, could not find the wool I wanted...it seemed to be mainly very luxurious cashmere yarns, stripy sock yarns or very exotic and strange yarns. The show did seem to be more about "stitching" too (or did I miss something?). I will be going back next year with a couple of stitchy projects in mind ...

We had booked in for afternoon tea (very exciting!!) which unfortunately clashed with Baby Plum's grizzly time ... I tried to feed her before we went in for tea - but I think that she was overwhelmed by the whole experience of being around so many people and wouldn't feed. This meant that as soon as we sat at our table (which we were sharing with two other ladies) Baby Plum decided to exercise her right to scream. It was very stressful - so I ran off to feed her somewhere nice and quiet and she calmed down. When I got back into the tea room, my friend had been chatting to the ladies who said that I should have just fed her at the table (I do have a pashmina to hide us both with) ... but you hear such negative things about women feeding in public - I just don't feel confident doing that yet, and am always worried that someone will make a comment ... anyway, when Baby Plum woke again wanting seconds, I did feed her at the table.

So, if anyone reading this blog was in the tea room at Alexandra Palace yesterday afternoon - apologies for my crying baby!!

Oops! I should have taken a picture before we scoffed the lot!!

52 MMMC Week Four: Knitted Teddy

2010-10-05T12:05:00.003+01:00

I started knitting this teddy back in August when I had nothing else to do except sit and wait for my baby to arrive! I managed to finish the actual knitting quite quickly ... it was the sewing together which took me a while. So, this morning while Baby Plum slumbers in her bouncy chair, I finished sewing and placed her teddy next to her. I have added a lavender sachet inside the teddy's tum which I thought would be a nice soothing addition to Baby Plum's cot!

I have officially given up growing tomatoes ...

2010-10-04T19:37:00.003+01:00

About five years or so ago I first tried growing my own veg ... I didn't have a garden at the time, just a very small patio area. I had one large plant pot, a tomato plant, a courgette plant, a pepper plant, an aubergine and some basil. All in the one pot. My mum had seen an article in The Times called the "one pot garden" or something like that ... and I gave it a try. I had a whole summer of beautiful ripe tomatoes and other veg ....

In 2007 me and Mr Plum bought our flat with a garden! Yes ... A GARDEN! In 2008 Mr Plum bought me a greenhouse for my birthday ... and the growing began!

But .... I have not had a very successful time with my tomatoes .... here is most of this year's crop ... I still have a few more to pick.

If you look closely you will see three ripe tomatoes ...woopie!

Green tomato chutney, again, anyone?

No ... I couldn't face it again, either! I still have a fridge full of jars from last year! So I have chopped them up and stuck them in the freezer. I don't think that I will bother growing tomatoes next year!

52 MMMC Week 3: Sugar Crusted Fruit Scones

2010-10-03T09:07:00.000+01:00

Having watched The Great British Bake Off I was intrigued by the "Sugar Crusted Scones" ... I LOVE scones, but don't think in all of my many afternoon teas that I have ever had a sugar crusted one ... and my fail safe recipe does not include this crust either ...

So, off I went to The Pink Whisk and tried out Ruth's recipe ... my first mistake was to assume that the recipe made 9 scones (the recipe I always use does ...) so the scones turned out a little small (the recipe should make 6). And, to be honest, I'm just not sure about the sugar crust ....

With crust, or without crust - what kind of scone do you prefer?

52 MMMC Week 2: Scrummy Coffee Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

2010-09-25T18:07:00.000+01:00

Baby Plum and I have started to get a "sort of" morning routine going ... when she takes her early morning nap, I have an hour to get into the kitchen and do a bit of baking!

So, here it is ... week two of my Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge ...

another cake ... Coffee Cake with Chocolate Buttercream.

Mmmmm Mmmmm

You can find the recipe here

I made this cake to take to the first postnatal meet up of the friends I made at the NCT class. It went down very well! I think I will make another carrot cake for the next one!

Boozy Christmas Fruit

2010-09-24T17:20:00.002+01:00

Well, I managed it! I popped Baby Plum into her bouncy chair, moved her into the kitchen, stuck Mumford & Sons on and made my Boozy Christmas Fruit!

The recipe is from The Pink Whisk and I have adapted it to include my homemade Sloe Gin rather than brandy. The fruit is now stashed away in a tub ready for daily stirring before the next stage of the recipe.

My first Christmassy thing done!

Ditching Delia ...

2010-09-21T19:49:00.004+01:00

It is that time of year again ... the time when people start thinking about Christmas.

It is at this time of year that I start to think about making my Christmas Cakes. Yes, that's plural ... I like to make cakes as presents for friends and family but ... as I am not working this year, I don't have the need for as many homemade gifts for work colleagues ... so will just make the one cake this year....and I always use my trusted Delia Smith cake recipe.

Well, not this year!!

This year I have decided to try a recipe from The Pink Whisk - Ruth is posting this recipe in two parts. The first part is "Boozy Christmas Fruit" which will take 6 weeks of soaking and stirring. The second part will then be posted. I think that I will be soaking my fruit in my homemade sloe gin, rather than brandy.

Have you made your Christmas Cakes yet?

The 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge Week One: Carrot Cake

2010-09-18T10:06:00.001+01:00

Having had my first week at home on my own with Baby Plum I have decided to join in with The Thrifty Mrs's 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge! Yes, maybe a little crazy ... do I not have enough to do looking after a 4 week old baby?

We have had a good week ... Monday was a bit stressful and I cried when Mr Plum went off to work. The week has improved, apart from a minor meltdown on Thursday when Mr Plum made a mad dash home at lunchtime to check that I was okay! (I was, just had had a morning of Tesco Delivery, NPower Boiler Service and Crying Baby ... a bit much for me!)

But ... I did manage to knock up a carrot cake on Thursday morning while Baby Plum was having her early nap (before "The Meltdown") ... so, I thought that I would incorporate it into the 52MMMC! You can read about the challenge in more detail on the Thrifty Mrs Blog ... but the general gist is that you make something (anything!) every week for a year ... there you have it, the 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge!

I LOVE carrot cake ... but have never, ever made one myself! I had visions of having to peel loads of carrots and it being a bit of a faff ... actually, it wasn't too bad at all! I used this recipe.

Are you watching ...

2010-09-13T16:12:00.003+01:00

The Great British Bake Off on Tuesday nights on BBC2? It is fab! I have just discovered the blog written by contestant Ruth called The Pink Whisk ... definitely worth a look as it is full of lots of lovely recipes!

Oh ... this was just a flying visit to blogland ... Baby Plum is ready for a feed!

Introducing Baby Plum

2010-08-25T12:27:00.004+01:00

Here she is!

Baby Plum.

Born Friday 20 August at 1523, weighing in at 8lbs 14 (too many afternoon teas?!)

In the end she came along on her own ... after a 3 mile walk along the River Wandle in South London on Thursday ... I have to say that I was relieved not to have to go through being induced. We are both back home now after a couple of days in hospital.

Isn't she a beauty?

41+1

2010-08-16T15:27:00.005+01:00

Today I have ...

Put my second £2 coin into my new money box ...

Made my little brother a birthday cake ... he is 30 tomorrow! He's popping round tonight for a curry (hurray! Mr Plum hates curry ... and I'm in desperate need of one!)

Picked some blackberries from the bottom of the garden ... only managed 1/2 a pound ... before being scared off by the wasps! I'm hoping that Mr Plum will pick me some more this evening. I need to make jam!

Admired 3 of my recently picked courgettes. Aren't they impressive? I think that the recent rain must have been very good for them!

Taken delivery of my new knitting book "Knitted Nursery", had a walk around the park and am now at home with my feet up watching old episodes of Friends while drinking tea and eating cake!

Feeling fat and fed up at 40+5 weeks pregnant ...

2010-08-13T18:00:00.003+01:00

Hello!

Yep ... still pregnant (and yes, I know that the first baby is often overdue ...) and just feeling huge at the moment! I just want to have this baby NOW!!

I found out at my midwife appointment on Wednesday that naughty Baby Plum has decided to disengage herself ... silly girl! I have now got to go and see a consultant next Wednesday ... not sure what he will do - and there is a chance that I will have had the baby by then anyway (I do hope so!). Only one of the girls from antenatal has given birth now ... another one who was due on 1st August was booked in for an induction tomorrow - but has just sent me a text to say that she has started having contractions! Hurray!

So ... what have I been up to since Tuesday?

I have watched an awful lot of "The Tudors" which I really enjoyed (once I got over the historical inaccuracies and put my John Guy "Tudor England" aside!) ... I have also made good progress with the teddy bear I am knitting for Baby Plum ... today I met up with another friend from antenatal (who is due tomorrow!) for a coffee in the local Starbucks and then came home and did some baking! I do enjoy my "Baking Fridays"!

On this week's menu we have Victoria Sponge and Mary Poppins' "Strike Me Pink Raspberry Cakes" the recipe for which can be found in the wonderful book by Jane Brocket "Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer" YUM!

I also took delivery of my Terramundi money box this morning which I picked up for the bargain price of £6 on ebay (the rrp is a rip offingly £20 or so!) ... and have put in my first £2 coin!

Don't you just love it when ...

2010-08-10T12:18:00.002+01:00

a friend finally returns the DVD you lent her about 4 years ago!! To be honest, it had been so long that I thought that maybe I had lost it when we moved house ... or had lent it to someone, but couldn't remember who! Anyway, on Saturday "Bright Young Things" was returned to me! I love Evelyn Waugh, and especially "Vile Bodies" ... so am sitting on the sofa amongst a nest of cushions as I just can't get comfy at the moment (yes, no sign of Baby Plum yet ...), with a cup of raspberry leaf tea (so sick of drinking it!), and my Debbie Bliss "Simply Baby" book and DVD playing ... trying to decide what to knit next .... and wishing I was a 20's flapper off to supper at The Ritz!

A Thrifty Tip from The Thrifty Mrs

2010-08-09T11:15:00.001+01:00

I like to think of myself as a relatively good saver ... being a civil servant in London with a mortgage, and baby on the way ... doesn't leave an awful lot of spare cash, but I do save what I can. I find it easier to save when there is a certain goal in mind (wedding or a baby!) My current goal is being able to afford to take a whole year's maternity leave (luckily I do get 6 months on my full salary, then 3 months on statutory maternity pay, but then this drops to a final 3 months on nothing ...) so I need to squirrel my pennies away so that I can spend as long as I can at home.

The Thrifty Mrs posted a tip for saving a little bit extra on her blog yesterday. I often put my coppers into a jar ... but this will take ages to amount to anything. So following her tip for today, I will be putting any £2 coins I get into a jar (I may even invest in a money box which would require smashing to get any money out so then I can't be tempted to dip in to it!!)

I thought that I would give myself a 6 month target for this ... and will smash the money box on 8 February!

In the garden

2010-08-08T14:44:00.004+01:00

Poor Mr Plum ... I think that even though everyone has said that it is highly unlikely that our baby would arrive today ... he was secretly hoping that I would wake up this morning and be in labour! Which ... I wasn't!

We have spent a few hours in the garden ... I haven't been able to do a huge amount as it is too much effort to kneel down (and even more effort to attempt to get up again!).

Here's the veggie patch ... the courgettes have been brilliant this year and are still going strong! I have a few green tomatoes - but I don't think they ever recovered from their neglect earlier this summer .... the squash are flowering so am hopeful that I will get some veg off them this year too!

My strawberry plants which I ordered from The Guardian arrived yesterday. They are late strawberries - so, you never know, we may get some fruit this year .... Mr Plum very kindly dug over this bit of soil and planted them for me.

Three cucumbers growing in the greenhouse ....

More tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse!

Blackberries at the back of our neighbours half of the garden (which they never use). Mr Plum is currently out there hacking away at brambles at picking fruit! Hopefully we will get enough to make some lovely jam!

Late potatoes in pots which will hopefully be ready for Christmas ...

Lavender picked for sachets ...

Cup of tea and a piece of cake for me ...

What have you been up to today?

Scottie Dog Cushion

2010-08-07T23:46:00.009+01:00

Today I made a cushion cover using the lovely Scottie Dog fabric I picked up in Worthing a couple of weeks ago.

We had friends over for afternoon tea and they ended up staying for a curry takeaway which was lovely (Mr Plum, who is not a fan of curry, had fish, chips & a battered sausage!)

I have had lots of texts from friends asking whether there is any baby news yet ... no, not yet!! Maybe the curry will kick start it?!

A Baking Day!

2010-08-06T17:28:00.008+01:00

My fourth week of maternity leave comes to a close and I am wondering whether Baby Plum will make an appearance as scheduled on Sunday? I hope so ... I ache and feel HUGE and I was supposed to be going to see Sound of Music in Birmingham with my Mum on Saturday ... but am having to miss it as I don't think that I could sit through the performance without needing the loo every 5 minutes ... and it would be a bit of a trek to get back down to the ghetto and go to my maternity ward!! The first girl from my antenatal class had her baby girl on time yesterday morning which was very exciting ... who will be next? (I hope it's me!!)

Today I met a friend from work and her cute 4 year old son for a coffee to catch up on a month's worth of gossip ... well, all I can say is thank goodness I am on leave and not at work!

After saying goodbye to my friend I gave Mr Plum a call and met him for lunch in Marks & Spencers (very glam!) then headed home for a spot of baking!

We have a couple of friends coming round tomorrow afternoon so I thought I would bake a cake (cup of tea, naturally! My favourite cake of the moment!) and some cookies ... and once I got started ... I couldn't stop!!

As Mr Plum loved my Breakfast Muffins so much, I have made another batch of those ... and then remembered that I had some cranberries in the freezer - so have adapted (or, made up as I went along!) the recipe and made a batch of Cranberry, Orange, Apricot and Dark Choc Muffins as well!

After so much sweetness ... I also knocked up a batch of zero point weight watcher (!!) vegetable curry ... in readiness for Sunday - ha ha

A work in progress...

2010-08-04T17:22:00.004+01:00

I thought I would share with you a current and ongoing knitting project ....

Inspired by the wonderfully colourful hooky creations over at Attic24 - I found this lovely pattern in my Vintage Knits for Modern Babies book. It is taking me a while to do and I don't think it will be ready for Baby Plum's imminent arrival! But I will keep at it!

I have recently joined the Ravelry online knitting community! It is brilliant ... so much info about yarns and patterns! And I have found a couple of local knitting groups which I will pop along too once Baby Plum is able to get out and about! You can find me over there (username is purko).

Another baby cardie!

2010-08-04T07:47:00.000+01:00

I have finally finished off another baby cardie which I started back in April! This one has come up a little larger than the pink one I knitted, so I am hoping that it will see Baby Plum into the winter (she will be the cosiest baby around with all her cardies!!)

Bunnies!

2010-08-02T22:51:00.003+01:00

Here are my six "Nana's Bunnies" made from 'Vintage Knits For Modern Babies' book ....

What do you think? Do they look like Miffy or Hitler?

Tomorrow I will be sewing them onto yellow ribbon (purchased on Sunday at my new local Hobbycraft!!) and stringing them across the cot ... when the baby is here and the cot is built!

A Wedding Patchwork Quilt

2010-07-30T16:18:00.000+01:00

Between 1995 and 1998 I went to the University of Wales in Lampeter. I loved the place from the first moment I got there. Lampeter is a small town in mid mid Wales ... there is no train station, very few buses, hardly any shops and 45 minutes to the nearest towns (Carmarthen to the south and Aberystwyth to the north). I met Mr Plum here!

In between studying and indie nights at the union bar, I was also a member of lots of different societies ... and met lots of very interesting people. I have lost touch with most of them - but with the advent of Facebook (I don't have my own profile but hijack Mr Plum's!) I have got back in touch with some of those I had lost touch with.

One of those friends is getting married next Beltane (a pagan handfasting on 1st May 2011) and started up a group on Facebook called the Wedding Patchwork Quilt. While she had been researching traditional wedding customs, she was drawn to the idea of a Wedding Quilt. Possibly originally an American idea from the time of the Pioneers, it involves a community of women coming together to create a patchwork quilt for the engaged couple. She really liked the idea of people getting together, sharing time, skills, stories, scraps and creating a beautiful object in the process. She invited us to join in with her own (almost virtual) community and be involved in her project to create a ‘Wedding Quilt’. As she still lives in Wales, I have made a patch for her and will be popping it in the post. I hope that she likes it!

One of the stipulations was that we design the patch with the couple in mind and that we enclose a description with the patch detailing why we have made it that way so that she will be able to remember who sent each square.

Here is a picture of the quilt so far (shamelessly pinched from Facebook!)

Here is the patch I have made ....

It didn't photograph very well, but I have depicted a hill which sits behind Lampeter and is called "Magic Mountain" by the students. Some said that it was called this because of a convergence of ley lines on the hill ... others said that it was because of the mushrooms which grew on it. I never went up the hill as I was too scared of being shot by the farmer. Mr Plum says that he went up there though! Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures of Magic Mountain so can't show you what the hill actually looks like.

I hope that the happy couple will like it!

Breakfast Muffins

2010-07-28T14:16:00.006+01:00

I woke up this morning with the urge to make Breakfast Muffins ... I'm not a huge sweet muffin fan (unless they form part of the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at The Hotel Metro in New York!!) - but I am partial to a bran muffin, or the lovely savoury muffins in Starbucks! YUM!

So, having to get up early (well, earlier than normal - recent days have seen my staying in bed until the end of Woman's Hour!) for my 38 week midwife appointment - I had a quick look on the Internet for a breakfast muffin recipe .... I found one that looks rather nice here and picked up the few extra ingredients that I didn't have in the cupboard. I'm hoping that this recipe will live up to expectations as it has already found it's way into my own recipe book!

My 38 week appointment went very well .... all checks and tests were fine and Baby Plum is 3/5 engaged! My next appointment is booked in for 11 August ... two days after my due date to book me in for an induction, if it is needed. Mr Plum was instructed to let the midwife know if the appointment is no longer needed.

Mr Plum is convinced that Baby Plum will arrive on Friday when he is oop North with work. I don't think she will be making an appearance this side of my due date, although I was concerned that the full moon may have had an impact on her! One of the girls from the antenatal classes was told by her midwife that as she was due on the 1st August, she should be aware of this week's full moon which could mean that she would go into labour two days either side! Apparently many hospitals have extra midwives on during a full moon as there is usually an increased number of babies being born! Well ... I am meeting her for coffee on Friday - so no baby has appeared yet!

Anyway, I do believe that it is time for a cup of tea and a Yorkshire Tea biscuit before I head out into the garden to give my tomatoes some TLC.

I hope that you are all having great Wednesdays!!

Week 38 is here and a treasure chest of baby goodies!

2010-07-26T11:32:00.004+01:00

My parents came to visit this weekend and brought with them this massive box of baby goodies which had been sent down by my relatives in Liverpool.

I couldn't believe how big the box was ....

It was packed full of beautiful knitted bits (which put everything I have done to shame!!) which had been put together by my Aunt, her friend and my cousin ...

Look at all these lovely blankets ....

And cute little cardies ....

Not only did they send down the knitting ... but also cute little outfits and lots of Johnson's baby stuff ... so kind of them!

Well ... week 38 is here! I don't really have anything planned for the next couple of weeks ... just waiting I suppose! I've still got some baby clothes to wash, and a few crafty projects to complete ... and am just about to go for a swim. I can't believe how quickly these last few months have gone!

Cup of tea cake and my final pre-baby afternoon tea!

2010-07-25T11:27:00.000+01:00

Hello!

Here is a picture of my (now demolished!) Cup Of Tea cake ... yum! It was delicious! I will have to make another one this week!

Val from The Victorians Didn't Even Like Pink! left a comment on my original cake post saying that as an American she had not come across a cake which uses tea in the recipe ... I don't know the history of tea loaf - but it is something I have grown up with! Maybe it is an English thing? Val, have a go at the tea loaf recipe here (you can use Breakfast tea, or Earl Grey with a squeeze of lemon juice is also very nice). I would be more than happy to post you some lovely Yorkshire Tea bags for you to use, if you would like? Let me know what you think!

After admiring my cake on Friday afternoon, I headed into town to meet my pregnant friend from university (who is having a baby in September!) for ... you guessed it ...

Afternoon Tea at The Berkley!!!

Lovely!!!

Yes, I know that four (is it four? I think that I am beginning to lose count!) afternoon teas in as many weeks (ish!) is a bit excessive ... but it has been fun to catch up with my best girlfriends, over a scone and a sandwich and copious amounts of tea. I know that once Baby Plum arrives my champagne lifestyle (on a ginger beer wage!!) will have to stop ... ha ha. Maybe until Mr Plum treats me to the Christmas afternoon tea at Claridges which we had to postpone from last year!

A bit of knitting ...

2010-07-22T21:00:00.004+01:00

Here is a little cardie I have been working on for a while! I had finished the main body of the cardie but was putting off doing the fiddly button band ...

This morning I woke up feeling a bit sniffy and had no energy to do anything ... I had planned to go for a swim and do some other bits and pieces - but ended up spending most of the day in bed snoozing while listening to Radio 4 and then 6 Music in the afternoon.

At lunchtime I thought I picked up the unfinished cardie ... I couldn't get it to hang right for the picture - I'm hoping that it will look better when modelled by Baby Plum! I need to work on my seam technique too! But, this is only the second baby cardie I have ever knitted - so feeling a bit proud of myself!

You can see the first cardie I knitted here sadly, my hard work was in vain for this one as I never got a thank you - indeed, they didn't even recall receiving it as they had so many pressies. Maybe a handmade knitted matinee jacket was a bit too shabby for them! Oh well!

Anyway, I adapted the pattern to include the pretty purple frill at the bottom and on the cuffs. I think it looks great!

Cup-of-tea cake

2010-07-19T10:38:00.002+01:00

Back in May I spent a week at home with my parents. My Mum had made a lovely "cup-of-tea cake" from a recipe published in The Times as part of their "Eat with the ancestors" column. I would add a link to the recipe on The Times website ... but since Mr Murdoch decided to make us pay for the privilege of browsing Times Online, I thought I would put it on my blog for you. This cake is delicious - go and make one straight away!!

The Story Behind The Cake

Lucy Kihlstom wrote that:

"My grandmother, Peggy Pepler passed down her cup-of-tea cake recipe to my mother ... It's a wartime cake, so their are no eggs in the ingredients. I never liked sponge cakes as a child, so my mother made this every week when I was growing up in Sussex in the Seventies. I'd see her melting the margarine and sultanas in the tea, and get excited because I knew she was making it. I remember eating great chunks of it after school.

She wrote the recipe down for me, and I make it now for my children. It improves if kept for a day or so".

The Recipe

2 cups of cold tea

8oz caster sugar

8oz margarine

8oz sultanas

1lb self raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp mixed spice

demerara sugar for sprinkling

The Method

Put tea, margarine and sultanas in a pan. Simmer for 3 minutes or more until melted. Cool the mixture. Mix all dry ingredients, then add to the cooled mixture. Pour mixture into a greased and lined deep 8in cake tin and sprinkle the demerara sugar on the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in a moderate oven at 350F (150C, gas mark 3)

I'm just waiting for the mixture to cool!

End of my first week on maternity leave ...

2010-07-16T19:43:00.004+01:00

Wow! This week has flown by! I can't believe that I have been on maternity leave for a week now ... only 3 weeks until my due date!!

Yesterday I had a quiet day of blitzing the kitchen ... then meeting up with another friend who is expecting a baby in January for Elderflower Punch at All Bar One before heading home to watch "Twilight" (making the most of Mr Plum being up in Leeds for a meeting!)

Today, I met up with my brother's girlfriend and we went to the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A. This was fabulous ... the clothes were wonderful. I think that we will be watching High Society this evening!

After the exhibition we popped into the hotel where my brother works for a lovely lunch (I had a mixed salad followed by treacle tart with cinnamon ice cream and a nice pot of Earl Grey tea ... mmmmmm).

I feel exhausted now that I am home! I have a quieter week planned next week ... and I really must get on with some cleaning!!!

Veg from the garden and other random bits on a Wednesday ...

2010-07-14T20:20:00.005+01:00

No gallivanting around London town for me today!

This morning I had an antenatal appointment, followed by an hours swim at the local pool ... after lunch, a read and a nap I headed to the kitchen to make some meals to put in the freezer - so we don't have to worry about cooking when Baby Plum first arrives.

I picked two lovely courgettes and two little turnips and roasted these with some lovely basil flavoured tofu (discovered at Waitrose in Worthing!) for dinner.

I was kept company by the lovely Pansy (who is celebrating her first birthday today!) ... she spotted the washing basket with blankets used for my picnic on Friday and thought that she would make it her new bed. Such a cutie!

A spot of knitting was also done ... I have decided to take a break from knitting the baby blanket and have decided to do some toys instead! Here is my first bunny - I am going to make a string of them to hang across the cot. Mr Plum thinks that it looks a bit like Hitler ... so I may have to do some work on the bunny's mouth!!

Afternoon Tea Again!

2010-07-13T21:47:00.005+01:00

I'm really enjoying my maternity leave!

Yesterday I cancelled my travelcard and went to the cinema to see Eclipse (the 1130 showing!!). I thought that Eclipse was so much better than New Moon ... but couldn't convince Mr Plum to come with me, so went on my own!

This morning I had a nice lie in (until 11am!) listening to Women's Hour while reading and doing some knitting. There was an interesting bit about "Mummy Bloggers" which I am sure many of you will be interested to listen to (I'm sure that it will be available on the i-player).

After popping to Tesco and doing some tidying ... I headed into town to meet some friends at The Cadogan which I booked through www.afternoontea.co.uk and got for the bargain price of £15!

Delicious!

My request for veggie and pregnant friendly sandwiches was met ... my favourite pud was the white chocolate and raspberry mousse in a chocolate shell ... wonderful!

We sat there gossiping until about 8pm ... what a lovely afternoon!

Tomorrow I am hoping that the nesting instinct will kick in ... it hasn't so far!!

Mr Plum has suggested that I put together my own guide to afternoon teas ... watch this space!

Lovely knitted goodies ...

2010-07-12T11:57:00.000+01:00

On Thursday, I went into work and found these lovely knitted goodies on my desk. They had been made by a lady in my team ... how thoughtful. I love the teddy!!

A day in Worthing and some lovely fabric!

2010-07-11T14:38:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we escaped London and drove down to the coast ... rather than follow the hoards to Brighton - we thought we would go to Worthing instead!

We had a lovely couple of hours walking around, paddling in the (warm!) sea and had a picnic on the beach.

On the way back to the car we walked past a fantastic haberdashery ... I fell in love with this Scottie Dog fabric and had to treat myself to a meter. I found this picture of the fabric on notonthehighstreet.com where they are selling it for the extortionate price of £18 a meter ... ironically I found it on the High Street for £12 a meter!!

I don't know what I will make with it - I just couldn't walk away from it!

Special Offer in The Guardian ...

2010-07-11T13:24:00.003+01:00

Have a look at the special offer on the Guardian website for 10 Florence Strawberry plants for £4.50! Yes, you read it right ... £4.50!!!

It would be rude not to ....

Victoria Plum has left the building ...

2010-07-10T09:22:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was my last day at work before starting maternity leave ... I had been looking forward to leaving for months and had had an ongoing countdown going on in my calender ...

This morning I have woken up feeling a bit sad ... I'll miss the people I work with, they were lovely and made a sometimes slog of a job rather fun. I think I will miss the work too ... a little bit...for a while. It feels strange thinking that I won't be going back there for 10-12 months, and when I do, I will be in a new team doing something completely different.

The main reason I feel so sad is that my team made such an effort for me and made my last day so special.

Apparently, lots of ideas had been banded about - but it was (thankfully!) decided early on that the traditional curry and drinks in the office would not be so much fun for a pregnant lady! They thought about taking me out for afternoon tea (but decided that as I already had three planned - they wanted to do something different!).

So ... at 2.30pm yesterday afternoon, I headed off to the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park for a picnic!!! It was lovely ... lots of lovely food and cake (my final baking for the team ... they will probably miss that more than they will miss me!!). We sat in the sunshine for hours - it was such fun!

They gave me lovely gifts ... a pretty necklace from Swarovski, inspired by the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland ...

The photos don't really do it justice ... it is a gorgeous necklace with four cotton reels and a pair of scissors ... all encrusted with lovely, sparkly Swarovski crystal ...

And a book about Afternoon Tea (I quite like going out for afternoon tea y'know!) and some lovely tealights...

Not many people at work know about my blog ... but if, by chance, any of you are reading - thanks again for a lovely afternoon!!