Keep Calm and Carry On

I got carried away last night after discovering the Barter Books website and thought these posters would look fab in our hallway ... once it has been redecorated and decluttered

and of course, a much needed 

Keep Calm mug to take to work ..... 

A slightly late Yummy Recipe Swap for February ...

I'm not the only one whose life has got in the away of making and collecting bits and bobs for swaps ..... I managed to get my batch of "sweetheart" themed goodies off to my swap partner in the USA in time for Valentines Day ... my swap partner was caught up with various things ... but I received my parcel today! I picked it up from the local Post Office (and had to explain that I didn't have any id to prove that I was actually Victoria Plum ... ha ha ha) and then perused my goodies while having breakfast in Ikea!  

I must get on with getting my goodies out to Tracy my swap partner for Mollycupcakes Heart Swap!!

I hope that you are all having lovely Easter Saturdays ... we are decorating our bedroom this weekend ... nothing too drastic, but the walls are currently bright pink, so we have chosen a slightly calmer colour called "satin bow" .... I'll keep you posted on our progress (remember us decorating the kitchen?) 

The wallpaper scraper is calling ..... 

Springtime in London

It's been a while since I last posted ... sorry! 

A big sorry to Sue, the winner of my 100th post giveaway - your prize will be in the post very soon ... and a huge sorry to Tracy .... your heart swap goodies will be on their way to you in the next week, or so!  Hope that's alright - I'm usually much more organised than this, but it has been a rather hectic month or so....

Well, anyway - I'm back and in the garden so will be blogging more regularly (and hope the lovely readers who were leaving me such lovely comments are still reading!).  

Here's a few pictures to bring you up to speed with what's been occurring at Plum House ....

Pretty flowers in the garden ....

Gorgeous blue forget-me-nots

Window boxes ... the herb one is looking a bit sad for itself - hopefully a bit of sunshine will perk it up a bit!

Pink hyrdranga! I love these, my Nana had one in her garden and I always thought it was the most amazing flower - such wonderful colours! I just need to get some of the proper compost for it!

Tomatoes ...

Peppers, aubergine, leeks ...

Marigolds (to put near my tomatoes and keep pests away!) ...

I'm now off to the kitchen to knock up some rock cakes for afternoon tea! Yum!! When we woke up this morning we thought about heading to B&Q and getting paint to decorate the bedroom, but instead have spent the day pottering around listening to Radio 2 ... suddenly it is 3.30pm and having spent an hour or so in the greenhouse attempting to transplant flower seedlings into hanging baskets  ... I can no longer be bothered!

Mr Plum's Nanna sadly passed away at the beginning of March ... here's her wedding picture - doesn't she look glam? She will be sorely missed by all ....

And the winner of the first Victoria Plum giveaway is ......

to Sue Cahill - you are the winner of my 100th post celebration giveaway!!!

Thanks to everyone else who left a comment! Keep reading ..... 

Sorry for being a bit silent on the blog-front lately ... we have been having technical issues at Plum House .... but am back online and catching up with all of your lovely blogs!!

Cosy little egg cosies and 100th post giveaway!

Did I mention that I was given Cath Kidston's "Make" for Christmas? I know that it has had mixed reviews as maybe it should have been called "embellish" or "decorate" as all the projects in the book are decorating items that are already made ...

I like it though.  

So far I have only made egg cosies ... but will be expanding my repertoire very soon! 

This post will be my 100th! I can't quite believe that I have got to 100 posts already, as I have only been blogging since August!  I did promise that I would do a 100th post giveaway ... so, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post before Tuesday 3rd March - I will pick a name out of a hat/cake tin at 8pm that evening.

Not sure what will be in my giveaway - but don't we all like a lovely surprise? Thanks for reading! 

Spring has Sprung!

Wasn't yesterday beautiful? The beginning of spring .... finally, after months of grey skies ....

We went for a lovely walk - well, caught the train to Balham and walked to Tooting to investigate a possible furniture purchase and then walked back along Tooting Common - in glorious sunshine! 

Today we have been slaving away in the garden! It's been hard work, but worth it!  We have cleared all the leaves and rubbish which had accumulated over the winter months ... oh, and picked up the fag ends from the people upstairs (don't get me started on that one!) - Mr Plum unblocked the drain (again, the people upstairs ...) and turned over the soil underneath our tree.  I have put some grass seed down and will be putting some wild flower seeds down, too!

I had a pleasant afternoon with my old friend ... the greenhouse! Oh - poor little greenhouse, you have been neglected over the winter ... not any more! 

I re-potted my sweet peas, and have sown more flowers for bedding and hanging baskets ... and of course ..... my vegetables! Tomatoes, cucumbers, (more) broad beans, aubergine and peppers are all in seed trays in the greenhouse -so exciting!!!

So, after a nice long bath I thought I would take a moment to blog - which I haven't done for a while!  I hope you haven't missed me too much! 

Victoria Plum - wannabe Market Gardener is back!!

Today I went shopping ...

I had a few bits and pieces to get this weekend ... which meant a trip into London!  

First thing on the list was a wedding present for a dear friend of mine ... so we headed to Marylebone High Street and picked up a little something from .....

Here it is - no peeking till the special day! 

Of course, popped into CK and the other lovely shops down the road ... including the Oxfam Book Shop where I picked up a couple of classics for the bargain price of £4.50 and a kitchen shop called Divertimento, where I picked up some heart shaped muffin tins to make Mr Plum some heart shaped cupcakes for Valentines Day!  

Next on the shopping list was new shoes for Mr Plum, so we headed towards (the hell that is) Oxford Street, passing by this lovely shop: It would have been rude not to pop in and have a look! I picked up some red and white gingham ribbon to finish off the bunting for my kitchen!

With all this shopping in the cold, we fancied going somewhere warm for a bite to eat ... one of our favourite pubs was nearby: 

Mmmmm ... I wonder how many WW points are in Veggie Sausage and Mash and a pint of lovely Weissbier? Ha Ha!! 

Onwards towards Oxford Street ... no luck on the shoe front for Mr Plum.  We had a quick look in the John Lewis haberdashery department ... I picked up a little baby knitting kit ... my brother's friend is expecting a baby, so thought that would be a perfect excuse to have a go at knitting some baby stuff! 

Oxford Street was too busy to hang around there for long, so we headed up to Carnaby Street and Kingly Court.  I had a look in "All the Fun of the Fair".  What a lovely shop! Picked up a few pretties for my swap and a crochet needle! 

Phew! With all this shopping, I'm feeling a bit parched! Cup of tea, Mr Plum? We thought we would take advantage of being in town and thought we would head to Fortnum & Masons for a cup of tea and a piece of cake ... the window displays are always so amazing ... 

And then we were on our way home!  Here are all my bits and pieces!  Oh yes, I forgot to mention the two pashminas I bought from one of those stalls on Oxford Street - perfect for a Cath Kidston "Make" project!  What a lovely day ... but looking forward to a day at home tomorrow! 

Did you spot the blue and white polka dot wrapping paper?  I got that for 94p in Tesco! What a bargain! I am planning to use it to cover an old shoe box .... 

I hope that you have all had lovely weekends, too! x

Another Swap!

I really enjoyed taking part in the two swaps I did before Christmas ... so much that I have put my name down for another swap! This one is another Yummy Recipe Swap, and the theme is "Sweethearts".

I need to send

* 1 handmade decorated recipe card
* 1 handmade, sewn, felted, crocheted, or knitted food or handmade or any crafted kitchen item or 1 book , cookbook , fiction, non-fiction [related to theme] [Valentine's Sweethearts]
* 1 ingredient from the recipe
* A note card with your flickr name and name of swap

Better get my thinking cap on!  I'll let you know how it goes!

This will be post 97 ... only 2 more until my 100th post giveaway!!!!!!  Keep reading! x

Joules wish list ...

So yesterday I received an email announcing the Joules Spring/Summer collection! Woohoo! I love Joules clothes ... so had better start saving for a couple of "essentials" ....  

My favourite thing in the catalogue (and probably the only purchase I will make this time as am trying not to fritter every last penny away!) is this lovely dress: 

Perfect for lovely sunny days ....

Marmalade on a Snowy Day!

I know, I know ... I'm starting to sound a bit like the BBC with my "snow theme"! 

I've had a busy day at home today ... it was nice to catch up with a few bits and pieces as we had been away for the weekend.  So once the (boring!) housework was done, I got on with fun stuff (although, I have to admit that all I really wanted to do was go outside and make a snowman - but thought I would look silly on my own!)

So ... I made my bunting ... and some marmalade! I can't wait to have this on my toast! Mmmmm

Lovely Bunting for my Bed

I was inspired by Master Poppins' bunting - I thought I would have a go at making some to decorate my bed with! Bunting is the one thing I will always pick up in a shop and then put down because I know that I could easily make my own, for a fraction of the cost!

I have spent today finishing off my bunting - and am very happy with the results! I am going to make some red bunting for my kitchen ... you can never have too much bunting!

Here's a picture of my bed ...

Snow Day!

I've made every effort to get to work ... but with the entire London rail and bus network being suspended - there's not an awful lot I can do, apart from walk ... and I don't fancy a 3 hour trek in the snow ... on my own ... Mr Plum works locally, so has dressed up like an eskimo and has started his trek to his office - knowing the people he works with, he will be the only one there!

Here's some more pictures of our snowy garden ... some were taken by Mr Plum last night with his posho camera ... the other ones were taken by me, with my little digi camera!

Isn't it ridiculous that a bit of snow can cause London to grind to a complete standstill?

Snow!

I hadn't been keeping an eye on the forecast and had convinced myself that Spring would start on 1st February!  Having spent a cold weekend in Wales, we headed back to London this evening ... by the time we got to Reading there was the odd flurry of snow ... by the time we were in London, it was heavier and settling! I haven't seen "proper" snow for years! 

Typically, our train broke down one stop before our stop - so we got off early and walked home.  It always amazes me how much snow transforms everything ... our busy South London suburb had become a quiet, glistening street with the cars crawling along the road ... no gangstas speeding down the road!

My first blogging award!

Thank you Mary Poppins for my award! It is so touching that people read my blog and consider it worthy of a blogging award! I will send it on to my favourite 8 blogs who will in turn send it on to another 8, including the special piece of text (below) ... this will be a difficult choice as I keep discovering more and more vintagy/crafty/foody blogs!!  

The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in proximity in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be new friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandisement. Our hope is that when ribbons of these awards are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give your kind attention to these writers.

It's so hard to choose as I read so many wonderful blogs which are full of inspirational ideas ... but I would like to award my current favourite crafty and foody blogs: 

Mary Poppins

Kitschen Pink

A Thrifty Mrs

Vintage Tea

Lucy Locket Recycled Her Pocket

Lavenderhouse

Domestic Goddess In Training

Green Apples

It's Marmalade Time!

I received an email from Lakeland this morning declaring that

Seville oranges are now briefly in season (until about mid-Feb) ... so time to stock up and make some marmalade!  So, without further ado - I'm off to get myself nine oranges to make a batch of the orange stuff!

Nine posts until my 100th post giveaway! Keep your eye on my blog!

Cup of tea?

I'm so proud of myself!! I managed to knit this fab tea cosy ... my first attempt at something which wasn't a scarf ... I even followed a pattern! 

Afternoon tea with Audrey Hepburn

Hurray! It's the weekend! Always a relief!

Today we ventured into Plumdon to look for some new boots (I spent yesterday sitting at my desk with soggy feet - and had decided enough was enough!)  I didn't manage to find any bargain boots in the shops - but got some lovely wool instead! 

We didn't stay out very long and I popped some scones in the oven while we had some lunch.  So here I am on Saturday afternoon with tea and scones, watching "Paris When It Sizzles".....perfect! 

I've been tagged!

It's always exciting to know that I actually have readers - and have been linked to other blogs so it was doubly exciting to be "tagged" by Greedy Nan!  I can't resist to join in!

Here's what you need to do:

Link to who tags you;
Post the rules;
Write 6 random things about yourself;
Tag 6 people at the end and link to them;
Let each person know;

Here are my six things:

I love Georgian urban history (spa towns and the like)

I wish I had been born in any decade 1900-1940 as I love the fashions of those periods.

I'm vegetarian ... and no, I don't miss bacon sandwiches!

I cry at anything and everything (books, films, tv, music)

I love listening to Radio 2 ... especially "Brunch with Ball", Radcliffe & Maconie and Elaine Paige!

I want a cat!

Here are the six blogs I am tagging:

Domestic Goddess In Training

Mary Poppins

The Adventures of an American Girl in England

Molly Cupcakes

Lavenderhouse

Vintage, Pretty and Shabby

I hope that you will want to take part! Thank you for tagging me, Greedy Nan!

I won't give up my day job! aka "The Bag"

I have just finished my bag! Hurray! I got fed up with trying to follow the complicated non-instructions in "Sew Hip" magazine (and also noticed that it was an 'intermediate' project ... oh well) and just sewed the thing up any old way (!) ... have you noticed the nifty pocket on the front for knitting needles?! 

I used 3 different fabrics - the outside and lining were purchased from ebay and the bottom was some old fabric of my mum's ... I think we used to have curtains  made from this material! 

I have now got it stuffed with all my bits of fabric and wool - it's a bit of an ... unusual shape ....! Needless to say , I won't be giving up work to start a bag making business any time soon!! haha!

This was my first proper go at sewing from a pattern and I suppose that I have to start somewhere! Think I will have a go at something from "Make" next .... should be slightly easier!! 

A Crafty Saturday ...

As it was such a lovely sunny day today (unlike the rain and gales which were forecast, and I suspect, will hit "the south" tonight..) I decided that as Mr Plum was off taking photos and spending time in the "Apple Shop" with a friend from work, I would walk to my nearest haberdashers and get some bits and pieces to get working on!

It was a pleasant 30 minute walk along one of South London's parks ... it felt more like March and the beginning of Spring than mid-January!

I got the Cath Kidston "Make" book for Christmas ... so picked up some felt and threads and will start embellishing and appliqueing (is that even a word?)!  I think that I am addicted to buying fat quarters ... but have decided to make some bunting with the collection of material I have now acquired! 

As I write this, I have given up (!) for the evening, my attempt to follow a "beginners" pattern for a hold all bag to keep all my bits of fabric in ... I think I will have to do a bit of unpicking in the morning, as it has gone slightly wrong! oh well ... 

While we are on the subject of sewing ... here's a gratuitous picture of the lovely red polka dot sewing box which Mr Plum gave me for Christmas!  

I've finished my scarf!

Hurray! I have finally done it .... started and finished a knitting project!!

I have knitted a lovely scarf using lovely pale pink and minty green mohair wool .... I had never had to "cast off" before (as I had never actually finished anything that I had started knitting before!) so found help on youtube!

Hmmm...I might try knitting something else - maybe a tea-cosy? Not sure how difficult these are as I have only ever knitted scarves (or half-scarves!!) .... but as one of my new years resolutions was to make more stuff, rather than just talking about it - I think I need to get started on my next crafty project straight away!!!!!

Mr Plum's New Camera

Mr Plum has been out and about taking photos with his new Digital SLR camera which he picked up at a bargain price in the sales. Here are a couple of my favourite pictures so far ...

Apologies for being quiet on my blog for the last week or so ... I have been busy knitting a scarf, and not doing much else!!!  

Another posting about cakes!

My Sunday tea party went very well .... every single cake, scone and biscuit was eaten up.  I thought I would use this as an excuse to post a picture of my cake stand.  I love it! It was given to me by Mr Plum's Auntie from Oop North....it's always a pleasure to find an excuse to load it up with goodies!  

And, could my Sunday get any better?  A new series of Lark Rise started on BBC1!  

Well, the Christmas decorations are down now ... and the living room is looking bare and bland and ready for redecoration! Me and Mr Plum spent Saturday going around DIY stores and have bought a lovely new fireplace!  Here it is ... Luckily we got a bargain in the January sales!  I can't wait to have it installed (to replace the awful fireplace we inherited from the previous owners of our flat). 

A Sunday Tea Party

Any excuse to drink tea and eat cakes!!  As I was feeling a bit under the weather over New Year, I have invited our friends who hosted us on the 31st round for afternoon tea ... a fine excuse to try out some recipes from "Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer".  

On the menu today, I will be serving scones (with Marco Polo jelly from Paris, and lashings of cream), and "Strike Me Pink" Raspberry cakes (I tested one, just to make sure they had worked .. I'm not sure, so will just have another one ... and maybe another one ....!)

I will also be serving Christmas cake and biscuits that we have left after Christmas ... ready to start with a clean slate tomorrow!

There's only four of us here to tea this afternoon - do you think I have baked enough??! 

New Year Treats

I had a look round the Cath Kidston sale the other day ... and although these weren't reduced, I thought I would treat myself to the pins and threads tins to add to my sewing kit.  

They are lovely!

Happy New Year!

This year I will:

1. Lose weight ... I am a serial Weight Watcher and will be joining the online scheme on Monday 5 Jan
2. Be more crafty ... knitting and sewing
3. Do something useful around the house rather than getting sucked into Soapland!
4. Read all of my "to read" books that I have stacked up before buying new ones (that will be the hardest to keep!)