Today I fancied pizza, so I went hunting for a 50% off voucher from a leading pizza supplier and simply couldn’t find one that worked.  So in the end, I swore gently to myself and decided I’d see what flour I had and grabbed the bag out of the cupboard, it was self raising, ‘whats the worse that could happen’ I thought to myself. ‘Not much’ was my considered response. (the beauty of living on your own is that you sink into little chats to yourself, but as no one knows you do that, they can’t identify you’ve gone completely barking – its genius really!)  I made up a yeasty brew, my considered method was tip the dry yeast into a small amount of warm water, add extra for luck and a little bit of sugar, swirl around a bit with warm water until its dissolved and starts to smell yeasty and throw it in with more water and a little salt.  Some methods suggest that you measure your teaspoon of yeast and the exact ratio of flour etc etc…   If you add more yeast, you get a quicker rise, simples, all that waiting for bread to rise is simply the yeast multiplying, so if you start with more, it will be quicker and if it needs more water, add it and if it needs more flour add more of that.  I got the warm water from the coffee machine, sans coffee pod and a splash of cold water to cool it down, none of that filling the kettle for a splash of hot water.

And we could talk about kneeding, which stretches the gluten etc etc..   So does leaving it to rise.  So mix the water in, make sure there are no dry bits at the bottom of the bowl and leave it for an hour or so, then when its risen and you’ve made your toppings etc, knock it back and work it for a couple of minutes and you will have dough that is perfectly good enough without all of that kneeding, unless of course you fancy a good kneed, and then go ahead, pummel for all your worth, but if your busy and have other things to be getting on with, don’t give it a second thought.

Put it in your tray, push it out and let it rest for a bit, and then it will relax and you’ll be able to get those corners sorted.  Otherwise the dough is fighting against you and you can’t push it into the corners. You can top it straight away now, it doesn’t need to rise again.

In between showering and working and waiting for the dough to rise I reduced one tin of tomatoes, maybe 30p and added a little balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil and grated some cheese that I had bought at a buy one get one free which worked out at 500g of mature cheddar for £2.00.  of which I used about 350 g,  I’ve no idea what the flour cost, but it wasn’t alot.  The tomatoes need to be relatively cool, at least not boiling hot.

I’d preheated my oven up to the highest temperature and placed my expensive pizza of a couple of quid or so into it and set the timer for 12 minutes.

And then I took a couple of photo’s of my lovely garden in London. The view from the patio doors.

I love my red geraniums, they smell so lovely and they just look glorious.

And they do so well here.

And when we wonder down the path, we discover,

A poppy has blossomed, (although its sister, further up the bed is dying!)

It does look glorious, it made me so happy to see it.

And the runner beans have reached the end of their poles.

And look, they are just starting to flower.

And we have a fig.  And then I wandered back, and  just before getting to the patio doors, I smelt the Pizza… and rushed forward, just as the timer started to beep

Et Voila,  Pizza, yummy tomato Pizza.

And because I know these things are important to you, it did Not have a soggy bottom.

And was indeed a thing of beauty and made a very delicious lunch.

Woolcrest Textiles is just around the corner in Well Street from the London College of Fashion in Mare Street.  A wholesale fabric warehouse that sells to the public.  It is extremely well placed for fashion students, who need metres of fabric to sample with, without going to the expense and second mortgage that is often required in London fabric shops – or at least central ones.

The first few times I went, I have to be honest, I was out of my comfort zone, but the more I trot around, the more I understand the fabrics displayed, and just how cheap they are.  Good quality wools, silks, linens and fashion at ridiculous prices.  Yes, you might not find what your hunting for, but you will find something.  My prices are approximate, but Linen’s range from £2.00 to £2.50 a metre, Silk comes in at about £3.00 a metre, Wool for coats, trousers, jackets between £5.00 to £7.00 a metre, you get my gist.   As opposed to Berwick Street where wool’s start at £49.00 a metre and silks start at £45.00, organic cottons come in at about £18.00 and Linens start at about £28.00.  I know they are all beautiful in Berwick Street, but there are some real treasures here too. You just have to hunt them down and be prepared to spend a little time looking.

And lets be honest, it could do with a lick of paint, but it appears to be a male dominated business and these things are all incidental to the work that is done inside.  And these boys are busy, really busy, fabric purchasing is an intense business from students, customers and fabric retailers.

You see the above fabrics, three metres of silk, four of a heavy pure wool – two metres of cotton shirting, one metre of wool flannel, one metres of a wool boucle type thing, and one metre of a heavy wool, and there was something else you can’t see.   £45.00 quid, approx the same price as one metre in Berwick Street.  

The silk is so pretty, we did the flame test, it is silk, and the plan is a little for sampling and a little for me.

And this wool, how could I not, the colours are so me.  I am thinking of making a big blanket or making a winter coat.  Its lovely, its thick and its gloriously soft with just the right amount of roughness and I know its going to keep me warm, I just haven’t decided which way yet.

I can’t believe I am heading swiftly towards the close of my first academic year at University.  I know the pace is hotting up and my adrenaline is starting to surge.  I am constantly thinking about what I need to do, so to that end I am trying to go swimming a couple of times a week just to give me a physical and mental break.   So one day last week when I was half an hour early to class and in need of some toast and coffee having been up since 5.30 a.m. (that was the adrenaline) and been swimming for an hour,  I was looking around for a cafe and realised what treats there were if you simply turn left instead of right when exiting the train station.  Lovely little cafe’s tucked underneath the arches, so cute.  (I’d often wondered what the smell of savoury meals and pasties was when I trotted through at 9.00 a.m.)   Now its summer all of the tables and chairs are coming out, so this is what gave the game away.

I found a little cafe and had some lovely sour dough toast, home made marmalade and good coffee, which was a brilliant treat. 

And it was such lovely bread I asked where it had come from.

I was directed to two doors down… e5bakehouse  An absolute find. There were about six or seven chefs in the back, dressed in whites, busy hand making bread as I bought my loaf of Hackney Wild, a crusty loaf with a wonderful taste made with a mix of organic unbleached white flour, organic stoneground wholemeal and organic rye flour.  It takes a while, living on your own, but I eat every mouthful and those commercial loaves that are sat in my freezer for emergencies – you know the type, a bread emergency! – really look and taste very sad in comparison.

And they do delicious looking cakes,  which call to me whilst I wait to pay, so far I have resisted their siren call.

If you happen to be around London Fields, hunt them down, your worth it.

I think we have done reasonably well, weather wise this bank holiday.  At least we haven’t been pinned to the weather forcasts waiting for a break in the weather, we have been able to get out and about.

Our ruby red geraniums are beginning to put on quite a show, and their scent is lovely.  I tend to bed hop in the middle of the night if I’m not sleeping well, I find a cold bed helps me get back to sleep, so when I tip toe into the back bedroom and crack open the window an inch or two the night air is heavy with their perfume.  I don’t notice it so much during the day, do geraniums release their scent at night?  I don’t know.

Our herb bed is doing very nicely.  The mint is now starting to clump and grow, the sage always does well and the rosemary is coming up the rear, with the thyme’s holding there own.  I use the herbs frequently as I normally cook from scratch and they always make such a difference to a meal.

Our border is thickening up, mostly with perennials, but with the addition of a pansy or two.  I do like the nodding heads of pansies, sometimes they just look so amusing with their happy faces bobbing away.

Our runner beans are starting to find their way up the poles.

And we are very pleased with our fig tree.

Our courgettes are just starting to take hold, it is still a bit cold for them.

And little pockets of beetroot are sprouting up.

Our ceanothusus is flowering.

And the rhododendron is coming on well.

We planted a white lilac with a white clematis to grow through it for when the spikes of flowers of the lilac fade at the end of June.  I don’t mind if it doesn’t flower this year, the heart shaped leaves are beautiful enough.  

Its always nice to get everything done by Easter, its always my goal.  I can remember when we moved into our first house and had not realised just how organised one must be in the early part of the year to get the full benefit.  And this year we have managed it, and I look forward to barbeques and picnics, high teas and roast dinners all set up in the garden.  (Have you noticed the barbeque is fired up?) 

Hubby seems very pleased.

And we had barbequed chicken for supper. In the tones of a Monty Python sketch – ‘this parrot is dead’ 

And just in case you thought everything was just too perfect.

This is me, wrapped up for an evenings barbequing in May.  I am a knitter, I understand the insulating properties of wool.  It was the greatest of fun, we had quite a giggle, our first meal taken outside this year.

For one reason and another hubby and I have been out of sorts of late, which might go someways to explain the delay in blog posts.  Its been weeks since we have been out and about,  but as Easter was here we decided we really must make the effort.

On Saturday we decided to go to our favourite garden centre to stroll around and admire all of the beautiful plants they have.

We bought a few geraniums to furnish some pots , (although ours are in red, I just forgot to photograph those!)

and we fell in love with these – very architectural.

And then later after the lawn mowing and planting and tidying we had our first barbeque of the season,  a leg of lamb which I butterflied and marinaded with garlic, spring onions, fresh coriander, mint and lemon – it was delicious, served with salad and minted new potatoes,  with plenty left for the rest of the bank holiday.

Sunday arrived and with it the bank holiday rain, so we took ourselves off to the V & A to see a couple of exhibitions I had been meaning to see.  And on the way out we spied an exhibition of butterflies, and promptly joined the queue.

And were met with dancing, fluttering splodges of colour pirouetting around their beautiful garden.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

And very amusing, when one alighted for a rest on my nose.

Hubby was tickled pink by their activities too.

On Monday hubby and I continued with our search for shirting and tana lawns in 100 per cent cotton at reasonable cost.  These two things seem to be mutually exclusive to each other.   I have found Joel & Son Fabrics  online who do gorgeous fabrics but they are a bit pricy for what I had in mind.  Although I have purchased some rather gorgeous shirting in a jacquard weave in a pale blue for less than half price and rest assured they are very thorough at checking fabric before it goes out the door.  They rang me and told me of a slight flaw and offered me another eight pounds off it, I’ve yet to find the flaw and we have looked in good daylight.  Its on my to do list to get to the shop  in person. It is definitely worth a rummage in their students and offers bins.  It came beautiful packaged, interlined with tissue paper with a free tape measure, I always like those little extras, they make you smile.
On Saturday we had looked around Walthamstow Market, the longest Market in the UK apparently.  They have many fabric shops and stalls but none that sold what I was looking for, I’d have been okay for poly cotton though or a thicker weight, more like crafting cotton, just no shirting or tana lawn.
And then on Sunday, after a brief look at the fabric shops around Brick Lane I realised the only place to go was Shaukat. So this was our destination on Monday.   Oh how I love this shop, it is lovely, it is beyond lovely and is perfect for suiting and shirting and tana lawn, just perfect.  I could go there weekly and slowly but surely squirrel all of the lovely things into my stash.  If your tempted by Liberties, you will be seriously tempted by Shaukat.   And so it was we came home with three shirt/blouse worths of fabric via the pub.
The local pub is brilliant, The Duke of Clarence.  It has a lovely eclectic mix of clientele ranging from regular joe’s to much higher on the scale.  Their food is brilliant, its not overpriced but has a very high quality to it.  We have been there several times as my hubby always seems to need much needed refreshment after a trip to Shaukat, I can’t think why?  And this time hubby had a pint of Youngs Bitter and being St Patricks Day a pint of Guiness was top of my list, with half a dozen of the sweetest oysters a piece.

 
They were delicious.  Happy memories being made.

On Sunday we decided that a long overdue trot around Brick Lane was in order.  Primarily to look around fabric shops, but also as I had heard that on a Sunday there is quite a buzz.

We started off midday and quickly abandoned the fabric shops, to submerge ourselves in the vibe that was going on.  It was the best fun – Ever.  The day was warm, note the people walking around in tshirts, shorts and sandals, the colours were bright, the smells magnificent and the textural qualities of the buildings made for an inspirational day.   We wandered at will and found something new with every few steps. 

I loved these peacock feathers.

Beautiful old red brick factories had been opened up to form indoor markets three of which were food emporiums.  I think most cultures were covered, there were probably a hundred vendors in various locations selling food to eat on the go,  not including the restaurants and tiny cafes that were also doing a brisk trade. 

Just a few photos of the types of food on offer in this particular building, we never made it in to two of the others.  

I loved the pictorial tiles.  There were pictures at every turn.   

This stork was magnificent.

And this creature, the detail that had gone into it, fantastic. 

We loved the balance in this picture.  To do something this big to look so perfect, well, I don’t have the words, just Wow. 

This empty shop’s window was white washed on the inside and the picture scratched into it.  

And how could we ignore the Greyhounds.    Then we took a gentle walk around to the Columbia Road Flower Market which is only open on a Sunday.  It was four o’clock by this point and we wondered if we were going to be too late.  Although some stall holders were already packing up, the fresh flower people were still going strong. 

So many pretty spring bulbs to choose from.  All being sold off very cheap.  Three bunches for a fiver is what most were selling at.  But I always find the wandering around is the best part of the fun. 

Or as we like to call it, ‘don’t peak too early’. 

Although it was very hard to resist, and I was making mental notes on where to rush back to.  I’ve got another fifty photographs of the flower market, this is just a snap shot, it is huge and it is amazing.  

Every stall was as beautiful as the one before.

And I really could have done with a troop of men to carry my goodies home.  

We settled on three bunches of old fashioned spray roses in a delicate hue for a tenner! 

Do you like my flower seller?

There were some lovely shops,

this a shop selling new items for the kitchen and home,

and this was stuffed to the gills with items for the kitchen/dining room to bring back memories or wish you owned. 

We stopped for a beer Hubby  and I enjoying the evening sun. 

And then took a gentle stroll to the tube, discovering treat upon treat,

I have no idea what this bush is called. 

This forsythia was a most wondrous beauty.   

And then we came to a jaw droppingly beautiful specimen tree.
It was such a beautiful day – in March !!!

Firstly, apologies about the delay in writing to you.  Things have been a tad busy here, more of which in future posts.  I must also apologise for the state of the blog.  Urrrm, well, I got something fundamentally wrong with my hosting company, I thought what was going to be a yearly charge was monthly, and so after I’d realised that I wouldn’t be food shopping until the end of April, I made contact with them and managed to cancel the account, although I did lose twenty dollars which rather annoyed me, half a weeks food at the moment, but you live and learn.  And those blog posts, the text has been copied and slowly I’ll filter them in again and you’ll have to pretend you’ve never seen them and leave me lovely comments, because I didn’t save the comments and I’ll miss that part of it all the most. 

Hopefully I’ll get time to sort out this blog a bit as well, but I can’t see it happening anytime soonish, so you’ll have to give me a bit of leeway on that, but the important thing is, I’m back in the room !

I thought I would share some jazzy mother’s days nails with you.

When asked, I tell people they are my Mothers Days nails, colours chosen by my son and quickly gloss over that he is a big hair twenty two year old and this took place whilst chatting over video link, rather than him sat on my knee as an adorable five year old.  It was amusing, he made me change the colours, twice, as I’d got the colours wrong!   I haven’t had too many important meetings since I’ve painted them, although every time I’ve stopped and spoken to someone they’ve immediately commented on how lovely they are, which has tickled me . 

Till the next time.

Hello everybody,

I’ve taken the step of starting a new blog, mainly to allow myself to have a platform to let myself twirl and dance without feeling constrained as to whether I want to use this blog name in a more professional way in the future. 

I hope you like it, blossomandsunshine.com

I’ll still be keeping this blog and may even publish the same article on both at the same time, I am sure there will be overlaps in my life.  It will be interesting to see how they both develop.

Have fun,

Mandy