Thursday, May 8, 2014

Loving the late autumn days...

If you don't live in a tropical climate you can't really imagine what it's like to have 'high summer' for around 7 to 8 months of the year.
But then again, I have no idea what living with snow or ice is like.
Where I live we're just three weeks away from winter, and finally, it feels like an autumn change has arrived. We've had a few false starts, but it's really here now!
And with a true autumn change comes the desire to bake comfort foods.
On Sunday night we had a good old-fashioned lamb shoulder roast and as it was pretty large and there's only three of us at home these days I used the leftover roast lamb to make a Shepherd's Pie last night...

It was sooooooo good....really, really good.

I'm giving myself the "Wonderful Wife" medal today because there was only one serve left over and I warmed it up at lunchtime today for Mr E to enjoy. Served with lashings of Worcestershire sauce he was a very happy husband indeed and smiled at me a lot between mouthfuls.
I sat opposite with my apple, mandarin, and wedge of cheese - and polished my shiny medal lovingly. 
Think I need to buy more lamb...

 

It's lovely here in the late afternoon, hidden away in my office where all the fabric has taken up residence. I stood before the fabric shelves for a good hour this afternoon pondering colour choices for new Rosedaisy projects before deciding on two sets of two fabrics...

They were traced and prepared before I knew it.
Do you find fabric choice to be a hard decision with a new project?


Later in May I'll have a full set of ten Rosedaisy designs to offer you, so to spur me on and get them all stitched and finished within the next two weeks I decided to buy myself a gift to make 'just for fun' as my reward...

I've been a Tilda fan from way back, and making one of her dolls has been on my 'want to do' list for years.
As I'd never seen what comes inside her doll kits before I couldn't wait to open the box when it arrived today!
Fabrics, notions, hair, and everything else that's needed apart from doll stuffing - there is even a stick to use when filling the limbs.
But what I was most impressed with was this...

Not just written instructions, but this large fold out poster of step by step illustrations!
As a gal who learns visually, this inclusion excited me the most. Now I am really going to get cracking to finish my own work so I can play with Tilda.
I'll share something else. The reason I've never purchased a Tilda doll kit before was because I just couldn't afford it - in Australia these kits usually cost around $70-$75.
After recently purchasing a Flower Sugar fabric bundle for a commissioned Homespun project later this year from Eve's Fabric Direct.com.au shop I was having a bit of a browse around her stock for future reference...and there was this Tilda Doll Kit for $29
So you get why I popped it straight in my shopping basket right?! 
To say I'm over the moon about my 'gift-to-self' is an understatement. It was definitely worth the five year wait.

So let me ask you today, what gift have you bought for yourself that you had to wait a while to get? Was it worth it in the end?

Just so you know, Eve has sold out of the kits. I'm thanking God for blessing me. x 

hugs



18 comments:

Annette said...

Hi Jenny, here in outer Melbourne (near Miss Marples)it was -2deg this mornings....chilly! But a glorious autumn day, the trees are golden & bugandy, the bright autumn light was blinding, think we are in for a cold winter. Take care"........Annette

Christina said...

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Oh your shepherd's pie is making me hungry. Love your fabric choices for your new project. Fabric selection is always hard. WTG on the bargain shopping.

Tammy said...

Here where I live in the Southern part of the US it is in the 90's degrees Farenheight. We are rapidly approaching our Summer months. I don't get to do a lot of treating myself to lil gifts these days. So the last thing I can think of was when I went shopping with my sister for her to look for a new purse and I actually treated myself to several pairs of new cotton and lace undies from a nice department store that were on sale for about what we pay at the discount marts. And the best part is they have lil breast cancer awareness ribbon designs on them. ...l feel silly posting such personal info. lol...But you did ask...

Thistle Cove Farm said...

oh my gosh...I adore shepherd's pie and yours looks incredible! Dave and I lived in Hawaii for a while so know what you mean about tropics.

Patricia said...

Will you be posting the recipe for the pie?
I saved a long time for the a whole set of dishes. They were made from Edith Holden's illustrations in The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. I also have the book, her personal thoughts and observations of the flora and fauna in England and Scotland. Worth every penny!

Bonniedoo said...

Hi Jenny....I live in a 4 season area that had winter (snow, ice, bitter cold) for 2 months longer than normal this year. We are now into spring and the snow has only been gone for 2 weeks. My gift to myself has nothing to do with sewing.........I had my car detailed last week....to get rid of the salt that was put on the roads to make them safer for driving......I just couldn't face cleaning her myself. LOL, she is just as pretty as new now. I think I will give myself that gift every year!!!!

We had shepherd's pie for supper last night too...........it was delicious!!!!!!!

Carol Swift said...

Your shepherd's pie looks so delicious! We have short winters here (thank goodness) but then it pops right into really, really hot. I'm thinking I need a Tilda pattern...too cute! I hope I don't have to wait 5 years. :O)

KimM said...

I absolutely love fall. It's my favorite season. We are in the throes of putting in new flooring in our bedroom, painting the same, and having new window coverings put in. AUGH! Need more time to stitch!!!

Anonymous said...

awesome post Jenny,i love tilda too,have a wonderful day my friend.xx

Createology said...

As you are experiencing Fall we are having Spring. Shepard's Pie looks like a wonderful comfort food for Fall. Fabric choices are difficult only because I love so many styles and colors. I always enjoy your choices. Tilda doll is a wonderful gift for yourself. I am still waiting for something I want but do not need. Fall Blessings...

Anonymous said...

Your pie looks delicious Jenny. What is the saying 'all good things come to those who wait' your doll, will be gorgeous. Your fabric choices looking lovely, that is one thing does not come easy for me, fabric choosing, putting together, guess it can be learnt with patience and understanding of patterns colours etc and gradually building up confidence. Learning from looking at your selections, thank you. I guess there is a general rule or right way to go about it with what works, sizes of patterns etc as well as personal choice. Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day and weekend, Judithann :-)

e said...

Congratulations on your Tilda find. As far as I know, in the U.S. we can only get Tilda internationally and the postage kills us. We are fortunate however to get Tilda books which I purchase exclusively from Amazon because I can get gently used books extremely inexpensively (most of the time, less than $10 USD!!). Have fun sewing and your new designs look amazing. Can't wait for the reveals :)

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Judithann, I'm going to chat a bit next week about fabric choices, and I hope you find some little gem that will make choosing fabrics that bit easier for you. xx

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Good on you! :-)

Jenny of Elefantz said...

I'll share the recipe next week, Patricia. :-)

Patricia said...

Wonderful! Thank you,
Patricia C

Anonymous said...

Jenny, that is good news, I'm sure myself and others will find it very helpful with progress in this area, its a bit like taking the first step, learning and understanding and then things clicking, hopefully. Thank you, Judithann :-)

Lin said...

Choosing fabrics always takes me a while - in fact anything decision wise takes ages but then, off I go! Every since I saw Doris Day eat Eggs Benedict (I think it was in the Que Sera film with David Niven) I have wanted to try. Well, It took me until my 60th birthday last weekend to get there but it was delicious! However, it now seems that eggs benedict is everywhere so no longer something special which is such a shame. Glad you had a good day out with Blossom. xx