Five on Friday - feeling Pink.

Recently I've been getting FB requests to post a heart on my FB page

to support Breast Cancer awareness which I thought was strange

since October is Breast Cancer awareness month.

Still it doesn't hurt to spread the word about being vigilant about checking the ladies

so here's a reminder from me.

Eating cake always puts me in the pink so here are two for us to share.

Something else to put smiles on our faces.

 They may be expensive but well worth it for the cheeriness factor.

Joining two lovely hosts this week with my 5 pretty pinks

Amy @ Love Made My Home for Five on Friday

Love Made My Home

and

Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound

for Pink Saturday.

Mosaic Monday # 27 - so then this happened.

Mosaic Monday

I have a friend who lives in the UK who likes to make marmalade in January, usually she makes a Seville orange marmalade because Seville oranges are at their best at this time of year.
Last month however she went "off piste" and pink grapefruit and gin marmalade was the result.
After seeing pix on Facebook I decided to make some myself, well February is Grapefruit month after all.
I asked google to find me a quick and easy recipe and discovered one on the aptly named "gintime -  the site for gin lovers everywhere".

Pink Gin Marmalade

• 1 kg pink grapefruit
• Juice of one lemon
• 3 litres water
• 1.5 kg white sugar
• 100 ml Gin

This will fill about 4 1lb jars, but it is good to have a couple of spare ones just in case or a selection of big and small jars.
First of all give the rinds a really good scrub in some hot water to removes the wax. Cut the grapefruits and lemon in half and juice them. Remove all the loose bits inside but leave the white pith on the peel. Chop the grapefruit into strips. Place the peel and juices into a big pan and pour over the water. Put the pips of the fruit into a piece of muslin and secure with a string and place this in the pan (the pips contain pectin which helps the marmalade set). Bring the contents of the pan to the boil and then simmer gently for about two and a half hours. By this time the fruit should be soft and transparent and the liquid will have reduced by a third.
Take off the heat and add the sugar. Stir and allow to sit for a moment to dissolve. While you are doing this, set your oven to 150C or gas 2. Wash the jars in hot soapy water then rinse but do not dry. Place the jars upside down in the oven and leave them for 30 mins, then switch the oven off and use them while they are still hot. When you take them out of the oven make sure they are not placed on metal – use a wooden chopping board.
Give the fruit a good stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil and then allow to simmer. You now need to watch out for the setting point. It is difficult to put an exact time on this as it depends on the size and shape of your pan and how much you are making. If you have a sugar thermometer use this and look out for it reaching 106C. Otherwise test for the setting point every few minutes by placing a drop of the liquid on a chilled saucer, place the saucer in the fridge for a moment and then push your finger through it. If it crinkles then it is at setting point. Once this is reached take the pan off the heat immediately. Allow the marmalade to sit for 20 minutes before stirring in the gin and pouring it into the jars. Seal the jars immediately and carefully (because they will be very hot) turn them upside down to create a vacuum in the jar. Allow to cool, then store in a cool, dark place.

Prepping 3 large grapefruits took longer than I thought it would but I got a lot of juice out of them and when I got the hang of it the messy stuff from inside came away fairly easily.
I added the water and the muslin bag with a very few pips in.
so then this happened..............
I tipped the sugar into the juice and put the pan on the gas stove.
Help! I'd missed out one very important step.
Bring the contents of the pan to the boil and then simmer gently for about two and a half hours. By this time the fruit should be soft and transparent and the liquid will have reduced by a third. Take off the heat and add the sugar. Stir and allow to sit for a moment to dissolve.
Well, I cooked that sugary fruity peel for 5 hours and all I got was a thick syrup with peel in it!
I left it (and me) to cool overnight and woke up the next morning determined not to give up.

Pinterest provided the inspiration needed to save the day.
After straining the strips of grapefruit peel from the syrup, I baked some in a cake to have with tea that afternoon and froze the rest to add to more cakes and desserts in the future.
The syrup was poured into freezer containers and was magically transformed into the most delicious, palest pink grapefruit and gin sorbet, voila!

oh, yes you can!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five On Friday # 10.

Joining Amy once again for Five On Friday

with

2 things that have something in common;

2 things that are loosely connected

and 1 sign of an early spring, perhaps!

The first Sunday in February, as those of you who live in the UK may already know,

was Yorkshire Pudding Day.

To celebrate this year I not only tried a new recipe (bye bye Delia) from Barney Desmazery but as a change served them with a beef in ale casserole.

Staying with the National Food Day theme 

did you know that the 7th February was Fettucine Alfredo Day?

To learn more about this delicious dish click here to go to the National Day Calendar. We love pasta and I'm always trying out new recipes
sourced nowadays from Pinterest.
There are so many versions of this dish on there,

 the one I chose was the copycat Olive Garden Alfredo sauce, yummy.

Enough about food - my stomach's rumbling, onto the next loosely connected duo.

M'selle Fleur's fear of loud noises (fireworks, thunder, hunters shooting) has escalated to the point now that on certain days she won't even get out of the car.

Luckily she has no concerns at the beach and will happily walk and play for miles, it truly is her and therefore our happy place.

On Monday morning we headed that way and look what we saw there.

Of course it's not always convenient to use up the whole morning going to the beach and so I did some googling to find a way of calming Fleur so that we can enjoy all our walks together.

I knew about Bach's Homeopathic Flower remedies for relieving stress

and was very happy to find that they make a Rescue Remedy for Pets.

Amazon was consulted, the remedy was purchased and treatment has begun.

I'll keep you posted as to whether it works or not.

and finally......

that's right the lawn mower came out of hibernation on Tuesday

this is the first cut of the year.

Is Spring really on the way?

Love Made My Home

Mosaic Monday # 26. The Good, the Random, the Fun.

One of the great things about Mosaic Monday is the inspiration that I get from visiting the blogs of all of you who participate each week.

Mosaic Monday

Reading about where you live, your families; homes; hobbies and passions seems to spark my own creativity leading me to think "outside the box" to find new interests and expand the range of blog topics.
Despite my best efforts I still haven't mastered the ability to capture images of the birds who come into the garden to avail themselves of the daily buffet laid out for them on the bird table, so I can't blog about that.
With the weather so cold and bleak this past week we haven't ventured out too far from the fireside, so I was asking myself what can I bring to Mosaic Monday this week when I remembered Linda's post "Late January Random-osity; the Good, the Random the Fun" @ The View From Squirrel Creek.

the  good

early primroses and snowdrops growing at the side of the lane

the random

a once stately country house, now sadly neglected,

could be brought back to it's former glory.

Is this the fixer-upper of your dreams?

the fun!

are you a fan of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple?

then check out the Angela Marchmont series

by

Clara Benson.

I'm afraid to say I'm hooked on them, such fun.

Have you been inspired by other bloggers and discovered a new interest, author or hobby?

Don't keep it to yourself, leave me a comment and tell me more!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five On Friday # 9. 5 things that made me happy this week.

Joining Amy @ Love Made My Home for Five On Friday 

with 5 things that have made me happy this week.

#1

walking by a derelict barn we saw that some enterprising person was using it

as a stable for their horses,

this guy popped his head out to say bonjour

from now on I'm calling him Mr Ed.

 #2

more and more food shops in Normandy are using these biodegradable bags

I was very happy to see my local boulanger

has started using them too this week.

 # 3

what can I say?

our Orlando theme park tickets have arrived!

Did you see my happy dance?

 # 4

M'selle Fleur chased a neighbour's cat in the lane

I was happy to see he had found a safe place well out of reach

in another neighbour's barn.

 # 5

A treat for me.

bon weekend.

Love Made My Home

Mosaic Monday # 25. Winter Snap Challenge.

I'm back on home turf for my Mosaic Monday post this week sharing with you some images taken around and about as part of the Winter Snap Challenge currently happening on the UK Scrappers website.

If you would like to learn more about the challenge, which runs until the end of February, and maybe spark your own winter photography (or even your scrap booking) mojo into action then click on this link to my justscrapping blog for more details.

The mosaic below includes one of the WSC prompts, # 13 - a sign of spring, we've had daffodils blooming in this sunny spot since Christmas.
The shot below it was captured on the beach at Colleville sur Mer on a very frosty morning, I've never seen frost covered sand before.
The final photo in the triptych is of our back garden, all three were taken with my new iPhone which was a gift from the SP at Christmas.
I love having it in my pocket when out walking, the freedom to point and click whenever I want to is quite heady!

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 24. The Bowes Museum, County Durham.

The Bowes Museum

Last week when I stopped by Daniella's blog " my little old world " I was reminded of a visit that the Senior Partner I made to the Bowes Museum in 2013.
When I checked my blog history I realised that I hadn't ever blogged about our visit despite promising that I would.
The Bowes Museum has an excellent informative website so I thought I'd share some of the many photos that we took on our visit and combine them with this short history from there.
"The Bowes Museum is a hidden treasure, a jewel in the heart of beautiful Teesdale. The magnificent building stands proud in the historic market town of Barnard Castle housing internationally significant collections of fine and decorative arts.  Purpose built in the 19th century by John and Joséphine Bowes, the Museum has a wonderful story to tell.

John, the son of the 10th Earl of Strathmore, was born at No 13 South Street, Chelsea, London. His mother was a commoner, Mary Millner, who caught the Earl's eye when she worked on his Teesdale estate and ended up living with the Earl to all intents as his wife for many years. The Earl married her just 16 hours before his death in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his son’s succession. Two very long court cases ensued, finally settling the Durham estates on John, but not recognising him as the legitimate heir to the Strathmore title.

John was educated at Eton and became a very successful businessman who profited from the coal reserves on his land. From 1847 he spent his time between France and England exploring his interest in the arts. It was here he bought a theatre and met the Parisian actress Joséphine Coffin-Chevallier. 

Joséphine was born in 1825. She was an actress in the Théatre des Variétés, Paris, owned by John Bowes. Joséphine was a talented amateur painter, who shared John’s love of the arts; she was interested in a range of art forms including paintings, ceramics, furniture and textiles. Once the couple married in 1852 they soon began to develop the idea of creating a world-class museum back in John’s ancestral home of Teesdale in order to introduce the wider world of art to the local people.

"

"Regatta on the Grand Canal"

circa 1730

Giovanni Antonio Canal "Canaletto".

The prospect was daunting; nothing had matched the scale, grandeur or location of this colossal proposal in their lifetime. Plans were meticulously scrutinised and painstakingly formed in order to give the North East a truly magnificent edifice, a home suitably fitting for all the precious treasures which would be contained within it.

l to r

"Portrait of a Lady" c. 1760 - Joshua Reynolds

Tin glazed earthenware jug c. 1872 - Emile Galle

"Olive Boteler Porter" c. 1630 -Sir Antony Van Dyck

The Bowes’ enthusiasm was immeasurable as Joséphine laid the foundation stone in 1869. She said: ‘I lay the bottom stone, and you, Mr Bowes, will lay the top stone’. As the building grew, so did their collection and an astounding 15,000 objects were purchased between 1862 and 1874.

Suddenly the project was blighted when Joséphine died in 1874. John’s motivation towards their lifelong achievement took an enormous blow and he virtually ceased collecting. Fortunately the building did continue, but John, like his late wife, never saw its completion. He died in 1885 and never did carry out Joséphine’s wish of laying the top stone.

Despite the death of John and Joséphine, momentum for the project had reached such a scale that it continued under the leadership of Trustees and The Bowes Museum was finally opened to the public on 10th June 1892 and attracted nearly 63,000 visitors in its first year.

John and Joséphine ensured that their Museum was filled with treasures; since collecting has continued since the opening, storage and display space comes at a premium. At every turn you can see important and precious works from all over Europe, and each piece has its own story to tell. However, it is the 240 year-old Silver Swan that is the best-loved object in the Museum. The Silver Swan is an English silver automaton, a unique attraction that was bought by the Bowes in 1872. The life size model is still in working order and is operated at the Museum on a daily basis.

The diverse collection spans three floors of the magnificent building and contains items too numerous to list. Whether it is paintings by Canaletto or Goya, porcelain produced at Sèvres, or marquetry attributed to André-Charles Boulle it can all be found at The Bowes Museum, which has received Designated status from the government in recognition of the outstanding collection."

Click here to visit the Bowes Museum website and uncover more treasures collected by John and Joséphine Bowes.

An InLinkz Link-up