other, photos

November’s Tea Time

5 Comments

Here it is, the middle of November, and time for another virtual tea party.

Welcome, everyone! I’m especially delighted to see you!

After what we’ve all been through one way or t’other, can’t say we’re not ready for a hot cup and a warm scone or two. It’s been quite a month, and frankly, I’m glad to see the back of it.

But I’ve always been one for phone calls and now FaceTime and Zoom and Skype.  (Did you know I was teaching a monthly vocal workshop, including a Spanish soprano in Málaga (Spain) in 2000?) I’ve been waiting a long time for video teaching to come of age. 🥴

Can you see cranberries sticking out?

Back to our tea. . .  My little scone & biscuit book (here it is in U.K. and U.S.) has a cranberry scone recipe that I decided to try out. Have been having a thing for dried cranberries lately (with chicken, but that’s another story) and decided to try the recipe.

The dough is very soft and makes huge round scones. As usual, I skimped on the sugar and the taste was fine. But I should have soaked the dried berries first. Duh! Luckily, most of them were plump anyway, so the occasional chewy one didn’t bother me.

However, their size had me eating half a scone, and saving the rest for later. So I decided the next batch should be half size, and baked for a shorter time. Now they’re much more appropriate for tea time nibbling! But everything went so quickly I forgot to photo the scones, so have to rely on the photo through the oven door (the first batch, above). Sorry! 😥

Savory digestives waiting for a topping of your choice ~

Then I decided to do my favourite digestive biscuit recipe. Strangest thing – they decided to become savory instead of sweet. Found myself adding  garlic, pepper, and basil and leaving out most of the sugar. After rolling them out much thinner, I left them in the oven longer so they’d crisp up.

They looked about the same, and the taste was wonderful! Love that peppery note on the back of the tongue, and will try more garlic next time!

Virtual Tea Party
When Su (Zimmerbitch), a talented New Zealand photographer and  crafter,  mentioned a monthly virtual tea party last year it seemed a wonderful idea to me, so I asked if she’d like to go international, and if so I was volunteering.

Little did we know what was about to happen . . . . .

So we’ve continued inviting everyone to join us virtually around the middle of each month, for a cuppa and some goodies. As Su  writes, the tea is always hot, and the calorie-free goodies never run out. So come as you are, when you feel like company.

For those who favour IG, we can be found at #virtualteaparty2020.

You’re welcome to bring something to share, or a recipe, or just your own Good Selves.

Updates!

Deb, aka The Widow Badass, has brought the most amazing lemon-almond cake we’ve ever tasted! Her post describing it is here!

Wishing you all peace, joy, and good health!

❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

sewing

Veterans Day

6 Comments

Today is Veterans Day in the United States.

I can remember vaguely when it was called Armistice Day, and poppies were sold on street corners in New York. Then memory lapses.

Wikipedia explains why: “At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day…”

Add over a decade of growing up and school years, and the change got lost in the shuffle.

(This is not to be confused with Memorial Day, which falls at the end of May and honors all those who died while serving in the military.)

Veterans Day honours all veterans. And in that spirit, here’s a bit of the first speech in 1919, when it was called Armistice Day and celebrated the end of World War 1.

“ADDRESS TO FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN

“The White House, November 11, 1919.

“A year ago today our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and juster set of international relations. The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to uphold the barrier of civilization against the regressions of armed force. We ourselves had been in the conflict something more than a year and a half…”

President Woodrow Wilson

music, other, sewing

Riffing . . .

2 Comments

. . .  on Nana Cathy’s Monday post, Morning Pages, in which she refers to Julia Cameron‘s book, The Artist’s Way.

In her post Cathy asks how people cope with their inner critic. She  also talks about a newer book (by Cameron) that I haven’t read, The Artist’s Way for Retirement: It’s Never Too Late to Discover Creativity and Meaning.

This newer book’s title is something I’ve promoted forever, so there are searches going on . . .   expect further comments anon.

Getting back to that inner critic — those are the bits I chose to write about in my older blog.

[Older blog?, I hear you ask.  Let me explain . . .

Before I started writing about sewing, I blogged about classical singing, because I’ve spent my life studying, teaching, and coaching classically-trained singers and musicians.

When I switched to sewing I decided to keep some of those earlier blog posts, and that’s how Del’s Other Stuff was created. Later, I also used it for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge, which eventually ended, may it  R.I.P.  😿]

Please understand — the posts I’ve listed below were written from a classically-trained musician’s point of view; however, I think you can easily replace music with your own area of creativity.

Going back to Cathy’s query, ‘how do you deal with all the nagging negativity?’

You turn each statement around and replace it with its’ opposite, the positive. Do that firmly. Repeatedly. LOUDLY!

Stomp around and yell if you have to! Just be sure you’re being positive. That’s the only way the other leaves: It’s forced out and replaced with the truth.

Which might explain why a brisk walk can sometimes be a good thing. 😉

In no particular order, below are some of my older posts on Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. I hope you find them useful.

Squidgy package ! ! ! 🤗

And just so’s you know there’s still fabric and sewing and all assorteds going on here, I’ve included a sneak peek at the next stage of my current soft furnishings project. . . . . he-he!

Hope all you lovely readers are keeping going with your own creative pursuits. Being constructive is a positive activity, with all sorts of positives attached for yourself and others.

I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts and comments!

Can you spot the third fabric hiding between those gorgeous top and bottom layers?!

 

del's sewing stuff

%d bloggers like this: