Pudding Bliss!

This is what we did last night!

Nic and I were invited to a Pudding Party in aid of

EACH Treehouse Appeal. The evening was organised by our mutual friend, Lisa who wanted to help neighbours, Sarah and Jay, who live in Creeting St Mary raise funds. Sarah and Jay's baby son, Isaac passed away aged just 5 months having been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy at just 6 weeks old. During Isaac's short life the family received considerable support from the Children's Nursing Team and the hospice and are now hard at work raising money for the Treehouse Appeal, which aims to fund a new purpose built hospice in Ipswich.
We were glad to be able to support a fantastic local cause and we were glad to pay our dues for a ticket in return for the delightful and greedy opportunity of sampling over 30 puddings, all homemade by local friends and neighbours. We also indulged in Lisa's homemade elderflower fizz, listened to live harp and flute music. This is just a small selection of the goodies on offer.

Not only that but we left with a book of all of the recipes from the night. There were old family favourites, experimental recipes and adaptations. Some were virtuous but most were not. All were delicious.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Nic and I went home happy (not least because of the amount of elderflower fizz consumed) in the knowledge that collectively a group of friends and neighbours in our small community had raised just under £450.00.

My husband's contribution - Vanilla Cream Terrine with Raspberry Coulis

Just one of the tables groaning under the weight of gorgeous puddings!

We all voted for our favourite pud. This was in the top three - Pasties de Nata

(Portuguese Custard Tarts).

Jacquix

Let's Have a Vintage and Craft Fair!

We love vintage..
we love handcrafted items.....
we are surrounded by crafty people who like making things with vintage stuff....
So we thought we would start a monthly fair to show it all off and give people a chance to meet the artists, craftspersons and cake makers responsible.
It is, of course a perfect opportunity to indulge in some cakes from Scoffin' - they are bringing scones and muffins.
Do join us for a cup of tea and a scone on Saturday, it would be lovely to see you there Nic x

Made to make your mouth water!

We've been dreaming of this day since February when we ordered these gorgeous Italian buttons!

Aren't they just fab?

They do really make your mouth water.....


These buttons are one time only releases so once they're gone, they're gone!

So I am busy thinking up projects to incorporate them into as I blog!!

Enjoy!

Jacquix

Home Office Guest Post

Today I am thrilled to be sharing my home office in a guest post at Remodelaholic. Cassity contacted me a while back to ask me to be a part of her virtual house tour series. I jumped at the chance and decided to share a space in my house which I have not shown before.

I hope you will visit Remodelaholic to see the entire story behind my home office.

SO LONG MY FRIEND

My childhood friend Pam lost her battle and passed today around 5pm...

Thanks a million times over for all your kind words, your strength and compassion...

Hugs,

Shelley

Socks, cake and a brand new mag!

We've been a bit quiet for a few days....not like us at all! It's been all go! We've been busy knitting socks. Gloria and Jeanetta, who attended Friday's sock class, have already vowed that everyone will be getting hand knitted socks for Christmas! It's official - knitting socks is addictive!

We've also had our noses in the first issue of the brand new mag, Oh Comely! It's just gorgeous and very refreshing - 'a magazine about people, their quirks and creativity, rather than money and what it can buy'. It sums up what Halfpenny Home is all about too so it's no surprise we absolutely love it! Check out their website and blog http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/.

Being serious multitaskers, we managed to squeeze in some refreshments alongside the knitting and reading. Here we have coffee and walnut cake, a perennial favourite, and choc orange drizzle - just moments before it was devoured! It doesn't get much better than this!

Have a great weekend. Jacqui

DO COME IN...

I bet you thought the day would never come... Finally the reveal of the interior of the GARDEN COTTAGE. Let me give you a brief history of how the GARDEN COTTAGE came to be...

I had saved pieces and parts over the years of being in the antiques biz. You know porch posts here, a zinc dormer there, pieces of tin ceiling tile, architectural fabulosities. A lot of them were used as decor in my shop which I closed in 2008, and I saved all of them without any real plan. Until... I got the inspiration for a GARDEN COTTAGE that I could have home sales in. So I used the COTTAGE as a mini shop and sometimes just as storage. What a waste... After last fall I had decided to end the home sales and thought that it was too darn awesome to use as storage. So I set my sites on bringing it to be as a little place that I can sit in and enjoy just for me. The ceiling is all hand~pieced rusty crusty tin ceiling tiles, and the floor is hand~painted by moi to look like stone.

I hope you love it...