Comments and Templates

Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments regarding the Family Quilt. I loved doing it, but am glad it's finished. Fiona - no I haven't done a label. Really must do one before it is handed over, or at least sew the name and date onto the back. I have been testing out templates on Beta Blogger just in case Blogger decides I can transfer over. Unfortunately this template and the one on Quilts4Leukaemia don't work. It looks as if Pannasmontata who design these templates is working on the problem so I hope that, if and when I transfer over, it won't be too long before I get my Cherries back!

We Have a Finish!

Step Father's name at the top. Mum's at the bottom. Us girls' names are on the roofs of the houses. Names down the left hand side are various horses and dogs that the family has owned (there are loads more - ran out of space!), Rex and Matt's (Floyd) names are on the blue sashing, Elmsted is the family home and the rest are terms of endearment.

For Tonya

Like Sassenach over at Force Majeure, I too have been thinking about our Lazy Gal and wondering how she is. Get well soon Ton - we miss you.

French Food

Jane Anne has been talking about French shopping and chickens. geese and turkeys being sold in French markets "intact". This photo is typical of large markets at the moment - an enormous marquee full of trestle tables with beautiful white table cloths and piles of duck carcasses, magrets, duck and goose fat et fois gras, naturally! Just to make your stomachs turn even more before you tuck into your Thanksgiving Turkeys (have a great time all), we are in the middle of the Foire au Gras season when the supermarkets and markets are stocked to capacity with duck, goose and pork. Magrets (duck breast) are my all time favourite - huge slabs of meat and when the flat is melted down and they are flash fried, they are gorgeous! Then there are the carcasses which still have meat on them, can be boiled down for stock and cost about 2 Euros. Then there is the duck itself. Sold with its head still on (and sometimes the feet are still attached). Cut the head off, and boil the neck up for stock with the bones. And then there are the aigulettes (don't ask), the geziers (warm Perigordian Salade with geziers, foie gras, chopped walnuts and lettuce - yum!), the hearts, etc, etc. As for the fois gras - need I say more. Duck fat? Brilliant for roasting potatoes in with garlic and rosemary, although don't use too much as the potatoes will go soggy. However, when it comes to the pork that's when I draw the line! I will not buy a whole piglet (for some reason these are popular at Christmas time) and nor will I buy "la tete". However I do fill the freezer up with chops, loin of pork, potrine of pork and pork for cooking on the rotisserie. At roughly 4 Euros a kilo it is a bargain. The French "recycle" as much of the animal/duck as they can. Pates, rillettes (gorgeous), confit (mouth watering), boudin noir (black pudding) the list is endless. Sorry I can't add any more photos, but I will try to take some at Brantome market on Friday if we go down (and if it is sunny). To get back to the normal topic, I finished Family Quilt last night. I am just about to bind it. Went to fabric shop this morning and got batting and backing for the Leukaemia quilt so must stop chatting to you and get some sewing done.

Wednesday WiP

Well, I'm sitting here going through Bloglines, unsubscribing from the feeds that aren't working and transferring them to Fizzle. Computer is running really slowly, my mails aren't getting through and it has been raining all day! So, WiP. I'm hand quilting the top row of Family Quilt and have machined two rows of the first Leukaemia Quilt. Really great to be machining again after so long. Sunburst has come to a grinding halt after cutting loads of yellow, pink and red squares. Still got 50 odd to do! This picture was taken last Saturday at Nontron.

Debbi's Blocks

And you guys on Beta think you've got problems! Debbi sent these to me by Express Mail some 2 weeks ago. Bless her heart, she then sent me the pics which were huge and it took me half a day to download them. It has taken me all this time to reduce them to a size that Blogger would accept. Et voila!