Mousy Brown's House-Creating, crafting and collecting. Enjoying Life.

Simple menu planning.

Mousy Brown — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:36:58 +0000

One of the first things I decided to make less complicated this year was planning our family meals. It shouldn't be so difficult but once I factor in everyones different preferences, a desire to have a good healthy balance in our meals, trying to cook after work/before after school classes, what is in my Riverford box and the fridge, I usually end up with a handfull of old favourites that I know will work BUT bore me to death!

I have come up with a plan that I hope will give me a structure that makes the planning and buying side easy but will also allow me to experiment with some of the many recipe books I own and hopefully come up with a wider repetoir of meals to call upon from week to week.

Step one was to choose a "type" of meal for each day of the week....Soup night on Monday, Veggie meal on Tuesday, Rice dish on Wednesday, Fish on Thursday, Pasta/Pizza eve on Friday, Stir-fry/curry on Saturday and roast on Sunday...

Within this framework I now plan to try different recipes and I will write the successful ones on index cards to create our own personal family cook book, full of delicious meals we have tried and know we like.

It has been interesting tackling this one, realising how complicated we have managed to make meal planning over time and also realising that a bit of effort is required to make things simpler in the future. It has also made me think about how this isn't the only area of our lives that has become complicated and just how complicated being simple is going to be...I think Molly summed it up beautifully here and Jackie raised similar issues here.

So what started as a simple way to plan my meals has turned out just a tiny bit more complex and a great way to use my creativity. Now I'm off to tread the path to awesomely simple....no rude remarks please!!

Homemade birthday.

Mousy Brown — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:30:06 +0000

I do hope you aren't fed up with seeing homemade gifts, as I really can't move on without showing you a few that appeared over the last week...

First there is the fantastic plant stand that Sam (with very little help) made for my birthday. I wish I could show you better photo's but the weather is being decidedly unhelpful and these somewhat dull attempts will have to do. I am planning to fill the shelves with pots of strawberry plants and maybe some herbs. It is positioned just outside the kitchen door and so is perfect for easy watering and harvesting when the time comes! At the moment it is the ideal place to rest some of the indoor bulbs and flowers which have been cheering up the house over Christmas as they make their way to more permanent homes in the garden.

The next photos are of what I made Sam in return...A sewing kit of his own (he has the embroidery bug since trying some at school) with a wooden hoop, some fabric, some embroidery silks, a homemade needle case and his own tiny pair of scissors. The bag is big enough to keep a couple of projects in and he can pop his knitting in there as well. I don't really know why it took me so long to think of making him this as a gift....I put it down to silly ideas of what makes a good present for a boy...but I am really glad I went with it as he was over the moon when he opened it and I can't wait for us get stitching together! The other handmade gift he had was one he had specially requested - a pillowcase for his bed. I used some fabric I had left over from his Christmas PJ's and also stitched on a pocket as a safe place for his special lamb to sleep during the day. It is lovely and soft and if happy smiles are anything to go by this gift was also a big success!

That's it with presents for a while now I promise...no more birthdays until April! I am frantically knitting away at a few different projects, though (and was tempted to buy some yarn this weekend with my birthday money) so I will be back soon with some woolly, knitty scruminess, should make a nice change!

Birthday busyness.

Mousy Brown — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:07:06 +0000

It's that time of year again, when everyone else laments the lack of excitement on the horizon and we celebrate two birthdays within one week...

My birthday (a very lucky Friday 13th this year) was quickly left behind to start celebrating with Sam a little early on Saturday. Three friends joined us for a walk and games in the nearby tree covered hills, skittles with proper wooden balls and a sleepover which resulted in very little sleep (they finally gave in at 6am and we were all up again eating breakfast (see above) by 11am!)

Today I am baking (a cake and 60 biscuits so far) and preparing for another party after school tomorrow when he officially reaches double digits...my goodness where did that 10 years disappear to?

Walnut shell fortune boats!

Mousy Brown — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:11:30 +0000

We celebrated New Years eve in a slightly less flamboyant (or maybe I mean less flammable!) way this year. Little boats made of walnut , lots of blowing and laughing and fortunes discovered here ...

Mine said....

"There is always a way - if you are committed"

hmm...not sure what that refers to but I'll let you know if it becomes obvious! How about you? Did you try anything new this New Year?

Some more handmade Christmas gifts...

Mousy Brown — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:58:45 +0000

...this time the ones I was lucky enough to receive!

These three necklaces (gifted in the lovely tins holding them) were handmade by Sam. I love how much care and attention he put into making them and how excited he was to give them to me...he definitely learned the joy that can be found in making the perfect gift for someone you love and he has already started on making something for my birthday this week...

This delicate crochet and bead necklace, was a complete and very welcome surprise. Handmade by my friend Emma, it was my necklace of choice on Christmas Eve and added a bit of sparkle to my Wedding Anniversary celebrations this year!

Less of a surprise but equally welcome was the natural dyed crochet 'stone' (it is actually the most beautiful pebble of polished wood) that my Mother bought me from Resurrection fern. After years of admiring Margaret Oomen's art, I am so pleased to now own a piece for myself...especially as I feel very lucky to have got there before they all sold out this time!

This hand crocheted snowflake bunting was a gift from Jennifer and gave us the only snow we had on Christmas day...I am really struggling to take this one down and think we may retain it's snowy feel a little longer...at least until spring actually arrives!

Finally, this yarn bowl was from a thoughtful friend who is enjoying a pottery class in a local village. I had told her a while ago about seeing something similar on etsy but not being able to get it shipped to the UK and she decided to have a go at making me one herself. It works perfectly and has been home to Jack's "Christmas" blanket, which I do hope to get finished sometime soon!

I feel so blessed to have had the joy of making and receiving so many homemade gifts this year, because that was what it was "a joy". While I would love to be able to say I will make all our gifts next year, I know that unless that can happen in a relaxed and enjoyable way that the main reason for doing it would be lost. Just as Sam has discovered the pleasure of making something for someone else is not only in the giving but in the making too, I feel I have discovered that the pleasure of homemade can be not only in the challenge of creating but can also be in the receiving. So my wish is that next year will be, like this, full of making and giving and receiving but more than anything it will be full of the joy of doing just enough and not too much...I have a feeling that might also fit with "simple" too?

Am Nadolig ces i.....

Mousy Brown — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:50:13 +0000

Every Friday, before coming home, I have a Welsh lesson where I "help" a Year 7 and I thought that I would take advantage of my newly learned skills to introduce you to my inspired Christmas gift from Jack...(I apologise now to real Welsh speakers for any obvious mistakes, please be kind!)

"Am Nadolig ces i ukelele glas newydd. Dwi'n hoffi mae ukelele glas achos maen fedigedig. Mae ukelele efo fi o'r enu Hector..."

This sort of translates as : "For Christmas I got a new blue ukelele. I like my ukelele because it is brilliant. My ukelele is called Hector..."

As you can see I am not going to win prizes for my fluid Welsh speaking and as yet I haven't a clue how to make a sound with Hector...but I am trying with both and who knows maybe one day I will be able to play like this...

....but in Welsh!

#The Lisa Hannigan album 'passenger' was also a gift for Christmas and it is wonderful!#

Keeping it simple.

Mousy Brown — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:10:15 +0000

There is something about posting after a long time away which I find complicated....I have so many things to say, so many wonderful things have happened, so many things gifted and made and somehow it feels important to make it special, to come back with a bang not a whimper...and then it becomes a huge wall I have to clamber over, an event, an item on my "to do" list....

....but I realised today that by following my own advice and making things simple not complicated, that I could just come and say a quiet hello and show you this beautiful sunset we enjoyed while walking on New Years day and then the next post won't seem such a hurdle and it would have all been uncomplicated and sort of well, simple. Do you think that means I am making progress?

Simple Wishes for 2012

Mousy Brown — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:07:28 +0000

The weather over Christmas remained mild and calm here and 2012 looks set to carry on in the same vein...so no pictures of snowball fights or frost encrusted trees this year, just of the new growth pushing up through the earth outside my kitchen door. This little bulb seems symbolic of this time of year and its associations with new beginnings for so many. I stand fast in my refusal to make resolutions now, when my energy levels are so low and the short days and long nights suggest rest and recovery rather than dynamic change. I must admit though, that the holidays do provide a time of reflection and this quote by Charles Mingus has caught my eye...

...“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”

So not a resolution then for the New Year but a starting place to ponder and a beautiful simple wish for you all for this coming year...

...I hope you manage to make the complicated simple, you avoid making the simple complicated and that 2012 is a year of awesome creativity for all of you!

All is peaceful, all is calm....

Mousy Brown — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:51:59 +0000

...well sort of! We have reached that lovely place where we have accepted that anything not done, probably won't get done and have let go...so peace has arrived, peace filled with music from ipod and Sam on the piano, laughter from friends and family and fragrance from tree, cooking, candles and decorations.

Our Solstice celebration was enjoyed by all, the fire glowed brightly, lanterns were lit and brightened up our walk in a dark Haroldswood and delicious food disappeared very quickly along with hot mulled wine. Grandparents are arriving later today and preparations are completed to make their stay warm and cosy. Presents are all made, bought and wrapped (Jack's blanket may not be ready for Saturday but he is happy to have it whenever it does end up being done) and apart from a delivery from Riverford later today all the goodness we need for the table is safely gathered in. I will leave you with a mosaic of some of my favourite images of the last few days (click on the mosaic to enlarge) and will disappear for a while to fully enjoy this time with my family.....Thank you all for visiting this space this year, I look forward to your company in 2012!

I wish you all a time of peace in your souls and the sounds of happiness in your ears. May your table be full and companionable and your hearts be swelled by hugs. I hope the simple pleasures gift you and your loved ones throughout this holiday season and that traditions old and new enrich your time together.

More homemade gifts....

Mousy Brown — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:52:14 +0000

PJs are made....big....

....and small....

and thanks to an inspirational friend a last minute gift for Sam's best friend was started and finished in an evening...(pattern here)...

.....have you ever seen anything so hilarious?