Let me introduce you...

To our new little boy, Felix William Anatole Badcock-Howe, born on the 8th July just before tea time!



He lights up our lives every morning an is the most glorious child, we feel really blessed....and terribly in awe of what we've made together, Rainier & I!

Warmth & sunshine to you all! xxxxxx

Getting ready to go to hospital...

And I remembered I wanted to find some music I love to play during labour...this one is making me cry too much (all those hormones!!), and I've always loved this video version made for SBS television in Australia...



These are the lyrics.
Sa ziza zecob dela dalou'a
Boralea'e borale mi komi oula
Etawuae'o ela'o coralia wu'aila
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai
Alatawuan icas imani'u
Barletas e'e barkia'a
Pro'e lai e'le a pantou la'u
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai
Sa ziza zecob dela dalou'a
Boralea'e borale mi komi oula
Alatawuan icas iwua'oula
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai

Rose-Mount Tea Cosy, for my partner Rainier's parents.

While I await the birth of my first child I'm doing whatever I feel like and taking a little break from some orders that are taking longer than I'd hoped to finish, to complete a few things that I started last year! In other words, I'm procrastinating a bit!!

This cosy I started last year for my partner Rainier's parents, who love green and have a wonderful garden and farm with some lovely bushland on it in Mole Creek, northern Tasmania. Their farm is called Rose-Mount which I've embroidered with the date of their house on one side...




And on the other side I've embroidered Rainier's parent's initials and some roses...




I'll post some pics of the cosy in the garden at Rose-Mount soon....I'm being induced tomorrow night so I won't be very talkative on this blog for a week or two after baby arrives, unless I'm blessed with some extraordinary quantity of energy and find myself still sewing tea cosies in between changing nappies, breast feeding and naps!?!

Thanks to everyone who checks out my blog and apologies that it hasn't been very interesting of late, I've been a bit preoccupied..... ;-)

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, FINITO!

Well, I feel it's finished!

The sides are hand-stitched together with a double layer of back and overcast stitch (using upholstery weight Gutermann thread), before the silk binding is stitched around the edges as the final touch.

I've used Hemp denim as the lining as its nice and durable and can withstand tea stains, etc! So here are the images....

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, Stage 5 & 6

Ahhhhhh, finally I have been able to spend some really intensive 'quality time' on the cosy and we are now nearing the finish line, which will be later tonight!

So this is the Union Jack side of the cosy, with 1972 Mercedes chain stitched and satin stitched initials of the client's husband....


Then the HP sauce bottle and Bacon Buttie I applied as applique and embroidery above the car...I'm really chuffed with how the HP sauce bottle has turned out, I was really having difficulty finding a good way to do it without spending months hand embroidering all the details, so hopefully this is a successful and lively approach?!


And a close-up...


Now all I have to do is line, stitch and bind the edges of the cosy tonight and photograph it in the daylight tomorrow and show the client to make sure she's happy with the finished product.

I will update the images in the morning for your viewing pleasure!

Nothing to do with tea cosies....

Though I cannot stop watching this animation (and taking heed of the message being promoted), and just thought I'd share it here...



Happy winter to all the Southern Hemisphere residents!!

Baby is due in less than three weeks and so I'm trying not to overdo things...

more tea cosy images coming very soon....

Autumn is here...

And I've had baking urges which go very well with my newest tea acquisition from Madame Flavour, an Organic Mints Tisane – a pungent blend of organic Victorian Peppermint, Egyptian Spearmint, Australian Native Rivermint from Gippsland; and a touch of purple cornflower, which is amazingly refreshing and Rainier loves it too!!

To locate your nearest shop which stocks Madame Flavour teas, please click on this Store Finder, or check out her online boutique to order teas through.


Image of mint tea glasses we had in Paris in La Mosquee in 2008...drained of their delicious contents!
So, if you happen have quinces at your disposal at the moment then this is a great cake recipe that goes really well with the tea:


PEAR (or QUINCE) CAKE

Ingredients:

1 ripe large pear (or quince), peeled, quartered and sliced
250 grams (8 ounces) plain flour
220 grams (7 ounces) sugar (I used raw sugar which makes the cake get a yummy crust)
2 level teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
250ml (8 fluid ounces) milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder & salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk until well blended. Gradually add to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin (I made mine in a square cake tin). Add the pear (or quince) to the batter, pushing some of the pieces in with a toothpick.

Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the cake is light brown on top (and a skewer test of the cake comes out clean).

Remove from the oven and let the cake stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Serve with plenty of whipped cream (or ice cream as a dessert!)