Tea cup and Mug Exchange - results

 I have recently completed another swap, although this one was an exchange.  It was the 8th Annual Tea cup and Mug exchange, organised by Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose.  The idea is a lovely one - send a tea cup or mug along with tea or coffee and other gifts (if you wanted to add any extras) to your recipient.  Someone else would send you a gift too.  I signed up and was sent my recipient's details - Sandra at Ravenhill Cottage.  You could also add in some details about yourself, such as favourite colours, blog information, hobbies.  So, I sent my parcel off to Sandra in Canada and duly received a parcel back from Mary in the USA.  She had obviously done her homework and had chosen the most lovely gifts.  There was a beautiful mug with blue flowers on it, two very generously sized pieces of material (which I was very excited about), black tea and white tea, handmade earrings in the shape of seeds and some petunia seeds.

 I think she had chosen beautifully for me!

How pretty are the earrings?  A HUGE thank you to Mary for the generous and thoughtful gifts. I am really looking forward to making something with the material.

 I found out that my recipient liked pink and purple, so off I went.  I made a bookmark, pearl earrings, a bracelet, and added a tea bag stand and English breakfast tea.

 Sandra had asked for a mug (as I had too) and I found this one with pinks and purples and cups on it.

Here were the gifts ready to be securely packaged up.  It was an incredibly straightforward exchange thanks to Stephanie's wonderful organisation (it must have been a mammoth task requiring military precision) and I really enjoyed taking part.

Vintage Fair and Strictly Night

 We went to The Drill Hall to the Lincoln Does Vintage Fair yesterday and enjoyed having a look round.

This was one little corner of the Hall. There were lots of stalls and we had a great time wandering round.

 There wasn't much material, sadly, but I did find this piece which is probably 1960s and in a shiny, slippery material.  No, I don't know what I'm going to do with it!

 On the same stall, I spied these Pyrex bowls. I just loved the colour and was very tempted.  However, after a lot of thinking, I decided to go away from them and look round again and have another think. Of course, you can guess what happened - I just HAD to buy them. (Chris rolled his eyes heavenwards).

We headed upstairs for tea and cake and spied two more stalls in the tea room.  I had a look and spied, yes, a smaller Pyrex bowl in exactly the same pattern - well, of course, I had to add that one to the collection too!  I have since found out that it is the Gooseberry pattern and the bowls are called 'Cinderella bowls' for some reason (more research needed on that one, I think).  I just love everything about these - the colour, the pattern, the shape...just gorgeous!

 We enjoyed a lovely tea with proper china cups (most important!).

In the evening, my friend Rachael and I settled down to watch Strictly and entered into it with gusto.  We had paddles for marking and kept a note of the judges' scores, added ours and Simon was top of our leader board, followed by Pixie and Trent, Caroline and Pasha.  It was great fun (aided by some wine, of course!) and we have decided to repeat 'Strictly Night' for the next three weeks.  (We predicted that Sunetra would go, and were right.) Here's to Vintage Fairs and Strictly!

Comfort (and joy)

 Now that the clocks have gone back and the evenings are slowly but surely getting darker earlier, I feel the need for comfort.  As tea and cake are one of the best sorts of comfort I know, I just had to get baking. This is the Yorkshire Parkin Sponge/Yorkshire Sponge Parkin recipe which is one of the easiest cake recipes I know and one which I turn to time after time.

 How inviting does that look?  Tea and cake...you can't beat it!  For the recipe, please see here.  I do now use baking parchment to line my tins, ever since the Dis...arrrr...ster cake see here.

 Speaking of comfort, here's how to really do it, as demonstrated by Scruffy on my knee two evenings ago.  Not terribly elegant, dignified or even decorous, but totally relaxed and comfortable!

So what is the joyful element of this post?  Well, apart from the cake, these geranium Rozanne plants (my favourite geranium) are just coming into flower and are bringing a lovely splash of colour, making me feel very happy in the process.  I bought them as young plants earlier on in the year and they have just been sitting, albeit with nice green foliage, for quite some time.  However, they have rewarded me for my (sort of) patience by flowering now.  I hope we don't have frosts too soon as it would be so nice to enjoy them for a little while longer. 

A Great Day Out...and Ginger Rogers

 We had a marvellous time today, sampling the delights of Market Rasen, which is a small market town 10 miles or so from Lincoln.  I was looking forward to the opportunity to see some gardens and to explore the town.  The weather was kind - lots of sun and no rain until we were driving home.

The traditional market was full of enticing stalls - lots of plants, jam, cheese, fruit and vegetables, crafts... I was really tempted by the plants and herbs, but amazingly, managed to restrain myself.

 Chris was hugely impressed by the vegetable plot in one of the gardens as it went on and on and was full of delicious looking vegetables.  The owner had purchased this land, as an extra piece, from a local farmer and had put raised beds in.

 He said that he needed to get harvesting, but wanted there to be something for people to see today, so had left the veg there.

 In the main part of the garden, there was this lovely fan trained cherry (Morello, we thought) which had lots of fruit but had been used as a decorative screen.

 I loved the delicate blue of this scabious-related flower.

 The shape of the petals and graduated colour put me in mind of a Ginger Rogers dress (I bet you were wondering where she would come in!).

 Something like this perhaps, with beautifully graduated colour - gorgeous!  Wouldn't it look amazing in the colours of the flower? (I would love a dress like that, but sadly, the bias cut does absolutely nothing for me at all. It really suited Ginger Rogers though).

Chris introduced himself to some very friendly koi carp.   The garden owners were all very welcoming and happy to chat, as were the stall holders at the market and at the various craft fairs. 

Well, I just couldn't manage to totally restrain my buying habits; of course I bought some things!  There was a craft stall with lots of rather interesting wool which I just had to get.  I also liked all the different textures of yarns in the variety pack so that had to come home as well.

These sweet little bud vases were found in a couple of charity shops.

 I also supported a local craftsperson by buying this 'extremely appropriate for garden visiting' bag which did a sterling job today.

Even the lining is gardening-related.
We also supported the local church by having tea, sandwiches and cake there.  I have to say that the fresh cream and raspberry sponge cake which I had was one of the best I have tasted;  a light and fluffy sponge which melted in the mouth, a slight tang of fresh raspberries and a smooth creaminess.  Unfortunately, I had almost finished it before I thought about a photo, so you'll just have to take my word on the deliciousness!
We had a fantastic time and although we weren't far away from home, it felt a million miles away.  We'll definitely be visiting Market Rasen again.

A big welcome to new followers both here and on Bloglovin'.  I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.