Sunday, February 08, 2009

Sewing and Cooking.





































Yesterday was the hottest day so far this Summer. ( 33 degrees C ) That didn't mean I could lie in the shade - Bugger! We have SO many veges ready that need using in some way. So I made a batch of Tomato Sauce. ( we love it and # 1 son loves it ) I used the biggest ones so there would be less skin to sieve out at the end. 2.5 kg was just 11 tomatoes.( the biggest weighed 325 grams ). I had a cunning plan you see.....once the prep was done I got to sit and sew at the bench and watch the pot on the stove ( for 2 hours! ).
I completed sewing the long feathers on by machine - which I haven't made a very good job of ( inexperience with using iron on - it didn't feed well through the machine so the stitch spacing is not perfect. ) much better as I perfected my technique ( so should have practised longer first ! ). The little shield shaped feathers for the head and body of the bird are so tiny and fiddly I am sewing them on by hand and they are sitting so much better than the others - (but I'm not unpicking ) - so there will be a mix of machine and hand sewing. Actually I like that cause I can sit with my feet up and sew them on in the evenings.
I still dislike all the gold background but have to remind myself almost all of that will be covered up or later cut away - it is just the backing for The Jewelled Bird.
Today we have both spent the morning mowing; leaf blowing cleaning outside - photo tomorrow - it looks great. We have been forecast rain Monday night and Tuesday - oh Yes please; we need it.
Answers to Comments.
* Meg the Kiwifruit you bought might be grown under Licence to Zespri ( NZ ). Southern Hemisphere fruit is really all finished, so some is grown in the Northern Hemisphere so there is 12 month supply - all to do with marketing - so they don't loose their shelf space.
* Thanks to all you folk who have left comments and are new visitors to my blog. I try and visit yours in return. Comments spur me on so please say "Hi, " while your here.

12 comments:

Leanne said...

Hi
Would love your tom sauce recipe.

My toms haven't ripened yet - I was late putting them in.

Love Leanne

Laurie said...

Hi
I thought of you as I passed the end of your road this afternoon and wondered if you would be working or resting in the shade, I spent a great weekend at Athernree with Grandkids and actually got wet in the sea in the heat...unheard or for me ...swimming is for pools only as far as I am concerned.
Happy stitching

Shirley Goodwin said...

My tomatoes are really big too, but only just coming ripe. While the district (North Canterbury) has extreme fire risk, we are coping with only minor watr restictions.

Joyce said...

Fresh tomatoes...sigh. It will be months before we taste them. I don't envy your hot, hot temperatures though.

Ali Honey said...

Hi Leanne,
I'm emailing you the scanned recipe for Tomato Sauce. Enjoy!.

Unknown said...

It must be lovely to get tomato sauce that you make yourself.

Lynda (Granny K) said...

Your sauce looks dilicious! We have to make do with cartons of Passata from the supermarket! I bet yours is much better!

meggie said...

Your sauce looks so delicious! That was one thing my MIL could make, & I loved it, but sadly, we never got the recipe.
I realise a lot of fruit from other countries is to do with trade, so we can all have a share. It did seem odd to think of Italy!

julieQ said...

Love your wondrous bird shaping up. Those tomatoes look luscious!

limpingalong said...

Oh, my, the tomatoes look just wonderful. Here we are in winter, it isn't very cold, but nothing growing that has that gorgeous color!

Wow, you really sew neatly -- my sewing area is never that tidy!

molly said...

Your tomatoes are so red and luscious looking! And I see you've already shown us feather pics! Looks like it's coming along very nicely. I totally agree that it's easier to hand stitch small fiddly bits!

Suzy said...

Your 'bird' is coming on well and you sre learning new techniques at the same time.

Love the pictire of you 'relaxing' nice to see you do occasionally....say hi to R for me.