Tea? (Part 2)

[Speicher]

Indeed, Baklava, you are correct about its yumminess.

 

[potsy]

Evening all, Anyone for a hot choccy?
Still no boiler so we are having to make do with a couple of fan heaters,every time we turn one on the cats run for the door

 

[Speicher]

Hot Choccy sounds like an excellent idea. I have some Divine Hot Choc in the cupboard.

 

[TheDoctor]

Indeed, Baklava, you are correct about its yumminess.

Turkish delight is quite nice too. Not that I've had a lot, you understand.

 

[Arch]

How the heck did this happen? I went to St Nicks to be the expert knitter at a skills swap, and one free lunch and one York In Transition meeting later (the two ran concurrrently, so in order to get lunch, I was in the meeting), and I'm noted down as the person to help run a soap making and spring cleaning demonstration in March....

I need tea!

Still, I taught a coupleof people to knit, just the basics, and gave copies of the basic teddy bear pattern to several more, so it was a good morning...


Now, I better go and look up how to make soap.

 

[TheDoctor]

And how to do spring cleaning, one suspects!!!

First soak your spring overnight in WD40...

 

[potsy]

Don't you just get all the leftover bits of soap and crush them all together?

 

[Speicher]

* sees Arch in the distance trying to catch a goat or a sheep *

other items needed, sharp and very large knife, lots of wood

 

[Arch]

Don't you just get all the leftover bits of soap and crush them all together?

That wasn't the kind of soap making we meant - we were wondering about making it from scratch, from wood ash and fat. Having googled, we won't be - it involves some pretty caustic stuff, which I wouldn't be prepared to have members of the public around.

So I shall try to be both Kim and Aggie, and show people how to clean grout with a lemon, and teapots with bicarb and so on. And darning, and minor renovation of clothes and so on. A sort of springclean/make do and mend.

 

[Arch]

* sees Arch in the distance trying to catch a goat or a sheep *

other items needed, sharp and very large knife, lots of wood

Yeah, that's the other problem, getting hold of tallow.... Given the quantity of vegetarians involved...

The wood ash we have, from the centre's stove. But the lye from it would be horribly caustic.

 

[Speicher]

I can guess that thinking about the time, resources, and health & safety aspect, soap making might not be the best suggestion for a demonstration, says I diplomatically.

I would prefer a demonstration of that even more old-fashioned, and increasingly limited in availability, resource called Elbow Grease. Combined with lemon juice, bicarbonate etc.

Minor renovation of clothes is a good idea. Guess who is half way through turning a collar on a shirt? I have also purchased a new zip to replace one on a fleece, and am thinking about taking two damaged fleeces to make one good one, and probably even then use the left-over bits to sew into a cushion cover.

Please note that I have already guessed that "Make do and Mend" is not a subject that Mastermind will take into consideration.

 

[Arch]

Minor renovation of clothes is a good idea. Guess who is half way through turning a collar on a shirt? I have also purchased a new zip to replace one on a fleece, and am thinking about taking two damaged fleeces to make one good one, and probably even then use the left-over bits to sew into a cushion cover.

Oh, yes, I've got a couple of cushions covered in old wooly sweaters. Something to take along as a demo.

Next time is Christmas decorations - I thought I might do a few paper cut out snowflakes (on reused paper, of course).

Ah! And matchbox-wrapped-in-shiny-paper parcel tree decorations. I better start making a list.

Like I said, I taught a couple of people to knit, including one young girl who picked it up very well (the other was a chap who did quite well, but took longer to get it, and his tension was... variable). Anyway, it turns out this girl has an aunt who knits, so I've sent her off with needles, and a teddy pattern, and her aunt should be able to help her follow it up.

But it brought it home to me, how hard knitting is, when you can't yet do it. Just holding the needles through the process of each stitch, without dropping them, and the tiny shifts in grip needed to move the stitches up. And yet how quickly it becomes second nature, once the muscle memory kicks in.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Oooh - make do Xmas decorations. I remember some wag saying that up in Yorkshire they use potato peelings for that

* Ducks Quickly *

 

[Arch]

Oooh - make do Xmas decorations. I remember some wag saying that up in Yorkshire they use potato peelings for that

* Ducks Quickly *

Don't be daft, those are for Christmas dinner....

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I stand corrected

Here - have a cuppa ................