Thread Bear

Good ol' Pioneer Woman!

 

I've had this blog set up for several months now... and yet never, ever seem to post! I'm not quite sure why, I spend far too much time perusing Ravelry for yarn porn or Etsy for some cutesy pattern to make for baby bear.  So it's not like I don't get the opportunity to - albeit before the bear wakes or after she sleeps, but still, an opportunity is an opportunity. And I must seize it before the topics swirling round in my head start to make me consider seeing a psychiatrist in order to ensure I'm not (completely) mad!

So, it was whilst I was 'blog stalking' (my friends term, not mine but quite apt all the same!) that I came across Pioneer Woman's blog. A straight talking, former city gal who moved onto a ranch for love. And, my... she's really quite inspiring. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of the Soulemama/Shutter Sisters/Textisle crews but Pioneer Woman's honesty has what's led me to consider this blog and posting. That... and she does seem to be slightly nuts and I'm not sure whether that's down to all the chanelling of Lucille Ball... I'd recommend a quick stalking of her blog and, who knows you might even see more posts on here as a consequence!

At some point, I'll assign myself a workplace...and hang the bathroom door, and become a size 10...

Ok, I'm off to cram chocolate buttons in my mouth before baby bear notices. We're a house full of coughs of colds so the chocolate is purely medicinal you understand..? 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Sentiment for the season...

All Outside is dark and cold
But just beneath the earth
Sleep seeds from which new life springs
Bringing nature’s gifts to birth 

                        – Betty Jones

Just read this on  the Rhythm of the Home blog  and had to share. What a beautiful sentiment, summising where we are in the season. 

Hibernation

Well, it's been a whirlwind couple of months in the bear cave. Taking on an allotment, festive period, friends having babies... Oh where to start!

Knitting (and most other crafty stuff!) has been put on hold as the allotment plot we've taken on has needed a lot of work. A lot of work. Did I mention, there's lots of work at the allotment?! We've never really had a garden, but with baby bear we've taken an intentional and sustainable approach to the food we buy and prepare. So the allotment is the perfect project for us to grow some produce and venture on a rather steep learning curve! I like a good challenge! That's where most of our time has been of late, which is no bad thing... 

Buckwheat Granola Bites... and a bit of luck!

It's Monday once again, which means I've realised at the last minute I have no 'sharing' food for tomorrow morning... Let me explain. Little Bear goes to 'little school' (as she calls it) which is in fact a Steiner Playgroup. As part of the Steiner ethos, we end the session with a shared lunch and each family/parent brings some edible goods to devour... often mercilessly! Normally, I'd nip in the bakery en route and win the kids over with a currant loaf but in the effort to be more conscious about what we eat at home, I decided to make granola bars to share tomorrow. And so... with a small amount of luck, I present you with buckwheat granola bites.

(Apologies, taken on the ol' phone camera...)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup buckwheat
• 1/4 fruit juice (orange or apple seem to work ok)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp spices (cinnamon or allspice are suitable) 
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup agave
• 1/4 cup (or more if you like) raisins

 

Pre-heat oven to about 180°C and either grease silicon cake cases or Yorkshire pudding tray (or whatever you have handy). Mix all ingredients together, except the raisins. The granola mix should start to clump up slightly, it's at this point I'd give it a little taste to check whether you'd like any more spice (or you could even throw in a couple of spoonfuls of cocoa for a 'chocolate' twist!) Add the raisins and mix. Simply spoon mixture into tray/cases etc and press mixture into moulds. You need to press the mix in firmly to ensure you don't end up with a crumbly mix... unless that's your intention! Pop in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, leave in moulds for at least an hour or preferrably overnight. Then pop the kettle on, and sit down on the sofa rather smug at the fact you just made a healthy, perfect for sharing snack... Yum

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Taken from SouleMama

(Apologies for the quality, taken on my phone! But Little Bear is staring at her new fish!)

Surprise!

This week I had the pleasure of turning 30... but with a big surprise! Papa Bear had secretly organised a whole host of friends to join us on our 'quiet' camping weekend... which of course turned out to be not-so-quiet! Homemade cakes, bunting, lanterns to illuminate our camp, marshmellow toasting & fire building (and a new obsession with Kelly Kettles) has meant that we're all camped out! Staying in the tranquil Wowo with a heatwave in September allowed us the opportunity to simply sit, chat & eat... with the odd sing song thrown in. It's amazing how simply having nothing to do, no plans, schedules (or housework) can be so tiring. But darn right fun!

The amazing birthday cake!

 Camp

Having people from various points in my life around me has made me reflect on where I've been & where I'm heading, not to mention the bucket loads of love & smiles that I'm often surrounded with but too frequent forget.

And not to mention, the HUGE stack of books I've been bought. Wonderful times, wonderful gifts & wonderful people. Now to decide which book to start...

A very eclectic mix of literature!

Baby Bear's hibernation jumper

A few months ago, I knitted a Raglan top-down sweater for a close friends little one. It wasn't the first.. and it certainly won't be the last. Knitting on circulars, top-down (no sewing up required!) means that I can get on with the parts I enjoy most... knitting! It took a little while for me to gain the confidence that you could knit a whole sweater in one piece (It's true!) but once you start to see the sweater gain it's familiar shape... it's quite compelling to finish.

The sweater in a lovely shade of Olive (Debbie Bliss DK Cashmerino - yum!) was the gift I created but I added to it with the crocheted leaves (made by a lovely lady on eBay) The gold jumper, to the right, is baby bear's work in progress. The gift was made using the following pattern and a slight variation on this is the pattern I'm using for baby bear. Unfortunately, I don't yet have the skill or confidence of Elizabeth Zimmermann... but I'm getting there.

The only issue I've found with both the patterns is finding worsted weight yarn! As I understand it, the US weight of worsted is somewhere between DK & Aran. So... to address the matter of the gift knit being a tad too small, I'm currently knitting baby bears jumper in DK following the instructions for a size 4T... so far, it's looking slightly baggy (perhaps something to do with the fact I HATE gauage) but will definitely fit bear... or she may have to grow into it... Knitting with real wool is so darn nice... hmmm... I feel an impromptu trip to the wool shop creeping upon us...

So here we are...

Finally. Out of hibernation... (maybe a bear pun too far...) 

I've been knitting and sewing since baby bear was born and in combination with my primary job, of rearing a human, craft keeps me pretty darn busy! However, in order to add fuel to the fire, I've taken the plunge to unleash our family on the world and to cease 'blog stalking' others... ok, perhaps not ceasing with reading the blogs but at least now I have a profile!

So... you want to know a little more about us here at Thread Bear HQ huh? Well, we currently consist of Mama, Papa & Baby bear, two fish, named Pizza & Potatoes (that's what happens when you let a two year old name her pets...) and a spider in the kitchen we've taking to calling Bruce. We're privileged enough to live by the seaside and in a council flat. Most people have a somewhat skewed idea of council estate families, but let me tell ya, don't judge a bear by it's postcode! This little concrete meadow of ours is home & we happen to love it. The flat is currently being renovated (I prefer to say 'making it nice' but Papa Bear prefers a more architectural description) so there's lots of projects on my to-do list that I'll aim to post up here as and when.

As to what to expect from this little corner of the worldwide web... parenting, yarn & fabric chatter... thrown in with a tad of cake making and who knows what else! I guess I'll simply use this space to throw out some random thoughts and see what happens... Think I've bored you sufficiently for now. Toodle pip!