Conkers!

This weekend we collected some nuts from a nearby horse chestnut tree, grabbed a drill and some string and prepared our boys first conkers.

Conkers is a traditional game played in England with the shiny brown nuts from horse chestnut trees. The game dates back to the 16th Century when horse chestnut trees were introduced from Europe.

The game was played every Autumn and was a particular favourite in school playgrounds. I remember playing the game for hours. Unfortunately the game has now been banned from most schools on the grounds of 'health and safety'.

Conkers is a two-player game. Player 1  has to hang his conker by the string, holding it at arm's length, whilst player 2 swings his conker, also by the end of its string, to strike the conker.Blow by blow the game continues until one of the conkers dies.

 It becomes more complicated when the scoring starts. 

 

 If a conker has never been used before and succeeds in breaking another unused conker, it scores "one" and becomes a "one-er." If in its next game it breaks another new conker, it becomes a "two-er" and so on. BUT if this "two-er" is broken, its score is added to its winner  which, if it was previously unused, becomes a "three-er" (one for the conker it's just broken plus that conker's previous two.) If the conker that broke it had already broken others, the scores of BOTH conkers are added together and awarded to the winner. I remember having conkers of values 20 + and reused them the next year.

Some people try to harden their conkers by adding vinegar, baking, or leaving them in an airing cupboard. Others believe that the oils from your hands harden the conker and so they should be kept in a pocket all year.

We had a great afternoon and it brought back some great school memories. I'd forgotten about the large red lumps that appear on your lower arm and the danger of flying conkers! We ended up with a 3-er by the end of the challenges. We'll keep this for next year.

Had to browse ETSY and just have a look to see what came up with a conker search. Look what I found!

Friendly Conker
Stained Glass Window Decoration
 The Round Window

Conker Cozy - Lazy and Vain

what a conker gift card -
Martha and Hepsie

A-Z of Me!

I've really enjoyed reading lotrs of these A-Z's this week. I think it's helped make you 'real people'not just an avatar. Well here's me.

A- Age 42 and proud I've crossed over to the other size unscathed and now ready to stand up for myself.

B - Bed - Double with King size duvet. 

C - Chores you hate - Cleaning windows. I never manage to get them streak free.

D - Dogs - Totally freaked out by dogs and can't stand cats. Got 4 chickens though!

E - Essential start to your day - a kiss

F - Favorite colour - Purple

G - Gold or silver - Silver.

H - Height - 5' 7"

I - Instruments you play - none not musically inclined at all.

J - Job title -  Housewife, ex-teacher

K - Kids - two boys

L - Live - A tiny village in Essex but close to Colchester.

M - Mother's name - Ruth

N - Nickname - None really, used to be ape at school.

O - Overnight hospital stays - I had to stay a week when I was 29 weeks pregnant as contractions started. Luckily they stopped.

P - Pet Peeves - Lateness,  people who think they're superior

Q - Quote from a film - it's a big long but it doesn't make sense otherwise. I've bleeped a few bits out too so as not to offend delicate crafters ears! It's from Pulp Fiction.

Vincent: All right. Well, you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don't mean just like in no paper cup, I'm talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

Vincent: Nah, man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the **** a Quarter Pounder is.

Jules: What do they call it?

Vincent: They call it a "Royale with Cheese".

Jules: "Royale with Cheese".

Vincent: That's right.

Jules: What do they call a Big Mac?

Vincent: A Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it "Le Big Mac".

Jules: [in mock French accent] "Le Big Mac." [laughs] What do they call a Whopper?

Vincent: I don't know, I didn't go in a Burger King.

R - Right or left handed - Right

S - Siblings - Two younger brothers

T - Time you wake up - Between 6am and 6.30am - when my husband brings me a cup of tea. What a star!

U - Underwear - Gap

V - Vegetable you hate - None I love veggies - as for fruit I could quite easily not eat any ever!

W - What makes you run late - nothing, I hate being late so always end up being early.(Direct copy from Dawn.) I would rather sit and read my book for half an hour than be late. I always get to the airport a day early just in case!

X - X-rays you've had - Had an MRI for prolapsed disc. More painful than having babies! (Never thought I'd say that!)

Y - Yummy food you make - My brunch pancakes have become a bit of a signature dish!

Z - Zoo animal - We are lucky enough to live near Colchester Zoo. It is absolutely fantastic. My favourites are the spider monkeys. There always seem to be baby ones that are so cute!

(Emerging from a hole at the top of a prehistoric tower in sardinia)

I believe in Pink.

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.Audrey Hepburn

Baban CatInfinitiAnn Chandler OriginalsDamselfly GemmaSew FlairJessicas Jotters
......and my own pink pendant  

 

A selection of items from my Folksy teams mates October Owls. Yes,  I am trying to do both  Folksy and Etsy Daily listing clubs. I hope I can keep up. I guess I'm having a bit of a competition between the two. I'm really going to give it my all until Christmas. I've put in a new order today for glass and made leaflets for book bags, I've made posters for classes, blogged, stumbled and generally hurt my fingers typing!

Safari!

I made this treasury this week for part of a challenge. I had to use one of MysticMoonShadows items in a treasury. I loved the wheel of the year pendant. I don't really understand the meaning behind it but I loved the colour of the jasper, called safari!

 I went on safari in Kenya for my honeymoon and have some fantastic memories. The best one could possibly be the hot air balloon trip over TSAVO national park. WOW!

I

Red or black?

Crafty Folk Daily Listing Club

I've joined a new Team on ETSY called Crafty Folk and we have set ourselves a daily listing challenge. You know I'm an addict! We're all new to ETSY and finding our feet this week.The idea is to promote the other team members in any way possible. Here is a selection of the talent on the team.

Gimme That ThingLilly's Night gardenMad Mum KnitsLouLou's LuxuriesMiss Mary ElliottApril is Forever Please click on the picture to go straight to the shops.  

Ode to Autumn by John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells

Yesterday the sun was shining and we decided to brave the last of the season's wasps and collect the last apples. The boys loved clinbing the scaffold to reach the high branches.

We've sent lots of apples to school today for the harvest festival.

I've also collected enough to fill my old freezer. Later in the year, perhaps at half term  I will locate the apple press and make some juice. A time consuming but fun job the boys enjoy.

I've also stewed a ton of apples to make pie fillings for the winter.

Sad to see the last of the raspberries today too. We ate those with lots of cream and broken pavlova.

On an apple theme I have found these great products. Perfect for harvest fun.

2 Apple Harvest Melting Tarts by Country Home Scent ETSY

Warm Apple Harvest Handmade Soap by Lotions and potions  ETSY

Apple Locket necklace - locket and leaf necklace - handmade by The Magpie's Daughter ETSY

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Felt like a bit of a bake today despite the unseasonably hot conditions in the south of the UK . Something for Sunday afternoon tea in the garden. Had to be a classic but I wanted to try this new recipe as I don't have much luck with a rise. My sponges are usually more biscuit like! 

Classic Victoria Sandwich

Ingredients

200g of caster sugar

200g soft butter

200g self raising flour

4 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 table spoons milk

Method

Heat oven to 170 C for fan oven

Butter and line 2x 20 cm tins.

Beat all the ingredients together.

Divide into two and bake for 20mins.

I filled the cake with buttercream icing (mix butter, vanilla essence and icing sugar) and my homemade raspberry jam.

How easy is that!  I was really pleased with the result.

My best cake ever and it was really  easy.

I just needed a few additions for the perfect tea. If anyone reading this knows my husband please tell him I'd like a cake stand for Christmas please.

Illustrated Cake Stand, 3 Tier, English Rose SALE by EstherCoombs

I like this too. Cupcake Shirt - Keep Calm and Bake On  by redbrickwall