Silent Sunday - garage find

Vintage tea party in Cambridge

Vintage tea party at the Cambridge & County Folk Museum: a Secluded Tea Party success

I had a lovely afternoon at the Cambridge Folk Museum on Sunday. Who cares about the rain when you can talk and eat cake? The event was mostly female, bar one brave male who came with his partner (good for him!). 

Amazing almond cakes

The event, catered by Sue Flay of Secluded Tea Party, was opened by a talk by Education Officer Tamsin who regaled us with a social history of baking. She whittled down the months talking about traditional celebration cakes – what they were called, why they were baked, what ingredients they contained… Most had lots of spices – such as a whole grated nutmeg (I have a cough attack just thinking about it) and they weren’t saving on the eggs – from a dozen up to 18 for a single cake! Most were basically fruit puddings, a bit like the traditional Xmas pudding but with more spices and fat. And my beloved but very downtrodden lardy cake was in too…  Shame on you, supermarkets for banning it because it has a high fat content, after all you still sell lard.

Fabulous filled sponge, so light and delicious

Many of these cakes were quite basic, kind of sweet breads or even sweet loaves but without the sugar (only currants for sweetness). There were class distinctions too, cakes baked for the poor and even harvest cakes for labourers were basic, but if you were baking for your guests or the top farm table, then you’d put more sugar, eggs, spices. So richer ingredients for the rich really, which seems hard on poor labourers who were paid very little and counted on the harvest celebrations to eat a nice meal. 



After the talk and a wander in the museum following a foodie trail, we went back to the pretty tearoom with lovely bunting and scoffed the cakes provided by Sue Flay from the Secluded Tea Party. Just have a look at more of her photos (thanks Sue for sharing them on Facebook). If your mouth is watering as much as mine (even in retrospect), visit  www.facebook.com/secludedteaparty/app_211526985586920  and book the next event. There will be another museum tea on 1st July with a different talk and an event for parents and children in late august. Visit the  Cambridge & County Folk Museum 's site for more info on those.

Terrific teapot-shaped ginger breads

PS: All these lovely vintagey pics belong to Sue Flay, contact her if you want to use them and give her a credit!  Visit her Facebook page for more pics... And if you want more info about the recipes and the talk, visit her blog.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

Spring has sprung, plus Cambridge retro ride

A bumble bee gets some nectar from my Helleborus foetida

Progress has been made in the 1930s house but not indoors. Spring sunshine has drawn me out to tackle my still overgrown garden. I did quite a bit of work last year but as we are gearing up to plant our veg, more clearing is needed in the bottom garden and plants need to be moved.

The first pic is of my front garden, where I have been tidying up, trimming overgrown plants (it was marginally better than the back garden) and planted some plants, including a Helleborus foetida (pictured) that was growing at the back among a rubbish heap of rubble, bramble sticks and a pile of tree trimmings (the garden bin is way to small to deal with my pruning, even with the occasional use
of a shredder).

And of course as soon as I dig, my friendly robin
arrives to have a look at the hole and get some juicy worms. Here it is, perched on a mystery plant I grew from the stone of an exotic fruit I bought in London at a Turkish store. I haven't been able to identify it yet but it seems quite hardy, having survived two winters outside. I have more, some planted in the back garden and one in a tub.

I couldn't resist bringing some spring colour inside, here is a small posy on the wooden mantelpiece of my fireplace. As I'm a very keen gardener, all my free time has been spent outside improving the garden and planting my first seeds (in summerhouse and greenhouse). However I have still some beetroot plants from last year in the ground and broccoli plants in the greenhouse. I was hoping to restore the summerhouse and tried to get some sponsorship from B&Q but have not succeeded. I would love to test some products, so if any DIY store is willing, they will get a professional review and photos of the project. If not, I might contact some colleagues at home interest publications...

Nothing much has changed indoors, except furniture re-arranging. We are still pondering the remodelling, it will be costly and we don't want to get it wrong.

Trying to be a Tweed runner (click for video)

The nice weather has meant more cycling. Below are some pics prior to the Cambridge retro ride, part of the FAB weekend. The ride was a lot of fun and it's a pity there were only a few of us in vintage gear (more like reproduction/mismash for me as the bike is not original and the clothes are of different decades). However I was taken by two ladies with smashing clothes and vintage bikes. The venue was brilliant, Plurabelle books' yard, thanks Michael for the wonderful post-ride tea! I missed the fashion show by Cambridge Raincoats and independent designers, though.

I hope to do more bike rides and air some other vintage stuff I own.

1930s with a twist

1950s at its best

Winter update from the 1930s house

Happy Xmas from the 1930s House!

It has been a busy summer for us and a busy autumn too as our daughter started school. Work on the house has slowed down as work commitments and colder weather took their toll on our renovation project. Hopefully I will have more updates next year! Aside some shelving, garden/garage clearance and general maintenance we have not changed much. The idea is to live in the house for a bit before deciding on major and costly remodelling. So it has been minimal tinkering really - we know we need an extension, while the bathroom and kitchen are dated. See it for yourself in the pic on the left. Despite some modern fittings this is an original 1930s bathroom. A tradesman who came to disconnect the electric fire upstairs (we kept it as it's original but made it safe) confirmed this. The bath is made of iron and has been re-enamelled at some point. The window is original, in metal with recentish secondary glazing. The toilet is in another little room. There is a big airing cupboard in the corridor, just behind the bath. We are thinking of getting rid of that and put the WC back in the bathroom, thus opening up the toilet's room into a small bedroom. Nothing planned yet, just we are thinking about it! 

One job that got done is stripping the doors. The original 1930s doors have been stripped by a professional (too much lead paint to make it safe for us to do) and they displayed a wavy pattern, a bit like tiger bread! We don't have all the original handles, but here is one. My partner went for a protective matt varnish in this light colour, I'd have preferred something darker as it's more 1930.

I hope I can bring more news and pictures next year. For now, I wish you all a Happy Holiday.

Crafty corner - vintage style

As the days grow shorter and the weather turns cold and damp, I usually turn my hand to crafts. In the past few years I spent October and November making Christmas cards, embroidered scented cushions, Christmas baskets and tree decorations. One year I even took a stall at a craft market to sell some surplus. And yes, I did have an Etsy account for a while.

Having moved house in July, the focus has been on making our property into a home, which has meant more gardening and DIY than needlecrafts, despite the fact that I need to re-upholster some chairs and would love to make new curtains for our house. Being short of time and having more pressing jobs to do, I'm compromising on the crafty front and making do with the fittings and soft furnishings the house came with for the time being.

Being of a hopeful nature, I have been gathering a few craft kits for making various things, which I'm hoping to have a go at when the dust settles. Among these there is a more unusual kit I'd like to mention, with an apology for having not done so before. I requested a vintage-style knicker kit in the summer and have been holding onto it hoping to make it at some point and display it on the blog, but with the house demanding a lot of our time, my daughter starting school and work this pretty kit has been languishing in a drawer.

This fancy pants kit does deserve a mention, not only for its vintagey feel but because it could make a very original Christmas pressie. A handmade present is so much nicer and unique or you if you are not into needlecrafts, you could wrap it up and gift it to a crafty friend. Devised by Flo-Jo Boutique, this knicker kit (£13.50 plus p&p, sizes 8-18) is sold alongside several vintage-inspired goodies. Have a peek on http://flo-joboutique.co.uk, where you can also find out about their craft workshops - popular with hen parties.

The romantic kit I was sent by Flo-Jo Boutique

A flirty knicker making kit by Flo-Jo Boutique

The great thing about this knicker kit is that all you need is basic sewing skills, a sewing machine, some scissors and thread! And if you get stuck, check out their workshops at
http://flo-joboutique.co.uk/#/noticeboard/4548517045.