All Things Homespun....Miniature Button & Rosette Fairy Tiara...

 

 A treat for my granddaughters for when they next visit....

 

 

...some scraps of florist wire and foliage left over from making headpieces for the Dance Troupe at school, pearly buttons, tiny scrapbooking rosettes...

 

...woven and wound together randomly to create a sweet little miniature fairy tiara...

 

Mr Owl will wear this one until the Fairies come for it...

...Mimi...

Five Star Frou-Frou #50...

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to Five Star Frou-Frou #50!

 

Our features this week are varied in nature, but all three stood out for one reason or another.

 

Kim from Sarah Lizzies, shared her gorgeous, fabulous, amazing chair recovering project! I love this so much I want to race to Kims part of the world and learn how to make one for myself!

 

 

Nellie from Nellies Cozy Place shared some great olde worlde (and more recent!) household tips that fall into the 'why didn't I think of that?' category...

 

And I loved Pams thoughts on Desire and how expecting others to interpret our innermost feelings, can really be a problem in life. Read it over a A New Lens.

 

Thanks everyone for joining the fun this week, and let's welcome a new week with our favourite posts and projects, both old and new!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

A Homespun Year...Passionfuit spread...a divine treat...

Food is important to all of us.

Every milestone in our lives entails the consumption of food of some sort.

If you're like me, it's not just the nutritional value that's important, but also the memory that many foods carry with them.

Passionfruit curd, also known as Passionfruit Butter, Passionfruit Cheese and Passionfruit Spread, is something my Mum used to make.

Back in the day when every home had a backyard passionfruit vine, often groaning with glossy orbs that the crows would peck, it was criminal not to find a use for them. Of course we would eat them au naturel, slurping the flesh straight from the cup of the fruit, but eating Mums Passionfruit Curd was a special sort of treat.

The creamy sweet and tangy butteriness of curd belies it's simple ingredients. For a large family, scones or tarts filled with Passionfruit Curd was an inexpensive treat that tasted lavish and extravagant.

These days, I enjoy my Passionfruit Curd on gluten free toast in the morning served on a Limoges saucer gifted to me with a teacup for a significant birthday.

A super luxurious start to my day for mere cents.

Here's how you make it:

Makes about 750gms (1 1/2lbs) or three small jars worth.

Into a large microwave safe jug, place the following ingredients...

Pulp of 10-15 passionfruit

125gms caster sugar

125gms unsalted butter

In a separate jug....

Beat 4 large eggs until well combined

Then just...

Microwave the pulp mixture on HIGH for about 3 minutes, stirring every 60 seconds, just until the butter melts and is incorporated.

Remove from the microwave and whisk the egg in, drizzling it into the passionfruit mixture in a steady, fine stream.

Microwave on HIGH for two 30 second blasts, whisking well between each.

Finally, microwave on HIGH for one minute, and whisk well until thick and smooth.

Pour in to clean sterilised jars and refrigerate.

Done!

This keeps well, refrigerated for at least six months.

Use the curd to fill Tarts, Meringues, Pavlova, Swiss Rolls, Jam Drops, Victoria Sponge, or just enjoy as I do on your morning toast.

You'll feel very spoilt, I promise.

Also a fab addition to your foodie gift hampers.

Whenever I make this, and especially when I take that first mouthful, I feel my Mum standing next to me in her humble apron, nodding and smiling. It's a special moment.

 

....Mimi...

Between The Lines...the 50+ Bloggers Series....



The lovely Katherine at Katherines Corner, made an offer some months ago now, to promote we...ahem...ladies of a certain age, and our blogs, through her fabulous Between the Lines Series.

 

This series has offered us all a wonderful platform through which to promote our blogs, and a way of showing how sassy and savvy those of us with some life experience behind us, can be!

Katherine has asked each of the featured bloggers over the last 7 weeks, a few questions about life and blogging and it's been an interesting insight into the life of the surprised (I say that because, really....did you ever think you'd be doing this at this stage of life?) blogger, to say the least.

Here's my own contribution...

Katherine asked "As an age 50 or older blogger, do you find your readers are of a similar age."

My response: Yes and No. I find that the readers who comment are invariably of similar age and interests, but as my blog content is so diverse, I generate many views from sources that I wouldn’t really consider ’50+’. By far, my greatest reader sources are Facebook and Pinterest, and I have increased my statistics over tenfold in the last eighteen months by focusing on posts and activity in those areas. It’s not an outcome I could ever have predicted, but it’s certainly helped me identify my niche!

Katherine asked "What was the last gift you gave and what was it for?"

My response: Many of my blog posts focus on creative gift giving, and my most recently gifted item was Romantic themed clothespegs, packaged with similarly themed gift wrap and greeting card. This was given with a favourite classic novel and a beautifully embellished book weight, to my darling sister for her birthday. She loved it! I love tailoring the gift to the recipient, and sharing those ideas on my blog is a constant creative pleasure for me.
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The thing that has struck me about this series, is that through blogging, we have all found a path to connect with like minded friends. This was once done through common interest groups in our neighbourhood at the local Church or Community Hall. Now, me? I was never one for attending meetings and making new friends through those meetings. My life is so frantic much of the time, with three adult sons with partners, a daughter at high school and heavily involved in the performing arts, and three lovely grandchildren. So fronting up to a regular gathering, is always a challenge.

Blogging however, allows me the opportunity to generate friendships through a common bond, even if that bond is simply 'blogging'. Even better though, is that I can actively seek friends with similar interests in life, who are at a similar stage in life, and consolidate those friendships over a period of time, that does not necessitate 'a meeting'. It's an unexpected joy and a true pleasure in my life.

If someone had told me twenty years ago, that I would have literally hundreds of friends all over the world, with whom I connect daily, I would have laughed.

And yet...here we are....

I hope you'll hop on over to Katherine's Corner and visit the other bloggers featured this week. Follow their blogs, follow them on other social media, and see if it doesn't make your day.