A day of making Limoncello...

Today I finished off the Limoncello I've been nurturing for the last two weeks. Every day Ive been shaking up the jars of Vodka and lemon peel so as the spirit absorbs as much lemon flavour as possible, then this morning after popping down the supermarket and buying more lemons to obtain the juice from  I've mixed everything together and now have twelve glorious bottles of fine Italian Limoncello liqueur, all in classic Firenze Italian glass bottles.

Thinly peeled lemon peel and Vodka in jars.

Limoncello all bottled and labelled.

Bottle of Limoncello

So, what's next? Well, Ive been having a go at a HOT Chilli Jelly but my first attempt was a little disappointing as the jelly didn't set very well , so I think I'll have another go and try and see what I did wrong.

Last week I made 24 bottles of Sweet Chilli Jam. I must say this was really tasty, if not a bit too mild for the hardened chilli fans. I tried it with Lamb, sausages and cheese and thought it was quite a success, so I'll definitely be making that again.

As soon as the Summer is here (if ever it comes this year!!) I'll start some fruit jams and more seasonal chutneys, but until then I think I'll just stick with Caramelised Onion Chutney and the Chilli recipes.

Cold and miserable

Well this week was loads of fun wasn't it?! However it didn't curtail my daily trip to the local!! I managed to get out every day, which was lucky as I ran out of electricity on Monday and had to get out to top-up my key. So, indoors its pretty warm and cosy but I keep thinking that storage heaters are the pits!! They're warm when you don't need them and bloody cold when you do! I'd love a wood burning stove but they won't permit these in the cottage, so I'll just have to stick with cuddling the dog.

I'm in the process of making a load of personalised Valentines cards for all the regulars of the local pubs at the moment along with other little bits 'n bobs. The jewellery production has slowed down a bit at present but I still have a half decent stock for Valentines. Just getting some layouts prepared for Coastal Art paper sculptures.

Its been too cold to get out and tidy up the vegetable garden yet but as soon as the weather changes I'll be out there doing my annual clean-up and sort out a new raised bed for the runner beans.

I've been reading a couple of autobiographical books written by a friend of mine. He's writing his life story and publishing it as a trilogy, the first two books are on sale so far and he's busy writing the third. Its turned out to be a really good read as his life has been so eventful, with him growing up in war-torn London during the Blitz and getting through life the best he could along with his two brothers. The books also deal with his sometimes shady past and finally getting a legitimate job and starting a family of his own and then going into business for himself. It is of particular interest to me having known his family for the past 26 years and watching all his children grow up into adults and get married with families of their own. Can't wait for the third book to come out..."In Spite of Everything", by Pat Coppard and "There's Never A Dull Moment", by Pat Coppard. Both available on Amazon as books or Kindle.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pat-Coppard-PatC/462315383815683?fref=ts


Well, it's that time of the day again to go up the local and see the regulars there for a bit of banter and a couple of pints, "Luvly Jubbly!"

New Year and new beginnings...

Well, Christmas kind of flew by and here we are now in the New Year 2013. It's the first year that I never went out to celebrate, I just stayed in with Terry, the dog and watched TV...must be getting old I guess!! Anyhow, the last week I've had time t reflect on what I must do for the year and after writing a list of things I do and adding a few more to that list I think I'm going to be pretty busy over the next 12 months.

Firstly, I've got 5 window boxes I have to finish building for a friend. It's one of those jobs that I wish I'd never taken on but as I'm into it for a lot of money in supplies, I really have to complete the job a.s.a.p. I then need to get the vegetable garden ship-shape for this year's produce. The greenhouse needs a complete clean-out and I need to create another raised bed for the runner beans. But first I need to collect some well-rotted horse manure for the existing beds.

This month will see the first of this years new chutneys, jellies and jams, but in the main I wait until the fruit or vegetables are in season. More on this as I make them...

The workshop is going to get a lot of use this year too with making frames for my paper sculptures, the new coastal art ones and other various subjects. Also I'm making a new batch of Murano glass hearts and beads. I shall have some new colours this year and some new shapes. I sold quite a few before Christmas to various guys for their wives presents and the earring and pendant sets were very popular, but I need to sell more throughout the year for birthdays, Valentines, weddings and anniversaries etc.

My series of coastal paintings is still in progress and I'm only on the second one so I definitely need to get my finger out on this one. Boy ! Who said you can relax when you retire?! I'm starting to realise I'm like my Father, he entitled his biography, "Too Many Irons", which is what his Mother always said to him, "You've got too many irons in the fire my boy!"

Apart from all this I have several websites to design and build for various people. One little thing I've just purchased, which I find quite amazing!! is a little attachment that i can connect to my iPhone or iPad to accept credit and debit card payments for all my products. It only cost £20 and its absolutely awesome!!!
 izettle.com (for those interested)