More completed washcloths

design by knitwith Rachel. Little garden girl .Free pattern on Ravelry

Hungry hippo design by Elaine Fitzpatrick. Free ravelry pattern

Malaysian vegetable pickle and Kitty love

 I made Malaysian style Acar Vegetable pickle adapted from my Malaysian cookbook .Its great to eat with barbecued meat or as part of a chinese meal .I used rice vinegar to blanch the vegetables as the first time I made it with ordinary white vinegar, the taste was too strong. I also substitute peanut butter, natural and crunchy for the ground peanuts.

My finished Kitty love washcloth,from a free Ravelry pattern ,designed by Cheryl Lacey .Its for my daughter Kat and I'm very pleased with the results. I used size 5mm needles instead of 4.5mm as recommended, and Rowan all seasons cotton 10 ply .It knitted up really quickly and used just one 50g ball.

Ravelry

I love the idea of creating mini knitting pictures all in one colour by using different stitches, so have added 14 wash/ dish cloths to my favourites and can't wait to buy wool [10 ply cotton]. I also want to knit mini Christmas stockings and mini teddies using the free Ravelry little cotton rabbits designs. Pictures of results to follow!

Postcrossing, a selection of recently received cards

A bird from Belarus!

this picturesque scene is from Poland

This vibrant city from Brazil

I love this card of an ancient building in Russia

cornflowers fom Finland

My favourite, yarn bombing in the U.S.A. Does this happen in the U.K?

Learning a language

I've just discovered Memrise , an amazing website  which is a great way to learn languages .You can learn from other people or start your own course .I started trying to learn Chinese characters (Simplified forms) last year and am continuing to try to improve my basic knowledge of spoken Cantonese.I am now learning both on Memrise which is a great way of retaining more vocabulary as it constantly tests your knowledge in different ways and it has many languages to choose from.

Limerick

London is bursting with pride
during this Olympic ride.
Economic gloom
and tidings of doom,
as the crowds cheer,their fears put aside.

Alilee 2012

Postcrossing

 First postcard received from Germany,sadly a little damaged in the post!

 A beautiful oriental park in Seattle.

I love this card from Australia with the Silhouettes

 This card from Lapland with the reindeer is amazing too

 The scenery in the Ural looks very peaceful

and finally Gothic fantasy from France.I'm loving receiving postcards from all over the world.

London 2012 Olympics.Ladies hockey and basketball at Stratford and ladies volleyball at Earls Court

Olympic torch

Walked one and a half miles to see the Olympic torch pass through our local area.Great to see the crowds and everyone enjoying the event,although those people trying to get to work may not have been so happy!

Chinese pork and eggs.

 First put six to eight eggs in a pan to boil for ten minutes.

 Then chop ginger and garlic finely.

I use streaky pork rashers without rind and with not too much fat.

cut into small chunks.Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add ginger and garlic.Fry until fragrant, then add pork and fry until browned.

 Add sweet soy sauce and stir until well coated,three or four tablespoons.

 Add a teaspoon of chinese five spice powder.

 add two or three star anise.

 This is a beautiful fragrant spice available in chinese food shops.

 add two to five cloves dependent on taste.

 add a medium size cinnamon bark.

 add chinese cooking wine to taste, then add water to cover pork and simmer until pork is tender,about 30 minutes.

dry sherry is a good substitute for chinese wine.

 meanwhile when eggs are done,remove shells.

 add eggs ten minutes before end of cooking time.

Serve with freshly cooked rice as part of a Chinese meal.This is one of my daughters favourite chinese dishes.

Postcrossing

I've joined postcrossing together with my daughter. I used to collect postcards as a teenager and also exchanged letters with lots of penpals in my teenage years so love the idea of sending and receiving postcards from all over the world. I bought postcards from a lavender farm in Norfolk and now have five postcards travelling to Estonia, Russia, Texas U.S.A., China and Taiwan .Once they arrive and are registered I will receive five postcards back from other users of the site. Postcards received are displayed on each users profile page. As well as collecting postcards,  its a great way of learning a little about other countries and their cultures and lovely to receive mail that's not bills or junk mail!

Birds in Norfolk