This week

It's been half term here this week and it's been a busy one. The weather's been grey and drizzly for most of the week so there hasn't been a lot of gardening going on. I have been out to admire the roses and poppies which are blooming at the moment.

Those colours do stand out, even on a dingy day.

 However, there have been times when I've been able to squeeze in a bit of creativity.The blooming of the roses means that it's time for me to make rose petal shortbread, so I went out on a dryish day and collected some scented blooms. The darker colours tend to have a stronger perfume, and therefore taste better when cooked. They do look pretty together.

Once picked, I discarded the damaged petals and checked for any bugs which may be hiding in them. Before cooking you need to take out the bitter 'heel' of the petals. It's the lighter bit where they join the flower base. This bit can be quite time-consuming!

I then chopped them quite finely in a mini-chopper so that they look like this.

After trying several recipes, I always use this one. I add a teaspoon or two of rose water, but it depends on how strong you like the taste to be. You can buy it in most large supermarkets.

I roll the dough out and cut it into flowery shapes.

 Once baked, they don't last long in our house!

I also managed to have a creative afternoon with my friend Jane. We've known each other a long time, as well as working together. Now that our children are growing up, we take it in turns to go to each other's houses in the school holidays to spend an afternoon being creative, chatting and eating coffee and cake. It's very relaxing and we both come away feeling inspired. 

I've started a summery patchwork, and Jane's been making machine embroideries, below. You can see what she makes here and here. 

 It's been good to find moments to be creative and to stop and enjoy the season. Hope you've found time to do the same x