2013 meant a lot of change for me.  I started writing poetry!  I should add "again" to the end of that last sentence, but this time it seems for real.

I took a week long writing course in the summer and it turn out - tah dah! - I quite like this craft. 

Here is one of the poems I have been working on.  Hope you like it!

Tiny Lady

Grey wet day, cold, unrelenting rain,

Gloved hands like saturated sponges grip bicycle handlebars.

Homeward bound I tackle my nemesis—the last long hill—

watch the rainwater stream downhill against my steady climb.

I often see an elderly woman along this road.

Very short, hunched back makes her look even older and smaller,

today she is standing by the bus stop beneath a large blue umbrella.

When I get closer it seems she is flagging me down—

her arm is waving and she is shouting something I cannot understand—

the tiny lady is soon beside me as I push upwards.

Her wrinkled face frames a toothless excited smile;

she gives me a thumbs up.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins for Spring

It is rainy and grey here in Vancouver and doesn't feel much like spring.  We've had over two inches of rain since last night.

I decided to make muffins when I came across a recipe on a cooking store website.  The fact that I had two cans of pumpkin in the pantry left from Thanksgiving and some Granny Smith apples left by Max on his last trip home made the decision a natural one.

In assembling the ingredients, I also remembered that I had some of those fancy muffin tin paper liners that you see in bakeries these days.

Someone was trying to tell me something!

Here's my version of the recipe (only slightly changed from the original):

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar )

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon   )

                                              1/2 tsp nutmeg      ) OR 1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp ginger           )

1/4 tsp allspice       )

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Mix together and set aside.

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2cup canola oil

Mix together and add to the above dry ingredients

2 cups peeled and chopped apples

Stir into batter.

Streusel Topping

2 T flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp butter/margarine

Mix with fork or clean fingers (YES!) until crumbly.

Spoon apple batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with streusel topping.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Your Mum's Creations Cake Tester should come out clean!  Makes about 18 muffins.

Note:  I found these muffins a bit too sweet for my taste.  Next time I will try to cut back the sugar.

Kitchen Wrapping Cloth Supports Textile Recycling Intiative

Yikes!  2013 is here and I finally get to reveal my latest project.  I got this little idea from similar products being sold in the United States. 

These delicious Kitchen Wrapping Cloths are a fantastic solution to easing plastic wrap and bags out of my kitchen.  I've always loved fabric.  In fact my first business venture was in the textile area and I drifted away ten or more years ago.  Well, baby, it seems I'm back!

The concept is simple and based upon Japanese culture where fabric cloths are used for wrapping food, gifts or virtually anything.  It is called "furoshiki" and more information can be viewed here.

A while back a friend gave me a gift wrapped in a beautiful piece of floral fabric which I turned into a napkin by hemming the edges.  Maybe that's where the seed was planted.

The idea really sprouted when I happened upon a Vancouver textile recycling intiative called Our Social Fabric.  A link to their website is here where you can learn more about their work and admirable goals.

Attending one of the monthly sales OSF hosts was all I needed to get this new project underway.

Have a browse through my web pages and let me know what you think!  I'm excited by this and am hoping to be so darn busy......

Lots of love and happy fabric-ing!