Rag rugs & textiles in Cumbria

 While on a little break in Cumbria, I took the opportunity to visit the Tullie House Museum. I just love learning about new places & the history that shaped them. 

What a fascinating museum  charting the long history of this border town. 

The museum was also hosting an exhibition of rag rugs by Winifred Nicholson. 

This spring, we are delighted to be hosting Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs. Although Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981) is best known for her paintings and her position as a highly respected figure in 20th century British art, this is the first exhibition dedicated to her relationship with the tradition of rag rug making.  

  

Rug making had been a big thing in Johannesburg in the late 1980's & I hooked two large rugs with wool. It was a time consuming but interesting experience so I was interested in this exhibition. 

Rag rugs was a primitive exercise in past times - old clothes or any rags were knotted through hessian or other coarse fabrics to provide rugs to cover cold stone floors; they were colourful because the maker used whatever textiles there was. 

New fabrics or textiles would not be bought to make rugs from - it was the end use of clothes that had become threadbare from multiple uses.  It was a time when clothes were expensive & they were much valued unlike our fast fashion today.  Mass production has resulted in overconsumption, waste & environmental consequences. 

This is the wall in the exhibition where the public were invited to add a piece of fabric from the box of textiles. 

Several of living museums have examples of rag rugs & they sometimes share the techniques. It is a simple activity with a large hook, hessian & fabrics, seldom making a shape & that is how it was in the past. 

The patterns were interesting - the nature of rag rugs & the making is sometimes more craft than art. However, this exhibition had some beautiful rugs with colourful patterns & details. This was really interesting to see the skill involved in these items.  

These are my photos from the exhibition, it was very interesting & you can read more about Winifred from this link

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The rugs were all very striking & there were a few that really caught my eye ....

Do you have experience of rag rugs or are they something you still see in your environment? Tell all & thank you for stopping by & visiting with me, 

Dee 🖼️🏠🧺🪡🧵

Interesting bygone fashion

In the previous post, I mentioned visiting the Tullie House Museum in Cumbria. One of the exhibition spaces had a Costume collection of really interesting gowns. 

 

 

It harks back to a time when it was so important to be properly dressed with gloves, hat, proper shoes, handbags etc. 

It all took much thought & the social norms were very strict about what should be worn & when.  We give it little thought now but clothes were expensive & were more valued before times of mass production & consumption. 

There was also the realities of laundering clothes that is much easier now.

These two dresses caused me to pause & ponder the realities of fashion at that time. They were from 1750 & would have been hugely expensive to make with silks & embroidery. They would have marked someone out as being very wealthy with such impractical clothing. The yellow 'open robe dress dates to the 1770's too & it shows a fine petticoat - all signs of a wealthy person who wanted to be seen to be doing well. They were dresses to show off your success, wealth, to set you apart ... 

I was curious about how one would even sit in a dress like this one, how one would alight a carriage? I suppose supper was a non starter because I'm not sure you could eat close enough to the table in that. The question we all want to know is - how the heck do you use the facilities in such a dress? 

Queen Victoria is known to have stayed in mourning dress for decades after the death of her beloved Albert so this spawned a whole industry of black mourning wear.  

 Jet jewellery from Whitby in Yorkshire was highly fashionable & pearls were also seen as tear drop jewellery. 

There were very strict social mourning rules about when you could slowly emerge was all black dresses to muted colours & the time periods involved.  

Those social restrictions have largely gone now & the fashion around it too. However, dark clothing, usually black, is still the norm for funerals. 

The displays were very interesting & I could easily have spent a whole morning reading the boards & taking in all the details. We value clothes so little now in the era of fast fashion. Most people would be hard pressed to name a favourite item of clothes. 

The dress I think I could identify with most was the hand made one with the pattern alongside it. My Mother & Grandmother could turn their hand to most sewing things & for my leaving event at the end of primary school, they made me a dress that was very much in fashion. 

It had an empire line & a cross over bodice. That style was very much in fashion & I went with to choose a pattern & fabric & then this dress was made by my Mother & Grandmother. It was very special to me, it was much admired & the time they put in to it was not really appreciated until I was much older. 

Do you find such fashion times interesting too? Have you, like me, fallen in to the more casual wear of slacks & comfortable shoes for everyday wear? Tell all & thank  you for stopping by, 

Dee 👗💃🪡🧵👚

Using lemon verbena & mints at home ...

When I updated my herbs this past week, I bought 2 lemon verbena herbs again.  I do not always remember that they are not frost hardy & so have lost several because I have not potted them up & brought them indoors for the winter. It is a popular herb, along with the mints & lemon balm (I have all of them) 

It is a herb I use a lot at home because the fragrance is so immediate & fresh. It is related to the mint family & I also have several  mints & lemon balm too that is in the herb troughs, ready for use. The 3 herbs can be used in the same way so they are very useful. 

These are some of the ways I use it - 

Lemony syrup 

I make a simple sugar syrup of equal parts of sugar & water (about 1/2 cup of each), bring it to the boil until the sugar is dissolved & it is syrupy. Only then do I add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped lemon verbena leaves & let it steep to impart the flavour as the syrup cools (about 30 minutes). Discard the leaves, pour in to a jar or bottle & keep in the fridge for about 10 days. You can pour the syrup in to an ice cube tray, freeze then use a cube when it is needed. This is good over puddings, fruit salad, or on fruit sponges like apple cakes with cream. Some good ideas in this article ... 

Stewed fruit 

If like me, you hate waste & stew any fruit that is softer than you like it, add lemon verbena leaves to the fruit to impart a fresh lemony taste to the fruit. I often do fruit as a compote to be enjoyed with a dash of natural yoghurt or as a layer in a simple trifle like dessert in a glass bowl. This is a good suggestion I used previously ... 

Vinaigrette 

When staying with friends in Johannesburg, South Africa, Karen made an absolutely delicious vinaigrette for the salad by combining some strawberry jam in the simple olive oil / balsamic vinegar dressing. It was sensational & the hint of sweetness was perfect. I would make it up with 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup of olive oil & about the same of snipped lemon verbena leaves. This simple dressing could also have a hint of sweetness with the addition of a little strawberry jam. Shake it all up in a pretty jar with a lid & keep it in the fridge to enjoy ... 

Lemon verbena vinegar

If you use vinegar in dressings, you could steep lemon verbena leaves & flowers in late summer, in a jar of vinegar (white, red, or wine vinegar) and keep it in a dark cupboard for about 2-3 weeks to impart the flavour. Strain & you should have a lovely lemony vinegar.

Lemony sponge cake

The versatile Victoria Sponge cake is my go to cake to bake because it uses ingredients you generally have at hand (just 4 ingredients) and you can add to the basic cake if you want. I sometimes use finely chopped lemon verbena leaves in the mixture & then more finely chopped in to the icing or the cream. It is utterly delicious. 

Lemon Verbena & poppy seed loaf is utterly delicious - use the sponge cake recipe, add about 30g of poppy seeds & finely chopped lemon verbena to both the mix & the water icing. Perfect for a lighter summer cake. 

Lemon shortbread

I love shortbread & Olive used to make a morish version. Some lemon verbena snipped in to the biscuits is refreshing. It is also easy to infuse some sugar with lemon verbena leaves until the sugar takes on that lovely flavour; this is tasty used in baking or over the shortbread. 

House freshener

In summer, I often pick herbs for a glass vase in the conservatory - the lemony herbs are good at keeping insects away & the bonus is that they often root easily in water & the rooted plants can be kept indoors for winter. I plant them up together in a pot & pop it on the kitchen window sill for winter. 

Mint ice cubes

In summer, mint leaves washed & put in ice cube trays is a refreshing way to make water & drinks more appealing.  I tend to add a tiny sprig on the top of the water jug at the table too, the freshness is welcome in hot weather. 

Herbal tea

About 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped leaves, steeped in boiling water for 5-10 minutes & then drink as a tea. It looks even better in a glass tea pot when the green leaves can be appreciated. Keep the lid on while steeping so the beneficial oils are retained in the brew. Sweeten with a little honey if needed. 

I attended an online workshop this past week & Carly from 'the little green shoot'  did a fascinating insert called 'The Healing Tea garden'  & I was delighted to learn that I had most of those herbs except raspberry leaf. I have sown camomile seeds & they are poking their little green heads through to I will soon be able to move them to larger containers.  The plants are not readily available locally. 

This is a screenshot of the talk by Carly on herbal teas to grow & their benefits. 

I use this lovely Ikea glass teapot for the occasional herbal tea - I must do it more often for the health benefits. However, iced tea is better in warmer weather. The herb scissors is so useful & it cuts the soft herbs up really quickly, thereby releasing their fragrant oils. My preference is to sweeten with local honey & add minted ice cubes to long glasses. 

I hope I have inspired you to grow & use more fresh herbs, even just a small patio pot with a few will be useful. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always lovely to have you visit, 

Dee 🪴🌱🏡🧊🍵

Sage, rosemary, thyme & lemon verbena …

 I shared the renewal of the herb planters & after emptying & repotting the herbs,  repotting the herb troughs this past week.

 I made a list of the missing ones that I need to add to the re-done troughs. There are 5 matching troughs but one that is tucked behind the bush contains the lemon balm & mints that have taken it over. I must still repot that one …

The previous sage & rosemary were past their best, too woody to be useful so I headed to our local plant nursery to find replacements. There was so much choice that it took ages to decide.  

There was a good selection & I selected 2 new thymes to go with the ones I already had. They have their own trough. Their tiny fragrant leaves are very useful & I should use more of them too in cooking.  

I thought a purple sage would be a nice change, along with just a normal one. 

And additional clump of chives joins the re-potted one because it is such a useful addition to summer salads, especially snipped in to potato salad. 

My favourite herb has to be the highly fragrant lemon verbena.  

I bought two because I often add the little leaves to cakes, cool water, baking bits because that it imparts that fantastic flavour. 

I was gifted a herb scissors a few years ago & the multiple sharp blades are essential with a good herb garden. 

I added a spearmint to my selection of mints & it joins the unusual berries & cream I potted up last week. 

New potatoes, peas,  lamb, jugs of water are all improved by adding mint or lemon balm that has taken over the original mint trough & I have potted the new mints in a second trough. 

I must make some mint sauce this year to tide me over winter when they die down. It was something Olive always did at the end of summer - jars of highly fragrant mint sauce to go with lamb dishes, new potatoes or peas. It is simple to make & delicious to eat. 

However, the local squirrels have taken to digging in the herb planters & this needed to be discouraged. 

I bought some bamboo canes that were about 120cm long & cut 3 for each trough length.

The cut off pieces is long enough to use as a support each side to hold the 3 lengths in a grid shape with the third shorter piece in the middle. I used green cable ties to secure the bamboo grids, it was quicker than cutting lengths of wire to do it. 

The grid rests on each trough & will hopefully discourage foraging in the troughs with the tasty herbs. I still need to trim the cable ties to neaten them up. 

The 3 tomato plants have been growing on in the covered  patio troughs against the house but they are now ready for transplanting because the risk of frost has passed. 

They are planted in a grow bag next to the conservatory where it is sheltered & warm. 

I made a basic support frame for them too with bamboo canes. They like this spot where it is not too windy as they are in a side return & close to the water butt for watering too. 

Some years are better than others for homegrown tomatoes, I am just doing 3 plants this year.

The essential herbs will be well used for years & the tomatoes are always a bit of battle of wills to get them to mature & fruit. 

I know, it is cheaper to buy some tomatoes but it is a summer tradition. 

What herbs are essential to your cooking? Tell all ..  

Thank you for stopping by, always appreciated 

Dee 🌱🪏🏡🫜🧑‍🌾

Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme ...

 The familiar list of herbs from the song Scarborough Fair always comes to mind when I am busy with my herb troughs. 

When looking back on previous blog posts about my herbs, I realised that I last redid these herb planters completely in 2017 so it was long overdue to empty them & refresh. 

The planters are on a raised area between my neighbour & us - there is a service pipe that is on the raised bit hence the need for loose planters to access it if needed. The other advantage is that being used for cooking, the herbs need to be out of the way of visiting dogs etc so this space works well. The side return contains out many bins & recycling bins so it is the 'working side' of our house. 

I eased out the pot bound herbs I wanted from each trough. For some reason the planters had a wild violet that had taken over in them & as nice as the little violet flowers are, they are not herbs. Once the herbs were out, the root bound remainders & the soil was popped on a garden bed by the bird feeder where it will break down & I do not mind if the violets take root there. 

I put a generous layer of leaf mould from our own tree in each trough before adding fresh potting soil to each. The two 60L bags were soon gone on the 4 troughs - it is deceptive how much soil each one takes. 

The herbs were then replanted again & 2 new ones added - a new mint & a bronze fennel. 

I did not empty out the 5th planter with the mint / lemon balm planter because I had used up all 120L of potting soil on the other 4. However, having space with emptying & repotting, I used one of the other troughs as a second one for mint. I bought a strawberries & cream mint at the local market last week - I wonder what it will taste like? It will be nice in mint tea or on stewed fruit ... 

I was gifted this lovely set of ceramic herb labels by daughter, made by a potter in her village, & they are a perfect reminder of the most used herbs. 

It is a good time to buy in the ones that are missing - my sage had become woody & so had the rosemary; However, they are moved to the garden where they will hopefully continue to do their thing. 

I will buy in a replacement sage plant; I have 2 rosemary plants I grew last winter from cuttings so they are in the refreshed planters. 

I might relocate my lemon grass from the conservatory to the troughs for summer. It was grown from the base of a supermarket lemon grass used in cooking. 

Which herbs are essential to your gardening & cooking? Inspire me please as I will be looking for some additional ones. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🥗🪴🌱🫚

UPDATED with additional herb planting