We visit Teignmouth Farmers' Market

Nosferatu street art in Teignmouth 

Our journey to Teignmouth Farmers' Market actually started several weeks ago when we met the irrepressible Collin Pereira of India In A Jar at Newton Abbot's Friday market. We got chatting, bought a couple of excellent samosas and sampled his unique curry pastes. We've sporadically thought since that we really should get back to Newton Abbot to buy the Minced Chicken Paste which we both liked, but hadn't gotten around to it so when I saw on Facebook that Colin would be at Teignmouth's Farmers' Market today it seemed like an ideal opportunity both to set ourselves up for great curries and to explore the town. The markets are usually the last Saturday of the month, the exception being December's market this year which is pre-Christmas on the 17th.

Teignmouth Triangles monument 

Teignmouth did appear rundown as we approached over the bridge from Shaldon, but once we were strolling within the town centre and along the seafront it gave a much better impression and I liked that there are lots of independent shops alongside the usual retailers. We parked over the road from the railway station so were only a street away from the market which is held in a smallish open space called the Triangles. Teignmouth Triangles were part of a regeneration project undertaken by Teignbridge District Council and Teignmouth Town Council and this monument was erected to commemorate the works' completion in May 1995. There weren't many stalls, but all looked to have high quality produce at reasonable prices so we ended up on a bit of a foodie spree!

Our first purchases were individual pies bought from Cockleshell Deli in Christow. The stallholder assured us we would love the pies and even offered money back if we didn't - he hadn't met Fussy Dave before! - but he was absolutely right. Dave had a Steak And Ale Fatboy Pie and I had a Roasted Sweet Potato Filo Pie. Warmed through for lunch once we got back home, both were delicious. And if Dave says so, that's praise indeed!

Abbey Meadow stall 

Next to catch our eyes was the Abbey Meadow stall. Abbey Meadow is a fantastic Community Supported Farming initiative near Brixham which practices sustainable natural farming. They're still fairly new having begun in 2013 and this is just the type of project I have been looking to support since reading The Omnivore's Dilemma earlier this summer. The stall had various meats including goat. I do love Curry Goat so we bought a half kilo and I will let you know when I slow cook it in the week just how good it tastes!

Finally we got to India In A Jar where we bought our long awaited Minced Chicken paste! We also picked up a couple of good ripe tomatoes from Tibbs Greengrocers and Dave made up our first India In A Jar curry tonight. It really is really good! Dave says using this paste was much easier than measuring out lots of spices individually and the flat smelt divine all afternoon while it was slow cooking. We served the curry up with a brown basmati rice I bought at Torquay Indoor Market and a little plain yoghurt on the side in case it was too spicy. The whole meal was great and I wish I'd got the two-jars-for-a-tenner deal instead of just buying one!

Teignmouth was also hosting an Arts And Crafts Market today which we walked around but had already spent practically all our money on food! There is a definite arty quarter to the town and Dave thought he had visited T.A.A.G. Arts And Community Centre before, years ago when our friend Marta showed some of her artworks there. Teignmouth has a strong cafe culture with a good variety of tempting independents. I enjoyed spotting creative touches such as this mosaic wall art and the Nosferatu image pictured at the top of the post. We looked in a couple of vintage-antique shops and I loved some boots in the window of Brodequin Shoemakers.

We both enjoyed our Teignmouth visit and would certainly return to explore more of the town and, when we've saved up again, to have another splurge at the Farmers' Market!

#ThrowbackThursday - where we were on this day in Octobers past

I can go back through four years of blog posts for October's ThrowbackThursday because I know that about this date in 2012 we went to see a French film, Les femmes du 6e etage, at Hailsham Pavilion. I don't actually remember much about the film other than it was a light comedy. I haven't found a similar art house cinema in Torquay yet, our nearest being at Dartington which is a bit of a hassle to get too. There is a monthly film club at St Matthias church though. It's only about a ten minute walk away. I had to miss last month's screening due to illness, but am hoping to make it to The Butler on the 3rd November.

At the end of October 2013 we were just about to set out on our First Big Caravan Adventure! We had a ferry booked to Bilbao to arrive on the 30th and were excited and a little nervous too. It looks like I was using up whatever we had left in the kitchen for meals because I blogged a Jambalaya recipe which is a great one for utilising oddments and leftovers! It was the last time we were going to see our lovely Whittard's dining plates for six months too. They're still going strong now.

On the 27th of October 2014 we were in Valencia, Spain, and our Second Big Caravan Adventure was well and truly underway! This journey would end up being nearly two wonderful years of caravan living. I blogged two posts about being in Valencia and I still love this gargoyle statue which overlooked on of the bridges. Highlights including discovering the incredible City Of Arts And Sciences and watching a film in the iMAX cinema there. We tasted our very first Horchata from a street seller outside and marvelled at the stunningly bonkers architecture.

By this time in October 2015 we were in Lyon, France, and I loved their street art. There are a few examples shown in this post from there. We also admired this dramatic fountain sculpted by Bartholdi - of Statue Of Liberty fame - in the 1880s and originally intended for Bordeaux. Lyon is a perfect city for just wandering around. Its centre is compact enough to be manageable on foot and there are fascinating details around every corner. Dismal concrete is everywhere, but then we saw a Roman amphitheatre and the Lyon Opera House too. I especially liked the old silk weaving district.

This year we are, of course, in Torquay, but with only about three weeks left now until we are on the road again. Having been reminiscing here, I can hardly wait!

Greetings cards to Connecticut and 200 crocheted flowers!

Custom flower order 

As mentioned in yesterday's Kelley McRae post, I am celebrating - and my fingers are slowly ceasing to ache! - after having completed a custom order for just over 200 little crocheted flowers this week. They were fun to make though and hopefully will be on their way to London shortly. My buyer sent all the different yarns that she wanted me to use and I particularly liked working with the pale pink one which was dyed with many colours to produce a beautiful textured effect. I have listed other crochet flowers and motifs in my Etsy shop.

I've also posted two of my handmade greetings cards to Connecticut, USA this week. Debby who lives there was the winner of my weekly Wednesday Literary Flits giveaway and you can see the cards she chose at the end of this paragraph. This week's giveaway is for a paperback copy of a short stories book called Refugee Tales. The stories are written by authors including Ali Smith, Marina Lewycka and Patience Agbabi and you can enter the giveaway through this link. It's open worldwide and your last chance to enter is midnight (UK time) tomorrow (26th Oct).

Handmade cards for Debby 

In other news, I finally got around to having my hair cut this week! It's not been cut since Westham back in July, but Imogen at e-Hair just down the road did a fantastic job and I'm very happy with my 'new hair'.

And I will finish with a big congratulations to Steve Royston who not only managed a whole night sleeping out in a cardboard box on Hastings seafront for this year's The Big Sleep, but also raised a fantastic £1500 for homelessness charity Seaview. Well done Steve!

Kelley McRae at the Crown And Sceptre, Torquay

Kelley McRae and Matt Castelein 

I've been manically crocheting a big custom order - more about that tomorrow! - so haven't had much blogging time this week, hence why this post about a lovely gig we went to on Friday is a few days delayed. We've discovered a second great gig venue, Upstairs at the Crown And Sceptre in St Marychurch.

The pub itself is a genuine traditional local with a good range of drinks. Their food is apparently excellent too. One bar was absolutely crammed when we got there and we could hear a small jam session coming from the other. Once the thirty-odd of us for the gig started to clear out upstairs, I'm sure it was more comfortable in the bars, but when we came back down at the end, the pub seemed just as busy without us! Upstairs is a small function room with assorted chairs and long tables. I loved the black and white timbered walls and the random decorative curios. Musicians have a tiny corner space and they were using mikes and speakers although, considering the space and the attentive audience, I'm not sure they needed to.

Crown And Sceptre, Torquay 

Singer-songwriter Kelley McRae tours with her husband, dobro player Matt Castelein, performing Americana music inspired by their travelling lifestyle. Like us, they like to be on the move and spent a couple of years touring America in a VW campervan - even more compact than our caravan! They are now based in our favourite American city of Austin, Texas. Neither Dave or I knew anything about the duo prior to seeing this gig advertised so we turned up having seen a few YouTube videos and trusting in the Crown And Sceptre's reputation for good music. We weren't disappointed! We were both impressed with their gorgeous harmonies and I liked the thoughtful lyrics to their songs. Matt's dobro guitar was a more unusual addition to the show and its sound worked well in the cosy space. I would certainly go to see Kelley McRae again!

Kelley and Matt have five more UK gigs in their The Wayside tour and you can see details on this page of Kelley's website.
The next gig Upstairs at the Crown And Sceptre is Tim Easton. The Facebook event page is here and we've already got our tickets!

A Christmas Carol cards now in stock and enter my Xmas Cards Giveaway!

Little Women christmas card - SOLD!

I was amazed to realise that a whole week has already gone by since I posted about celebrating two sales from my Etsy shop. Doesn't time fly when you're not paying attention! In that time I have also now sold the first of my handmade greetings cards - thank you Paula! - and have received the parcel of yarns with which to make up a custom order of crocheted flowers I mentioned. It's going to be a busy week getting them all made up!

Today I made ten new Christmas cards from a 1950s edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love a good ghost story for Christmas and this has to be the best. It felt great to be giving an old, worn book a new lease of life too, especially the few gorgeous John Leech illustrations I salvaged.

A Christmas Carol greeting card 

All the Christmas Carol cards I have made so far are now listed for your perusal along with others featuring part-pages from vintage Wuthering Heights, Little Women and The Yellow Wallpaper editions. I hope you like them! They are mostly £2.50 each, but if you just can't decide which ones you want to buy, I have also created a '5 for £10' listing. That's 20% off the single card price which, if I may say so, is an absolute bargain! Just be sure to use the Notes To Seller box to let me know the five cards you want.

And I you want a couple of my handmade cards, but don't want to pay for them then you are definitely reading the right blog post! I am currently running a giveaway over on Literary Flits and thought I would extend it over here too. The prize is the winner's choice of two cards from my shop.

2x Literary Greetings Cards giveaway

The Giveaway is open worldwide and previous giveaway winners are welcome to enter. Entries must be submitted through the Gleam widget by midnight (UK time) on the 19th October and I will randomly pick a winner on the 20th. If the winner does not respond to my email within 7 days, they will forfeit the prize and, yes, I will be checking that entrants did complete whatever task they said they did.

Good luck!

 

 

#ebayforcharity nominations - I choose Freegle!

I received an email from Eastbourne's Freegle group this morning which reminded me that I really must update my Freegle account to show Torbay! It also alerted me to a fun eBay charity promotion that I was immediately keen to support.

Melissa, a Freegle volunteer, wrote the following:
"Freegle is in the running to win a competition being run by eBay to find their members' favourite charity.

You don't have to make a donation or buy or sell, you just have to click on a button and make Freegle a favourite charity in eBay and Freegle could win as much as £7000. Money that would help Freegle with its running costs. Remember Freegle is free to use, but not to run. Freegle survives on donations and opportunities like this.

If you have an eBay account all you need to do is sign in and go to this address:- 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/egw/ebay-for-charity/charity-profile/Freegle/74430

Then just click on the "Save as favourite" button on the right hand side of the screen. There's loads of nice comments about Freegle there as well! There is a leader board at the following address where you can see how Freegle is doing.

http://charity.ebay.co.uk/leaderboard

Please vote - even if we don't win, every vote will help raise Freegle's public profile. Five people who nominate a favourite charity will also be picked at random to win £250 each.

If you use Twitter or Facebook you can also help by posting:-
 Support Freegle with #ebayforcharity @eBay4CharityUK. Make Freegle your favourite charity on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/egw/ebay-for-charity/charity-profile/Freegle/74430

Thanks,
Melissa, Freegle Volunteer"

If you're not already aware of Freegle, it is effectively a recycling noticeboard website where people post about items they no longer require and are looking to give away, or about items they would like to acquire. Everything is free and we used Freegle to get shot of lots of stuff when we sold our Polegate home. It's amazing what people will eagerly come and collect!

I'm celebrating two Etsy sales this week!

Book sleeves - SOLD!

I love creating items for my Etsy shop and it's even more fun when other people love my stuff too - especially when they buy! This is why I am absolutely delighted to have sold three items this week. It's so encouraging and a great confidence boost.

My first sale was for two hand woven book sleeves which are now travelling all the way to South Carolina, USA. Then, yesterday evening, I got another magic 'Etsy Order Confirmation' email and a crocheted raindrop beanie hat will soon be on its way to Sutton!

Beanie hat - SOLD! 

I am also awaiting a yarn shipment for a custom order from a customer who last month bought 10 little crocheted flowers and would like me to make up another eighty-five for her! How wonderful is that?

I am sure you are all now thinking how you can join in this exciting trend? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway! It's as simple as clicking through This Link Here to my shop, adding items you love to your virtual basket and completing the checkout process. Shipping is just £1.50 per order within the UK (£2.25 within Europe, £3 to the Rest of the World)(except cushions) regardless of how many items you buy.

And to tempt you further, here's a few of my favourite items for sale right now ...

Wuthering Heights Bookmark Greetings Card, £3

Little Women Christmas Greetings Card, £2.50

Hand woven purple Book Sleeve, £8

Crocheted pink Water Bottle Bag, £6

Delighted with more fab giveaway prizes!

I'm not intending to make you all jealous, well not very jealous anyway(!), but today's post will be me talking about three more fabulous giveaway prizes I have received recently. You might already have read posts about a wooden 'home' jigsaw and some superb coffee that I won? Now I have got a satisfying pile of books and a stash of cookies! I enter lots of giveaways mostly on Twitter and sometimes on Facebook because it's just really good fun! Feel welcome to follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook if you're a giveaways fan too. We can point each other towards cool prizes.

I actually won the five books pictured above late last year, but we were away travelling at the time so it's taken them a while to catch up with me. The prize was for signing up to Penguin's Think Smarter emails which are a great resource for discovering their nonfiction books. The emails include interesting articles as well as links to new publications. I'll no doubt be reviewing all five over on Literary Flits in due course so you can look forward to a burst of educational reading suggestions!

The thought of all that learning is making me hungry though so it's great that Maryland sent me a selection box of their cookies as part of a #WinItWednesday promotion on Twitter. I love WinItWednesdays - and FreebieFridays! We've eaten most of the cookies already because they did arrive several days ago and I particularly liked the new Soft Baked type which are just like the large chewy cookies from supermarkets except a bit smaller. They're about half the size and there were eight in the pack. The standard crunchy cookies with chocolate and hazelnuts were very tasty too and Dave enjoys dunking them into his coffee. I prefer to crunch!

Today's post brought with it a Facebook giveaway prize which was hosted by a new crafting and mindfulness magazine, Project Calm. Their giveaway prize was a large format adult colouring book called Colour New York. The book consists of twenty incredibly detailed line drawings of famous New York scenes all of which were drawn by talented artist Emma Kelly. If that name rings a bell it's because she designed the badminton 50p coin for the 2012 Olympics. I've got my colouring pens at the ready and am looking forward to beginning my interpretations of the scenes. I can't decide whether to try and be as realistic with my colours as I can or whether to go psychedelic!

I am developing a compulsive habit of watching out for the postal staff! They usually get to our building about lunchtime and it's disappointing when there's nothing for me! I'm still awaiting two more books, a couple of DVDs, and a stationery set which is coming all the way from America. Fun times!

New Christmas and other Greetings Cards in my Etsy Shop

Little Women Christmas Card 

I have had a busy crafting day today putting the finishing touches to some new Greetings Cards that I have now listed in my Etsy Shop. They all have a literary feel to them because I have upcycled pages from two disintegrating vintage books that I found in charity shops. One is the horror short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (my book review here!) and the other is the much loved children's novel Little Women by Louisa M Alcott.

I've enjoyed finding pertinent paragraphs to form the centrepiece of each card and then crocheting stars, baubles and flowers to embellish them. I recycled a seasonally red ribbon on a couple of the Christmas cards as well!

The Yellow Wallpaper Greetings Card 

There were already four gothic cards listed that I had made featuring text from an old edition of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I thought these would be perfect as Halloween cards or on any occasion for darkly romantic friends! Now I have added another seven and have three more Little Women cards which I hope to finish and list this evening. Keep an eye open for my Little Women book review post over on Literary Flits soon. I think I will offer a pair of greeting cards as a giveaway!

Wuthering Heights Greetings Card 

Please do click through to my Etsy Shop to take a look at my whole range of cards! They are £2.50 each and I charge a flat rate of just £1.50 shipping within the UK no matter how many items you buy (except cushions). European shipping is £2.25 per order and the Rest Of The World is £3 per order. I also sell crocheted embellishments for you to make your own cards with or now the weather is turning distinctly autumnal, perhaps you might like to add a cosy hand-crocheted beanie hat while you're browsing!

Little Women Christmas Card