Saturday Morning, Pinch and a Punch, no returns…..

Well my oh my this is unusual.  Saturday morning normally sees me at some show but today I am home with 3/6 of the family.  Pip & Chocolate Mole have gone off to the Pink Pig Farm Shop to hold a stall at the N Lincs Food Fest.  Shall pop along and see them in a while.  Meanwhile, I have Alex, Marcus and Sophia here, and I’m busy chocolating and trying to get ahead as things are already starting to ramp up towards Crimbo.  Eeek.

Can’t believe this weather. How can it be October 1st?  81 degrees this week, blimey o’riley.  It was so warm last night that we had to open the windows. It’s beautiful but am wondering if it will con all the flowers into springing back into life, only to be dashed back in a very bad way when the first frosts of  Autumn hit.  My feeling is that this Winter is going to be tough, and I reckon it’s gonna turn very quickly.  Forecasters are mentioning snow in a couple of weeks?  Really?  Eek!

Am off to pick my mint in a minute, for another batch of mint thins.  Am wondering how many more pickings I’m going to get this season.

The news at home is that we have taken delivery of two new kittens who are totally adorable!  The saga began in August when we went to pick up some chicks from a friend.  Whilst trying to catch said chicks, it was discovered that Sophia had gone missing….. where could she be??? Oh.  She’d discovered the little nest of kittens hidden in the house.  Then began the onslaught of pester power and puppy eyes and whining and hugs for Daddy… until finally Daddy rolled.  Seeing a chink in the armour, Sophia cunningly staged her second onslaught of ‘can we have twoooo? Plllleeeease Daddy, I’ll look after them, I promise…’ The second strategy largely failed.  At that point.

Went to pick up kitten three weeks ago…. and lo! one of them still didn’t have a home to go to. Awrrrrrr.  Cunningly, Sophia had brought extra infantry with her and both Pip & Soph commenced Operation Daddio…. except he’d already succumbed to Kitten Charm and so it was that two little bundles of adorableness came home with us that night.

Dottie Springer loved them instantly, despite having taken a nasty blow to the nose and having to lick blood from the wound.  Spooky the Geriatric Burmese remains far less impressed and has taken to skulking in Alex’s room, out of the way.

Of course, having a large family means it took an eternity to name them… but finally we have all just about ‘agreed’ to Cookie & Fudge. Note to self: must post photo.

Chocolate wise, webbie good to go, tea collection good to go, Womersley collection proving popular…. including the world’s first Dandelion Chocolate!  Yep real dandelion petals within the ganache.

Elderberries picked, sea buckthorn ready to pick; new honey picked up from Mr Johnson (who’s been rather poorly ) Must pick up the hazelnuts from Martin in deepest darkest Lincolnshire.

I have a couple of VERY exciting projects in the pipeline…. one I should be be able to tell you about next week, the other I wait to hear….. and I SOOOOOO want it to come good.

Right signing off to go and pick mint…. much lurrrv to one and all, Happy Weekend,  F x

Little bit thoughtful today…

Today I attended the funeral of a very great lady, and the last of a generation within my family.  Ada May Mooney was 103 when she died on August 11th 2011, the date of what was my dear Nana’s birthday.  My Nana and Ada were cousins and kept in touch throughout their lives, in the good old fashioned days when letters were a joy to write and a joy to receive. Ada was a nurse and midwife, and worked in London all through the Blitz.  Ada lived the last 30 years of her life in Falmouth, where she was totally independent, feisty; walking down and up the steepest of hills to the shops 3 times a week, until she broke her hip, aged 101. She was quite a legend in the town.

It was her wish to be buried in what I regard as our family churchyard, St Mary’s, Cubbington, Warwickshire.   All my family ancestry rest there, and Ada was reunited with her dear husband, who had passed away some 55 years ago. How fab to see all of that generation finally repatriated.

I had a brief word with my Nana, who also lived to nearly 101, and who is my inspiration, angel and raison d’etre.  I took her a little posey of herbs and flowers that I’d gathered from the garden, and a little pink rosebud.  Had a bit of a chat with her about all this chocolate malarky.  It was rather nice to just stop and spend a bit of quiet time, from this crazy, hectic world of mine.

I think she’d have been proud.

Afterwards we gathered across the way at my cousin Wayne’s pub. (I lurrrrv my Cous! ) The one good thing about funerals is that it does mean you get to see family.

I’m not really sad.  Don’t feel sorry for me!  Am just philosophical.

G’night all, rest easy x

The day after my Birthday….

Just so that everyone can be under no misconception MY BIRTHDAY IS AUGUST 17th!  I am such a shy retiring, Leo *cough cough*

I had a lovely day, and for a change, had a day off.  Firstly, my kidlets brought me breakfast in bed (boiled eggs from the ladies in the garden and bread & butter soldiers – MUST have soldiers).  Totally delicious.  Followed by homemade creme eggs by Alex & Minx. Amazing!  How did they get the fondant yolk in there?  (I shall squish them until the tell me.) I was not allowed to get out of bed until quite late (cannot possibly divulge exactly what time that was), but I could hear clankings and baking noises from down in the kitchen, and then was treated to the wonderful waft of cake being baked.  (Special cake hopefully?  For meeeee!!!?? )

We managed to get out about lunchtime and meandered through the lanes to a totally unspoilt beach,

 

 some where on the Lincolnshire coast.  The weather was sunny in parts, and we ambled  through the dunes to the beach.  Am amazed at how advanced the season is; all the sea buckthorn was fully berried and the blackberries perfectly ripened.

It’s only mid-August and it already feels like advanced Autumn

The beach was VERY busy.  I counted a whole 6 people and 3 horses at one stage. Outrageous!  We cosied against the dunes and had a lovely picnic lunch.  It was great to see ALL the kids enjoying the sand (ha! not grown up yet then, eh?),  but after a while their interest turned to the FREEZING North Sea, somewhere a long way from the dunes…..

They couldn’t resist.  So while I snoozed, the 5 children (that is, including the 4 legged child that goes by the name of Dottie) bathed in the sea.  Finally they came back and were totally thrilled that a seal had joined them some distance from where they played.

All dried off, the day nearly over and and a slight chill in the evening air, we headed for a fish and chip supper, then slowly home.

Quelle surprise!  The children had made a fantastic chocolate birthday cake and we had it with fresh rasps and Roes cream.   Mmmmmm, totally, mmmmmmm.

I loves my family, I does.

Thank you Alex, Marcus, Piers, Sophia, Giles & Dottie-do…. for making it a very special, memorable day. xxxxx

PS…. I had a very important meeting today…. but as I talked to the potential clients I could still feel the sand in my shoes…

Much love,  Petronella Pan x

Tired….

Well, it’s jolly nearly a year on since my last post and so much has happened.

I’m tired right now but am going to try and be a very good girl and keep this filled in.

Today I be a-painting and a-spring  cleaning the stoodeo, and painting youngest daughter Sophia’s room bright pink/orange clash….  Lookingm errrrmmm…. vehhh bright!

Watched Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and have quite some respect for their lifestyle.  Prompted me to get out my own Big Fat Anglo-Italian wedding snaps. Of note was the similarity in bright colours of bridesmaids frock, and wild gypsy sister’s looks.

Poor Pip couldn’t stop squealing with laughter at Giles’ hair!

Orf to bed, night folksies xxx

I have decided to leave the banner picture on the pish….kinda sums it all up really……. :S

Getting busier and busier…

Sometimes I wonder if I am completely crackers.  Yep.  I think I must be.  I mean to say, only a completely cracked person would have four kids, then think they can run a business too.  My desk is a disgrace.  The washing is always brimming over (washed, always, but just not sorted.)  And then this week, as well as running round all over the place, we had a (wonderful) german exchange student.  The timing could not have been worse and I felt such a bad host, but hey ho, an exchange should depict family life, and this is indeed life in our home.  What a polite nice kid he was.  I kinda new he’d been OK here when he turned up this morning, complete with 2 mates….. they’d been sent on  ’a treasure hunt’ around Brigg, and a little too disinterested to be bothered, they’d come back here to crib some answers from me and my trusty laptop.  Ho ho….the best of it is, they won .

So a phone call at lunchtime changes the whole plan once again.  Off to Lahndan and Borough at stooopid o’clock.  Still worth the round trip.  I’m very much looking forward to collapsing tomorrow night at  my dear friend AAs. I hope he goes to lots and lots and lots of trouble and spoils me rotten, and I hope he is reading this hohohohohoho .  Then I reckon it’ll be a whizz up to Leamington to see Ma n Pa on Friday….. I lost my bank card so failed to get Mom some flowers, but I shall rectify that.

Anyhoo, I’m sitting here taking 5, when I should be finishing the chicken soup and chopping mint for a final batch of mint thins to take with me.

Hmmmm, speaking of chickens, one of the Anconas is a suspected imposter, as (s)he has developed a rather splendid comb and is larger then her(his) friends…… watch this space (here’s hoping for ickle chicks )

Muchos, Fi Fi xxx

Well it’s late.  Verrry late.  I hear Mole making hot chocolate noises in the kitchen.  Did I tell you that I have perfected my own brand of hot chocolate?  Boy, is it fab, and delicious.  At some stage I’ll add it to the product range… but not yet.    I’ve worked on and off all evening, and familied too, back and forth from my studio, poking my nose into Facebook, checking my emails, seeing the kids into bed. Last ganache completed just before 11, so now tomorrow is dipping day.  Only 800 to do, so that should keep me out of mischief.  I also want to dip my new coffee & cream flavour, and do another batch of Mulberry & Alegar too.  (Do see Alan Coxon’s amazing range of historical vinegars.)

Anyway, no more waffle.  The chocolate is ready… huzzar! Nest and The Times Crossword beckons.

Night folks, sleep tight and hope the bedbugs don’t bite. x

An exciting start to blogging….

Gosh how thrilling! I hadn’t thought about diarising my life, but have been inspired by a good friend of mine, Jo Holland, who publishes her own blog, Notes-on-the-menu here at WordPress (Plug, plug!)

I am quite sure the minutiae of my life is not altogether that interesting, or that different to anyone elses lives, but it will be a great way for me to look back and see where I’ve come from and postulate about where I am going.

Firstly, this is me….

And this is what I do…

www.scioltichocolates.com

So read along at your peril, but hopefully I’ll make you smile along the way. Catch you soon.. Fi

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