Maisie loves to help out with everything from dishes to sewing to putting on Abby's jacket. Sometimes it makes things go a little slower but I still always feel like it the best way to do stuff. The world is so much more fun when you are participating.

I did some sewing this week. With Maisie's help of course. She likes to sit on my lap at the sewing table and help me remove pins. I showed her how to use the remote for the camera and she snapped these pictures of the two of us. They're much better than the ones I got. The sewing was a project bag for some of my knitting. Ollie loves to eat both yarn and knitwear so I can't just plop something in a basket to put it away and I wanted something prettier than my usual ziplock bag. I followed this tutorial for how to do the zipper and I really like the way it looks. So polished. Unfortunately, while I was using the zipper foot for my machine Maisie dropped the regular foot on the floor and we're not sure where it's gone. I finished sewing my bag (and the matching notions pouch) with a satin-stitch foot.

My bag is really just a simple pouch with boxed corners to help it stand up on its own. The fabric was a Christmas present from Rob that I've been saving for something fun. In the middle of winter these bright juicy colours are just what I need. The bottom of the bag is 5" wide and 10" long. Carefully measuring of my yarn stash determined that these dimensions would comfortably hold most skeins or balls without resulting in an enormous bag. I stuck a couple of my labels on the bags just for fun. I hardly ever remember to use them.

As soon as I was finished my bag I popped my Apricot sweater project into it (a major improvement on the disintegrating paper bag it had being living in before) and plunked myself down on the couch to do some knitting and drink some tea. Shortly after that I realized I had no idea where my printout of the pattern had gone. I still had a copy on my computer so I was able to look up the numbers I need right now. Hopefully there were no really important notes written on the printout. The sun came into the living room for a few minutes while I was sitting there. It's back for a little longer every day now and I can already feel that little jolt of springtime excitement. Only two more months of cold weather to go!

This is a lovely recipe that I frequently think of but seldom make. It requires a bit of planning because it starts off the night before with some cold tea. I don't usually remember it until the morning when I am making a fresh pot of tea and think "If only I'd saved the old tea last night…". For once I thought of it in time and instead of pouring a pot of cold tea down the sink I poured some into a measuring cup and mixed it up with sugar and raisins and peel and set it aside for Saturday morning. Maisie got up with me instead of sleeping in a bit and was very curious about the bowl of stuff we'd left out last night. She kept asking to see it. She enjoyed watching me beat and add an egg and then some flour and asked me to turn on the light when I put the loaf pan in the oven. I have to remember to set the oven a little cooler with my loaf pans. They are dark and I find things come out of the oven a little overcooked around the edges. I did my best to wait until the loaf was cool before cutting into it - it just falls to bits if you don't - but got impatient while it was still a bit warm. It's delicious and the citrus peel adds a nice bitter bite. Maisie liked it too but referred to it as "puzzle bread", presumably because she had to pick apart each piece to get out all the fruit.

Barm Brack
from Company's Coming Muffins and More, also appears in Company's Coming Millennium Edition.

In a large bowl combine:

   1 C cold tea
   1 C raisins
   ½ C mixed peel
   ½ C currants
   1 C sugar

Cover and let stand over night. The next morning beat well and add:

   1 egg

along with:

   ¼ C melted butter or margarine

In a small bowl combine:

   2 C flour
   1 tsp. baking powder
   ¼ tsp. baking soda
   ¼ tsp. salt

Add dry ingredients to fruit mixture. Stir until well blended. Spoon into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350F (175C) for 60 - 70 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Serve sliced with butter.