Trying to find enthusiasm

more encaustic folded book
You would think with a reasonably clear workspace I would find some enthusiasm to get working- but instead simply bleghh. The photographs are of little folded books I made awhile back which have been coated in wax. This gives them a really nice cardy textured feel. In the acqua coloured one I also hand stitched and the wax had the effect of embedding the stitching which I really like. Other than that I have been cutting out more pomegranates and auditioning fabric to add . I did tie dye some cotton/silk fabric I had- a 2 metre by 50 cm length and am not happy with the result- a lot of effort for very little.

And for those of you not part of the Artful quilters ring check out what Cheryl Sterling has been doing in the last few days- very productive! She has made some books fabric cards and a long and narrow quilt.Wish I had been that productive these last few days.

I did make some Lebanese eggplant pickle- which is yummy- couldn't wait the week for it to infuse with the flavours. If you love eggplant this is a really flavourful pickle. You simply
slice 3-4 longish ( but big) eggplants - sit in a colander and sprinkle with salt to drain off any bitter juices. In a saucepan heat two cups of white wine vinegar and two cups of water and bring to the boil. You add a handful of slices of eggplant until they are cooked but not so soft that they fall apart. You repeat this with all the eggplant ( you can also add some sliced green peppers- I use the long yellow ones). When all the eggplant is cooked and drained you are ready to pack them into clean sterilised jars. I crush about 3-4 cloves of garlic with fresh parsely and marjoram with a little salt to bring out the juices ( I do this in a mortar and pestle) and slice some fresh red chillie pepper finely ( hot ) In the bottom of the jar I put a little of the crushed garlic herb mixture- pack in some of the eggplant slices then some more garlic/herb mixture, chillie etc until the jar is full. Then I add olive oil, banging the jar to get rid of airbubbles and seal with the lid. This pickle lasts for quite awhile as long as the olive oil level is above the eggplant.