Meaty beads

Happy Easter to all of you fellow bloggers! Hope you’re all having a nice day, stuffing yourself with chocolate, or whatever you do on Easter Sunday.

This day means that I can be a carnivore again, after abstaining from it for the period of lent. I had a bacon and egg sandwich, filled with high wondrous expectations that I would experience a taste sensation… it was underwhelming.

I didn’t enjoy the taste of the bacon that much, so I guess my taste buds have changed over lent. I have had this experience in the past before with when I used to give up coke, and it always tasted a bit strange when I started drinking it again.

After some time, I guess I will become accustomed as before to the taste of meat, but I am not seeing this as a negative thing. One thing I have learnt during lent is that vegetarian dishes are really, really tasty, and there is so much you can do with them. Generally, when I used to eat meat before lent this year, I had it at least on a regular basis, and vegetarian food now and again; I would like to practice the reverse now.

I didn’t miss meat that much to be honest, only a few times now and again when a meaty dish smelt very nice and looked good. I will write a blog in the near future when I have tried some different types of meat again, and comment on these experiences.

The other day in town, I went into a shop called Tiger and found some peg boards and ironing beads. I used to make patterns out of beads so much when I was younger, and felt nostalgic when I saw them. So instead of doing university work after singing at church this morning, I made some shapes out of beads.

One thing I soon found out was how difficult it is to put the beads on the board without them falling over or knocking the other beads over, especially with adult hands and large thumbs!  Nevertheless, I persevered and after some slight hand ache, I had three small boards covered in beads.

One decorative board

The next part was always done by my mother, since ironing is dangerous for young children to do. I placed greaseproof paper over the beads on the board and carefully placed the iron on top, moving it over slowly.

My first attempt resulted in a hexagon that was harder to take off the board and was flatter on one corner- I had ironed it too much. The other two shapes, a heart and a circle, turned out better.

You can tell the ironing process got better throughout

The shapes I used to make with my sister were often hung up in the kitchen for decoration, to show off the creativeness in the younger generations of the family. The ones I have made today are just big enough to work as coasters, preferably for cold drinks.

Enjoying a glass of prosecco on this fine Easter Sunday

Once again, Happy Easter weekend and happy reading and blogging!

Many thanks,

Clare Bear