With Mr Cooper away skiing this week, I have been engaged in varied tasks around the home, from dawn to dusk.  It is truly amazing how much you can achieve, if you start work at 7am.
 It is also truly amazing if you find you have to get up at 6am, when you find out that Mr Cooper's temporary toilet repair has failed dramatically. There is a limit to what a rawl plug is able to fix!

At least I was able to let my rabbits out extra early that day, to nibble dandelions in the morning sunshine……

I was asked the other night if I collected anything and my first response was 'not really'.  But upon further thought I am continually, if slowly, adding to my collections of rabbit moulds, egg cups, bad taste snow globes, little wooden houses that tell you the weather, dolls' house food, old kitchen paraphernalia, blackbird pie funnels and bad taste shell and seagull art.
So, if you have any rabbit moulds that are loved no longer, they are very welcome to join my herd of rabbits.

Continuing with a rabbit theme; last week I left with mention of rabbits, as I am making a chocolate  rabbit cake for the family gathering at Easter.  This is for all the children (age range, 6-26).  The cookery book, which like my collections, progresses slowly but continually, is very much based on my Granny Beba's collection of cake and pudding recipes.
 When we were all gathering together, with all the aunties and uncles and cousins, she often made a chocolate blancmange rabbit, nestling on chopped green jelly grass, for us grandchildren.
We had this treat for years, even when the older grandchildren were probably leaving to go to university, which used to make us smile.  And now here I am, looking forward to making fondant ears, paws and a fluffy tail for my rabbit, for children who are at all at work or university, apart from 2!

I have created a lino-print of the blancmange rabbit, as a potential illustration for my book, and inspired by all the many chocolate rabbits I have enjoyed over the years.

 This is one of a series of lino-prints I have made which also incorporate the illustrations from cookery books of the 1960s.  If you look at the background to this one, it features a jam tart with charming pastry decorations.  Very much a feature of a 1960s tea table.

When I was chatting to my fellow 'Young At Heart' group members ( to be found working away at the Greyhound on the Test, Stockbridge ) we started to reminisce about jam tarts and lemon curd tarts, and how good it tastes when the lemon curd becomes a little burnt round the edges.
 I have promised to make a large lemon curd tart for us all, after Easter.

This brought back memories of how Granny Beba always used to decorate the edges of  her plate tarts, with lemon curd tarts having their own sun rays around them.
This became the inspiration for another lino print, featuring a large jam tart, treacle tart and the luscious lemon curd tart.  Another potential book illustration. (So things are progressing, really.)

After Easter I will get started by making the lemon curd.  To me, there is absolutely no comparison between homemade and shop-bought lemon curd.  I would rather not make the tarts if I couldn't make the lemon curd myself. 

If you are getting really excited looking at these very attractive and yet reasonably reasonably priced unique lino prints, come and visit me and buy one.  Lots will be exhibited in my garden studio during the first 2 weekends in May, as I am part of the Chichester Open Studios Art Trail. http://www.chichesterarttrail.org/

The Art Trail is always a really fun and informative event, featuring an amazing range of artists and their work, and I always make cakes and tarts for my lovely visitors. Sometimes there is a theme to their production, one year it was cakes shaped like breasts, which enjoyed a good reception.  

 Look out for me at venue 92.

This week, as I said, I have been very busy.  Usually when Mr Cooper is away, I undertake one large project.  In the past these have been decorating the hall and stairway, totally transforming our bedroom, including sanding and varnishing floor, etc.

This week, it is more about completing several smaller tasks, such a suddenly learning how to replace the broken bits in a cistern, to stop the waterfall effect. (It is jolly handy to be able to turn off the water quickly to stop the flooding, but a little bit limiting if it is kept off to avoid the same.)  Thank you Mr Lemon, for telling me about ScrewFix, they are great; as well as open on Sundays and nearby!  And thank you George, for helping me over the phone, when I got a bit confused with my 'righty tighties' and 'lefty loosies'.  Even though I think I heard you say 'give me strength'!

So Mr Cooper will return to see a vegetable garden that has dug over; and planted with new potatoes.
Our bedroom is sparkly sparkly clean, and I have now used the steam floor cleaner we have had for quite a while! For those of you who know me well, you will know that I am actually good at cleaning, but only tend to do it for other people, and when paid.
There isn't the time to create art and clean, although I do manage to cook, which comes under the 'creative' heading.
2 paintings and drawings are nearing completion, and I am baking cakes from Granny Beba's recipe book, for when I am with Mum and my brother's families at Easter. 

 Yesterday it was Chinese chews I was making, and today I will bake yum-yums ( and very yummy they are too)  The chocolate coated orange drizzle cake is already in it's cake tin, ready to go.

Another idea I had for creating the illustrations for the book was to also use materials and processes that were around in the 60s, in most households. I have experimented with using knitting as part of an illustration, and the picture below contains knitted and collaged Chinese chews as well as an assortment of coconut cones

My niece Olivia is very fond of Chinese chews. Yes Olivia that was on Master Chef!  My son John is looking forward to Owl Eye Biscuits, but that is a story for another time. 

In the meantime, wishing you all a very happy Easter, whatever you are doing.