rhubarb, coconut, and linen

I have been sleeping on linen pillowcases. 

I had always heard it was a lovely thing to have, linen pillowcases.  Now I know it's true. They've been through the wash once and feel soft and lovely, they will feel even better as they age. I made them sunflower yellow of course, yellow is still my current affair.  I had really wanted to do a tutorial on making pillowcases but am a little afraid to venture into that realm just yet.

After that I was in a pillowcase mood.  I picked through my bags (and bags, and bags!) of remnants and found this beautiful embroidered fabric with a touch of orange. It was so calling out to be teamed with natural linen and a fun sugar-and-spice dotty rusty orange cotton. I loved this mix, just divine, it made for a perfect cushion cover. I decided I want to make a dozen or so and just change them as I please. There is too much good fabric here to waste and too many cushions in my house.

This didn't come from nothing, though: I have been swooning over my recently purchased Linen, Wool, Cotton (a Japanese book which has been translated to English) by the same publisher who has just released Meet Me at Mike's in the UK. I am finding myself just buying metres and metres of linen without even a cause or specific project. I cannot resist this book makes everything look so simple and clean, granted the pictures make me think of a slower, more restful, existence.

When I have not been sewing I have actually been cooking more. The weather here has been very  temperamental, and if it's too humid or too rainy, either way it makes me want to cook. 

Today for example was just the perfect cold weather for Stewed rhubarb in orange and Agave syrup, mmmm. I also baked my favourite coconut cake from Women's weekly "Old Fashioned Favourites" book. We love this cake, I have made two twice this week that's how good it is. 

There are three things in this house we all love, rice, coconut and chocolate, anybody with kids will know that you all liking the same thing is a rarity. So Friday I also made coconut cream pie, my my me ohhh my, pie is so good. Why on earth do we leave it all to the yanks? Thankfully I am married to one and love the tradition of Pie of thanksgiving of Halloween even though that one is stolen.  (The holiday, not the pie.) 

Why do we not have pie cafes here, I mean there are so many incredibly delicious combinations. I am a wanna-be café owner, the café in my head has old glass cabinets with copper rims filled with pie on pastel cake stands. Just underneath this and at child height, big glass jars filled with sweets: coconut ice, honeycomb, honey joys, and sesame brittle. I would wear a patchwork apron, and always smell sweet and coco-nutty.

There are many cafes in my head, though.  If it ever come down to it, I would struggle to choose between selling pies and selling one-handed breakfast burrito for breast-feeding mothers.  I reckon that's an idea whose time has come!