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Monday 30 September 2013

another little kit............

Over the summer I had to stop my crafty Friday post due to lack of time but I wanted to show you this new little make. The delightful little sausage dog was another Molly Makes freebie designed by the very talented Jane Foster.



so sweet - talk soon x

Saturday 28 September 2013

when recipes go wrong........................


I've been using condensed milk in quite a few recipes recently so when I spotted a recipe for fudge I decided to have a go. When the children were small I often made fudge with them and it was a firm family favourite. The fudge seemed to work well, although my arms were nearly dropping off by the time I had finished as you had to beat it for about ten minutes which I found very difficult.

I marked it into squares and left it to set but alas when I looked at it a few hours later it was all soft and squidgey, more like toffee.


Rather than throw it away, Laura came up with a good idea and suggested I made millionaire slice with it.


I made a shortbread base.


then I warmed the fudge slightly in the microwave and spread it on top of the cooked shortbread base.


then I melted some chocolate.


 I spread the chocolate on top of the fudge and shortbread layers and left it to set.

lastly it was cut into squares and I had to try very hard not to eat more than one yummy slice at a time................

talk soon x

Thursday 26 September 2013

pretty cakes...........

I shared my love of baking with you in my 52 week of happy post last week but thought I would tell you more about my cupcake baking day. I decided to mix up a big batch of sponge mixture and make some little boxes of cakes to give to my friends and family. It had all started when Vicky asked if I would make some little cakes to give to her friend Clare who helps with school pick ups, and then I thought I would make some for my sister Debbie who doesn't bake but is partial to a little cake with her cup of tea. Then I added Vicky, my mum and my niece to the list - unfortunately Laura missed out but she is always baking wonderful things in her own kitchen.






I had such fun and calorie free as not one cupcake stayed in my kitchen...........................


talk soon x

Wednesday 25 September 2013

More autumnal knits..............

After the delights of knitting and crocheting my acorns, I have now made some lovely oak leaves and a pumpkin or two to add to my autumnal collection.




The leaves are lovely to knit and I have varied my needle size and yarn to get a variety of sizes and textures - I love them. The pumpkins should be knitted in the round but I knitted them flat and then joined the side seam. They have stitched together well, the scale isn't quite right as some of my acorns are nearly as big as the pumpkins so I am going to increase the size of the next pumpkin I make.

The patterns have been developed by the very talented Linda I adore her blog Natural Surburbia..and are both available free here and here.

My jar is beginning to look good and all the lovely autumn shades look perfect together.  Alex has been teasing me about how I spend my time and was giggling about what his friends would think if he told them his Nana spends her time knitting acorns - not sure if the addition of  pumpkins to the tale will make me sound better or worse?


Hope you like my knitting..............

talk soon x

Monday 23 September 2013

All ready to go.........


My suitcase is packed and I have ticked everything off my list - I must admit I am quite exhausted in fact in real need of a holiday. I have been a bit silly recently as when I am under the weather I seem determined to do more rather than less. I find it hard to give in and acknowledge that I am doing too much.


 The taxi is booked to take us to the airport and is due to arrive in about 30 minutes I've had a last look round and everywhere is tidy and appliances switched off ( my lap top will be next I  promise) Mr R has been busy tidying the garden before we leave, everything is now ship shape.

We have been going to this resort in Turkey for many years and we both love it. The holiday is perfect for us both as you can be as active or as restful as you want. My plan is to read, rest and recuperate in the lovely sunshine and Mr R will be busy windsurfing, wake boarding, mountain biking, playing tennis and more. Don't worry we do get to spend time together as well and we both enjoy the lovely local cuisine and of course an occasional cocktail or two.

talk soon x


Sunday 22 September 2013

Plums plums and more plums...............

I am going on holiday tomorrow, so yesterday it was time to pick the last of the plums off the tree. I managed to get quite a few but Laura was a great help and with the aid of some step ladders she managed to pick the tree bare, with a little help from Noah.

I've already had a lot of plums off the tree but we managed to pick another 10 kilos of fruit, this years crop has been really good. I've been very productive in the kitchen washing, stoning, freezing and bagging up spare fruit. I made some more jam, and stewed lots of fruit for crumbles. Laura took four big bags of plums home and we have some plum liqueur fermenting ready for Christmas.


Earlier in the week I had caught a few minutes of the Hairy Bikers cookery programme and they were making blueberry muffins topped with homemade lemon curd. I missed the recipe but managed to find it via a search on the BBC website here. So with my homemade lemon curd in the fridge I thought I should try this new recipe. It was very quick and easy and as usual I made a slight modification I was short on blueberries but had a few raspberries left in the garden - so mine were a mixed berry batch. They smelt wonderful when they came out of the oven and the lemon curd added a lovely zingy tang.

This morning I have been delivering bags of plums, pots of jam and a couple of berry muffins to my mum and my mother in law. I now need to concentrate on my holiday as tomorrow afternoon I will be flying to Turkey for a couple of weeks.

See you all soon and if everything works out I've got a few posts that I have been saving to share with you.

Talk soon x

Wednesday 18 September 2013

yarn along - acorns........................

It's time to join in with Ginny's yarn along and Chrissie's made by hand link to share this week's project. I have been searching through my stash for autumnal shades of yarn as I wanted to knit and crochet some acorns (I haven't gone mad or maybe not more than usual ) When I was in London visiting Kate I bought a lovely big glass jar I wasn't sure what to fill it with but now I have decided on acorns.............

It's amazing what you can find when you google acorns I found a lovely free pattern here and here. I have had great fun making these lovely acorns



I haven't got a new book to share with you this week as I've been spending my spare time planning what to make for Christmas gifts and I am still loving pouring over my Belle and Boo book for inspiration.


I hope you are having a good week and that you will take time to pop over to Ginny's blog and catch up with the other yarn alongers here

Talk soon x


Tuesday 17 September 2013

52 weeks of happy - 38/52


It's time to join in with Jen again and share my 4 favourite happies with you - this week the theme is all about what comes in and out of my kitchen...................


1. a lovely happy hour wandering around Lakeland and finding lots of things I really needed!

2. such a happy feeling having bowls of foraged hedgerow fruits and plums from my garden

3. the fruits of my labour - jars of lovely jam and lemon curd

4. another happy hour making pretty cakes to give away to friends and family....... 

Another happy productive week with a kitchen full of lovely baking aromas and of course the mess that baking and preserving makes - but all good fun. Although after my marathon mini cupcake bake I didn't wash up until early evening - don't tell anyone......

talk soon x


Monday 16 September 2013

jam making.................

Last week I spent a couple of hours blackberry picking with Mr R and we managed to pick nearly 2kgs of fruit. A few days later I picked a large bowl of plums from our tree in the garden in anticipation of a jam making session with Laura.
Laura came over early evening and we set to work on our jam, we made a batch of blackberry and a batch of plum. Equipment wise it was a bit of make do and mend as I don't have a jam pan. We used my two largest saucepans and hoped for the best, I did invest in a jam thermometer a few years ago after having to reboil jam that wouldn't set. I followed Delia Smiths method and thankfully our jam was a success and set perfectly.



We also experimented with some microwave lemon curd  and made three small jars.


It's a lovely feeling looking at your finished jars of jam all lined up like soldiers ready for inspection. Laura and I were thrilled with our evenings work although we were exhausted as jam making seems to create a very messy kitchen and lots of washing up. Laura was amazing and did far more than her share of the tidying up.

Making jam is so fulfilling and apart from the sugar and a handful of inexpensive ingredients (blackberries and plums were free) it's an inexpensive preserve. If the weather is dry this weekend I want to persuade someone to come blackberry picking with me as I want to have blackberries in the freezer to make hearty crumbles and pies for the winter months. If I can pick a bumper crop I want to make more jam as well. My stock is already depleted as I have given most of my first batch away to family.

talk soon x

Thursday 12 September 2013

crafty update...............

I received so many lovely comments about Kate's cushions I thought you would like to see them all finished.

The lovely "star" is snuggled on Kate's sofa with some of her older cushion designs.



The "sleepy cloud" and "best bunnies" are living in Jake's tent at the moment ......................




They look so adorable.....................

talk soon x

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Yarn along - pretty beret............

Another week has flown by and it's time to join in with Ginny's yarn along and Christina's made by hand link up. I have another new book to share with you and it's beautiful. Kate is friends with the incredibly talented artist Mandy Sutcliffe who created Belle and Boo, Mandy has recently illustrated this lovely book "The Belle & Boo Book of Craft, the illustrations and projects are just perfect. I guarantee once you peep inside you will be tempted to make everything.





Kate being Kate bought me a copy of the book - such a kind generous daughter. As I flicked through the pages I was immediately drawn to a very cute "Pompom Beret" it has a lovely vintage charm and is teamed with a beautiful woollen coat. It reminded me of my daughters when they were small all wrapped up cosy ready to go out to play.


I happened to have a ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in my yarn stash so needles at the ready I cast on 104 sts which quickly increased to 180. It's knitted on 2.75mm needles with 4ply yarn, so knits up very fine.

The beret has worked out beautifully I just need to find a little girl that it will fit, as in my haste to start knitting I had no one in mind to wear the finished hat. It would fit Jake or Noah but I don't think they would find a pompon beret very fetching.



Thank you for my lovely comments and taking the time to read my blog it means such a lot to me and if you have time do pop over and visit Ginny and the other yarn alongers.

talk soon x