crochet along........................

I am joining in with Chrissie and Marianne again with their crochet along. Last week I made a granny square hot water bottle cover and I liked it so much I thought I would make another. I started to plan my colours and then I remembered that a few months ago I had started a granny square blanket and then got a bit bored and left the squares in a bag (does that sound familiar or am I the only one that abandons projects!)
I found the bag and decided to put the squares to good use. Firstly I made a another hot water bottle cover and then a sweet little cushion. I am pleased with the results but sadly the photos aren't very good quality - sorry.

I hope you like them and if you have time do pop over to see the other crochet along projects

I have also linked in with Ginny and Tami, sorry I don't have a book to share with you for Yarn along this week.

happy Halloween and talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 43/52....................

It's that time again and I have another four happy moments to share with you ;-

1. Baking rainbow cake with Finn and Zachy - such fun

2. Gluing alphabet button pictures - more to come

3. Visiting the treacle market - lovely handcrafted gifts

4. Enjoying afternoon tea at the Women's centre

another hectic week filled with fun activities and happy memories......................

talk soon x

Women's Centre Afternoon Tea Party....................

For a number of years I have supported  the Women's Centre in Stockport, it is a registered charity and does amazing work to help local women. The Women's Centre was established in 2001 and was born out of a huge social need within the local area of Stockport. Initially offering counselling to women suffering from domestic abuse, the Women’s Centre now offers a full range of services and is seen as the leading provider of innovative support services and therapeutic treatments for women.

When I say support I don't do any hands on work or volunteering, but I make a monthly donation and attend fund raising events.Yesterday the centre held an afternoon tea party, I made some cakes and also bought a ticket for the event. I spent a few hours baking in the morning and then packed everything up to deliver to the centre.

I spent a lovely hour at the tea party and enjoyed a very yummy piece of carrot cake which was a difficult choice as some amazing cakes were on display. It was also an opportunity to catch up with friends and old work colleagues. The event was a great success and over £500 was raised for the centre.

The rest of the afternoon was sofa time as I was feeling very weary, I need to build in more rest periods as my energy levels are pretty low at the moment.

If I feel strong enough I am hoping to drive over to Macclesfield this morning to visit the monthly Treacle Market. I haven't been before but have heard very good things about it. I do hope the weather picks up though, as it's very cold, wet and windy at the moment. If I get to the market I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

talk soon x

more baking.............................

Zachy and Finn had a sleep over during half term, after their bedtime story Finn asked if they could make a big cake like Alex had. I said that they could in the morning and we had a quick chat about what kind of cake we would make, both Finn and Zachy wanted lots of colours and lots of icing.

The following morning Zachy woke at 5.30am but I managed to persuade him to go back to sleep as it was so early. Finn came into my bedroom about 7am to ask if it was time to bake!

We had breakfast and then started our cake. The boys were still in pyjamas, I thought they could get ready when the cake was in the oven as this is the time they usually get a bit fed up.

With the help of my two assistants we made a 12oz Victoria sandwich mix. I then put some of the mixture into four small bowls and Finn and Zachy added food colouring to each bowl. They were really funny as they matched the food colouring to the colour of the plastic bowls and also matched up the same colour spoons to do the mixing.

The cake was named "rainbow cake" by the boys, I had to watch them closely as they kept sampling the mixture. It was then blobbed (the boys technical term) into a lined rectangular tin and baked at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. I made some mini buns with the spare mixture and cooked them for about 15 minutes.

The boys have got quite a liking for drying dishes and doing little chores, so we washed and dried the dishes and tidied the kitchen together. Then the boys got washed and dressed, finishing just in time for me to take the cakes out to cool.

When the cake was cooled we added fondant icing and some sprinkles confetti on the top, before cutting it into slices. I then iced the mini buns and the boys helped with the toppings. The icing was left to set and then the cakes were boxed up for Finn and Zachy to take home - Mr R was left a few slices to have in his lunch box.

I had such a lot of fun with the boys and they were such keen and industrious little bakers - I do love baking with my grandchildren.

I am joining in with Cosmos and Cotton's Friday bake along.

Talk soon x

Crochet along..........

I am joining Marianne and Chrissie with their weekly crochet along link. I started a mini hot water bottle cover a few weeks ago but had a few problems with the neck shaping. So after seeing  Jo's  really cute hottie cover I unpicked mine and started again. Jo used a draw string to pull the cover in at the neck, which works perfectly. I am so pleased with the result - thank you Jo for the inspiration.

Another Christmas present to add to my collection.

Hope you all have a fab weekend and don't forget to put the clocks back on Saturday.

Talk soon x

yarn along - all finished

Another week has flown by and my tardiness is becoming a habit as I am late again for Ginny's yarn along post. I started knitting beanie hats and scarfletts last week but unfortunately the hats have been a bit problematic. The first one I knitted was a little bit small. I used the correct yarn and needles and my tension was knitting up right but I think the sizing of the pattern was wrong. For the second hat I tried a different pattern and that came out nearly big enough for me but finally after yet more unpicking and resizing it worked out and the hat will now fit a one year old nicely, with just a little bit of growing room. Is it just me or do you find sizing hats tricky? My last hat was a little beret which is a pattern I've used before and this turned out first time.

All the hats have now been labelled, wrapped and given to Barbara (my best customer) who had commissioned the three orders - I just hope they fit nicely and keep the little ones warm and cosy.

This week is school half term and I've been busy with my grandchildren so I'm afraid I don't have a new book to share with you. I'm still enjoying my Jo Nesbo novel but I don't seem to have had much time to settle down and read this week.

I hope if you have time you will pop over to read Ginny's, Chrissies and Tami's posts as I have joined in with all three link's this week.

Thank you again for your amazing comments they make me very happy.

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 42/52

Another busy week and I have been spoilt for choice with happies so after much thought I have decided to share these special four with you are:-

1.Finns portrait - Finn is red because he supports United and Grandad is blue because he supports City.......

2. Laura's amazing Lego marshmallows - she is so clever

3.My felted acorns - I love them

4. Drinking Prosecco and making malteser tiffin - so yummy

  thank you for stopping by

  talk soon x

Autumn Glow swap............

A few months ago I joined Blueberry Heart's annual Autumn Glow swap - which involved pulling a collection of autumn themed items together. The guidelines for the parcel advised including at least 5 items and 2 or 3 had to be hand made.We were paired up with other bloggers across the world - doesn't that sound exciting. I really should have posted my parcel in September but with being on holiday my schedule was as usual a bit behind. My parcel was ready to go last week I was pleased with the things I had made and also the other premade items.

I started with a lovely hand made felt brooch which I bought from a craft fair, the colours were perfect for the Autumn theme.

Next I added one of my knitted oak leaves, a pumpkin, crochet acorns and some knitted acorns. I also included some real acorns, silver fimo acorns and some felted acorns.

I sorted through my button collection and filled a cotton bag full of buttons with lovely autumnal warm colours.

I've mentioned my felted acorns already but thought they deserved a better photo - I've not felted before and I love the results.

Lastly some yummy chocolate that vaguely fits the brief and a few other little items that unfortunately I forgot to photograph.

I have had fun putting my little collection together I hope it arrives at its destination safely.

It's very cold here and feels almost wintry the seasons are racing and merging. Hope you all have a good week and thank you again for taking the time to stop by.

Talk soon x

Giddy fun..........

Yesterday afternoon Laura and I had a giddy hour, it all started because of a recipe I wanted to try for malteser tiffin. We are both on diets and trying really hard to be careful so tiffin is not an ideal thing to be making.

The ingredient list should carry a health warning:-

Maltesers 250g
Digestive biscuits 250g
Butter 100g
Syrup 3 x tbsp
Chocolate 400g

We also decided that drinking a glass of chilled Prosecco would help with our tiffin making which I think caused the giggles and giddiness. Not sure what got into us and hopefully it won't become a Saturday afternoon habit.

We had fun and of course had to keep taste testing our mixture (all good chefs taste as they cook don't they) and in our case we were also sipping our bubbly. Surprisingly our tiffin worked perfectly and was a great hit with the grandchildren (not so surprising). It is now under lock and key as I'm not allowed to have anymore and I should probably leave afternoon Prosecco drinking out as well.

A lovely afternoon that really lifted my spirits - sorry that we forgot to photograph the finished item but it did look good.

Talk soon x

Cooking with Alex........

Last week I had another baking/cooking afternoon with Alex. We have never attempted a savoury dish we usually bake biscuits or cakes, so I decided to increase our repertoire. Alex is a very faddy eater at home although he would never say no to eating fast food especially KFC chicken. I asked Alex if we should make our own spicy chicken strips! Surprisingly he was really up for it so I sort of made up a recipe. We cut chicken breasts into strips, dipped them into beaten egg and then into crushed cornflakes. For extra flavour we added paprika, chilli flakes, ground black pepper and a tiny touch of salt to the crushed cornflakes.

The chicken strips were then cooked in the oven for about 25 minutes turning once half way through cooking. They were delicious, Alex was so surprised and impressed with the chicken he couldn't stop eating them which was an added bonus.

yummy......................

Alex then sat on the floor next to my bookcase flicking through recipe books. He chose his favourite Mary Berry cookery book and decided to make a chocolate Victoria sandwich cake. I helped get the ingredients together for him and lined his cake tins but then Alex weighed and mixed everything himself. When he got them out of the oven I gave him a skewer to check they were ready and then he remembered to press the sponge gently to see if the sponge bounced back - I was so proud of him.

The cakes had risen beautifully and whilst they were cooling he made the butter cream. He started to search for my sieve so that he could sieve the icing sugar. I said he didn't need to as I don't usually bother but Mary Berry does so who am I to disagree. It's funny to watch him follow every instruction to the letter, reading every instruction once or twice to be sure he has got it right.

sorry about the messy kitchen....................

all done and I accidentally chopped his head off the photo.....................

The cake was covered with chocolate decorations not dissimilar to the chocolate tray bake he made last time we baked. The chocolate cake was so light and fluffy I felt quite jealous it was perfect

The next day Vicky phoned for the chicken recipe as Alex wanted to make the spicy chicken strips for everyone’s tea, followed by his chocolate cake which he sadly took home.

Hope you have a good day and a special hello to my new followers – thank you

Talk soon x

( forgot to say I have joined in with the lovely  Cosmos and Cottons Friday Bake)

September Mosaic..................................

Another month has flown by and a little later than planned - I hope you like my September in pictures..............

Firsts :-

first knitted and crochet acorn making
first baby pumpkin knitting
first felt Russian doll sewing
first lemon curd preserving
first twig weaving
first cocktail out of a goldfish bowl drinking!
first blueberry and lemon curd muffin baking - so yummy
first Turkish vegetable and spice market visiting

Plus :-

beret making
snood making
little dog sewing
plum picking
blackberry picking
jam making
new recipe books
new craft books
little cake baking
millionaire slice eating

another busy month  - I love looking back at my month and as usual I am surprised how many things I have packed into it.

talk soon x

yarn along - cosy knits.........................

I hope you are all well and enjoying the change in season even though the temperatures are really dropping, today has been a lovely dry and bright autumnal day. I forgot to say in my last post that my lap top is better which is such a relief, so fingers crossed it keeps going for a good while now. I am trying to get back in step but I'm still a little late joining in with Ginny and Chrissie. This week I have started to knit some warm and cosy hats with matching scarfletts, hope you like them.

I am reading another Jo Nesbo novel "Police" I thought the last one I read was the last in the series but I am so thrilled that another has recently hit the book shelves. My friend Barbara is also a big fan and has kindly loaned me the latest one. I have only just started reading it but already I am finding it hard to put down - I love the detective Harry Hole but I'm not sure why as he isn't a very like able character. If you have time and you like crime thrillers Norwegian author Jo Nesbo novels are such a good read, over twenty million books have been sold worldwide and he has received over a dozen Nordic prizes and nominations for crime writing.

Thank you for stopping by and your supportive comments have been lovely I appreciate them such a lot.

talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 39,40,41/52

I am so out of step with this weekly post and since coming back from holiday I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. I couldn't wait to get back home but now I'm back I think I need a holiday  - I feel exhausted. I am trying to be good and have started to use pacing techniques which help my ME but it's very hard to do and life seems to take over.

I was reading an article recently about women in their mid fifties and how family responsibilities can weigh very heavily for this age group. My parents are at that time of life where they need support and from my blog you will already know I have six amazing grandchildren. My grandchildren bring me great joy but my daughters are always worrying that I do too much. So hopefully if I start to have regular rests built into my day I will have the energy I need to spend time with everyone.

Anyway back to my happy post, Jen has finished her year of sharing happy moments but I have still got away to go - my four happy moments are -

1. sleeping in my own bed - is that an age thing!

2. my new wool winder has arrived - can't wait to try it out

3. choosing warm cosy yarn from my stash to start my winter projects

4. cooking with Alex - more to come.................

talk to you all soon x

Home again .................

I've had a lovely two weeks in the sunshine but it's nice to be home again. Surprisingly I found the change in pace quite difficult to adapt to. Of course resting in the sunshine, reading new novels all mixed in with a little crochet was lots of fun but by week two I was missing the hustle and bustle of home. I missed my grandchildren, I missed baking and I missed my house. This was quite a new phenomena as usually I can sit and chill without a problem. My holiday was lots of fun though, we have been to this resort many times and it meets our differing needs well. The hotel is small with lots of water sports, tennis and a daily mountain bike ride over very rough terrain, which kept Mr R very busy. My activities included enjoying the lovely swimming pool and the very comfy sun loungers looking over the sea. The Turkish cuisine is yummy and something we both enjoy, now I'm home I need to concentrate on some very sensible eating.

I visited the weekly market in the tiny village of Ortakent. The market isn't touristy it's for the locals and stalls are very hotchpotch many are set up in front of open backed trucks filled with produce picked straight from the land. All the fruit and vegetables are seasonal and nuts and spices were in abundance. I bought a big bag of fresh figs and peaches and then caught the local dolmas (bus) back to the hotel.

Before I went away I'd written a number of posts that I shared with you throughout my holiday so that I could still keep in touch. Unfortunately since getting home my laptop has become poorly and I have been unable to even turn it on - it's currently with the lap top doctor but it's touch and go if he can revive it. I have my fingers crossed as I hadn't budgeted for such a big expense so near to Christmas. I am lucky to have my iPad which was a surprise gift last year but I find writing blog posts on it a bit tricky and can't always include photos, although I have managed one this time.

In between washing, ironing, shopping and cooking I have caught up with my favourite blogs but unfortunately haven't been able to join in with my weekly link ups. Although life has been so hectic since arriving home I don't have very much creativity to share with you.

I'm late with my monthly collage but hopefully I will have a laptop soon and I can look back at my Septembers creations. I have received some lovely comments on my posts whilst I have been away and a few more followers which is so lovely, I haven't been able to leave many comments or replies as wifi has been hit and miss and my iPad has been a bit temperamental. I am always delighted to receive such lovely feedback and very humbled that you take the time to read my very ordinary ramblings.

Talk soon x

Retro baking..............

When Laura was on holiday in Wales she bought me a lovely little retro baking book - I am delighted with this little book, it's bursting with lovely things to bake.

I decided to make the cherry cake first but unfortunately when I began to weigh out my ingredients I didn't have enough ground almonds so I swapped coconut for the almonds and it worked beautifully.

The cake was a hit with the family and it's now on my quick reliable cakes to make again list.

I also made a Victoria sandwich which was filled with my home made blackberry jam - very yummy

I love baking, one of the few tasks that always shows quick and satisfying results.

talk soon x

crochet gifts.....................

I bought some small hot water bottles last year and then forgot all about them. This year I am determined to crochet some little hottie covers and add them to Christmas stockings.

 I measured the hot water bottle and then started to crochet in the round using double crochets in random stripes

 I am sort of doing my own thing and will start to decrease for the neck of the bottle soon.

I am going to add a little flap of some sort at the bottom so that the cover can be removed for washing - I will take some more photos when I have finished. I hope it works as I have another 3 or 4 of these cute little hot water bottles.

talk soon x