A Quick Post

Well, nearly finished my crochet project. Not quite at the 'tah-da' stage but eager to get there.
My carrot and apple cake was a huge success - none left!

I can really recommend this one. It is from the same Sainsbury's baking book as shown in my last post and is delicious.

Finally, I have bought these...

...polystyrene eggs. I am hoping to wet felt them then add some needle felted patterns, beads and ribbon. We'll see...
I also have a new felting book but that one can keep for my next post!
Becky x

Bored? What's That?

I can honestly say I'm never bored. I just don't have time to be. Even at half term when I had to wait an hour in a doctor's waiting room I wasn't bored - I went prepared with one of my new crochet books and I was actually quite grateful for the opportunity to simply sit and read in peace (didn't take the children!).
So when the weekends come along I try to fit in all the family stuff, I mean the nice things (not the washing, cleaning... although of course this has to be done) but the things I don't get time to do during the week as a working mum.
Saturday mornings usually consist of a spot of baking with Lulu. This morning we made carrot and apple cake and butterfly buns.

They are delicious (yes we have tried them already!) but so fiddly to decorate those wings. The recipes were from this little book:

It has some lovely recipes, great photographs (we always find it helps to see what it was supposed to turn out like!) and was only 5 pounds. Our butterfly buns were supposed to look like this:

So we didn't do too badly! Haven't tried or decorated the cake yet so I will have to let you know another day on that one.

Poor Little Mannie is so under the weather, he just wants to cuddle and sleep. Not sure what's wrong with him. Last night he had a raging temperature but that's eased now. He might have some more teeth coming through.

After school yesterday, I took Charlotte to get our ingredients for baking and popped into Matalan on the way, where I found this:

I coudn't resist. A few years ago we bought my neighbour a jug just like this for looking after our cats but it was very expensive. This tumbler was only 4 pounds, what a bargain!

And, I just had to buy something to go in it.

Can't wait for them to open their petals, I hope they're scented.

Anyway, I have stopped for a short break.

Coffee (using my husband's oversized mug, not very pretty but lasts a bit longer!), cake, crochet and a new crafts mag'. Heaven!
Becky x

Wet Week Activities

The weather has been quite miserable here in  Cornwall this week. Grey and wet - not Spring-like at all. My gardening plans have been put on hold and instead we have done all those irritating little jobs that we so often put off. Some of it quite tedious and boring, but some of it quite satisfying once finished.

When my husband and I got married, we were given a beautiful piece of glass art from my dad. It is very heavy and we knew special fixings were needed as it didn't have a frame. Anyway, now the hallway has had a fresh coat of paint, we knew it was time it was given a home and appreciated so...

I love the simplicity of the design. The dichroic glass really catches the light on the fish. It was really hard to photograph so apologies for the poor light, I should have waited for a sunny day (but goodness knows when the next one is going to be!).

I repaid my family's patience (see last post) with some home baking. Lulu's and I have been baking together since she was 2 years old and I am pleased to say it has become a little less messy and a lot more productive than it used to be! Tuesday we made chocolate chip cookies and fudge brownies - no pics, sorry, we ate them all too quickly! Yesterday we made ginger ferrings which I managed to snap a few shots of before they disappeared out of the door (quite literally as Lulu's likes to take some to our neighbours!).

These are the biscuits before they go in the oven. We make a 'fat' sausage and slice it up. You don't have to be very precise as they spread out in the oven...

 ...and here they are cooling. They are actually a bit darker than this but the flash on my camera has washed out the colour. I got this recipe from the National Trust tearooms that I worked in many moons ago. If you would like it I'm happy to share.

I have done a little more to my felt vessel but it still isn't finished, that's tonights job.

To finish this is my Little Mannie (nicknamed by Lulu when he was born - "Hello, Little Mannie", it was so sweet it just stuck!) trying desperately to wear his sister's party shoes! Bless!

I was trying to get a picture of his curls as his hair is getting quite long now and they will soon need to be trimmed. Sad day, they grow so fast.

That's me for now. I will endeavor to finish that bowl and post some pics soon. Enjoy your weekend.
Becky x