Last Post of 2011

I had planned to do a round up post of 2011, but life has once again got in the way. As I was going through my photos, I realised how much stuff (crafty & baking) that I havent posted!

Plus, the Husband is ill, the kids are whiny & the house looks like a tornado blew through it!

So instead I will do a number of round up posts next week, hopefully I'll manage it sooner but dont want to promise as it is chaos here right now.

Therefore, I will take this moment to wish you a very Happy New Year. Thank you for your support this year, & I'm looking forward to sharing 2012 with you.

xxx

Wishing you a very............

from our Home to yours.

xxx

**Image taken from Here **

Christmassifying our home

Ok, I think I totally made up the word Christmassifying, but it fits the title so Im going with it, LOL. I've been trying to get some decent photos of my tree, but my poor camera just isnt going to create the type of shot I desire. & lets be honest, when my kids are older & they look back at these photos, Im pretty sure they arent going to be saying 'Mum, these photos are awful', etc.

So, here is our tree:

Its slighly massive!!

We don't have a mantle/fireplace unfortunately (one day..........) so the top of the sideboard will do. Most of the Santas belonged to my Mother In Law,who is sadly no longer with us.

& our wooden advent calendar which is becoming one of our mostloved family traditions.

**5 sleeps to go!!**

xxx

'Tis The Season'

For Advent Calendars

For the return of the Red Cups

& lots of candlelight.

It's Christmas time!!

I've spent the morning photographing the trees (we have 3!), & christmas decorations, but unfortunately the room they are in is really dark & dreary. So the photos are awful.

** Dear Santa/Father Christmas, I would really like a digital SLR camera for xmas. i have been a very good girl this year, Love Lisa. **

My current camera is a Fuji bridge camera thats about 5-6 years old. Its doesnt focus very clearly anymore, is so slow to take pictures, & doesnt like poor lighting conditions. Therefore, no decent pictures to show today.

Which is so annoying as for once, I have lots to show!!

Aargghh!! *Bangs head against wall*

Guess I'll just have to try again tommorrow.

xxx

Oooh!! A Giveaway.......

......... is happening over HERE. Check it out, plus Kirsty's blog is full of loveliness, along with her shop.

xxx

**The Wobbly Granny Tah Dah!!!!**

Finally, here it is!!

Looking pretty, all folded up on my new (well, new upcyced chair, but more of that on another post)

In all of it's glory. Looking extremely wobbly, but we are liking the wobbliness.

I used the Bunny Mummy tutorial for the Double V Edging, which worked out blooming fantastically!!

I think she likes it!!

Well, I am sure she does, as she is currently asleep under it, **sigh**.

The details:

Yarn used: Stylecraft Lucy Pack

Number of rounds: 41 plus edging.

Happy Little Girl & Happy Mummy: YES!!

xxx

♥ One of 'Those' moments ♥

When no one is arguing, no one is whining, no one is picking on someone else. One of those moments, when it's visible to see that the friendship is there, the friendship that is hopefully going to grow & support them in their teens, through adulthood, & when we are no longer there for them.

Technically speaking, it's no where near a perfect photo. The lighting is rubbish amongst other things. But you know what? I'm not a photographer. I am a Mum, a very proud Mum, who will cherish this photo for ever.

Especially on those days when they are arguing, whining & being mean to each other **Smile**.

                                         ****************************

Well I guess I haven't been a great blogger lately, but life has just got in the way. I do however have a few posts including a birthday, a anniversary, 2 crocheted finished projects, before & afters of a almost finished bedroom makeover, including some furniture makeovers, & a few crocheted WIPS. I am going to make the most of having a clean house on a miserable grey & foggy Monday morning to write these posts ready to go this week.

So, how are you?

xxx

Autumn

It's half term here, & it's been a tough few weeks. Poorly children make for a sad Mummy. All motivation has left the building, & I need it to come back!

So, to cheer myself up, here's some recent photos of what we have been up to.

I love Autumn, it's definately my fave season :-)

Autumn walks.

Making new friends.

Waiting to be carved.

Autumnal cowl for me, in progress. Just loving the colours.

Boozy fruit for the xmas cake, to be prepared.

xxx

Chocolately Baking :-)

The week before last was 'Chocolate Week' & last week was 'National Baking Week', so in honour of this, I made an absolutely yummy Chocolate Marble Cake.

** To be honest, I'd finally treated myself to a cake stand (& a gorgeous pink girlie it is!) so I needed something to bake!**

I'm not sure where the recipe originated, I thought it might be the Rachel Allen recipe from the BBC web, but after just checking the site, it's not. The recipe I wrote down stated to cook the cake for 25-30 minutes, but when I checked the cake, the inside was completely uncooked. I let it bake for nearly an hour & it was perfect. I also treated myself to some Green & Blacks cocoa for this cake. I normally use whatever is in the cupboard, but the chocolate taste is normally very weak when done this way. Let me tell you that after using Green & Blacks, I will never go back to any old cocoa for baking. The chocolate taste (& colour) was absolutely lush & creamy.



Chocolate Marble Yumminess Cake (Original Recipe Author Unknown)

200g Butter
200g Caster Sugar
150g Self Raising Flour sifted
50g Plain Flour sifted
4 Eggs
3Tbsp Cocoa sifted (Preferably Green & Blacks!! it's definately worth it!!)

Preheat oven to 180.
Grease & line cake tin.
Cream together the butter & sugar.
Beat the eggs together, then add half the eggs to the butter, plus a spoonful of flour. Mix to combine, then add the rest of the eggs & combine.
Once all the eggs have been combined, add the flour & mix, but don't overmix, otherwise the cake's texture will be tough.
Seperate the cake mixture into two bowls. Add cocoa to one bowl & mix well.
Spoon large dollops of each mixture into the cake tin, until all the mixture is used, level the mixture, then using a knife, swirl the mixture to create the marble effect.
Bake the cake for 45-55 mins, until the cake is springy to touch, comes away from the sides of the tin & when a skewer is inserted, it somes out clean. Cool for 5 mintues, then turn out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

The original recipe called for the cake to be dusted with icing sugar, but I was needed more of a chocolate fix so I made a batch of chocolate butter frosting (using the Hummingbird Bakery recipe) & added chocolate star decorations for an added touch.

Enjoy!! xxx


xxx

Blueberry Muffin Yumminess!!

Is Yumminess an actual word?

Who knows?

Anyway, today I made a batch of blueberry muffins, so thought I'd share the recipe with you. The recipe was given to me a few years ago by a friend, since then I have tweaked it a bit!!

Blueberry Muffins.

9oz Plain flour

3tsp (15ml) baking powder

half a teaspoon (2.5ml) salt

3oz Muscovado sugar (the original recipe uses white granulated sugar)

1 egg

8fl oz milk

3 oz butter, melted. 

Blueberries (I used 1 pack)

OPTIONAL- Cinnamon, porridge oats, brown sugar.

Preheat oven to 190-200C.

Prepare muffin tin with liners. This makes 12 muffins.

Sift together the flour, baking powder & salt in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar & make a well in the centre. (I usually add a tsp or 2 of cinnamon, but this is optional).

In a seperate bowl, beat the egg, then add the milk & melted butter.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry & stir, until combined. The batter will be lumpy, but no dry flour should be visible. Do not overmix the mixture.

Add the blueberries & stir in quickly.

Fill the cake liners to 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with porridge oats & brown sugar. This gives the muffins a crunchy top.

Cook in the centre of the oven for 20-25 mins, until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned.

Remove from oven & carefully take muffins out of the muffin tin & put them on a baking rack to cool. Be careful as the blueberries will be HOT!! I take them out of the tim straight away to stop them cooking in the hot tin.

When cooled, enjoy with a cuppa!!

                           xxx



Calleigh's Quilt

I was recently commissioned to make a quilt for my friends daughter. Her name is Calleigh & she was a preemie. She's a beautiful, tough little girl & it was a real honour to be asked to make this for her.

I used Cath Kidston fabric for the patchwork piece, edged with plain white cotton. The backing fabric is a stripy flannel, which is so unbelievably soft & will get even softer the more it's washed.

I will admit that this took absolutely ages to make. It had to be so perfect, the pressure was definitely on! I loved the final quilt though, it was definitely hard to let it go.

A beautiful quilt, for a beautiful little girl.

xxx

To Do List Update.

Well unfortunately I only completed 4 of the things on my To Do List. But I did spend some lovely time with my family, which makes up for it. I guess my girls will only be little for a short time, & pretty soon wont want to spend time with me, so I'll take what I can!! But it is nice to have time for me, & a Happy Mum = Happy Family.

So here are the things I completed:

The Foxy Lady Stuffie, from Mollie Makes magazine. Am planning on making a large sized one as a cushion for Miss M.

Embroidered bunting for my friend Helen to use at her first craft fair. I really love how the letters stand out, so much so that I'm thinking of making some to sell :-)

& finally Snickerdoodles!! That did not last long, lol!

I thought I'd taken a photo of the Wobbly Granny, with the latest progress, but I cannot find trace of the photo, so you will have to take my word for it ;-)

xxx

Plans For The Weekend....

So, it's Friday afternoon, the girls have finished school, homework has been done, & once I know the Husband is on his way home, dinner will be underway. The girls have been back at school for just over 2 weeks, & we've all found it exhausting getting back into our routine to be honest. Especially Miss K, who is completely wiped out, therefore no major plans have been made for the weekend, except rest & time with the family.

However, I have noticed that even when we dont have plans, I dont seem to get any of my stuff done, is this a Mum thing? Everyone else in resting & doing their own thing, & I still cooking, cleaning etc. So, after having a lightbulb moment regarding this very subject today, I have decided to make a list of all the little crafty/baking things I have been wanting to get done & post it here as a motivational tool.

So, ta-dah!! Here is 'The List':

-Finish the 'Foxy Lady stuffie from the 2nd issue of Mollie Makes.
-Sew a vintage inspired table runner for my lovely friend Sarah.
-Finish the embroidery part of the bunting I am making for my other lovely friend Helen.
-Bake Snickerdoodles (& eat them whilst they are still warm from the oven!)
-Teach Miss M to cross stitch.
-Finish the Xmas cross stitch house decorations from Cross Stitcher magazine.
-Start a scarf for Me!!
-Complete 2 more rounds on the Wobbly Granny.
-Paint photoframes.
-Unravel the ball of wall that Miss L-R got hold of (this may take a while!!)

Hmmm, I'm not sure of my chances in getting the whole list done, but I'm going to do my best. I will still have cooking, cleaning & laundry to do, but I really want to concentrate on my stuff for once, instead of everyone elses. Im sure that will sound selfish to some,& maybe it is. But a Happy Mummy/Wife is so much better than a stressed, grumpy Mummy/Wife, LOL.

Edit: I was planning on writing this post just before collecting the girls from school, but instead managed to tick something off the list already!! Woo hoo!! Its worked out brilliantly as right now I'm stuck on the sofa, with a sleeping 2 yr old on my lap. It's actually quite akward to write a blog one handed!

Update:8:50am,Sunday. Well, we spent most of yesterday at the park, so have only managed to cross one more thing off my list! The Wobbly Granny has 2 more completed rounds, plus a 1/4 of the next round done.......Yay! Let's see how much more I can get done today (although the Husband is not feeling well & the kids are having one of those 'I Need Mummy For Everything' days!!)

xxx

Giant Granny Loveliness

So, I recently treated myself to a ball, or 2 of wool.

Or maybe a few balls, LOL!

I purchased the lovely Lucy Pack from Masons. Really good value & excellent service.

I do love Stylecraft wool, it feels lovely & is a pleasure to work with. The colours are on the bright side though, much brighter than the photos show.

When I brought the pack, I was still unsure what I was going to make with it. All I knew is that it was going to become a blanket for the girls.

After browsing way too many beautiful blogs, I decided on a Giant Granny Square.

11 Rounds completed.

14 Rounds completed.

19 Rounds completed.

25 Rounds completed.

Unfortunately, the larger a granny gets, the wobblier she becomes!! I've been reading various ideas on how to combat this, but I think this granny is definately going to be a wobbly one! Infact, I'm renaming her 'The Wobbly Granny Blanket'. I dont have a set idea on how big she is going to be, I think I'll just keep crocheting until I run out of wool.

xxx

I would blog.......

xxx

Granny Bunting!!

A few weeks ago, I wanted to spend some time crocheting, but all the WIP's I had were blankets that are no where near being finished, & I wanted something that I could finish in a day. I spent some time browsing the net &came across some granny style bunting that screamed at me "Make Me!!" It took about a day to crochet the flags (it was a easy project to pick up when I had a minute spare in the day), then I blocked them overnight & in the morning........................................................

......................I had a pile of granny flags waiting to be chained together & strung up to be admired.

Why is bunting so hard to photograph?????????? 

I decided to string them up in the kitchen, as I spend so much time in there, so I need prettiness to make me smile  :-)

As I was finishing it off, Miss L-R saw it & asked if it was for her. She put on her sad face when I explained it was for the kitchen, so I guess I'll be making some more for the girls bedroom next!!

xxx

The one where we celebrated a birthday with lots of cake.....

We started with pancakes!! This is M, the birthday girl. Traditionally in our house, the birthday person chooses what they want for breakfast. The whole pile wasnt just for her though!

I made a batch of vanilla cupcakes for our picnic at the zoo.

This is K, she is 7 & seems to be enjoying her cupcake!

& Miss L-R, the baby of the family. She seems to be inhaling her cake!

For M's birthday cake, I made her a lemon sponge cake, with lemon curd filling & lemon buttercream. To be honest, it was a bit too lemony, so I wont be doing the lemon cure filling next time. The buttercream was delish, unfortunately though, due to the heat, it wouldnt whisk up properly, resulting in a rather messy cake.

All in all, it was (in M's words) "the best birthday ever!!"

How am I Mum to a 9year old. Feels like only 5 minutes ago when she was born!!

xxx