Sweet treats

Jess and I spent the morning baking today.  She loves to help and today was chuffed when she managed to cut and line the tins with baking parchment all be herself.  She likes to help weigh out the ingredients too, though that does get a bit messy.  I actually think she spills the sugar on purpose.  We made a Coffee & Walnut sponge cake, Peanut Butter cookies, Oat and Sultana cookies, and Snickerdoodles (double batch).  The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off at points.  Not to be left out Peter made a batch of Rice Krispy toffee and marshmallow treats. 

Jess went home with a share of all the cookies and treats, she told me she was going to hide them so that her daddy didn't eat them all!  The rest are packed in the car for our trip.

Whilst I'm waiting on Laurie trying his sweater vest and deciding if he wants another, I have started a Sonnensegel Scarf.  The mohair element has been languishing in my stash for goodness knows how long (never knew what to use it for), and actually thinking about it the 4ply yarn may have been there nearly as long too .  Anyway, I now have a use for it all, I've admired this scarf/shawl for a while, having seen them on Instagram.  It's also very portable right now, so ideal for sticking in my bag.

We got quite excited earlier, at least a dozen drops of rain fell, its looking like our 80% chance of a storm this evening has passed us by and no more rain in the forecast.  Poor garden

Wishing you all a great weekend whatever you are doing

The DIY Wedding

More wedding.... it consumed our lives in a good way for the last few months so I thought I'd share with you what we made and did.  You have already seen the bouquet and an overview of the day.

What did we do?

Firstly, we purchased from the local pub when it changed hands, some of the furniture - 8 tables and 18 chairs. Those chairs had to be rubbed down and painted, along with 4 spares Rachel had, plus whilst we were doing it, we painted 4 for her house too. We just love painting chairs!!

We didn't bother doing the tables as these would be covered with cloths.

End result....

Next on the agenda was the bar which started life as wooden palettes.  Stu and Peter made this over the Easter weekend and Rachel and I painted it - cost nothing as we had leftover paint

End result....

by Cara Clements

If you are wondering why Carpenters Arms - Stu is a carpenter and its a good pub name

The bar has now been moved to the end of the garden, been roofed with corrugated steel and is doing duty as a shed for the grandchildren's ride-on tractors, waste not want not!

Then the various bunting - on the bar, knitted hearts on a crochet chain, the pattern was Be Mine Heart Garland, I also made another which actually didn't get used, these were made using the pattern Heart Card again sewn onto a crochet chain. Most yarn came from stash

Next up were pom pom garlands - Rachel spent many an evening producing pom poms in various sizes, you can see some of them here, they were also used on the children's' gazebo too but I don't seem to have a photo of those.

Next up were the signs, we spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon doing these - wood and paint, slate and chalk pen, these were dotted around the property directing guests where necessary. Only cost was the chalk pen, as the slates were leftover from when we had the stable re-roofed.

 

There were also signs on all the drinks, cakes and snacks

What next? Oh yes, the ring cushion and hair piece.  Rufus was the ring bearer and decided that he wanted his cushion to be red (it could well have been orange).  Well it was to be a bright and colourful wedding so why not.  I couldn't find a pattern for a cushion that I liked so I used dishcloth pattern - Heart Dishcloth and knitted a moss stitch back.  I lined the underside of the front and stuff it.  I think it worked fine. Yarn from stash

Then the knitted hair piece not the best photograph - the pattern was Birdcage Veil which I found in an old Simply Knitting magazine.  I used some ribbon as Rachel didn't want a veil. Yarn also from stash

You can see it in her hair here

by Gemma Powell

She also wore the Holden Shawl but I don't have any photographs of her wearing it.

There were the favours, which Rebecca made - flower seeds.  She got a stamp made up and decorated small white envelopes with the stamp and washi tape, she then hung them on ribbon using little pegs, to the sign that Rachel made for them

As previously mentioned Rebecca did all the flowers.  We all baked cakes for the dessert table, and we had contributions from Gemma and Jan (Stu's mum) too, all delicious.

Of course during all this there was still the garden to be kept on top of.  We changed the vegetable garden making a play area for the kids and a smaller veg patch and then Peter built a fence to keep the chicken off the main garden when they come out of their enclosure.  This still needs to be painted and a gate to be hung but we ran out of time.  The fence was again made from palettes and cost nothing. Laid a patio area with some free slabs I got from the garden makeover at work. Dug and planted a new border, filled and planted up my tubs and pots..... phew I feel exhausted just reading all this.

As weddings go, this was low on cost, but it meant doing lots ourselves, but it was a great achievement, very personal and we were all more than happy with the end result.  Lots of the items we purchased we plan to sell on, anyone want any tables and chairs?

Whilst the oven was on

I love those afternoons when you decide to cook something and then it just snowballs.  I had a load of beetroot that I wanted to roast, so thought maybe I would bake some peaches at the same time.

I roast the beetroot with their skins on, just top and tail them, quarter any large ones, salt, pepper and olive oil and roast until tender.

I didn't have the ingredients for my normal baked peaches so decided just to wing it.  I crumbled up a madeline, grated some marzipan, mixed them together, then halved the peaches, removed stones, made balls with the mixture plonked it on the top.  I then popped them into a dish, half teaspoon of honey on each, drop of orange juice, cover and bake.  I like to eat the peaches at room temperature with ice cream or greek yogurt. I'll let you know how they taste.

Next into the oven was some goat cheese stuffed mini peppers and I chucked in a few vine tomatoes too, they are currently cooking.

For dinner tonight we are having courgette and feta cakes.  I make mine thus.  Boil some potatoes in their skins until tender.  Allow to cool, grate into bowl.  Grate the courgette into colander, sprinkle with a little salt to draw out the water.  Leave for 30 mins, squeeze in some paper towel and add to potatoes, crumble in some feta cheese and chopped mint, season to taste.  Shape into cakes and chill until needed.  Shallow fry in some oil.  Enjoy.

Today's pickings

Progress on the Conundrum Scarf, now past the halfway mark and decreasing

Wednesday's new WIP

First some food....

I just made this tart - Goats cheese, red onion & sun dried tomato.  I wish you could smell my kitchen right now.  I will have some of this with salad for my dinner.

I have a new WIP this week.

Its Shelley Bay by Sarah Ronchetti, you can find her on the Ravelry Group - Sezza Knits or on her blog.  She is currently doing a KAL for this pattern, so I decided to join in.  The yarn is some I was given recently - Chevy Aran - 50% wool and 50% nylon, not a yarn I know but it seems to be knitting up OK.

One thing I have noticed however is that I have actually got my front mixed up, so the pattern on my cardigan will be leaning the other way!  I'm certainly not going to rip it back and change it now.  That will teach me to read the pattern properly, I know exactly what I've done wrong.  I'm sure Sarah will forgive me

Proof of the pudding

Its a wet Tuesday, too wet to go out, so I decided at 19 months old Rufus was just about old enough for his first baking session.  I got everything out before bringing him and his high chair to the kitchen.  As you can see he took to it like a duck to water.  Though a fair amount of mixture was eaten before it got to the bun papers.

and the finished article.  Not the best buns ever but he has eaten two so they can't be so bad.  I know his Aunty Rachel and Pops will make short work of them when they get home.

When a bell rings......

an angel gets its wings......

Last night we went out for dinner and to the cinema with Rachel. Our film of choice was It's a Wonderful Life. Would you believe I have been on this earth for nearly 56 years and I have never seen this film all the way through. I was surprised at the age group of the audience, a few titters at the start due to the film techniques from 1942 but those same titters were sniffles at the end.  With a round of applause and a warm feeling we headed home, ready to start our Christmas.  Funny though, I lay in bed this morning thinking about how the choices we make in life touch the lives of others, and that if I had done something differently I could be living a completely different life.  Different husband, different kids, weird.

I have now completed my Christmas baking and my contribution towards lunch - Nigella's Chocolate & Peanut Crunchie - Red Cabbage - Cheese Straws & Twists (bit heavy on the cayenne - oops), Mince Pies - Bread Sauce - Sausage Rolls (Peter is working his way through them already) - Brandy Butter - Cranberry Sauce - and the giblets cooked up for stock for the gravy.

So all that's left to me is to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and to thank you all for stopping by to read my blog.  I hope you all have a wonderful day and that life is kind to you -
remember it really is a Wonderful Life

That plate

I am pleased with the results of my plate, not bad for a first attempt. Though I do think my sheep looks a bit sad.

The baking has started.  I had half a pack of filo pastry in the fridge that needed using, so I made some Serrano ham, goats cheese and sun dried tomato parcels, not sure if they will be around long; I had one for my breakfast!  I have 2 gammon hams currently roasting in the oven, smells are starting to permeate.  I love the smells of the Christmas kitchen.  Next on the list is the mince pies, but not until the gammons are cooked, so now going to clean the bathrooms and run the hoover round.

 

Deck the halls

This year we have got two trees to dress.  One for the garden room and the other for the house.  We went with a real tree for the garden room - its been a while since we bought a real tree and the prices were quite shocking!!  Anyway, we spent all afternoon on Saturday putting up garlands, wiring pine cones and making wreaths.  The tree was dressed Sunday morning, supervised by my young nephew Charlie; he and his mum kindly came to the rescue with a part for our central heating system.  Not nice waking to a cold house on Sunday morning.  Thanks guys.

Not sure if the garden room needs more decoration, but I guess once I get some foliage from the garden it will look a bit more festive.

Mince pies, the first batch of the season, and this afternoon the tree for the house.

Most of my present shopping is done, cards written and posted.  The village cards still to deliver, wrapping to do.  Visiting arranged, so I guess I'm on track.  How are you doing? 

Christmas baking

 I started on my christmas baking today.  First on the list was Panforte or as the girls call it, adult cake.  The first time I made this was when they were much younger and they weren't keen on it at all.  I love the flavours of spices, fruit, nuts and chocolate, just a small slice with a cup of coffee.  This is a photo from the net as mine is still cooling, and I can't be bothered to get the camera out and fiddle about.

We will have one of the christmas puddings I made last year, all the better for a years' maturing.  I don't make a christmas cake as I'm the only one that really eats it and I don't need the extra calories.  I buy mini stollen, which we all love. So apart from mince pies which I make on christmas eve, thats about it for now.  Peter and Rachel are cooking christmas dinner again this year so I get off lightly.

The shopping is going well, just a bit more to do, cards to write and then the wrapping - which is the bit I enjoy.  I am using up the last of this years' holiday so only 3 day weeks for me now til we close for the holidays, yay........

Busy baking day......