Ruby Slippers

Happy birthday Lulu!

2015-03-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd birthday to my doggy baby!

Luly Loo is my constant companion, and protector and all round snuggle pal...

Lulu is the first dog I have ever owned as an adult. We always had dogs when I was younger. I made the decision years ago that if I ever had a dog of my own it would undoubtedly be a Jack Russell... A Parson Jack Russell. I wanted an HMV dog.

The day came 2 years ago when my mum got a little Jack called Betsy. It was puppy love at first sight. I immediately started hatching a plan to get one. Husband wasn't over keen and said 'lets not be hasty' Aww but I want one NOW!' Off to Kent a week later we went to collect the last baby girl of the litter. Here is a pic of me holding her in the car on the way home.

'I'm not having the dog in bed with me' said I, the day before we collected her. The day we brought her home....Well,' just ONE night then, as she's so tiny and she needs a little reassurance'..... You can guess where she still sleeps :) Jack's have a natural burrowing instinct and like to be UNDER everything. She nudges the quilt under where my head is and goes all the way to the bottom of the bed and stays put until I get up. She's a great foot warmer.

Betsy is just 1 week older than Lulu. They are the best of pals. When I go away they get to spend a whole week together chasing each other like lunatics, and barking in unison at the cat across the road. Lulu is very naughty and and ousts Betsy from her spot on the sofa.

Here they are together... Partners in crime.

I must say I was a 'little' naive to the needs of such a breed. Lulu has endless energy and needs daily runs in a big open space. She never tires, and is ball CRAZY. She is such a character, she cocks her head when I talk to her, and understands EVERYTHING I say, we have to spell out lots of words, but she's got wise to that too! She barks far too much for my liking, woe betide anyone that looks remotely like a Postie.

Ready to bark....

She is great with my daughter, and adores my son Henry, she goes super soppy whenever he visits, and decides she likes to be carried around. She poses for Henry. All the best pics of her were taken by him like this one..
.

It's hard to be cross with her for long. She has become a big part of our family life and always likes to be in the thick of things and we can't imagine life without her. She is partial to slurping tea out of people's mugs and enjoys crunching on ice cubes. She's a real mummy's girl, she still lays on lap the minute I settle down on the sofa just like she did when she was tiny.. bit heavy now though :)

She loves nothing more than snuggling under a blanket. She has claimed them all!

Chicken legs

Lulu is a super confident girl, and very obedient, ( except for rolling in fox poo) She always comes when called, and sits nicely to have her lead put back on when it's home time. She likes to explore, chase squirrels, and dash in and out of streams, and her favourite place is the beach, she loves the water, and is at her happiest digging holes in the sand and running and chasing her doggy pals.

I recently started giving her a raw food diet as recommended by many canine experts. I make it myself from all of cuts of meats, lean, minced, including offal from the butcher. I make 3 weeks worth up at a time. 70% meat , 20% raw vegetables and fruits, 10% grain such as Quinoa or brown rice. Can't say it's a pleasant job handling all that raw meat, chopping up organs... urrggh. Gloves are a must. She has fish and a couple of eggs twice a week. So no dry food or carb laden rubbish in her diet anymore, and she is super healthy and fit. * I would now like to add that I will be trying the Natural instinct diet as recommended by somebody earlier today as priced up is the same as buying myself, and will save all that prep *

Well.... I think I have gushed about her enough don't you?

Here are just a few more pics.... Ok LOADS more pics of her from her weenydom until now.

3 weeks old... Awwwww

Mid air!

'If I catch you ONE more time chewing my stair lights'!! That's the 3rd set I bought. Naughty girl!

Top plan of beach walk and extra belly rubs today for the birthday girl.

Here's to many more years of adventures and snuggles with our baby :) XXXX

Early Autumn days

2014-08-27T12:47:00.002-07:00

Having just returned from our summer holiday in Cornwall, it seems Autumn is teasingly hanging in the air. I am not complaining.

Cooler temperatures - very welcome. Rain. Garden needs it. A few blustery days. An excuse to stay in and crochet;) Cooler darker evenings.... LOVE. I have even lit candles and had the blankies out. Isn't it just delicious? Autumn is my favourite time of year.

Having said that, it was very warm out today and felt good on my skin again. Maybe summer will stay a little longer... I don't mind.

This weekend being cold and rainy scuppered my plans to go blackberry picking so what to do? Hubby was hinting heavily about wanting to make an apple pie with the apple haul from our tree.

Sadie picked them all a few days before whilst battling spiders in her hair!

So a baking day it was. Hubby peeled the apples and Sadie helped roll the pastry,

I referenced this recipe from here and it was delicious, but added more cinnamon as we like it here. A LOT.

Egg washing

Piling in

The smell was just heavenly when it was baking. I think Yankee candle need to make this one.

The verdict was delicious!!

Talking of Yankee's I ordered two at the weekend and they arrived this afternoon :)

The first is called Lake sunset and it is just gorgeous, it smells like a holiday, it has a coconutty, musky sweetness, slight hint of patchouli, and is like a late summers eve. It's really hard to describe. I just love it.

The second is Christmas memories. (Sorry for the C word) There was no way I could resist trying this! Oh my goodness it is divine, and gives a really good throw of scent. Gingerbread baking in the oven, mince pies, cloves and a hint of orange, delicious! It has been put away out of sight now and will come out on Dec 1st and not before. ;)

So back to the bake off for now, Lulu's cosy on my lap under her blankie.

Enjoy the rest of the summer everyone. :)

Cornwall 2014

2014-08-21T06:46:00.002-07:00

For any of you that know me, you know how much I love Cornwall and that I go every year.

We set off very early on Saturday the 9th August, car packed to the hilt, with lot's of lovely things to eat, and I had my crochet blanket to be working on. :)

Lulu had her basket on the back seat, and was quite cosy for the long journey ahead. She did get a bit grumbly on the last leg of the journey, but was a good girl mostly.

We did it in record time, 6 1/2 hours, fastest time to date!

We like to mostly visit St Ives, Perranporth, Holywell Bay, & surrounding areas so we booked a cottage in Truro which was fairly central and would accommodate 5 of us ~ my mum, and step father were also joining us this year. The cottage didn't disappoint. It had lots of character, was very spacious and very well equipped and had a large enclosed garden for the 2 doggies to run freely in, and a nice patio to sit out on. The garden was lovely and quite wild.... .filled with Hydrangeas and ferns, I cut some and put into a vase outside.

We were all a bit worried as there was rain forecast for nearly every day for the coming week, but were extremely lucky in that the rain came either at night or early morning just before we headed out on our daily outings. The sun shone every day!

Our week mainly consisted of visiting St Ives, where we settled on Balzamar beach cove which is dog friendly all year round. Sadie got to body board in the waves, make sandcastles and made lots of friends. Lulu had a great time digging in the sand, pinching all the other dogs balls, running in to the water and generally running herself ragged with her canine pals.

I did lots of window shopping in the cobbled back streets. We ate lots of pasties, cream teas, ice creams, and fresh fish and chips. Yummy!

In the evenings back at the cottage we drank lots of wine and vodka and listened to our favourite music and chatted about our day, and had lots of laughs. :) The dogs wore each other out play fighting but eventually settled down....

Sadie and Nana

Sadie did some fine beach combing, and was thrilled to find a piece of blue and white pottery and a small piece of green sea glass. She always finds me the loveliest of stones and shells, she bought some little shell creatures with her pocket money. Such simple pleasures....I can remember this being one of the best parts of my childhood holidays. :)

All the cottages in St Ives are teensy but the owners really know how to present them in a the best way. I love this little front terrace, so inviting....

I want a fishy door knocker!

Lovely pub in Holywell Bay

Cornwall summed up....

All in all a wonderful week.....

It was with heavy heart packing up to come back to Essex. IF I could live in Cornwall I would do it in a shot,'' sigh''.... Maybe one day.

Until next year, Lovely Cornwall. We've already booked. :)

Mum's latte blanket

2014-06-27T03:59:00.002-07:00

I made this blanket for my mum some time ago last year, as her dog Betsy claimed the last blanket I made for her!

My mum loves browns, beiges and cream colours. She always plays it safe with the neutrals ;)

I made her this blanket in a lovely shell stitch pattern, which is quite solid compared to treble stitches and is easy to work up.

Reminds me of coffee, Latte, Mocha, Expresso.

Just keep the dog off this one mum! xx

Crochet flowers & hearts

2014-06-27T03:44:00.001-07:00

My friend Laura wanted some flowers to make a garland for cutie Harper's room.

I whipped these up over a weekend. Drawing inspiration form Cath Kidston colours I came up with this lot:

Harper's birth flower is the Daffodil so I made these two for her.

And cute little hearts to go inbetween the flowers

Most of these flowers were made from this pattern http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/triple-layer-flower.html.

I was hard pushed to part with them they are so darn lovely!

Ponchos

2014-06-27T03:33:00.001-07:00

I love ponchos, and so does my daughter. The reason why? We are similar in that neither of us can stand coats, jumpers or cardigans. Just the way they feel restrictive and hot even in the cold months. As a kid I was always getting told off for not wearing my coat, and now I'm telling my daughter off but empathize with her whilst I'm doing it ;)

It needs to be minus 10 for me to feel cold !

So....These are a good solution in the winter months under long sleeved tops and over a summer dresses. They allow plenty of movement and are light and airy but keep the wind chill off.

I made this one for Sadie a couple of weeks ago it's a lovely neutral pinky beigy colour that goes with everything.

Trying on for neck size.......

Finished off with a cute flower.

Made one for the baby too. It's so diddy!

Flowery baby blankie

2014-06-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

This blanket is for my little niece who hasn't been born yet....She is due around Aug 6th and I can't wait to meet her.... I will be an Auntie at last. A long time coming!

I made the pattern up for this blanket from lots of things I've made before. I am thrilled with the result, it is very girly and that shade of lilac is stunning.

The colours and brands are as follows: Robin brand DK - Myrtle. Stylecraft special DK- Fondant & Candyfloss. New Fashion DK - Glacia.

This was such a pleasure to make if not a bit fiddly!

I made a lot of these flowers!

Then joined in the green on the back loops of the petals to make a square shape and finished off into a granny square in the lilac colour.

I then joined as I went along....

Getting bigger....

Lulu thinks it there for her to snuggle into!

Almost there.....

I finished off with pretty shell edging.

Hope the baby has many happy years snuggling into her blankie. :)

Crochet bags

2014-06-27T02:43:00.002-07:00

I am a massive fan of the wonderful Attic 24's blog

I had to make this bag

I made the first one as the pattern is but added my own colours. It's a cute bag but a little on the small side for me who carries a LOT of stuff about. It is now Sadie's :)

I decided to make myself the bigger version which is here

I wanted fresh seasidey colours as will be using when I go to Cornwall in the summer.

My mum fell in love with the bag so had to make one for her too. A lovely mix of sea blues and greens.
I even made a liner for this one.

These bags work up very quickly and are super easy to make.

Christmas blankets

2014-06-27T02:23:00.001-07:00

I made these two blankets last Christmas as gifts for my brother and his girlfriend who is Scottish.

Both granny stripes.

I loved the Scottish greens and purples and it was a hit!

Bothers blanket is a nice masculine mix of cool neutral blues browns and greys.

Lulu giving it a test run

Harper's daisy blankie

2014-04-19T10:06:00.001-07:00

I made this blanket for my friend's little girl Harper, who is one month old now. She is THE cutest little baby.

I started off making lots of little daisies which would then become the centre of the square

The daisies were then crocheted around as opposed to be sewing on top afterwards. I used Stylecraft special DK colours in :

Lemon, white, Iced pink, Fondant and Cupid. As always on my 4mm hook

This blanket worked up quite fast. I referred to This pattern. I used a different pattern for the center of the daisy as I wanted something more solid looking. There are 48 squares in total, finished off with a scalloped edge.

In progress:

The blanket is a good cot size.

Hope you enjoy your blankie in the years to come little Harper. xxx

Angee's birthday cake

2014-04-12T07:25:00.002-07:00

I made this cake for my step mum for a special birthday and as a thank you in return for doing me a big favour a while back.

We discussed ideas for the cake and took some inspiration from Google images, then I was left to my own devices to surprise her.

The finished cake has a theme of Mexican day of the dead and of love and friendship.We, as a family have been through some hard and testing times losing people we love, but friendships and family ties support us and enable us to carry carry on, and have hope in the face of adversity.
We wanted the cake to symbolise these things, but also create something over the top that had a gothic girlie over the top kitschy feel.

This was a challenging cake for me to make, as parts of it had crucial timings especially the chocolate components and the rose making ,so had to be on the ball and work quickly. I watched a couple of You Tube tutorials to help master a couple of techniques, to try to get a professional finish.

For the base I baked 2 x 10 inch Madeira cakes with pink and back stripes running through the sponge which gives a zebra print effect when you slice into it. You divide your cake batter into 3 bowls:

Then dollop the cake batter one spoon full at a time one on top of the other and it settles into the cake tin like this..

I levelled the cakes off then filled with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream which is piped round in a circle on one sponge to create a dam , so the icing doesn't spill out of the sides of the cake.

I then added thick buttercream into the sides of the cake to fill out the edge. Then I scraped a thin layerof buttercream on the whole outside of the cake which was levelled with a scraper to ensure a smooth finish to the purple fondant icing covering it.

I bought 6 kg of white ready roll fondant in total which I dyed with colour gels. It Took ages dyeing blocks of icing with the different colours. Takes a lot of elbow grease!

I rolled the purple fondant out quite thin and draped over the cake and smoothed it all out with a plastic smoother. I trimmed off the excess with a pizza cutter. I stuck 7 straws into the cake to anchor the top tier cake or the weight would just collapse in the bottom one. Just trim the straws once their in.

I then got to work scrolling...with black icing in a pipe bag cut with the teeniest snip on the end.

The consistency has to be not too runny nor too thick, little things like this make or break it...You can imagine it all running down the sides and not setting as you scroll :(..... Practice first on the side of a tin. ;)

The top tier is an 8 inch rich chocolate fudge cake, with an amaretto ganache, covered in black fondant.

It is crucial to let the chocolate cake set in the fridge at this stage for an hour before you ice it.

I covered this cake in black fondant and used my scraper to score some diagonal lines and then stuck pearls in between.

All the roses, leaves and hearts are handmade. The skulls are made from a chocolate mould kit, which I dusted with a silver grey lustre powder. Sadie gave a helping hand dusting these.

The sugar roses are the most time consuming part of the cake, though quite relaxing to sit and make as you get into a rhythm.

The leaves were made with a leaf cutter in different sizes.

I found it best to let the roses and leaves have some drying out time after you make them, to harden off which doesn't take long... approx an hour, or they don't hold their shape when you pin them. If they are too hard they snap as the petals are very thin and fragile, so timing is everything!

The skull for the top of the cake on the top is a plastic one which I painted in white acrylic and coloured in with felts and paints in a Mexican day of dead style. I placed a sugar rose in the eye and circled it with silver balls.

The cake was placed on a 16 inch board which I painted with black acrylic. I used a glue gun to stick the black spotty ribbon on with. I finished off the other tiers with silver ribbon and black.

Next I got to work placing all the roses and leaves on, I placed them throughout to make sure I was happy with the colour and size balances, before securing them to the cake with small splodges of buttercream behind each leaf or flower. Some of the roses had to be pinned on with thin gauge crafting wire and cocktail sticks (Mainly to the sides of the cake) you snip a piece of wire approx 5 inces long bend over to form a prong then insert through the centre of the rose being really careful not to damage any of the petals. I did damage some of them but most of the roses had a pearl in the centre which hid this and looked pretty anyway.

The roses all had a dusting of edible glitter.

The Ta Dah moment....

Angee was really delighted for the reveal which I was really glad about :) We took the cake to the venue and once in situ Angee supplied the black feather which just finished it off perfectly.

Finally how the cake looked when first piece was cut....The funky pattern worked!

I had lots of lovely comments form the guests at the party, and some recipe requests!

Shame to cut it but it's meant to be eaten! :)

My Nan's bread pudding

2014-03-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

I can't remember a time EVER at my Nan's where there wasn't a slab of bread pudding knocking around.
I loved it as a child and went off it for a bit over the years, so I'm going to revive it today, reason being my husband and daughter have not eaten the healthy wholemeal loaf that I encouraged them to use instead of the unhealthy white rubbish they favour. I'ts going stale in the bread bin so thought I would use it up as my Nan would of done.

My Paternal Grandmother wasn't the greatest cook in the world, but she always made the effort to cook and always made a roast on a Sunday even if it was just for herself, she really enjoyed herself in the kitchen. Her roast potatoes were to die for!
There are a few things she made that I really loved, and stick in my memory. Her bread pudding. Apple pie with a lovely short pastry. Egg curry. Chicken soup/stew with butterbeans, and a mean hotpot, which was always a lovely warmer when coming in from the cold from the time spent outdoors in North Wales, which was bitterly cold in the winter. She nearly always had the chicken soup/stew on the go on her cooker top. She swore it had medicinal properties! I'm sure we have some Jewish blood going through our veins?!

A downside to Nan's meals were the dog hairs. We all were too kind and picked them out and still ate it. I can remember always being on a diet as a teenager, and every time I visited her, asking her to make me something healthy, so she would proceed to cook me chicken breast cooked in concentrated butter with sliced new potatoes cooked in tons more butter. I would eat it to please her, but hint that maybe next time she could use a knob of butter rather than half the packet!

Anyway back to the bread pudding. Nan never liked to waste food as I do not, and she never weighed ingredients, but I watched and helped her make this loads of times , but will list approx measurements as a guide should you fancy making it.

How to make it:

600g bread
500 g dried mixed fruit
3 tbsp ground mixed spice
pinch salt
140 g sugar
100 g melted butter
3 medium eggs
800 ml milk

Pre heat oven to Fan 160

Grease and line a square Pyrex dish or roasting tin.

Break all the bread up and pour all the milk over it and squish it ll together with your hands, then add all the other ingredients.

Keep mushing it all together with your hands then turn into the dish.

Flatten out then bake for 1 1/2 hours. Watch it doesn't burn , cover with foil for the last 30 minutes if you need to.

Let it cool a little then turn out onto a wire rack, when completely cooled peel off the greaseproof paper and slice into squares. Keeps well in a tin or the fridge.

I have just realised this is my 100th post today, kind of nice that it is about my Nan. Hope you approve Nan. xx

Blankets

2014-02-07T15:07:00.002-08:00

I made these two blankets as Christmas presents,

This one was Scottish themed in colour for my brothers girlfriend. Heathers and greens.

This one for my brother in muted greys, and neutrals.

I have more crochet to be getting on with soon. Baby blankets.....just waiting on result of sex.;)

Piano makeover with Annie Sloane paint.

2014-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted a piano in the house, and this weekend I got one. :)

I bid on an old upright on Ebay. It is primarily for my daughter and I to tinker on. Sadie is having lessons, so good for practise.

Even if nobody tinkers, it just looks lovely in the room, a real focal point.

I had no intention of leaving it in its original state, it wasn't particularly stunning as it came. This was going to be a renovation from the moment I decided I wanted a piano.

It very nearly had to go back on the van, as I have a narrow hallway and there was no way it was going to fit. Husband had to cut half of the cupboard under the stairs away to get it in, whoops!

I knew the look I wanted after researching on the internet, and had discovered Annie Sloane chalk paint. I chose the old white shade as didn't want it to look bright white, I wanted character.This paint is fantastic as it gives a mellow aged look straight away. You don't need to prep the wood at all, apart from a clean down. No sanding or priming whatsoever, which is good because I impatient and lazy.

Make sure you mask up the pedals and keys well before painting.

The first coat I applied was watered down to the consistency of milky single cream. Then I watered the second coat to double cream.

Here it is after one coat:

Whilst the first coat was drying I painted the piano stool, and a chair that I bought specifically to sit next to the piano. It's a Louis XIV chair, another bargain for £20 on Ebay, these can fetch £100-£200 pounds done up!

Before

The pink had to go, I had bought a black fabric spray paint which at £10 a can is not cheap but cheaper than reupholstering. I sprayed two coats on the fabric. Then got to work painting the woodwork.

Back to the piano!

Here it is after the second coat. Then decorated with lovely things. Whoops my candle fell!

I also recovered the piano stool with a turqouise silk damask remnant also from Ebay, for £3.

I let the paint dry overnight, and waxed the whole piano today with a good coat of clear wax on a clean dry cloth.

If you want a more distressed look you give a light rub down with some fine grit sandpaper on edges before you wax.

Here is the chair, Much better I think.

My back and knees are suffering after doing all that! A labour of love, but worth every bit.

I just LOVE the end result. Makes my room look really classy. Just needs to be professionally tuned now.

My little girl loves it!

Now for some tinkering.............

❇ Christmas preparations ❇

2013-11-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of the year again, and didn't it creep up quickly?

I have been,and am still making and crafting gifts for this year which I am enjoying immensely. I am nearly done which is good, as I start a new job next week and will have a lot less time on my hands.:( I am still running my cookery classes for kids throughout December, which is a lot of fun. There is still have lots of Christmas shopping to do too which I enjoy less as dislike trudging round shops more than I can say....

Here are a few pics of what I have been up to:

I made a red silk Christmas flower with a diamante centre to a green glitzy collar for Lulu.

I had to coax her into eating a treat to get her to pose!

Lots of baking at home..... More pics of Jenny's kitchen Kids Christmas classes: HERE

We put our decorations up today, which is too early I know but I have always put them up in time for my for my birthday on the 6th. Am feeling more festive now they are up. :)

Still lots more to do, but I will get there. I just LOVE this time of the year, nothing can bring me down!!

Enjoy your preparations to the lead up!

Cyprus

2013-11-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

First holiday abroad for 9 years. It was bliss. I did nothing but read. Relax and eat. I highly recommend it!

Gyros-Fast food

Coral bay beach

Villa pool

Amazing bakery

Sparkly dessert

Blue skies every day

Last supper of Kleftiko, so delicious!

I'm now well rested, and glad to be back, even to the dull wet windy rainy weather, because for one I am reunited with my Lulu, and its back to cosyness, and Christmas is creeping up on us isn't it?

Autumn love

2013-10-20T13:21:00.003-07:00

Well Autumn is well and truly upon us, and it's getting chillier, which can mean only one thing, HOOK OUT and back to crocheting!! Oh how I have missed it during the summer. Anyone that knows me knows that summer is my least favourite season. I like being cosy, cosy. cosy and relish the Autumn and Winter months.

I have just finished this lovely shell stitch blanket for my mum. It's an easy stitch that is quick and relaxing to work up. It took me about 10 days over most evenings. My mum has always loved browns and cream colour pallettes. I think of coffee, Lattes and chocolate when I look at it.I hope her dog doesn't claim this one like she did with the last one I made!

I also made Lulu a red house coat to keep her warm in the winter months.

She loves it can't you tell? She does get shivery and it will keep her snuggly when we get a really cold snap. My lap is still her fave place though even though she doesn't fit anymore! Here she is hogging the stripe blanket.

Well I'm off to sunnier climes for a week, destination- Cyprus and really looking forward to it as haven't had a holiday abroad for 8 years, so really going to relax. Sadie cannot wait to go on an aeroplane and is so excited she can barely sleep. I'm not a fan of flying and the nerves are starting to kick in.....Think I will take my rescue remedy if I'm allowed?

On my my return I will be holding two Halloween cake decorating classes with children which will be lots of fun. I love Halloween and all its pagan origins/symbolism.

Hope you are all enjoying and embracing Autumn. xx

Cornwall Sept 2013

2013-09-05T12:49:00.002-07:00

Not been on here for a while...been so busy this summer!

My cookery classes take up a lot of time, planning for each week, I am just starting adult classes too, and am hoping to be mega busy in the Autumn and lead up to Christmas - dare I say that word yet?!

This summer has been glorious, but I'm definitely ready for the Autumn and cooler days now, I want to make jam, and get back to my crochet, need to get out and foraging at the weekend, should be plenty of them this year, as summer been good for all fruits.

We have just got back from a break in Cornwall, it was sunny, breezy and restful for a few days, wish we could have gone for longer. I would move there in a shot if I could. The place just nourishes my soul.

Sadie and Lulu had great fun every day on the beaches.

Until next year. Hope you all enjoyed the holidays.

My girls 6th birthday celebrations

2013-06-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

How can time go so quickly? Hard to believe my baby girl is 6 already!! Pictured here with my eldest son Dylan who's nearly 18!

Friday was spent at the park practising on her new roller skates. Yesterday we had a great fun at Adventure Island - Southend's great theme park.

Today is her actual birthday. We had a high tea theme for her little party today, we had pink lemonade form proper vintage mismatched bone china teacups, which I've been collecting for weeks now. I made heart shaped sandwiches, and cute little rainbow cupcakes.

Love this pic of all the girls, under the Tamarix, which looks like candyfloss.....

Favourite party games were played. Pass the parcel, musical statues and Pin the tail on the donkey.

Pass the parcel

Dancing

This years homemade cake... Hello Kitty.

A very happy girl

I love that all my children have their birthdays in the summer, June, July and August. We have always been able to have celebrations outside.The sun shone today and a lovely day was had! :) Happy birthday my beautiful girl .xx ♥xx

Our new puppy Lulu ❤

2013-05-15T13:20:00.001-07:00

My mum got a little Jack Russell girl puppy who is 7 weeks old at the weekend, and it was love at first sight for everyone in the family. During the 2 week wait my mum had, before collecting her pup, I was trying to convince myself and the other half about getting one as have wanted a little dog for quite some time but always talk myself out of it, we have a busy life and already have 2 cats, but I couldn't resist once I met Betsy! So started searching for a little Jack around the same age. I found little Lulu not to far from where we live and she was ready to go, and knew my 6 year old daughter would just love and adore having a little puppy of her own and would play with it endlessly.

We brought her home yesterday afternoon, she is 7 weeks old and is going to be a longer legged Jack compared to Betsy who is plumper and short legged. Lulu has settled in really well, I have bought a crate for her for when I need to go out so I know she is safe. The night time training is going to be challenging.

I can't wait for her and Betsy to meet each other, I'm sure they will be the best of friends....

Here is Sadie with Lulu. Betsy is the bottom picture. How cute are they? xx

Projects and renovations

2013-04-22T12:39:00.004-07:00

I Love love this blanket!

It's the last one now until the colder weather sets in again, I have made 9 blankets since I started my crochet journey last September, 6 of which have been for here at home, and the others made for other people.What an enjoyable journey it's been. I love having a project to work on when I'm relaxing in the evening.

I have decided to work up lots of little things for now, stuffed hanging hearts, flowers, leaves, Xmas decorations, I'm just going to build a stash of little things, as they are nice to give as gifts, and it will keep my fingers busy.

Here is the colourful stripe

A previously broken gold frame on a mirror, has had the white spray paint treatment...I forgot to take a before in my haste to paint it! Well it was gold and completely snapped in half. I used Araldite to glue it together. Then sprayed 2 coats of white spray paint deliberately leaving some patchy bits so it looked a little aged.

Sturdy coffee table, a bargain at a fiver from a boot sale... Needed some updating...

After...

I prefer the top left natural.

Longing for some warm days now to get out into the garden and do some tidying. Surely summer has to be just around the corner?

Ripple reveal!!

2013-03-26T03:35:00.002-07:00

Yippee it's done at last, I was half way through a blanket on my last ripple post, but had to unravel the whole thing and start again as my sides were not straight... Boo hoo... that really hurt!

I should have taken more care in reading the pattern, I was getting my two end stitches wrong, so it was decreasing! I am impatient though and can't be bothered with having a little test run, but I did before I embarked on the second one. I made a little mini blanket about 10 inches square for Sadie's toys and practised an edge aswell, as getting a straight edge on a ripple is no easy feat either.

So I started this second blanket 2/1/2 weeks ago, and finished it last Friday, and worked the five rows of edging over the weekend, I have been very poorly with Bronchitis so a lot of rest has been had, and to combat boredom my fingers have been busy. I have really enjoyed making this blanket, such a soothing easy rhythm, and fast to work up once you get going.

Anyway here it is:

I made it quite long to ensure cosy feet! and double up if its really cold.

Close up!

Snuggly girl

I couldn't resist rolling up all the blankets I've made and photographing them together. Very satisfying, More than enough to go round if we all want to grab one, it has been very chilly....Brrr...

And now I'm onto making my stripey blanket, as I still have lots of coloured wool yarn left, how could I not?

My first cookery class!

2013-03-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

First class update - Spring rolls, Thai noodles & Ginger cake

Well I'm pleased to say that the first class went very well, the children enjoyed it, which is what counts the most!

We cooked Spring Rolls, filled with chopped cabbage, red peppers, ginger garlic, chicken, and fresh coriander which we wrapped in rice paper which wasn't great to work with to be honest, but the filling was delicious, sticking to Samosa wraps in future though! There was a dipping sauce to accompany them.

We also made Thai noodles

.

And sticky Ginger cake.

We have a shy girl!

Looking forward to next weeks class and growing class numbers! :)

If you follow my blog, and are interested in following what we're up to in cookery classes then please follow my other blog:

Jenny's Kitchen. I also have a Facebook page.

Thanks for reading. :)

Ripply progress

2013-02-15T03:39:00.000-08:00

I'm loving rippling this blanket, although it hasn't been without frustrations, one edge has a wider part at the bottom, which I'm unsure about how to rectify without starting all over again?
Hmm will worry about that later...

The colours are gorgeous and its a very relaxing rhythmic stitch hook away with...

So far so good!

The Rainbow ripple begins...

2013-02-01T07:12:00.003-08:00

This has to be the most exciting, and most eagerly anticipated project of mine since I began my crochet journey in September.

I've gradually built up this stash, just look at all these delicious colours, don't they just sing!

My fingers have been idle for 2 weeks, so can't wait to get started on this.

It will be a big blanket full of colourful ripples, enough to brighten any day!