BUSY, BUSY BEES

I must apologise for my lack of blogging these last few weeks, but time seems to be charging along at such a pace at the moment I just haven't had the time ! Now that the little men are back to school after the Easter hols I am hoping that it will slow down a bit for me to breath & have more time for the little pleasures in life, my blog being one of them.

Here are just a few of the things we have done over the last few weeks.


We went foraging for sticky buds to make our Easter Tree, which the little men decorated all by themselves !

As you can see they were very proud of their work, bless !!!

Easter Egg hunting in Nanna's garden

The weather was fantastic so we made quite a few trips to the park with friends. The council have just upgraded the play area, which was looking rather old & tired, to the little people's delight.


Little man no. 1 being cheeky for the camera

Big smiles from Little man no. 2



Little man no. 1 with best buddy 'H'.

Trying out the new swing with Baby 'P'


Walks in the wood with Nanna & her dogs Bertie & Lilly. The Wood Anemones are out & Bluebells are just about to make an appearance.

The little men love the woods.

Nanna & the little men.

The First Signs Of Spring .......

I think Spring is just around the corner, thank goodness !!! I love the winter but it's been a long snowy one this year & I have had my fill of snow & ice.

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The last two days have been lovely & warm so where better to be than in the garden . My little picket fence was looking rather worse for wear so I made a quick trip to the village ironmongers to buy a tin of paint to brighten it up. What a difference !!!!

I have also given the grass it's first haircut of the year & removed some casualties of the frost & snow, luckly there where only a few. Oh Spring I am so ready for you, hurry up & come & stay !

Another WIP .......

Yes, yet another WIP !!!

I am making the little men blankets for their beds for next Autumn & Winter. I wanted them to be lovely bright colours & also washable so I am using Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice yarn. This is the first time I have used this yarn & I'm very pleased with how it's turning out ! No, it isn't as squidgy & soft as Rowan's Pure wool or Debbie Bliss but I am hoping it will hold up better as it is 100% acrylic. I'm not a lover of acrylic yarns but this doesn't look synthetic & the colours are wonderfully bright & cheery.

I have bought 2 balls of each colour for the first blanket & hope I will have enough to make a single bed size.

I am still working on my Wendy Bliss blanket, which is coming along nicely, so hopefully it will be finished soon.

New Yarn & A New Project .......

I know, I know, I promised myself not to buy any more yarn until I had used up some of my large stash but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do & in my case it's yarn !!!!!

A new Hobbycraft store has just opened near me so the other day I thought I would go & have a look around. I spied that Wendy has brought out a new yarn called 'Merino Bliss' & it's gorgeously soft so I just had to have some !!!! There isn't a great colour range which is disappointing but I picked out four colour that went well together for yet another granny blanket !!!

I also bought two skeins of 'Rowan Colourscape' as I have seen a great crochet scarf pattern on Ravelry using this yarn. I rushed home to start my new granny & this is my progress so far.

This yarn is wonderful to work with, I'm finding it hard to put down & have even been hooking while cooking dinner !!!!

At this rate this could be my speed record for making a blanket, I can't wait to snuggle under it, watch this space !!!!

A Day For Some Home Baking ........

Hello everyone, I'm back after a short break !!!

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The white stuff is also back, only a few centimeters at the moment but more is fore casted for later on !!! So I thought I would stay in & try out some new cake receipts. I love Jewish & Eastern European cakes & desserts so I had a nosey on the net & found this receipt that took my fancy. I have changed the measurements from cups to ounces as I couldn't find my measuring cups & I think it's turned out rather well & is very yummy & moreish.
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Peach & Cinnamon Cake with Crumble Topping

Ingredients

8oz SR Cake Flour
8oz Softened Butter
8oz Golden Caster Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 Eggs
1-2 tbsp Cold Water (I have always found that by adding a little water & not milk makes cakes lighter)
I Can of sliced peaches (drained & slightly chopped)

Topping

3oz Flour
2oz Brown Sugar
1oz Butter

Pre heat oven to 180 oC

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together until the batter has a light dropping consistency (don't over mix or you will have a heavy cake !!!). Spoon half the batter into a greased & floured 9" cake tin. Arrange chopped peaches over then spoon remaining batter over the top.


Now make the topping crumble as you would a normal crumble mix, then sprinkle all over the top. Bake for about 1 hour, ( my cake took 1 hour 10mins !! ) Leave to cool in the tin for 30 mins before turning out onto a cooling rack.
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Then enjoy with a nice cup of tea or coffee !!!!
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Long Time No See ......

It's been over 2 weeks since I last blogged, I have no excuse really just very busy !!!!

What with nearly 3 weeks of being snowed in with the little men off school & then a bout of tummy upsets life has been hectic with very little time for me.

I have been making slow progress with my knitting projects & crocheting hasn't seen the light since Christmas, hey ho ti's the life of a mum !

Normal serve will resume very shortly !

Another FO ( Finished Object ) .......
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I seem to be on a roll at the moment, here is another finished project to show you. I wanted a hat to go with my new winter coat & once again Ravelry came up trumps !!!
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I had an odd skein of Malabrigo lying around which was the perfect colour & was just right for this pattern. It was oh so quick to make, two evenings in all, & I'm thrilled with the end result !!

Pattern : Spring Cap By Woolly Wormhead

Yarn : Malabrigo

Colour : Velvet Grape

Needles : 4.5 mm & 5mm

A Finished Project & WIP's .......

My mum had been saying she wanted to buy a snood/cowl to keep her head warm when she walks her dogs, so I decided to make one as a Christmas pressie. Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish it on time but she is still over the moon with it. The perfect dog walking accessory in this bitter weather, mind you she hasn't worn it yet as the snow is too deep for walking two little Shih Tzu's.

Pattern : Holland Cowl (free pattern on Ravelry)

Yarn : 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky

Needles : 8mm



Now onto some WIP's. The first is a 'Gathered Scarf' using the gorgeous, scrumptious Malabrigo Worsted. I love this yarn, brilliant for hats & scarves & oh so, so soft & warm. I have rather a large stash of this gorgeous yarn under my bed !

The next is a 'Lacy Baktus' scarf using another favorite yarn of mine, Manos Silk Blend. This style of scarf is very much 'in' at the moment & is like a wide, narrow kerchief. that you wrap around your neck & knot at the front.

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SNOW !!! Part II .......

Snowball fights ::

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Sledging with Friends ::

Little man no. 1 hitching a ride ::


Making sure our feathered friends are well fed ::

The beauty of snow ::


Walking to my mum's yesterday before the blizzard hit ::

The walk back home in the blizzard ::


Our garden this morning ::

13 inches of snow, We're snowed in !!! ::