little april showers

This afternoon the biggest darkest cloud slowly moved over the skies above us looking a little bit like the alien spaceship in Independence Day.

I even put down my cup of tea {never happens} and stared out of the window in an end-of-the-world disaster movie type of way....

the washing on the line {that had been hanging there for a week} almost seemed to sigh here we go again...

the cats began to regret scratching at the back door to go out a few minutes earlier.

and, suddenly remembering that I’d sent the little lady off to nursery without her wellies,

and with barely a flicker of the new boys sleepy baby blonde lashes...

the april showers lashed down, there was even hail and a bit of thunder... 

and I grabbed my camera and headed into the waterlogged garden.

Ooh, I do love a great British downpour, don’t you?

Happy wellie wearing weekend. x

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kitchen crush

You always seem to get the flu when you least want it, right? 

When there are a million to do’s on your to do list. Anyway, moan over. To be fair, I did indulge in a bit me stuff while I was croaking, sneezing and drinking hot Ribena.

I read books. Yes, by jove, I did. 

I blubbed my heart out to Call the Midwife, which incidentally is a far more effective way of clearing the head than a head sauna {although I had loads of those too}. 

And I totally and quite unashamedly indulged my interest {slight obsession} with Titanic. The ship not the movie. Well, the movie too, actually, but anyway...

I watched loads of weekend cookery programmes and developed a bit of a kitchen crush on Rachel Khoo. So much so that I had to immediately go out and buy {stay in and click on Amazon...} her book The Little Paris Kitchen. Having drooled my way through every page I’m now aching to move back home to a BRAND NEW KITCHEN!!!!!! 

Speaking of which we are now at the point of picking paint colours. Which is much harder than you would think when you are doing the entire house. 

Elephants Breath or Dead Salmon...?? These are the questions I find myself pondering in the wee small hours.

And on top of all this I’ve had two little words ringing in my ears....’bridal commission’

So I’m brandishing a soldering torch at every available moment. Safely behind a child safety gate. In my 'Little Surbiton Kitchen'...! Finally putting together all the parts of a headdress I feel like I have been working on for yonks. Actually probably about a year ago I first worked on these designs. It’s the final fitting on sunday and then {all being well..!} the lovely Bride will take it away once and for all - there is always far too much time to fuss and titivate over something when you have a long time to work on a piece and that is not good. That can lead to over doing.

This headdress is bound for Sweden and a very rustic Scandinavian style wedding so I am very excited to see the photos of the big day. And, although I have enjoyed working on this piece, I’m going to be very glad to box it up and send it on it’s merry way because there have been far too many stitchery ideas bubbling away in my head, and lets face it, I have an entire house to *decorate!! 

* well, not me personally but I have to point and say ‘that colour, there...’ which is quite tiring don’t you know...!?

My Creative Space.

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chocolate cheerio cakes

We’ve recently spent some quality time at our local Little Cooks cookery classes. 

The little lady has delighted in putting her pinny on and doing some baking! And of course there is always the added bonus of scoffing your creative culinary delights which you just can’t do with a finger painting!

In fact we’ve been doing a spot of baking at home too, although there really isn’t the space here so have had to wing it somewhat with me whipping up a dough mix or cake batter in the kitchen and the little one completing the most important task of rolling and cutting cookie shapes or spooning mixture into cake cases at the dining table. 

But this suits my neurotic baker ways and helps keep kitchen trauma to a minimum!

Anyway, despite having a stock of cookie dough batches in the freezer for rainy day cookie baking {gosh, doesn’t that make me sound organised...?} I decided today that we would make chocolate crispie cakes because I remember them so well from my childhood, and well, they really are totally simples and just a bit yummy, aren’t they?

Although we don’t eat Rice Crispies in this house.....or Cornflakes for that matter....so Cheerios it had to be!

This is how we made ours.....

Chocolate Cheerio Cakes

100g milk chocolate

75g Cheerios

50g unsalted butter

4 tbsp runny honey {or you could use golden syrup}

50g dried blueberries {or similar}

Melt the chocolate, butter and honey in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until smooth and all melted.

Mix the Cheerios and blueberries in a large mixing bowl and pour the melted chocolate mixture over. Mix until all combined.

Spoon into cake cases and chill for about 40 minutes...or not...if you can’t wait, then scoff immediately and revel in your rebellious ways and sticky fingers! 

This is easy and fun for children to make, except, of course for the melty chocolate bit which should be done by a grown up.

Washing up can be fun too.....although best done in the garden and always a good idea to check everything before putting it back in the cupboard!

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what’s it all about.....

I’ve been rather busy and therefore just a bit absent from blogging for the past... {..gasp! Is it really that long...???} year or so!!

Yikes! It’s been all go, to say the least.

I could go on and on explaining all about the lack of internet that struck our home for a couple of months {very annoying} and then the subsequent break down of a slightly battered and peppa pig stickered ‘pooter’ and then the convoluted and slightly mind warping appeal we had to conjure up with regards to our building proposals that had been initially REJECTED!!! {Insert frowny face here}.

I’m sure you won’t be the slightest bit surprised to hear of my long list of unfinished projects.....I’m drowning in granny squares, have piles of cut out and ready to sew dress pattern pieces......and the usual ‘I’ve started but I probably won’t finish...’ knitting challenges.....

But no, I’m going to return to this wee blog with a little shout out to the one project I did get finished. 

Ok, so it may have been two weeks late and made me really tired and possibly just a bit grumpy in the making, and I have a feeling I wasn’t particularly looking my best and the language was akin to that of a sailor on delivery of said project. 

BUT....all that said, I think you’ll agree..... 

It’s by far my best work to date....!

{Yes, we have a new little - almost 8 week old -  thimbles in our house! I have a brand spanking new ‘pooter’ and we have upped sticks while the builders turn our house into a little palace....in my head anyway!!}

Just to say a big thanks for all the emails and messages of ‘where are you?’. You’re all just so lovely to get in touch and ask after me. x

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✴ the unintentional vase, part two

I really can't resist looking out for unusual, or unexpected, vessels for pretty florals.

There is something so charming and quirky about filling an old tin can or bottle with a bunch of delicate blooms. 

And such nifty, thrifty chic to boot. 

I found this decanter {cut glass, or dare I wonder, lead crystal, perhaps??} in the local charity shop the other day. 

I only nipped out for cat food. 

It was missing it's stopper which I think contributed towards its very respectable price tag of £1.

I gave it a good clean in hot soapy water and tied a scrap of pointe shoe ribbon around the neck, filling it with the prettiest rose tinted lisianthus.

Keep a look out in charity and junk shops for anything imperfect. That is, missing a lid or a stopper, or a handle or perhaps even has small chips and cracks. They make the loveliest and thriftiest of vases.

In case you are wondering, part one was these pretty milk/cream jugs which I filled with bluebells. Although these are perfectly perfect and are also used for their original purpose, they sometimes like to moonlight as flower vessels! 

Who can blame them?!

Taking part in Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

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