Finished Fireplace

BB has been really hard at work and the fireplace is finished!!!

In the end the firebasket we had was too big so had to buy another one. A local Blacksmith made the frame for us and BB laid the grey brick hearth.

and our first fire! Still have a bit more work to do - re-painting the wall and adding some sort of mantle shelf. Just in time for Christmas.

Santa WILL be coming this year

After a number of years 'unmming' and 'ahhing' we have finally decided to open up the fireplace in the Dining Room. This was built by the people who owned the house before us but they didn't really use it so blocked it in. This may mean a complete re-think of the use of the ground floor rooms but it's a first step and means that Santa can pop down the chimney this year rather than using the front door!!!

Obviously it's not finished yet - BB only knocked it all out today - we'll need to sort out a hearth and maybe a mantle piece. We still have a lovely dog-grate from our old house and hopefully that will fit.

Blue knitting

One of my friends recently had a baby boy so I knitted this cardigan for him. The wool is a lovely Jaegar pure merino wool which is gradualted in colour from mid blue to cream so gives a lovely mottled effect which is a bit different. It was also quite nice to knit something other than girly stuff!!

Bimbo Bello

Belle has been very wary of my hairdryer when we dry her hair, and also I was a bit concerned as it's a bit too hot. Then we found this fantastic one just for her -and isn't the name so appropriate!! Now she LOVES having her hair dried and even loves mummy's hairdryer now which has to be used on her whenever mummy does her hair so she can go 'weeeeeeee' and joggle about - so getting ready now takes twice as long!!!

I'm feeling smug

Yes, I am feeling very smug and pleased with myself as I have FINISHED my Christmas shopping!!!! (well with the exception of a main present for BB - awaiting his list, and a few more little bits for Belle). Have also sorted birthday presents out for between now and January. I have never been this organised before - what will I do with myself for the next 2 months!!

fantastic home-made roasted Cashew Nuts

We love cashew nuts but they are a tad expensive so just for treats, and I always buy a really big tub at Christmas. Last week we went to a local Oriental Supermarket and I bought a large bag of unroasted cashew nuts (I only needed a handful for my dish but they were quite reasonable so thought I would keep and store them). I'm not sure whether the nuts are actually raw (as I once heard or read that there is something poisonous about the cashew nut uncooked) but anway they were in a 'raw' seeming state. Anway I decided to have a go at roasting some, which was so successful I did the whole lot!!!

Spread 'raw' cashew nuts out on a baking tray.

Roast in oven for a few minutes turning every so often (you need to keep a close eye as timings vary). Take out and allow to cool a bit.

Drizzle with Olive Oil and add salt. Store.

They are absolutely delicious and this was you also control the amount of salt on them. The only problem is, will they last til Christmas. (I think not, as jar has been half emptied already!).

Christmas is coming.....

Things have been rather hectic so not had much time to blog. You would think with Belle in f/t childcare this week I would have oodles of free time but not so - haven't even got half the things done that I had planned - no matter!! Well, I did manage to finish the cake and pud.

part-way through mixing the cake in the Kenwood

The finished cake - yum yum

Both have now been wrapped up and put away for Christmas. I always make a small one as well for testing purposes. Half had gone before I had even managed to take the pic!

Getting into the Christmas spirit

After the fantastic example set by Lizyloo I thought I ought to start our Christmnas prep. So, tonight I have been 'steeping' the fruit for the Christmas cake (right) in lots of brandy and getting the Christmas pud mix prepared and resting (BB and I having both had a good stir and plently of wishes - and they DO come true!!!).

Tomorrow is set aside to steam the pudding and to mix up and bake the rest of the cake along with knocking up a batch of mincemeat. In between the cooking I shall have a good spring clean of all the kitchen cupboards and throw out those strange cans and packets that always accumulate at the back of cupboards. They are always things that everyone denies having ever bought, no-one will ever eat them and they are 3 years out of date (how can this be when I clear the cupboards out every year?....)

My First Shoes

On Wednesday we went to John Lewis and got Belle's feet measured and had her fitted with her first 'proper' pair of shoes. These have quite bendy flexible soles and are so cute. Belle is very proud of wearing them although does like to try to take them off as they are velcro fastened!

Unique pretty clothes

I recently visisted a very nice baby clothes shop - lots of very pretty and unusual stuff but unfortunately a price tag to match. Although I bought a couple of things I decided that I should take a leaf out of Lizyloos book and adapt some plain clothing to make some pretty and unique pieces.

Take two plain white vests / sleeveless bodies and add some subtle detailing.

It's just subtle but adds a nice touch to an otherwise plain piece.

Finished clock

We picked up our finished project from Bojangles this week and we're very pleased with it. The clock will go in Belle's bedroom so we just need to start teaching her how to tell the time! We loved doing this so much and were so happy with the result that we then made a similar plate for Grandma for her Christmas present which we'll pick up next week.

Busy doing nothing...

Haven't blogged for ages as have been so busy.... but not sure exactly what we've been up to and achieved! Certainly no craft activity other than making the odd birthday card - am missing my crafts a lot. However today we went to Bojangles - a craft cafe in Amersham. Here you buy bisque-ware and paint it yourself. The cafe is open to anyone but there is a big emphasis on children. So Belle and I made a clock for her room. This consisted of Belle making footprints on the clock face and mummy writing her name and adding the numbers. No pictures as yet as we have to wait for a week before we go and collect it. Silly mummy forgot to take the camera so we have no pictures of work-in-progress or Belle's friend 'Im' who was making a footprint mug for her dad. Doh, silly mummy.

Happy Birthday Nanny

Take one cute smiley face and the inevitable poppy. Mix them together and you have a birthday card for Nanny!

knitting projects

Lizyloo sent me this wonderful knitting kit - a bag and a mouse - and I finally finished today! I'm not sure about the safety of my sewing though so I may need to wait a few years until Belle is past that 'everything in mouth' stage until she gets to play with them!!! Thanks Lizyloo. xxx

Mmmmmm's

When we were little, we loved biscuits that we called "Mmmm's". I think they were Viennese Whirls but were loosely in the shape of an 'm' - hence our name for them!!! They were a treat and must have been quite expensive (compared to the family sized bucket of shop's own bourbons.) I have tried to re-create them as I haven't been able to buy them. Unfortunately I didn't have a large enough nozzle to make an 'M' shape so made a sort of swirly blob. They almost taste the same (I may need to practice a few more times !!) but I didn't have unsalted butter so made with salted and you can just about taste the salt - but they still taste yummy...Mmmmmmm!!!

Sleeping in the Sun

Molly loves to sun herself. Here she is on top of our small shed enjoying the rays.

A good cup of Coffee

I love a cup of coffee in the morning. If I was working from home I'd have one at my desk, and if I'd gone into the office again, I'd grab one to have at my desk. Then I would get caught up in e-mails, phone calls, customer issues, staff queries etc and I'd have a half a cup of cold coffee sitting there and not really remember drinking any of it.

We bought a coffee machine at home - one of those trendy expensive ones where you add a new 'pod' for each cup. It was rubbish. A number of problems with it

1. very expensive to buy

2. didn't get water hot enough

3. coffee tasted awful

4. you could only make one cup at a time (pain if you have 4-6 people round for coffee)

5. 'pods' were expensive

So we got rid of it and bought a relatively cheap coffee filter machine. Fantastic. Great coffee everytime from 1 cup to 10+.

Now I am at home with Belle I make a point of sitting down and having a cup of coffee (a big cup and saucer) without (too many!) interruptions. Bliss.

Harvest Time

Growing and eating your own food is so great - you get a real sense of achievement and you know what it has, or more importantly hasn't, been sprayed or treated with.
The last few weeks we have been enjoying peas (so sweet that it seems a waste to cook them so have been eating raw in salads), tomatoes, lettuces and cucumbers! The runner beans and french beans are coming along (planted these slightly later this year so that we didn't miss the crop when we went on holiday) and the greenhouse is nurturing aubergines and chillies. In addition we have grown lots of flat leafed parsley which we use loads of in our cooking and this has been a fantastic cropper. In some cases growing your own isn't that much cheaper than buying veg, given the soil and feeds that you buy, but the parsley has earnt it's place over and over. Still got carrots, broccoli and parsnips to enjoy..... Christmas Day when you go out and pick and cook your own parsnips is so great.

Picnic in the Woods

The weather was so wonderful yesterday that Belle and I met up with friends and went for a picnic in the woods. We used a proper picnic hamper and rug and baked quiches and fairy cakes and picked tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber from the garden. We had a lovely time. This is the hamper once we had eaten almost everything!

Holiday Project

Went on holiday recently to France. Getting ready and packing was all a bit of a rush and I ended up not taking any projects - no matter I thought - we will be playing on the beach all day or in the garden so no time for projects.......it rained and was overcast a lot so I popped into a local Cross Stitch shop and bought the attached to keep me going through the cloudy days and evenings. Have only done about a quarter of it so far and then when I got back my sis in Law has sent me some rather good projects to get stuck into so once again I have started but who knows when I will finish them all!!

ENORMOUS needles

I knitted this hat for my mother-in-law in about 2 hours (and that included playing with Belle and giving her tea!). The needles are enormous - 15mm so it is really, really quick. I'm not much of a hat person but I have to say that this even looks reasonable on me - so I may knit one for myself later in the autumn.

Alan Dart & Simply Knitting

Bought a magazine the other day which I had not seen before - Simply Knitting. I thought that it may be a bit of a waste of money as there are loads and loads of 'craft' magazines on sale at the moment and when you look through them you wouldn't bother to make half of the stuff that they show as it is so awful. So, I was very pleasently surprised at how good the mag was. Full of great stuff, nothing too naff, and lots of info and links out to other shops / web sites etc. One of the featured patterns was by Alan Dart. Being a big fan of Jean Greenhowe (although I have to confess that I haven't actually made anything yet - I just like looking!), it seems that Alan's designs are very similar. I visited Alan's web-site and liked the stuff so much that I have ordered his 'bookazine' Irresistible Gifts to Knit and, as knitting is so much more fun when you can discuss with someone, have also ordered one for Lizyloo. Here are some pics of his stuff (not necessarily in the book) - also opposite are web links to his site and also to Simply Knitting.

Gorgeous leather shoes

Aren't these gorgeous little leather shoes? They go with so many of Belle's outfits and are a lovely summery pattern. I think that Belle may develop her mummy's (and nanny's) love of shoes!

Playing in the paddling pool

Gorgeous weather yesterday so we had a mess about in the paddling pool with plastic ducks (excellent chewing material!). Bought Belle an 'all-in-one' for our holiday but was so hot that she got to wear it, and the matching French Foreign Legion hat, a bit early! I think it just about covers her!!!

I love I scream!

Saw this cute hat and just had to buy it for Belle. It's been lovely weather recently so she has had lots of use already

Yummy snacks

Belle has been getting on really well with eating solids - providing they are not at all lumpy. Try feeding her anything less than totally smooth and she keeps her mouth open whilst pulling a funny face as if she's just been poisoned until the offending lump is removed! I decided to give her a go on some finger food though and gave her a crunchy carrot stick. A bit puzzled at first but then she decided that she really liked it and actually bit bits off and ate them!! I think these were the favourite snack of cousin Boncie when he was over in the UK so it's nice that they both like these.

Cosy Cot

Belle has not been happy to sleep in her cot, I think she has found it a bit large and daunting after the Moses basket. I was considering cot bumpers but they get very mixed reviews regarding safety and then Poodle suggested some long 'pillows'. I wizzed them up and here are the before and after shots.

They are stuffed with part of an old duvet that I cut up which is very lightweight but Belle loves to snuggle up to them and now she sleeps in her cot almost all night! I remove the large cushion when Belle sleeps at night but it's nice for her to cuddle into when she plays during the day.

Blonde Little Miss Daisy Button

Today I used my 'Little Miss Button' pattern and here is Blonde Little Miss Daisy Button, pictured here (left) with her great friend Miss Lizyloo Button, from Australia. I used some of the material provided in the pattern kit and used some that I already had. Took me a couple of very enjoyable hours to make. Am now planning on making a couple more for my friend's little girls when I have stocked up on more felt.

Play blocks

I went into a baby shop yesterday and saw some lovely material play cubes or blocks, but although they looked gorgeous they were quite expensive - so I decided to make some myself for Belle. These are the finished results. They are stuffed with Kapok (is the spelt right?) so are nice and squishy - unfortunately it's difficult to get them flat so they are sort of rounded cubes! So far we have been playing 'knock down the tower' about a million times - do kids EVER get bored of this?????

My stash

I have started a collection of 'fat quarters' and other pieces of material, a selection above. I'm just buying pieces that appeal to me at the moment rather than buying for a particular project, but I'm itching to start something!

Cashmere Teddy

These last couple of weeks I have been working on a present for my friend who is due to have a baby in June. They decided not to find out the sex of the baby so I was trying to find something that was suitable for either a boy or a girl. Although I started working on a blanket I realised that I would still be working on it this time next year so I changed my mind and made a lovely cashmere teddy, similar to one I made for Belle before she was born.

Part way through........

Belle's bear is the one on the left but I decided that the legs were a little short so adapted the pattern this time round. It is very 'home made' but that is the point so I am quite pleased. I now have a few weeks to sort out making a card - paper crafting is another huge passion of mine but I just haven't had time to do anything lately. I have grand plans to do scrap booking of Belle's pictures but need to have a bit of time to get started. Another one to add to the list.....

Playing in the garden

Absolutely gorgeous weather here so we have been out in the garden a lot. The blog has therefore had a bit of a back seat. Belle loves it in the garden and has been playing on her patchwork quilt. However, although she can't yet crawl she certainly can move about and keeps managing to get off the edge no matter where she starts! Grass is obviously a novelty still! So I have put Belle's playpen in the garden. This was such a fantasttic buy and we have been really pleased with it. It folds up and pops into a bag so is portable, the sides are nice and soft so when Belle falls she doesn't hurt herself, and it comes with a removeable roof which keeps the sun off when outside and makes it like a little den!

my creative sister in law

This is a picture of the lovely flags or bunting that my s-i-l Lizyloo made for Belle. Here they are up in Belle's room making a lovely splash of colour. Also in the photo are the pictures that BB made for the room. He took photos of parts of the curtains (which I made, pictured below right) and then mixed the colours to create some co-ordinating artwork.

Little Miss Button Abroad

This is Miss Lizyloo Button, made by my wonderful sister in law in Australia for Belle. The pattern for Miss Button can be ordered from the 'Sew Your Own' site (url on the right) and on the site you can also see an album of other people's Little Miss Buttons. I have ordered my kit and can't wait for it to arrive so I can make a friend for Lizyloo Button (seen relaxing by the pool, left and eating cake by my fantastic Kenwood chef, below). You can either just buy the pattern, or a kit with materials. I have opted for the kit but will then probably make some more Miss Button's with my own fabrics for my friend's two daughters.

No time for projects

What a busy week - and yet I appear to have achieved nothing! No time to do any projects this week and I do need to start something special for a friend who is expecting her first baby in June. Just been busy pottering around the house and trying to recover from some rather sleepless nights. BB has been getting the garden all ready for our vegetables; planting seeds in the greenhouse, digging in 'matter' to the vegetable plot and pricking out and potting on. I normally do the veg each year but Belle has been keeping me rather busy and I haven't had time so far. Having a bit of a pamper tomorrow and getting my hair done which I am looking forward to - has been crying out for attention for some weeks now - and whilst I am there I will book up for a massage which I was treated to for my birthday so something else to look forward to. Must plan next week better and get some projects kicked off as I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms!

re-discovering old projects

I absolutely love starting something new - be it a new project or a brand new craft all together. There's an excitement when you start planning, buying or gathering your materials and then starting off. I am not however all that great at finishing projects. It's not that I get bored, it's just that a newer project comes along! So unless I have a specific use, purpose or deadline I do tend to drift a bit and old projects build up and get put away. So, every so often I have a good root through my project cupboard and I re-discover something that I started (often years ago) - it's a bit like finding clothes at the bottom of your ironing pile that you had forgotten that you had - and all those 'new peoject' feelings kick off again!

This was the case a couple of weeks ago when I discovered a cushion cover tapestry in the cupboard. I can't recall exactly when I started this but I planned it for our old cottage and we moved from there nearly 6 years ago! Anyway, I have got all enthused about it again and have been making good progress. Who knows, I may even finish it this time providing I keep focussed and don't start browsing through knitting patterns or patchwork books.....

Patchwork Cat

Saw this patchwork cat in the quilting book and thought immediately of Lizyloo who makes similar. I may attempt this one for Belle when I track down a good source of fabrics.

What to do today

Belle is off to her grandparents for part of the day so I have a few hours to myself. Crafts are calling to me but I MUST MUST MUST clean the house. Maybe I can clean quickly.....

I am knitting a cardigan for Belle at the moment but I fear that my slow progress means she will be too big for it soon!!!! I knitted her quite a few bits before she was born which she is getting good wear from

This is one of my favourites - a sort of knitted patchwork. Made with a lovely Jeager yarn and gorgeous litlle hedart buttons.

Off to do a bit of speed vacuuming then!....