Thinking about Spring

Thank you for the lovely comments about my long eared bunnies in my last post, I'm glad the inside out tutorial was useful.

It's wet and windy here today, so after catching up with the house jobs, I think it'll be time to settle down with my book. Imogen isn't due home until 7.30 this evening as she's gone on a school trip to see Blood Brothers in Sheffield. Just a couple of baked potatoes for me and Andy tonight, Imogen has a pack up with her, though I'm sure she'll fancy a nice hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream when she gets in and tells us all about her trip.

I missed a parcel delivery yesterday so Andy went to pick it up for me this afternoon.

As you can see, I opened it straight away! I'd ordered a few little bits and bobs from Hobbycraft, a bit early for Easter, but I'm so looking forward to Spring. I've already seen so many little green shoots from bulbs poking through and it almost feels as though the anticipation for Spring is in the air. It's been a very mild winter really, so I feel I shouldn't complain, but it will be nice to say goodbye to the grey days and welcome the sunshine back.

It's always exciting to open a parcel, even if you know what's going to be inside it already. Some little eggs, I really like the speckled ones.

I'm very excited about these paper mache eggs. I have a couple of different things I'm planning to use them for

So I thought it best to get 5...

Pretty little daisies, white ones and coloured ones.

I felt a bit naughty buying the grassy bunny, I thought I should just decoupage my own, but it's just so cute I couldn't resist it and I think it'll be a lovely addition to my Spring and Easter decorations.

Can you see why I couldn't resist him, so sweet!

Take care
xxx

Crochet Hooks and Daffodils

Doesn't time fly, Easter and school holidays are just around the corner already! Spring is definitely in the air and the vases of Daffodils around the house are a reminder that warmer weather is on it's way.

We seem to have quite busy recently and I haven't spent much time crafting as other things have taken over. Imogen has just had her trip down to Wembley to sing with the Voice in a Million choir. It meant picking her up at 3.30 in the morning, so we had a very tired day the next day (I fell asleep in front of the TV the following evening).

We've also been having some work done in the garden. The patio needed resin between the cracks to stop those pesky weeds from coming through and we had a planter built from some old railway sleepers. I'm hoping to get an opportunity to spend some time in the garden over the weekend

have a bit of a tidy up and sort out last years tubs ready for this year and hopefully take a few photos. The weather has been very changeable so that will probably be the deciding factor in whether or not the pictures get taken!

Found my self a little bargain the other day that other crochet peeps may like to know about. I popped into The Range and found this set of 4 crochet hooks

It doesn't say on the pack, but the sizes are 1, 1 1/2, 2 and 3 and it only costs £1.

While I was there I picked up some polystyrene eggs to decoupage so I can hang them on my little tree, I thought I may felt the tiny ones.

I'm hoping to decorate my tree for each season... I have such a long to do list!

Happy Mother's Day on Sunday to all the mums out there.

Take care
xxx

An Easter Birthday Cake

Happy Easter everyone, we have had a marvelous time, made even more special by my son having his 25th birthday today (it was a beautiful sunny Good Friday when he was born).

He was so tiny, and I was so young!

We celebrated Easter yesterday with an egg hunt for Imogen. It's not quite the same as when she was small, but still good fun and she enjoyed the searching.

Everyone who bought her an egg bought a One Direction themed egg, yet everyone was different and had something different inside (Imogen loves One Direction). This chicken and her chicks were very cute, the chicken was chocolate and had another chocolate egg inside it with smarties in it, very cute.

I made Imogen and Izzy a little crochet Easter bunny each. I found the pattern on Friday night on The Green Dragonfly and wanted to make them without Imogen seeing me.

sweet little pom pom tails

There was a lot of cooking in preparation for our Easter tea yesterday, and as I knew Adam wouldn't be eating with us today (he did come round for cards, pressies and hugs and kisses though), I wanted it to be a little celebration for his birthday too.

Imogen wanted to make her big brother a birthday cake, and decided to have a go at a cheesecake. She made it Saturday so it could chill overnight. It tasted absolutely amazing, far better than anything that could be bought readymade.

First the base. You need:

125g (4 1/2oz) digestive biscuits

5 tablespoons caster sugar

75g (3oz) melted butter

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

You will also need a 21cm (9in) springform cake tin.

1. Crush the biscuits inside a bag into fine crumbs.

2. Mix together with sugar, butter and cocoa powder.

This is your base, press it firmly into your cake tin making sure there are no gaps (or your filling will drip through!)

Next the Filling:

675g (1lb 5oz) cream cheese

397g (14oz) tin condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

120g (4 1/2 oz) chocolate chips

1 teaspoon plain flour

3. Mash the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl, gradually add the condensed milk and beat well.

4. Add vanilla extract and the beaten eggs, then continue beating until you have a smooth mixture.

5. Add the chocolate chips and flour (the flour stops the chips from sinking in the mixture, this does      work). Mix in well and pour over the base.

6. Pop in a preheated oven at Gas 2 (150c 300f) for 1 hour.

7. After an hour switch it off, but leave to cool in the oven for another hour. 

8. Remove from oven and let it cool completely. When cool, pop it in the fridge.

9. Remove from the tin after refrigeration, decorate and enjoy :)

Imogen made Adam's cheesecake look fantastic. She very patiently sat and put chocolate chips all the way around the top rim and the cake stand, then a nice big A for Adam.

It was amazing!

What a busy time we've had. I made a big pasta salad, some scrummy home made potato salad and dips and a lovely roasted gammon joint. I found some Easter plates and crackers in the supermarket and decorated the table with tiny chocolate Easter bunnies.

The girls enjoyed having crackers to pull.

I think this photo of Adam and his girlfriend Holly is sweet, he was reading his cracker joke, while Holly was pulling a cracker with Izzy

We all ate, chatted and laughed until we could hardly move, then went into the living room to watch Brave and try to keep our eyes open while the girls cuddled their new bunnies and ate chocolate.

Time to relax with a lovely strong cup of tea.

Take care

xxx

The girls are laying again...

We were starting to think our girls weren't going to lay any more eggs for us, it's been ages since we had any fresh eggs from our hens.

Then... woo hoo... Andy went to feed and clean them out and came back with a bag full of lovely, big fresh eggs.

I think I'll use some to make a quiche or 2, and omelets are definitely on the menu - yum! We made a pizza for tea last night, it was delicious.

You can't beat a home made pizza, so much nicer than what the shops sell and you can top it with your favourite things. I keep meaning to get on top of my organisation skills (or lack of) and make a couple more to freeze as it's always handy to have something quick to grab.

The puppies are getting bigger and starting to venture out and about in their playpen. They are just so cute, 2 are very like their dad, and the other 2 more like mum. Prepare for puppy picture overload :)

And if that wasn't sweet enough for you, I'll leave you with a picture of the very tasty chocolate caramel slices we've made.

Take care
xxx