yes

Yes, sun filled day today and we made a special outing to our local park. It was so good to get out and burn off some energy. A perfect ending to the holidays.

I'm not a royalist but I thought I'd make a little something to eat with some tea tonight as I watch (well crochet and watch) the royal wedding. I made a batch of cupcakes to decorate with miss E and a friend she had over. Their cupcakes were quite colourful and diverse in their decoration. I however was inspired by Kate's (Diana's) engagement ring, a stunning sapphire set with diamonds, I was pleasantly surprised when my husband (without being prompted) recognised this inspiration before he quickly ate a couple of them.

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

wet

If these school holidays had a theme it would be "wet". It's been frustrating for all, no trips to the park and lots of inside play and all of us wishing that it would stop raining for a day or so. Today wasn't much different. After a short walk down to the library it started to rain so we took shelter in the library cafe till it cleared enough to walk home without getting soaked. Then I was lucky enough to make it to a local secondhand book sale where I really lucked out. I got the above two books by Edith Holden (one I already have but it was in very poor condition) but these are both in very good condition. We got a stack of golden and kids books and a couple of good children's craft books too All for less than it cost for the three of us to have a coffee, two fluffies and share a gingerbread man, so I was very pleased (almost makes up for two weeks of rain).

The afternoon was spent watching a DVD from the library and working on some more crochet dishcloths, they are a bit addictive and the perfect little project for a cold, wet day.

today

Edible? Not sure but I'm going to find out, do you know what they are? But these,

definitely are ! The recipe was shared by Hanna, I can report that they are a big hit in our house and I'm dreaming up some different variations too, they look like bad for you truffles but they have very little in them that would make a nutritionist cringe (at least that's what I think, maybe a nutritionist would disagree) I really think you should try some.

over

Well the Easter weekend is over now and I didn't get around to sharing many Easter things last week, I just went by in a blur. I did however fit in some time to make some Hot cross buns, I used a recipe that Jess from Spinning a Yarn shared on her blog. It makes delicious buns that disappeared quite quickly, it seems a much better recipe than all the others I've tried and makes very light fluffy buns. I'm thinking of making them not only at Easter but over the winter as a warm weekend treat.

Hope you had a good long weekend friends.

today

for the basket

I've been making some of these fabric covered eggs today to have in a bowl as Easter decorations. Here are some instructions if you want to make your own. I found that I got better at covering the eggs as I went along so don't worry if your first ones aren't perfect, it's all part of the charm of handmade!

You will need: Some blown eggs, Mod podge, paint brush, fabric, scissors (not your best sewing ones)

1: Cut a piece of fabric to wrap around your egg, it needs to be long enough at each end to reach the end of the egg. If unsure make it a bit bigger you can always trim the extra off later.

2: We need to cut some triangles out of the fabric so it will wrap around the egg nicely. I folded the fabric down the middle so each end was cut the same (and twice as fast). They don't have to bee even, but make sure you leave a band across the centre that is uncut.3: Paint on the mod podge around the middle of the egg. Place it on the fabric and check that each end will be covered by fabric once pulled up.

4: Wrap the fabric the whole way around the egg. You might find that the triangles that you cut aren't deep enough, the fabric will pucker as you wrap it around. So if you need to cut some little slits do that now. (this is why I suggest not using your best shears, just in case some mod podge gets on them)

5: Your egg should look like the below picture at both ends now. Paint on some mod podge on the egg and wrap the triangle points down so the egg is all covered.

6: Once all the points are down, paint over a layer of mod podge over it to seal it. I'm not the most patient crafter so I do both ends at the same time, but it does work better if you do one end and then leave that to dry and then do the other end. You can just place it in an empty egg carton to dry and then do the other end. If you are like me you have this sticky thing that you've got to place somewhere to dry without it sticking to something. Please be patient!

Hope that is easy to follow, make them with your favourite fabrics and they are a decoration that you might want to have out all year round! Best part is that they pop into an egg carton to keep them safe when you don't want to have them out.

hop to it

Hopefully I'll find some time over the next few days to share some Easter goodness, I'm not promising though cause the school holidays have just begun and, well, you know how that might go. I'm hoping to share some fabric covered eggs (big promise there, I haven't actually made any yet) and some Easter baking. I made some of these for family and friends last year, something quick and easy and little hands could help too. Anyway hope you have a happy weekend friends!

golden weather

The weather is really golden at the moment, crisp Autumn days with clear blue skies and hardly a breeze at all, and sun that is warm but not harsh. I've been making the most of such days working in the garden, clearing away crops that have done their dash and getting the ground ready for some winter crops. Spreading compost and planting seeds. Luckily I'm not the only one in the family that likes being outside in this weather, while the kids play happily I'm enjoying a couple of books I got in a secondhand book sale on the weekend.

a wee story

There once was a lady who had many, many feijoas. They were piled up in bowls all over her bench so there was hardly room to butter toast in the morning. The funny thing is this lady doesn't even have a feijoa tree. Some of the feijoas came to her house from relatives, some from friends, some from strangers and some were even smuggled in by her daughter in her school hat. The bowls they groaned with the fruit and the smell of the feijoas wafted through the house, until...... Her husband said "enough" So the lady (who didn't want to waste any) got busy. She chopped and she chopped and she chopped. She peeled and peeled and peeled. She mashed and mashed and mashed. Then she baked and baked and baked. She stirred and stirred and stirred. Until there was only one bowl of feijoas left for eating fresh and once again there was room on her kitchen bench for buttering the toast. The lady's pantry was filled with, jars of feijoa chutney, feijoa paste (all the stirring! Every 3 minutes for 3 hours ahem, she is probably not going to make that again), feijoa chutney, feijoa and poppy seed muffins, some feijoa and apple crumble and some mashed feijoas went into the freezer. The lady is now going to take a "feijoa" break and has been instructed by her husband to say "no" to any further offers of feijoas. Well I'm sure you guessed that lady is me! and yes I will be saying "no" to any more kind offers of feijoas, all that stirring, chopping, mashing etc was quite hard work.

Do you have a favourite feijoa recipe to share? I do still have a few for trying a new recipe with! Happy weekend friends!

open home

Let me take you on a tour of our new home. It was built in 1979 by Fisher Price and it's from the Woodsey Collection. There is great indoor/outdoor flow, a large kitchen with a well stocked pantry. Unfortunately most of the chattels are missing, no broom, no table or chairs and it doesn't come with the family of Squirrels either. However it's in great condition and probably had just one lady owner (ok it's sounding like a car now). Now it has a new lady owner who loves it to bits and has moved a small family of teddy bears in.

eggy

I finished off some more Easter eggs (link to the pattern here). I made a little basket to hold them all in too, it's crocheted from some factory off cuts, t-shirt type material cut into strips. It has been quite the tempting centerpiece for little hands, it's been on our kitchen table. It disappears and then there is an impromptu Easter egg hunt with me trying to round up all the eggs hidden away all over the place and lots of giggles while they send me in the wrong direction (and while I pretend I can't see them when they are right in front of me). Then there was a suggestion that every egg that I've made should be replaced with a chocolate one for the finder, hmm the jury is out on that one. A concern was raised that perhaps these would be the only Easter eggs this year by a certain little miss E (with the most serious face I've ever seen), but I reassured her that there would be some chocolate ones too.

highs and lows

Highs, finding a great chair to recover, some great thrift finds, flour jar and a skirt for miss E, sunny crisp autumn days, late evening trips to the park before daylight savings ended. Getting out in the garden planting for winter. Lows, trying a new recipe that was a massive fail and ended with the oven needing cleaning (yup massive fail), daylight savings ending and all of a sudden it feels like winter. So there have been more highs than lows and that's how I like it!