Pancakes, kites and dragons

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday here in the UK and, as is tradition,
we made pancakes. My husband followed a Delia recipe but instead of lemon, which we didn't have, we used freshly squeezed orange juice
to sprinkle over the pancakes. We had them for breakfast and they were
 really nice. The girls, however, weren't too fussed about them; they'd
rather have toast. So us grown-ups ended up eating the rest of the pancakes which we didn't really mind doing.

We spent the morning at  Sheffield Manor Lodge, a local
heritage site. We've never been before and were pleasantly surprised
 by the whole place. There's a discovery centre, playground, farm,
cafe and artist studios, all built around the ruins of the grand manor house that was built by the Earl of Shrewsbury in the 16th century.
Before this the site used to be part of a medieval deer park. Mary,
Queen of Scots, was imprisoned here sometime in the 1500's.
It is interesting, educational and fun, a really good place to visit,
especially with kids.

The girls ran and played. It was the first time in days that we had
 weather this nice and we all enjoyed being out in the fresh air and
 sunshine. There were Chinese New Year half term craft activities
 at the centre and they both had a go at making paper kites as well as
  dragons out of empty egg boxes. They did really well. There was
a strong breeze going outside and they had a good run around
trying to fly their kites.

Pancakes, kites and dragons, all in a happy, sun-filled morning.

It's been a good half-term so far, and a good start to Lent for us.
I hope yours are going well too. Thank you for stopping here.
Have a lovely rest of the week!

Pear Cushion Cover

This is my second finished project for 2015- a new cushion
cover with hand stitched appliques. I have fancied a cushion
 like this for our sofa since seeing something similar in Homes and 
Antiques magazine ages ago and I'm pleased that I've finally found the
time to make my own version of it.

It was on a snowy day a few weeks ago that I decided to
get my fabrics, thread and needle out and get started on this.
I think I was spurred on by the horrible weather. I wanted to make
something fairly simple and quick that will bring a pop of colour
 to our home while it was gloomy and freezing outside. I took a break
from my granny throw and used my spare time stitching this
and it didn't take me very long to finish.

I enjoyed stitching the appliques; I'm glad I did it by hand 

instead of using my sewing machine. The cushion's colours make me think of spring and the pear brings to mind summer fruits and sunshine. 

It's a nice spot of colour and brightness, just what I was after,

so I'm really happy with this. And it's another finished project,

another tick in my ever long to-make list and that's always

a very happy thing.

It's half-term holiday here and we started it off yesterday

with a trip to the cinema. Shaun the Sheep Movie is a fun film, even I 

enjoyed it. Today we're just staying at home and taking it easy.

 I'm hoping to be able to do some sewing later- I'm making

a tea cosy! Still no progress with the quilting though, 

maybe next week. Maybe.

Hope your Saturday and Valentine's Day is going well. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Spring-like Days

Blowing bubbles in the afternoon sunshine, no coats,
 just cardigans..........playing and pottering outdoors.....dark,
flowery shadows on the wall........All delightful things
on the sunniest, mildest two days we've ever had so far this year.
 It's been so lovely, it feels like spring is not too far away and
 for this I feel happy and thankful. I've been enjoying the loveliness
 of daffodils for weeks now and lately I've been making plans and crafting with sunnier, warmer days in mind. I'm beginning to feel
excited about spring, I really hope it will be here soon!


What's the weather like where you are? Hope it's nice
and bright too. Have a lovely week!

A cake for the weekend

Hello! I hope it's been a happy Friday for you. If you're planning to do some baking this weekend, I have a recipe here that you might like to try.
 It's for Moist Orange and Almond Cake, a firm family favourite.
 It is easy and simple to make, tastes delicious and as the name suggests, moist in a soft and lovely way. Plus you'll have the sweet
 scent of orange cooking filling up your kitchen and home,
always a nice bonus when you make this cake.

This recipe is from afternoon tea by Molly Perham.

Ingredients:

1 large orange
3 eggs
225g caster sugar
1tsp baking powder
225g ground almonds
25g plain flour
Icing sugar, for dusting


1. Pierce the orange with a skewer. In a pan, pour over water
to cover completely. Bring to the boil then lower the heat,
cover and simmer for an hour or until the skin is very soft.
Drain, then cool.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and line with baking
 parchment a 20cm round cake tin. Cut the orange in half and
discard the pips. Place the orange in a blender or food processor
and puree until pulpy and smooth.

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick. Mix together the
baking powder, almonds and flour, then fold into the eggs.
Fold in the puree.

4. Pour into the prepared tin, level the surface and bake
for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes
out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to
a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and cool completely.
Dust the top with icing sugar.

The book suggests serving this with whipped cream. It's already gorgeous on it's own but if you really fancy it, we think it will be very,
very nice with creme freche.

 Apologies for not having a photo of the whole cake. It was sliced
and served before I had the chance to do it when we made this
 a few days ago. This cake is always a winner in our house.
 I hope you'll like it too.


Have a great weekend everyone!

In the meantime

I wrote about my patchwork blanket a few weeks ago and I'm happy
to say that there had been some slow but steady progress. All the fabric
 squares had been pieced together and with the quilt top all finished,
 I can now start quilting it. Unfortunately the thread that I had ordered online for this took ages to arrive. It was a bit annoying. I was looking
forward to learning how to quilt by hand but I couldn't really go ahead
 without the thread. I had no choice though but to wait. In the meantime
I decided to work on one of my WIP's.

This WIP is my unfinished granny square throw. I had enjoyed
this crochet project last summer but then I got distracted and it had
been set aside for much easier and quicker makes. It's been languishing
in a basket all this time.

It was good to pick it up again after many months and finally add
a few more squares to the ones I've already made. I particularly
enjoyed working on this on the stormy, snowy days that we've had recently. It was a nice distraction from the horrible weather outside
 and the colours are lovely and cheerful.

So it's all turned out well - I had to take a break from one project
but, in the meantime, I've also made progress on another. My crochet
throw got a bit of love and attention and it's looking a little less sad.
I'll try and make time for it whenever I can. At the moment it is back
to sewing- the thread has been delivered and my quilting adventure
can now begin. Fingers crossed, this will turn out well too!



Thank you for stopping by here. I hope February has started well
for you all. Take care and have a lovely Wednesday!

Midweek Joys

Daffodils in bloom......

...........home baked lemon and almond cake....

........brief but wonderful moments of blue skies and sunshine on a cold
and stormy day.....

..........the sweet, lemony scent of a lit candle...

.......a new stitchy project.

We've had wild, stormy weather again today and it has been snowing
here this evening. Not a great day weather-wise, but there were small,
simple things that have made me happy and I'm feeling grateful.
I really hope the snow won't be too heavy. Sheffield hills and snow
don't go well together, not fun at all when you need to drive or even
just walk outside. We're keeping our fingers crossed.


I hope you've had some happy things too this Wednesday.
Have a warm and lovely evening!

Crocheted Pot Holder

This is my first finished project for 2015 and I have to say
I really love it. I started making this pot holder just after the New Year and finished it about two weeks ago. It is made of two crocheted
 squares joined together, with embroidery on one side. I'm a big fan of cross-stitch on crochet and knitting and stitching those three flowers
was an absolute pleasure.

The pattern is from Kat Goldin's book hook, stitch & give and
has a cute name - 'kitschy koo'. I used Stylecraft and Drops Muskat
cotton yarns, all leftovers from other projects. It's always satisfying
to make something from fabric and yarn scraps, especially when
it turns out nice and useful like this. I'm all for decorative,
functional and stash-busting makes and, I'm sure you can tell
by now, I really enjoyed this project. My husband is not too sure
 about this though. He doesn't dislike crochet - he loved the shawl
 that I made for his mum last Christmas. I think it's just a bit
 too retro-tastic for him. I completely disagree. But he doesn't mind it
 in our kitchen so I'm happy with that. And after all, no one's perfect!

Just in case anyone is interested, I have found that mercerised
 cotton yarn is better for cross-stitching. This yarn doesn't split
 and gives a neater finish. So that's it from me for now.
 I hope you're all having a good start to the week.
 Take care!