Fireworks

Like most people last night, we went to see the fireworks for Bonfire night. Somehow, we missed the fireworks that take place every year at the local hockey club, so this year, we made sure we went. And it was brilliant. I felt like a kid again, oohing and ahhhing at the display. The actual fire was quite spectacular as well. So here, photos definitely speak louder than words, so have a look and enjoy! Have a nice Friday xxx

Knitty party

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one to have noticed how strange the moon looks like these days!! So low in the sky and just so BIG, it's pretty odd at times!! And I'm glad you liked the look of my cake! I'd share a slice or two with you if I could!! But I'm afraid we munched it all down like little piggies!! ;-)

Today I thought I'd show you what I gave Boyfriend for his birthday. Now you'll understand what I've been doing with my time for the last two months or so. Poor thing, I drowned him in knitted things. He's a bloke after all, so I guess I should have known better. But I just got sooooo excited, I just couldn't resist.

First of all, there was the Baktus scarf. Now this was a request, so I knew it would please. He liked mine so much (and stole it a couple of times during our holiday in Norfolk), I just had to make him one. We even picked the colours together to make sure he'd approve. So there, my second Baktus. Love it as much as the first day I saw it.

Now onto the second present. I was inspired to make it after visiting this lady's blog. She designs her own cloths. But I wasn't going to pay someone to do the hard work, I'm not like that, and actually, I was quite excited at the thought of Designing something. Ok ok, it's pretty simple I know, but I felt really chuffed. Although it didn't come out quite right!! A little elongated if you ask me (it was meant to be a square!) but Boyfriend liked it, and I'll just do better next time.

And finally, the most controversial knitted present. Slippers. You read right. I knitted him some slippers. I feel this may have been one step too far! But you know what, I had great fun making them, and if we ever have a visitor with really big feet (they are a little on the big size even for Boyfriend as I used some chunky yarn), we'll have something at hand to keep them warm.

I personally think they're really cute, pompom and all :-) x

ps: I found the pattern for the slippers on this wonderful blog, they're really easy so have a go! They'd make really cool xmas presents I reckon

Weekend trips

Weekend started on Friday at 2.30pm. Followed a mad rush in the kitchen. No photos of the Chrismas cake I'm afraid, that got wrapped up and put in a cool dark place until this weekend when I'll give it some sherry! I'll try and get a photo for you then, I'm quite pleased with it to be fair! But until then, you might just be happy to see this. Boyfriend's birthday cake. Homemade recipe.

Chocolate sponge (same recipe as a normal victoria sponge, only adding a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder). Spread caramel (I used Carnation Caramel) in between the two sponge cakes. Whip some cream and mix in some melted white chocolate and spread on top. Add some maltesers for decoration. Scoff down!

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Bath, walking around town, feeling envious of those people who have allotments with views like this...

Admiring the stunning architecture...

And the beautiful autumnal landscape...

Trying to find fancy dress outfits for this dinner party...

Monday saw us taking the train to Kings Lynn. We went up there because I had a couple of complimentary free tickets given to me as I have an annual railcard. We thought we'd make the most of it and go as far as the train would take us. At one end is Brighton, but we've been there several times already, and at the other King's Lynn, Peterborough and Cambridge. We've been to Cambridge before too, so we settled on the Lynn. Hum... Anyway, here are the nice photos I took around town (I'm sparing you the chavs hanging around the town centre shops, mums with prams and kids wondering around aimlessly during halfterm)...

The day started with the most amazing breakfast at a pub/ restaurant round the corner from where we live. Only cups of tea in this photo, but that was shortly followed by the most amazing cooked breakfast for Boyfriend and scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for me. Yu-um.

And now for the Lynn - the River Great Ouse at low tide...

St Margaret's Church...

The old gaol house... honestly, look at the sky!! I wasn't lying yesterday about how blue it was!!

Having a drink in a lovely pub by the river...

Enjoying the view of the biggest moon I've ever seen on the train home...

Have a lovely Wednesday everyone!! x

Hello!

Hello everyone!! Feels like ages since I've posted here, but it's only been four days.... Hum I think that says something! Back in the office now. Feeling blurgh again. Boyfriend and I stayed up very late last night (taking into account the painful daily wake up at 6am) talking about what we should do with our lives. We have some savings, but not enough to do anything significant with it. Won't bore you with this just now, but it might explain why I'm a little sleepy and not quite with it today!

Weekend was great. Friday afternoon was busy but productive. Haven't downloaded any photos yet, but I'm sure you'll like the look of the birthday cake I made for Boyfriend. Actually, we finished it last night it was that good. And I made my christmas cake, which is now all wrapped up, waiting to be fed sherry at regular intervals!! Can't wait to try it out!! Saturday and Sunday saw us having fun in Bath. We even dressed up for Halloween. Now, I don't even remember the last time I did that. I'm not really into fancy dress. But to be fair, it was really good fun. All down to the great company though!

Yesterday we took the day off to 'celebrate' Boyfriend's birthday. Nothing major planned, just a nice day of relaxing. And you know what, the weather was fantastic. Whereas today it's all grey and wet, yesterday we had a great big sunshine and the most unbelievable blue sky. You won't believe me till I show you photos I'm sure! Talking about photos, there won't be any for today. Two reasons for that: 1/ I didn't have time to download them and 2/ I wasn't happy with any of the photos I took last night as the light was so rubbish - everything just looked yellow!

So there, no news really, in the grand scheme of things. I'll try and sort out the photos to show you at some point this week. I don't think I've mentionned it, but yesterday we took the train up to King's Lynn. Now that was an interesting place. I thought it would be nice to go back to Norfolk after our October holiday on the coast, but it was slightly different!! All I have to say is thank goodness the sun was shining, otherwise I think we might have taken the train straight back home!

Hope you all had fun over the weekend. Talk to you later x

Phew...

It's the end of the week.Well not quite there yet, but almost!!! How's your week been? Are you all doing something for Halloween? I expect people in the US are a lot more into it that we are here in the UK, but I guess if you have children you've probably been planning for this for a few weeks already, wherever you are. As I've mentionned before, we're off to Bath tomorrow and we'll be going to a Halloween party. Neither of us are really into fancy dress, but we're going to make an effort and buy something tomorrow like fake teeth or something!

Anyway, sooooooooo many things to do before then! I started the Christmas cake last night by soaking all my nuts and dried fruit in the juice of an orange and lemon and some sweet sherry. It'll all going to get cooked this afternoon. Yes you read right, I did say afternoon. It's the last Friday of the month so I get to go home early! We call it POETS day. Does anyone else have the pleasure of doing this? We haven't had it for long - I think they put it in place to smooth the fact that we've taken such a hard blow with redundancies and the pay cut. So anyway, it means I've got a few hours to cook my cake before we go out for a meal tonight for Boyfriend's birthday. His family's coming over for that so it should be really nice.

Back to the cake. If you're interested (let me know!), I can give you my recipe. It's a mix between several I've found in different places and made to my taste, so I guess it's slightly different but it's definitely very nice. While it's in the oven, I've also got to finish Boyfriend's birthday cake but I can't say anymore about this at present because he's one of my regular readers!! So there, I'm going to be busy busy busy.

Right. That's it for the news. Now onto something crafty. I thought I'd mention this today. It's pretty random I know, but I felt like showing you, I hope you don't mind! A while  back, I bought myself a little folder to store knitting patterns I'd found either on Ravelry or on the internet. I wanted something different, that I could put my stamp on, so I bought a plain cardboard folder . I then went on to decorate it with various types of ribbon.

What do you reckon? Of course, I had to find somewhere to put my little 'seal'. Everything I make (such as cards) always gets this little stamp on the back. Here it made more sense to have it on the inside. Can you see it?

I looooooove cats you see, so it made sense to pick this as a trademark. Don't you think it's really cute?

Well, have a lovely weekend everyone, see you next week! xx

Thursday's better

Hello dear readers!! How are you today? I have to say, I'm feeling better today. Much better actually. And that's partly down to you. I'd like to say a big thank you to the lovely three ladies who left me messages yesterday, they were GREATLY appreciated. Honestly, you put a smile on my face, so thank you very much !!! It's funny how comforting words from a stranger can cheer you up, because even though they are indeed from an absolute stranger, they are com-for-ting. And that is priceless. So once again, thank you.

Now, onto colourful and cheerful things. I reckoned you deserved a little bit of that today after yesterday's post!! You may remember this little hearts needlepoint thing I made a little while ago. Well, after having looked in countless shops (and I mean countless), I finally found a perfect little frame for it the other day. So here it is, waiting to be hung somewhere in the kitchen/ living room:

Honestly, you won't believe how hard it was to find 1/ a square frame and 2/ one that was remotely the right size. So when I saw this one, I pounced on it. Literally. I'm planning on giving it a neighbour on my wall, one I received as a birthday present and never got round to showing off. It's a wooden chopping board with a little leather string.

But let's face it, it's waaayyyyyyyyy too cute to be used as a chopping board, I think it's more likely to be used to present things on, like little nibbles, don't you agree? While we're on the topic of birthday presents, I don't think I mentionned I got a couple of cookery books.

The first one is James Martin's Desserts and the second Pam Corbin's Preserves. Those two books are simply scrumptious. The recipes all seem fabulous and have given me so many ideas, I can't wait to try them out. In the meantime, tonight I've got to start on 2 cakes, equally important. The first one is Boyfriend's birthday cake. The second is the Christmas cake. Oh yes. I feel slightly guilty because it means I can't go to one of my colleague's leaving do tonight, but I can't delay the start of either of those cakes (due to weekend to be spent away from home, and funnily, a birthday date which is most definitely set in time). I won't be able to say why I can't come though, I'll just have to say I'm really really busy, because otherwise she's going to think I'm a right nutter. Oops.

ps: I have just been told by Boyfriend to add something to today's post. He wants you all to know that last night's dinner was amazing. Now, not that I want to take all the credit, well maybe I can!! To be fair, it was really tasty!! So if you want to give it a go, here's what you have to do:

1. Fry a chopped onion, some cauliflower, some red pepper, some garlic and some chopped ginger in a pan.
2. When the veg is soft, add the leftover meat (roast duck in our case) and stir.
3. Add a couple of tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce (or a mixture of honey and chilli).
4. A couple of minutes before the end (ie a couple of minutes before your rice or noodles are cooked), add a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, some freshly chopped parsley and a little bit of lemon juice.
5. Serve up and enjoy!!!

Mid-week rant

Wednesday. Just two days till the weekend. Can you tell I'm tired of my job??! I just have to deal with so much rubbish, it's just not fun. Not that a job has to be fun, but it's actually making me quite angry at the moment. We were talking about this only this morning with Boyfriend. You end up wishing your life away and that's just not cool. I spend all day thinking about what I want to do in the evenings and at the weekend. That's not right is it?! And then there's the million dollar question: what else can I do with my life? If only money was no object or the way our society is organised were different, I could do a thousand things. I'd love to be self sufficient, live in the country side, have a dog and a cat and a chipmunk, a great big garden. Throw in an orchard and you'll be close to perfection. But let's face it, that's not about to happen any time soon. So in the meantime, I'm stuck doing something that I don't really enjoy. Which is a little bit of a waste really, since I spent 4 years at university studying for this. The thing is, I actually enjoyed my job until the end of last year. That is, until we were told there would have to be some redundancies. Since then, there's been a second round of redundancies. And a 15% paycut. Let me tell you, it's very VERY unpleasant. The money is one thing, but seing your office empty of people you use to get on with, having to attend numerous meetings about how the business should go forward etc etc, it's just plain demoralising. So there. I guess the rubbish weather isn't helping. And I've got to attend a meeting over my lunchbreak which means no walking around Paperchase or the yarn section of John Lewis. Poo.

So back to the start. It's Wednesday. Let's try and focus on the positives shall we? The positives for today are:

• no gym tonight
• nice dinner planned (leftover roast duck to be put to good use with noodles and a homemade chinese type sauce with veg, should be really tasty)
• an official French lesson, we haven't had one of those for a while - tonight's all about the present tense!!! Hey, we're making sentences (albeit short ones), that's massive progress!
• Waterloo Road is back on tv - it's fair to say I'm obsessed with this programme, absolutely love it - even if it does make me cry nearly every time, I love it love it love it!!!
• tomorrow's Thursday and that means Never Mind the Buzzcocks, another great programme (although it'll never be the same without Simon Amstell)

Right, until all these good things take place tonight, I'm having a rubbish day. And I've got to talk to the council about being late paying for council tax. Argh. If only I'd set up the direct debit like Boyfriend suggested. Stupid stupid me.

Last of the cards?

For xmas that is. I guess I might have enough for this year. If I make some more, I might be building up a collection for next year! Which in a way might not be a bad idea, but it kind of takes away the fun of crafting doesn't it?! So, I promised to show you the new cards I made at the weekend. Firstly, let me give credit where it is due. This lady's post last week inspired me to make them. I went to Hobbycraft, got myself the sticker making device, a couple of new punches, and ta-dah, the trick was done!!! I only realised once I'd got home that the flower punch I'd bought made pieces larger than could go through the machine, so I ended up stitching those to the card with gorgeous little buttons I purchase from this lady last week. A lot of purchases I know, but last Friday was pay day you see!!!! Oh, and you'll have realised by now, but those aren't xmas cards!! They could be used as anything really, but probably best as birthday cards, as they are so colourful.

I did however use the sticker machine with a little xmas tree punch I got. And I love the result. I guess I got a little punch happy though, and most magazines in the house now have holes in various pages!! I'm sure you won't mind though! ;-)

These are Boyfriend's favourites. Little trees making up larger trees.

I like them too. So, what's next? Well, it's Boyfriend's bday at the end of the week, and we're off to Bath at the weekend. I know, I know, it's only Tuesday, but to be fair, I need all I can get to get me through this week! Hope you're all well xx

ps: I can wholeheartedly recommend the spiced apple cake I blogged about yesterday (Good Food recipe), it's absolutely delicious!!! The recipe calls for grated nutmeg which I didn't have, so I just used cinnamon, and it's so so good! I've put some slices in the freezer so that we don't scoff it all down within 2 days!

Organic party

I have to say, it's not often that we eat organic. It's just not within our price range. But last week, we received a mixed fruit and veg box from Abel and Cole. So this weekend, I tried to make the most of it. And oh boy was there a lot of food being cooked!!! First, I made a batch of soup to be had as a dinner later on in the week. For that I used leeks, broccoli, carrot and potato. Looks absolutely yum. Will be lovely with a slice of homemade bread. Well that's if I find time to make some!!

Then I followed Felix's advice, and made some parsnip and apple soup!! I tried a little bit and I have to say it was pretty unusual!! That's now gone in the freezer. There's only so much soup we can have in a week!!!

I used the rest of the cooking apples (but some surplus eating apples I had) to make an apple and cinnamon cake. The recipe called for a 20cm round tin, but I don't have one of those, so I improvised and divided the dough between two tins. I've got a slice with me today (a girl needs something to cheer her up on a Monday morning!!), so I'll let you know how it is!

To go with our roast duck yesterday, I roasted some of the veg. I have to say, all of it was delicious. The parnisps and carrots came out lovely and sweet, and the potatoes were perfect and crisp!!

You might be able to spot some butternut squash in the tray. I had one I'd forgotten to use the week before and there was no way I was going to let it go to waste. I absolutely LOVE butternut squash. So guess what I'm having for my lunch today?

Roasted butternut squash!! Well not just that, I've also got some roasted carrots, feta and pine nuts with it all, it should be really tasty!!! Gosh, I can't believe I'm already taking about lunch, it's not even 9.00am!!! Anyway, one last foody photo. I love butternut squash, I know I've said it already. But I don't know which part I like the most, the flesh, or the seeds. Because you see, roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly grinded salt, the seeds are absolutely divine.

So, it's Monday morning. I've probably put you off food for a few hours. Well at least until lunch!!! So sorry about the colour of my first soup, I know it doesn't look terribly appetising, but we're all in the same boat aren't we, trying to make do with the little light that we get. And I wasn't about to risk taking my soup outside just to get a better photo. Sorry folks!!!

Now onto crafty things. I'm ever so grateful and happy for the comments you left me regarding my xmas cards. It makes me really happy to think you like them!! I'm looking forward to seeing your own versions as well!! I was inspired by another blog and made some more cards at the weekend, but you know what, I'll keep you guessing for a little longer. Come back tomorrow to see some more!! xx

Muddy goodness

Hello!! Now, what was that all about blogger hey??? Don't know if any of you noticed this morning, but the whole thing was down!! I couldn't do my usual early morning update or check out other blogger blogs!!! But fear not, it seems to be all ok now! Phew! ;-)

Anyway, it's Friday, thank goodness! Any exciting plans for the weekend anyone? Not much here really. I'm planning on meeting up with a friend who's coming over from France for a few days, that should be really nice. And there's an Apple Festival in my town tomorrow too, so that's definitely on my list of things to do.

Also on my list is the planning of meals. Not normal meals though. Organic meals. Now before you think I'm all posh and have more money than sense (well that's not quite true, I wish I could buy everything organic but let's face it, in such hard times, we can't splash out on such luxuries very regularly), let me tell you what I'm talking about. Have you heard of Abel and Cole? They're a company that delivery veg/ fruit/ meat boxes to your door, everything being organic and most things being locally produced. I've always wanted to order one of their boxes, but last week, Christmas came early (not as early as my cards though!!). I was reading this lovely blog and got in touch with Rachel, the author of the blog. She then put me in touch with someone at Abel and Cole who very kindly got a mixed fruit and veg box delivery to us yesterday - and all for free!!!

The fruit and veg looks amazing to be fair. I'm going to have a look at some of their recipes to find what I could do with the green cabbage, something I very rarely buy. Any suggestions welcome!! The carrots, parsnips and potatoes will be put to good use on Sunday for a roast - I can't wait!!! And the onions have come perfectly on time, we'd just run out, so I used one in last night's curry (by the way, this was a delicious vegetarian curry, made with onion, carrot, cauliflower and celery - delicious even for meat eater Boyfriend who loved it!!).

The pears and bananas will be kept for next week, we like to snack on fruit during the day you see (say NO to muffins and crisps hahaha!!). That way, the bananas will have a bit of time to rippen, there's nothing worse than a green banana is there?! This leaves us with bramley cooking apples, broccoli and leeks. I'm thinking soup (with the veg of course, not the apples!), Boyfriend suggested some sort of pie. Honestly, the possibilities are endless!!! It's just really nice to think all this is local (well apart from the bananas of course!), organic, the veg is still all nice and muddy, and all for free, thanks Abel and Cole!! I'll let you know what I end up making with all these goodies!!! Oh and by the way, so sorry for the crummy photos, I took them last night after my gym class, by which time it was well and truly dark - so enjoy the light from my eco friendly light bulbs!