Apart from having to wait nearly an hour for our tea in Wetherspoons on Friday evening we have had a wonderful weekend with Miss Doodle. We spent a good part of yesterday at Trentham Gardens ticking off things on the gift list and by the time we had finished Ruby was too tired to go on to Byrkley Park so DD and I nipped there while Ruby stayed with Grandad. Not much left on the list now so next weekend should see that finished off.
This morning DD and Ruby decorated the tree while I prepared and cooked lunch. The wind was howling round the house so it was a lovely cosy thing to be doing and Miss Doodle enjoyed it so much.
She has gone home now but I will see her again on Wednesday when she comes for tea. I miss her so much between visits and I will especially miss listening to her breathing while she is sleeping tonight..........I love that sound.
I would kill for a soak in a nice hot bath tonight but as we only have a shower I will have to settle for that (although I am hoping for that to be rectified in the new year).
Bye for now......and thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-
I love Friday.
Even though I am at home all week Friday is my most favourite day of the week. The house gets tidied up ready for the weekend and I plan very simple meals so that hubby, DD and myself have more time to spend together.
However......this Friday will be one of my most favourite as we have a little princess coming to stay for the weekend.
I am just off upstairs to make up her bed with her Elsa bedding and to hide away some Christmas stuff that shouldn't be seen by little eyes.
Tonight DD and I are taking her out for tea and then when we get home we shall get into our jammies and watch Christmas films to get us in the mood for going Christmas shopping tomorrow. I am ridiculously excited.....lol!!!
I'm hoping we have enough time for Ruby to help put up the Christmas tree before we have to take her home on Sunday afternoon.
Right............I am off to do my chores.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila-x-
Today I have sat wrapping twenty five tiny gifts to fill the quilted Advent calendar I made for Ruby. I did try not to go down the chocolate route so only about eight pockets contain chocolate and the rest are a mixture of hair bands, hair slides, erasers, tiny bath fizzers and lip glosses. Number 25 is an Olaf pen which can write in several different colours. She will love it.
Seasoned knitters need to pretend they haven't seen the horror of my scarf. It's not awfully pretty but I have to say it does the job I wanted it to do. I will probably have a fiddle with the pattern when I have more time to concentrate as I would like one in moss stitch and maybe some different colours to go with different coats. I've nearly finished one for Ruby in bright, sparkly pink and will take more care with the gathering and the application of the band. Mine was just a...........mmmm.......I wonder if trial.
We had a new Poundland open in the town not so long ago and I picked up a pack each of dried mango and pineapple. So the other day I had a fiddle with the recipe for Oat Biscuits which I posted the link for and made Tropical Fruit and Coconut Cookies. Oh my goodness they were sooooo nice.
Here's how I made them........
100g Butter
100g Self Raising Flour
100g Desicated Coconut
25g each of Dried Mango and Pineapple snipped into small pieces
50g Demarara Sugar
2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
Heat oven to 180 degrees
Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a microwaveable bowl and gently heat until melted.
Add the flour, coconut and dried fruit and mix thoroughly.
Place dessertspoons (I use a tiny ice cream scoop and manage to get 18 biscuits) of the mixture onto a baking tray and flatten slightly with a fork.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
My lot loved these and I'm sorry there is no photo........they all went. I am thinking I might make some to add in with the gifts we are giving this year at Christmas.
Well best go and make a start on tea. DD will be cold and hungry when she gets in having been outside all day.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-
We have had snow in the night........the most miserable and pathetic snowfall in the history of snowfalls. It didn't even hit the floor.
We have a sprinkle on the shed roof and both cars and that is it.
I am truly miffed.
Today I will be starting my big clean up in the lounge ready for the Christmas tree to go up next weekend. So sofas will be shifted, curtains washed and everything that will stand still for five minutes will be wiped down. Watch out spiders I am coming to get ya...lol!!!
Tea will be a simple one tonight. Pizza, jacket potatoes and coleslaw and then I will probably crash on the sofa with my knitting.
Talking of knitting..... I am not a natural knitter in any way, shape or form but I wanted a scarf....not a long, wrap round with dangling ends scarf but something I could put on over my head and would snuggle around my neck without having to keep rearranging wayward ends and OMG I have knit one without a pattern....I'm amazed. DD and Ruby loved it too so now I am doing a couple more.....go me....lol!!!
Well best go and get on with this mucking out.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila-x-
Another version of the snowmen in buckets......snow angels.
I had a bag of the tiny twig wreaths and a bunch of cream stamens. My darling DD kindly coloured the stamens red for me and they became the berries on the halos.
The wings are made from a roll of net that I got from The Range last year. I think I like these better than the snowmen in hats.
Ruby has bagged the one in the cream bucket.
We all really enjoyed last our tea last night. Usually I would serve the meatballs with pasta but wanted to do something different. The Garlic and Parmesan Roast Potatoes and sauteed green beans were perfect. I have to say that green beans are not my most favourite thing in the world but sauteed instead of steamed they could very well feature on the menu more often. They were gorgeous.
Rather late getting up this morning as I stayed up to watch a film I had seen in the tv listings that looked worth a watch. It was a rather harrowing account of children in care in the 1950's and 1960's who were sent to Australia having been told their parents were dead but told the story of a social worker who became aware of their story in the 1980's and fought to reunite them with their families or at least find out where they came from. It was well worth staying up for.
Just need to catch up on a few housey jobs this morning and then I must finish off the rest of the handmade Christmas decorations as our tree will be going up next weekend.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-
Well I was going to bake up a storm this morning but the storm outside has put paid to that. I got the Oat and Cranberry Cookies (a variation on THIS recipe) done with no problem but during the baking of the Victoria Sponge the lights were flickering on and off and so I decided not to prepare anything else in case we had a power cut........and I was so looking forward to the coconut cake :(
The thing I hate about baking is the washing up but it's all done and put away and the kitchen has had a good clean. Just the floor to hoover and mop when hubby gets up and that is a few jobs ticked off the list.
The meatballs I made yesterday will save me some time at teatime today. They are being served with Garlic and Parmesan Roast Potatoes and sauteed green beans. That means extra minutes to spend having cuddles with me Doodle which are very precious.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-
Goodness me.....I didn't realise it was so long since I did a post. The weeks are just whipping by.
I am getting a little behind with list of 101 things to do before Christmas as I have been feeling just a tad lacksadaisical after the rotten cold I've just had. Today though it seems that the mojo is back and I should be ticking things off again.
Unusually for us DD and I have just spent two evenings at the cinema. Sunday we saw The Lady In The Van. It was fabulous and I am still giggling at the lumpy yellow paint. All will become clear if you go and see it. So funny.
Last night we saw Brooklyn and loved that too so I can't wait until both films come out on DVD.
Our cinema tends to show adverts of the kind you see on tv rather than trailers for upcoming films but last night we did actually see one for Bridge Of Spies so that has gone on my must see list.
It's been rather cold here today so I have been snuggling up the cooker. There was veg left on Sunday after our roast lunch so I used it up making a Pork and Vegetable pie. I pulled out a large pack of minced pork and simmered half of it in some stock with some sauteed onions and herbs, thickened the stock and added the veg and a chopped apple then topped it of with suet crust pastry and baked until the pastry was lovely and crunchy. We've just finished tea and it went down very well indeed with hubby who is on nights and needs a full tummy to see him through and DD who has been working out in the cold and wet all day.
The other half of the pork was made into meatballs and simmered in a tomato sauce ready for tea tomorrow so that I can spend the day baking. I've not been that organised for weeks.
Looking forward to cuddles with Ruby tomorrow. She was poorly all weekend but is getting better now. I bet she will be wanting her tomato soup for tea.
Righto......I had best go and wash the pots and clean the bottom of the oven as the pie leaked. I always forget to put it on a tray.
Bye for now.
Sheila-x-
Halloween night is also my daughter in laws birthday so we decided to throw her a party at our house. Just them and us but we really enjoyed it. Ruby was thrilled with it.
We ate spooky food such as Beetle Wings, Slugabeds, Bog Soup with Twisty Bones, Skelly Jelly and Zombie Brain Cake and drank Liquid Sky and Scummy Pond Water. All very normal edibles but so much creepier when renamed.
A ghost in the garden. An empty milk bottle decorated with a friendly ghost face then filled with water and glow sticks.
Didn't want to make the pumpkins too scary for Ruby so cheeky faces were in order.
I do love doing themed parties but I did pay for spending all Saturday on my feet cooking and conjuring up goodies. I could barely move on Sunday and hubby ended up cooking the roast bless him.
Now we get to my favourite time of year........preparing for Christmas.......yay!!!
There are decorations to finish, tiny gifts to find for the quilted advent calendar I have made for Ruby, quilts to finish and another 101 jobs which I have on my list......I am in my element.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-
