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-
