New Project: Sneak Peak!

I wanted to treat you to a sneak preview at my newest project. There's always something going on here at number 33, but this newest project just leapt onto my needles this evening. Here's a peak:



What do you think? I loove the earthy colours with the blue overtones. I've only been working on it this evening and it's foldable already! It comes together so quickly, and the best bit is, it's all mine! I've been crafting and baking for home, for presents and for family for quite some time but I haven't made myself anything in a little while it seems.
After this is finished, I'm going to get on with another project I have on the crochet hook that I've started... The crafting never ends!

And it Snowed and Snowed!

Mum didn't come over today to have Christmas #2 at number 33. Snow called off play. It's actually not too bad here now but there's more snow forecast and it's bitterly cold out. According to the news mums area is pretty well snowed in and an arthritic pup and cold mum do not a happy pair make! Better off snuggling down and battening the hatches. We'll do something another time, when the weather isn't so hostile.

Hubby Had a Nice Christmas..

A quick picture to show you hubby playing with his main Christmas present. He's a very happy husband!

He's a complete novice but has always wanted to express his musical interest. He's learning to tune his new toy right now. I bought the guitar and a very basic book on chords and Hannah bought him all the bits and pieces to go with his new hobby. He has a gig bag, plecs, string cleanery stuff and an electronic tuner. One happy husband!

Well I knew Mam was Coming So I Baked a Cake... and some Ginger Biscuits...

A nice sponge, plain but nummy. As Mum says, all home baking is nummy because you can't buy the taste. Recipe lifted from the internet but I'm happy to share:

125g plain flour
1 and a half teaspoon baking powder
125g icing sugar
225g butter
2 eggs
125ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla flavouring.

Oven preheated to 200C, cream the butter and sugar.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium bowl and set aside.
Add the eggs
Stir in the flour to the mixture.
Beat in the milk & Vanilla until smooth.
Cook for 20 - 30 mins.





Ginger biscuits! nom nom nom....
350g plain flour
175g Soft brown sugar
100g butter
1 egg
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarb
half teaspoon ground ginger


Pre heat the oven to 180C
Combine the flour butter and bicarb and mix with hands until crumbs
Add the sugar, syrup and the egg

Roll out and cut....
Cook 10 - 15 mins.

I had difficulty rolling out the ginger biscuits, the mixture didn't seem to adhere very well until it had been manhandled, so I just patted them into a rough biscuit shape and let them go! Still very nomworthy.


I did all the baking and sweated cobs in the kitchen tonight, to look out the window to see... snow. Lots and lots of snow. So, unless the snow clears up by the morning, there will be no Christmas #2 here at number 33 :(

It'll be Christmas Again Tomorrow!

I have the turkey, the potatoes, the sprouts and carrots, the parsnips, the pigs in blankets and the stuffing. I have the cheese and biscuits, the mince pies, and the Christmas pudding. I have bread sauce and onion sauce. I even have prawns for a prawn cocktail starter!

Tomorrow my mum is coming round to visit and I am going to cook her a Christmas dinner, seeing as she worked on Christmas day. So, I'm off to do the 'Oh My God, my mum is going to visit' clean up and bake a cake. After all, it's not everyday I get to hostess for mum! I'll take photos and share the recipe!

Keeping warm....

Our house is a big old Victorian building and we don't have double glazing yet :( So, I take inspiration where I can and here I am with some left over yarn. I finished a project for a dear friend of mine (which I can't post here, she hasn't received it yet!). The yarn was so snuggly, so soft and well... so beautiful that I couldn't resist hooking up a pair of wrist warmers for myself. I worked them up using triple crochet and then finished off with simple single crochet in baby blue at the top and around the thumb hole. Cold hands? Problem solved!

Twinkle twinkle....

Little crocheted star....

I found a tutorial for crocheting these gorgeous little stars via http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2009/12/advent-garland.html.
Lucy there uses her stars as an advent garland for her children, but me, well, I just wanted stars!
I used baby blue and white to match the decor in the living room, and just crocheted and crocheted my little heart out. There's two garlands in the living room now, and a little pile of stars beside me here, that haven't found homes yet. Homeless stars. I think, for next Christmas, the homeless stars might find a home on the tree!

A Festive Post

Given the time of year it would seem remiss of me not to squee about something Chrismassy. Well, here we are.
At the request of my mother, I made my first traditional Christmas cake this year. Boy I was nervous, especially given that it had to sit in the oven for over four hours! All that time later and the cake was rescued:

The cake was absolutely delicious thankfully - but then again, can one really go wrong with Delia's recipe? So many yummy ingredients and lots of hard work... it really can't taste bad!

There was enough goo left over for me to make a small cake myself too - and that went down well too.

I think I should bake more often!