Head to Head with bedtime

I am head to head with bed time.  I have seven photos downloaded onto flikr, they will have to wait till tomorrow, apologies.  I have finished the Holes To Make Lace shawlette and it is blocking on a towel on the floor - one of the pictures.  I am happy that it is a short project and that it is done.  The lace work has whetted my lace appetite and I am having thoughts of doing some finer lace work and continuing with one of the shawls I started a while back.  I'm not yet sure which one.  Perhaps the EZ one, that has been most prominent in my mind.  I have reservations that Holes may be too small.  That may just be me, only thing is to check when it has finished blocking.  I don't always remember that shawls sit differently on people that are less voluptuous than me!

 

Mary-Jane has had a much better day.  She has drank and eaten, although not proper meals.  SHe has been murmering in her sleep this past hour, so I am expecting her to wake soon.  She seemed almost excited about feeling better today.  She did have rather a runny bum (ahem) at one point.  She slept really well last night and even had a lie in.  Tomorrow I'm hoping that she will take more fluids and eat more.

Catch Up

I have a few weeks to catch up on with you!  It started with me getting an almighty cold/flu symptoms that knocked me off my feet and I ended up spending a few days in bed.  It has taken the rest of the time to about get over it.  Come evening time, I have been too tired to even think about blogging.  I have written down in my trusty notepad, things that I want to tell you about.  I will try to get through most things, although not in order of things happening!  The photos will have to wait till another night, unfortunately.

 

Knitting - I have finished my cardi.  I am pleased with it and have had a lot of wear out of it already.  I have made a jacket for Mary-Jane in the same yarn.  It is called 'Petite Panache' by Meghan Jones.  I got the pattern from Ravelry.  It is knitted in one go, from the bottom up.  The sleeves are knitted seperately then added at the appropriate time.  The bottom of the jacket has pleats, something that I have never done before.  I have also not used this construction method either.  I reallay enjoyed knitting it.  I have started a shawlette for a friend as a belated birthday present.  I am using a skein of Malabrigo from my stash.  The pattern is 'Holes to make Lace' by Caitlin ffrench.  Again it can be found on Ravelry.  It is the first piece of lace work I have done for a few months.  I haven't had the telly on so I can concentrate and I kinda miss it!

 

Sugarcraft is going okay.  It has been half term this week, and I am back this Tuesday.  Hopefully we should be putting it all together and starting the next project.

 

I have been sent a fantastic cake pan by a fantastic person.  Paula sent me a Wilton 3D Skeleton in a Casket pan.  I have made it twice so far.  I have been treated to the correct sized piping nozzles, so it looks kinda groovy!  The first one I did the day the pan arrived, just couldn't resist it.  The second on I did was for a NSPCC Coffee Morning Raffle on Halloween.  It was won by a lady who said she was taking it to a Halloween party that night, so I was pleased with that.  On a similar subject, I have seen two Zombie Cupcake Books, they look good and I may treat myself to them using the Tesco Clubcard Voucher Exchange, so they will in effect cost nothing and I shall have them at half the price - now there is one to work out!!

 

Mary-Jane isn't very well at the moment.  She was sick quite a few times in the night.  She was almost more scared of actually being sick.  That is a new phenomenon to her.  She definitely didn't like her PJ's getting dirty.  She has been tired today and a bit our of sorts as you can imagine.  She has hardly had anything to eat or drink, may be two glasses of squash and half a glass of milk.  At bed time, she didn't was stories or time on the bed with Mommy, she asked to be taken to bed, the poor little mite.  Since then I have only heard her call out once, for Daddy, in her sleep.  Hopefully she will a good and restful night and be ready to drink and eat tomorrow.

 

Oh - Auntie Annie aka AuntieAnnInAmerica - I'm back and am counting down to your visit! xxxx

 

Nearly Back

Apologies for absence.  I haven't been too well.  Laid up in bed for a few days with cold/flu symptoms.  Am nearly over it now, just generally feeling tired now, but pushing on.  Will start catching up tomorrow

Apples, Onions & Beetroot

I have had a fruitful two days.  I started late Sunday Morning with the preparation of the pickling onions.  I had bought just shy of 4kg.  That is a lot of onions to peel.  I mentally prepared myself for crying and stinging eyes that I was going to undergo, it would be worth it.  As I was starting we were talking about old wives tales about how to avoid onion eyes.  I remembered the one about cutting the bottom off first.  I thought I would give it a go.  I did and it worked!  I flew through the pile of onions like a peeler possessed and had the job lot done in 45 minutes and hardly a tear in sight - once I started cutting the bottom end first.  I was quite chuffed with myself for a few hours, I can tell you.  I put the onions in two large mixing bowls with a salt water solution and left them till this morning.  I got eight jars of large pickled onions sat in the cellar now, and a HobbitKeeper who is counting down the days till they are  ready to eat.

 

I have also been playing with the Lakeland Apple Master and peeled, cored and sliced all the apples that Mary-Jane and I picked a few days ago.  I cooked them up to a roughish pulp, let them cool, then bagged them up in half pound bags and froze them.  I now have a grand total of 3lb 10oz of apple pulp.  Not bad going at all!

 

Then this afternoon, on went the pinny.  Mary-Jane wanted hers on as well when she saw me in mine.  She was as much interested in running around as helping me weigh things out.  I made American Style Beetroot Pie.  I took the recipe from Baking Heaven Magazine.  It's a lovely simple recipe using beetroot, double cream, soft brown sugar, allspice, mixed spice and ginger.  The colour is gorgeous.  After it cooled, I put it in the fridge to chill.  When I was ready to eat it, I dusted it with icing sugar, and sat down in the front with a cuppa and put my feet up.

I don't like American Style Beetroot pie.  I managed half a slice and couldn't bring myself to eat any more.  In the bin it went.  The first mouthful was okay, it went downhill after that.  I just don't like the taste of it.  It was good that I could taste the beetroot then the spices.

I shall not be eating or making American Style Beetroot Pie again.

Sugarcraft Week 4 & Planning Food Preparation

I have finished my sugarcraft homework.  I did it last night and tonight.  In the next class we are colour dusting.  I'm not sure if we will be putting the whole composition together then or the week after.  The flowers are orchids, free form leaves to the right and orchid buds on the left.  The orchid buds remind me of the droid army on Star Wars, the head of them.

HK, MJ and I went into Egremont this morning to see if Jenkinsons had any pickling onions.  I know they sell quickly.  We were in luck.  We got around 3.5kg.  I am not looking forward to peeling that many onions!  I got the pickling vinegar in the afternoon, so in the next day or two, it's Onion Day.  I wanted to get some beetroot to pickle as well, but they didn't have any in, I am to try Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

I also picked up some individual round  and  rectangular lidded foil pie dishes.  I have been wanting to make and freeze pies and meals for quite a while.  I am getting closer to doing this.  All that stops me is actually doing them now.  I have everything I need, just need time and space! And to decide exactly what I am going to do.  Oh and I still have all the apples to prepare and freeze.  Think I shall be having lots of kitchen time over the next few days.

Toffee Apple Pie

On the back of the delivery of the new Baking Heaven magazine, I was inspired, amongst other things, to look to making some American Style Pies.  The first one I have made, indeed the only one so far - and only because I can't make the next pie until this pie is eaten, which will hopefully be tomorrow - is Toffee Apple Pie.  It is a cinch to make, and I still have room for improvement.  It is the first time I have used Filo pastry and Carnation Dulche De Leche.  I recommend it for it's simplicity, it's ease of making (as long as you use bought pastry!), it's looks and taste!


And here is a slice of the delectable pie!  I also want to make the American Style Beetroot Pie and the Mississipi Mud Pie.  I shall neither be slim nor hungry.


I am rather inundated at the moment with all things baking/cakes/cake decorating.  I've got my new Baking Heaven Mag that I told you about, my months subscription to Cake Decorating Magazine arrived Friday, today two books that I ordered also arrived - Annie Rigg's Christmas Cupcakes and Linda Collister's Christmas Treats.  As well as a few library books.  Good job I've got something to eat whilst I have a cuppa and study all these books and things!

Apples, Apples, Apples

We have been blessed with a few days of good weather.  Beautiful autumn days and chilly nights.  The leaves are turning on the trees, a gorgeous time of year.  I had a peek in the orchard.  Quite a few apples were in need of picking.  It was time for Mary-Jane to have another first - apple picking.  I showed her how to twist and pull, she virtually got the hang of it.  She became confident with it and didn't need to be asked to pick the next apple.  She picked all the apples she could reach and put them in the bag.  The it was time to get the ones that were higher up.  After she picked each one, she wanted to put it in the bag.  Lifting her up and down soon told on my back!

Some apples Mary-Jane had to reach on tip-toes for.


We put the apples in a bag, gently

Some branches had to be gently lowered for MJ to reach.

All the apples are Eaters.  I am planning to cook the majority of them into pulp and freeze them.  Hopefully tomorrow.  We only picked from one tree, so there are plenty more to go.

 

Mary-Jane and I went back to playgroup.  She was quite a nervous or shy as last week, although stayed very close to me.  When it was time to put the toys away, she didn't want this to happen, neither did she want to sit at the table with the other children to have some fruit, which she did last week - she wanted to play with the cars.  Initially she didn't want to join in the sing song and screamed all the way through the first song.  This changed very quickly, to where she was stood in front of me playing the drums with some maraccas and shouting 'I'm playing the drums and singing everybody'!  When it was time to go, out came the screams again, she wanted to stay and play.  She is most definitely Getting There!