Attic24

Cheesy Nibbles

"Cheesy Nibbles" :: now isn't that a wonderful post title???!!!!

I baked these Cheesy Nibbles (heeheeeee) yesterday afternoon when I was overcome by a sudden urge to wear my new apron. Of course I could have simply put my apron on and worn it about the house, nothing to stop me doing that is there? Yet somehow I do think that apron-wearing needs to accompany something culinary, so I set about making an after school snackette for my Little Peeps. Something savoury instead of sweet for a change.

Its another one of those recipes that I have scribbled on a scrap of paper and I cannot for the life of me remember where it came from. I seem to recall that I simplified it from the original recipe, that there should possibly be some additional ingredients...chives?? nuts? seeds? But truthfully I love the simplicity of my version (three ingredients) and the fact that these delicious little nibbles can be made in a matter of minutes. Very good for spontaneous bakers/compulsive apron-wearers like myself.

Like I say, this recipe is Simplicity with a capital S. Three ingredients :: flour, butter, cheese.

Into a heatproof bowl put 90g butter (well I used Olive Oil Spread as that's what I had in the fridge), and pop it in the microwave for 45secs or so, just long enough to melt the butter.

Add in 100g plain flour and 100g coarsely grated cheese. Mix with a fork until it all comes together to form a soft dough.

Using your hands, break off small lumps and roll into 1 inch balls, you should get about 24 altogether.

Place your little Cheesy Balls on a lined baking sheet and flatten them slightly, then bake at 190/375/gas5 for 12-15 mins until just turning golden.

These Cheesy Nibbles are loved by children and adults alike and they will not last for very long.

They are extremely delicious.

And despite the name, it is actually very, very hard to nibble these little Cheesy Nibbles.

Because they are kind of small and perfectly bite size and there is a tendency to scoff/wolf/swallow whole.

Perhaps I should rename them Cheesy Scoffs.

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Edited to add :: fabulous to find you all loving these!! And yes the Littlest Boy in this house adored them, I think it's a wonderful thing to introduce littlies to the delights of home baked goodness x

 

 

 

Cold outside :: Warm inside

Dreadful weather we're having here this week, drip, drip, drip. Yesterday I sat and pressed my nose against the back window and peered out into my very sad looking back yard. My summer bunting is limp and soggy. My terracotta pots are sodden and full of dead things. The washing line has a gathering of rain drops. Not very inspiring really is it?

I've found that the best way to handle this time of year and this sort of drip-drippy weather is to point blank refuse to actually step foot outdoors. Turn away from the windows and concentrate on the warmth and cosiness within. Stay home. Light candles. Wear fluffy socks. If you can possibly pull it off, this strategy works a treat I can tell you, you will hardly notice how dire the weather is.

I baked yesterday, for the first time in what felt like ages. It was absolute bliss. A good part of that Bliss came from my brand new apron, purchased on impulse during a rare shopping trip to The City at the weekend. Do you like it?? I love it. Love love love love love it. Oh yes I am proper in love with my Sale Purchase from Cath Kidston. I've wanted a CK apron of my very own for a long time, but have always felt it to be Too Extravagant seeing as I already have a rather lovely Portmerion Crazy Daisy apron which I love very much. So now I've got two lovely, lovely aprons to dither over on baking days. Ho hum well no not just on baking days cos I do in fact wear an apron every single day when I'm cooking dinner. So I shall be dithering every single day then as I try and decide between textured roses or crazy daisies. The roses are winning hands down at the moment, they are just so pretty!

It was very cold outside yesterday but very warm inside, my oven whacks out quite a bit of heat when it's on. I steamed the kitchen window up. I wonder why the sight of a steamed up window makes me feel so utterly, completely happy and content??? I honestly sighed to myself with pure pleasure at the sight of my steamy little window, the kitchen all warm and smelling of freshly baking cookies. It was quite a monumental moment in my day.

I made oaty sultana cookies from a recipe I found floating around in the kitchen on a scrap of paper. I had scribbled it down way back last year when I was Milk Tankering with Little B and obsessing over all things oaty, do you remember? The scrap of paper simply had written on it ::

100 flour

75 sugar

75 butter

50 oats

So I figured it must be some sort of cookie recipe. Doubled the quantities, threw in a handful of sultanas and baked them in a moderate oven for about 13 minutes. They were surprisingly delicious.

Waiting for the cookies to bake, I sneaked in a quick cuddle with Little B. He was slobbing about in his sleepsuit (his mother is rather lazy in getting him dressed for stay-home days, tsk tsk) and quite happy doing his own thing, but I do like to scoop him up for cuddles. Just cos I can. Oh my, he is growing so fast. So so so fast. We will soon be entering Toddlerdom and his true baby days are almost at an end. Kind of happy, kind of sad, you know where I'm coming from I'm sure.

As well as Little B being about at home, I've had the other two here with me as well this past week. It's been a mixed blessing as I've loved having them home for this extended holiday (almost four weeks, yes  f o u r) but there has also been a lot of sadness over their school being unable to re-open at the start of term. It flooded you see, and it's been really hard coming to terms with both the damage to the old Victorian building itself and the lost contents of the classrooms. It's a small community school and everyone feels quite devastated really. But the children were finally able to go back today even though the school is still far from recovered, and they were ready to be going back.

I missed them today actually.

But then again it was rather wonderful to put Little B down for his afternoon nap and hear the sound of Complete Silence. I spent a delicious hour hanging out on the Edge of my blanket :: that there blue row is the final granny row before I begin working the edge-of-the-edge.

Soon be time for a long overdue Ta-dah post for this blanket and I absolutely, totally, utterly cannot wait.

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Winter Warmth

Hello! We're having a very Wintry week here in my patch, brrrrrrrr it's been sooooo cold of late!

The temperatures have been sub zero day and night which is quite extreme for us Brits :: we are more used to half measures and unpredictability when it comes to the weather and all this constant bitter icy stuff has taken us by surprise.

But no denying the sheer beauty of it as I go slip sliding precariously with the pushchair along the frozen canalside. The snow and ice has made our every day surroundings look like a Winter Wonderland.

Despite the very cold weather, I've been feeling all Wintry-warm this week, it's such a lovely time of year isn't it? Ahhhh I'm having such a lovely, buzzy, happy time, the Little People are in full pre-Christmas swing both at home and at school and it's so joyful getting caught up in their excitement. Only 16 more sleeps don't you know. Quite a horrifying fact when one hasn't actually begun purchasing any gifts, but at the moment the Excitement is managing to keep the Panic in check.

I made it slip-sliding over the ice to the cafe this morning for my knit and natter group, what an enjoyable morning I've had. After missing it for a few weeks due to germs+snow, it was extra lovely to be back with friends, doing what I love best. Slurping and nattering and hooking, it was really good. Like really good. I am still on with my Christmas Decs, I have become quite loopily addicted to making them. Just one more, just one more, I can't seem to stop myself.

I know many of you are loving making them too (yiippppeeee!), there're some absolute beauties appearing in the Attic24 Inspired Flickr group, do go and take a look if you have a moment to spare. Makes me so happy to share with you  ♥ thank you ♥

Just whilst I'm on the subject of sharing, I came across a lovely blog this morning that I'd like to tell you about if you haven't already found it :: it's written by Sara and is called Tangled Happy, it's fabulous!! Labelled as a "crochet pattern collective" there are oodles of creative hooky ideas and lots of links for you to follow. I was particularly smitten with Pips crochet baubles that Sara featured yesterday, wow, what a clever idea that is! Pips tutorials are smashing and very easy to follow, I think I'll be giving those a go when I can put my own ones down for a second.

Something about Wintry weather makes me want to stay home warm and cosy and bake things. Well truthfully my week so far has involved rather a lot of happy time out and about socialising with friends, but Little Man is keeping us supplied with fresh home baking. He baked these buns when he came home from school a few days ago, and as you can see he decorated them beautifully without the need to do boy-things with the little balls. Pheww. They will be fit to offer to visiting relatives then, unlike some of his other baked goods, that's a relief.

My hyacinth on the mantel has reached it's peak now, the fragrance is quite something. Soon be time for us to clear the mantel though and make way for all things Festive, I'm really looking forward to doing that very soon.

A few Christmassy bits and bobs have already found their way down from the Attic eaves, and some pre breakfast Christmas crafting has been happening too. Gosh. Is it really only sixteen sleeps till Christmas??

One lovely thing that has happened this week is that I've been reunited with my Granny Stripe blankie, yaaaaayyyyyy!! J went and did the necessary wintertime stuff with Connievan, prepping her for the cold weather and "putting her to bed" for the winter. I couldn't bare the thought of my beloved blankie spending the whole winter alone, so it's come home for some warmth and family loving. Right now it's being put to good use and makes up half of the roof to a Den Hotel. Apparently if you want to go and stay in the Den Hotel, it'll cost you £500 a night, although Little B is allowed in for free. It's very warm and cosy and intimately s-m-a-l-l in the blankety Den Hotel, but it does have a beautiful, colourful stripy-ripply roof.

See my new cushion up above there too, isn't it wonderful?? It was made by a friend of mine and I couldn't resist it when I visited a little local handmade selling event on Friday. I love it so much, most especially the beautiful felt triangle edging,  yeah, makes my heart go skipetty skip that does.

And looky what I found a few days ago when I was rummaging in my cupboards....my long lost Summer Granny cushion cover. My oh my, I had totally forgotten about this little thing, I started it way back in May and finished crocheting it months and months ago. I even have a delicious turquoise cotton jumper waiting to be chopped up and transformed into the backing. Need to chisel out a bit of time to do that soon, not that my sofas are short of colourful hooky goodness mind you, but you can never have too much of a good thing.

Well, on that colourful note I shall have to love you and leave you for now, I need to go and do foody things in the kitchen.

Stay warm and cosy my friends, and I'll see you soon, probably with a Christmas Tree in situ :o)

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Boy Baking

Little Man has been baking a lot of late, completely of his own accord and without any assistance from me other than the in-and-out of the oven bit.

He decided to make chocolate shortbread biscuits at the weekend.

He looked through all my cookie cutters and chose the mini gingerbread man one.

When they were cool he was very excited about decorating them.

We went to the shops to purchase silver balls and white icing especially for this purpose.

I was expecting that the silver balls would be used to make buttons.

But no.

Not buttons.

The silver balls were used to make ....eh-hem....balls!

Boy baking.

Boy biscuits.

Brilliant.

x

 

Little Cakes with Wings

Remember my post last week when I showed you some little fancy-pants cakes that I'd baked for my solo knit-and-natter at home? I had lots of requests for the pattern recipe (sorry, I've just been pootling about on Ravelry and my mind is on crochet patterns, although I do quite like the thought of a baking pattern!), ho hum, I've distracted myself now, where was I?? Oh yes, lots of requests for the recipe for these little winged cakes.

Not sure what to call them, J and I had a little debate about this last week actually. He tells me that in The North they are called angel cakes. And I then told him that in The South, we always called them butterfly cakes. And then to confuse things even more, my little baking recipe booklet refers to them as fairy cakes. So either way, whether you like your cakey wings to belong to fairies, angels or butterflies, the recipe is one and the same.

First you make a batch of little buns. I have an old faithful recipe which I always use, you can find it waaaaay back in my archives (March 2008, good lord, have I been gas bagging on here THAT long?)...click HERE to find it. This recipe makes eight cakes. 

 

You need to let the cakes cool completely before you start chopping them about or else it all goes hideously wrong so be patient ok? No crumbly disasters and no kitchen hissy fits.

So while you're waiting for the cakelets to cool, you can make your buttercream icing. Very easy thing to do :: into a bowl put 50g butter or margarine and 100g icing sugar.

Get jiggy with your spoon of choice and cream them together until lovely and smooth. If you're using butter and it's not very soft, cream it first before adding in the sugar.

Beat in a few drops of vanilla essence.

Now you need to get your little cakey to produce some wings. Take a sharp pointy knife and cut out a circle from the top of the cake. Put your knife in at an angle as you cut round so that you end up cutting out a shallowish disc shape rather than trying to gouge out a deep round hole, does this make sense??

Don't worry if it's not particularly neat, a rough circle shape will do fine.

Now cut your circle in half to form the two wings, then fill in the hole with a good dollop of buttercream icing.

Arrange your little wings on top of the icing with the straight sides pointing down and the roundy edges sticking up (took me an embarrassingly long time to get this right, I kept wanting to put the wings in upsidedown)

And the final touch (which I completely adore) is to dust lightly with some icing sugar. Ahhhhhhhh it is such a huge amount of fun to dust cakes!! They look so charming and pretty and so much more cakey when they've had a good dusting down!

And thats pretty much it, this recipe should provide you with some fun baking and some even more fun eating. They are just the right amount of sweetness.

My Little People love these cakes. Mind you, they are quite cruel to the angels/fairies/butterflies and pull their wings clean off before scooping out the icing with their Little Fingers. Then they wipe their sticky Little Fingers all down their clothes, the dirty little urchins. I hope you won't do that, these pretty little cakies do deserve to be eaten daintily me thinks.

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ps I do love the Silver Spoon icing sugar packet, don't you? The dinky little red tractor with it's union jack window, ploughing up sugar pink fields is very sweet indeed.

Edited to add ::: ooooooooommmmmmmmmm JAM under the buttercream you say????? Well I never, I am SO going to try this, the Little Peeps will be beside themselves :o)xx

Also am rather delighted that I shall need to put J straight on the butterfly/angel debate as these are clearly Butterfly cakes aren't they? I was right, wasn't I?? teehee! xx

My Wednesday

I was out and about around town this morning, sitting on a squishy sofa in a little local coffee shop drinking coffee and meeting with friends. It was good. REAllY Good! Of course my coffee drinking and nattering was interspersed with milk tankering, patting, mopping, coooing, bouncing and other daft baby-related things, but it was good all the same. Little B was good. And for that I am happy and thankful today. Happy and thankful that my baby-filled days seem to be settling down somewhat. Pheww. It's been a long hard couple of months to tell you the truth.

I came home at lunch time (riding on a caffeine high, tut tut) and was struck by the little burst of colour happening outside my front door...the three baskets that I planted up with Little Lady the other Sunday are looking sooo pretty! Made me smile to see them, it really did.

The above pretty potted flower is on my mantel at the moment and it's a real beauty. I bought it at the supermarket for just £1, and as soon as I got it home I took it straight out of it's little brown plastic pot and popped it into one of my old terracotta pots which I then sat in an old cornishware bowl. The flowers are beautifully vibrant, and I think I am quite smitten with them actually. I'm afraid I can't for the life of me remember what the plant is called, but it begins with a C.

I've managed to do three loads of laundry today, crikey, it's a job keeping up with it all these days. As you probably know, my house-keeping skills are pretty lame at the best of times, but at least these days I can blame Little B. He provides the perfect excuse. Faaaar too busy to do housework you know, I'm a Full Time Mum with a small, demanding baby to care for! Excepting the laundry which really does need attention most days or else all hell breaks loose when no one has any clean clothes to wear.

Found time this afternoon to do a little bit of baking :: oaty cookies with chopped apricots. I bake these cookies pretty much every other day now, they've become a regular part of our diet. Not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing, but we all love 'em.

 

Monday's daffs have opened up today, revealing beautiful double blooms look. That splash of bright yellow in the corner of the room is so...so....can't think of the word, but it makes me feel all lighthearted and skippy and happy when I catch sight of them.

 

In the late afternoon I found a little slot of time to sit on the floor and sneak in some hooky. Little B lay next to me on his mat, kick-kick-kicking his little legs and I sang songs to him while I worked. I sing quite badly really but he smiled at me a lot so I think he must've quite liked the noise coming out of my mouth. I managed to hook the Final Row of edging around my zig zag baby blanket whilst singing out-of-tune songs to my baby.

Did you get that???

The FINAL ROW???????

Meaning it's Finally Finished!!!!!

Yes, my zig zag baby blanket is blocking out upon the attic floor as I type, and oooooooooooooooeeeeeeeee I can feel a Ta-dah post coming on! Feels like an aaaage since I last made a Ta-dah post, I am quite unbelievably over-excited at the prospect. Like ants-in-my-pants, won't-be-able-to-sleep kind of overexcited. Well OK, I will be able to sleep of course cos right now I suddenly feel incredibly tired. But you know, still excited through my tiredness.

Hope you had a really lovely, super-dooper Wednesday my lovelies...see you tomorrow for a bit of colourful zig-zaggy business.

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♥ Three Things ♥

Three things that are making me heart-skippy happy today....

:: Thing #1 :: on my table ::

:: A bunch of daffodils bought from the market as tightly closed buds have opened to reveal the most beautiful pale yellow blooms. They're soo pretty! And making me long for Spring to arrive. We've got grey foggy dull damp weather here today, but walking into the room and seeing this jug of flowers has really made my heart skip-skip-skippy ::

:: Thing #2 :: in my tummy ::

:: Baked a chocolate fudge cake as a surprise for J's birthday today. Of course the cake is not yet in my tummy, but a good helping of the chocolate fudge icing is. Wellllll......with no Little People about to lick the bowl out, I was forced to undertake that job myself. Such hardship ::

:: Thing #3 :: on my sofa ::

 

::  Little B and I were at the cafe this morning enjoying the wonderful company of fellow knitters, hookers and stitchers. I finished making the last of the squares needed for my baby zigzaggy blanket....one hundred and five in total. Now got to find time to arrange them and stitch them together, but in the meantime I'm really getting a buzz out of admiring them in their neat little piles ::

♥ hope you find some things to make you heart-skippy happy today ♥

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Oaty Cookies

Where oh where have my beloved hills gone?? This was my view from the Attic window this morning, I think you might call it a snowy-white-out. To be truthful, I am so over the snow thing this winter, I'm hankering too badly for Spring to be overjoyed by snowfall. But as today is Sunday and a day of no plans, it's been pretty ok to sit inside, warm and cosy and watch it fall.

The Little People were out playing in it before breakfast this morning :: piling it up, slinging it around, slipsliding about in it. Me :: I chose to sit in the windowseat in the attic and read Country Living magazine (been trying to find my Perfect Moment for it all week without success, but this morning I found it. And it was Oh-So-Good). 

I've been baking this morning too. I love Sunday baking, even more so on a bitterly cold, snowy day like today. I suddenly had this real urge just after breakfast to make cookies, and they had to be Oaty Cookies for some reason. Don't ask me why, but that was how it was. So after a quick little jaunt through various oaty cookie recipes on the www I came across this one and decided to give it a try. It's a simple recipe, and the results are top notch. Very mmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm indeed.

Into a microwavable bowl,  put the following ::

100g margerine or butter

50g soft brown sugar

2tbs (40g) runny honey

Pop into the microwave for about 1 minute or so until the ingredients are gently melted. Give a good stir to combine.

Now add the following ::

100g self raising flour

100g oats

50g dried fruit (raisins in this case, or I think chopped apricots would work well)

I also added 1tbs sunflower seeds, cos by default these cookies then become Wholesome, and I'm all for the Wholesome Option (eh-hem, ok, not strictly true I admit, but it sounds good)

Mix well. The mixture will be quite wet and sticky.

Put heaped desertspoons of the mixture onto a baking tray (I managed 16 in total), spreading well apart. Flatten slightly with a fork, but don't go overboard with the flattening.

Bake in a moderate oven 180/350/gas 4 for 12-15mins until they are very lightly golden. You'll need to know your oven :: cookies baked in my oven are generally done at 12 minutes, after that they overcook on the bottom.

Out of the oven they come and ooooooh they do smell lovely. They do look Wholesome too, wouldn't you say?

 

The Little People road test them immediately whilst they are still warm and give them a most definite thumbs up.

I make myself a coffee to accompany my tester-cookie and mmmmmmmmmmm they do indeed taste deeeeeeeeeeeeelicious.

In fact, I am about to go to the red spotty tin and have myself another.

You know, just to be sure they are good enough for you.

Wouldn't want to give you a duff recipe now would I?

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edited to add :: a lovely reader called Lisa left a comment on this post and recommended a recipe for homemade hobnob biscuits...having just made a batch and road testing a few (not saying how many, thats for me to know), I  can tell you that they are Good. ExTREMEly Good in fact. The link to the recipe is here. Right, off to google ANZAC biscuits now. No idea why I'm obsessing about oat biscuits?!

Festive Florentines

So tell me :: have you ever heard of Florentines??

I hadn't until last week. Had no idea what these little scrumptious beauties were at all, had never come across them, had never eaten them, and had certainly never thought to make them. But last week I was enjoying a quiet moment browsing through a beautiful book called Christmas Inspirations by Rose Hammick & Charlotte Packer, and there they were on page 121, looking quite festive and delicious. From the recipe they seemed easy to make with only a few uncomplicated ingredients, so I thought I'd give them a whirl. And oh.....what a delight these are!

I ended up experimenting a little with the recipe, making a couple of changes to suit my taste/store cupboard. The original recipe used mixed peel and glace cherries, neither of which I had in or am particularly fond of. So I used a mixture of dried cranberries and apricots when I first made them, but I found the apricots a little sweet so now use just the cranberries. I also altered the chocolatey bit, making mine with a mixture of dark chocolate and milk chocolate orange. And I have to say, in my humble opinion, using chocolate-orange was quite inspired and reeeeeeeaally makes these very special indeed.

So anyhow, here is my version of Festive Florentines.

Or to describe them another way, Cranberry and Chocolate Orange Florentines...

Into a heat proof bowl, put the following ::

50g butter

50g caster sugar

1 tablespoon clear runny honey.

Pop the bowl into the microwave for about 45seconds so that everything melts together, and give a good stir.

Now add ::

50g plain flour

Stir well until you have a smooth paste.

Now add ::

50g flaked almonds

50g dried cranberries

Mix well.

The mixture should make around 18 Florentines, so either use two baking sheets or bake in two batches. You'll need to line your baking sheet(s) with grease proof paper, then dollop on teaspoons of the mixture. Space them well apart as they spread when they cook.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 / 350 / gas 4 for 8-10 mins :: NOTE :: keep a close eye on how they're doing towards the end as it's easy to overcook them. They should end up a light golden colour.

The picture above is of the first batch I made which were baked for 10 mins, see how they look a bit brown and crispy at the edges?? I now take them out at 8 mins before they brown too much and they look/taste much nicer.

When the baking sheet comes out of the oven, leave for a couple of minutes so the florentines begin to harden, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Now for the chocolately bit....you'll need to melt 120g good chocolate of your choice... I combined 60g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) and 60g milk chocolate orange, heated in the microwave for about 45secs, then stirred well until it all melted.

Spread a good teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the underside of each Florentine until it's well covered, then leave to cool/set completely.

These little festive Sweet Treats are sooooooo yummy, and very very good alongside a mug of freshly brewed morning coffee.

I'm going to be making up several batches to package prettily and give to family and friends next week as gifts.

Here's hoping they're scoffed with pleasure.

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Stay-home Weekend

Hello my lovelies, thanks soo much as always for taking time out of your day to call in to see me in the Attic. I've been enjoying your visits enORmously of late, all of your comments and continued enthusiasm and support for what goes on in my crazy little muti-coloured world is so very much appreciated. Thank you.

I'm feeling happy and refreshed today after spending a very lovely, sloooooow kind of stay-home weekend with my Little People (J was away partying with old friends for most the weekend). It was exactly the kind of weekend that I needed after what felt like a superly-doooperly long and tiring week. In fact, apart from a little jolly into town on Saturday afternoon to purchase chocolate laden Advent Calendars from here, we did not leave the house. And yesterday, with the rain pouring down for the whole day and with no intention of going anywhere or seeing anyone outside of my immediate family, I did not even get myself dressed. Yup, spent the whole day in my pj's (well, I did manage to change into some clean ones at about midday after a shower). And oh it felt good! Really good.

During the course of the weekend I took a few photos here and there, little snap-shots of our time spent at home. I really enjoy looking back at these "ordinary" photos of every day home life, it gives me a lot of pleasure to record my life in this way, to use my blog as a visual diary if you like.

The above pics are of Little Lady's hastily constructed weekend "den" made in the Big Chair :: you can see how my crochet blankets are in constant use around here, and I can't tell you how much I love that they are used and loved in this way. And although the blanket-den looks a bit makeshift and to be honest very small even for a Little Person, Little Lady did miraculously manage to crawl into it with her little pink fluffy bag of Essentials and spent quite a while in there. She could be heard from under the blanket, talking to her toys and having some long in-depth conversations with friends on her toy mobile phone. Very sweet indeed.

We had a late breaskfast on Saturday morning consisting of a huge pile of scotch pancakes with strawberry jam and syrup (fabulous recipe from here), but we were still hungry enough to enjoy a spot of Elevenses a little while later....fruit and a bun in front of some atrocious kids tv for the Little People....

....and a cuppa and a bun in front of a lovely magazine for me.

I hadn't found time to do any baking at all last week and had missed it (both the act of baking and the end results), so on Sunday morning I put my apron on over my pyjamas and enjoyed a very pleasant little baking session in my weeny kitchen.

I made some apricot flapjacks....

....and an iced lemon cake.

Both very satsifactory indeed, if I do say so myself.

There was also time during the weekend to partake in a little hooky business. Of course. Can't possibly have a stay-home weekend without hook and yarn, that would never do.

I spent a little time pinning out and spray-starching my Granny Stars...Oh-my-goodness, I can't tell you how fabulous this starchy-stuff is!!! It's the first time I've tried it out on crochet and it works an absolute treat. You just have to try it! Prior to their Spa Treatment, my stars were looking yummy but decidedly flopsy and roundy on the corners and no good for stringing into a garland really.

 

But not so any more!! Now they are all pert and pointy-cornered, crisp and flat and uncurly and gorgeous. And I'm sooooooo happy with them!

I finally took down my hanging paper hearts (the ones that've been up since Valentines Day) and am going to string these stars into a long garland to hang in their place tomorrow, to celebrate the start of Advent. Going to see if I can make some more today so that I have 24 altogether (8 more to make), one for each day of Advent. Think that would be good.

As well as star-starching, I also embarked on another Festive hooky project over the weekend. And I am SO EXCITED to share this with you all !!!!!!!

Remember waaaaaayy back earlier in the year when I was in the midst of making BB, when I made the decision to frog out the white borders?? Well as a result of all that bitter-sweet frogging, I was left with a rather giant ball of white wool, and quite honestly I was beginning to think I would never ever find a use for it. I just don't really do White creative things as a rule. Up until two days ago that is.

 

Uh-huh, you do indeed see a little stack of White things there, and they were indeed made by me.

Yes, I did indeed venture into the World of White.

I admit it did not come easy, but I am absolutely thrilled with the results.

So thrilled in fact that I spent a good portion of my pyjama-clad afternoon yesterday hooking and photographing a tutorial for this All-White project.

Yes, I did!

So if you fancy a peek at what I've been up to, call in to see me again tomorrow and all will be revealed.

You can expect a spectacularly colour-less post tomorrow.

See you then.................

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