A weekend of buns !!!

Well there has been a bit of an unintentional theme to the last few days . It all started on Friday when I finished work and spent the afternoon baking 125 buns . The reason for this was that our school and nursery were having a stall to promote school at an Olympics event in our town. This event was to celebrate the torch coming through our town today . So as always I'm up for a bit of baking , so  buns baked I received more donations on Saturday morning and did another batch myself . Saturday afternoon was spent pipping the buns with a friend , she made the cream while I pipped . We did just over 200 buns it was hard work but our children played and we had a good old natter !!We packed the buns ready for today's event , It was going to be an early start and we had to start setting up by 8.30 am .Once set up  all the buns were to be given away for free !!

So we set up this morning and the day was great success , all the buns went apart from a couple of casualties that ended up on the floor . Please forgive me for the rather smudgy quality of the bun photo's as I hadn't realised my lens had got a little greasy whilst handling bun's and camera .

 But that was not my only involvement in  making buns this weekend , my youngest son had a birthday party to go to today , so  last night I sat and did some knitted buns . I thought It would be fun to give a box of knitted buns as a birthday present , as every 5 year old girl needs knitted buns for those all important dollies tea parties !! So here they are and can I just add I did not knit them all last night I only did the two pink ones as I had the others stashed from the last time I made these for a charity event .

 I do like making these bun's and if anyone is intersted in the pattern it is in a very old issue ( no 5) april 08 of Let's Knit ! These buns are great  for raising money ,  I once did them for a Mc Millan Coffee morning and put them on vintage glass cake stands and they went down a treat and raised lots of money .

This weekend has been very very busy , but It"s all been good !!! Hopefully the things I have produced have in some way brightened  up someones day .
Another bit of news is that the hearing in my right ear is returning , Wahay !!!! I'm sooo pleased and thankyou to everyone for your kind messages and prayers !!

Enjoy what is left of your weekend and thanks for popping by , so ta ta for now . X

Little accomlpishments !!

Well goodness me what a couple of weeks it's been , I have not had a fun time . After spending the school holidays in bed with what I suspected was a virus it was crowned off with a nasty ear infection and burst right ear drum !! Ouch , boy did that hurt !! So a week off work and two lots of antibiotics later I am just starting to feel human again . I am seriously deaf ! I am partially deaf in my left ear anyway and have always relied on my right ear, as I have re-occurring problems with the left ear ( two burst ear drums in the last 18 months). But now my right ear is out of action, I'm living in a very strange world . I have gone back to work and am really struggling to hear the children , I'm living in a world of white noise at work , it's very frustrating .
I have found it quite socially isolating my (hopefully temporary ) hearing loss . But I'm soldiering on with it in the hope of my eardrum healing and my hearing returning . Due to the very disorientated state I was in last week I could only focus on small project for short amounts of time so I've been working on  my sock and am nearly at the stage for the heal , I'm quite excited by this prospect and am starting to get to some lovely colours in the ball of wool .

I also finished some lacey wrist warmers as well , another little accomplishment . Which did cheer me up !!

My last accomplishment which I am really pleased with is whilst I was off work last week I vowed to work on the Quilt for school and get it finished.  Ready to hand it over to the Reception class and yes I did it . I finished the binding last night . So on Thursday we are going to hang it at school and then I will let you see the finished quilt . My youngest who has had a part in making this quilt was admiring the quilt last night and proclaimed it was " beautiful " to which I told him he should be very proud of the work he's done . I told him that lot's of people will be able to admire the fantastic sewing his class has done for years to come.

So until the big ta da moment of the quilt I will try and remain positive and crack on with the week . But thank you for popping by and I hope I haven't been too much of a whinge bag !! So ta ta for now .

Tree Cushion , Ta da !!!

Well I had so many plans for this week off with the children and hubby , I did not envisage I would be spending  most of it in bed with a virus !! . The Jubilee celebrations passed me by and today is the first day I've been up and about and not had to go to bed ( paracetamol and Ibuprofen are just about keeping me going ) . To add insult to injury I managed to get myself up on Wednesday for a Dental appointment , which was supposed to be a filling on a wisdom tooth . OOhhh no , the dentist had other ideas " I've decided your tooth needs extracting , how do you feel about having it taken out ? " As you can imagine I wasn't over the moon about the idea , I wasn't mentally prepaired to have a tooth pulled out . Especially when I had a sore throat and ears ,as well as pounding head . But I went ahead with his advice and 5 minutes later I was missing one wisdom tooth and £78 out of pocket . I don't know which hurt most the tooth extraction or the bill !!!     I'm  sooooooo sorry to have a big old whinge I just needed to get it out my system .

There have been some positives to this week , in the moments I have managed to rise from my slumber I have soldiered on with a friends cushion and completed it . Wahay !! I've finished a task I had set my self for the holidays . I hope she likes it , I know it is destined for a farm house in Wales and it's rustic charm will I hope make it look right at home .

Another rather thrifty task I have finished today was making a new batch of candied orange peel . I can't believe how quickly I got through the first batch I made , so some weeks ago I had decided I was going to save a freeze any orange peel rather than throw it away . This would mean once I had a sufficiently big enough batch of peel I could Candie another batch .

I've managed to get 1 and half jars of candied peel ready to brighten up a fruit  cake or a pudding in the future . All from what at one time I would have put straight in the bin !! . If you fancy having a go It works the same for Lemons too . You need to use 50g (2oz) of sugar to each quantity of peel from either a whole orange or Lemon . So If your freezing as you go, so you can do a big batch then maybe keep a note somewhere of the number of whole peels you have so you can calculate sugar quantity . Scrape off any pulp , then put the peel in a pan cover with water and simmer gently for 1to2 hours . The peel should feel soft and squashy but still hold it's shape and not break . The water may need topping up during process . When tender add the correct quantity of sugar to the pan , stir until dissolved and bring to the boil . Remove from heat and allow pan and contents to cool . Next day , bring the contents of the pan to the boil again and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes . Remove from heat and allow to cool again , uncovered . On the 3rd day simmer until most of syrup has been absorbed . Drain the peel and put on trays to dry . Now my book recommends drying in an airing cupboard , but many modern homes don't have these (we had one when I was a child ) . So what I do is place the fan in the oven on  , with the door slightly ajar at the lowest temperature setting possible. So just warm air is circulating to dry the peel  . This can be done in fits and starts over a couple of days . Then chop in small pieces like little jewels ( I find scissors the best tool for the job !) Store in airtight containers for up to 6 months . A friend came to visit while I was doing the chopping part today and she kept nibbling at the pieces ( I think she was the unofficial quality control ) . We both agreed they would be fab cut into strips and dipped in good quality dark chocolate as after dinner treats . I may have to try this next .

While I'm on being thrifty I just wanted to share my bargain of the day ...... whilst taking a gentle stroll around town this morning and having an impromptu visit to my local discount book shop which has started selling wool . What a lovely combination books and wool !!! . I spied theses bargains which had just been reduced , At a £1 a ball I just could not resist . That little purchased really did cheer me up ! so I consider the purchase as has having a very much needed medicinal purpose .

 Anyway I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I'm off to Crochet little Hare jumpers so ta ta for now . xx

A week enjoying flowers !!

Well another week has whizzed by but what a fabulous start to the week I had . Monday morning this beauty greeted us when I opened the blind . How can a flower like this poppy not make you feel good first thing on a Monday morning !!! The boys and I went out to have a closer look , we were quite bold over by it's beauty . We've had people stopping to take pictures of our poppies , not only are they stunning but they are quite a size too !!!

Monday was so hot as well , so to take advantage of this I suggested that we had our Monday evening Crochet session in  my little back yard . This was so we could enjoy the remaining heat of the day and take advantage of the last of the sunlight  , there was a resounding yes to the idea . So I cut some flowers from my garden to make a pretty display on my table ready for my friends , I do like to make fuss of my friends !!!

So table prepared , assorted snacks sorted and Pimm's chilling nicely , the Crochet group arrived and boy did we have a night !!!!

Our little crochet evening actually turned into quite a party , we got a little tipsy had a really good laugh and did a little crochet , what a way to start the week !!!! All my flowers plus some that one of the my crochet friends brought me  all went on my little table next to my favourite chair in the bay . So as I sit sewing I can enjoy the wildly sweet fragrance of these pretty garden flowers . What a pleasure it has been enjoying these flowers in such close proximity.

So this week I really have enjoyed my flowers and as I sat this afternoon sewing ( a cushion that is nearly finished , I will have a ta da moment very soon ) in my fravourite chair listening to a c.d , having a freshly ground cup of coffee , I just thought that life is full of perfect moments and all  we need to do is to take a bit of time to sit back and appreciate what we have .

So now I'm looking forward to a week off work with the boys and my hubby . Our days will no doudt be dictated by the weather . So thanks for popping by and ta ta for now. x