23.01.10

Thought for the day. 


(Not for the faint hearted!)


What happens when you mix one rather smelly giddy dog
One large bucket of lovely warm water
One good squish of dog shampoo
Youngest and me?


Well after a good dose of soapy bubbles
Lots of splashing and wet feet
you get this............

Don't say you were not warned!

Photos courtesy of eldest.

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Fav sister in law asked if I would like some beads -

Ooh yes please was my obvious reply

And look how she gifted them to me

 - so much thought 

I could hardly bring myself to open them

Little bags of fun

Thank you!

21.01.10

Today was long.
So slo-ooow and long.

Nothing much happened,
BUT!
last night was excellent!

It was a Knit n Knatter evening. A  houseful of hooks and needles, yarns and threads, voices and stories and many yummy things to eat.
So much so, that last night was temporarily christened Knit n Knatter and (K)nibble!

I started youngest's blanket - he couldn't bear the thought that his brother's blankie was getting so big and he (poor deprived child) had to make do with his little one I made him 18 months ago.....
He has chosen shades of red -

We had two new craftsters join us, both of them crochet virgins and by the evening we had corrupted them totally! Now that is what I call a successful evening.

***********

But - back to today.

We had home-made falafel tonight - and it was good.

drain tin of chickpeas - none of this dried-peas and boil till the-cows-come-home stuff.

 three juicy cloves of garlic - chopped

Roughly chop 2 medium onions, add the chickpeas and garlic

Grind 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds with 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds

Add the crushed seeds, chopped parsley, teaspoon baking powder and seasoning.

Whizz with some sort of whizzy food processor type thing.

Shape the resulting firm paste into slightly flattened walnut sized blobs.

Dusting with flour to prevent sticking.

Fry in batches, watch out for them cooking suddenly after pretending to do nothing at all

They turn a lovely golden colour once cooked

Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm

We had them with spaghetti with a spicy tomato sauce, mushrooms and courgettes with grated cheese

Yum.

They taste nothing like the shop bought box variety.

If you want a more accurate recipe, just leave a comment and I will oblige.

But this is how I cook - chuck in and season!

19.01.10

A rounding up of crafting presents.

First - the quickly made bunting for the birthday friend.

Sourire = smile

Now for the delayed festive present round up.

Delayed for a number of reasons,

some didn't get finished in time,

some didn't photographed till recently and

worst of all...

some didn't get started until January

oops......

Clapotis scarf for my Mom

On the chair.........

on my Mom............

She made that lovely rose and red ones for my sister n law and I.

More felt bows for another friend's daughters

A felt 'chocolate cupcake' pin cushion for my Mom, friend and sister n law

Felt mistletoes with vintage buttons for my Knit n Knatter friends

Bunting for sister n law's kitchen

liefde = love

Several felt hearts tied to presents

There, thats enough for now,

I do have more pictures somewhere,

but due to my efficient filing system I use for cataloging photographs

I have no idea where they are.

Life goes on.

18.01.10 - part 2

I tried to keep busy today,
so not to think.
So not to remember - yes I know - 'it's only a cat',
but she was mine and she was special.


I have started on another bunting.


Youngest said to me on Saturday -
'Can you make a birthday present for my friend'
Yes love, I replied, 'course I can - what do you want?


'Oh, I don't know, it's for a girl'


When is her birthday?




'Last Thursday'


What?!


sigh............

I am inscribing the bunting with  'sourire' - French for 'to smile'

I will post pictures of the finished pressie.

******************************

Eldest trying out his blankie for size.

It's getting there.

18.01.10

Sad
sad
sad

Today I say goodbye
 to a good friend
My elderly cat
has finally reached the end
of her furry life.

At 20, she has outlived many others.

She has seen us go from living together, to getting married,
to moving to Africa,
to moving back to the UK.



She had first run away from, then learned to love the boys.
She even discovered that they were very useful - they could be trained to open doors, open tins of cat food, to tickle on demand and to cuddle at the drop of a hat.

I will not be the only one to miss her.

17.01.10

It's been quite cathartic - being in the garden, that is.
After days of snow and ice, it's rained and washed most of it away.
A few die hard lumps of gritty grey ice linger on corners and under plants.
So we spent a few hours tidying up and topping up the compost heap.

We weren't along in the garden, we had help - lots of it..........

Whilst clearing the herbaceous borders, himself found a pair of hibernating ladybirds.

16.01.10

A very pleasant and impromptu knit and knatter.
The boys played with a friend whilst we passed the evening with wine, wool and words.

Youngest winding wool found in a charity shop for his brother's blanket,

 he can't wait for his blankie to start.

Is it the cold weather that brings the blanket makers out in us all?

Eldest's woodland inspired blankie is growing -

but not fast enough - he keeps 'trying it on' for size!