If I Knew You Were Coming...

... I'd have baked a cake! So bake I did! :) oh, what a chore. (Not!)

My lovely folks and sister came over on Easter Sunday for a last-minute visit. We organised it the night before and my hubby and I insisted we would make lunch. And what is a visit to a country cottage without some cake! Lunch was gone before I could snap any photos but I managed to get some pics of the cakes before they were devoured...

First were some wee rocky road bites with milk chocolate, marshmallows and digestives. Second was a Victoria sponge that is not all it appears. I didn't have the right sized cake tin so had to make do with one bigger than I needed meaning the end product was too thin to split in two. And so a one-tiered version was born! I just slathered it in lemon butter icing and put on some lovely wafer flowers I got as a birthday present and bingo... Spring pastel Easter goodness! Happy weekend, all!

Time for Tea!

Next month, my lovely parents celebrate 40 years of marriage. Wow! I'm so proud of them and their wonderful, inspirational marriage. But how could I show them? Ah ha... Handmade!

I thought really hard about what to make that they could big share and enjoy and since I was practically raised as a tea Jenny, I thought a tea cosy was perfect. Someone had one made for my hubby and me for our wedding last year and we adore it and use it every day.

So here goes... I didn't have a pattern so drew round our tea cosy and cut out two outer pieces, two lining pieces and two bits of batting. I then did some freehand machine embroidery on a heart shape I cut out (embroider before cutting shape or it won't fit in your hoop!).

This weekend I have to sew it all together. I'm thinking of adding another heart on the back with 'since 1973' embroidered on it. Will post more pics as soon as it's done but here is the progress in the meantime...

Stash!

These wee acrylic flowers I had had in my basket on eBay for aaaaages arrived at the weekend.  I just bought them earlier in the week so was super pleased they arrived and made a home for them in my 'things what I love and currently want near to inspire me' Kilner Jar.

Ooh, stash-tastic!  Happy, crafty, cottagey girl!

Get Yer Bake On!

This weekend was wet and yuck and cold and still a bit snowy.  It was also gorgeous and relaxing and lovely!  I took the time to have some down-time but kept my little hands busy.

First up was a chocolate cake from the wonderful Rachel Allen's book 'Bake'  You can read more about it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bake-Rachel-Allen/dp/0007259700  And here's my cake...

Nest was a cheeky wee Banana Bread from Kirsty Allsopp's 'Craft' book.  Again, you can read about it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kirstie-Allsopp-Craft/dp/1444737589/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363618527&sr=1-1-spell  And here's my banana cake:

It's yum-a-licious!

Lastly, I was excited because the new issues of both my Mollie Makes
 and Simply Homemade subscriptions arrived - bliss!



Happy Monday, everyone!

xx

Jammy Joy!

Happy weekend once again!  Last weekend I was a busy bee and did some baking.  I'd been wanting to try home-made jammy dodgers for a while and got a recipe in the new Morrison's magazine. 

And here they are... Or were... They've been gobbled now!