Waiting....

Well it's the end of January and I'm here waiting on my new arrival... I've now gone overdue and as I went 11 days overdue with Little R I think I'm in this for the long haul. I'm trying not to crack up, to be patient and enjoy this calm time before the baby arrives but that's easier said than done! I'm going to attempt a quick blog post and just write about what we've been up to in January as it's been a busy enough month. 

The main even for us after christmas is Little R's birthday. This year Little R turned two. We had a little party low key party with some little ones the same age (two children of friends and his cousin of nearly the same age and his baby cousin - 8 adults and 4 children and 1 baby which was quite enough thank you!).  It was really lovely, tiring but lovely and Little R had great fun. His first bowl of jelly which went down a treat. And I made a birthday cake - victoria sponge with lemon curd, fresh cream and raspberries and a lemon cream cheese icing...

After a lot of searching online I decided to make a two to stand on the cake. I got the idea from here but had to tweak it slightly as I don't know if you can purchase almond bark in Northern Ireland so I used white chocolate. It took me 3 goes for it to work and as I wanted sprinkles on the back I decided to do the number two in 2 halves and then I stuck them together with more melted white chocolate. I was really super pleased with the result.

The main things Little R enjoyed was having his little friends to play with, using the Thomas the Tank Engine tablecloth (massive on his little toddler table but the little ones didn't care) and Thomas the Tank paper plates (train mad that child), blowing out the candles on his cake and of course getting presents (which helped the come down after Christmas!). 

It was a lovely affair but tiring for a 38week pregnant Mummy. Little R and I did this after everyone left...

 Much like the rest of the UK we had some snow but only a little. Little R was super excited especially after watching The Snowman on repeat over Christmas. So when it first snowed we went out for a chilly but thrilling walk...

I have also been busing myself with some crafting. My sister (who I didn't think liked crochet!) requested a crocheted blackberry cover and although I had a fair few projects on the go I couldn't refuse...

I've also been making some hearts as inspired by Attic24...

I have also been working on a blanket for the new arrival which I'll show you after the baby makes his/her debut!
I've been enjoying lots of flowers this month... my overwhelming love of tete a tete and hyacinths really began when i started onto this blogging malarky. I mean I always liked them but now I feel I just have to have them in my home in January to help the bareness after the Christams decorations have gone. And getting some bargains has really helped too... 30p for the last tub of hyacinths thanks to eagle-eyed D! 

The above hyacinth are now flowering and smelling lovely and we have lots of other bargain pots about the house but I am too tired to go on a photography expedition to capture their blooms sorry! And although it was D who found the bargains for me he can't stand the smell but he's very kindly putting up with it, the lovely chap that he is, being heavily pregnant might have something to do with him giving in to my whims!! I've also been doing a little baking to pass the time and Little R has been great at helping and eating...

The next event in January was my birthday and although people have said that your birthday goes out the window when children come, D has always been very good at celebrating my birthday and for that I feel truly lucky because I LOVE birthdays. I LOVE cake. I LOVE cards. A wee pressie is a nice bonus but I am a simpleton and don't require much (although I should admit I was totally and utterly spoilt with what D and Little R bought for me, you will see...). The day started off with all of us in bed having breakfast...

The next bit, of what is in that little package is really magical and special to me...

Some of you might recognise the beautiful little box, if not it's from the super duper, wonderfully talented and inspirational Emma from Silverpebble. My lovely other half had been planning this for months (after listening to me blether on for months, the poor man) and he ordered a commission from the wonderful Emma. Would you like to see...

It's a beautiful necklace inspired by nature and my little boy.  Underneath the main necklace is Little R's fingerprint. Honestly I don't think I have loved an object more in my whole, entire life. The craftsmanship is just amazing. And the fact that I can wear my little ones fingerprint fills my heart with such joy. I can barely bring myself to take it off when going to bed but I really don't want to break it, so I have to be sensible and I put it on my bedside table at night.

I just love it so much and am so delighted and humbled to think of my husband and this wonderful jewellery maker discussing their ideas for this necklace, just for me. 

I have worn it everyday since and honestly I will never tire of it. I am a very lucky and happy Mummy and Wife. D has already got something planned to add to the necklace when the new baby comes and I am so excited by this. And it didn't end there, D also made a rather splendid birthday cake for me - a rather delicious and moreish ginger cake. Little R, getting the hang of birthdays rightly, helped me to blow out the candles...

Very red cheeks on my little one... seriously can we have the eye teeth now before the baby comes... Little R has been tortured with these teeth for too long and I just want them to come... now please!!! I was also treated to a new Cath Kidston mug, the latest country living magazine (a new addiction of mine) and some beautiful cards. My lovely friend Dr T has a stamp fetish and she sent me a set of Alphabet Stamps in the post from Australia. The day ended on a high!

So now I am waiting. I'd like to be able to say patiently but that just wouldn't be true. I am positive that I am doing my poor husbands head in with my moaning but I can tell you that he is being extremely patient, at least someone is!! To be fair I have been knocked for six this week due to a pitiful head cold which has just zapped any remaining energy that I had. I am happy to report feeling a bit better today and more settled and less jittery wondering when the baby is going to come. I am going through a rollercoaster of emotions, excitement and anxiety and nervousness and joy. Mainly my concerns are for Little R and how he is going to react. He has been the centre of my universe for 2 years now and I have loved it all, I just don't want to upset him and I hope that he will love his new little baby sister or brother. I read a wonderful thing online when I was anxiously searching to see what other people felt like before their second baby arrived and one lady wrote the most wonderful thing that I am always going to remember...

♥♥ "Love doesn't divide, it multiplies" ♥♥

Thank you for reading. Thank you to new followers, I'm tickled pink that you want to stop by. And also a BIG thank you to Hazel at Cupcakery. Hazel very kindly nominated me for the Liebester award and I am truly grateful and chuffed to bits. But sadly I don't think I'm going to get the time to pass this on and do a post on this... it has taken me a lifetime to do this post and time is just not on my side these days. So thank you Hazel for your kindness.

Over and out xx

I can't wait, I can't wait!

Ok so I have been getting really excited about Christmas since about August (well probably January but so I don't look so insane we'll say August). I've been scouring the internet (blogs and pinterest mainly) for christmas baking ideas, present wrapping ideas and the like. I've been going through my blogroll and reading everyone's lovely posts from past Christmases. This has been getting me very, very excited indeed. So yesterday, in order to ease the excitement, D put up some fairy lights in the kitchen for me. 

 Then I did some baking as I haven't done any for absolutely ages, surrounded by lovely fairy lights while listening to The Cardigans on the laptop. 

I was inspired by the lovely blogs I was reading, especially Cherry Menlove's blog. I quite fancied making her White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies, well really everything on Cherry's blog looks so appealing and this seemed the least faffable to me. Well that was the theory, however..... A few years ago I lost my beloved electric hand whisk (a house warming present from my sister) when holidaying in Donegal. That sounds much more interesting than it really is, I just left them behind in the house we hired and I even rather stupidly thought that it would still be there a year later when we returned to the same house but they weren't! Boohoo. Then I purchased a really great and cheap electric mixer with a bowl attached, nothing fancy like a Kitchenaid or anything but it did the job, freed up my hands while mixing and I just loved it. Then one day I decided to try making dough with the dough hook, I felt like a little break from hand kneeding and who'd have thought it would be a good idea to read the instructions on where to put the dough hooks? Well clearly not me, and so I attached the hooks in the wrong way round and up the dough merrily travelled into the workings of the mixer. Although I needed a slap for doing that miraculously it continued to work for a few months, albeit with the odd bit of crusty dough falling out of the workings when it came out of the cupboard (but I never let it contaminate my baking in case you're worried for the people who eat my cooking!) and the odd bit of heat coming off the motor. But one day it decided it had had enough and it gave up on me. From that point I have been electric mixer-less. I toyed with buying another handheld one but thought it best to wait and get a replacement with a bowl but then I could never justify buying another one especially since we have so many other things to prioritise, childcare, nappies etc. Anyway this baking session left me feeling tired and a bit worn-out, I thought I had picked an easy recipe for relaxing Saturday afternoon (my brother had even offered to take Little R out for a walk - I thought I'd easily get the cookies made and put my feet up too ha!) but the lack of electric made it a bit too much work. So I decided we can't carry on like this, I can't keep avoiding recipes that require a lot of whisking and I just noticed this evening after a quick search on the internet that Argos sells a basic one for £6! I've been knocking myself out and I could have had electricity again for only £6 - I need another slap!! 

Anyway despite my doing the mixing by hand I did end up with a decent batch of cookies. Definitely no-where near as good looking as Cherry Menlove's but rather than cooking them in batches as suggested by Cherry, I ran out of patience and piled far too many on the baking tray at once so they all look a bit wonky. You see I was still hoping to get to put my feet up before my brother and Little R came back... I'm almost 29wks now and feet resting moments, while hard to come by, are very much appreciated! And I also wanted to have them ready for my brother as a thank you. So despite their random shapes they were well received and scored an 8.5 (my brother likes to score my work and fully admits that as a true critic he can't do anything himself). I'm not a huge fan of them myself, they are rather sweet but D and my brother like them a lot and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Since I started writing this post the lovely D has put up some fairy lights in our dining room and I am basking in their glow as I type (our living room and dining room are joined by an arch).

Teehee I love how a bit of tinkering in picmonkey can make a terrible, grainy photo look much better, well it does to me anyway. Little R's reaction to the lights has me in stitches. He looks at them and says "Oooh lights" and that pretty much sums up my feeling too. He is so much fun at the minute and I think he is going to make this Christmas even more special. I can't wait, I can't wait!!

I've been busy recently as my lovely friend has had a little baby boy. She also moved house so I have been busy making little things for her and her new little bundle of joy. I'll show them soon, fingers crossed. 

I'm off to the Creative Craft Show in Belfast with a friend this Saturday and I am also finding it difficult to contain my excitement about this. This friend has a special birthday this week and I've ordered her a beautiful pair of earrings from Folksy (love that site). She is very crafty and I'm not saying she's old, she isn't, but she has done nearly every craft there is and I know she'll appreciate something handmade. I really wanted to make her something myself but I just can't find enough hours in the day (need more sleep these days). So we are both looking forward to the show and I'm sure they'll have some Christmasy things too just to get me even more in the mood.

Thanks as ever for stopping by and good luck with your crafty preparations for the days ahead.

Helen xx

♥♥ I L-O-V-E Lucy ♥♥

Continuing on with my Attic24 obsession I did a little spot of baking and cooking at the weekend. Something things were directly inspired by the lovely Lucy and some things I had in my memory banks and just wanted to make this weekend...

I would love to be the type of Mummy who bakes for her children (well one child at the moment and Bigger child if you count D) and who teaches them how to bake and cook and nurtures them along the way. So this weekend I started with some little oaty biscuits. I should point out though that the recipes I'm falling for at the minute are those that are simple and quick, without Hoo-Haa (D laughs at me when I say no to recipes because I feel there is too much Hoo-Haa!) and without too many random/expensive/hard to get ingredients. In short simple recipes with simple ingredients. So Attic24 does these kinds of recipes by the bucket load and her Oaty Stars were my first port of call. I know you are going to want to try this recipe as they are tasty and so, so easy and lets face it if it's recommended by Lucy it can't be bad (I'm not going into stalker territory am I???). You basically bung oats, raisins, sugar, flour and butter in a food processor, blitz the living life out of it, roll it into shape, cut out your girly or not so girly shapes, shove them in the oven and 10mins later or so they are done. A more detailed and romantic version of this recipe i.e. the original can be found here... my attempts looked a little like this...

 My star cutter was too big so I went for Butterflies and Hearts (really I'm not this girly in real life honest, well maybe just a little, they are my cutters after all).

 Hmm a little mouse must have eaten the little oaty biscuit in the corner, or rather a big mouse (well someone had to check they were edible!)

My happy little tin of easy(peasy) to make biscuits

And Little R is only 18 months and although I don't consider myself a super strict Mummy he hasn't had chocolate yet so I omitted the tasty addition of chocolate buttons that Attic24 cleverly came up with (although myself and D would have happily eaten them like this I promise you!). But go for it, add the buttons and whatever other naughtiness you like. I know I'll only get away with this for so long and since Little R doesn't know any better just yet, I'm happy for it to stay that way! I liked them, D liked them, Little R like them (he really hasn't had much sweet stuff at all yet) and Little R's granda (my Daddy) said when I asked him for his verdict "Aye, they're alright", I sighed. He is a plain enough eater and doesn't get overly excited about much, ah well.

And then moving on and following Lucy's footsteps once more I was intrigued by here Butternut Squash risotto recipe (found here). Risotto is one of my favourite foods, yum with a capital Y! And this recipe looked the height of simplicity... Lucy doesn't even really stir her risotto but hey I'm not nuts, I'm a believer in stirring the risotto. But I did get a little brave and cocky even and I didn't stir it as much as I normally would and did things in between - a real James Dean I am! 

Anyway I can honestly say this recipe was super-dee-duper. It was scrum-didilee-umptious. I did mention that my Daddy is a plain eater (spuds, meat, veg - you know the sort) but in light of my new found bravery I served up said risotto to Old Pappy and he had one mouthful and this noise came out from him... something like "Mmmm". I had to steady myself on my chair and I asked "Do you like it?!" not really expecting much beyond "Aye, it's alright" and do you know, he said "Yes, it's really nice". I think I looked at D at this point to check I had heard right and he had the same stunned look that I did! Haha, I'm probably being a little dramatic and unfair to my poor father. He eats everything I serve up to him and never complains and sometimes makes happy noises sometimes, he's just not one for fuss and definitely doesn't make a song and dance about things but I tell you I was rightly chuffed to have made something that made him go "Mmm" on the first mouthful. Basically I just want to feed people and make them happy!

I also gave Little R this dinner, as it had no salt and D found good stock cubes without much added salt and no MSG, and he scoffed the lot. It's a lovely family dinner and one I will be making for many years to come. Thanks again Lucy!

On Sunday I followed my own baking path, but very much inspired by Lucy's take on life and baking nice things for ones family, and Little R and I made pancakes while D had a lie-in. The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver this time although it's so simple it's not much of a recipe but if you want it, you can get it here. One cup of self-raising flour, one cup of milk, one egg, pinch salt, grated pear... mix it all around in a jug (Little R did the mixing with minimal mess!). Fry in pan. Wait until everyone is awake from their naps. Serve with butter, jam and juice...

Yummy scrummy in my tummy... and Little R's and D's.

Finally to round off the weekend, following the small success of the chocolate and guinness cake I wanted to try Nigella's Gingerbread and Guinness recipe. It came highly recommended by Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse and being a hugh fan of hers I knew I was on to a winner. The ingredient list was slightly longer than the other recipes but it was still effortless, no endless whisking and void of any Hoo-Haa (a definite must). So I have found another recipe that I will keep using 'til the grave (or until people get sick of me making it! I am known to flog a dead horse!). I was thinking of giving you all the pics of the making of this cake.. but I am too tired and lazy and my photos are a bit blurry, with poor lighting (poor workman blames his tools and all that). And at any rate I've probably bored you to death already so I'm just giving you the end result...

The cake is moist (although I ever so slightly undercooked it, oh well just means I have to make it again to perfect it!) and perfectly spiced and very yummy. It's more of a wintery cake but while most of the UK gets a glimpse of sunshine we in Ireland are still getting slapped in the face with wind and rain so I think it's ok to eat wintery gingerbread in weather like that!). I found the recipe here so have a go, or wait until the rain starts again which inevitably it will! 

And finally (I know I said that above but I mean it this time) I thought I would update you on my yarn crisis. Thanks for everyone for their lovely and very helpful comments. As a result I decided to go with Stylecraft Special DK for the baby blanket. And after much deliberation and cogitation I picked these colours...

The colours above may look a little feminine but I am going to team them up with the colours below (I purchased these a while ago for Little R's blanket and didn't use them). Maybe I'll photograph them altogether someday but for now I am too lazy again!

This concludes my Lucy inspired weekend as the yarn is partly inspired by her and I'm following her Granny Stripe pattern. Must really get on with that and stop blogging!

Thanks for reading and getting to the end of this loooonnnnngggg post. I love, love, love that you have stopped by. I love, love, love that you sometimes leave a little comment (although I totally understand if you don't as well, no hard feelings, there are only 24 hours in the day). And in case you didn't know by now I love, love, love Lucy. 

♥♥ Thank you Attic24 for making the everyday things seem so special ♥♥ 

I am aware that Lucy will never read this but that doesn't matter. She doesn't need to.  But I just wanted to make my feelings known.

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

\/

Psst... did you think I was finished there? Well I have one more thing to tell you. This blogging malarky is just brilliant. I have been inspired by you all and the thing that has surprised me the most is that I've made friends. Lovely friends. Friends that, because they wanted to make you smile, send you this (amongst other things) in the post...

♥Thank you Mrs TT♥

Indecisive? Me?

Dear bloggie friends I am in distress! Well that's maybe a weeeeeeeeee bit dramatic ~ I am trying to pick yarn for a baby blanket I am going to start for a friend*. This particular job challenges me to the extreme as for the life of me I can't pick colours. I know which colours i like when I see them together and I know which colours I don't like when I see them together, but can I pick them myself??? Nooooooooo! Oh my word, I agonise over this decision but to the point of insanity. And then it's not only the colours of yarn but the type of yarn. Argh!!! I think I have changed my mind about 3 times on what actual type of yarn I am going to use for this project and I'm driving myself round the bend! I think part of the problem is that I'm trying to buy online and relying on the colours on the website, but even with that some suppliers have kindly sent me samples and I am still struggling. The other problem is budget, if money was no object I'd buy Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino or lovely Rowan yarns but unless we win the lottery (which I haven't dear reader) money is definitely a consideration when purchasing yarn. 

So am I writing to you just to moan and whinge? Well fortunately for you no! I am taking a break from the colour selection and I decided to write a wee post to remind me of happy things like......

...cakes and buns...

Over the weekend I was banging on about baking. Still on a high from the success of the Chocolate and Guinness cake I scoured the internet looking for some recipes because I really feel the need to bake. Many of the recipes I bookmarked were from Attic24, I think I am slightly obsessed with Lucy and her Attic but then I think most crafty crochet people probably are too! So anyway wittering on as I do, yesterday my darling D was working from home and he needed a break from work so I suggested via a little email communiqué that maybe he could could go to one of the cafes on our road to pick up a little piece of cake (ever since reading Attic24's baking posts I have wanted a piece of cake and a cup of tea!). This was what waited for me when I got home:

I managed to resist the urge to inhale it as soon as I got home from work and I saved it until little R was in bed

Perfection... mint tea and tea cake

Mmmm moist, cakey, goodness 

However I must add, D makes a top notch, 10/10 tea cake - well Welsh Bara Brith to be exact, as seen on the Hairy Bikers Mum's Know Best TV show about a year ago. D has added a nice little twist to the recipe by soaking the fruit in Lady Grey Tea, oh yes (well I told him to do it but he should probably take the glory as he does a super job with the recipe).

So my friends it doesn't end there... oh no. Today I came home from work and D had decided to work from home again today (he didn't want to cycle in the rain and I can't blame him). And this was waiting for me today

Ooooh what's inside? Well I'll tell you what was inside. Buns! Little scrummy fairy cakes!

I eeeeeped with delight and inhaled one within about 30secs and do you know what? It was delicious. Basic, bunny, spongy deliciousness.

And yes I just had to have another one because I wanted to show and tell on my blog. Hehe it was a big sacrifice having that second bun let me tell you! 

And to fuel my Attic24 obsession D had used the recipe (which can be found here) that I bookmarked at the weekend, oh he really does listen to me blether on the poor man. But hey I got buns and for that I am extremely grateful. I have managed not to eat anymore (thanks, I know it was well done of me not to eat all 8! Well there were 7 as D had to taste one himself, I supposed that's alright isn't it, he did make them teehee!)

♥~♥~♥ I am a lucky and very grateful pup ♥~♥~♥ 

* Yes Mrs Tittlemouse I am still trying to pick this yarn - I am a complete disaster! The Creative Cotton is lovely though and perfect for some little crochet flowers!

Birthdays

My 'wee' brother turned 30 on the first weekend in July (he is much taller than me, which isn't hard, and has just turned 30 so really he isn't wee at all, but he's still 'my wee brother' to me). We had a lovely surprise meal for him with family and friends at his favourite Indian Restaurant. Unfortunately due to timing issues, it was later in the evening, neither Baby R or D where able to come. D and I were a tag team, I went for dinner and D put Baby R to bed and I drove home, took over baby sitting duties and D went out for drinks with the boys and girls. This arrangement suited me down to the ground as I got an early night. Party animal I am not, especially when you have to get up at 6am every day!

Anyhoo I took on the task of making the birthday cake. I feel big birthdays really deserve a homemade cake. Well all birthdays do but finding the time isn't always easy, but you must find the time when your favouritest littlest brother turns 30! I was resigned to making my signature victoria sponge cake with icing which I feel is a bit played out and as a result I wasn't really overly excited about baking. Then I did a little browsing on the internet and found a very exciting sounding recipe for a Chocolate and Guinness cake. Yes you heard right, GUINNESS, the black stuff. On a side note: I know this will probably disgust many of you but I am quite partial to a really cold half of Guinness. My friends and I call it our Holiday Half - we always have one when we go on our hols to Donegal. Happy memories! Anyway back to the cake: It's a Nigella Lawson recipe I stumbled upon. I haven't baked in a while and the things I read about this recipe had me so excited about getting into the kitchen again. And let me tell you, it was the easiest recipe ever, so simple you could make it blindfolded! And what's more it was a hit. Everyone loved it. I felt guilty taking the praise because it was so seriously easy to make but it did taste delicious and it's my new favourite cake recipe. Thank you Nigella, you really know your stuff. I didn't use Nigella's recipe for the cream cheese frosting, I found another recipe as I wanted to ice the whole cake and needed a firmer frosting.  The all important age was marked out in Smarties (ah my inner child was very happy).

30 birthday candles outlined the perimeter of the cake and I also added a little non-toxic glitter to the top for an extra sparkle. The smarties seemed to fade after about 2 hours on the cake so it looked lovely and pastelly which was a-ok with me!

Oh I do love a surprise cake coming out in a restaurant, the surprise, the singing of Happy Birthday, the inevitable embarrassment I love it all! But I do not love having to call the birthday boy back from the almost entering the bathroom knowing the cake is about to arrive and having to ask inane questions while your little brother looks at you like you have gone insane. "What did you have for your meal?", "Did you enjoy it?", "Have you ordered that before?". All the while thinking please won't someone help me and where on earth is that cake??!!!

My husband said it was good to have me back in the kitchen again and my older brother who is a total foodie said it was the best cake he'd eaten in ages, high praise let me tell you. I really should have taken a photo of the inside of the cake but I really am a disorganised blogger so apologies (I usually feel I have to say sorry for something!) Anyway I'm taking this opportunity to pass this recipe on. You have to make this cake. Go on, ya will, ya will, ya will, ya will*........

♥♥ Happy 30th Lovely L ♥♥ 

*Said in the style of Mrs Doyle

Edit: would be good if I gave you a link to the recipe dear reader, haha I'm an Eejit! http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-guinness-cake-3086/

Edited further to add: Ooops I've just realised another omission by me! In my haste to get this post done I forgot to mention that I didn't follow Mrs Lawsons frosting recipe. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with Nigellas frosting, it just looked a little loose to me and as this was a birthday cake which had to be decorated on the top and the sides I decided to look for a more traditional cream cheese frosting recipe.

In the end I made it using 60g of unsalted butter, 200g full fat cream cheese and 400g of icing sugar. The recipe is here. I have to admit though that I absolutely hate butter cream icing so I was worried about the original 70g of unsalted butter that the recipe called for. So I used 50g initially and then I chickened out thinking that I didn't really know better even though sometimes I think I do and I was worried the frosting would be too loose so I added in another 10g of butter. Edit I think you have to be careful about over whipping the cream cheese and also about making sure you use FULL FAT (a moment on the lips and forever on the hips as my mother says) cream cheese. Anyway you'll be better than me and you'll actually follow the instructions and don't think you know better than someone who clearly knows what they are on about. I think I can safely reiterate my earlier point - I am an eejit.

Have fun with this recipe.