Aladdin's cave

Ok well maybe not actually Aladdin's cave, I mean there was not big pile of gold or diamonds, no flying carpet, no magic lamp or chattering monkey but I did come home with arms full of treasures today.
My village charity shop is usually very hit and miss at the best of times. I can go week after week and be lucky to walk away with a chick lit book that I haven't read yet. But ever now and again I get really lucky.. And today my lovely friends was totally and utterly my lucky day. I think the dear old ladies that work in there thought I was little bit crazy as I kept going backwards and forwards to the till with yet more things to add to my pile. I know you hate to be left in suspense but it's getting kind of late just now and who knows if I have to get up for school in the morning or not. I promise I will be back with lots of lovely pictures. ;)

Oh but I can share wth you the pictures of the lovely fq I received today from Fabric Rehab. I actually went straight back online when it arrived and ordered more goodies. Ooops.

Till later...keep warm x

Cosy sundays

My it's cold today so I was glad there was nowhere where we were supposed to be today but home with the fire lit and the soup on the stove. Though I did have to pop to the local shop late afternoon to get some milk but there you go someone had to do it.
The most energetic thing I've done today is feed the small people and iron their uniforms ready for school in the morning. Oh yeah and I washed all the dishes, sorted out some paperwork, put out the recycling bins, put more washing in the machine, emptied the dryer, emptied the bins... Oh man why do us women think that if we've not been on our feet for 12 hours we haven't done anything?


Tomorrow I have the joy of having to stay in waiting for a delivery, no nothing exciting for me. Well I guess it will stop me from utilising any avoidance tactics and leaving the house. :)

Ah now if only this prediction had come true.

Baking, bargains and blogger awards

Get me with all my B's :)



Award - Lets be Friends

Samsara has passed this Lets be Friends Award to me. Thank you hon!

The award says: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

So here goes dinosaurtoes , Flossie and Tom , ShabbyChick , cocoa and blankets , Alex ,
MarmaladeRose , Twiggy ,
Deanna

Remember the other day how I was saying I am not very domesticated well check this out. Today me and eldest small person did baking.
She made these lovely blueberry muffins,


and some ginger cookies.


Both taste devine. Wee one was out playing at a friends but when she got home and saw the goodies her little eyes lit up.

And yes I did say we did some baking although technically I'd have to say that my 21st Century gadgets did most of the work.
Firstly I made my first ever Lentil Soup and used my Slow Cooker for the first time. Ok the picture probably isn't the most appetising but honestly it's a much nicer colour in real life and it tastes gorgeous. Wee one is not usually very adventurous with soups but she had a massive bowl and is already planning on having another bowl tomorrow.


And my ever faithful bread machine baked me some sun dried tomato bread. This recipe is another first. A friend brought me up one of her loaves last year or so and it was lovely so I've always wanted to try and make it myself.


As you can see the loaf was a bit big for my machine so maybe next time I'll reduce the ingredients a bit.

See the lovely goodness?


And that yes that blurry hand is wee one helping herself to go with her soup.


And my final B. The bargains. How could I resist these mugs from Matalan. Each was filled with sweeties and wrapped up with a pretty bead flower. And the best bit? Reduced to £1.71 each.


Am sitting here watching Underworld: Evolution having just watched Underworld. Good old FilmFour you sit down to watch just one and suddenly you find yourself still sitting up at 1am in the morning and there's still 15 minutes to go.

Letter of complaint

Well surely she can't be the only one to feel like this at that 'special' time? LMAO

TO: MR. JAMES THATCHER

BRAND MANAGER, PROCTER & GAMBLE

Dear Mr. Thatcher

I have been a loyal user of your Always maxi pads for over 20 years, and I
appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core(tm) or
Dri-Weave(tm) absorbency, I'd probably never go horse riding or salsa
dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in
tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary
Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how
crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and
secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from "the
curse"? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my "time of the month" is starting
right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging
through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll
be transformed into what my husband likes to call "an inbred hillbilly with
knife skills." Isn't the human body amazing?

As brand manager in the feminine-hygiene division, you've no doubt seen
quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers'
monthly visits from Aunt Flo. Therefore, you must know about the bloating,
puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying
and out-of-control behaviour. You surely realise it's a tough time for most
women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge
to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because
he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps.

Crazy! The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that the UK is just
crawling with homicidal maniacs in capri pants. Which brings me to the
reason for my letter.

Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach
inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi pad, and
there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: "Have a Happy
Period."

Are you *+*#*ing kidding me?

What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think
happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness - is possible during a
menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit
pleasurable?

Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl,
there will never be anything "happy" about a day in which you have to jack
yourself up on Nurofen and Kahlúa and lock yourself in your house just so
you don't march down to the local Tesco's armed with a hunting rifle and a
sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory. For the love of God, pull
your head out, man. If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi
pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent,
like "Put Down the Hammer" or "Vehicular Manslaughter Is Wrong"?

- Or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your accounting department that, effective immediately,
there will be an £8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my
maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your
Flexi-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending
bullsh1t. And that's a promise I will keep. Always.

Best,

Wendi Aarons

Fabric samples and ebay winnings

I know I probably don't really need any fabric samples but I saw that Shabby Chick had received some lovely samples so I thought I'd give it a try myself. John Lewis gave me some nice big pieces but I don't know whether they did it intentionally but the materials with a big pattern....well see for yourself.





Another firm that does fab materials at really reasonable prices (whose name escapes me right now) sent me these. Lovely fabrice but teeny tiny samples.





And just incase you thought there weren't enough photos in todays post. I did promise yesterday that I'd be back with pics of the goodies I bought from Anglesey Allsort's ebay shop.

Even the wrapping was gorgeous.



Look at it all.


Him indoors is talking about us having something like this put into the bottom of the garden.


Can you imagine the fun I'd have decorating it and making it into my space. All the boxes and shelves and space for my drum kit too. :)
Actually do you think he's trying to tell me something?

Mrs Domesticated I ain't

but I did spend much of today doing housewifey things, mainly ironing.


2 hours of ironing. Ewwwwww. As I think I might have mentioned once or twice before now I do NOT like ironing. But I do have one Mother who loves ironing and she is coming to stay with me for 3 weeks as of next Wednesday. That means no washing or ironing for 3 weeks. She takes over that chore willingly while she's here. Maybe that's how she thinks she can do her bit and I am certainly not complaining. That is one thing that we can get on about no problem, she wants to do it and I let her. :)

So it would seem that my Custard Shortbread looked enticing enough to warrant people hinting that they'd like the recipe. So here you go.

Here is the recipe for the Custard Shortbreads:

185 g butter
⅓ cup icing sugar
1½ cups plain flour
⅓ cup custard powder

Cream butter and icing sugar, add sifted flour and custard powder, and a dash of vanilla. Mix well. Form into balls and place onto greased oven trays and press with a fork to form biscuits. Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes.


I actually got the recipe from spoonfullofsugargirls

I make mine slightly different in that I put all the ingredients in the food mixer and keep whizzing it until it forms into a clump. If you've never tried this trust it does really work. It kinda of looks like breadcrumbs for a long while but then as if by magic it comes together. Then if you prefer you can roll it into a long sausage shape and just just off slices to place on your baking tray.

Let me know if you try them out and how you like them. :)

I was lucky enough to win a bag of sewing things from Anglesey allsorts' ebay shop. She is one super fast poster too. I think I received it the day after I paid for it. :D
And what a lovely bag of goodies it is. I'll be sure to pop back tomorrow and share with you all the loveliness.

Anglesey Allsorts lives in a beautiful part of the world and it's not a million miles away from where I grew up on the North Wales coast. Infact I have many memories of day trips all over Angelsey as a child. Did you know that Anglesey is home of the longest place name in the UK.


You'll notice that they very kindly but a phonetic version underneath so the tourists can at least try to say it all.

It is considered to be the longest place name in the world but in actual fact that is a place called.
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit, meaning the 'City of Angels', is known to the locals as Krungthep Mahanakhon. The rest of the world knows it as Bangkok, Thailand. However, it is not recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest place name as it is not used on a daily basis by the locals.
Mind you everyone I know who can say the UK one shortens it to Llanfairpg so you could argue that that's not used on a daily basis either.

See it's not my fault

it's all to do with my name!

You Are Spontaneous and Whimsical

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?