Just a quick post to say two things.

Firstly Happy Thanksgiving to all blogging friends across the pond. May you all be having a wonderful and peaceful day.

Second - I have discovered Tom Baxter! I was sitting in the car yesterday waiting for daughter 2 to get her stuff together before heading for school. This came on the radio and I was smitten. I had to search for the song as soon as I came home, it is soooo lovely. In fact it sums up how I feel about Ian. I'm sure most have experienced that heart thumping knee quaking kind of early love, I couldn't imagine as a young girl what being together for 25 years could possibly be like, I'm sure I thought it would be a little bit mudane actually. How wrong I was! Indulge me and press 'play'

Advent Calendar

This is a photo of my eldest when she was 4, with her Advent Calendar. I cross stitched 24 little pictures and then made bags which hang from brass curtain rings, each year these are filled with Quality Street or Roses, with a tiny present in the 24th. It is stretched over wood and is quite heavy. (Three years later I made another for daughter 2)



Anyway, she asked me how she was going to get it to uni and bring it back with her for the Christmas Hols. I decided that this was impractical, so it will be waiting for her when she gets back, I made her this mini one to take back with her this weekend.

A pretty box (I found a whole set of these - packed like a russian doll - all inside one another, at a Car Boot for £1!!)

24 red felt bags, with gold trim glued and pegged til dry

Cute choccy santas and father Christmasses

Bags decorated and filled, for some reason there was an extra father Christmas at this point, oh well!!

Packed into the box, the final touch was a liberal sprinkling of tiny glittery stars after this photo was taken. I hope she likes it.

Bread

We went to Worcester yesterday and I found these wonderful scales. I have wanted a new set for ages and these were in Cookmate - £25 reduced to £15. I like the big stainless steel bowl and the face is big enough to read really easily - I was one happy girl today when using them for the first time.

I make our bread on a weekly basis. I use 1/2 wholemeal 1/2 strong white and although I have a bread maker I always hand make. Bread is getting more expensive as I am sure alot of you will have noticed. Our local bread shop is on the market, the business has been there since the 1800's, I wonder if customers are going to the supermarkets instead. I get my flour from a local bakery, it comes in small paper sacks (about 15lbs) and the last lot cost me 33p 1lb. I keep my flour stockpile in a second fridge in the utility, wrapped in plastic bags it keeps for ages.



After I have kneaded it, it goes back in the bowl to rise. At this point I put a cereal box 'inner' bag over it. When a cereal box is emptied I take out the inner, pull it apart at the seams and wash it. Then it gets used for breadmaking (below), for wrapping things in the fridge, lining cake tins and wrapping our sandwiches for packed lunches. It can be used over and over again






As well as the weeks bread I also made a traybake, waiting to be iced, for packed lunches this week, and a Weetabix Cake to make the most of the electricity used to heat the oven. Weetabox Cake is really easy - and very very tasty. The receipe is below if you want to try it.





WEETABIX CAKE

2 weetabix

1 cup raisins or sultanas - whichever you have

1 cup sugar

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup milk



Mix all ingredients together, put in a loaf tin and cook! I told you it was easy!!

(Notice no fat or eggs in this one).



Well I am off to watch Top Gear with Ian - and wrap the last 1/2 dozen Christmas boxes. I told my friend that they were last, but she gave me a wicked grin and said - 'yeah - until next year!!'