Weekending

• baking and eating - cinnamon and brown sugar brioche for breakfast, and also this chilli for dinner 
• reading - this book, by the fire 
• sewing - some secret and these not so secret blocks for my scrappy sampler quilt.  

Weekending

Labour Weekend at home with my family. Lot of reading, fine weather and time spent relaxing. Family movie night with pizza made by Miss B and Mr J.  The Scout scrubbed the house exterior.  I planted part of the vegetable garden, so far I have planted a Sweet 100 cherry tomato (our favourite) a self sown tomato seedling, which fingers crossed, is one of the black cherry tomatoes I grew last year, lettuce, beetroot,  a Lebanese cucumber and beans.  Still to go in (after I buy them) are capsicum, courgette, basil and some more African marigolds for deterring pests.

• A leisurely Sunday breakfast - cinnamon roll brioche, fresh from the oven with a vanilla latte.
• Happy mail from my friend Deb , recently returned from a trip to New York and Hawaii, with some new DS fabrics for me. The top ones are from her Sweet Ruby range which has just been released,
• A little creative sewing - I love how this paper pieced word looks, though it was rather fiddly to do. A few of my favourite fabrics - now to decide what I turn it into. Create pattern from here.
• A finish of sorts, that black and ivory paper piecing I showed last week, has turned into the Black Knight, I still have the Ivory Knight to make.  These will be used in a cushion for Miss B, my chess champ. Many thanks to the very talented Juliet of TartanKiwi, for designing this pattern for me.

Hoping you all had a fabulous weekend too.  Enjoy the week ahead.

Weekending

Working every day, doesn't leave much time for sewing, baking, reading or housework for that matter, and it will be the same next week too.

This weekend, The Scout, celebrated a birthday, so being the nice wife  I am, I made brown sugar cinnamon brioche for his birthday breakfast. They were certainly enjoyed by us all on Saturday morning.

I have also started some Christmas sewing - a paper-pieced badger - this will be a cushion for my Dad, whom we have nicknamed The Badger. There are some misleading angles and some tiny pieces in this pattern, so needless to say there has been a lot of unpicking, however the full badger is now finished, and I am quite pleased with how he looks.

Only a week left, before the school holidays start.  I am looking forward to some lie-ins, baking, sewing and fun with Miss B and Mr J.

Have a great week.

Weekending

 

 

 

 

So much for my big weekend sewing - there seem to be more food photos than anything else in this post.

• Rhubarb and Apple Upside Down Cake.  Please note the absence of baked caramel on this cake - all was going well until it started baking in the oven - then the caramel oozed out the bottom of the cake tin (lesson here - do not use spring-form tins for recipes like this), and dripped all on the racks and subsequently burnt on the bottom of the oven.  Needless to say I now have a shiny clean oven
• Broad Bean and Pea Dip with pita crisps - made from the last of my broad beans - sort of like a green hummus. 
• Sunday morning brioche - this week custard and raspberry.  I think this is the last batch for a while, the dough seemed to stick and break more now that the weather is getting warmer.  I told The Scout he will have to start doing Sunday brunch on the BBQ for us all.
• Fabric pull for a sewing machine cover for my machine.
• One of the beautiful Kalanchoes currently flowering in my garden - love the dusty pinks and apricot shades in this one.

What did you cook this weekend?
What is flowering in your garden at present?
Did you get to sew anything?
Have a great week.

Weekending

 

We had the most summery feeling spring weekend here.  So here are a few of the things I did this weekend..

• I finished the first of maybe six Christmas angel ornaments.
• Picked a bowl of broad beans, however after podding them I only had 250g. 
• Made brioche for Sunday morning breakfast - the filling this time was Christmas fruit mince.  So far the winning flavour seems to be cinnamon sugar.  I'm going to work on some berry/custard/curd combinations over the next few weekends.
• A little shopping at our local emporium - which stocks all sorts of crafting, party, hardwear items - these ribbons just cried out for me to buy them.  Hate it when that happens.
• Discovered that some more little orchids are flowering in my garden
• Played with felt and Christmas fabrics for a Christmas ornament swap I have joined.
• Started working my way through a pile of fabulous books on my bedside table.

What did you do this weekend?
Are you planning/planting ready for summer now?
Did you cook/bake anything new?

Weekending

Lots of reading (see previous post), lots of time in the kitchen and lots of sewing

• playing around with scraps and paper piceing, my triangles are so much more accurate this way
• honey and orange roasted rhubarb from my garden
• making my special  herb coating for slow roasted pork - it contains garlic, fennel seed, chili flakes, salt, oregano and freshly chopped rosemary, rubbed all over then slowly roasted for 3-4 hours
• brown sugar rhubarb brioche for breakfast on Sunday
• some quilt as you go and vintage embroidery for the needlebook I am making my partner in the Simple & Sweet Scrappy Swap

What did you do this weekend?

Weekending

 

 

 

 

 

Winter is now officially over and we have had the most beautifully fine weekend to celebrate the arrival of spring.

• Brioche again for Saturday's breakfast - my favourite dough recipe and a new filling - spicy apple.  Not a great hit with the family - I probably should have added more brown sugar and cinnamon.  The general consesus was that they were rather bland.
• Home-made muesli for breakfast this week- a change from porridge and weetbix.  Full of oats, wheatgerm, bran, coconut, sunflower seeds and dried fruit.
• Poppyseed bread from this recipe - more of a loaf or cake than actual bread.  Still tastes good though.
• A birthday card for my nephew who is turning 3 next week, and has just come down with chicken pox.
• More mini pinwheels for some sewing projects - I think I have at least another 15-20 to make.

What did you make or bake this weekend.?

Weekending

 

 

 

We didn't get the predicted strong winds and rain, it was actually miild and spring like.  I got crafty with my beads, some copper wire and a small piece of driftwood and made a sun-catcher - this is now hanging inside my sewing room window, where it catches the afternoon sun..

Lots of baking - this bread again - and brioche - filled with strawberry/rhubarb jam or lemon curd - based on this recipe.  I think I have a slight addiction to brioche for Sunday morning breakfast - it does mean I have to get up earlier on a Sunday to finish them off (the dough is made the night before and left in the fridge overnight).  I had a relaxing breakfast with coffee and my latest read when they were finally done.

Currently I am reading Vagabond which is the second installment in the Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell, about the 100 Year War between France and England.  Great reads - they certainly make you appreciate life today.

My broad bean plants are so tall now - covered in flowers - I'm just wondering how long it will take for beans to start forming.

What did you do this weekend? What books are you enjoying?

Weekending

The last day of holidays before the school term starts tomorrow,  so a pretty relaxing weekend was had at home.

Om Friday night I made the dough for Chelsea Bun Brioche which we had for breakfast on Saturday Morning.  They were meant to be iced as well, but we were getting too hungry to wait for that. They were eaten warm from the oven and were very yummy.  I  will definitely make these again.

I managed to get a little sewing done - these strips will evenually be part of the new cushions I am making for my bed.

Miss B and Mr J had fun freezing coloured water in balloons, peeling of the balloon and then smashing them into pieces on the driveway.

What better way to keep Mr J occupied on a fine Sunday afternoon - give him an old lawn mower to dismantle.  Lots of bolts, tools, dirt and noise - a young boy's dream come true.  There certainly wasn't much left once he had finished.