Sunday, September 23, 2012

Missing a dear friend...

A few months ago now I had a little accident with my digital SLR while on a family day out.



It was completely my fault as I had rested it on top of the buggy and it got knocked on the floor while I was searching for my purse.



It went flying and the lens took the brunt of the impact and snapped the ring that holds the lens in the camera.



Luckily the main body of the camera is fine so to the camera hospital the lens has gone.



It has taken me ages to get around to sending it, which is silly as I have been missing it since it broke and I look forward to be reunited with it. So while I wait, I thought I'd share some picture that we've captured together.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Stash love.....

I love it when you see a craft project that gets the creative juices flowing.  Its especially great when its a quick project and you can grab everything out of your stash and get on with it there and then.

 


That is what happened this afternoon when reading Abi's blog Not What Your Nana Made. I spied a lovely embroidery hoop hanging on the wall with a fabric heart appliqued onto some lovely fabric and I had an idea how I could make it work for my front room.  



I had everything that I needed to get on with the project in my craft stash and it was a really quick and simple project. I must say I am rather pleased with the end result.  Its great to get instant satisfaction from a project as I have been doing a few bigger projects recently.




Now all I need to do is get the hubby to put me a hook up so I can hang it.

Thanks for reading.

Emma x


Monday, September 10, 2012

Monday rolls around again....

I can believe Monday has rolled around again and I don't feel like much has been achieved in the last 7 days.  The weather in Cornwall has been up and down, but we have managed a few days on the beach and got some fresh air in our lungs so I guess is wasn't such a bad week really.




I didn't do WIP Wednesday last week for the simple reason that I forgot.  I haven't been working on my WIP's this week, but have started a couple of new projects as I fancied a change.



I have started a blanket for my friends daughters first birthday.  I am using up some of my stash that was left over from another blanket.



I've also started on a cushion that will be a Christmas present.  I hate seeing all the Christmas chocolates and cards in the shops, but I have to confess as soon as August is over I really start to think about Christmas.  I need to be one the ball even more this year as I am hoping to make quite a few presents as I think they are much nicer and more thoughtful than shop brought items and I'm on a bit of an economy drive and trying to save some money.



Well here we go into another week and I am hoping to get more organised and sort out my conservatory and all my craft supplies and really get some projects underway.

Emma x

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Chocolate Brownies....

This morning I did some baking with Little C as we haven't done any for a while and I decided on Brownies for today's bake.  I haven't made them for ages and I've seen a lot of pictures on Instagram that have made my mouth water.




I have been using the same Brownie recipe for a couple of years and I'm not sure where I got it from.  It's just written on a scrap of paper in my recipe folder.  I really like the results I get from this recipe and I sometimes mix it up with a few nuts or some raspberries for a change.

Here's the recipe if you fancy trying them: 

150g Plain flour
200g butter
300g caster sugar
4 eggs
80g Cocoa powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract 
1tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
100g good quality dark chocolate


  • Preheat the over to 175C (165C for fan ovens) and grease and line a brownie tin.
  • Put the butter into a small saucepan and melt, put this to one side to cool.
  • Break your chocolate up into smallish pieces.
  • Sift your flour, baking powder and cocoa together and mix in the sugar and salt.
  • Whisk the eggs together with the vanilla extract and add to the dry ingredients. 
  • Mix in the slightly cooled butter so you have a batter and then fold in the chocolate pieces.
  • Scrape the mixture into the brownie tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.




Its the first time I have baked these in this particular oven and I found that 175C was a bit too high as they weren't as gooey in the middle as I would have liked, although they are still pretty scrummy.




I'm rather looking forward to sitting down later with a brownie, a nice hot cuppa and The Great British Bake Off this evening.