Sunday, August 12, 2012

Meet Bertha

I made a new friend this week. She is a little rough around the edges and may need a hammer and a bit of WD40 before she is the right shape (which in this instance is MY shape).......


Bertha, as I have christened her was being throw away by the business next door and they said I could have her for free!!! WooHoo!

There is enough for a dress, but I suspect the colour will look awful near my face!

I think she looks rather fetching in this fabric which I think is destined for a quick and dirty skirt job this week.

I also managed to pick up a couple of great pillowcases to be used either as dresses for Poppet or as panels in a skirt for moi (come on spring!!!!), and few more patterns.

Prints galore!

I also picked up this truly dreadful tea towel. I have a soft spot for all things Scottish having lived there for a few years many moons ago. I saw this guy and had to buy it....because sometimes something is so bad it is good.

So bad its good? Or just bad?

I may be even more sporadic with my posts in the coming weeks......after a year of being on the market we finally sold our house and are packing up and moving! (Just as soon as we can find somewhere to rent!!!) .

Til next time...
CC.

Linking up with Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds and
Recycled Fashion

Monday, August 6, 2012

Sunday afternoon baking

With the wind blowing and colds taking up residence in the house I got my bake on with some quick easy Apple Butterscotch Scones. Excellent way to warm up and use an apple that was starting to go a bit brown!!!

Normally my scones are pretty crumbly, which is as far as I'm concerned how they are supposed to be...but these have a more cakey consistency which I'm happy to go with this time around.

Apple Butterscotch Scones

2 cups of Plain Flour and 4 tsp of Baking Powder (Or Self Raising Flour instead...normally I will replace with 1/3 wholemeal four.....but I was out).
2 T Caster Sugar
Pinch salt
80 g butter
1 cup of Buttermilk (or if you are me and never have any 1 cup of milk with 1T of vinegar).

Filling
1 Apple (peeled and grated).
2 T butter
2 T brown sugar
2 T maple syrup (or golden syrup)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to bowl and stir. Rub though butter. Stir in milk. Mixture will be a bit sticky...this is OK! Empty onto a floured bench (or floured chopping board for size) and spread.

Not pretty but you get the idea.
In a separate bowl mix all filling ingredients except apple.
Spread over scone mixture.
Grate apple over the top.

Roll up, roll up!

Slice into 1 inch pieces (most recipes like this say you will get 8-10 scones.....ummm no. More like 6-8!). Use a bread knife it cuts easier (yes, that's a Belinda tip)

Mum's helper.....in between trying to shovel brown sugar in his mouth

Place on a baking tray covered with baking paper and brush with a little extra maple syrup.

Cook on 200c for about 20 minutes. Top will be a little brown and the bottom will be a little bit crunchy.

Classy chipped china and tea bags

Serve with lashings of cream and a nice cup of tea.


Poppet, Percy and the remnants of afternoon tea.


CC

Linking up with Gingerbread this week.



Photobucket

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Dotty for Doilies!

I jumped on the doily bandwagon this week. Actually I jumped on it a while ago after seeing a ridiculous amount of cute doily projects on the blogosphere. After picking up an appropriately sized doily in the haul a couple of weeks ago, I was inspired to try this collar. I made a  few changes to the original instructions.

1. Mine started unravelling as soon as I cut it, so I added bias tape to the neck and edge.
2. I used hat elastic to fashion a loop for he button to go through. Poppet pulled this off in about an hour, so I ended up pushing the button through the existing holes.
3. I messed up the cutting and both sides are a little uneven if I wear it Peter Pan style. As long as I wear it fastened at the back it fine!

Thank you to Noemie from The Sun was High for posting it. I will definitely try making another one. If you have a spare doily hanging around give it a try. If I can get it (almost) right anyone can!

Please ignore the similarity to the gorgeous Noemie's picture...I didn't click until after I posted it!  (Well as similar as this old lady is going to get!  I cropped my eyes so the wrinkles and bags couldn't be seen after a few too many nights without sleep!)

CC.