Making, baking and a spot more knitting.

After my initial devastation at breaking my blender( cracked the jug...arrrggh) i discovered its till good for smoothies you just need plenty of clothes for mopping up purposes! My new fav smoothie of the week is this lovely berry number ( still equally as nice with obligatory handfuls of spinach , just turned it a rather horrible brown colour so here it is pre-greens)

Finally made a start on advent decorations , que excessive use of glitter and felt.

My Mum , Dad and Nana came to visit us today with some early birthady presents for Jamie and a LOVELY big pile of wool for me!!!! It was so lovely to see everyone and to get some knitting help from my Mum. In honour of the occasion i baked a cake and bought strawberries even though they were dutch , not in season, EXPENSIVE, and not as nice as when you have then in June! You'll be pleased to hear i managed to choke them down anyway.

My lovely new wool ( are we sensing an obsession here?)

That little row has grown and had some red added! And unable to contain my excitement and wait until i've finished one project i have already started on some arm warmers , green and red stripes ( do you see a theme emerging here?) I might have to forgo sleep tonight to get them finished . Addicted moi?

Love you more!

' Mummy i love you more than a million lizards on a million T-Rex' backs.'

My name is Charlotte and I can't knit!

I am a knitting novice, i did learn when i was a child but promptly forgot how as soon as i lost interest.
Spurred on by pictures of gorgeous knitted items , made by lovely talented knitters i decided it was worth a second go. My Mum gave me some wool and some needles and showed me how to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch, and of i went gripping on to the needles for dear life.
I managed a few rows alternating between the two stitches ( not intentionally either) before i had to stop because my hands hurt from holding the needles too tightly! Undeterred i decided to have another go, i got a book out the library and was determined to knit Maya a scarf for Christmas. However.. first i would have to learn to cast on .....so last night once the children were in bed i had a go...
OMG...It was so difficult, i looked at the book , i watched 3 videos, i swore , i cried ( well no tears more of a hissy fit actually) i proclaimed that i couldn't do it. And then i pulled myself together!

And this is what i did.

I DID IT!!!! This may look like the most pathetic little inch of knitting to you clever knitters out there but i am sooo proud of it.And i love doing it , already it is strangley addictive watching it grow. Hopefully by Christmas it will have grown MUCH bigger.

Recipe for Flapjack

Take one little helper, Some delicious organic ingredients ....pecans....mmmm

mix together and if you have any left bake in the oven for 20 mins .

Yum.

200g butter melted

4 tbsp Agave nectar

100g Dark brown sugar

mix over low heat then add pre mixed

100g flour

250g whole oats

200g mixed nuts and seeds ( pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and pecans)

bake for 20 mins gas mark 4

Cheeky hens

We have had our three little chickens for exactly eight months today. Thats seven months of gorgeous , free , golden yolked , eggs .Mmmmmmmmm. Luckily everybody likes eggs ( although some more than others!) and we manage quite easily to get through our three a day. Although we are now throughly spoilt , when we were on holiday you could noticably tell the difference between the shop bought ( organic free range) and ones from our own chickens. The yolks ( on the shop bought) seemed so pale and not nearly as tasty. Makes you wonder exactly how ' free range 'they really are. Cuddly blue ( named by Sonny)

Cornelia ( brown one , Jamies) Snowdrop ( white one ! Maya's )

All of the children really love having the chickens (Well if i'm honest Maya prefers to admire from afar!) but Sonny REALLY loves them , he takes them treats , he picks them up, he brings them in the house..' take her back in the garden !! ' And he tells everyone that Cuddly is HIS chicken. Getting chickens really has been a brilliant experience for everyone but especially my little lover of all things living!

Thanks girls!

Yogatastic

I'm back! It was BRILLIANT!!


I feel energised and relaxed all at once. It was tough though i was really sweating. It was a different type of yoga to what i've done before ( used to do Hatha i think it was ) but i really loved it. I did a handstand for the first time in years ! I found some of it quite comfortable and not too tough but some of it was a real stretch.



I particularly enjoyed the meditation at the end , a dark room with complete quiet apart from the sound of rain on the window. Heaven.

I can't wait for next week!

Yoga

I'm going to my first yoga class in 15 years later ,and i'm so looking forward to it! I used to go every week in my teens but what with jobs and babies and families and money i don't seem to have managed one since.

I practise at home and some times the kids join in and sometimes they don't , but i can't wait to spend a whole hour doing something just for me , without the tea needing cooking ( ok so i'm doing it before i go!) or the phone ringing , or a bum needing wiping ( tmi) or an argument needing settling , or the washing up needing doing.

Just me ( and my buddy)

for an hour


bliss