Beast Quest, a Birthday, Blooms, and 'But should it go there?'........

Beast Quest? 

If you're a parent / grandparent / teacher of young boys, you may well have heard of the Beast Quest books - INFO HERE  Well, two of my grandsons, Archie and Max, are really into these books and were thrilled this week to see the books 'come alive' at Hay Festival. And Archie (on the far left) won the Beast Quest bingo! - 

A Birthday? 

Tilly was 1 this week!

 

Lots of help from cousins in playing with new toys! -

 

 

"Fresh fruit?"  "Pah! - more choc cake!" -

Blooms? 

Lots of flowers emerged over the sunny Bank Holiday weekend (they're now slowly drowning in heavy rain :(  )

 

And I recovered a stool, in rose material - somewhat prettier than the brown material it had -

'But should it go there?'  -

We have a large blank wall in the kitchen - and from time to time we think about putting something there. I myself have in mind a long clean white floating shelf on which I artfully display........... anyway, enough of that idle fancy. Today I found this shelf unit and I'm wondering if it would look right on the blank wall. What do you think?

 

(The brown shelves are just propping it there, obviously!)

More tea, vicar?

Having a couple of friends over for tea later, so I thought I'd make some biscuits.  Made digestive biscuits and Anzac biscuits. Also made shortbread with wholemeal flour and brown sugar, but that came out too sweet and rather stodgy! I sometimes put semolina in, but didn't have any.

Digestive biscuits -

100g medium oatmeal

100g wholemeal flour
40g caster sugar
75g butter
Pinch salt
Pinch bicarb
½ egg

* Rub fat into flour, oatmeal, bicarb and salt

* Add sugar
* Bind with egg
* Roll out onto board sprinkled with oatmeal + cut out (about 20 biscuits)
* Gas 6 / 375/400 for about 15 mins.
* Lovely with cheese!

Anzac biscuits -

Anzac biscuits RECIPE HERE

 

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Went to the woods at the weekend - lots of bluebells out, and the trees are really greening up, aren't they?  Lovely. Lots of wild flowers out too - violets and aconites and wood anemones.

 

 

 

Ruby used to be terrified of the bear, but she's getting braver! -

 

A few pretty finds -

 

 

Have a good week!

 

Come on tree, grow............!

Having downsized, three years ago, to where we are now, from a half-timbered cottage in 3/4 acre in the country, we wondered how we'd get on living in town, with a much smaller garden. But we are really lucky that our road backs on to meadows and so we have a huge 'borrowed landscape'. To keep the view, and maximise light (although it is south-facing) I didn't plant anything very high at the end of the garden. But sometimes it feels a bit too exposed. So today we planted an apple tree (Laxton's Superb) which will hopefully bulk out a bit and provide a bit more shape (eventually!) -

 

 

 

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Some good finds this weekend - a nice old wicker chair, pine corner shelves and lovely red-painted shelves -

 

 

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Having acquired some teeth, Tilly seemed determined this week to pull them out! -

 

 

(No, her dad's not a sailor, her mum's just been on a friend's hen weekend on a barge.....!)

 

 

Have a great week!

 



Spring cleaning?.....er, no

Had intended to have a big sort out of my unit in the shop today, as it's slowly inching towards me being a candidate for one of those "I'm bonkers and I hoard stuff" TV programmes -

 

Some parts aren't too bad -

 

 

But some areas definitely need a sort out - 

 

 

 

So.............did I have a clear out?  Er, no, I went and bought more stuff, then came back and did some painting!  Found some nice 'rustic'items -

 

 

And some pretty china - this is Johnsons Bros - it's very pale green -

 

 

A sweet cake plate, and jugs -

 

And a retro fruity dish set (crying out for tinned peaches and evaporated milk!) - and honey pot -

 

 And I painted a little pine bookcase and a mirror - and two towel rails - oops, no pics of those!

 





 Oh, well, another day for the sorting out!  

 

 

Have a good week! x