I'm done with cooking! 13/11/23

This was the setting for our meal for Nick's siblings on Saturday - we emptied out the living room and used folding tables, our dining room chairs and the new folding chairs I'd ordered so we could seat everyone comfortably. 

The dining table was used for drinks and nibbles.

The menu consisted of:

Velvety chicken liver parfait (posh word for pate lol)

Followed by Fruity lamb tagine with couscous

Finished with Chocolate & coffee truffle pots accompanied with crisp orange shortbread.

Except I forgot to serve the biscuits with the dessert so we had them with tea and coffee afterwards.  

We also had cheese and biscuits ready but everyone was too full.

The pictures above are taken from the recipe book I used.  The only photo I took was this one of the empty dessert pots! (I didn't have enough coffee cups but the glass dishes saved from shop bought desserts worked just as well.)

It was worth all the hard work though as everyone seemed to enjoy their food and we had a lovely evening.  One sister and her husband stayed overnight but they left fairly early on Sunday morning so Sunday was a nice relaxing day of doing nothing once all the clearing up had been done.  So glad I have a dishwasher.

Today I've been busy finishing Maisie!

Just in time for Ella's birthday on Friday.

I had previously bought more wool to make another animal but I found assembling the body quite a challenge so I'll probably use the wool to make more clothes for Maisie.  Thankfully as Ella is our only granddaughter I can get away with that option.

I also managed a walk today as it was dry although very windy.  So a good weekend and a good start to the week.

Hope your week started well too.

Friday's Fave Five - 3/3/23

Not sure how but it's Friday again!  So much for trying to keep blogging on a regular basis - well I guess once a week is a regular thing.  Friday means it's time to reflect on the week and find the good things.

Susanne is our host for this over at Living to Tell the Story.  Hop over there to see who else is taking part.

1)  The decorating is finished!  (For now.)  It's been very chaotic here with the kitchen, dining room and utility room all being decorated this week.  We moved our dining table into the lounge and set up the kettle and toaster in there and we muddled through.  The team were very good at clearing up at the end of each day so we were able to prepare dinner without too much hassle.  They actually finished on Wednesday and I spent most of yesterday getting things straight.  We still need to put a bookcase back into the dining room and we're done.  Although of course the lounge then needs to be cleaned and put straight.  One thing leads to another...... lol

I haven't taken any pics because all we've had done is repainting rather than remodelling.  Our grey walls are now a pale green but everything looks clean and fresh.

2)  We've had a water butt installed in the garden so we can save some of the rainwater and use it for the garden.  Thankful to be able to find someone recommended and get that job done quickly.

3)  An impromptu meal out last Saturday with hubby.  We'd been binge watching a series on TV (Happy Valley - not for the faint hearted) and it had got late so we talked about getting a takeaway but in the end we decided to take the train up to Chingford and take pot luck.  We found a nice Italian restaurant that had a space and we had a nice meal.  Hubby had lamb chops and I had a pasta dish with chicken and bacon in a creamy sauce with a balsamic drizzle on it which was delicious.

We had Tiramisu (me) and Strawberry cheesecake (hubby) for dessert.  Again no pics - I am so forgetful!

4)  Time with Rory and Vinny on Wednesday - they were both at home as Vinny has had earache and Rory just seemed exhausted what with long school days and disturbed nights with Vinny so I went over in the afternoon to give my son a break.  Fortunately I had books from the library they hadn't read so we worked our way through them and then watched some TV.

5)  Maisie is almost ready to take shape!

She now has a dress, cardigan, french knickers and..... one completed shoe!  The other shoe is almost done but....I ran out of the pink yarn.  I was so cross because this was bought as a kit and I wouldn't say that I knit on the loose side, if anything I think I knit quite tightly so it was very annoying not to be able to quite complete the other shoe. Fortunately I was able to source the yarn online.  Hopefully the colour won't be any different, if it is I'll have to redo the top of the first shoe.

Of course I couldn't just buy the pink yarn - I would have had to pay for postage so I now have enough yarn to make a dog.  The clothes for the dog look much less complicated than Maisie's outfit.

The yarn arrived today so hopefully I'll soon have Maisie finished.

And a bonus for this week - a knit and natter evening on Wednesday.

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 24/2/23

Well it's been 2 weeks without a post so thanks to Susanne for reminding us on Fridays to look back on our week (or two in my case) for the good things.  You can join in over here.

1)  Lots of family time in the last couple of weeks.  We did grandsitting on the weekend before last - Rory and Vinny on the Saturday and Nathan and Ella on the Sunday.  Then on Wednesday of last week my eldest son and his family arrived from Nottingham.

They stayed until last Sunday so there was lots of cousin time and on the Friday we had them all here for lunch.

We even managed to get a picture of all of them together.

They are growing up so quickly.

2)  Quick delivery from local stores - I ordered some new games for the older grandsons to play and got next day delivery.  This gave them something to focus on rather than just running laps around the house when they were all here on the Friday.

3)  A catch up with former work colleagues last week - we usually get together during the holiday breaks and the usual 4 of us made it plus another old colleague who I hadn't seen for ages so it was good to catch up with her.  We met in the afternoon in a pub and ate there too and then I was able to get home before it got too late.

4)  A trip to the library with Grandson Noah.  It was lovely to have some 1:1 time with just him as we don't see him and brother Miles as much as the others. 

5)  Work on Maisie continues.  She now has a dress and I've started her cardigan.

Hopefully I'll get the sleeves worked out - will be knitting on 4 needles which is a first for me.

We've also got decorators here at the moment working on some of the downstairs room so good to see progress on the house too.

Have a good weekend all - I think ours will be quiet after the last two busy ones!

Poor Maisie - 7/2/23

This is where I'm currently at with Maisie,

She's in bits but once the blocked pieces are dry I can begin to start assembling her.

I thought while I was waiting for it to dry I'd get started on her clothes.  But.....despite having lots and lots of knitting needles, I did not have the size needed for her cardigan.  I thought I might get away using double pointed needles but realised there would be too many stitches to fit on them.  

So a trip to Hobbycraft tomorrow for me.

I didn't get out for a walk today but this was the view from the back of our house.  Red sky night at night, shepherd's delight.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another sunny day. 

Update on Maisie - 5/2/23

She's in bits!  Good bits.  I've managed to finish knitting all the parts of her body.

Now comes the fun bit of sewing her together and getting her stuffed.

Then I'll have to try and make her cute clothes.  I am very grateful for YouTube videos on knitting stitches.  I'm sure I'll be checking more out when doing the clothes - they're knitted in the round on circular and double pointed needles.  Techniques I've never done before.

Wish me luck.

Just Jot it January - Day 25 - One Liner Wednesday

As it's Wednesday today the prompt for Just Jot it January is to do a One Liner Wednesday post.

Confused?  Don't be - go here for all the info.

Here's my one line:

And we're off!

Friday's Fave Five - 20/1/23

Brrr going back to the wintry picture this week.  We haven't had snow here in London but it has been very cold with a lot of frost.

It's Friday so time to join up with Susanne and others as we look back on the week and count our blessings.  Join in here.

1)  Firstly as it's been so cold I'm thankful that we can keep our heating on without worrying about whether we can afford to.  Energy prices are still very high despite a lot of Government assistance.  We did dig out the hot water bottles this week though and I need to check if we still have an electric blanket - not sure if that made the move here or not!

2)  A trip out with the Knit and Natter group.  We went to a Wool Show in nearby Waltham Abbey and then on to a pub for a Sunday roast dinner.  I had a really nice time.  There were only 6 of us so it was easy to keep track of conversations around the dinner table - we were lucky enough to have a round table which I think works better for conversation with a group of people.

3)  Living so close to countryside.  Despite the cold weather I've been out for a walk a couple of times this week and, although we're in London we have woodlands on our doorstep and getting out for a walk really lifts the spirit.

4)  Online grocery shopping.  Another regular thing on my list here but it does make our lives easier.  In fact online shopping in general.  I bought a lovely kit to knit a pig for Ella at the knitting show but found I needed more needles so I've ordered them online.  Hopefully they will come soon as I'm keen to get started on it.

Although it's knitted on quite small needles so I think it's going to take some concentration.

5)  Free time to spend on things like blogging, knitting and jigsaws!

I'm making progress thankfully - the first couple of days I was doubtful I would keep doing this one!

Still a long way to go though lol.

Have a good weekend all.

Just Jot it January - Day 15 - Gratitude

The prompt for today is gratitude provided by Carole Anne.  Her blog can be found here.

As always the full details on the Just Jot it January challenge can be found on Linda's blog here.

One of the blog hops that I take part in is all about gratitude.  It's done on a Friday and the aim is to write about five things that we're grateful for from the previous week.

It works for me although I don't get there every week, or on time but it does make me pause and count my blessings.  You can view my most recent Friday's Fave Five post here.

One of the things I'll be including in my list next Friday is a lovely outing today with the knitting group I joined.

The main group meets on Wednesdays during the day which didn't work for me but then not that long ago the organiser set up an evening group.  Not having really got to know anyone here since we moved (apart from our immediate neighbours) I thought it might be a good way to meet new people.  And I can actually knit.

It's a nice group and not too big.  Anyway today 6 of us went to a Wool Show in nearby Waltham Abbey and then we went on to a nearby pub for Sunday lunch.

Despite being anxious about the whole thing I was determined to go.  (Yes I do get anxious, it's not rational but it can be quite debilitating at times.)  I'm trying to say Yes to things like this even if they are out of my comfort zone and to say no when I need to so I don't get overloaded.

I really enjoyed myself.  The wool show wasn't all that exciting but I did buy a kit to make a pig.

I'm hoping to make it for Granddaughter Ella either for her birthday or next Christmas.  I've never made anything like this before so it might take me a while!