Feline goings on...

Yesterday our charming feline resident left a beheaded gift on our sunlounge rug. Some poor vole family is now without a parent. To be fair she was noticeably on the prowl for the last few days, crouching near the cluster of tiny holes in the river bank.

We were out at the time and came home to find J shielding his eyes away from the offending item whilst trying to watch cricket on TV. As soon as we were through the door he shouted, 'Dad, Dad, I need you, Mollie's done something terrible!' Aw, he always was very concerned about animal welfare and still gets upset if you kill a spider!

In the unlikely event of any small furry creature deciding to bravely walk in through the open cat flap M has installed a new one with a door. Early trial runs with the cat did not go well; she tapped on our front door to be let in but she later got the hang of it when there was fishy food on offer. Not stupid.

This morning she seems to be having a day off after her hunting conquest. The back of the sofa, a patch of sun, dreams of... beheading more voles. Dogs are less gruesome.

Yarn bombing...

I saw some real life yarn bombing in Market Rasen this week! I got carried away blogging about my thrifty finds and forgot to mention it.

I felt a bit daft taking photo's and had to wait for a group of young adults to move on before I could get a snap or two, but the pic below shows the most interesting and colourful of them all. The rest were mainly strips wound round poles, railings and benches.

I'm not sure it really added anything to this little market town, which is architecturally interesting anyway (if you know where to look). Harmless fun I guess.

Gluten and dairy free shortbread...

Success! It's been a while since I added a new recipe to my box of foolproof allergy friendly recipes. I did not have high hopes for this one, given that gluten free flour often tastes quite gritty no matter what you put with it.

This is an adaptation of a simple shortbread recipe:

175g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves)
100g dairy free butter
50g caster sugar
Half a teaspoon of gluten free baking powder
Optional: a dash of vanilla essence

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl (add the vanilla essence if required). Mix the baking powder with the flour then add slowly to the butter/sugar to form a dough.

Mine took about twenty minutes to turn golden brown in a fan oven on 170 degrees, but this will vary according to oven and thickness of shortbread.

Cut into pieces whilst warm then leave to cool.

I sprayed my clay mould with light olive oil and it turned out of the mould a lot easier than I was expecting! I broke a few biscuits which obviously then had to be eaten straightaway.

Note: the recipe only makes a fist sized lump of dough. If you have a decent size mould or tin it would probably be best to double the quantities.

Next time I make it I plan to add zest of orange or lemon and cut down the sugar a little. I try to eat as little sugar as possible and as a result these seemed quite sweet to me.

In a thrifting mood...

Woohoo! I'm on a roll. I have been out two days in a row on my own. I'm sure it's just the result of the long dark cold winter and the sudden appearance of sunshine!

I drove for twenty minutes through beautiful deserted country lanes to Market Rasen. I made a large cup of tea and put it in a travel mug for the ride out there but ended up having it on the way back at a pull in with a nice view. I wish Harvey liked car journeys better. I used to have a large English Springer called Algie and he adored driving. He sat in the front (in the days when they didn't stop you for that) and just contentedly watched the world go by. If he got a nice walk too that was a bonus but mainly he just wanted to be with me rather than left at home. Harvey on the other hand, shakes with fear and hyperventilates like a steam train.

I did the four charity shops in no time then stopped off at the bakery of a cricket friend and bought the children and M a freshly baked farmhouse loaf. The smell of it on the way home was tantalising. I won't be eating any of it. I might, however, have a small piece of the shortbread I am going to attempt to make with gluten free flour and dairy free butter using the shortbread mould I found today for an absolute song; £1.50. I think they are quite expensive new.

I'm quite pleased with the oak candlestick I found too. Whoever labelled it 'Lincolnshire Oak' probably didn't have their reading glasses on at the time. There's a small printed label on the bottom that says 'Cornish Oak'. Either way I am happy. Another bargain at £1.50. For someone who loves candles I only have one other candlestick that will hold these single traditionally sized candles.

The limed oak photo frame was another £1.50 find. It fits in well here with other limed oak frames. I've been meaning to frame some more current snaps. Apart from the children's school and county cricket portraits all the photo's on display go back to when they were very small! Perfect for embarrassing them when their friends visit!

Finally I added to my rustic pottery collection. The blue mottled and green striped mugs are today's finds. The latter is marked underneath and comes from Bideford. A place in Devon that I've been to numerous times as a child. The salt and pepper pots are in unused condition and cost 50p each. I like the fact they fill from the top; so much easier.

Flowers from my lovely husband. (Wonder if he was feeling guilty about not lifting a finger while we were away?)

Blue finds...

We had a gloriously sunny day here in the UK today. Still very very cold but the sun makes such a difference. I had planned a big clear out but the sun was too good to waste so I decided to go for a walk. A city walk this time, rather than a country lane one.

It did take me a couple of hours to actually leave the house (so frustrating!), but I still had plenty of the day left. I drove to the old part, the Cathedral area and parked up. Having pretty much skirted the entire town, the long way, I was still feeling energetic so popped into a couple of charity shops on my way back.

I can never resist a good basket or a coastal read. I usually like my baskets more rustic but the chipped blue paint on the metal handles of this 'find' won me over. It would be perfect for filling with Easter gifts but we tend not to do Easter in a big way so it's probably destined to be a bread basket for the dining room table. The paint matches the colour of two of our mismatched dining chairs.

I also bought two more random pottery mugs for my collection. They have survived the dishwasher so they are good to use. I must photograph these some time. Chunky pottery is a love or hate thing it seems. Dad wouldn't enjoy drinking out of them, nor would my Nan have done, she sought out a proper china cup and saucer for a holiday cottage we once rented which only supplied chunky pottery mugs. Nan always did have class.

The book has planted the idea of a visit to the coast on M's next day off. A bracing walk then back to the car for a flask of tea and a picnic. Promise of a good picnic is all it will take to persuade M!

Waffling away...

It's amazing how quickly this blanket has grown. You can just about see here that I've got to finish the charcoal grey stripe before I begin to make the exact same piece all over again, with the colours in a different order. Mmmh, this is beginning to feel like second sock syndrome; it's never as much fun, but I think I will be spurred on by Jake's enthusiasm for the finished article.

I like the stitch so much I am planning a new cowl with some black aran wool I've had lying around for a while. The advantages of the stitch are that It is double sided, works up quickly, creates a gentle waffle texture that is nice and warm and interesting to look at. Another bonus is that you could easily leave the edges without a border and it would look tidy enough. I quite like the fact that it isn't (to the untrained eye) too obviously crochet.

Ticket to ride...

I forgot to tell you about our little run in with the ticket men at Liverpool station. Bear in mind that I won't even hover on a double yellow line for two seconds let alone try and cheat on a child's rail ticket!

I went through the gates first showing my ticket and stepped to one side, out of the flow of people, to wait for Ella. She was right behind me but had been asked to step aside to a third ticket inspector. I quickly went over and explained that she was with me. He politely asked how old she was and there was a worrying pause while he looked her up and down before he decided to let us proceed.

It never occurred to me that they would question her age. I suppose she does look older than 15 at times. Sixteen is the cut off point if you're not familiar with UK rules. Is this the same in other countries? Do let me know. If they had decided not to believe us we had absolutely nothing on us that would have proved otherwise.

Would Mr Chubbs, discretely travelling in her E's suitcase, have been enough to convince them? He was mighty happy to be back home and lying comfortably against his favourite bear cushion, occasionally flicking through E's latest reading matter. He doesn't know what Ella sees in John. He thinks Paul is far better looking.