Thursday 21 June 2012

Mandala Love

Its true, I've been struck, smitten, forever head over heels for 
these wee beauties...


Sweet, lovely, not to hard to make, a dream really, 
I'm so grateful to Barbara for this great pattern & for making it available
on her blog for all to use :)
Really its been another wowsie of a week, running here, there
& everywhere.....picking up this lil cute bit of hookey was 
such a nice distraction from all the madness!!!!!


I managed to get three more made up


And  a bit of progress on the blanket (yes I know I said enough blankets, but this
one was already started) so on we goooooo....


These are sooooo my colors, girly, pastely, sugary, you know 
what I mean PINK!!
Am heading off tomorrow for a weeks break & this is coming with me


Bliss, heaven , pure relaxation, hope I get lots of crochet time, I feel
like its gonna be a real revival for me.
Hope you all have a wonderful week, will catch up
when I get back
Lots of love Karen xxxxxxx


Saturday 16 June 2012

A Lazy Crochet Saturday

I have just spent an incredibly lazy day on my sofa.
I'm not usually this inactive, but after one busy, busy week
I felt drained big time.
Breakfast in bed was a good start with lots of coffee.
Ella joined in with the general lethargy & slobbed out with me



Hey Sophie was right there too....where'd she go???????
Out came my yarn bag & something cute & quick to hook up


Love this pretty pattern over here at Made in K town.
It took me a few hours & I love it


I want to use it in the centre of a round cushion


With these fabrics


or this fabric
Trimmed with a pretty crochet edge, not just one though
Two or three........
Depends on how many pretty mandala's I hook up this weekend
See you soon 
Have the best one ever
Lots of love Karen xxxxx






Friday 15 June 2012

Bake Sale

Toay we held a great cake sale at our church
to raise funds for Casa Hogar Mami orphanage in 
North Mexico......it was lovely!!!!
Lots of sweet bakes & lots of temptation.


Sophie did a cool job of the poster








I'm not going to tell you how much cake I ate, was Yum!!!
Anyway Praise God we raised over E200
not a bad effort!
Tomorrow is detox :(

Have a sweet evening
Lots of love Karen xxxxxx
















Tuesday 12 June 2012

Blanket Tah Dah!

Its done.....
I finished my third blanket this year & i'm dead happy


Its always such a good feeling to complete something, specially a pretty blanket.
Now I need to figure out where to put it 


You know I quite like it in my sitting room, the rose color gives the room a real lift.
Am so pleased with the border, it took some work though


Also took the opportunity to take some photos of previous makes together


Such a happy feeling I got seeing all the colors together,
I think I've completed ten blankets since starting to crochet....think I need more???


Maybe I'll try something new....any suggestions!!!
Actually I do have something in mind, but I need to be extra careful 
of tackiness...are you curious???
Back real soon
Lots of love Karen xxxxx

Monday 11 June 2012

A Must Try This Recipe

I simply have to share this cake recipe with you...
Its so altogether yum I thought "go share it with your friends",


Originally it was  a recipe for Almond Pie,  which was itself real nice.
Over the weekend I fancied a cake with Almonds "again" & was
not in the humour for pastry making so I thought hey leave the pastry out!!!!!
On top I added thinly sliced pear, lots of blackberries, a generous sprinkling of brown sugar
& into the oven....served with whipped cream...mmmmm


Here's the recipe....

6oz soft butter
6oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
6oz grounds almonds
2 tsps plain flour
1/2 tsps almond extract

Beat the butter & sugar together until fluffy & creamy
Beat in the eggs, one at a time
Add the almonds, flour & extract & beat until blended.
Spoon into a greased cake tin (springform one is best)
Cover with very thinly sliced pears...I used two.
Sprinkle with lots of blackberries & finish off with brown sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven 180'C for 25-30 mins.
Serve with lightly whipped fresh cream or ice cream or whatever you fancy!!!
Go on give it a try xx

Also at last my blanket is a few stitches away from being finished


I need to go shopping for a ball of yarn to finish the border, ran out on the last side grrrr!
Have put a pretty fancy edge on & I love it, not my usual style
But am glad, it does look nice


Will do a proper Tah Dah tomorrow.
For now I'm back to this one here......


Poor sad neglected blanket, she definitely needs some TLC

So thanks for popping by
Have a great evening
Lots of love Karen xxxxx

Monday 4 June 2012

Getting Back To Routine!!!!

I wonder I am the only one who finds it so hard 
getting back into the swing of things after a vacation.
I think today was the first "normal" one this week, felt good to 
get on with some routine & start to sort myself out, shake myself out
& snap out of holiday mode........
First my granny blanket has grown, not finished yet but well on the way


I think there's gonna be a scramble to see who gets this one, I'd really
like to keep it for me, but I just don't know !!!!!!!!!


I'm thinking she looks pretty possessive already.....
53 rounds done, I reckon I'll go to sixty then border it.

Had a huge pile of ironing to get done, & that after the usual chores this morning
so first I had an energy booster......Tea & cake......its my one weakness!!!


A sweet & yummy pear & almond cake, made it yesterday for sunday
dessert & had a piece stashed away for just this occasion.
I find using ground almonds instead of flour gives the moistest cake,
Give it a try, bet you could throw in a number of different types of fruit
or even some nice BIG chunky chocolate chips, oh yeah!!!
Any hoo moving rapidly on Aidan & I went elderflower picking


Now it finally feels like summer has begun, I love the smell of it & will
make several batches of delicious cordial to last
hopefully a few months, never does though we just guzzle the stuff down.
This was a batch from last year


Can't wait.......Last but not least though I won this beautiful book from Hazel
over at Quietly Stitching the week before I went to Rome.


Oh it really is lovely, I have so many ideas going around in the creative side
 of my brain


Pretty letter motifs, numbers also & some "best wishes" and others


Lots & lots of sweet flowers, I love it, thanks again Hazel xx
And thank you for visiting me here, its so good to be 
back at the blog again, next on the agenda is my best 
friend....my pfaff....she's a darlin
So see you soon 
Lots of love Karen