Oh Myyyyy I'm gonna be Late

Hi there its real good to be back here, typing away at my very own speed

on my very own blog after nearly two weeks away.

We had a great time, lots of fun with family & way too much 

good food (of course) & loads of  chill out time.

Now after a Mount Everest pile of laundry I finally 

have some minutes to sit & post!!!

I realised today when I was checking through some friends blogs that I 

had entered a mini quilt swap & had totally forgotten about it .......

Not good, it needs to be done  & received by my swap partner in the States

by the 15th of this month...holy cow....

Its gotta be today & tomorrow morning, then express post!!

So here's what I've done so far

Bit of a jumble at the mo, but I promise I will make it look good, I hope, I really do!!!

I'm thinking lots of hand quilting, some cute buttons & maybe a wee bit of ric rac

Oh Gosh!!!!!!

Do pray for me, won't you??????

These are cheerful though..

I lurveeeee pink flowers & they smell good too :)

Oh yes another wee tidbit

We are going to a wedding on thursday, Aidan

will officiate the ceremony, its exciting.....

I got a new dress for it today, I won't tell you the price, 

horrified myself, but in my defence we have another wedding in Oct

so it will be worn for that one too (all different people) whew!

So I gotta get this quilt done before then

Busy fingers, sore fingers, tired fingers

Ah well good food at the wedding will set that to right again

Have a lovely evening

Lots of love Karen xxxxxx 

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

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

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

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

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

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