I am a pillowcase snob

Now on various other blog posts I have talked about being a snob - or "having a very particular preference to...".
This time I share my pillowcase making as I am so particular about my pillowcases that very few commercially produced ones come up to standard.

A good pillowcase should;

• be % cotton or linen. 
• be ironed!!!
• Feel crunchy when my head hits it
• Stay cool in the summer so if I wake up at night I can turn it over and it will be cold against my skin
• Have a decent tuck in tab so the pillow does not come out of the case!!!.....

Oh I could go on.

For my birthday last year my sister gave me these incredibly old Osman sheets still all in their original wrapper. So last night I made some pillowcases from them. I made four normal pillowcases and then one triangle case. (First time ever) Wow these sheets were so so starched it was hilarious, just another pointer to the date of them.

Eli likes to have some company as he winds down for the night so he popped into our bed to read while I put pedal to the metal on the sewing machine.

trying to make a pattern for the triangle case

So here is my finished pile of four pillowcases all fitting my criteria.

Now I am happy to make the bed!

Linking to these places

Spiced Chai Almond Cookies

In amongst the madness of a 12yr old birthday, confirming the purchase of a house, painting mowing, waterblasting etc.......... All on the one day. I decided to bake. Still don't understand it but wow these are yummy.

We had lunch with my friends Linda and Craig and they had made them.

 The recipe is directly from a website called Canadian Living. You can link to the recipe or it is copied below.

I have also put a couple of our "getting ready to sell shots". We have decided to sell our current house and not rent it out. So it is all looking good.

Chai-Almond Cookies

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

27 mins

 

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 40

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 1½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1½ teaspoon loose-leaf chai tea (ground)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 40 whole blanched almonds

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream together butter and sugar for around 1 minute until they are very well combined and light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix flour, almonds, chai tea, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture in 3 even batches until dough is well combined.
3. My dough was very dry and crumbly (maybe our dry Calgary air?), so I also added a few tablespoons of water until it formed a crumbly, but roll-able dough.
4. Roll into 1 tbsp sized balls and place on baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Gently press a blanched almond into the cookie.
5. Bake for approximately 12 minutes until cookies are slightly golden around the bottom edge. Cool on baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

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Hiatus - but you probably guessed.

Yes doing stuff has slowed down due to working four days a week. But now all has stopped as we are in the process of buying a house and moving. Trying to do this all in 18 days. Bonkers!!! So see you back here in March

Crayfish, what a great way to start a holiday

Wow.  First night on holiday and we get given two fresh lobster by other campers.  Yes that was given! And yes that was two!!

Being a proud parent

Back before Christmas we made piles of fondant decorations for cupcakes etc over Christmas time. Eli and Jakob spent an evening icing and decorating cupcakes for their teachers and school mates.

Then on the second to last day at school we had the awards night. The photos are not that great but on the left you see two boys in blue shirts. Both Eli and Jakob won the academic award for their respective classes. I could not be more proud.

The next photo down of the band you will see Eli drumming his heart out for the two songs his band had been practicing.

Great parent moments!!!

Christmas Tree Fairy being safe at work

 Well before Christmas I shared making the fairy skirt from various short cut pieces at Fabric Vision. Here is my safe Christmas Tree Fairy spreading the joy at work with Santa in the days prior to Christmas Day.

What a safety concious fairy I am. Pink sparkly tutu, tinsel halo, if you look closely you will see the fairy lights from the tree around my neck. and then safety boots and a high viz vest.

...And again. Happy New years eve everyone!

Our New Years Eve walk around the estuary in Motueka. Gorgeous sunset at 9pm. Great way to see the year out. Looking forward to 2015