I have to pack my stash

Well we move in two weeks. I am meant to be packing the house up. So that means I have to pack my stash. Now my stash is not quite the ordinary crafter's stash. It is piles and piles of clothing from the second hand store.

All the seams cut, just a few to go

The problem with packing it is that I get inspired and as I have packed all my current projects I just had to start another. My thought was that if it was started it would be far less bulky to pack. I decided to sew another "fluffy"quilt. Out came all the old pyjamas and the cutting began. I took off the buttons (very useful for other projects) and took off all tags(as I have yet another idea re what to do about them) and cut all seams off.

The tags and buttons - oooh another project to start!

So with Aaron away the boys and I were to have a quiet weekend. 1.30pm in the afternoon and I was on the sofa (yes for those who know me that means I am still in my nightie), Jakob in his dressing gown and only Eli dressed.

The rolls of material ready to go, with a bit of supervision from Morris.

Then we get a call "I am parked outside your house can I come in and look at it please?" Oh my stars. I had to confess to being in my nightie and asked for five minutes. They pottered off to an open home and we got 20 minutes. My goodness the boys have the routine of getting the house ready and then skedadaling really well. In 20 minutes I had a shower and got dressed, loaded the dishdrawer, sorted the garage, folded washing. The boys vacuumed, made beds, pulled curtains, opened window and then were off on their scooters.

Now I am ready to start cutting and sewing I think I may have seriously run out of time.!!
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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!

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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

Home made smoked salmon

Oh my,  what an amazing Christmas lunch we had.  I have never smoked anything before and yet decided that was going to be lunch.  Camping in a place where there were only 6 other people.  Bliss.  We and the salmon got smoked but it was so good I smoked the other half too. So 1.8kg of amazing sugar coated smoked salmon was made. Oh now I know I need a smoker. Waiting for the hoards of campers who will invariably arrive in the next couple of days.  Enjoying it in the meantime.

Not the best photo of me, but look at the Salmon and the empty campground. It filled up after that but it was lovely on Christmas day.

Annabel Langbein's Walnut salad

Yes I have been watching the Free Range Cook. Made her walnut salad which was really yummy. "Tickled" the first of the new potatoes to see what they were like. Delicious healthy lunch for Aaron and Me.

Brocoliflower and a garden update

Was absolutely thrilled with my brocoliflower this year. Other years it has bolted and gone to seed as do most my brassicas. But this year it is a ripper!! Huge, it has feed us for three meals so far and those were generous. 

A year ago I said that we were going to redo the garden. Well Aaron has done all the paved paths but I am still finishing the brickwork (probably still will be doing it by this time next year!!) 

Wow the photo below is what it looked like just as we started.

This photo is what it looked like part way through.