Pay it Forward

From HERE

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in…What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Just cut and paste this one if you like, which I did.

Also, let me know if you would prefer a knitted something, or a sewn something :) I will try to do either as requested!

ANZAC Biscuits

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Buy them, or make them, but either way make sure you get some today! To help you celebrate ANZAC day I thought I would share a great recipe with you. I love this recipe and could eat them all year, but today especially I love them for what they represent.

Chewy ANZAC Biscuits
24 serves

1 cup plain flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs golden syrup

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Sift flour into large bowl. Stir in oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Put butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water into a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until melted. Stir in Bicarb Soda.

Pour butter mix into flour mix and combine.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place on trays 5cm apart.
Flatten slightly with fork and bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
Set aside on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

On the Shelf ~ April 20

I am participating in a Reading Challenge this year with the aim of reading 100 books.

I have been a bit slack on it but do have a couple of extras to add to the list which will take my total to date to 22 books read:

21. The Red Pony ~ John Steinbeck
22. Maps for Lost Lovers ~ Nadeem Aslam

I love Steinbeck, you know there will be a twist but he still surprises you. Both terrible and beautiful this book was a wonderful find at a market stall and goes happily into our collection.

Maps for Lost Lovers is the Book Club Book I madly had to finish before the meeting, I nearly left my run too late. It is beautifully descriptive but the plot seemed to meander until the final 3rd of the book when it all started to come together.
Those of us at the Book Club meeting rated Maps for Lost Lovers as 2 stars.

Our next Book Club book is Let me sing you gentle songs by Linda Olsson. Note to self: Don't leave it to the last minute to read this one :)

If I keep reading at this rate I will end up with around 66 books for the year. Not to be sneezed at but a far cry from 100...

WIP Wednesday ~ April 15th

Another WIP Wednesday and this one will be all about knitting as my sewing machine is safely tucked away while the demolition continues in my house.

You have to love knitting as it really is a portable craft that is easy to take anywhere and work on at anytime.


I was in Nundle the other day and I called in to the Nundle Woollen Mill which was full of wonderful yarn in a beautiful array of colours. DH was very proud of me as I only bought one ball of Loopy Mohair which was really quite restrained of me.

I am using the loopy to dress up the beanie pictured above by adding it to some plain Cleckheaton cream 12 ply which I have had for ages. It was such a simple beanie that it needed something to give it a lift. I had not knitted with more than one strand at a time before but was surprised by how easy it was to work the two balls at once.

I liked it that much that I decided I might as well use the leftover loopy to make a scarf to match. I have about a metre of scarf to do but it won't take long as it is only garter stitch. I am now ready for the cooler months! I was lucky as Spotlight had the Cleckheaton 12ply at 50 cents per ball so even with the Loopy it really is a cheap set to make.

Last but not least, my old trusty Tea Cosy! I actually did this awhile ago and it was the third thing I knit so I have a soft spot for it. I made it using this pattern and you may notice that theirs is a lot prettier than mine but as a beginner I didn't have a stash of leftover yarn which is why mine is very simple of colour.

I am starting to get a small stash happening so maybe I will revisit this pattern soon... If nothing else I should knit an icord to replace the plait I have securing the top, now that I know how!

The reason I am adding the Tea Cosy to this WIP Wednesday is because the Brown Owls are doing merit badges and to earn your knitting badge Pip posted a pattern of a Tea Cosy, but I hope this one will suffice!

How exciting! Hopefully I will be able to earn a few badges soon :)

Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies to be precise!
I made this batch to take camping the other weekend and they were very well received as you can imagine. Don't they look tasty!

I promised to share the recipe, which is another gem from the EB Recipe Swap (thanks Joellen).

INGREDIENTS

2 packets of choc bits

1 tin condensed milk

5 cups SR flour

500g butter

1 cup caster sugar

METHOD

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in condensed milk and then flour. Combine choc bits into mixture.

Make into balls and place on a greased baking tray and press down with a fork.

Bake at 180 deg for approx 15-20 mins or until golden brown.

NB: This recipe will make about 50 cookies so halve it if you can't eat that many.

Easter Essentials

Happy Easter Everyone :)

I had said all my gifts would be handmade this year so I made a little Chibbi Rabbit for Possum. She loves it and he has already been on a few adventures, including a swim in the dog's water dish. I am sure there will be many more happy adventures in store for him.

I do wish DH would resist the urge to chuckle whenever he sees it though :) If I were to make one of these little guys again I would lengthen his body a little so I had more room to embroider the arms, which you may notice are absent on this one. I would also use nicer fabric but decided against it this time as I had spare from my doll's quilt which I want to use where I can... Brown is the new black right?

Because my rabbit is not the best critter getting around this Easter we also bought Possum some Alphabet and Phonics Flash Cards. No chocolate for her...

Lastly, what Easter would be complete without chocolate of some kind for those of us old enough to eat it! I decided to make handmade Rocky Road bites. I love these things!! I got the recipe as part of the EB Recipe Swap from Bambaloo Girl. Because I love you all, I will include the recipe down the bottom ;)

Rocky Road Bites

250g milk choc, 40 g dark choc, 40g hazlenuts, 55g raspberry lollies quartered, 75g mini marshmallows or normal marshmallows quartered.

Break up the choc and melt in a bowl. Mix in the other ingredients. Make sure the chocolate is not too hot or it melts the marshmallow.

Drop cookie size spoonfuls of the mixture onto a large tray lined with baking paper and set in the fridge.

Store in fridge in airtight container or wrap in cellophane bags or noodle boxes as gifts.

NB: I usually double the mixture so it uses all the chocolate if I buy two cooking blocks of choc and the lollies. I also always buy the big marshmallows and chop them into quarters or smaller rather than buying the little ones.

Swap Stuff

A sneak peak of what I will be making for the swap Cass at SnailBlazer is hosting at the moment. The end result will be a secret until opening day so this is as much as I will share until then! What could it be...

The closing date for sign ups isn't until the 18th April so you still have time to join in the fun if you wish.



I have also been madly Op-Shop shopping looking for inspiration for Chaletgirl's Vintage Sheet FQ Swap. I looked in no less than 5 shops in 2 separate towns for this haul. Dedicated am I not?

Below you can see my half of the FQ which will stay here, and the parcel holding 40 of their friends packaged and ready to send to Chaletgirl for the swap. I can't wait to see what I get back to add to the mix.

There is nothing more fun than a good swap. The planning, the bargain hunting, the creating, the making something for someone else, and the receiving and opening day. If you are not in a swap at the moment I think you should find one!

The Results are in...

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for my 50th post giveaway. The number generator picked a random number which corresponds to Kylie's comment:

Kylie said...
LOL at Carolyns word verification Congratulations on 50 posts. What a great little selection.
April 6, 2009 1:57 PM

I will be in touch with Kylie so I can post out her little prize! I have never won anything on a giveaway before, and not through lack of trying, hosting my own was the next best thing :)

Another Swap

Cass at Snailblazer is running a swap here.

It looks like a lot fun which will end in a surprise bag of handmade goodies at the end. What could be better than that? Pop over and have a look, don't be slow as this will be popular :)

50th Post GIVEAWAY!

I was very excited to find I had reached a Blogger Milestone in this being my 50th post. I spent a large amount of time wondering what, if anything I should do about it and in the end decided that I should have my first giveaway as a way of celebrating.

Then I had to decide what I had to giveaway, which required more time and thought, I decided on the following:

This cute mushroom fabric is a heavy cotton, like a drill. I have a 50cm cut which was left over from a previous project.

The following pattern is complete with instructions and uncut. It is a vintage Paragon Printed Pattern No.23 being a Smocked Blouse and Skirt for a Size 6 girl.

So the boys don't get forgotten about I also have a Vintage Madam Weigel's paper pattern No.1215 which is a boy's Safari Suit in Size 10 years.

This pattern is also complete with instructions.

If you would like to be in the running for these items, please leave a comment and make sure I have a way to get in touch, either through your blog or via email. I am happy to post overseas so entry is open to anyone.

Again, thanks for reading this Blog, if it wasn't for you I would not have made it to 50 posts, or had so much fun!

Block Swap Mail Out 1

The first mail out of fabric arrived the other day for Chaletgirl's block swap. As I am a beginner quilter, and novice swapper I took a few days to work up the courage to get started.

I discovered that my stash is non existant, I think of the below combinations, I only already owned two of the matched fabrics. Being rural as well I was worried about what I would find in store but I think I did fairly well.

These fabrics belong to Yarnplanner. Her fabric is a beautiful grey/green shade which I had trouble getting a good photo of. The overcast day did not help my efforts at all. Of these blocks I like all of them but am a bit unsure of the dark blue option on the bottom left...

The second lot of blocks I did are for Beth. I was nervous about her bright prints until I got started and realised what fun they were to play with. Again I am not sure of the blue here either but on the whole am happy.

I was very impressed with how neatly the seams at the back all ended. I did not have to take such care with my patchwork Santa sacks so am delighting in the neatness here.

I can't wait for the next mailout now :) I think it will be even more fun as the pressure is off with the first round now under my belt!