I Heart Autumn

Today I sent off my 'First Day ofAutumn' Postcard to my partner on Swap-Bot, Can't wait to get mine in the post as I just love Autumn!!! It was my first swap so will have to see how it goes, really excited about the upcoming chocoholics swap....

Anyways back to Autumn, my favourite time of the year (after Christmas of course!!) I love all the changing colours and that crisp, cold, earthy, chill smell in the air. One of my favourite things to do in Autumn is pull the wellies on & go for a walk in the woods with my boys.

We love to gather conkers and pine cones and pick blackberries.

And when we get home all soggy and cold, it's nice to pop the kettle on, make some cocoa and tea and bake the blackberries in a pie or crumble. I especially like when I have a big box of apples from my parents' apple trees waiting there ready to be baked. Thanks Dad!!

So here is a quick and easy recipe for a delicious Autumn Crumble:

For the Filling:

• 
  
  2-3 Cooking apples
• 
  
  A cereal bowl of blackberries
• 
  
  Sugar to taste (about 2-3oz)

For the Crumble:

• 
  
  50g butter
• 
  
  100g flour
• 
  
  50g brown sugar
• 
  
  handful/ eggcup of porridge oats

What to do Now:

1. 
   
   Peel & slice the apples and put in a pot with a little water and the sugar and stew gently. When the apples are almost fully softened add the blackberries
2. 
   
   While the fruit stews, sieve the flour into a bowl and rub-in the butter. Add the sugar and oats, and mix.
3. 
   
   Spoon the stewed fruit into a pie dish and sprinkle the crumble on top.
4. 
   
   Bake in a pre-heated oven at about 175'C for 20-25 mins

                           ENJOY with a big dollop of custard!!!!

And after all that with the evenings drawing in, it's easier to get the little fella off to bed and enjoy some fab Autumn telly by the fire...

Last Weekend Home...

So with only 5 weeks before baby is due, we figured this would probably be our last go at the three hour journey home...


It was well worth it!!! Had a great meal out at The Lemongrass, followed by 40mins of 'The Other Guys' till the projector caught fire and we'd to return home!!!! Oh well it was nice to get out for a few hours by ourselves.





On Sunday decided to check out the Clonmel Indoor Market at Dudley Mills: http://www.clonmelmarketatdudleymills.com/





Loads of great stalls and a car boot sale next door, my secret love!!! Despite there being only 5 cars there I still managed to pick up this beauty for only 4 euro;




I've been after a glass cake stand for ages so am thrilled with it. Must dash off now to bake something to display in it...

Feeling Motivated....

Ok so himself still hasn't redesigned my blog for me (I'm no good at the technical stuff...) but feel it's time I posted something anyways.

Have been mad busy over the Summer, getting ready for baby number 2 while trying to entertain a four year old. The good news is he's practically all sorted now for big school!! Baby stuff is pretty much under control too... Just need to pick up the little essentials nearer the time (12 weeks to go!!) Then there's the small matter of decorating the spare room/ nursery. We are renting at the mo so cant go painting/ hanging new curtains etc...

Have successfully made bunting (in both our girls and boys names) to hang but need to make the room feel more welcomming for the new baby. Have decided to sew up a number os decorative bitsNbobs with the time I have left. My grand project (before this have only sewn a few patches...) will include:

• Redoing the lining of the moses basket I had when I was a baba (25 years ago!!!) Found a great tutorial on SewCanDo- Love this blog!!
• Making a diaper/nappy stacker- and get this I've even come up with my own pattern (I'll probably lose all confidence the moment I start and google one but for now I will use my own!!)
• Making a pair of fabric shoes from one of the loads of tutorials available out there!!
• Creating a tapestry/ playmat to hang over the boring curtains in the room at the mo- will hopefully work as a black-out blind too...
• Some other sort of wall art, framed picture, quote etc... all ideas welcome!!

Wow I feel very motivated right now but dunno how long it will last. Have figured out my sewing machine though- wouldn't my home ec teacher be impressed (or shocked) if she could see me now!! I wasnt allowed near them in school as struggled with foot pedal control and managed to cut a hole in the middle of, and burn with an iron, the apron I was supposed to be making. Have reintroduced myself to the sewing machine but the iron remains my nemesis....

Fingers crossed, and a deep breath as I dive back into the World of Crafting after an absense of about 12 years!!!

Double-Sided Curtains??

Yesterday was outside and noticed that many of my neighbours had blinds down/ curtains drawn and they were all white! Why?? Brainwave: Double-Sided Curtains

These curtains would have a scene or picture on the outside as well as a pattern on the inside. so curtains for the living room could have a fireside scene or sunset, bathroom could have a tub or silhouette of somebody on the toilet reading a paper (although as I pointed out to himself in my excited planning last night, in our case we could always not have any curtains and that silhouette would always be in our bathroom.....) Children's bedrooms could have a character or whattever.

Then for blinds they could be reversible... So you could change the pattern on the inside/outside to suit your mood. Genius I think, need to research it harder but am thinking of taking it to Dragons Den!! While himself was not totally enthusiatic (I believe the term was 'pointless, stupidist idea'), he thought it might work better than my fold-up, portable table for fitting in your handbag. t fits in your bag/pocket and on a night out you unfold it and wear it to put your chinese take-out on. Its attatched by braces....

Anywho after this entreprenerial rant in bed last night, I felt my genius was working so asked himself to tell me how phones work (again). It's just something I can't get my head around. I mean how can I be in the hall on my wired phone, chatting to my mum 200 miles away on a cordless phone and we can hear each other instantly. I thought the wires went under the ground, apparently they're the wires on the poles (not electrical ones like I thought). And then it hit me, that's where the expression 'A little birdie told me' comes from. Birds are always on the phone lines, they must pick up the message and pass it on quickly. So my final way to make moola is to start my own phone company. I'm going to train the newly hatched birds in the garden, which I have lovingly fed and watched every day and make a fortune....

Guess who's Back...

Finally decided to get back on a blog after 6 years so forgive my rustiness... This has co-incided with me finding my knitting needles after a considerably longer absence from my life, The two are set to become a major addiction.