Happiness tinged with sadness

Today we celebrate my second son David's 21st birthday. The little man who always seemed to be in something whether it was a cupboard, a big box or in trouble. It seems like such a long time ago since he was born and it also feels like it was only yesterday.

I made him this quilt for his birthday.  Something I hope he will treasure for many many years ( and much cheaper than the video camera he asked for!!!)
Tonight there will be a cake and quiet family dinner. He had his party with his mates on Saturday night and I think he's still trying to recover from that!!

This week The Chocolate Crow Trader quietly closed it's doors. It was where I first started selling my Craft online almost 6 years ago and where I received the encouragement and support to go on and open my Website. Thank You Bev for making your dream a reality and Chris for keeping Bev's dream alive.

I remember when...........

 

You know those conversations where the sentences start,"I remember when......". We were talking  the other day and my husband and I both remember going home from school and making a batch of Honeycomb. Not really the ideal afternoon snack but so good!!!!!  I decided to have an all day baking day today seeing as I will have a house full over Easter. Flicking through a recipe book I found Honeycomb and I couldn't resist making him a batch.

  Honeycomb

1 cup sugar

1 cup Golden syrup

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

Place sugar, golden syrup and vinegar in a large saucepan (a really big one or it will be a MESS at the frothing stage!!) and stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking, without stirring, until a little of the mixture, dropped in cold water separates into hard brittle threads that snap easily. Remove from heat and stir in the bicarbonate soda. The mixture will immediately bubble up. pour into a shallow greased tin at least 9 inches 23cm square (I found this size was a bit small)  and place tin on a wire rack to cool. When quite cold break into pieces. Store in layers in a tin with a tight fitting lid with sheets of foil between each of the layers.

It tasted exactly as I remembered.

Toast

There is nothing like toast that is cooked in a camp fire. So what do you do when there is no camp fire? Open the stove door of course.

It's all downhill from here!!!

Last year I celebrated turning 50. I didn't get depressed about reaching the half century mark or worry about getting older, I embraced this new milestone in my life. I looked forward to that next phase with no children left in the house and the time to do all the things I had put off because I was too busy with life before that. Little did I know that once I turned 50 my mailbox would turn into a scary place that held small messages telling me I am old now and everyday could be my last. First a parcel turned up with a free Bowel Cancer test Kit. Congratulations on turning 50 but beware you are now at an even  higher risk to contract bowl cancer. Just follow the instructions and we will take it from there. Ok that was a little bit of a worry. Next came the letter telling me that now I am 50 my risk of Breast Cancer had increased significantly but not to worry you can ring this number and book in for a free Breast Screening. Blood pressure, cholesterol you name it apparently once you turn 50  you are probably going to be afflicted by one of these things or a myriad of others no one has sent me a letter about yet. Now instead of enjoying this time of my life and doing all the things I had planned on doing I will be too busy having all my ins and outs poked, prodded, squeezed and xrayed.

I swear life would be very boring around here if we didn't have our pets. Cato found the perfect hiding spot the other day until Fred sussed her out. He annoyed her so much that she had to get out and leave. Judging by the look on her face she wasn't very happy either.

Not 5 minutes later I found this sticking out of the bottom of the pot!!

He can't help himself , always has to do what the others do.

Do you remember the fence?

After a tiny bit of nagging the rusty fence has been finished! There is obviously a little bit of work to be done yet, pavers to be put down and the garden has to be redone. Last night Beau decided we were having a BBQ and he was lighting the fire pot so we could eat outside. It's cold here at night now but the area was very cosy with the fire. I think the fire pot is going over in the corner eventually with plenty of standing room around it according to the husband.

Butterfly

Not only does our apple tree attract birds but now there is rotten fruit on the ground (I know they should have been picked) the bees and these gorgeous butterflies are coming for I assume the sugar in the fruit. I spotted this one yesterday and couldn't resist seeing how close I could get to take a photo.

 It never moved, in fact it was there for a couple of hours. Double click on the photo for an even better look at it

Playing with Patchwork

For my Website this week I made two very simple mini Patchwork Quilts to pop on a table. I love the whole process of Patchwork and then quilting by hand but the past few years I have been time poor and haven't really been able to do much.

I have two separate stacks of fabric which means two Quilts patiently waiting to come into being. After playing with these two small projects I don't think it will be long before I start cutting up at least one of those stacks. The hardest part will be deciding which one to start first.