If you're in the mood.....

When I had lunch boxes to fill and constantly hungry children, baking was a weekly event.  Now days I have to be in the mood to bake. On Wednesday I decided that I needed to put something in the lovely big glass jar I recently bought and Chocolate Chip cookies seemed appropriate. 

They have been a favourite in our house for a long time.

Then a lovely batch of scones to fill another big jar.

It was such a miserable day I decided that a steak and veg pie would be very nice for our dinner. Having no ready made puff pastry sheets in the freezer didn't stop me, I was in a baking mood remember. I found a recipe and made my own. I was really happy with my made from scratch pie. 

The boys were pretty happy to find some home made biscuits and scones in the house for a change, I'm sure they are hoping that I will be 'in the mood' again very soon. 

Bits and pieces

Anytime there is food happening in the office you will find these two living in hope that someone will share. Maco the Jack Russell belongs to my friend and employer, Lindy and  Kaiser is  the workshop Manager, Ben's dog. 

Kaiser spends a lot of time doing this when the sun is shining, otherwise he finds every opportunity to sneak into Maco's bed in the office. Over the weekend Lindy  found him a bed to put in there too, much to Ben's disgust. He thinks we are turning him into a girl. 

 On Saturday I went over 'the hill' to visit Mum at Lakes Entrance.  My eldest son, Ben moved to Sale recently and we went to visit him Sunday to see how he was settling in. We had plenty of time on the way home and called into 'The Retro Shop' which is just outside of Bairnsdale.

So many lovely things to look at but I was very strong and kept my money in my wallet. We even had a trailer with us so I probably wasted a wonderful opportunity.

Home again on Monday. A lot of travelling for a few days but it was nice to catch up with everyone.

 The garden is at the point where I really do need to give it some attention and hopefully if the weekend is fine and youngest son doesn't need me to help him move I will get some of it done. Today I should be dealing with this. There are more in every part of the yard but yesterday it rained most of the day and wet leaves are a pain to clean up.

The sky isn't looking very promising again today and it has turned quite cold. We have had such mild weather the last few weeks, it is a bit of a shock to the system. Maybe I will bake,  find a book and a comfortable chair, or finally pick up the quilt that is waiting very patiently to be quilted? So many possibilities. 

Gone to the dogs!!!!

Happy Mother's Day, I hope all the Mum's out there are having a lovely one. 

This week has literally gone to the dogs in a manner of speaking. I went outside just on dark the other night and thought one of my animals was just over the fence in the paddock, that is until it moved. I raced in and grabbed my camera hoping it would still be there when I got back and it was!!! It was so very quiet and hung around long enough to get these four photos. I was shooting in the dark so was lucky to get the ones I did. 

No wonder the foxes used to take my chooks in broad daylight and when the dogs were around  if they have no fear like this one did.

Today this gorgeous thing turned up on the back step, upsetting my dogs big time. Obviously well cared for and loved. I have tied her to the front fence and given her a big bucket of water just in case the owner drives past. I couldn't send her on her way, I would have been worried sick that a car might hit her.I will ring the vet and local shire tomorrow if she is still here and see if anyone is looking for her. I really don't need another pet!!!

Thursday 15th (I put a photo of her on Facebook that afternoon and a friend recognised her. I contacted the owners and they were here in minutes to pick her up. A happy ending thank goodness.)

Remember when....

Back in the olden days when I was little childhood obesity was unheard of (probably because we were sent outside to play as soon as we were out of bed ,computers etc were only seen on science fiction movies and takeaway was unheard of!!).  Our Dad worked at the Butter Factory and would bring home beautiful thick cream in a Fowler jar and as a special treat Mum would give us fresh bread, jam and cream for afternoon tea. Of course by the time I had children this was something that was not included in their diet.

My Mum was never a 'sponge cake' maker and until recently I was very good at making pancake sponges. A decent recipe and my sunbeam mix master has changed all that I am now turning out pretty reasonable sort of sponges. This was last weekends effort for one of my sons 24th birthday. I had some of the whipped cream left after finishing the cake and made  bread, jam and cream for my sons to try. They were very impressed and youngest son managed to put away quite a few slices. (I'm sure he suffers from hollow legs like many 20 year olds do!)

Not something that will become a regular part of the menu but a nice stroll down memory lane.