Lunch from scratch.

Home made butter, soda bread and soup.

I've been making my own butter on and off for the last year or so, or at least whenever I find double cream reduced in price at the supermarket. Butter has increased to an astronomical price over the last 18 months and making your own is not only easy and a lot cheaper but it also tastes so much nicer than the top brands in the shops, especially if preserved with Maldon sea salt flakes. Unsalted butter needs to be used relatively quickly as it doesn't have the preservative to enable it to be kept, but its great if planning to do any baking.

The leftover butter milk has sometimes gone into scones, but most recently into a fresh loaf of soda bread. So within an hour I can have a whole pat of butter (about 250g) for about a third of the price of a packet in the shops and a fresh loaf.

And what better to go with it but a nice warming bowl of soup. Yesterday it was celery and potato.

Introducing Archie

Archie, the Springer Spaniel, is a new member of the family, recused from a dogs home last week by Rhiannon and Mark and now living very comfortably in their home.

He has his little problems which will require attention and work but so far so good. 

We had a nice family outing yesterday up at The Lookout and being a water dog he loved the puddles.

A good bath later and he was looking lovely again.

Work in progress

I've been working on this scarf since early November and have no idea why everything I do seems to be taking me so long lately. I only seem to manage a few rows here and there, in between doing other things (more unfinished projects). But I've had this pattern bookmarked for some time and its lovely, as is the wool, which I've had for at least two years and actually can't wait for it to be finished, maybe even today at some point, all ready for starting work (whenever that may be)!

I got the pattern from here on Ravelry

My boy.

I had a last minute trip to Aberystwyth last week to collect Jourdan from uni as he was not at all well and too ill to get the train home on Saturday. Although I was a bit nervous about the drive, I actually made pretty good time, just over four hours each way. Very tired afterwards but also very pleased to get him home and off to the doctors the next morning for a weeks worth of penicillin. Four days of looking after him and he is finally back on his feet and feeling back to normal. 

It doesn't matter how old they get they will always still need their mums!

Acrylic on canvas

Back to work!

Nearly 2 years after leaving the hustle and bustle of office life I am now returning for a years contract in Reading. In no particular order - I'm going back to sitting in traffic, back to having to set an alarm, back to working really long days, back to being knackered in the evening, back to really looking forward to weekends, back to going to work in the dark and getting home in the dark, back to working my little socks off. And guess what - I can't wait!!!

A present for Clare

A present for a friend I used to work with some time ago. Clare was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2006 and is an inspiration to everyone that knows her.

This is a painting of a black and white photograph Clare put on her Facebook page, I stole it, painted it in sepia and delivered it to her doorstep this morning.

Easy crocheted beret.

A friend of my daughters asked me to make a beret for a 12 year old. After looking around the net I decided on this one, using sock yarn from my stash. 

I got the pattern from here (The Adventures of Gingerbread) and just kept decreasing until I thought it was about the right size for a childs head, hoping it will fit and equally hoping she will like it! Mind you if she doesn't I can always undo the rim, take off the last decrease row and redo it slightly bigger it for Rhiannon.