Sunday 31/3/2013

Round and Round the Garden

Today we thought we would all blow the cobwebs out of heads and hearts, a fraught week in the sense it's end of term and nerves are getting frayed.we decided to go to Calke Abbey and amble round the garden, it's the house and garden where time stood still as if the Head Gardener has just popped out for a crafty homemade cider and will be back any minute. Also I am reminded of that beloved children's classic by Frances Hodgeson Burnett "Secret Garden".

I always go to National  Trust properties with the thought its only me going there it my secret world , this of course is not true but it's what I imagine. My son is getting taller now though he's growing up and the baby years are behind us and he's childhood is hurtling along at an alarming rate he will forever and always be my son.

Easter Bunny Baskets of Treats recipe

Easter has crept up on us again ! Everyone loves a sweet treat and at Easter but sometimes we don't want to much of a sweet treat, we want something that gives us the illusion of of receiving a great deal with in reality it is not. With this Easter treat that I am going to show you it is not the case ! it is very adaptable.

Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

• 250g butter

• 140g caster sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 250g plain flour
• 50g Coco powder

• 1 egg yolk
• 85g chocolate chips/chunks

• 2tsp vanilla extract

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 190ºC (gas mark 5) 2. Sift together plain flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. 3. Mix in butter and blend until mixture is crumbly. Stir in egg yolk and vanilla essence. Add the chocolate chips. Blend well. Chill dough for one hour for better cookies.

 4. Regularly sprinkle work surface and stamp with flour. 5. Separate dough into golf ball sized chunks. Slightly flatten the balls and use Easter themed cutters to cut out various shapes. 6. Place on a greased baking sheet.

 Bake for 6 - 8 minutes, or until lightly brown. 7. Remove from oven and leave for a couple of minutes to harden, then transfer to a wire cooling rack. 8. Decorate as desired then Enjoy your ‘Easter’ cookies.


Easter Bunny Baskets

Your will need these items:

•  Ice Cream Cornet cups.
•  Biscuits that have a jam centre.
• Some icing made up to a fairly stiff constancy.
• Strawberry Pencil sweets.

1. Then apply some icing to the biscuits and put the Ice Cream Cornet cup on top and leave to set.

2. Fill with small chocolate treats and use Strawberry Pencil as the handle just bending them over to create a handle ( But don't pick them up by the handle as its not fixed )

Fill with small chocolate treats.

3. Put in one of your special Easter cookies. 

Add the Easter cookies to your baskets.

Cookies turned into bunnies with cornet buckets and strawberry lace handles .

Pipette craft with kids : Easy Craft Ideas

Easter is nearly upon us and Easter Bunny will be merrily hopping around, so if the snow is still with us or you are at a loss what to do with the children. Here is a easy craft idea to do with the children , slightly messy if its not messy it's not as much fun to children right ? You will require these items :

1. Kitchen roll.

2. Scissors .

3. 4 pipettes.

4. Several yoghurt pots or empty containers.

5. Poster paint slightly watered down in a variety of colours.

Always make sure you supervise children when they are using scissors.

Cut the kitchen roll into a variety of flower shapes , allow the children to do this if they are capable.

Make sure they you do this activity on a plastic tray etc.

Take one of the pipettes and gently fill it up with the desired colour.

Gently let the child squeeze the pipette onto the flower shape creating a pretty pattern use a variety if colours to make it like a rainbow.

Getting The Needle

Getting the Needle...

I have a tattoo on my lower back which is my only one. I was desperate to get a tattoo from my early teens but luckily I was persuaded  *read 'forced'* by my sensible parents to wait until adulthood before finally getting inked. Otherwise I suspect I'd now be saving up for removal of a yin-yang symbol and an acid house smiley! None of my family members have tattoos and my parents were always adamant I couldn't do this "whilst you're living under my [their] roof" until I was at least 18 and made it known they wouldn't be thrilled after this point either.

At the reasonably sensible age of 22 (hmmm) I took a design I'd liked for a long time into the tattoo parlour in Soho and after badgering them with health & safety questions about autoclaves and so on, I was tattooed by a lovely lady with amazing flower vines covering both her legs. During my twenties I loved my tattoo and relished any opportunity to display it. It was even worth the embarrassment of purchasing Preparation H** from my sexy local pharmacist for its aftercare, whilst loudly proclaiming "it's for my new tattoo". I didn't anticipate buying that again but alas, along came children (but that's another post altogether).

Rapidly approaching the slightly more mature age of 32, it's not that I don't like it anymore and I haven't considered getting it removed, it's just that I don't have the figure I once did (Ladies & Gents roll up, roll up for THE understatement of the year) and consequently no longer wear long slung jeans and waist-revealing/backless tops so it spends all year under layer upon layer of baggy clothing. To be honest I forget it's there, except when I accidentally catch sight of it in the mirror. I just wonder whether if given the option to have it magically disappear with no painful laser treatment and no expense whether I'd say "Yes" and I suspect I probably would. I guess those seriously dedicated to their body art have words for people like me who have had a single tattoo in the name of fashion, answers on a postcard please...

I have to confess when I was deciding on its placement I was, what tattoo enthusiasts would probably call, a coward. As I deliberately chose a place on my body where it could easily been concealed when it suited me. This was primarily due to the fact that I worked in Financial Markets where I felt judgements would be instantly made. I know that nobody wants to be branded (pardon the pun) according to the ink in their skin but people regularly use looks (including clothing, hair, make up, etc.) as instant cues to form first impressions, regardless of whether or not you think this is how it should work. 

Despite the fact tattoos are relatively mainstream nowadays, I believe some prejudice around "the tattooed" still exists and unless you REALLY don't give two hoots what others think, then I imagine you may agree with my "can I cover it up?' logic. I'm aware of the argument that people who would judge you on first impressions wouldn't be worth knowing anyway and I agree, to a point, but there are lots of times in my life when I only had a single chance to create a professional initial impression and this was important to me. Many people claim that the tattooed don't judge the non-tattooed for their abstinence so why is it ok in reverse? I'm not advocating that it is ok, I'm simply saying that whether we like it or not people make snap judgements every day based on appearances of others and having a tattoo assists people in pigeonholing you.

I have also contemplated whether becoming a parent and setting myself up for having to answer my children's, perfectly reasonable, questions about what I have on my back, what it's made from, etc. has altered my opinion. Again, I think I would say that it had. I feel slightly embarrassed at the prospect of having to answer such questions and explain my choices when deep down I know that I would try to dissuade my own children from having tattoos in their teens/early twenties in case it was a passing phase they later regretted. I don't think you can ever be 100% certain a tattoo wont fall out of your favour. There's a family story about an uncle twice removed (or similarly close relation!) who was married to Betty but had a large tattoo on his chest proclaiming his love for "Elizabeth". Betty then had to rest her head on Elizabeth every night for their entire married life! I have also encountered people (sly code for ex-boyfriend at Uni) who had brands tattooed on their person that have since gone into liquidation. 

So I'm interested to know what your stance is on tattoos, either for yourself or your children when they're older? With a fifth of all Brits now sporting some ink, do you think the trend is likely to continue into the next generation or has it become so popular as to render it uncool? I have to confess I now know more people with tattoos than without them.  

**Preparation H is hemorrhoid cream **

Guest post from

www.littlerascalreviews.com