Easter - part 1

This year Easter and ANZAC day were so close that we had 5 glorious days off in a row! I don't hink that will happen again for a long time. As much as I loved it, after the third day I didn't really know what to do with myself. It probably didn't help that we didn't go away, but we did get up to some lovely things:

1. Easter baking on Thursday night. Miss S and I put our aprons on and made a double batch of gingerbread dough. Gingerbread is messy but VERY worth it. I love it so much I typset the recipe and laminated it to protect it from spills. We decided we would make egg-shaped biscuits, but there were no egg-shaped cutters in the shops so I took a round cutter and pinched it. We tried icing some bunny-shaped biscuits too but they looked pretty crapola. Check them out!
   
   


2. Lunch at Kim & Stu's
   We were invited to have lunch with Kim and Stu on good Friday. We met Kim and Stu when we were on holidays in NZ, they sat at the same restaurant as us at Sweet Mother's Kitchen in Wellington and we started talking and it turned out that they lived a few suburbs away from us. We ended up all going to a pub after dinner. I love it when you randomly meet awesome people!
   
   Anyway, back to my story - we were invited for lunch and I offered to bring dessert. Kim heartily accepted when I told her I was bringing trifle.
   
   Here's a photo collection of the trifle making experience:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I made it that morning so it didn't get too soggy. I first got the recipe here but have modified it over time. I can't stress highly enough to never use cream-filled jam rolls. The long-life, sugary cream in those things comes up shabbily against the fresh whipped cream you use to top the trifle with. So just don't do it! I've also found it's easier to stack the jam rolls up on the edges as you go. So after you've done the first layer of cake/jelly/custard, then put the next level on. Makes it much easier!
   
   AND one more thing - if you whip your cream using a kitchen whizz stick with a whisk attachment and use a long skinny container like a milkshake cup, it only takes about a minute to whip up.
   
   So with the trifle carefully balanced in Miss S's lap, we made our way over to Kim and Stu's for lunch. It was the most perfect and glorious autumn day, sunny bit with a chill in the air, and we ate outside on the deck. Kim had set up a japanese style dining table with  their coffee table, the lounge room rug and all of the cushions from the sofa. Stu cooked some meaty delight on the barbecue and served it with a fresh fancy-pants lentil salad. The trifle was a hit.
   
   TaDa!
   
   

The tea cosy challenge

My friend Danni asked me to crochet her a tea cosy, and I happily agreed on the spot. I asked her for a little more information about what she would like, but she told me to go for it and do whatever I wanted.

I wasn't sure if I should go really daggy (toilet roll doll style - which I HAVE done), or do an owl. I have seen some fabulous owl tea cosy patterns out there. Or should I knit a swear word into it (the felted Fuck You tea cosy I did for another friend went down a treat).

I found this really cute tea cosy pattern by Loani Prior on Ravelry and wasn't freaked out at the thought of knitting after such a long time, so I gave it a crack:

(© Loani Prior)

I loved the rib stitch but wanted to crochet my own flowers and add some leaves.

So here is my interpretation:

And now Danni has something to keep her tea warm with!

My choice weekend away to Sange's pad

Last weekend my mini whanau and I visited my mother, affectionately known as Sange, at her lovely place up the coast. We had a lovely, lazy weekend which was spent mostly lolling around the pool in the backyard after a successful op-shop crawl in Mayfield.

Sange and I both share the love of a great bargain, so a trip to Sange's is never complete without a trip to the local op-shops (plus the op shops are so much better up that way than the over-scavenged Sydney shops). I discovered my love of op shops at a young age. If it was school holidays, sometimes as a treat my paternal Grandparents used to take my brother and I along on their weekly trip into town for bargain-hunting at thrift stores, then food shopping, then McDonalds for lunch. And my Mum was always finding amazing clothes for $1 and then altering them to suit her at home with her sewing machine.

So, here's the yield:

A vintage single bed linen sheet in rose print, $3

A Pierre Arletty for Katies dress, red with white piping, hailing from the 70's, $7

An Esprit cowgirl shirt - half price,$2.50

4 balls of lilac angora yarn, $1 per ball

A blue and white terry towelling dress hailing from the early 80's,$8

A crocheted wool granny square rug, $5

And 1 pair of 10mm rosewood knitting needles, $2 a pair, but I couldn't be bothered taking a pic of those.

YAY!

So after a lot of procrastination I have finalled started my blog, where I will share all of my choice adventures and finds as well as document my crafty adventures. Bout friggen time!