My Craft Room

My home is quite small with only two bedrooms and therefore whilst my son was living at home my crafty bits and bobs lived in a cupboard in our bedroom.  The cupboard was a bit damp and as a result a lot of the things became a little bit mouldy and spoilt.
Once Joe decided that he wouldn't be coming back home to live I felt it was time to redecorate and reclaim the second bedroom and with the help of my husband got the room in to some kind of order.

This now seems like a long time ago and the picture above no longer resembles the untidy mess the room has become.
We are now in the process of decorating our bedroom and therefore the above room looks more like a dump it site. 
We have decided that we want our room to be tranquil and uncluttered but of course this comes at a price.  The wardrobe has already gone and the once craft cupboard is now a clever walk in wardrobe.

The craft room will no longer have the book shelves above but will have wall shelving to house the hundreds of books I have collected over the years.  We're not sure how the wall will stand up to the weight but we're willing to give it a try.
This will be an ongoing project.  Something to give us something to do during the long dark nights.  I will keep you informed as to the progress.

I'm No Mary Berry

I absolutely love to bake but when I get the urge I never have enough of the right ingredients.
After catching the last half hour of a new cake making series yesterday on ITV +1 I decided to have a baking session but to my horror only had 1 egg and about 2oz of icing sugar.
I suddenly remembered a recipe my Mum always used when I was little.  I expect in those days she wouldn't have always had the money to spend on luxeries so possibly this recipe was born out of necessity.

1,2,3,4, Cupcake Recipe (or bun recipe if you prefer)

1 egg
2oz margirine or butter (softened)
3oz sugar
4oz self raising flour with a pinch of baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes then whisk in the beaten egg. Finally fold in the sieved flour and baking powder.  The mixture can be a bit dry so add a little milk to loosen it up.  Spoon into bun cases and cook in the oven on gas mark 4 for about 10 minutes.

I used shop bought fondant icing for the decorations.  The roses and leaves are handmade, the butterfly is a cutter I bought and never used and the flowers are made by using silicon moulds from Blossom Art.  The small one is hydranga and the larger is pertunia. I saw these demonstrated at the NEC Birmingham earlier this year.  You can sometimes pick them up at TK Max. I did a blog about them at the time if you care to look back.
Well that's all for now.  Happy baking.  Let me know how you got on with the recipe.  It is pretty basic but I didn't hear any complaints from the Cake Monster who was on hand to sample the finished product.

Happy Birthday Mya

I can't believe how quickly time flies.  It doesn't seem two minutes since I was announcing the arrival of my great niece and now she's one year old.

She is an absolutely beautiful little girl. 
Her Mum and Dad are very strict with her diet but she was allowed birthday cake which she loved.  Her little face lit up every time she tasted it.

Who could blame her when cake looks this good.  Made by Miss Cakeaholic herself, no less.

Cupcakes too. Delicious.
We had a lovely day celebrating with family and friends.

Creake Abbey

Whilst away we decided to visit Creake Abbey.  I can't remember if it was the Abbey or the little craft shops we were headed for but we spent a couple of hours there and enjoyed it greatly.

By now I'm sure that you have guessed that I have a weakness for pretty little cafes and the one there was lovely indeed.  All the crockery was Cath Kidston and the walls were wood panelled with original artwork sourced from a couple of the craft shops.
We had the full English breakfast of course and it was delicious.

The history of the Abbey

There was a little nook in the wall of the Abbey where people over the years had left prayer books, bibles and crosses.  It was quite moving and I couldn't help but wonder why these had been left and what thoughts and prayers had been in their minds at the time.  It was a very powerful experience.

I'm not really in to ruins but this place had a certain atmosphere about it which I liked.

I'm off to pick up my new contact lenses now so wish me luck.  I haven't had them before so I have to have a lesson in putting them in and taking them out.

diversity

 I am totally fed up with the clothes in my wardrobe and have for quite a few weeks now been picking up the courage to tip the lot out and get rid of all the well worn and dated stuff in there.

I once spent a very enjoyable day with a Colour Me Beautiful consultant who removed my makeup and then held large pieces of gorgeous coloured fabrics in front of me to determine what colours truly set my natural colouring alight.  It was fascinating particularly when certain colours which I would never have touched were so good for me.  Camel, teal, salmon, marigold, purple etc etc.  It was amazing.
I still have the wallet with all the colour swatches and recently went on the CMB website to check out the makeup range.  It was so reassuring to see that the colours were still there after so many years and I will be sending for the foundation, blusher, eye shadows and lipsticks very soon.
As far as my new wardrobe is concerned I just loved the pebble colours and the shades of grey (not quite 50!) and caramel.  The murky skies of Norfolk against the foliage also got me thinking that these could just me my new autumn pallet. 

Word Pictures

I know this is a bit random but I was blown away by this website recently after visiting a blog where the lady too had been smitten.  Unfortunately I am unable to give that particular blogger credit as I have completely forgotten where I first saw it.  If that person reads this, please accept my apologies.
If you click here and then type in a web address, be it your blog address, twitter address etc. the program will then use the words you use there to create your own piece of artwork.  You can then print off what you have created, save it to use as I have or buy a t-shirt or mug with your design on it. I just think it looks so cool.

Blickling Hall and Gardens

As you will have no doubt have gathered we do like to visit as many National Trust stately homes as possible, particularly when we are away.  This is because we are members and being Yorkshire folk like to get our moneys worth out of our membership fees.

This place was very impressive and also had a massive second hand book shop which always scores points in my opinion.
As always by the time we arrive at any destination the first thing we do is have a comfort break which usually includes cake.

This was a large chunk of Harvest Cake which was sticky and delicious. I usually get drawn to the rustic style cakes rather than chocolate etc.

View from inside the Cafe

The inside of the hall was beautiful.  I always enjoy looking around the bedrooms best.  It must be the pretty wall papers and lovely dainty furniture that appeals to me.

Close up of the wallpaper of the room above

I don't know about you but I always start imagining myself living in these places. In my head it is very romantic but I expect real life was not half so great.

Wall mounted candle holder

As always time is not on my side.  Back soon.

Wildlife in Norfolk

I thought I'd give you something different this morning, mainly because I have already posted about Norfolk last year when we visited for the first time.
This year we had a slightly different agenda mainly because we felt that we wanted to do things that we hadn't managed to get around to doing on our last trip.
That said we visited one or two nature and bird reserves and rekindled our twitching interest.

My little Canon Ixus did me proud this holiday producing some very nice photographs using the zoom.
This one was taken at Titchwell Marsh Reserve.  The facilities at all of the RSPB places we visited were outstanding.

For some reason I love this photo.  Can you spot bird number 3?

I absolutely hate beetles.  They give me the shudders but I couldn't resist showing this as I was impressed by the sheer detail.  Look at the legs and feelers.  How amazing is that?

Tiny Frog

If you get chance to visit a nature reserve please do so.  You can always hire binoculars if you don't have your own and you can sit in the cosy hides and easily loose yourself in the marvellous nature.  We find it a great way to wide down.

Holidaying in Norfolk

Hello again.
You may have noticed that I haven't been around for a while.  This is because I have just spent a very relaxing week in Norfolk.  In Little Wessingham to be precise.

Holkam Beach

It has been just amazing.  Even the weather behaved itself most of the time.
I haven't much time to talk about it this morning as it is my first day back at work unfortunately.
No doubt over the next few days I can share some of my photos with you.  Thanks as always for dropping by.