library collections

So we are still fairly crafty free 'round here. I think time and energy are lacking, along with the motivation to start a new project. But mostly the energy - this working three days a week caper takes a lot out of a person - well takes a lot out of this person...

But there has been a lot of cooking and baking and reading going on instead. And that has meant more trips to the library. So here's our current library collection -

Yep, I re-borrow Les Mis, after 2 renews I had to return it unfinished. But I bravely got it out again a week or so later and am ploughing my way through it. I've paused though, to read The Happiest Refugee - which was light and enjoyable. Having finished that today though, its back into Les Mis.

And these are little-miss-e's books.

We partiucalry love this one:

There is a whole series of them on all the senses and we've had them out before. Little-miss-e has enjoyed all of the series. All of her books have been hits actually, and she often chooses one of these for us to read together. How 'bout you? Have you been to the library recently?

baby bunting

Bunting is very in at the moment. I feel like you can barely turn around in the blogosphere without tripping over a string of bunting! I think bunting is really cute, but up til now I haven't made any. This has been for a number of reasons, but mostly because I haven't anywhere to hang it once done! But a friend at work needs a bit of cheering up, so we are putting together a basket of things for her, and I thought what is more cheerful than a string of baby bunting. Teeny tiny triangles in bright colours, just perfect for hanging up over your desk!

I followed pink milk's easy tutorial, but obviously did a lot less rows!

I also made my friend a load of oaty lindt chip biscuits...

Chocolate and bunting, the perfect cheer-you-up!

duck!

So, I am a little early for show and tell, but I am pretty excited about this. I made a duck!
 
Ok, so I didn't follow the pattern all that brillantly, got my terms mixed up and whatever. But still I made a duck! Little-miss-e loves it! She shouts QUACK when she sees it, and then comes over to give it a kiss.

Ahh, the satisfaction of a quick project that turns out just right!

Pattern from here: I think I'll be making a few more of these. Finger puppets are so so easy and quick and delightful!

Do you have show and tell? Joining in with Leonie (or I will when the link is up tmrw).

Random thoughts on a Thursday

I only seem to have random thoughts at the moment.

• I feel like I've lost my crafting mojo - I'm still stuck on an unfinished project without the inclination to finish or to start a new project. There's been pretty much no crafting around here for weeks!
• I feel like I'm scrambling up hill most days, trying to keep on top of the washing, the cooking, the shopping, the stuff, the dishes... This going back to work thing is beginning to feel like it is costing our family a lot in terms of my time, my energy - at least it means we can pay the rent though...
• I did a big load of dishes this morning and that made me feel so great. We have a little kitchen - the downside is that it gets messy really quickly, but the upside is that it usually doesn't take much to clean up.
• I love to put on an apron when I'm at home in the kitchen, whether I am cooking or cleaning (and I am usually trying to do both at once). It makes me feel like I am ready to tackle anything!
• I also took a mopportunity while little-miss-e was asleep and cleaned the kitchen cupboards which I have been staring at for weeks. 
• I love the idea of mopportunities - it comes from a friend and is the simple concept of doing a quick clean up when the opportunity presents itself. An example is mopping the kitchen after your daughter has poured water from her cup all over the floor, so you don't just mop up the spill, but take the opportunity to mop the whole floor. I pretty much clean only by mopportunity these days. 
• I am thankful for my lovely husband, my lovely little-miss-e and our lovely friends and family and our lovely church.

I am so glad I started writing out these random thoughts - I've gone from feeling negative to feeling positive over the course of this little list! From feeling the grey in the clouds to the sun shining through! Thanks to Sophie and her friend Ange for the topic

library collections

I am such big reader. I love to read and I love wandering around the library selecting whatever takes my fancy. My favourite method is simply to pick up a book and start reading - if I like the writing I take it home, if not I put it back and try again. I love reading a book without knowing anything about it. I usually try to avoid reading the back of books altogether and just dive straight in.

So seeing crafting is suspiciously absent from my life at present, I thought I'd join along with Kate from Greedy for Colour and her library collection.

This is our current collection:

It's little but big! I am slowly ploughing/plodding through Les Mes. I'm yet to make up my mind about it, so I seem to be reading it in fits and starts. And we're trying out an audio book - I have to say that it is not going as well as we thought. Finding the time to sit down together to listen is harder that I expected.

I have to say my favourite from little-miss-e's pile would have to be Leslie Patricelli's In the Bath. The story and illustrations are delightful and little-miss-e loves it too.  Little-miss-e loves books - she is such a book worm - although her favourite book at the moment is not from the library, it's this one:

Everytime she sees it she excitedly shouts "HAM!" and then tries to foist it in our direction to get us to read it to her.

How about you? A you a library person? What's currently in your library collection?

cooking up big

I am a big fan of the cook-up. I always have been. Even when I was just cooking for myself it would seem I could never cook less than 4 serves. I love to cook, so once I am making something I figure I may as well make a lot of it! In the past this has worked out well for my hungry housemates and friends living nearby. In more recent times, it has worked well with little-miss-e. At least 2 nights a week we eat 'freezer food' cooked up and frozen some other night, ready for tired-after-work-need-to-eat-now kinda meals.

I have, however, been finding it harder to cook like this in recent weeks, mainly due to the adjustment of going back to work. So our freezer stocks have started to look a little depleted. But today, after a big pot of pumpkin soup (made by me) and some left-over beef stroganof (made by my lovely husband) I am starting to feel back on track.

So tell me - what is your favourite freezer meal? Do you like to cook up big?

the easiest biscuits you'll ever make (healthy, sugar and gluten free)

So, there's not been much crafting going on 'round here. Mostly because I am still stuck on the frog/snake puppet and am yet to finish that, or to work out what my next project will be. But also because we have been the house of sickness, on top of my return to work, little-miss-e starting childcare and other adventures in normal life. So, there's not been a lot of craft to show and tell.

But I have been baking, and I wanted to share these biscuits with you. They are easy, healthy, sugar free, gluten free and my one year old LOVES them. Basically they go like this:






Take 2 bananas and a cup of oats*. Mix, spoon onto trays, then bake about 10 min at 180 C...




That's it!

 

I've been making these like crazy. They are super easy! I've added and adapted as I go along. I often reduce the amount of oats and add in other stuff instead - dessicated coconut, almond meal, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or qunioa flakes... Sometimes I put in a spoon of peanut butter, some currants or cinnamon or vanilla... Given little-miss-e is so little, I tend to make teeny tiny biscuits that are barely a teaspoon-ful. She loves them.

It is worth noting they don't store all that long, a few days at the most. But I pop them in the freezer and then they last and last (at least until we eat them all!) Little-miss-e loves to gnaw on them frozen, or they defrost pretty quickly cos they are so small.

So there you go - the easiest biscuits you'll ever make.

Give them a go!


*NB: Oats are controversial in the gluten free world, but my lovely gluten free husband can eat them, so they are counted as gluten free here on marjoryjane.

Gluten free pizza dough

So I received a request for my Gluten Free Pizza Dough recipe (see my previous post about gluten free pizzas). It is pretty easy to make - we make it in the bread machine using the dough setting. It is a bit of a throw together dough, but it works and turns out delicious!

1 Cup (and a bit, about 1/8C) of water
1 tea salt
1 tea sugar
splash of olive oil
2 3/4 Cups gluten free plain flour
1 tbs yeast
about 3/4 tbs Xanthan Gum

Put all ingredients in bread machine on dough setting. Once done, divide half and roll each half out to make your pizzas.You will probably need a little extra GF flour to dust the rolling pin and your surface with.
We then pre-bake the bases for about 15-min, until they start to go that rosey-pinky-brown, as then the pizzas don't take as long to cook.

Cover with your favourite toppings (one of ours is zucchini, thyme, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest and cheese) and bake until done.

Enjoy!

a few more things on my to-do list

Oh, my to-do list is growing and growing.There are so many fun and fabulous patterns! Here are a few I have been thinking about making. The question always is - which one to start first? (oh, and the other question should be: should I finish what I am currently working on first...)

Hobbes - how could you not want to crochet him!

and I love the idea of making a lacy scarf

Or like this

And I definitely want to crochet me some arm warmers!

(Can you tell I have fallen in love with moogly!)

my current project

So this is what I am quietly working on. I've not been posting about it, as it is not really going that well... I'd ask you to guess what it is, but I am afraid you'll say a snake.

See, it is supposed to be a frog. A frog puppet for little-miss-e's 1st birthday. She loves frogs, she finds them very funny. And she loves puppets, so I thought, what better than to crochet her a frog puppet for her birthday.

Well, the problems have been many (leaving aside the fact that her birthday has come and gone and I am still working on her present). I couldn't find a pattern I liked, so I started adapting this snake pattern (which is why everyone thinks it is a snake). But my adaptions have been frustrating and slow and I've lost confidence that there is going to be any froggy resemblance once I am done! The mouth is too long, not wide enough, the legs are too spindley and the crochet too loose. I'm finally nearly done, but not nearly happy.

Still, here's hoping that if I tell her it's a frog she'll simply believe me!

What about you? Do you have any birthday present/doesn't-resemble-what-it-is-supposed-to-be disasters? And, do you think it looks anything like a frog?

Playing along with Leonie at show and tell...

little present for a new little one

I've been working on a little bootie/beanie set for a little while. I used my new favourite bootie pattern. Given I'd started with plenty of time before the bub was due, I thought I'd make a beanie too. After such success from the bootie pattern, I started making a beanie also from the Lion brand site. But I felt it didn't really match the clean lines of the booties (and looked a little too much like a toilet doily..). So I scrapped it and started again.

For my second go, I grabbed one of little-miss-e's newborn beanies. It happened to be a knitted one, but I kinda followed the basic principles and size and made it up as I went along.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out - my first beanie! And I think it matches the booties much better. It's now wrapped up to take to church tomorrow to give to our new-parent friends.