MY CHRISTMASSY HEARTH

Complete with chandelier lights, ginerbread houses and stockings.

MY COMPLETED THROW!!

I have at last finished it. I took me two years to complete as I kept puting it away and doing other things, on top of working full time etc. etc. Life is so much simpler and calmer now I work less hours. Happiness and time with my family are far more important than money.

CHEESE AND ONION FLAN

Ingredients
8oz plain flour
2oz margerine
Pinch of Salt
2-3 tbs cold water
4oz chedder Chese, grated
2 eggs, whisked
1 onion, chopped
1/4pt milk
Salt & pepper for seasoning
Mixed dried herbs

Method
Preheat oven to 190'C. Grease and flour an 8in flan dish.
Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Rub margerine into flour. Add enough water to make a soft dough.
Roll out and line the prepared dish.
Mix together the milk, eggs & salt and pepper and set aside.
Next, place the cheese and onion in the flan dish and pour over the seasoned egg and cheese mixture. Sprinkle with mixed herbs if liked.

Place in oven and bake for approx. 40mins or until golden brown and the egg has set.

CARLA'S BIRTHDAY VISIT

My eldest daughter came to visit today (she lives with her boyfriend) as I had not seen her for a few weeks. She opened her birhday presents while she was here as she is twenty next week.

She also arrived with my auntie who, I might add, looks twenty years younger than her seventy years and fixes her own roof tiles!!

THE TOOTH FAIRY

I'm not really sure what to make of this, but kelly loves it.

It now sits on a shelf in her bedroom (pattern by Alan Dart).

I am also knitting Alan Dart's Christmas Tree but there is no way that it will be finished for this Christmas as I started too late.

EMBELLISHED THROW

This is a photograph of the throw I have been working on. It is now finished thank goodness, as I seem to have been working on it for ages.

Photograph of finished item to follow soon.

CROSS STITCH TREE DECORATIONS

One Christmas Tree decoration is now ready to go on the tree. Another two to go.

PINK CUPCAKES

Lovely pink cupcakes for Sunday afternoon.

HAMA CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

The girl's spent the afternoon making Christmas Hama decorations. They are going to decorate their bedroom windows with them. I look forward to the window cleaning after Christmas (I don't think so).

PAMPER DAY

While looking at some images I had stored on my camera, I came across a picture of my daughters. It was taken during the summer holidays on a rainy day and we were having a pamper day.

Kimberley will never forvige me for publishing this!!

CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS

My Christmas preparations are now well under way - the tree is up and I am busy making extra decorations. My husband took the girls Christmas shopping today to buy my present, but no matter how hard I try they will not tell me what it is (although he did visit Boots)!! I will continue questioning.



While out shopping they also went ice skating which they seemed to enjoy immensely even though they did fall over once or twice - no serious injuries though I'm glad to say. When they arived home they assembled and decorated a gingerbread train. Something a little different from the usual gingerbread house.



While they were gone I did a little reading - I'm reading the Miss Read books at the moment, the Christmas editions, which are getting me more into the Christmas spirit. They remind me of life as a child as I come from a small village myself. I also made a victoria sandwich using my favourite recipe from My River Cottage cookery book. It involves weighing four eggs (yes, four),
and weighing the same amount of butter (which was nearly a whole pack), flour and sugar. It rises beatifully every time and tastes absolutly gorgeous, although not paticularly very healthy



But what the heck it's Saturday and it's nearly Christmas.

ORCHIDS

I love plants but I am not very good at keeping them. However my orchids seem to be doing pretty well. The white one has 19 flowers! I do have a problem though - one of the leaves touched the window on a boiling hot day and has burnt it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do?

STUDY

Finally, the study. This is my least favourite room - quite boring really (I'm more of a pink person).

I have made the cushions, curtains and lamp shade. The carpet is made from needlepoint, which I enjoyed doing.

DINING ROOM

The dining room forms a 'L' shape with the living room. The table is set and I still have a christmas tree in there for no other reason than I have no where else to store it!

KITCHEN

Apart from the floor (which was made from craft paper) and the blind, most of the items in the kitchen have been bought.

NURSERY

The is the nursery with the dreaded knitted doll. The needles were so small that that the stitches kept slipping off. I must have had about 5 or 6 tries at it before making my mind up to actually finish it before going on to something else.

There is a knitted christening gown resting on the side of the cot. This was made on large needles and was much easier to handle.

The finials for the curtains were made from butterfly shaped beads 'borrowed' from my daughter's bead box.

BEDROOM

The bedroom is another favourite room - the carpet and bedcover are cross stitched. I have also made the curtains but I am having some problem with fabric glue showing through the material.

The perfume bottles on the dressing table are made from beads. although these are not too clear in the photograph.

BATHROOM

The bathroom is my favourite room - I love the flowery bathrrom suite. The bath mat was another cross stitching project.

I also made the blind for the window, although this is not very clear in the photograph.

LIVING ROOM

This is the living room - I created this first. The rug took me ages - actually longer than the carpet believe it or not.

I also made the cushions and the lamp. The coffee table runner and mat on the side table are knitted.

DOLLS HOUSE

This is my doll's house. It's not an expensive one - I wanted to see how good I was at it first. I may upgrade later on. I've been working on it for about 2 years now.

I have cross stiched all the carpets, rugs and bed covers. I have also hand knit the little rag doll - what a nightmare that was!