Ice dancers

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments about my mug hugs: I'm so glad you liked them. One of you mentioned it would be a good project for children and I have something for you today that is quick and easy for all ages.

A few weeks ago whilst waiting for an appointment, I was passing time by browsing through magazines in a shop. As I leafed through Landscape (Jan/Feb 2015 issue), I came across this lovely idea: seeds, leaves, petals and fruit suspended in ice. So beautiful: a perfect snapshot of winter. Of course, I couldn't resist having a go.

To make them you put a thin layer of water in a shallow container - yogurt pots, paper bowls - anything which won't crack when frozen. Arrange your plant material: here I've used Gerbera petals. Put in the freezer. When it's frozen, add just enough water to cover the decoration. Or you can put in all the water at the beginning - either way works as well.

When that's frozen, you need to make a hole for the string. The instructions in the magazine suggest pouring a thin stream of hot water through the ice. I didn't fancy that as my ice catchers were quite small and I didn't want hot water anywhere near my hands! Instead, I heated up a metal skewer over a candle and used that to bore a hole. The ice catcher then went back in the freezer for a little while to firm up as they do melt quite quickly. There's probably a way to create a ready made hole. How about sticking a piece of blu tack on the base of the container and letting the water freeze around it? Worth a go.

Anyway, I made a few versions using what I had to hand.

The flower petal ice catcher was so pretty. The scalloped edge was a complete but lucky fluke. I used a paper bowl (Sainsburys Basics range) and the fluted sides made this lovely pattern.

The second design used slices of lemon.

Next, a square ice catcher with rose buds. 

And lastly, a couple with small flower buds.

I haven't left them outside to melt yet. I think I'll wait until we get a really frosty day so that they'll last a while before they disappear. So simple but so effective.

Magazines can vary so much in the quality of what they contain. This issue of Landscape was a particularly good one as there was lots I wanted to read and try. Here's the start of another project from the same issue using my new toy, a pom-pom maker! I've always used the cardboard ring method before but this is so much easier. Will reveal all when I've made a few more :-)

Then, on Sunday morning, we also tried one of the recipes: oatmeal pancakes. They're more substantial than the usual light and fluffy pancakes but leave you feeling full for longer. I thought they were yummy, particularly with some homemade plum compote.

Tonight we've been enjoying pancakes again for Pancake Day. I managed two: one with maple syrup and the other with traditional sugar and lemon - my favourite. Have you been eating pancakes too? What's your favourite topping?

It's been a glorious sunny day and I'm hoping it will continue for the rest of the week. Enjoy your week whatever the weather brings. x

Happy Easter

I wasn't going to decorate the house for Easter this year but, after seeing all your lovely decorations, I succumbed.

We had a lovely day at Tatton Park yesterday which I'll tell you about next time. Today though is cold, grey and very windy so we'll be staying inside and hunkering down. One thing the wind has been great for though is my new windmill. Well, I say new but I actually bought it last year and never got around to putting it outside. It's amazing how much pleasure something so small can give you. To make you smile on Easter day, I've uploaded my very first YouTube video so that you can see it in action.

Happy Easter everyone! xx

A trifling display

Well, it's almost a month since Christmas and here I am still mentioning it. I have this one last thing to share and then it's time to move on, honest!

Having made a table centrepiece for Christmas last year, I really wanted to make something again. I'd already decided on a design, which I'd seen on Pinterest, and planned to use my cylinder vase. But then, I spotted a trifle bowl in the special buys at Aldi.

It's a really simple idea but so effective. Natural and glass pebbles in the bottom. Tendrils of ivy leaves winding up the sides. Fill with water and float cranberries and candles on the top.

So pretty when the candles are lit.

I loved how they glowed from underneath too.

One thing I would say about floating candles though, is that there's an awful lot of waste, so I now have a bag full of white wax to melt down to make more teacup candles.

It stayed looking lovely the whole of Christmas until New Year's Eve, when I dismantled it and made a smaller version in the cylinder vase. I needed the trifle bowl for my New Year's Day dinner.

As the now proud owner of a trifle bowl, it seemed a good idea to try it out with the dessert for which it was made. I grew up with the kind of trifle which has a layer of jelly at the bottom. Sometimes the jelly would include tinned fruit (peaches or fruit cocktail - very '70s) but never, ever, ever with sponge. Ughh! Jelly, yes. Sponge, yes. But the two together - no, no, no! *

In any case, for only my second ever trip into trifle-making, I wanted to make one of those posh, chef-y trifles which doesn't include jelly at all. **

As you'll know, trifles are made up of layers. The bottom layer was slices of raspberry swiss roll sprinkled with homemade blackberry liqueur. Next came a layer of raspberries and blueberries, cooked and strained to remove excess liquid. Then custard (supermarket to save time). Finally, a row of raspberries and blueberries around the edges before adding whipped double cream.

Ta-dah! I made up the decoration as I went along and wish I'd planned it a bit more. However, it tasted great and that's the main thing. One of my guests asked for a small piece as he isn't much of a dessert person and ended up having thirds! I call that a success.

So, having found two uses for my trifle bowl, I'm wondering what else? We're hosting another Burns Night supper on Saturday and I could use it for punch (non-alcoholic, unfortunately, with under-10s present). Any other ideas? Like courgettes, is there potential for a book, '101 ways with a trifle bowl'? An intriguing thought, I'm off to Pinterest to investigate :)


*I feel the same way about jam and butter.

**'Posh' is generally applied to anything which my family didn't do while I was growing up, as posh we most definitely are not. Another example would be cutting toast into triangles rather than squares.

Decorations

Last weekend we put up our tree and other decorations. I have only the vaguest memories of having a real tree whilst growing up and it's so vague I'm not even sure whether it's a false memory. For my family, it was artificial all the way. And we had a small living room so it was always a small tree. I swore that as soon as I got a house of my own, we would have the biggest real tree I could find.

So we did. Our previous house had very high ceilings so I bought a 7 foot tree and covered it in decorations. Chickpea was about 5 years old and, the first time she saw it, she stood open-mouthed in awe. Her eyes travelled slowly up the tree until they reached the star at the top - it was a magical moment, like something out of the movies.

We had a real tree for a few years but eventually the convenience of artificial won out. I was tired of trying to squeeze a large tree into a small car - hard work when it was new and covered in net, but hazardous when it was fully open and shedding needles everywhere! Lately I've been tempted to get a real one again though smaller. Since we now have 'green' bin collections, it would also be much easier to dispose of.

However, this year we're sticking to the tree we've had for over 12 years. It's about 6 feet tall and is assembled by slotting the metal branches into plastic cups which go up the trunk. My least favourite part of decorating the tree is putting on the lights - oh, how I wish I had one of those new-fangled pre-lit trees!

The decorations are mostly red, green and gold - I'm a traditional girl - and have been collected over the years. Some of them have special memories, like this one which I bought whilst visiting my penfriend in America.

And here's the finished tree in what we call The Ballroom. Our living room is 'L' shaped and the bottom part of the L is a raised platform - I try not to think of why the previous owners decided to have a raised floor and what might be hiding underneath. When we first moved in, it reminded us of a dance floor, so The Ballroom was born. Every time my friend's little girl comes to visit, she's drawn to it like a magnet and loves prancing around doing her ballet moves. We keep saying we'll get a glitter ball to go on the ceiling! The cupboard peeking out on the right is where my computer lives and where I'm writing this now.

The rest of our decorations are also traditional and gathered over the years. The windowsill has a candle arch and this artificial foliage, plus wonky candles.

And, of course, you can never have too many Father Christmases! The Four Santas were made at my quilt group a few years ago. Their bodies are filled with rice so they're pretty heavy.

And we have several ceramic ornaments which I gradually collected in the New Year sales at a local garden centre. This is Chickpea's favourite.

My favourite is Santa Bear because he's also a wind-up music box and plays 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas'. His reindeer friend plays 'We wish you a merry Christmas'. I have a musical snow globe too but none of us can work out what the tune is - something classical.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour around our decorations (and the peek at our house!). And I hope you enjoyed your weekend - only 9 sleeps to go!