A few Christmas photos

Of our home :)

Firstly in the hall









The lounge









And a random from the kitchen, i call him the spicekeeper :)



Take care all xxx

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

This week...

Has absolutely flown here, it's so nice to be busy though.

Monday was Mireilles birthday :) such a shame we live in different countries. Thanks goodness though for unlimited calls!!!

Tuesday was the Young Voices concert. This was Kieran's 3rd and final year that he could take part. The previous 2 were at the O2 with Grove Park Primary in Sittingbourne.


This year we were at the smaller LG Arena at the NEC in Birmingham. It was a magnificent evening, the highlight for us (except for Kieran of course) was seeing and listening to the African children's choir sing "Sing"


The atmosphere at these events is outstanding, you cannot begin to imagine the volume of sound created!
This is just half of the children!


Also this week saw the Xmas decs go up, it was time for the new 7ft tree :)


Next year I think I might get an amazing garland for the stairs. Ahh and here's a quick snap of Wispa looking quite indignifued in the Santa hat!


No prizes hit guessing what he's thinking lol!

The cold has also finally set in this week, here's a shot from the guest bedroom. Brrrrrrr!


Finally today Mum and I spent most of the day reorganising the craft room and being ruthless in what we're keeping and what's going to charity....
Getting rid of plastic storage is my current aim, we have so many beautiful boxes and trays made from fabrics, wood and wicker that are so naturally beautiful, it's a shame not to use them. These fibres nearly went but I just couldn't!!! So I stuffed them in a small wooden box and made art lol!


Have a great weekend all!
Kate x

- using BlogPress from my iPhone

I Sell on Etsy!

Big Grin!

Adding more n more each day so keep popping back.

Busy Busy Busy!

Runs off to unpack more stash :)

It's beginning to feel a lot

Like Christmas!

Last week I managed to make a few quick n easy stamped and punched tags





Next week I think i'll try a few Tim tags from previous years. have you made anything Christmassy yet?

I'm itching to decorate the house (rolls eyes!) but with Kieran's birthday on Tuesday, it's only fair that we respectfully wait.....!

In anticipation Mum and I had a wee jaunt to Milton Keynes on Friday (it has to be 15 years since I was last there)

First stop was Oil & Vinegar, oh mg they have mini wooden crates, no pic sorry but trust me they are cute!

Then to The Lego Shop for the traditional Advent Calendar for you know who!

Of course it would have been rude to not visit Paperchase and these rather splendid robins needed a new home!


Then the totally lush John Lewis (sigh!) As usual I found myself neeeeding everything in the Home section!

I settled for a new glitter tipped tree for the lounge :)



A perfect resting place for those birdies don't you think!

Take care and have a great week
Kate x

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Ahem! Helloooo!

Soooo (blows cobwebs away) how is everyone?! Me, well I kinda got snowed under with the move, then with Mum and Dads move etc etc. Now however we are more or less into a routine (if such a thing exists) and I'm finally seated in my new yummy craft room which I'm sharing with Mum. Wait til you see her fabric stash!!!!

I'm also trying out this new app (blog press) on my phone for posting to blogger so this post will be quite short. Yet again my time management is under review as i really should be starting dinner.

Here's a quick snap from where I'm sitting now :)


I hope you are all well and I look forward to catching up with your blogs really soon

Kate xxx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Shakespeare Gardens,Rugby,United Kingdom

Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Mushroom and Leek Tart

Yesterday Mum & I bought some Purple Sprouting Broccoli......

 

Now what? Soup? Plain old boil it and serve with meat and potato?

It was time to try something new.

We (well I) have pledged to make use of all the cookery books we own more often.

That being said it was far easier to grab the iPad and google broccoli to see what was suggested, love it!

 

Mum came across this one by Celia Brooks Brown on the BBC Good Food site.

Mmmmm we had puff pastry and most of the ingredients that were required

although not all, so now we have a new recipe with our own added extras that we're sharing here today!

 

Say Hello to our Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Mushroom and Leek Tart.

 

Ingredients

 

1 pack Purple Sprouting Broccoli

7 or 8 Mushrooms

2 Leeks

1 portion of Puff Pastry

1 egg

2 egg yolks

1Tbsp Cream Cheese

Splash of Milk

Cup of Grated Parmesan

Handful of Grated Cheddar

Salt & Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Olive Oli

Sprinkling of Polenta

 

serves 4

 

Pre heat oven to 180 or 200 fan.

Wrap a baking sheet with baking/greaseproof paper

Sprinkle with a small amount of Polenta.

 

Roll out the Puff Pastry 0.5cm thick into whatever shape your heart desires, mine was a slightly wonky square, it fitted the baking sheet so that was ok by me.

Score a line 2cm from the edge, prick the inside with a fork and transfer it to the baking sheet.

 

Gently fry your sliced mushrooms and leeks in a spot of olive oil adding a splash of Worcestershire sauce for about 5 minutes. The aroma of the W.Sauce makes even your 10 year old get excited for dinner time. But only for the few seconds until he realises it's leeks and mushrooms...sigh!

Spread the veg onto the pastry evenly up to the scored line.

Pop into the oven for 10 minutes. The edges will rise wonderfully.

 

Meanwhile blanch the brocolli for a minute of so, then refresh with cold water.

Whisk together the eggs, cream cheese, milk, parmesan and seasoning in a bowl.

 

 

Layer the broccoli over the leeks and mushroom after their 10 minute blast.

Lower the oven to 160 or 180 Fan.

Spoon over the eggy mixture and sprinkle extra cheddar on the top

 

Pop back into the oven for another 20 mins after which time you should have a bubbly slightly brown cheesiness going on - yum!

 

We ate this with salad :)

 ....and wine

 

Enjoy!

Sharing with the following Link Parties:
Share Your Cup Thursday
Trendy Treehouses Create and Share
The 36th Avenue's Party Time

Giveaway, Weekends, Black and White.

Hi there!

Thanks to everyone who took part in my first giveaway.

I've used the random generator to decide who wins :)

so.....

congratulations go to

 

Suzie!!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4 

Timestamp: 2012-09-11 19:33:49 UTC

 

Suzie, please email me your address via pickleberry at live dot co dot uk!!!

 

Here's my last 2 #FMSphotoadaySEPT entries

 

Day 10 - Black and White

A photo of a photo of our old cat Muppet - awwwww!

 

Day 9 - Thing you do most weekends

Hmmmph - Laundry!!!

 

Day 8 - At Night

 

Not the most inspired photos admittedly, I have at lot of house moving things on my mind....

I even thought Kieran was starting Art Club this afternoon until school called to say he was waiting in the playground... oh crap!

 

Tomorrow is another day - thank goodness lol!!!!

Kate x