Take 5

1) I'm making some progress with my hexie sewing. They're becoming snowflakes. I started out planning to make 3 the same size from different fabrics:

But once I'd finished them, I didn't quite like how they worked together. So I'm now trying 3 different sizes in the same fabric. I just have the smallest to go.

2) In honour of the 'Bake Off' Final tonight, there has to be a baking recipe in here! This is what's being repeatedly requested round here at the moment:

Sort of Danish Pastry type things, not very healthy but very delicious!

For the dough
1 tsp yeast
450g/8oz strong white flour
2 tsp sugar
50g/2 oz butter
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
200 ml milk

Additional ingredients
30g/1 oz butter, melted
200g sultanas, or other dried fruit as desired
75g/3 oz soft brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice

I stick this in my bread maker to do the hard work for me, but if not then combine the dough ingredients, knead thoroughly and leave to prove.

Once your dough is ready, give it a good knead again and then roll out into an oblongish shape on a floured surface. Brush with the melted butter.

Combine the additional dry ingredients, and sprinkle evenly over the dough. Then roll up the dough, from a short edge.

Cut into slices.

Place on a non stick baking tray, and make sure you poke down any sultanas into the swirls, otherwise they are likely to burn.

Bake in a medium hot oven, until golden brown. Allow to cool then drizzle with plain icing and enjoy!

3) I found this Lawn Seed Spreader abandoned by the road a while back and brought it back.

It was (and still is!) quite rusty and battered. Originally I picked it up for the wheels - Theo was after some to build a Go Kart kind of thing. But I liked the colour and the shape, and Theo wasn't convinced these wheels would work for him, so it's now been put to different use:

I've removed the handle and drilled a couple of holes to screw it onto an outside wall, to turn it into a plant trough. I don't mind the rust, in fact I quite like it, and I think it'll look great with flowers planted in there, but Harry will most likely think I've gone a bit potty when he sees it!

It already has a couple of holes in the bottom so I didn't need to add any for drainage.

4) Another slightly odd make, a small doll made from recycled wool with a mandarin orange for a head!

I spotted a very similar one on Pinterest, it's amazing what pops up in my feed! And it just so happened that it was exactly the kind of thing I wanted (long story). Unfortunately it was on Etsy but already sold (just what someone else wanted too, how bizarre!), so I made my own version.

5) This is a very good time of year for thrifting, I find. Lots of charity shops seem to have a big change round of stock at this time of year, so all of a sudden fresh bits and pieces are available. There have been quite a few happy finds recently. Like these gorgeous, vintage sheets for instance:

But my favourite find, and you know it's got to be good if it beats those sheets, has been this amazing Cuckoo Clock:

I don't know why, but I have always wanted a Cuckoo Clock. I love them! And this beauty just happened to be for sale in one of my favourite Charity Shops. How fortuitous is that?! And it was in great condition and fully working. It has 2 heavy metal 'pine cone' weights (you can see them in the photo above) on very long chains that work their way to the floor, as the 'winding up' mechanism, with a pendulum behind. And strangely enough, as soon as my Dad saw it he said his parents used to have an almost identical clock, even down to the pine cone weights, hanging in their home when he was very young, which he also loved. He didn't know what had happened to that clock, and hadn't thought about it for years and years, but perhaps my love of cuckoo clocks is inherited in some way! Genetics is fascinating!

Anyway, the thing I love most about my clock is, of course, the cuckoo! Out he pops on the hour and half past, to 'cuckoo' the appropriate number of times. Every time I hear him, he makes me smile! The children, particularly the girls, quite like him too! Here he is popping out:

Quite often bedtime negotiation is now based around the cuckoo - 'I'll go to bed when the cuckoo has come out!'. And since the cuckoo has just popped out, I'll be off to bed too! Goodnight.

Sally.