sweet february

As we approach the end of February it feels as though all we have done this month is scoff sweet stuff. Not so bad I suppose. After the loved-up chocs and sweeties from Valentines Day the sugar sprinkled highlight of the month has to be Pancake Day, or it’s more forgotten, original name - Shrove Tuesday!

Actually we have pancakes quite often for breakfast at the weekend. And as much as it is a ‘special treat’ for the kids, and they do still get super excited each time, it’s just so simple in both ingredients and method that I don’t know why we just don’t have them every morning............and then I remember!

lemony snippets

Just before Christmas, Mr H gave me a lemon tree for our 5 year wedding anniversary.

Just after Christmas I thought I might have killed said lemon tree

I moved it around the house trying to find the perfect little corner for it to flourish in blissful lemony harmony.

It ended up in a prime spot by the back doors, a veritable sun trap.

But then I got a bid giddy with a surprising bit of sunshine in January, and thinking we were headed for spring {delusional} I moved the tree outside onto the deck.

When the temperatures dropped and the so very wintry snow flurries began, I quickly carried it back indoors. To the cosy warmth.

However, the very next day ALL the leaves fell off, tumbling to the floor like a bit of a dead thing.

Ooops.

So anyway, after much panicking, a bit of better late than never watering and a few gentle whisperings of encouragement to the last remaining and clinging on for dear life leaves and buds, I can confirm that our little lemon tree is back from the brink with a bountiful bursting of new greener than green leaves and a veritable bouquet of new blossoms.

We've quite enjoyed following the progress each morning, me and the little lady. Counting the flowers and newly uncurled baby leaves. Our little lemon tree is positively flourishing

Ok, not that flourishing! 

We are certainly not at the point of enjoying our own lemons, as it were.

But feeling in a bit of a springy lemony sort of mood and with a friend round for dinner on saturday night. I whipped up some lemon posset and served in some cute flower tea cups bought years ago from Laura Ashley.

This is sooooooo lemony and creamy { and I halved the recipe as it was just the two of us } that I'd be inclined to reduce the lemon juice quantity next time. And just a few spoonfuls of this dessert is more than enough. 

I dusted with icing sugar and served with raspberries and wafer curl biscuits.

chocolate cheerio cakes

We’ve recently spent some quality time at our local Little Cooks cookery classes. 

The little lady has delighted in putting her pinny on and doing some baking! And of course there is always the added bonus of scoffing your creative culinary delights which you just can’t do with a finger painting!

In fact we’ve been doing a spot of baking at home too, although there really isn’t the space here so have had to wing it somewhat with me whipping up a dough mix or cake batter in the kitchen and the little one completing the most important task of rolling and cutting cookie shapes or spooning mixture into cake cases at the dining table. 

But this suits my neurotic baker ways and helps keep kitchen trauma to a minimum!

Anyway, despite having a stock of cookie dough batches in the freezer for rainy day cookie baking {gosh, doesn’t that make me sound organised...?} I decided today that we would make chocolate crispie cakes because I remember them so well from my childhood, and well, they really are totally simples and just a bit yummy, aren’t they?

Although we don’t eat Rice Crispies in this house.....or Cornflakes for that matter....so Cheerios it had to be!

This is how we made ours.....

Chocolate Cheerio Cakes

100g milk chocolate

75g Cheerios

50g unsalted butter

4 tbsp runny honey {or you could use golden syrup}

50g dried blueberries {or similar}

Melt the chocolate, butter and honey in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until smooth and all melted.

Mix the Cheerios and blueberries in a large mixing bowl and pour the melted chocolate mixture over. Mix until all combined.

Spoon into cake cases and chill for about 40 minutes...or not...if you can’t wait, then scoff immediately and revel in your rebellious ways and sticky fingers! 

This is easy and fun for children to make, except, of course for the melty chocolate bit which should be done by a grown up.

Washing up can be fun too.....although best done in the garden and always a good idea to check everything before putting it back in the cupboard!

✴ the torment of inconsistent raisin distribution...and winners

I don't know what it is with baking with my little one that turns me into a highly strung, perfectionist mumma. 

Fanny Craddock crossed with Hyacinth Bucket, but there it is....

"Noooo.....Let mummy pick that up....now, careful, ooopsss...we'll do that bit again.....I'll finish that bit off........shall I do it??........"

I'll happily sit back and let her paint splodges with carefree abandon.....squidge play dough into mounds of nobbly wonder and dig up parts of the garden with a stick {ok that last one, not that happily...}, but I come over all wobbly when I see a gingerbread leg ripped mercilessly from one and pressed onto the tummy or head of another. And don't get me started on raisin distribution....

I need to get over myself....obviously, the one legged, 3 {raisin} eyed man is going to taste just the same as the others...! Maybe even better!

And so, as we happily scoff our gingerbread walking wounded for afternoon tea, we had a moment to scrunch up some names on paper {including those names wiped from the comments by the mischief making of blogger!!!}, tip them in a small mixing bowl and pulled out three at random.

The winners of Ediths Brooch giveaway are...

Tracey :: Seaweed and Raine :: Lyndel

Well done ladies, I will be in touch.

Apologies to everyone else and thank you all for entering and for indulging my ramblings with your sweet comments aplenty. 

Check back here as I hope to offer up a bit of a freebie for all in the next week or so.

✴ edith's sweet treats::giveaway

Today this little blog is celebrating it's 3 year....ermmm...and one week birthday!

Ok, so with all the excitement, festivities and bank holiday relaxing of last weekend I completely forgot about my little blogs special day. I'm sorry little blog. 

Anyway, to mark this momentous moment....ahem....I shall be doing a little giveaway.

A short while ago I started to stitch some button brooches from a raggy old bit of unfinished embroidery. And so, although progress has been a little bit slow - blamed solely on my infatuation with watching The Killing almost every night and as we all know, evening craft and subtitled viewing do not mix well - I think I may have a few of these little vintage embroidered brooches to giveaway to a few lovely readers...that is you. Details below.

Someone asked me if I had ever thought about the stitcher of this unfinished embroidery, and let me just say, OH YES, I HAVE......! {Warning! Long ramble approaching...}

I imagine she is a lady who lives in a house similar to mine, in a London surbarb. 

Her name is Edith and it is spring 1939. 

She spends her day consumed with duties of a busy housewife. In the morning she cleans out the grate of last nights blackened ashes from the stove, washes the windows with newspaper and vinegar solution. She exchanges pleasantries and discusses the delightfully clement weather with the postman and visits the grocer for cabbage for the evening stew she'll spend the afternoon preparing.

She is a stocky, middle aged lady with greying pincurled hair. She never leaves the house without her hat and her best coat, even when the sun is warm and always wears her crossover pinny when home. She's a bit clumsy and heavy handed but she works hard and is meticulous in her chores.

She worries that she cannot keep up with the local housewives and their 'domestic goddess' like ways.

Having visited them all for afternoon teas and congratulated them on their lightness of scone, selection of perfect china and beauty of their delicately hand stitched and co-ordinated table linens.

Realising it will soon be her time for an 'at home' and she sets about with a 'stitch it yourself' small tablecloth. 

Oh how she wants to impress those opinionated ladies. 

The stitching is harder than she thought, the threads become tangled all too often and the embroidery takes many months of stitching.

She works on it in the evening while her husband sleeps off dinner in the armchair and listening to the wireless she trys to shut out news of the impending troubles in Europe with colourful threads of periwinkle blue, peach and magenta, slowly creating a bouquet of flowers on the cream linen cloth.

The tablecloth will never be finished because with the outbreak of war comes far more important chores than embroideries and afternoon tea. Edith carefully places the unfinished embroidery in her sewing box.

She now wears overalls and sturdy lace up boots, she rolls up her sleeves and heads off to the local garage to take up her job as a mechanic. 

Now the men are all off fighting for their country it's down to the strong and sturdy women like Edith to keep things going. This was what she was born to do. The 'domestic goddesses' are appalled at her dirty oily hands and disheveled hair but are secretly just a bit in awe too.

Edith finally feels important and worthy, she never takes out the embroidery again, such delicate tasks are not for the likes of Edith. Neither does she worry about her failure in baking or spends too much time on making her windows shine. Instead she is Queen of the engine and all is good.

{not factually based....obviously - ramblings of a daydreamer!!!}

These two little birds {£3 each}, picked up and subsequently sprayed in white from the local charity shop the other week, were just a bit chuffed to be asked to carry the banner to announce the giveaway. I can't help but notice how lovely these are in a weddingy sort of way. A brilliantly cheap way of decorating a venue.

I'm wondering about giving them gold painted beaks...what do you think?

So if you would like to enter, just leave a comment below with an email address/blog link so that I can contact you should you win.

No need to be a follower, or mention this on your blog, or tweet or bleat or whatever else about this. It's just a simple gift from me, and I am happy to send these little lovelies wherever in the world you may be.

I will, in a blindfolded sort of way, draw three winners from the proverbial hat {well, in actual fact, probably a real hat...} the week after next so you have until midnight {GMT } next sunday {15th} to enter.

Brooches will be selected randomly and I suspect a few other bits of craftiness will be added to the giveaway package!

Bonne chance, mes amis!

{Swinnertons 1950's cake stand from my sister-in-law}
Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures.

P.S Please do not reveal the ending to The Killing, I have not finished watching it yet!!!!

✴ royaltea

The past couple of days, me and the little lady of the house have been 'at home' to friends calling round for afternoon tea. It has been most delightful. We have supped tea and fine bubbly {for those of age} and dined on delicious savories and home baked nutmeg scones with strawberry jam and fresh cream. Yum.

We have been a bit impressed with our oh so last minute afternoon tea styling with antique embroidered tablecloths and thrifted vintage jugs holding bluebells and wild {or weed?} flowers picked late one night from the 'jungle' before the gardeners mowed them all away the next day. 

We found old rocks, shells and pieces of coral gathered long, long ago from beachcombing trips and now scattered around the garden and thought they'd make pretty good tablecloth weights against the blustery winds that swept though our gloriously sunny days. 

I had forgotten about the heart shaped lump of coral and thought it quite apt and just a bit pretty. 

We watched children play and tickled new babies toes, we chatted about new loves and remembered past high jinks and nights of hilarity, we discussed wedding plans and preceding hen do's and special birthdays soon to be celebrated. 

And with bellies full, glasses drained, teacups gathered and sleepy children heading to 'bedfordshire' we decided that love was most definitely in the air and exciting times are ahead.

I'm wondering if Kate has been scoffing cream tea and laughing with her gal pals and I'm doubting she has a dishwasher to empty and reload...

✴ retro teatime

I'll admit that I'm not usually drawn to 1960's and 70's retro patterned pottery. Which is odd as I love Orla Kiely and her designs are clearly inspired by this era. 

Anyway, this little teapot sang to me from it's box of donated goodness in the corner of the charity shop.

It whispered to me that in it's state of lidless perfection, it would make a wonderful planter. 

I agreed and instantly began to imagine a flurry of trailing vinca pouring over the pot and through the spout. 

And really, what else could you do with a lidless teapot?

Anyway, then the lady found the lid and when I asked the price she sucked her teeth and said.."Oohh...well it is Sadler.....better make it £2.50" and I knew then it was probably sacrosanct to fill it with earth and leave it out in the rain. 

And don't you just love thrifty shopping when something seemingly so revered can still only cost £2.50!

{crocheted pot holder from a pattern in Kyuuto! Lacy Crochet}

Flea Market Finds here.

✴ meringues

At four pm everything stops for tea. Ok maybe not a stop as such but a slight pause, a quiet second to refuel and take a moment. I'm a huge fan of the afternoon tea. In every job I've ever had, there has been a call out for 'tea?' at four, and a packet of biscuits is ripped open, or if really lucky, a piece of cake, or sticky bun.

I've decided to get organised with all of my scraps and cuttings of this and that, pretty things and inspirations, and start sticking them all into a journal. I was never that good at keeping a written diary, but cut & paste {the old fashioned way} I think I can do. I already have 6 files of recipe cuttings!

I came across these cuttings on my desk and with some new {old} supplies currently holding my interest, I can't help but think of an afternoon tea of delectable prettiness.

I'm imagining scoffing a raspberry meringue with lashings of fresh cream from a china dish on a crisp linen covered table scattered with periwinkle blue petals. Of course, I'd be wearing this tulle frock by Marchesa, and perhaps an olive green feather coquette in my hair....There would be an infinite calm to my surroundings with the soft playing of a piano and gentle background chatter....

Hhmmm....the reality is not entirely parallel to this daydream and is likely to involve a chipped mug, mr kipling, tatty jeans and peppa pig....So there you go!

It's nearly time to put the kettle on. What will you be having for afternoon tea?

{ps. In a completely blushed way of blowing a trumpet, that is mine.... I am so thrilled to be a winner of the Straw Styling Competition as hosted by Tea for Joy! How lucky am I?! I have the delight of a voucher to spend a papermash, and I'm already thinking, journals!!!}