Time To Start Crafting Again...

Hi Honeys,

Well, that's it.  A whole evening spent making up little treat bags for tiny humans to collect tomorrow.  It was a lot of fun, as it always is.  I love Halloween.🎃 

Now though, it's time to start thinking about the next holiday period, and to that end it's time to get out my air dry clay, my cookie cutters and get crafting again.😊

A couple of years ago, I used some air dry clay, cookie cutters and some acrylic paints and had the most fun making little tree ornaments to put inside Christmas cards.  

Well, now that all of the work for Halloween is over, it's time to start crafting again for the holidays.  So, now it's time to take out those cookie cutters again🎅🎄

Making these little tree ornaments is a perfect, fun craft for tiny humans.  The air dry clay is rolled out, the cookie cutters are used to make the shapes needed, and then a pencil is used to make a little hole for the ribbon to be threaded through.

They are then left overnight (it might take a little longer, depending on how thickly/thinly the clay shapes have been cut) then even more fun!  The tree ornaments can then be decorated.  They can be painted, or left as they are, and lastly, pretty ribbons can be chosen to thread them with.💖  

 As you can see honeys, my favourites are the little angels👼 I collect angels, they're all around our home, sitting on shelves, on bookcases, and they always make me smile.😊

The little bells are painted silver, just like the angels wings, while the Christmas trees and the buttons on the cute little gingerbread men are painted using a sparkly, glittery paint. 

 

Of course there are other preparations for the holidays too.  Getting my much loved brother-in-law's room ready for his visit and of course planning and meal prepping his favourite dinners for him too💖 We only get to see him once every year because he lives so far away so his visits mean such a lot to us.  

We also have a lot of holiday baking to do too, of course, which I adore doing, but it's spending an hour or two making tiny tree decorations to hide inside Christmas cards that I so look forward to.💖

Are you making a start on your holiday preparations honeys?  What's your favourite part of holiday prep?  So many hugs dear ones and thank you for keeping me company.  Till next time, hugs always xx 

Loving Our Latest Organising Project💖

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote or recommend any products of stores.  I'm just sharing the latest little organising project in our kitchen.  I'm absolutely loving it😄  

Hi Honeys,

I'm back again😄 Yes, this is the second Blogtober post today.  I'm playing catch up due to arthritis and the cold, damp weather both tag teaming against me.😳  It hasn't beat me yet honeys, sending so many gentle hugs to fellow spoonies who are also battling the elements this week🤗💖 

On to today's (second) post then😄  Today's post is probably a silly one really.  It's such a daft wee thing to be so excited about, but I just can't help it😊 

There!  Now I'm grinning again honeys😊 I spotted on the Home Bargains website that they have clear, acrylic "lazy Susans" and I had an idea.  The little project has worked so well and now things that I use all the time all have a home, right by the cooker by the cooker.... 

OK, I'll share what has found a home on the lazy Susan.  In fact, I'll turn it around for you (in photos) and you'll see why I'm loving it.💖  From the left then honeys (in the above photo) 

* The cutest silicone tea infuser🌹 The little red plant pot is a holder or stand, while the infuser is a little bulb shape at the end of the flower. It lives there because it's to hand if needed but also because it makes me smile.😊

* The pretty little glass jar is from Ikea and as soon as I spotted it I knew what it would be perfect for honeys.  It's where we keep sea salt for cooking.  The basket above the lazy Susan (you can just see the bottom of it on the photos) is one of two matching hanging baskets from Ikea which attach to a matching rail on the wall.  

The basket above the lazy Susan has two containers full of utensils (such as spatulas, wooden spoons etc) as well as other condiments such as Himalayan salt, pepper, olive oil etc.   

* Sitting in front of the little salt dish is a tiny digital timer.  Much needed these days to prevent me from burning the house down by burning dinner.😕  

 * Lastly, on this side of the lazy Susan is a pretty glass tea cup, also from Ikea, which I use to keep oxo (stock) cubes to hand at the cooker. 

Next (if we turn the lazy Susan just a little, we still see the cup of stock cubes but can now see...  

* The beautiful pale green mug, which has my bamboo coaster stored, sitting on top, is one of a pair.  You'll see the other one, in a lovely pastel blue shade, further around the lazy Susan. They are Royal Doulton and they were a birthday gift from a very dear friend (thank you Miriam honey, love you x) they have roses on them and I absolutely love them.💖 

Let's turn the lazy Susan again...  

This is why I'm loving this little lazy Susan honeys.💖  As you can see, at the rear of the lazy Susan there are the two beautiful mugs from Miriam and in the middle is my little glass tea pot.  It has a built in tea infuser, which is removable, and I use it to make my hot lemon water in the mornings.  

I got this pretty little teapot from Ikea and they have a larger one available too.  This smaller teapot is perfect for just me though because it holds exactly enough for two cups, letting me sip on my lemon water through the morning.  

I used to use the teapots infuser, filling it with lots of lemon slices and letting it sit until I had the loveliest lemon water but now I make lemon cubes.  You can see how I make them here honeys.🤗  

Having a safe home on this little lazy Susan means my little glass teapot is safe from being dropped, nudged off worktops or any other disaster that's all-too-likely-to-happen if it had a less safe home to be returned to after use.  Same goes (times infinity!) for those beautiful mugs from Miriam.💖

Almost back to the beginning of the little lazy Susan then, sitting in front of the pretty pastel blue mug with the beautiful roses (I really, really love these Miriam, thank you sweetheart x) is the little flower shaped tea infuser... 

And as we turn the lazy Susan again...

We're back to the beginning again.💖

Such a silly thing to be so happy about I know but it's worked so well and I find when something has a home it's more likely to be put away straight away too.  

Over to you honeys.  Do you use lazy Susans to help stay organised?  Do you have any organising tips to share?  Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe, hugs always x

How A Tiny Set Of LED Lights Can Help Keep Little Ones Safe When Trick Or Treating🎃

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend any products of stores, just sharing a fun little DIY project that could help keep tiny humans safe, by making sure they are visible to cars etc while they're out trick or treating.🎃

Hi Honeys,

I'm playing catch up with Blogtober again.😊 I'm sorry honeys, the weather is playing havoc with me😒  Enough moans though, there's catching up to do.😊 

I thought since Halloween is only a few days away, I'd share a little DIY project I first posted a few years ago.  It's such an easy, takes-no-time-at-all project and just helps keep tiny humans visible while they're out trick or treating.  Important, now that the dark nights are with us again, but also fun to have a little treat bag that doubles as a lantern too..   

Are you missing the daylight honeys?  The worst part of winter for me is the almost constant (it feels that way to me anyway) darkness.  During winter, here on the west coast of Scotland it can be completely dark until after 9am and then, with the snap of fingers, be midnight dark again before 4pm.  

It's beyond draining.  Is it any wonder that every year I have a countdown to spring?😊🌺 There are one hundred and forty three days to go honeys, just in case you wondered😊🌻

What we need for our project...

On to our project then.  All you'll need is a set of the battery powered led lights you'll find in places like supermarkets or pound (or Dollar) stores like Poundland or Dollar Tree.  They're usually anywhere between £1 - £3 a set.  You'll then need batteries for the lights too, of course.  This will usually be two AA batteries.  Then you'll need a treat bag you can attach the lights to.  I used a plastic cauldron from Asda (Walmart) that cost around £1, but again these are available everywhere, as well as other types of treat bags you can use too.  

Lastly, you'll need a roll of any strong tape, like gaffer or duct tape.  I used very thick, black electrical tape.  This tape is very strong, so it would hold the lights firmly in place, but it also meant that an additional piece of tape can be run around the inside edge (once the project is done) to make the wire "disappear" so that tiny humans can happily collect treats in their bag without treats, or tiny hands, getting tangled.   

The led lights are available in so, so many designs.  For this project in the past I've used a set of Harry Potter Hedwig lights, as well as a set of adorable little ghost lights I found in Poundland.👻🎃 Choose a set you, or the tiny human who will use the bag, like honeys...

First we unpack the lights and fit the batteries, to check that they work.  How irritating would it be to securely attach the lights, only to then find out they're faulty?  Yep, been there, done that.😊 

Next we begin to attach the lights.  I snipped off around a dozen or so pieces of the tape and lightly attached them to edge of our coffee table - thinking back on it, I should have used a craft board or a chopping board from the kitchen.  Oh well, next time maybe.😊   

Attach the first light so that the light sits outside the treat bag but the wires are on the inside...

Fasten securely with a piece of your previously cut tape.  Carry on attaching the rest of the lights, spacing the lights out so that they go all around the treat bag.  With a much larger piece of tape, secure the battery pack/compartment of the lights to the inside of the bag. 

Once again, try switching on the lights.  This is to make sure you can still easily reach the on/off switch of the lights and that the tape isn't covering it...  

 

Not all lights will sit as well as the Potter themed ones did. They have a sort of copper wire that bends to shape and allows the little owls to almost perch on the top of the cauldron.  The ghosts have a more flexible wire, so I just ran a little bit of tape over the edge of the cauldron to hold the wire from moving... 

Last thing to do is to run a length of the tape around the inner edge of the treat bag to completely cover the wires.  This not only makes the wires (sort of) disappear from sight but, as I said, prevents tiny humans fingers/hands getting tangled or caught by any wires. 

It's taken much longer to explain this tiny project than it takes to complete it honeys, it's so easy you'll be able to make a few in no time at all (depending on how many tiny humans would like one of them.)  I'm sure lots of little ones would love to have their own little lantern/treat bag to light their way and might even want to use it as a night light for Halloween too. 

How are your Halloween preparations going?  We still have some baking to do and the treat bags to make up.🎃   Thank you for keeping me company, are you taking part in Blogtober this year?  If so, please leave a link to your blog/Vlog and I'll pop over and say hello.💖🤗

Till next time dear ones, hugs always x

What To Do With A Completed Latch Hook Kit?🐝

Disclaimer:  I have not been paid to promote any products or stores, just sharing my latest crafting project and looking for ideas on how to complete it by turning it into.... well something.  Any suggestions honeys? 🤗 

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?  I'm looking for suggestions on what to do with a recently completed latch hook kit, a gift from Hubby (thank you sweetheart x)  

Have you ever tried a latch hook kit?  Before this adorable kit Hubby brought me home, with the bee motif, it had been years since I'd done one.  I'd forgotten how much fun they are.😊 

The kit comes all contained in a cardboard box.  Inside there is everything you need to complete the design shown on the box.  Firstly, there is a piece of canvas aida, this is the fabric that the yarns are attached to and has the pattern the kit is to make, printed on it...

In addition there is a latch hook tool, seen above, and all of the yarn needed to complete the kit in pre-cut lengths.  

It took me almost six days, working on it in the evenings, to complete this little kit and I just love it💖  Now though, the question is, what to do with it? 

On the box the kit is packaged in, it suggests turning it into a wall hanging, a cushion or a rug.  Now, since it measures 30cm x 30cm (that's only just short of 12 inches x 12 inches) so it's much too small to be a rug😊  I do think it might make a lovely wall hanging, if I finished off the edges with a binding or edging.  

I have to admit I'm leaning towards adding a backing to the canvas aida and then sewing it up into a cushion cover using something lovely from my tiny fabric collection upstairs.  It would be so nice as a cushion cover and I'm sure Buzz would like a new friend to keep him company upstairs🐝

Do you remember Buzz?  If not, you can read about him here🐝💖 

What do you think honeys?  Any other ideas on how to transform the little bee latch hook kit into decor?  Have you tried making a latch hook kit?  Hubby got this one for me from Home Bargains, and I think I'll see if there are any other designs on their website.  I enjoyed working on it, it's good physio for my arthritic hands too.  

Thank you for keeping me company dear ones.  Till next time, stay warm and safe, the weather is definitely changing.  Hugs always x

For World Pasta Day!🍝 5 Of Our Favourite Super Easy, Super Yummy, Pasta Dishes..😋

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?  All well I hope?  I'm still playing catch up with Blogtober, being a post behind after being set upon by my arthritis this week. It's the UK weather changing is all.  Of all the things I ever dreamt of achieving over the years, turning into some kind of a human barometer really wasn't one of them.😊  

So, here's yesterday's post dear ones.  I actually managed to mostly set it up, that is to say choosing which recipes to include and organising photos etc, but by then it was almost midnight and I was so drained after having posted already yesterday, I had to give up and go sleep.  So, to celebrate world pasta day🍝 (yesterday) here it is.🤗 

Do you adore pasta honeys?  Hubby and I do.  We'd be lost without our favourite pasta dishes in our meal rotation.😋💖 So, for today's catch-up Blogtober post, I thought I'd share five of our favourite pasta treats...

Can you imagine a world without pasta?  It's an odd thought really.  How often do we, even if we think we're not making a pasta dish that day, reach for a form of it?  

We're heading into November and here in Scotland that means making pots of lovely, warming soup to keep out the winter chills. That means lots of yummy veggies and... noodles.  I like to reach for the spaghetti to break up and put through our soup.  When Hubby has had to commute home through our horrible British winter weather, what could be better to be waiting for him when he gets here than a huge mug of chicken noodle soup to chase the chills away?

So, since there are lots of photos in this post honeys, why not go grab a cuppa (and maybe a cookie or two) and meet me back here after the page break where I'll share five of our favourite pasta treats. See you in a mo...

The Best Cops For Halloween Week! Have You Met The Wellington Paranormal Unit?🎃🎃

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend these dvds, just sharing in the hope that this wonderful, funny series might be discovered and loved by anybody who might not have seen it yet x

Hi Honeys,  

I'm playing catch up with Blogtober.  I'm sorry I didn't manage to post yesterday, I've been battling a flare of pesky arthritis and yesterday I was just exhausted from it.  It might have won a wee victory yesterday honeys, but I'm determined to catch up and get back on track.  Only another week of Blogtober to go.💖 

Since we're now in the week leading to Halloween, I thought I'd share one of our favourite TV cop shows. If you've already enjoyed this fabulous series, set in gorgeous Wellington, in New Zealand, I won't need to tell you how perfectly it fits into any fun Halloween countdown week.🎃🎃🎃

An average shift for Officers Minogue and O'Leary might include dealing with anything from haunted houses (and cars) to zombies, vampires, werewolves and even an alien invasion.👽🛸 

In fact, during a busy Christmas period they even had to deal with an office photocopier becoming a portal to a hot tub in another realm, not to mention Satan himself arriving to act as a shopping Mall's Santa for their Santa's Grotto!🎅🎄 Who knew it could end up being the fault of a typo in the fax requesting a Santa (think about it honeys.... so silly and made me giggle😊)

O'Leary and Minogue are joined in their adventures by Sergeant Maaka, also known as Sarge, the head of the WPU (as Minogue tells O'Leary he'd like them to be known, with huge letters on the backs of their jackets of course.😊)  

Sarge runs the Wellington Paranormal Unit from a tiny, hidden room (that everyone knows about) in Police Headquarters that Mulder would feel perfectly at home in.  Sarge is very much a believer in the paranormal.  

Our trio are accompanied on adventures occasionally by Parker.  A fellow police officer, Parker originally turned down a place in the WPU (as did everyone else at the station😊) but changes his mind and wants to join when he sees the cases, and adventures, that Minogue and O'Leary face every shift.

The series is a spin off from an appearance by Minogue and O'Leary in the movie version of What we do in the shadows, which itself has it's own very funny spin off series (although I would say that series is more adult in nature.)  You can see their cameo here.

If you'd like to see a little teaser for this amazing series, you can watch a trailer for series one to three on YouTube here. 

An important public service announcement from Officer O'Leary!  You can see it here.

This is a character guide from last year when the series was launched in USA.

Honestly honeys, if you haven't seen this fantastic, better-than-anything-made-for-tv-in-forever series, I can't recommend it enough.  Unfortunately they've cancelled it!💔 After four fab series, what will we do for chuckles and giggles without Minogue, O'Leary, Sarge and Parker keeping order on the streets of Wellington?  Hubby and I are going to be binge watching all four series over the next week, leading to Halloween.🎃🎃🎃 

Over to you then, are you a fellow fan of the WPU?  Will you be doing anything over the next week for Halloween?  Hubby and I still have the treat bags to make up for visiting tiny humans, so no doubt we'll do that while watching and giggling away at the adventures of the WPU.😊  

Till next time dear ones, thank you for keeping me company, stay warm and have fun, hugs always x 

What Would Be At The End Of Your Rainbow?🌈

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today? We've reached day twenty three of Blogtober, can you believe that?  We've had a lovely quiet day today.  It's still raining outside, it's been raining for days, so hubby hasn't been able to cut the grass or clear up the leaves as he'd planned.  I'm actually glad, it's chilly outside and I'd rather he was inside where it's warm with our furbaby Jade and me. 

I'm just not an autumn/winter person honeys.  If I ruled the world... (Love that song, such beautiful lyrics and heavenly voice of Harry Secombe singing them.🥰)  Beautiful songs aside though, if I did rule the world, among other changes, I'd have spring and summer in a constant loop.🌞  

Goodbye to awful arthritis flares all through winter that try to turn me into a human pretzel.  Goodbye to losing all of the leaves for months from the gorgeous sycamore trees that line the back of our garden.  Goodbye to the almost constant smirry rain, the kind that seeps through your clothes and chills you right through to your bones.  

Mostly though honeys, goodbye to the more than eighteen hours of complete darker-than-midnight darkness we have in the deepest part of winter.  The darkness pulls the life out of me, it really does.  Happiness can be so much harder to find in those dark, winter months.  Is it any wonder that every year I long to hibernate until spring arrives and countdown the days?  It's one hundred and forty seven days actually, in case you're curious.😊     

Have you ever wished you could find the end of a rainbow?  I have.  As a child I'm sure I read, or maybe I was told, that at the end of a rainbow would be a little magical being who would grant wishes if found.  

As I got older I read the magical being was a leprechaun, that he would have a crock of gold and if you caught him he'd either give you his crock of gold or would grant you a wish.  Well, even as a child this completely appalled me! 

Setting out to find the end of a rainbow would be an adventure, exactly the sort of thing that would appeal to my younger, Famous Five & Secret Seven novel loving self.😊   To find it and to then demand personal property with menaces from the little person you find there, be it his gold (what if it's his pension!) or the granting of wishes, well, that's just not right!  I know, even as a child I over-thought everything.  I used to worry about the relative lack of supervisory adults in the Charlie Brown stories too, you know...

Rainbows & wishes..

What if instead, when we see a rainbow, especially a double rainbow like the one above, what if we just close our eyes and make a wish.  Not just any wish though, what if we give ourselves permission to wish for whatever we want more than anything else?  

Making wishes doesn't work Rosie! I hear you say.  OK then, suppose you're right?  What if wishing for the thing you want most doesn't make it magically appear?  Well, then at least you got to see a beautiful rainbow and now you're left with a clearer understanding of what you really want in life.  Now all you need is a plan... 

As beautiful Ms Mia Angelou said "your dreams won't work unless you do..."  Maybe by suspending disbelief, just for a moment, by allowing yourself to wish for what you want most, you would give yourself a destination, a goal. Maybe that's the real gift?   

Personally though, I'm not willing to give up on making wishes and hoping they'll come true.  It's been my experience, just sometimes, they do.  Just not always exactly how you expect them to.  Maybe sometimes we're sent what we need instead of what we want?  

Wishing all of your dreams come true honeys.💖 Till next time, thank you for keeping me company.  It means more than I can say, hugs always x

Anyone Else Adore Gnomes?

Hi Honeys,

It's all getting to be a little gnomie around here.😊  

I wasn't ever really a gnome person.... Now they seem to be taking over our home. 😄  Today, when hubby picked up our grocery shop, he brought home these two adorable little gnomies to join our growing collection... (thank you sweetheart x)

They appear to be popping up all over our home, peeping out from bookcases and shelves, and I don't mind at all, not even a wee bit.😊

Some of them even remind me of Hubby and I....

If Hubby & I were gnomes, we'd look exactly like this adorable little gnomie couple.💖 

We have gnomies with a Harry Potter theme (one of whom is a meerkat and just too adorable!) and we even have a tribute to Her Majesty, our beloved Queen Elizabeth, from the Jubilee this year too, which even has a little corgi gnomie.💖 

There's no use fighting it honeys, I think the gnomies are taking over our home and I really don't mind at all.🥰 Do you like gnomes?  Are you collecting gnomes too?😊

I hope these little gnomies made you smile too honeys.💖 Till next time, stay warm and hugs always x 

Why Halloween is my favourite holiday🎃

Hi Honeys, 

I'm getting the winter mehs already, I think. As the saying goes, my get up and go has got up and gone.  

It's October, I'm working happily, trying to complete Blogtober.  October is also, of course, the month of my favourite "holiday" (is Halloween a holiday?) so I should be happier than happy right now.  

I so look forward to Halloween every year.  At work we used to all dress up.  One of my favourite memories is the year I managed to convince a tiny human that I was actually a student at Hogwarts.😊 

What's not to love about Halloween? 🎃🎃 

A couple of years ago we started to decorate our tiny entryway by the front door and that's fun. We make up bags of treats for our little visitors, that's always fun.  Every year we spend weeks buying different sweets as well as tiny things like bottles of bubbles, balloons and plastic spiders.🕷  

Once the trick or treaters have collected their treat bags, hubby and I will usually watch a couple of favourite spooky movies (original Ghostbusters anybody?) or maybe we'll binge watch some favourite ghostly tv series with snacks. 

Halloween preparation begins... 🎃🎃  

Well, we took out the big box of decorations to decorate our tiny entryway at the front door and even that didn't cheer me up honeys. Still, this weekend we're going to make a start on making up the little treat bags and that always makes me smile, so, maybe that will help to chase away the mehs?  

Of course there's also some baking to do too, that always cheers me up.😊  There are gingerbread cookies to make, they're one of hubby's favourites.  If you'd like to make them too, you can find the recipe (and a free spooky printable to download) here honeys.  Enjoy.💖 Now that I have lots of lovely stevia products, I think there will be extra baking this year.  Something hubby and I will do together as always.  We have such fun together cooking.  I was truly blessed honeys, to marry my best friend.💖

Do you have any holiday traditions?  What's your favourite holiday? Have you started on your holiday prep?  

Till next time dear ones, stay warm and hugs always x

All Set For Holiday Baking And Sharing A (Very Healthy) Baked Doughnut Recipe🍩🍪🍰

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products, I'm just really, really (really!) excited to be able to start making plans for some proper holiday baking this year yaaaaayyy🍩🍪🍰

Hi Honeys, 

I'm happy!!  No, I'm more than happy... I'm excited, thrilled, exhilarated....  As a Scot, I feel I can quite properly say, honeys, that I'm a wee chuffed thing (that's a small happy person😄)

What's made me happy, you ask? Well, this happened...

For a while now, since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I've been making little changes in how I live and particularly, in how I cook.  

I wasn't ever a sugary person, never adding it to my tea, only using it when I baked really.  So I was thrilled (and chuffed😊) to find there were healthier ways to bake, such as products made using the stevia leaf.🍃  

This led to my discovering Truvia.  Truvia certainly wasn't the cheapest stevia product on the shelf but, having tried a few of them, it was the one we preferred.  So, for the past couple of years those tiny, square, green containers have appeared regularly in our shopping basket.  

The discovery...

Then, while aimlessly clicking on Pinterest one evening, I spotted a link showing some yummy looking baked goods and the truvia logo!  "Recipes!" I thought.  Now, by this time of course, I'd been experimenting and had discovered my own preferred ratio of truvia to (replace) sugar in a few favourite recipes.  The idea of new recipes to try was quite exciting to me.😀 

So, I clicked the link.  Only to discover there were in fact some lovely recipes but they were made using products unavailable in the UK!😲 Oh no!!  

To say I was disappointed is an understatement.  I couldn't buy these new (to me) Truvia products unless I flew to USA to buy them.  The range included a caster sugar, a brown sugar (I could make cookies!!) and even an icing sugar product!!

Then this happened...

  

They're here!! In the UK!!  I can bake for the holidays!! I am officially " a wee chuffed thing😃"

Most of the larger supermarkets seem to have them (online) it seems but the best thing is the price.  We bought these packs for £2 each and given that we pay around £5 for each little (270g) container of the original truvia, that's surprising to me (in a good way.)  

In the photo above, there are icing sugar (pink label) which contains 280g, caster sugar (with the orange label) which has 360g and finally there is the brown sugar (with the brown label and did I mention I can make cookies? yaaaaay😋) which has 320g.    

Now I can make my (healthier) doughnuts and even make guilt-free-icing to coat them with.😀 

I know it must seem like a really silly thing to be happy about but I really do love to bake.  I don't get to do much of anything these days (because of the osteo in my spine) but it does mean that when I do cook I usually have hubby with me and we do have a laugh while cooking.💖 

So, yes honeys, I'm looking forward to making some (healthier) doughnuts and making some Christmas🎅🎄 (and Halloween🎃) cookies. 

In case you haven't seen it, you can find my healthier doughnuts recipe here honeys.  Enjoy.💖  Oh, and before I forget, and I know it might be different for everyone because we all have different tastes, but after lots of attempts, I discovered the best ratio of (ordinary granulated type version) truvia when I made the doughnuts was to take the recipe (I used a sponge type recipe so technically they're actually cake-nuts?) and divide the sugar measurement by three.  

I used 75g of truvia/stevia instead of the 225g of caster sugar the recipe called for.  That's quite a saving on calories, so another bonus.  

Over to you honeys, have you ever baked with healthier alternatives?  What are your favourite holiday recipes?  Have you posted any of them?  If so, why not share your link?  

Till next time, dear ones, stay warm, hugs always x 

Meal Prepping Pureed Vegetables For Our Furbaby 💖🐶💖

Disclaimer: This is not nutrition advice for anyone (or their furbabies.)  Please do your own research about your furbabies needs and consult your vet if you have queries about their diet or nutritional needs, hugs  💖🐶🐱💖 

Hi Honeys,

How are you today?  All staying warm I hope?  Only 152 days till spring arrives again and yes, I'm still counting down as I do every year.😊 

In yesterdays post, where I shared one of our new favourites, cauliflower cheese and spinach, I promised I'd share my latest little kitchen experiment.  This one though was made for our much loved furbaby Jade. 💖🐶💖

As I started to explain yesterday honeys, one of my favourite Youtubers, Silvia, inspired me with one of her videos where she shared her latest grocery haul.  Included in her grocery shop were lots of tiny pouches of pureed fruit and vegetables for babies.  The little organic ones?  

Sylvia so clearly adores her beautiful furbabies, as much as we do our baby Jade.💖 So, I showed Hubby the video and we added half a dozen of these little pouches to our grocery shop, all in different varieties, just to see if Jade likes them. 

Well. long story short honeys, they were a huge hit!  That got me thinking... I wondered if I could make these pureed veggies at home because then I could control what's in them and they wouldn't have any preservatives in them. They are organic, so you wouldn't think there were any preservatives in there?  There won't be I'm sure, but having already had that thought run through my head, it made me very uneasy. We don't take any chances with our baby.  

A meal prepping adventure💖🐶💖  

For this first time making Jade's pureed veggies I cooked broccoli, garden peas, carrots and sweet potato (I cut the sweet potato into small cubes to cook through faster.)  I added water (no salt!!) and brought them to the boil and then I simmered them, on a low heat for 15-20 minutes.  I tested them by gently piercing them with a knife, everything was all soft.  

Another bonus was the gorgeous scent of simmering vegetables coming from the kitchen.  I used a slotted spoon to lift all of the vegetables into a glass mixing bowl, then used a hand/stick blender to blend them all together into this vegetable puree...    

I also poured the liquid left over from cooking the vegetables (shown above) into a smaller bowl.  This vegetable stock will make a fabulous base for a lovely pot of soup for Hubby.  He adores soup.💖  

Till the weekend though, I've put the stock into this bowl (which has a secure, lockable lid) and popped it into the freezer.  On the weekend, Hubby will be out in the garden clearing the mountains of leaves that have been falling from the trees, and he's hoping to give the lawn it's last cut of the year too.  

It's a lot of work honeys and while he's doing that, I'll use this yummy stock as a base and make him a lovely, warming potato and leek soup.💖 

Back to Jade's yummy dinner💖🐶💖

So, now that I had Jade's veggie puree all blended, I left it to cool for her and popped some boneless, skinless, chicken thighs into the air fryer...    

Once cooked, I then cut the chicken thighs up into smaller pieces... 

I then added around half of the chicken pieces to a small dish and mixed through a few tablespoons of the veggie puree...

The results...

I wasn't sure she'd like the homemade version of veggie puree as much as she was enjoying the little organic pouches we'd bought for her in our grocery shop but she loved her dinner and ate it all up!  

I should add that Jade rarely finishes a meal in one sitting.  She picks at her food when she feels hungry.  She's always known that her bowl of kibble is always there for her.  I'm sure that's why she feels safe to only eat when she's hungry and not feel compelled to empty her bowl because she's scared her human will take it away.  

I've read in so many dog care books, and online, over the years that dogs should have regular feeding times and it should be a window.  After this window the bowl is removed whether your furbaby has finished their meal or not.😟 Excuse my language honeys but hell no!! I'll never, never take our baby's food away from her!  If she hasn't eaten a meal, I'll replace it next meal time (we'd never let her eat spoiled food either.)

During the last almost forty years honeys, we've been blessed to be furbaby parents to eight wonderful furbabies.  Not a single one of our babies has ever eaten too fast, fought over their food (we were owned by multiple babies at a time over the years, once we had a family of four furbabies💖) neither have they been overweight.  

From puppyhood they've all known their food supply was certain.  Between meals, they've always had a large treat tin, always accessible to them, with dog biscuits in it (bonio, mini gravy bones, milk bones and wee markies are Jades faves.🐶💖) 

(Almost) the final word...

I'm so happy to have another way to care for our baby honeys.  The remaining puree from last night was divided into two of the smaller (0.3 L/10 fl oz) ISTAD clip seal type bags from Ikea and they were placed into the freezer.  She still had four of the small pouches Hubby bought her left (she had one of those tonight with dinner) so I thought she can finish those before moving on to the puree made last night.  

I'll definitely be making batches of pureed vegetables from now on. I can mix it through her usual foods.  For dinners this could be beef mince or chicken breast/thighs or canned Mackerel, tuna (not albacore) or salmon, so a little added pureed vegetables will give her dinner an added nutritional boost.  For anyone thinking this is too much bother for a wee dog we were blessed to adopt from rescue... I have a memory for you.  It's one I treasure and if it makes your heart smile too then I'll be very happy.💖  

Furbabies are family...

Many years ago, a dear uncle got home from work.  As he opened the front door with his key he was hit by the amazing scent of steak cooking.  He shouted hello to my Auntie and she told him to go wash up, that his dinner would be ready soon.  Off my uncle went to wash and change out of his overalls, eagerly looking forward to his lovely steak dinner.  He went into the living room and sat down and my sweet auntie came through with a huge plate of chips, sausage and fried egg.  

There, on the rug by the fire, was their wee dog... munching happily on the steak, cut up into tiny pieces for him, in his bowl.  The steak my auntie had gone to the butchers specially to buy for him because he'd  "...looked a wee bit depressed on his walk."  To his credit, my fabulous uncle just sighed and ate his dinner.  They both adored their wee dog, as much as we adore our baby Jade.💖🐶💖  

We're blessed with so little time with them really, and the time passes so fast.  I read a quote on Pinterest recently, and maybe because our baby will be thirteen next spring, but it hit me really hard and actually made me cry.  It was a drawing of a girl holding a dog lead, crying and it said "you were my best hello and my most painful goodbye."  Now I'm fighting tears again, nobody wants to think about the goodbyes but as Her Majesty, our beautiful Queen, said "Grief is the price we pay for love." 

Till next time dear ones, I hope you're having the best week and thank you for keeping me company.🤗 Hugs always x

Links:

Silvia's YouTube channel can be found here.  She's such a lovely lady and a wonderful pet parent, honeys.  If you visit, do say hello to her?  Thank you.🤗💖

11 Benefits Of Vegetables For Dogs  This is a really interesting article, you can find it here. 

Are Veggies Good for My Dog?  Another great article honeys, you can read it here.

Adding Fish To Your Dogs Diet: What You Should Know Lots to read here honeys but worth mulling over while enjoying a cuppa.☕ 🤗💖

Edit Oct 2023: For some months now, we've been using a steamer basket to steam Jade's veggies for her.  She's still loving her veggies and I read somewhere that steaming retains more of the goodness in the veggies. 

Super Scrumptious Cauliflower Cheese & Spinach - Perfect Mid-Week Dinner Treat😃😋

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?  Can you believe we've reached day eighteen of Blogtober already?  This month is just flying past so quickly.  Hubby was working from home today so while he was upstairs working all day, Jade and I had fun in the kitchen. 

We've been buying those little pouches of pureed vegetables, the little organic ones they sell for babies?  Well, a favourite YouTuber buys them for her beautiful furbabies and, since we're always looking out for new ways to keep our furbaby happy (and healthy) we bought a half dozen (in different varieties) to let her try them. 

Long story short, she loves them!  So, after a few days of mixing a little sachet with her dinner, I decided to attempt to make this puree myself, using Jade's favourite veggies.  It was a huge hit honeys, I mixed it with her chicken tonight and it was lovely to see her enjoying her dinner.💖 I'll try to share in my next post, but for today's I thought I'd share one of Hubby's favourites...

This is such a yummy dish honeys but so simple to make that it's perfect for a quick-to-make mid-week treat and the family will love it😃😋

As usual with my posts there are a few photos, why not go grab a cuppa dear ones (and maybe even a cookie or two?😃) and join me after the page break?  See you in a minute or two...

A Perfect, Quiet Day...

Hi Honeys,

Our furbaby Jade and I have had the loveliest, quietist day.  We're very lucky really, our tiny street is almost always completely silent. We live at the end of a long, (very) long road and our tiny street is the very last of lots of tiny streets leading away from it.  It's very rare for cars to drive in here unless the owners live in here or it's a delivery driver.  

I've been expecting the fireworks to start up again but so far (touch wood) not a single noise today.  No children out playing either today.  It's felt chilly today though, and the rain has visited a few times.  I don't blame tiny humans wanting to stay indoors instead.  

 

We love it here honeys, our tiny house has always been so peaceful.  Whenever I have to go out, thankfully very rarely these days, but when I get home and close the front door after me, our tiny house hugs me.🤗

Today though, has been especially peaceful and especially quiet and I'm so grateful for it. I needed quiet today.  Jade has mostly napped all afternoon, our baby will be thirteen this coming March and she naps quite a lot these days but that's ok because her Mum naps quite a lot too.😊 Jade and I are often to be found napping together on the sofa. I don't sleep very well or very much anymore so whenever I settle on the sofa to watch tv or read or just to hug Jade, we both nap.😊

I hope you've had a perfect day too honeys, full of peace, full of calm, full of everything that makes you smile.🤗 Till next time, wishing you so many good things, hugs always x