Autumnal offerings

I love autumn, it has to be my favourite time of year. The temperature cools a little and especially here in Berkshire we get frosty, crisp bright mornings.

Autumn has definately been working it's magic on me as I have some seasonal offering for you all available in my folksy shop.

Above is Fall with sterling silver leaves, carnelian, red aventurine and malachite gemstones.

Below is Burnt Sugar - earrings and pendant featuring brown jasper gemstones.

Both are available in my Folksy shop where I offer free first class P&P within the UK. I am also donating 10% of all sales in both my Folksy and Website shops to the miscarriage association until this coming Sunday 4th Oct. You can find out why here.

Proof is in the biccies

So here's the pic - mad grannies biccies. Nom nom

Yum Yum - well, this is what they looked like.

Notice I say looked not look....yep that's right hubby scoffed them :) Well, I may of had one or two to help out.

Thankfully I made another batch for the friend who is visiting this afternoon. You have been warned they are moreish!

Mad grannies biscuits

Well, I think I am allowed to call her that. Mad granny is my mum. When we fist had our sone she decided she would be called granny, not nanny, nan or grandma - granny and then with one of her wicked smiles mum said "mad granny".

So, I am afraid to say it has stuck.

Mad granny makes the most fantastic biccies, I think the recipe was originally out of one of the sunday suppliments but mum has adulterated it to include less sugar amoungst other things. It was very very sweet - even now it's sweet enough.

I am making these as I write so if I get the chance before they are eaten I will post some pics.

2oz brown or dark brown soft sugar

5oz jumbo oats (they need to be the jumbo ones)

2 fl oz sunflower oil

Mix the above and leave for an hour.

Then you need:

1 beaten egg

1oz sunflower seeds

1oz pumpkin seeds

2oz dried chopped apricots

After the first lot of ingredients has been left for an hour mix in the rest of the ingredients. You will have a loose oat bix which sticks together when cooked. Spoon onto baking paper and flatten slightly - you can make them as big or small as you want, I tend to make them about a rounded dessert spoon in size.

Bake at 180C, gas 4 for 12-15 mins - or until starting to brown.

Allow to cool a bit and then transfer to a cooling rack.

I think this makes about 10-12, but I always double the recipe. They are also fab broken up on yoghurt or with icecream.

Yum yum - enjoy.

How tall can you grow?????

Well, I have had some measurements in for the Sunflower competition and a lot of.......um well ours didn't grow... and .....ours got eaten....and.....ours went swimming etc. etc.

But this is I think the tallest one.

A stunning 320cm!

It is very amazing that this one is as tall as it is as about 2 weeks into the competition the growers mum was explaining how the grower had tipped the compost and seeds onto the garden. A couple of weeks after that we were in the garden looking at her carrots and lettuce and I mentioned that there was a sunflower growing. This beauty is that sunflower.

Before I hand over the prize, which I will blog a picture of at some point, did anyone elses grow any bigger? I did ask for heights in by bh weekend but I don't want to award this one the prize if there is a bigger sunflower lurking somewhere let me know if yours grew bigger else this whopper one gets the prize!

He Loves me......

New from Beady Pool on Folksy. He loves me in teal green.

He loves me is a czech glass and silver necklace with an assymetrically placed Karen Hilltribe silver flower. I have handwired the beads to the silver chain and then the chain to the s-clasp, as I have a thing about jump rings that can possibly open! It's a bit bug bear of mine so only use them when I have to.

There is a pair of complimenting earrings if you are someone who likes their matching sets.

Available as of today on Folksy, with free first class postage within the UK.

I am in the process of listing some other colour combinations, but if you like the style but would like something a little different just let me know. I can design something just for you.

Boston here we come

It's booked - finally :) Boston here we come.

We have settled on an Embassy Inn. They have one bedroom suites so we can have the lounge to ourselves in the evening whilst little man sleeps in the main bed. We can transfer him to the sofa bed when we are ready to go to sleep at least that is the plan. They also have a small kitchenette in the room with a microwave and fridge. Plus the hotel has a pool and gives us a buffet breakfast each morning. The hotel is 5 mins walk across a kids play park to the T, which apparently is $2 into town. We are also close to the car hire so can just book what we want when we want, which is good as parking costs at the hotels are sky high.

A downside could well be that the hotel is at Boston airport, but all the reviews say that you can't hear the plane noise in the hotel. I am hoping on the plus side that a bit of plane spotting will keep the boys amused :)

So flights and hotel is booked, now I just need to look into what we are going to do whislt we are there. It's times like this that the internet is a fab resource.

One thing I have learnt though....when booking through expedia check your prices as a package and seperately. We booked the hotel and flight seperately, saved nearly £200 and have got premium economy seats rather than economy. Hubby really does need the extra leg room.

Boston on a budget.....ish

So, last week we planned to go to Brittany for the week.

We have not really been away with little man before except to friends and family, let alone abroad and we are both worriers when it comes to being away with him.

We have spoken to friends who have taken kids:

"give them their tea, put them to bed, put them in the buggy asleep and then go out yourselves" ummm despite being only 3 1/2 he hasn't fitted in a buggy for about a year (too heavy and too tall) and unless he was really pooped he would sooo wake up

"just keep them up late and eventually their body clock alters, take them to the hotel entertainment, they will love it" hmmm may work but someone needs his sleep, he still has an afternoon nap of an hour and sleeps about 11-12 hrs a night. He gets very crabby and grumpy when tired and I am not a mum who does crabby lol. Plus I am not really a hotel entertainment kind of person - unless it is good.

"just put them to sleep and read on the balcony" wouldn't work for us. Little man is very good at going to bed, but if he can see us sleep he will not. Plus sitting on the balcony reading is not my idea of a holiday.

So, where does that leave us??? "camping" I thought.

I have lovely, possibly warped, memories of camping as a child.

Photo courtesy of Eurocamp

You get your accomodation, you get a pool/s, you get entertainment/kids clubs if you want. you can come and go as you please. You can cook or eat out. Plus you can sit out (or in) whilst small child goes to sleep. Ok, so it's camping. You have to do your own washing up. But for me it works.

Problem....the week we want to book was the last week most of the parks were open. Hmmm would all the facilities be available?? plus Britanny has had an issue of toxic seaweed on the beaches and they were what we were going for. So, Brittany went by the by and we ahd the week at home (See previous blog post).

So, where does that leave us???

• Me sulking "but I want a holiday"
• "if we don't go abroad this year with little man, we never will"
• "I really fancy new England in the Fall"
• hubby who has been very quite up till now "ok"
• Me "errr what"
• Him "that sounds like a great idea"
• Me - stunnned silence

Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

So, I am frantically looking at trying to book us a holiday in Boston. But it is sooooo expensive. A friend has suggested that we look at residence inns or similar as they can have a seperate sleeping/living area so we could have a little bit of comfort whilst someone goes to bed earlier than us. Problem is that most are out of town. So, do we go in town, pay more and use public transport or go out of town, pay less but get a hire car??? Hmmm tough one especially as I don't know the area.

Twitter came up trumps today though, as I tweeted my dilema and the Charles Hotel offered me a very good twitter rate. It looks very nice and convenient, and we can book two ajoiining rooms, but still prob far too pricey for us - haven't dared ask my bh yet.

One thing for sure though, wherever we stay, we are going to have to fly premium economy as hubby will need the leg room (he is 6ft 8). It will cost more, but I think we are going to have to do it for his comfort. So, that's any budget blown before we have even taken off! Defiantely means the room will have to cost less......

Any advice on places to visit, stay, eat in Boston all greatfully recieved....I need this holiday to work else I don't think we will have one until littley has flown the nest! Off to look at hotels again now - wish me luck.

Holidays at home

The past week we have been on holiday - we were planning away. Eurocamping in Britanny. We even got little mans passport sorted out for him. But, due to the campsites shutting at the beginning of Sept, toxic fuming seaweed on the beaches and a small child wondering where home is as we had been visiting so many people this summer we decided not to go. Instead we spent the week doing daytrips. Legoland was visited a fair few time - it's on our doorstep and we have annual passes. We also visited Wellington Country park, which was fantastic - i would thoroughly recommend the snakes and ladders play area, fab slides.

To end the week we visited the Ashridge Estate on our way to visit relatives.

This is the Bridgewater tower, which apparently has fantastic views from the top, but seeming as I don't like heights I didn't even dare go up it - I would of got good old Elvis leg, with a whole lot of shaking going on.

Autumn is defiantely on it's way.....

This was the best "feet firmly on the ground" view.

And finally the boys at the top of the tower....little man had no fear and was even trying to climb the railings. Rather them than me.