Project complete....yay!!!......

Well hello there......how was your weekend??.......ours was somewhere in between cruisey and hectic.......probably a good way to be??..............so......today I have a little home project we have just completed......and by 'we' I of course mean my husb......he does occasionally earn his keep around here and over the past week has been quite productive working on our fireplace surround...........here is a before pic.....

Every summer for the past 5 years we have talked about tiling around this heater but it has just never happened....until now..............(bit worried at this point).......

 

Hard at work........?.......

And tiles are up......I always thought we would use the small brick shaped tiles to give it that old-style look but after having trouble finding the right ones locally it just wasn't happening....so when I spotted these little black beauties in our local Mitre 10 (I should probs be embarrassed how much home decor I find at such hardware stores but I looove it!!) they were promptly brought  home, tried and tested and stuck on before you could mutter "are you sure??".......

I'm actually really pleased with them...even more so when I glanced over to the kitchen and realised I had completely by accident matched the square tiles in with the square kitchen tiles, tying both rooms in together beautifully.......oh the design magic that goes on around here.......
                                                                                  

 

And look!.....we lit our first autumn fire last night......perfect timing......even better, no tiles fell off....and everybody was happy to sit back and enjoy..............

                                                                                 

And that is one more job to tick off our 'to do' list....3687 to go.........

                                                                                 

Have a great week............



                                                         Janelle xx




                                                                                                                                                                           

More food............

Hey there.....goodness me it's Thursday already......not too sure how that happened?.......so....today I felt the need to share yet more food with you....funny thing since starting this blog and posting pics on instagram (I'm awhitefarm over there too) I have realised how obsessed much I seem to like talking about, taking pics of and indeed eating food!......all healthy though......of course.........so today in the name of good old fashioned wholesome tasty food I give you..........

Banana Bread...............

From a box..............oh dear...................

 

I did have a little chuckle to myself as I read the instructions.....'ALL' I needed to add was bananas, butter, milk and eggs.......apparently I'd bought a box of flour and sugar?.......

                                                                                 

Anyways......in this day and age, in my little life anyway, the humble box of flour and sugar cake mix sitting in the pantry can be extremely useful to have.......better than my children going hungry anyway............

And that is it from me and my very useful baking tips for today........

                                                                                                                                                                     
 
Enjoy your day.....................


                                          Janelle  xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Chocolate Hedgehog Slice..........

Well hello.......today I have a real treat for you..............

Literally........anyone up for a slice or two of chocolate hedgehog slice??.................

This is, quite seriously, possibly the best slice recipe......E.V.E.R.............yep.....easy peasy to make.............ridiculously easy to eat...........a lot..............

                                                                               

I've been eating this my whole life (well that sounds good?!).........the recipe is my mum's...........and I grew up constantly being told by friends that it is the best hedgehog they've eaten and what is the recipe...........so folks............here it is........family secret.............sshhhhh................

                                                              Chocolate Hedgehog Slice
                                                                                   

4 ozs butter
4 ozs sugar (3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 egg - beaten (I just whisk quickly with a fork) (vintage...they whisk better did you know?!?)
1 packet Marie biscuits - broken up into small pieces (I find small children are handy for this)

                                                                             
1. In a large-ish saucepan melt the butter, sugar and cocoa powder. (Best to stir while this is going on)

2. Once melted take the saucepan off the heat and stir (QUICKLY!!!) in the beaten egg until it is cooked

3. Throw in the broken up biscuits and stir through

4. Slap it all into a slice tin (no need to line or grease) and press it down until lovely and even

5. Leave it to cool

6. Smother with chocolate icing and sprinkle whatever your little heart desires on top. Coloured sprinkles or    coconut are the favoured choices around here.

And that....is that............

                                                                               
   Easy as..........please give this a go.........I promise it is soooooo worth it.............

Now go and have a lovely day.......

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

And happy baking!!....................


                                                Janelle  xx                                                                          

Fresh Fruit Friday.........

Hello and Happy Friday!!...............

Fancy a little fruit picking today??.........

We love our fruit around here and seem to eat our way through quite large quantities of it......and a big big favourite is the good old pear..............

 

See......everybody around here just looooooves these beauties................

Of course a pretty vintage basket to pop them in once you've picked them off the tree is optional.......

But does seem to add that lovely nostalgic feel to the whole process!?!................

                                                                             

So pretty.....leaves and all...............

These guys do need a little while to ripen....but definately worth the wait................

And that is it from me today................

Wishing you a fabulous and fun weekend...............


                                                                    Janelle  xx                                                                                                                                                                  

Three little things.....................

                                                    Three Things I Have Done Today...


Visited the library...................

                                                                               
 
Got excited about 5 or 6 drops of rain.......

                                                                                                                 

And baked a cake....................

How about you?.......Up to anything as thrilling and exciting as me??............

Whatever you're up to.....

Enjoy the day.......................


                                     Janelle  xx                                                                                                                              

Monday Instagram flashbacks....................

 Happy Monday folks!!.......................

                                                                             

Let's start the week off with a good strong one of these shall we...................

Out on the deck maybe?...................

 

With a new project or two?....................

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

And when it all gets a bit too hot........one of these will do nicely thanks.....................

                                                                                   
Have a smiley happy week..........

   


                                  Janelle  xx                                                                            
                                                                                   
                                                                                 

                                                                               

Autumn thoughts..............

Good morning.....and a big fat welcome today to autumn..............

 
I love autumn...........as excited as I was to welcome spring 6 months ago I am equally happy to say "hello!" to this gorgeous season................

I love the idea of collecting pinecones with the kids, lighting our fire again (yes...admittedly I have conveniently forgotten the constant carting in of wood and making sure the thing doesn't go out), purchasing new pulling out and dusting off  my favourite boots, and of course all that knitting to be done!......

 
And with that (and a weather forecast of another hot week ahead....) I shall say.....

Happy Friday folks.....................


                                            Janelle  xx