Quick One.......

Morning!!!

                                                                                   

Keeping it cool here today on this h.o.t. Friday.....

                                                                                 

Have a fab day all......

                                                                                 

And enjoy......


                                         Janelle  xx                                                                              

Keeping Cool......

And it's Good Evening from a rather hot and sweaty farm tonight...43 degrees and counting this past week but hey...that's just Summer for us isn't it?!! So we have basically been in lock down this whole week...air con on, blinds shut, living in our own little world of darkness. Well, apart from the odd trip out to the pool for the kids, me...I've stayed pretty close to that air con contraption.
And whilst hovering around that contraption I've kept busy with.....ta da....

                                                                                 

First up...a little sewing. My daughter has a blanket/quilt thingy that she uses in the cooler months but it has been needing some type of cover, which I have been meaning to whip up for a looong time now. Inspiration finally struck, fabrics were cut into squares and the sewing machine was put to work. I am very close to the finish line with this, with only the back to sew on...amazing what one can accomplish when hidden away in darkness from the world for a few days.

                                                                                 

And yes...I have continued on with my crochet obsessed phase...funny how every Summer I really enjoy propping up in front of the aforementioned life-saving air conditioner and clicking away with my knitting needles...or as is the case this year...my trusty crochet hook. I am still amazed at how quickly your work can grow with crochet...I think I may even have a cosy sofa rug ready for Autumn. I know!!?!!!

                                                                               

Of course we can't let a little sweltering heatwave keep us out of the kitchen now can we??! So we are opting for slightly cooler baking...as in the no-bake kind of baking....I tell you, rumballs are your bestfriend in this weather. Or really....who am I kidding...they're our best friends rain, hail or shine...

                                                                                 

And what would a hot Aussie Summer be without a spot of Aussie Open tennis...yep...it's been a stinking hot good week....

Hope your's has been too...

Stay cool folks.......


                                           Janelle xx                                                                        

Chocolate Ripple Birthday Cake.......mmmmmmmm.......

Hello there!! So, I thought I'd start the week out by sharing cake...doesn't get much better than that now does it??!? We celebrated another birthday on the weekend...nothing fancy or huge, just a quiet family do but of course there had to be cake. Chocolate Ripple cake to be exact. Mmmmmm. Now I do realise there is no wheel reinventing going on here but I figured I'd share how I slapped it together because....well....that's what a blogger does, don't they??!

                                                                                   

Ok....go and buy yourself a couple of packets of chocolate ripple biscuits and a large tub of thickened cream, which you will then whip with a few spoonfuls of sugar and a splosh of vanilla. Now you can start assembling your cake...in whatever shape you like.....

                                                                                 

Once you have all the biscuits 'glued' together with cream start covering it all with the remaining cream....

                                                                               

I tend to be a little on the stingy side with the cream until I have the whole lot covered just to make sure there is enough cream, which there always is,  and then slap on the rest to fill any gaps and smooth it all out a bit......

                                                                                   

For the top I usually do the traditional thing and grate some peppermint crisp or chocolate over it but for this one smarties just seemed the logical choice. I did all this the night before the big day so the biscuits would be really lovely and soft but next time I would pop the smarties on the day of the party to prevent the colour running...although I didn't hear any complaints from anyone!?!!


                                                                                 

And there we have it...one of the easiest, and possibly tastiest birthday cakes I've made in a long time!!

                                                                                   

Now where are those left-overs.........

Have a fab day guys........



                                                            Janelle  xx                                                                              

Saturday Stop-over......

Hello there! Or rather Good Evening by the this stage of the day.....

                                                                               

                                                                               
I picked these lovely ladies this morning and felt the need to share...I love the colour of these......

                                                                                 

 Perfect.......  

                                                                               

So how's the weekend treating you so far?? We have another birthday here on the farm...bit of a low key affair but a party is still in order...with cake. Of course. I'm still in a complete crochet frenzy and am loving how quickly it all grows!! Cannot wait to finish my rug. Will share some pics next week. I've also been painting a couple of outside benchseats...which I purchased about a year or two ago. Can't rush these things though can we?!? They were a lovely shade of mission brown but are now wearing a few shades of white undercoat...they will hopefully be getting their topcoats on sometime in the next couple of days...

                                                                                   

And that is my Saturday round-up.....

I think an ice cold drink may be calling my name.....

See you next week folks.....


                                                         Janelle  xx                                                                                

Lemon and Poppyseed Cake.......

Hey there!! Well it is cake time around these parts today. Although let's be honest here...there is always time for cake. Always.

                                                                                   

Ok, so today we are whipping up a Lemon and Poppyseed cake. I may have even shared this already?!?...it's really just a variation of my easy-as orange cake, but this time I made it using lemon instead of an orange and, being in full-on  lazy holiday mode, made it even more simple. Always a good thing I believe.....

                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                    Ready for action??......

                                                                               

                                             Lemon and Poppyseed Cake

Ingredients  

1 cup self raising flour - sifted
1/2 cup sugar (I use raw, just use whatever you have or prefer)
Rind of 1/2 a lemon - finely grated
pinch of salt
80 grams butter - melted
2 eggs
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Milk
1 teaspn poppyseeds

Method

1. Heat your oven to 160 degrees

2. In a bowl throw in your sifted flour, sugar, lemon rind poppyseeds and salt.

3. Now in a jug throw in your melted butter, 2 eggs, lemon juice and then fill up to 1 cup with milk. You won't need much milk at all. Give all this the laziest of whisks then dump it all in with your dry ingredients.
(if this all seems like way too much slaving in the kitchen for you I suggest you just throw all your ingredients in the bowl and skip to number 4. You will probs need about 2 tablespoons of milk)

4. Ok, beat all this together then pour mixture into a greased and lined baking tray. I often use a loaf tin for this but this time I used this ring tin and it turned out fine. I think I may have cooked it for about 5 minutes less.

5. Bang this in the oven for approx 30 minutes.

6. Once cooked and out of the oven let it cool in it's tin for about 5 minutes then tip out onto a cooling rack.

7. Now you could just leave as is, sprinkle a little icing sugar over the top or do what we did and pour a generous amount of vanilla icing over the top then sprinkle with coconut.

                                                                                 

                                                                                 

8. You must, m.u.s.t., lick any excess icing from the table. For cleaning purposes of course...

                                                                                 

Right then...I believe a kettle needs to be boiled, cups need to be poured and cake needs to be sliced and scoffed...

                                                                                   

Happy baking people!!!


                                                 Janelle xx

A Crochet Tale.......

Ok...let's get this 2014 party started shall we?? Hows a little crazy crochet madness sound?? Oh yes...it is so happening around here!?!!

                                                                                   

Actually to tell the truth I am absolutely loving this at the moment and highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet discovered the highly rewarding and rather therapeutic hobby of crochet. Oh and if you are a clever someone who has been doing this for awhile you may want to look away now....I am still in the midst of finding my hooky wings and don't want to offend anyone with my bumbling amateur attempts....but it is SO much fun I just had to share!!

                                                                               

I have always been able to knit, for as long as I can remember, but only just started to teach myself to crochet about this time last year. I started with instructions from a children's craft book (yes. I like to keep things simple...) then purchased this gorgeous Erika Knight book. I l.o.v.e this book. First and foremost it has the most beautifully styled pictures and as an added bonus it really helps one to learn to crochet!!?!

                                                                               

So after learning the basics and fiddling about a bit I kind of tossed the crochet aside for a few months and took up the knitting needles again. I then managed to finish off a very simple straight forward blanket last month and decided it was time to master the....ta da.....Granny Square!!

                                                                                 

It took me a few evenings of practicing and a lot of starting, pulling apart, and starting again but then it all kind of clicked and away I went....totally obsessed. I have now started a throw rug for the sofa using these two granny square patterns....I think they should look lovely together....fingers crossed anyway!!!

                                                                                 

And there ends the tale of my latest little obsession...I think I will always be a knitter at heart but this crochet business has me hooked!!

I'm sorry...had to be said at some point, right??!

                                                                                 

Have a fab day......


                                           Janelle  xx                                                                              

Happy New Year Peeps!!!

Hello and Happy New Year!!!

                                                                                     

 I hope you are all enjoying a fun and relaxing holiday period...I obviously am as I don't feel like I've been around here much lately!! That will soon change as I get back to reality and routine....but let's not rush that please!!?! So we enjoyed a quiet Christmas with family and are now enjoying lazing around the home together with the occasional beach trip thrown in for good measure. I have definitely found my craft groove again and have a zillion projects swarming about in my brain....not sure if that's a great or a dangerous thing!! My goal at the moment is to actually get these hairbrained schemes of mine finished...always a challenge for me!

                                                                                   

Do you have any dreams or goals for this coming year? I'm never really one to make set-in-concrete resolutions...I know myself too well for that these days!! However I do think New Year is a great time to just give a quick and quiet reflection of what we may want to achieve and set about really going for it. I am hoping to actually stop dreaming so much (but really...who am I kidding?!)...take a deep breath and just DO it!! Both personally and on the White Farm front too.....so stay tuned!! I also plan on simplifying alot of things around here...both materialistically (??!?) and mentally. Basically to just work out what really matters for both me and my little fam...cultivate that...and chuck out the rest!!

                                                                                 

Oh yeah....and to keep life FUN!!!

Are you with me??

See you soon......


                                                        Janelle  xx