Its been a while.....Nice to be back!

Hi everyone, Goodness time has flown by and what a bad blogger I have been! I really didn't intend staying away this long! I hope you are all well......... This whole year has flown actually and now we are approaching my favourite time of year again, autumn. We didn't see much summer here in the uk, but I did manage to enjoy the garden......

I had some nice results from some seeds I planted a while back, forget-me-nots, Stocks and Indian pinks..... The others planted were blown all over the garden in a gale, so I lost most of them! There were not really enough salvaged to make a huge display, these are the ones that survived....This is at my parents house, where I potted them, they began to look nice among mums lillies and Egyptian figure! so I decided to keep there there.

Its hard to tell from the photo but these Lillies are Huge! We bought them from QVC uk and they were scented beautifully, as you stepped outside you were hit with the fragrance, thats my hand trying to compare size, ha,ha

Its good to be back, I will be visiting you all very soon! I've really missed blogging and visiting......

Take care see you soon

Priscilla x

Tea.....'How do you drink yours'? Part 1

Tea, Coffee, cocoa........... We all enjoy our favourite drinks but how do you enjoy them? Do you have a favourite cup or use the same every day? Do you keep special ones for guests........
Or are you like me and collect them?

I was tagged recently by Linda over at Somewhere In Time to talk about the cup/mugs I use, I am so pleased to be tagged with this! I have been collecting cups since I was a child, I adore them, so I am doing this post in two parts, the first are the more recent bought and used cups, I also own some quite old and musical ones so i'll show them next time.........

A lot of my cup collection started from Easter Eggs as a child........ Every year I choose a egg with a mug

I bought this last year it came with an Easter egg and is the mug I am currently using the most, just the right size! Wallace and Gromit are great and this is their new movie 'Wallace and Gromit and the Curse Of The Were-Rabbit' which is a funny film, the scenes on protecting prize winning pumpkins from pesky rabbits is just a taste of the story line.......

Another film inspired set..........Harry Potter, I bought the straight sided cup when the first film came out, BHs had a sale and I couldn't believe my luck! Then a few year later I found the second movie mug, I have looked for ones on the new movies but cant find any, I am still looking.....
Over the years my family have bought me mugs, they know I collect them and I have some very special old ones from Christmases past, which Ill show on another post..... Mum and Dad bought me this design 3 year ago............... A Thomas Kinkade painting. It came as a three mug box set, so I chose one design my mum another and my grandma the other design.From QVCuk! I don't use this mug that often, mainly when I want a special treat..... Another Easter egg mug........ Now this one is kinda odd. Do you see the small gap in the bottom of the mug? Well apparently that is to place your small two finger kit kat in the slot?! To melt so its nice to eat, the thing is the image showed you an unwrapped kit kat! I just imagine a rather melted mess, so I have to say I havnt tried it out! ha,ha Maybe ill it try with the wrapper on..... Colour change mug......... I love the colour change mugs, you can just see the smarties, It becomes very colourful when a warm drink is added, although I don't use it a lot, I have quite a few colour change mugs, and I am always worried it will stop working, so use them rarely.......
And finally another Smarties mug, this is my most recent mug and the one I am using at the moment, I think it came from Morrison's.........a very happy mug, ha,ha. So colourful!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my cup collection, I will be back soon with my older ones...... a musical Tetley Tea mug, The Pink Panther' Alka Seltzer' mug and others.......... If you would like to join in you are very welcome to, I will tag a few people on my final post, but let me know if you do join Id love to see your collection!

Thanks again for your ideas and inspiration on the stitching projects, I have started the Mill Hill Kitties and think I might make a block with that and frame the Acorn Hill.......... I am really enjoy stitching so thank you again.

Have a great week everyone see you soon

Feeling Creative....and thoughts of Autumn

I am in a cross stitching mood....... The last few week I made a return to something I enjoy doing, which I havnt done in a while.

I have been stitching a sweet little design called 'Cottage Garden' from Country Cottage Needleworks ,the photo above is how it looked about a week ago..........

Here is the progress so far...... Its been lovely enjoying the wonderful weather and lazy evenings cross stitching. I am loving this sweet gift from my friend Linda over at Somewhere in Tyme.......I think when its finished Ill make it into a hanging pillow? any other ideas I'd love to hear from you all?

Thinking ahead to Autumn......
Shopping for cross stitch is the best kind of shopping there is in my opinion!
Since I have the stitching bug really good at the mo, I have treated myself to a little something. I love Autumn, Crisp leaves, Orange Pumpkins, Halloween, I look forward to it all year, really I do! So I thought I'd start early with these two cross stitch designs, in the hopes to finish around late September (click the pics to enlarge)

The first is from Little House Needleworks - 'Acorn Hill' I just Love, love it!

The second is a Button and Bead Kit from Mill Hill - Bountiful Kitties I cant wait to start this one also! Just look what came in the kit! All those beads, and a cute Pumpkin Button, those beads made me dizzy! An amazing little bag of goodies!

Sharing the fun........

Sharing in the cross stitch love is my mum who also stitches, she picked up her projects again too, so we have been having a good old chit chat over tea and stitches! Mum is stitching a design by Thomas Kinkade - Christmas Cottage, it will be a gift for my grandma when she finishes it! Mum is hoping this Christmas, so she is busy is stitching away.......It is a beautiful design, quite large, I look forward to seeing it completed

Thinking.........

I have been thinking of what to make the finished cross stitch pieces into, I seem to get stuck on pillows! ha,ha can you tell I am not a pro at finished items? I am sure there is more to do with cross stitches than pillows so I would really love to hear your thoughts and ideas, for future projects........what do you do with yours?

See you again soon and thank you for your lovely comments on the Midsummer post, I hope you all enjoyed the magic too......... Have a good week

Priscilla x

Midsummer.......June 21st Join me in a bit of magic

Midsummer............... the longest day of the year.

I have been spending much more time outdoors recently pottering about in the garden and keeping an eye on my 'planting calender' that goes by the phases of the moon, which I have to say I noticed great results! I became aware that the 21st of June is Midsummer, the longest day of the year..........

I don't know about you but this particular night/day feels just magical! Over the years there have been many films and stories set around this time......... I suddenly felt like I wanted to join in, find a bit of magic, sprinkle fairy dust, or spot those friendly little people at the bottom of the garden!

So today through to the 24 th I am pulling out all the magic and fantasy I can find and indulging in it! Why not join me? What films or fairy stories do you love? I am going to start with a true classic favourite.......

A Midsummer Night's Dream - by William Shakespeare

This is the movie version starring Michelle Pfeiffer and I just love it. It is visually beautiful!

Here's a little fairy tale of my own......... Fairies live at the bottom of my garden, honest they do! Or they did when I was a child and still lived in my parents home, every summer down at the bottom of the garden hanging on a small branch under our apple trees, was a small, envelope sprinkled in blue glitter addressed to me! My dad told me the fairies had left me a message and so I carefully opened it to find a delicate piece of tissue paper with a hand written note from the little people.......... How special I felt to believe the fairies had written to me, I am thankful fairies were made a precious part of my childhood!

A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively, wee folk, good folk, people of peace
I don't actually collect fairies but have been given a few as a gift, this is one my grandma got me for Christmas, the wings are glittered, it looks very pretty by candle light...... Its one of my favourite figures
Peter Pan......Here is another film in my collection I Will be watching over the next few days, this film made me a fan of the story. The soundtrack is also amazing, It made me watch another peter pan inspired film 'Finding Neverland', which I also recommend. If you are interested in fairies, here is a link you may like. http://www.cottingley.net/cfconten.shtml
Cottingley Fairies..........The story of two children from Yorkshire England who were believed to have photographed fairies. I recommend the film 'Fairy Tale a true story' if you would like to learn more about them. Visit the link above to see more of their fairy photos!And the final film on my magical list is Ever After, a re telling of the Cinderella tale, and another fav of mine, I hope you join me in the magic, id love to hear how you dipped your toes in fairy dust!

Puck.
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I'm an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

See you all again soon and have a magical time

Priscilla x

Garden Centre and Enjoying the Sunshine...

Hi everyone I hope you are all well and I want to say thank you for all your sweet comments on the driving test and my hair! I think ill keep it like this from now on.
We have been enjoying some wonderful warm weather these past few weeks, so much in fact we made the most of it and visited our local garden centre, I love to visit this place there is so much eye candy to drool over, mum and I went last week, not to really buy anything just to browse and enjoy the day out........

Its only 15 Min's from where we live, it has a nice range of gifts for the home, candles, bath products and accessories.

Isn't this display so cute? I was very tempted with the hat boxes, I have been looking around at a few lately.

I just had to take a photo of this display! There were so many things I could of brought home with me...... Mum treated herself to some candles from just around the corner from this display they were not Yankee Candles! Which is our first choice, but from the 'colonial' range, mum bought Mango.

They also sell gorgeous homemade jams and curds, which we have enjoyed in the past! I just love the little jars. We love the fact they also sell old fashioned boiled sweets like rhubarb and custard, pear drops, and humbugs!

We took a wonder around the 'garden' section too, mum was looking for a garden hoe and I was after a good broom, an early (Halloween Witches Broom) we didn't get either, but I came away with some 'baby bear' pumpkin seeds, (I am getting into Halloween early!) and scrumptious fudge, mum also bought some pansies for her garden.

I also bought some long needed paint brushes from the craft section, as I am hoping to paint something soon, they were even on offer how could I resist! another thing added to my 'to do' list.

We came home had a cup of tea and talked of our plans for the garden, the home, projects and ideas............. such a wonderful day.

I hope you enjoyed a visit around our garden centre and our time there, have a lovely week

Bye for now

Priscilla x

I am back! With lots of changes....

Hello wonderful blogging friends! Oh how I have missed you..........

Lots has happened in my time away, I am now a proud owner of a laptop! Hurray, I have wanted one for such a long time, technology changes so fast I was never sure when to jump in. I spent many hours trying to decide the best one for my needs, then I saw an offer at comet with everything I wanted................So now I have one and couldn't be happier, no more aching back or uncomfortable chairs! and hello favourite sofa! And its faster than the PC so I can visit you all quicker! ha,ha

its an acer Aspire 5920G

Now onto more good news................. I passed my driving test! On the 29th April. After many years of lessons then stopping, changing driver instructors, swapping from a manual to a automatic car, life getting in the way and two cancelled tests(they cancelled them) and 3 failed ones, I finally passed! I am now sharing my mums Toyota surf land rover type vehicle..........a bit of a change in size from the learners tiny corsa! But loving every minute........................... Soon I will be off round those car boots and antique shops, now I just need a map!

'Change is as good as a rest'

Who might this be? Me...... Yes I have had a hair cut, I used to wear my hair like this till I just let it grow and didn't notice how un-styled it was. So back to the cut I like and I hope suits me........here are a few pics of me, I was playing with the camera, click click click, you know how it goes...................... or is that just me?

'Ray of Sunshine'

On the day of the driving test I was so nervous, but look what arrived in the post that very morning! A present for me, from my dear blogging friend Linda at 'Somewhere in Time'. I can not express how nice it was to receive this on that morning, a little ray of sunshine......... I can not wait to start on it and the subject matter is perfect, (the seeds are growing, ill update later). Thank you again my sweet friend xxxxx

Ill leave you now, as I go off and get a nice cup of tea and enjoy the lovely sunshine we are having here in the uk at the moment, I am currently listening to the soundtrack from the movie Practical magic, has anyone seen it? I saw it many year ago and recently re watched it........ the songs are wonderful and perfect for warm days like these...............
Bye for now,

Priscilla x

'In an English Country Garden' and Easter Basket Swap

Hi All, What a lovely spring day it is here at Priscilla's Cottage! Today I was able to get out into the sunshine and plant some of the flower seeds I have been wanting to sow as soon as the weather would let me. I am a beginner gardener and mainly concentrate on seeds and plug plants, with quite surprising happy results! Cottage gardens inspire me and that is the look I am trying to create. This year I am in a new home and have started to think about what I can do to decorate the front, I thought some nice containers and window boxes would do just fine ........ here is the front of the house so you can see how it looks at the moment...
Now not all of this is my house! The end cottage nearest to the camera is mine, The old plant pot was the previous owners which I have removed ready for my new ones..... Can you see how much more colourful it would look with some beautiful flowers? I don't think my neighbours are into much gardening!


Cottage flowers are so beautiful arnt they? very peaceful looking.....Today I planted Stocks, Candy Tuft, Larkspur, Cornflower, Chinese-forget-me-not, I also hope to plant Lupins, Hollyhocks and any others that I have........ here are some inspiring cottage gardens........

Last year I tried my hand at gardening on my parents front lawn, the flowers were grown from seed and went a bit wild, I was really surprised they all came through. I left the garden to itself......... here is what it looked like towards the end of summer. A lot of the flower heads were gone at this stage, I really wish I had taken the picture earlier! There were marigolds, Asters, Dahlia, Stocks, Larkspur, Cosmos(those were huge!!!! they are most of the green you can see, which had large Pink daisy head flowers! and many others I squashed in, ha,ha


This is my parents lawn before the plants really took off! I grew most of them on windowsills then transferred them to the garden..... I had no idea how much they would grow and they grew and grew and grew.....

I'll keep you posted how the recent seeds are doing.....

Now onto something different, my Easter Basket Swap

I am so pleased to tell you my parcel did arrive on the 27th of March, but oh how it was worth the wait! I can not believe the amazing things Lisa had put into the package, I am so thrilled, many of the items she sent I can not even get where I live.....craft items, material (cupcakes) how perfect is that! Chocolate, a Scrap book album, Scrapbook/craft papers, cupcake items/liners and lots more, also a beautiful hand made banner Lisa made herself, here are some photos!

All these craft goodies were contained within a beautiful tin with my initial on the front, Isn't it sweet, I love the cupcake tickets, thank you Lisa for such a wonderful basket....... I am really looking forward to making something with the materials, maybe some pillows, hearts, or an apron, I am not sure yet but I will be having a great time !



And finally I did want to add my literary Tea post, although I am very behind schedule for it. I think it would make this post way too long though so I hope to post soon, also with the next topic which I think is Tea as part of home Decoration

Have a great week and see you again soon

Priscilla x

Cupcakes and memories....

This morning I made coffee Cupcakes! Since my last attempt I have done a bit of research. In the UK we call a cupcake a 'fairy cake' or 'bun'. and We don't decorate them quite as elaborate as their American cousins.

My mum used to make 'buns' all the time for Birthdays, Christmas or any time we were craving something sweet. I have many fond memories of these little buns .....decorated with glace royal icing with silver balls, sugared diamonds in pretty patterns, and the bun dipped upside down in hundreds and thousands (sprinkles)! My mum was an avid baker, she too loved to spend many hour in the kitchen learning all she could, over the years mum has collected many decorating and recipe books. When I moved house earlier this year I took the books with me, last night I was up till 3.30 am reading them! The books are from 1979 - 80s, yes I am a 80s child! They are full of tried and tested recipes and beautiful blissful images. The centre folds are full of typical 70s party tables complete with over decorated iced cakes! ha,ha. I was drooling and indulging in the past I nearly started baking there and then at 3.00am.........

One of the books is from the company who produce flour 'Be-Ro'. Again this book has a pretty 70s lady on the front in her kitchen whipping up some confectionery dream.... This book contains the recipe I used to make my new updated buns/cupcakes. At some point I hope to share these images with you........

Here is the recipe for Coffee Cupcakes/fairy cakes......

4 oz Margarine/Butter

4 oz Sugar

6 oz Self Raising Flour

2 Eggs

1 & half tsp Coffee

If you would like to convert these measurement to cups or grams etc, here is a fantastic converter at 'Diana's Deserts'

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm

1. Cream the butter and sugar until pale in colour and fluffy.

2. Add Egg and tbsp Flour. Beat well. Add second egg and another spoon of flour (stops Egg curdling) Beat until combined

3. Dissolve coffee in just enough hot water for coffee to dissolve. Let cool.

4. Add coffee to egg mix, beat in.

5. On slow speed fold in flour to egg mixture. Adding in stages until well combined.

6. Spoon into cases half full. Bake in a moderate oven. 170-180 C. 20-25 mins.

I am quite pleased with the way these cupcakes turned out........so are my family! I think this is a basic cupcake recipe that can be fine tuned into a more elaborate cake using advanced flavours and designs, the mixture is firm enough to hold nuts choc chips etc.....

To complete the cupcake I made Coffee Butter cream

2 oz Margarine

6 oz Icing (powdered) Sugar

2 tsp Spoon Coffee - dissolved in small amount hot water

1. Cream margarine, add icing sugar beat slowly until combined

2. Add cooled coffee, add remaining icing sugar beat well until stiff consistency. Add more icing if too soft.

3. Pipe using a icing nozzle of choice. Add sieved coco powder to top.

The Be-Ro website has many great recipes. Somewhat different to the old book I own but still as good. here is the link

http://www.be-ro.com/f_insp.htm

I hope to improve my cupcake decorating techniques in the future! and plan on bringing more try outs to the blog, I might leave baking for a while and get back to my Halloween stitching that's waiting for me.

I am making door hanging pillows, I really want to complete them in time for fall so until next time................I hope you like the recipe, let me know if you try it, I would love to hear how you used it.

See you soon

Priscilla x

Enjoying the Sunshine....

Hello,

What a gorgeous day its been here in the uk, I am especially pleased to be a part of the blogging community although I must admit it feels strange to think anyone will actually read my blog, 'Will any one be interested in the type of things I put on here'? I am just hoping that sharing the things I love will also appeal to others......

Yesterday the rain came and didnt let up, so I got one of my autumn craft projects together and spent the day snuggled inside working on that, but today is so very warm I had to get out and take some pictures of a rose bush I have growing at my parents house, I have recently gained a love for gardening and enjoying the simple pleasure of looking out at the delicate blooms and colours.

Don't you just love a good book on a nice day? I have just finished reading Laura childs - jasmine moon murder and i am itching to read the rest in the series, such cozy pretty descriptions of country villages, baking, holidays and an un-expected murder!
The Jasmine Moon Murder (Tea Shop Mysteries)

I love summer reading, I place these amongst my 'to read' pile of books . Alongside decor magazines, recipe books, craft projects and finishing Harry Potter book 6 so I can read the last book 7!