Wish I'd asked my Gran: Braveheart!

Wish I'd asked my Gran: Braveheart!

flying machines

well it was a lovely morning and we thought that it would be good to visit the local car boot and boy are we glad we did!! The boys fell in with a large box of plastic meccano for £5 and i got a couple more cup to make pin cushions out of - but the best find must be this juice press, brand new and still in the box and when i looked at it i thought it was about £30 new and when i asked the price and the lady said £2 i nearly had her hand off as well, don't you think it looks swell ?


so with the bargin hunting over we headed home, stopping on the way home at the new cafe at the local airfield. The boys had large pieces of chocolate cake and i had coffee cake - yummmmmy and it was delish - the big bonus to this was we were able to sit outside and watch the helicopters land and take off and as you can see the boys really enjoyed the cake
this one was just getting ready to take off and the noise and the smell of the fuel all added to the event
the view must be awesome up there and we have all agreeded that this is something we would save up for in the future
and the cake wasn't half bad either

two more sleeps!!!

well it's that time of year again and the boys are looking forward to the school holidays - 'how many more sleeps till no school?' addy has been asking for the last week or so and now it is only two more sleeps and they are off for the next 2 months!!!!! really hope that the weather improves and have to get the thinking cap on and work out the entertainment for the summer and in the middle of all this i have a couple of big craft fairs to attend but as usual the boys will come with me and help spend any money that i make. but in the mean time the boys are off for a picnic and a day at the local kids play club with the school and i'm off nto bed to get some sleep so i can keep up with them

tea cups

i have just finished my latest 'project' - teacup pincushions and i'm very pleased with the end results. I was lucky to pick up the tea set at the car boot sale and the rest of the bits i had in my stash and my trusty old hot glue gun at the ready



the boys wanted to know what they were for as they thought they looked like cups full of pink ice cream and thought they were good enough to eat - hope the customers like them just as much!!!!!

SODA BREAD FRESH AIR STYLE

well it was the annual fete at the local parish church and as usual we always go to the car boot that they have along with the tractor rides and cake stall and bottle stall and the bread making and the plant stall and all the rest that go on for the day - well we packed the car up and headed off and it was starting to spit and then a light drizzel and by the time i had went the 3 miles to the venue it was emptying. Loopylou had her hubby put up the gazebo for us but it really didn't make that much of a difference so we called it a day and loopylou headed home.
We on the other hand went to see how granny was getting on at the bread making and as you can see i was already wet a little more rain wouldn't hurt.

we went to where they were making soda bread and as you can see we are pretty well set out for outside catering!!!!

Addy just loves to help and here he is checking that i am mixing it right and in the back ground you can see the hobs that my dad made over the years, these are gas and this suits griddles well as we can regulate the heat better

the lady beside me is my mum and she taught me many years ago to make soda farls and wheaten farls and pancakes on the griddle and as this is a dying art we love doing demonstrations at fete and traction engine rallies and people love to tell the stories from their childhood when most homes had a griddle and made soda and pancakes every day but now because most of the shops and supermarkets carry it now and people don't have the same time not many people make their own any more. Another great thing of the griddle is potato bread but that is for another day !!!!

A big thankyou has to go to Mr Spence at Neills Flour for sponsoring the soda bread flour and in the bowl i have soda bread flour and buttermilk and a handful of sultanas and a good teaspoon of syrup and all you do is mix until it comes together and then turn it out onto a floured surface

then you lightly kneed it into a round and roll out till just under half an inch thick, cut into four farls and then place into a heated griddle and then wait and enjoy the smell

the farls will start to raise and when they have formed a skin and are nice and golden brown on the bottom they are ready to turn , below is plain soda farls cooking and the smell is wonderful

and this is what they look like when they are cooked and when we do these outdoor events there is always a great demand for this as you can't beat fresh soda with a spread of butter and a big mug of tea.

so we might not have done to well at the carboot but we had great criac at the bread making !

the 3 amigos

what a lovely day for a craft fair and as you can see i always have something to keep me busy .
we were at a small pta school fair and had a good days criac


they had lots of things for the children to do and plenty of stalls for the mums and dads to spend their money on and the local firefighters turned up and set up a game for the kids to knock cones off with the water hose and then the kids could climb over the fire engine and as you can see Addy had a ball as he tried to drive the engine
as usual loopylou was with me and we were joined by Mrs Bell - Mrs Bell does a lot of work for charity and on this day she was supporting meningitis. The weekend before that she completed a charity walk and was only to do a short stint with the rest of the pack but as usual Mrs Bell went the extra bit and finished the whole section, more power to her elbow as i don't think i could have went the whole way

Rabbit

Have to keep an eye on floopsy as he blends with the cushions

home james

saturday afternoon and what a glorious day we are having so with nothing better to do lets go for a run on the tractor - well to be honest this has been arranged for a while by our church, a tractor run followed by a bbq and barn dance and myself and addy are ready for the road


and we have dressed for the trip but loopylou was dressed for shopping and had to take care not to get those lovely white trousers dirty!!!!! (which we mamaged with very little effort)
and on the almost 2 hour run on the trailor we passed the time eating sweets and drinking juice and singing songs and the children that were with us ( my 2 boys and loopy's 2 and a friends 3 and another brother and sister) they had a ball and as we were the last tractor and trailor we waved to all on the way past and when the singing got to much the driver shut the cab window to deaden the noise! and he also had a great chuckle every time he went over a bump because it made us yell even more
forgot to say that the tractor driver was loopylou's husband and an old friend of mine. after juggled about for 2 hours it was back to the village hall for a bbq and we sang 'she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes' on the way into the carpark (because it was the only song that we could remember) what a great night we all had

this is my friend and partner in crime loopylou, we sometimes attend craftfairs together and are known as a bit of 'trouble' - wanting tables moved and starting off inside and then wanting outside - you know the sort of thing, us women are never happy !

now it took me a while but i have managed to gat my phone set up so i can now blog on the go - what a clever girl i am now off the upload more photos and get myself updated as we have had a very busy weekend and the boys now love to see what foxy has been up to

Friends

Loopylou, foxy and me at the fair