What a week!

I have been a busy bee this week and generally speaking it's been good! A quick round up includes a trip to look at a car and realising we were 1.5 miles away from Tom's cousins pub so we popped in for a bite to eat, a number of meetings at work, a sock, a desk, a giggle filled trip to Knit Nottingham, some crochet and some hippo eggs.

On the work front it has finally been agreed that it would be wrong for the force to expect me to go back into my old role because of the stress it was causing. This means I am being placed on a redeployment register and I have 90 days to attempt to find an alternative. If there is nothing, I could risk being unemployed after the 90 days but as I have no intention of going back anyway it would be silly not to take this opportunity. Something temporary might come up in the mean time which would be great. All in all it's a fantastic result and one I am very pleased with. Just need to find a job but knowing I don't have to go back to the one that makes me ill is such a feeling of relief!

I have finished my first ever knitted sock, I have won a desk on eBay which I will collect tomorrow and after friends asking what they could bring for dinner I suggested Hippo eggs, they relabelled mini eggs and they tasted so much better as Hippo eggs.

I took a quick trip to Knit Nottingham to get some sock advice and whilst there Eleanor told me a rather amusing story about a horse, a rider and a false leg. Giggles a plenty so do ask if you see her.

My crafting this week has been very much this and that. I have been working on the sleeve of my cardigan but knowing I now have until Feb 24th I am taking it a bit slower so I have treated myself to some crochet. I have been working on the squares in my art of crochet magazine. Whilst the yarn is only acrylic and some of the squares are not the most attractive I am learning some new skills. I have made a ribbed square and the next one I am to take on has bobble stitch in it.

A few more things to blog about but this is a little round up of a few odds and ends.

Yummy homemade curry

I thought I would share a little recipe with you all. It's one of my favourites and it all started when my friend Paula and I decided we wanted a curry for tea. Paula is an avid traveller and has spent a lot of time in Asia so she took charge. Since then I have forgotten bits, added bits and now perfected the recipe...I think. It's more of a fragrant curry than a spicy one but Tom and I both love it and its actually rather healthy.

I will put what I have used tonight and this has fed us both generously with a large portion left over, probably best to say it serves four.

INGREDIENTS
6 Chicken thighs (skinned, boned and chopped into pieces)
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
4 tomatoes
8 mushrooms
2 limes (zest and juice)
Large bunch of fresh coriander
Curry powder (I use mild madras but make it to your taste)

Soften the garlic and onions in some oil then add the chicken to cook.
Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and a small amount of water to prevent sticking.
Once the tomatoes have cooked down add curry powder to your taste, you might also need to add a little more water.
Let this cook through then add the lime zest and juice along with two thirds of the coriander.
Simmer for a moment until the sauce has thickened and add the rest of the coriander just before serving.

We have it with rice but enjoy with whatever you like. It's so quick and easy but delicious to eat. I have included a photo but I must apologise about it being in a tub as I didn't take a nicely plated one as I ate it to quickly.

Enjoy!!

New Year, craft room creation and a quick lovely knit.

I'm not sure if it has been noticed recently but my blogs have been lacking some pzazz, I think my lack of personal motivation and the hectic Christmas time has made me rush things.  I also had a very bad few weeks before Christmas with my anxiety.  That's getting boring now so I shall keep it sweet, things are happening over the next few weeks and I am hoping that it will lead onto getting back to work!!  I have decided to start 2013 on a positive foot and start making things happen.

I have been sorting out the spare bedroom to make room for a desk for me to craft at, the hot glue gun and craft knives won't mix well with the lovely oak dining table for long!!  I am heading to an auction on Saturday to try to win one that looks just perfect.  This has been very exciting as the spare room has been a bit of a jumble for a while now and it's providing a good opportunity to clear it out.  It also means i can put my crafts away as they are currently littered around the house.

On a non-crafting topic, Tom got us a dishwasher!!!  I cannot begin to explain how much I love it, washing up was a major problem and a chore that really bothered me (more than it should have) and now I have that stress completely eliminated, it also means the worktops remain clear and hopefully my nail polish will last longer.  We paid for installation but it turns out that this means they attach one pipe to the another pipe (which we didn't have).  We were hoping they would do the whole lot but I think we were a bit too optimistic so after a trip to B&Q I had to drill a giant hole in the cupboard and plumb it in myself, we have no leaks so I did a pretty good job.  Yay me!!

I have also been knitting away at my cardigan for sweater club and this is coming along brilliantly, I have knitted the back and one and a half front panels, I have until February to do the rest so no worries about getting it done in time.  It's looking very good but I shall save my photo's for one big blog about it.

Today though I had a major urge to knit with chunky wool, I just love the stuff.  I headed to my favourite shop ever and purchased a ball of Cygnet Criss Cross.  It's a nice yarn, it's looks like it is made of lots of thinner pieces of yarn woven into a big thick piece, like this.

I decided I would knit it until I ran out of it and depending on the length it would be a cowl or a scarf, it became a cowl and a rather nice one at that.  I chose the colours to go with a brown coat but there are lots of lovely colour selections.  I think having knitted with it I may now even prefer it to the Supa Dupa Chunky, it's a lot less fluffy.  Anyway, here is a little collage of photo's for you, isn't it lovely!

For Christmas my sister got me some beautiful pure wool Rowan DK (available from other stockists I am sure) in white, grey and black.  She got them with a crochet book to make her a Koala but I can't use such beautiful wool on something like that so I have decided I am going to have a go at working a colour pattern into yet another cowl.  I think it will be made up of hearts and various different wobbly lines...looks better in my head that it does written as a description.

All in all I feel I have my mojo back (a little) and I am determined to start this year on a positive note, I think this is already happening.  Happy New Year to you all.

Handmade presents

I have been beavering away making presents for my family and today I got to hand them over and watch them get opened, they were all very well appreciated.

The first thing I made was a ribbon heart hook for my sister, she loves bright colours so obviously I chose bright ribbons and got making. I also made her a hat with some wool found in my parents loft when they moved, it's really old double crepe and when Rheanne saw it she asked me to make her something...I did!

I crocheted my Mum a robin which she loves, it was a tricky little devil to make but well worth it. I also knocked up a scarf for her long walks on the beach with Monty the dog, it's made with sweet briar chunky which is my fave yarn, can't tell you why but I just loved knitting with it.

I made my Dad a hat for the same purpose as my Mum's scarf, he is the first to admit he needs a hat due to a lack of hair on his head so after one bodged attempt I found a fantastic pattern for a WW1 watch cap and knitted it, it's great.

Here are the photo's, I am writing this on my iPad so I can't put them in amongst the text which is so annoying.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day is here and reaching its end. This year is the first I have spent away from my family so that was a bit odd but I have had a lovely day with my own little family. Sophie the cat unfortunately had a fight last night so she has spent the day moping around with a large chunk of her tail missing...boxing day trip in her box to the vets it is.

Dinner was a success...eventually. The oven randomly turned itself off half way through the Yorkshire puddings but we did recover them, I think I had pressed a button that made it turn off after so long.

I can share one of my home made gifts as it has now been opened, a scarf for Tom's Mum, it went down well.

I was a very lucky girl as Tom got me a Lumie Bodyclock, it's amazing and I cannot wait to be woken up gently by it, I really hope it helps with this depression malarkey!

I shall end this short blog by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. To those of you missing loved ones or struggling over the festive period I send you my love.

Christmas Cake

Last year I made my first ever Christmas Cake and it was delicious, it looked like this.

I was rather happy with it but decided this year to attempt to be a bit braver with my decorating.  The recipe is one by Mary Berry and it is honestly amazing, that woman is a genius!  If you fancy having a go yourself the recipe can be found HERE.  It's a boozy one and tastes like heaven but I recommend that it serves more than 12 as it is very rich.  This is how I have decorated this years cake.

Mince Pies

Today I made mice pies with Tom's Mum, I was entrusted with an old Cox family recipe for the pastry so I am not allowed to share it but oh my it's good! It is so light and fluffy I could eat the whole lot in one go. It got me very much in the festive spirit as it has vanished recently.

In other news my sweater club cardigan is coming along nicely, can't stop knitting it because its so beautiful.