Repairs, Cards and Books

Today I managed to get some jobs done despite spending all of my free time watching the new puppy. I repaired the sleeves again on a shirt, repaired a rucksack for my son and mended a hole on a pair of jeans.  Nothing amazing I know but they are jobs that have been sitting there and it is a relief to get them done as I nearly always put off starting anything for myself while ever there are other repair jobs sitting around.
I also made a Christmas card, yes just the one but it is still October. It is quite a basic tree one, but sometimes you want to feel like you have done something no matter how small to get the ball rolling and get you back into making stuff.  So that is what this was, I have  decided I am going to make them daily, not all the same of course and this way they will build up gradually.

Now the colours are much brighter but this is a night time photo so it looks quite washed out.

The card I bought last year really cheap after Christmas for something like 30p for 6 with envelopes. The tree is cut out from vinyl samples I was given years ago and I still have loads left, other bits are recycled paper, some stickers I got free with a magazine I was bought as a gift ( a craft magazine as a present from a friend)

So I have ideas now but it is getting the time to make them a reality, watching a puppy as many of you will know takes loads of time and energy, every sniff we have to rush outside to see if he needs to pee or poo, When my son is watching him he has only half an eye on him so accidents are happening more then, so much as I should make him watch him more (he is supposed to be his, I laugh) I don't want to delay his house training so it is more effective when I can keep catching him and talking him out.

I have seen some fabulous ideas on pinterest 

How gorgeous is that sewing machine cover, I also saw this one...

Now I hope these images last because sometimes I share and then find the image has gone. However if I do one thing this half term I think it has to be making myself a sewing machine cover like one of these.

I have a couple of new books on the go this week, one of them is fiction, The Loney

I have only just started this so will let you know how it goes. The other one is by Cesar Millan called How to raise the Perfect Dog ( hah! again I will let you know how that goes also.

Right I am going to try to be back tomorrow as I am determined to carve out a little time each day for making.

New Puppy

I've been busy again this month but for a different reason, we have a new family member Marvin the jug. (half pug half Jack Russel)
He takes up a lot of time because you have to have your eye on him all the time, house training and making sure he is safe. Also as I have two other dogs I have to make sure he is not bothering them as he is young and very nippy at the moment!

He doesn't stay with my other two when we are out as I don't trust them together yet and it wouldn't be fair on the older two so he has his own pen in the hallway. So I hope to be sewing again soon, he just needs to calm down a little so I can take my eyes off him without him chasing the other two around the house!

Courgetti spaghetti, Cake, Biscuits and Books

As I get used to avoiding wheat I find it gets easier all the time, I suppose this is the same with any change that we need to make but initially it did feel very difficult to eat without all the baked goods that I used to love.  The thing is now I tend to associate them with feeling dreadful afterwards which tends to make them less appealing.
Due to this change I rarely get to eat any cake or biscuits unless I have braved baking with the dreaded gluten free flour.  I saw a recipe for white chocolate and cranberry cookies so I thought I would try it. Now as usual I didn't stick to the plan ( maybe this is why things go wrong?) I just creamed the margarine and sugar then threw in the flour, egg, cranberries and white chocolate.  I also didn't need it as I have found it to be very crumbly and not very workable, instead I added a little soya so it would be more moist and just spooned the mixture onto the baking paper.

I didn't get any pictures as half are already in the freezer, some in my stomach and a few left in the kitchen which wouldn't make for a great photo.  Long story short is that although they were not very biscuity they were very tasty!  They came out more of a flattish scone but never mind as they are so nice.
I will maker them again with a full photo and recipe for you.

Something I did take a photo of was todays bake, which is for church and therefore not Gluten free as it is to be given out and not consumed by me!  I made this up, and it is a vanilla sponge with crushed wheatos ( Yeah like I said I'm not eating it!) marshmallows and chocolate topping.

There are marshmallows inside as well.

Another thing I tried today was courgetti spaghetti, now basically it's just courgette cut into really fine strips (julienne) and fried in olive oil. You can top it with whatever pasta sauce you use, I made one with tomatoes, onion, garlic and chilli.  I then topped it with cheese and had a spinach and cucumber salad.  It was really good and strange how the courgette when cooked lilts and has the texture of spaghetti.  Much healthier, I will definitely make this often.  I think I will buy a julienne peeler though as they are cheap enough and would make preparing stuff quicker.

A couple of books I have read recently are The Shack which was really thought provoking if maybe a bit challenging in places. Also I am having a bit of a binge on reading about habit formation. A book I enjoyed was 59 seconds.

 It has some really good examples of studies, some you may have heard of before if you have read Outliers or Tipping point there are some familiar themes.  I also started Nudge but I got a bit bored with that,  The latest one is The Power of Habit, I just started this so I will keep you posted.