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A lazy Sunday morning; a yummy Sunday morning breakfast :)

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I taught myself how to crochet and I have no idea why I thought it was so hard! I've tried before and just couldn't get the hang of it.
I chose learning to crochet as one of my day zero challenges and finally decided to go for it the other day when I kept seeing lovely crochet projects on Pinterest.

I bought a kit from Ebay that included a plastic crochet hook and everything needed to make the caterpillar you can see in the picture.
I didn't do very well from the instructions that came with the kit so I checked out some of the pins I'd seen on Pinterest and with the help of Vanessa from Do You Mind If I Knit? and some videos on You Tube, I picked it really easily!
Now I'm not saying I'm any good yet. I've only done basic stitches and haven't followed a proper pattern but I'm looking forward to learning and getting more adventurous :)

Fairtrade Fortnight - Take a Step #takeastep

...It can be a simple step like swapping your tea to Fairtrade, or a bigger step, like asking everyone in your office to do it too.
You'll be joining thousands of others all over the UK when you take a step for Fairtrade. Make it as inventive, daring, funny or messy as you like. Every step counts for millions of farmers, workers and their communities in developing countries who urgently need a better deal from trade.

The above is taken from the Fairtrade Facebook page. Click Like to show your support then head on over to www.fairtrade.org.uk/step to register your step/s :)


Follow Fairtrade on Twitter for all the latest news and to let them know the steps you'll be taking for Fairtrade.

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The girls baked pecan and apricot muffins tonight after school and they are absolutely delicious.

The kids have gone to Aiden's dad's for the weekend and I sent the muffins with them, except for two that I kept back so Ant and I could taste them and now I'm wishing I'd have kept more back!

I'll be putting the recipe on the next Fruity Friday post :)

Fruity Friday - Week 5 Frozen pineapple and berry slush

Welcome to week five of my Day Zero Challenge to cook my through a cook book. You can find the details on the original post, Fruity Friday.

All recipes are taken from Readers Digest Fresh Fruit and Dessert book.

Our fifth recipe is:

Frozen pineapple and berry slush

Serves 4

8 ice cubes

250g (9oz) hulled strawberries

250g (9oz) fresh pineapple chunks, frozen

120ml (4 fl oz) pineapple juice

2 tbsp dried skimmed milk powder

1 tbsp vanilla sugar or caster sugar, or to taste

sprigs of fresh pineapple mint to decorate

1) Put the ice cubes in a food processor or heavy duty blender and process until they're finely crushed.

Alternatively, crush the ice cubes in a freezer proof bag, bashing them with a rolling pin and then put them in the blender or processor.

2) Add the strawberries, pineapple chunks, pineapple juice and skimmed milk powder and process again until blended but still with small pieces of fruit and ice visible.

3) Taste ans sweeten with sugar if necessary. Process briefly with the pulse button.

4) Spoon into tall glasses, decorate each with a sprig of pineapple mint and serve with long spoons.

Each serving provides:

95 kcal

3g protein

0.3g fat

22g carbohydrate of which sugars 22g

2g fibre

Family verdict:

Ella LOVED it! It didn't last more than a couple of minutes and I think she finished off KayCee's as well!

It was very nice and would make a lovely refreshing breakfast drink on a warm summer morning.

In the garden

Sunshine, warmth, compost and seeds; these are the things my afternoon comprised of and a very nice afternoon it was too!
I didn't get any bulbs planted because I have to sort all the planters out and figure out which ones are going to be used for which flowers but I got all the seeds planted that can be started in February.

I've sown some Lavender seeds,

Photo Credit

Night Phlox seeds,

Photo Credit

Tanacetum seeds,

Apple Blossom,

Cineraria,

Photo Credit

Rudbeckia,

Photo Credit

Lychnis

and Mesembryanthemum seeds.

I've taken photos of the whole garden so I can compare the growth over the next few months.

Last year we planted quite a few different kinds of flowers, shrubs etc and I'm looking forward to seeing if any of them have survived the winter. I have loads more flower seeds to plant so I'm not too worried if the plants don't grow in the border because I'll have plenty to fill it.

I had planned on putting all low maintenance plants in the border that would give colour all year round but I'm quite liking the idea of being creative with it every year and growing lots of different types of flowers.

I've got loads of jobs to do to get everything ready for the spring. The raised beds need digging over, the shed needs emptying and reorganising and lots of the pots/planters need emptying, cleaning and replanting.

The waterfall needs sorting and we need to get more plants for the rockery. Some that we planted last year are doing really well but a couple didn't make it.

I'm looking forward to getting all the jobs done and seeing the garden coming back to life after what seems like incredibly long winter!

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The latest addition to our garden ornament family! :)

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A little fuzzy but I love it because she looks a bit wild!

The Gallery - Landscapes

I knew I was going to use this photo as soon as I saw the theme for this week.
It was last weeks 'favourite of the week' of the ones I took each day for my 365 project and I have to confess that it's one of my all time favourites.

For more landscapes photos, click on over to Sticky Fingers :)

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I took the camera off of auto today and with the help of a video tutorial on DSLR Tips I managed to get the background blurry while keeping the subject sharp.
It would be fair to say that I got totally excited when it worked! I can't wait to get some portraits of the kids using the same technique :)