Knitting and Me

A friend sent me this and I just love it;



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM

its so like me I've been told off for knitting at work before but once I start I carn't stop.

I've decided following ysoldas' http://ysolda.com/wordpress/ lead to swap christmas cards with all my lovely blog readers.

Send me a mail at lupincottagedesigns@yahoo.com including your address and I'll send you out one of my hand made cards.

I look forward to hearing from you

I know it's still November

I've been busy, I know it's still November but last Christmas kind off caught me by surprise so this year I've been very organised. I've written all my Christmas cards, bought and wrapped almost all my Christmas presents and I've almost finished all the hand made gifts I'm giving.

I thought I'd share with you some ideas for quick and easy recipes that every single person I know will be receiving from Mr l.c.d and myself. Obviously not the children we know, they will get the biscuits, not the Vodka.

For the Vodka recipes I used Sainsbury's value vodka, normally I'm quite choosy about the Vodka I drink but once this is made you wouldn't be able to tell between this and the much more expensive brands. I also bought my Berry's from Boots they do 75g packs of blueberry's and cranberry's for 99p which is much cheaper than any dried Berry's I've seen in the supermarkets.

When giving the Vodka as a gift I like to include a couple of shot glasses... as my 20's were quite miss spent, I've managed to collect quite a few which I now like to share out.

The first recipe I made was Blueberry and Cranberry Vodka But you can make this just using cranberry's.

ingredients;

350ml Vodka

200g Sugar

75g of dried berry's

1 orange, grated zest and juice.

Put everything in a sauce pan for 20 minuets heating slowly and not allowing it to boil. Wait for the liquid to cool the put back in the vodka bottle it came in. Making sure all the labels are removed, then label and decorate to your own taste. Shake before drinking..

Vanilla and Lemon Vodka

ingredients;

350ml Vodka
200g Sugar
1/2 tsp of good quality Vanilla essence

2 Lemons, grated zest and juice.

1 or 2 vanilla pods split in half depending on taste

Make up as the recipe above.

Spicy Shortbread

Ingredients;

225g unsalted butter,

75g caster sugar

275g plain flour

1 tsp of ground mixed spice

grated zest of 1 orange

75g of ground almonds

preheat oven to gas mark 4

Mix the butter and caster sugar together until the colour of the mixture lightens. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Roll the dough into a ball, you may need to add a bit more flour to do this but don't go mad.. Roll the dough to the required thickness and cut out the biscuits in fun Christmas shapes (I like Christmas trees) and cook for between 20 minutes and half an hour, you know they are done when the edges start turning brown and they feel firm to touch.

Take out the oven and decorate once they are cool, I like using Green and Blacks white chocolate. Seal in an air tight container and distribute to everyone and anyone you know...

Merry Christmas.... I'm getting excited, can you tell. If only finding the perfect Christmas party outfit was so easy. I'll leave you with a picture of Spain which I think looks quite Christmassy

Back from Spain

Hi I'm back off my holiday and feeling all refreshed. we had fabulous weather except for the last day and a half when it didn't stop raining.

The villa we stayed in was lovely, it belongs to a friend of my Dad's and had its own private pool, which was nice, except when you stopped moving your toes would drop off as it was so cold. The pool was lovely in all the pots round the pool there were lemon lime and grapefruit trees.

Spain in November is lovely, I've never really been a big fan of Spain, it was too brown and dried out but then I've always been in the summer before. In November it's green and lush with temperatures at about 20-22 degrees. There's not too many holiday makers except for the older people who spend their summers in Spain.

I've bit of a tan and feel a lot calmer and happier about life. I didn't really realise how much I needed a break, luckily for me my Mum and Dad did.

Thanks parents I do really appreciate it.

Mum and Dad also took me for Nerja for the day which is where they normally holiday in Spain. If you ever have the chance go as it was so pretty, not built up like most resorts are in Spain. Most of the hotels are right next to the beach which is unspoilt shingle. We went for lunch at their favorite restaurant on the beach where we ate paella as you have to while in Spain with a bottle of wine the food was all cooked over open fires and cooked right in front of you. It was lovely but would of been better if I wasn't wearing white trousers as I managed to drop two prawns on my lap so I had to walk round in dirty trousers for the rest of the day, I looked incredibly sophisticated...

I did get some knitting done I'm knitting myself a turquoise cardigan which I've designed myself its knitted in a wool mohair on relatively large needles it'll be v-necked when finished and will fasten with a great big turquoise ribbon when its all finished.

Next time I post I've some quick and easy Christmas presents I'm going to share.

Sorry I've been gone for so long

I'm sorry I've not posted for a while but I don't know where my time has gone recently. I do know however that I've been productive while missing in action, my studios been redecorated and tidied. I'm half way through knitting two jumpers I've made for myself and I've also done the vast majority of my Christmas shopping. I've also been to three Halloween parties and said goodbye to some good friends who've left work this month.

Unfortunately I've no new photos to show as my husband stole my phone and the digital camera doesn't seem to want to down load onto the computer.

But on the positive side I'm leaving wet cold Derby tomorrow morning to visit sunny Spain for 10 days I can't wait I've loads of knitting planned and as we've got our own private pool many lengths to swim. I may also do some sleeping and lying around doing nothing which'll be nice as I just feel so worn out at the moment I need to get my mojo back.