It's been a while

And here is my absentee note!

How can it be two weeks since I blogged or even visited my blogger friends? I could come up with all kinds of excuses and they would all be true but of course you are just as busy as I am, so there is no excuse really is there?
Anyway, I am here now and to sweeten everyone up I am going to share a very good recipe that I make quite often. It is from down under so I have added the equivalent measurements etc. I made it yesterday in fact!

Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Lemon Syrup

preheat oven to 180C or 350F

1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
grated zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup of oil
mix all of this well with a fork and then add -
1 cup vanilla yoghurt
2 cups of SR flour or 2 cups of AP flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder
gently stir in till all mixed.
Spoon into a ring pan or bundt pan that has been well greased and floured. Bake in middle of over for 45 - 50 minutes. Test with a skewer.
Remove and turn out and poke holes all over. Slowly pour over the following syrup.
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 2 lemons
Zap in micro wave for a minute until dissolved
This cake is moist and yummy and can be a yummy dessert with custard as well.
I have finished lots of projects in these past couple of months including a couple of dolls. One for a swap partner and the other for a commission order. Here they both are.

I have really enjoyed making dolls over the years but my fingers are not liking it so much any more. Stuffing those tiny limbs really is a painful experience now days. My doll making days are sadly drawing to a close. I have an order for a Welsh fairy doll and my daughter's birthday doll to finish and after that I might just say - enough! Sniff sniff.

Ok so they are saying the 'S' word for tomorrow along with the 'A' word. I am not ready to give up Fall yet. Where did this year go to? Spring was non existent, Summer came and went too fast and now Fall is leaving in a hurry. And you know what? Winter will be here to stay for the long haul. What is with that?

I will be back in the next day or so, I have some fabulous photos of a local quilt exhibition to share with you all.

Ooroo for now x

friends

As most of my blog friends know I moved country when I was past middle age. 48 years old in fact! The first 5 1/2 years were spent living in Virginia. I had one really nice friend who I met at a quilt guild there and we still keep in touch via email and phone. She was the only good friend I made, I found it very hard to make new friends at my age. Back home in Australia, friends were made in school and then at work and then through my own children. It was harder here, I had no family, no old friends.
We moved to the mountains of upstate NY in August 2009. I have made more friends here than I made in Virginia and funny thing is, people in the south told me that it would be hard to get to know people in the north. I found that not to be true. I am off track now but wanted to write about my friend Renee who is also my neighbour. Renee and her husband and 3 little girls knocked on our door the weekend we were moving in. They welcomed us to the 'road' with a jar of peach jelly and warm hearts.
Renee is in her mid thirties and she has 3 little girls under the age of nine and now a baby on the way. We have become very close despite our age difference. She is like a surrogate daughter and more. We both love to cook and garden and during the long winters we drink tea and coffee and drool over seed catalogues and plan spring gardens,swap recipes, talk about our latest books and sometimes do needlework.
Today I am making her lunch for her birthday. She asked for my salmon patties and salad. Easy. I asked her what cake she would like and she asked for my Lemon Drizzle cake. Easy again. One day when her babies are grown and all at school and she has freeer days, I will teach her to quilt. Friends don't have to be the same age as you. Renee and I have a twenty year age difference.

I love this photo of Renee and two of the girls last winter. Off back home after a visit.

BNR Time!!!!!! starting at 3pm Eastern!

✿º°¨¨¨°º✿✿º°¨¨¨°º✿✿º°¨¨¨°º¨¨¨ BNR ✿ BNR ✿ BNR ¨¨¨º°¨¨¨°º✿✿º°¨¨¨°º✿✿º°¨¨¨°º✿


• This Tuesday is BNR time! - from 3:00 to 11 pm Etsy time. I will come back and post the link at 3 pm!

✿ What does BNR mean, and how does it typically work?

• BNR means Buy and Replace. Basically, you buy one of the items in the BNR treasury. That item is replaced with one of yours. There is usually a minimum amount that has to be spent, and sometimes you can tell the curator which of your items you want in the treasury.

BNRs are a great way to get exposure and pump up your sales. Both Sellers & Buyers-only participate.

Don't forget to check my blog after 3pm Eastern/Etsy time for the link to the BNR! There will be discounts offered by individual sellers too!!

raindrops on roses and..

Today I wanted to share some of my favorite things from the very creative Promotional Frenzy Team on etsy, a team that I am a member of! You can see more by visiting etsy, choosing 'handmade' from the dropdown menu and then searching - promofrenzyteam. You will find a varied assortment of beautiful handmade treasures at affordable prices. Who doesn't like a handmade gift?

vintage pendant

giraffe hat

chillin'n

halloween soap

pillow covers

bath salts

cuff bracelet