Boots.

So spring is here and despite enjoying the wee bit of sunshine we've had, all I seem to be able to think about is adorning my feet with some nice cosy booties! Having already bought myself some lovely vintage cowboy boots for eBay, I'm now coveting these beauts, courtesy of SkinnyandBernie.

Ooooof.

I'm taking a short sabbatical from the shop to visit my boyfriend's parents, but it will still be left up and open, you'll just have to wait a tad longer for items to get to you. I'm gonna spend some of my time away getting to grips with some fab new designs - my bunting necklaces and papercrane brooches in particular have super successful so I'm planning some new styles based on those, yay!

Aaaaaand before I go, how great are these dip-dye style tights by BZR:

I'd love a pair in every shade, but how gutted would you be if you laddered them?! Haha.

Laura

World's Worst Blogger.

I am a bad, bad blogger. But also a fairly busy person at the moment as I have two jobs as well as a shop to run, so I've kind of got an excuse.

In lieu of my rubbishness please have some pretty bunting necklaces, ready just in time for spring!

Up and available in both my Etsy and Folksy shops right now (I typed the html for those hyperlinks from memory and as I'm not so savvy with the ol' internet I'll be impressed with myself if they work first time!).

On another note, was anyone else working all day today when it was gloriously sunny outside? What did you all get up to on the first sunny day of the year?

Cough cough sniffle.

Hello again!

So it has been an interesting couple of weeks - been busy busy busy working (and have been struck down by a most monstrous cold as a result) and making some potentially drastic changes careers wise (eep). Luckily I am going home for a visit this weekend which will give me a nice bit of recuperation and thinking time. I'll also get to see my two little nieces which I am super excited about!

I've also had a pretty productive day today and have popped lots of new things up in the shop. There would have been more lovelies had the sun/weather not been against me and made it too dark to take pictures - is it just me or has the temperature dropped by 20 degrees since last week?

Now I best be off as it is fairly late and I am yet to tidy up all the mess I have made today. I'm also averaging a sneeze every 2-3 minutes, my throat feels like sandpaper and I have work tomorrow so should probably get myself to bed. Night all!

x

My bad.

Ok ok, so I think it's fair to say I can not be trusted to keep a blog up to date. The last few weeks have been a little busy as I have started one new job and am expecting to start another new job at any time, but I promise I will try to be better and do some more posties!

Sorry sorry sorry for the torrent of pictures, I have been pretty productive over the last few days craft wise and am feeling quite pleased with myself and wanted to show off a few things! All the above are, or will shortly be, available over in le shop.

In other news, I have my induction day at Boots tomorrow, eep! Quite looking forward to it actually, I enjoyed working in retail when I was at college and it will give me a little extra when I starting supply teaching.

My boyfriend's Canadian aunt and uncle are coming to Norwich for a visit this weekend so I am trying to think of 'typically British' activities for us to do with them, any ideas would be very much appreciated :)

x

Well, I think someone was fibbing when they said it was going to be 24°c in Norwich today! Grey grey grey. I've had a pretty productive day, but I've found it's actually quite hard to get motivated when you don't really have anything you need or have to do from day to day. I doubt I'll be saying that in September when it's back to proper work, mind!


Anyway, enough glumness - have a cute picture:

Meet Arthur and Patrick the Roborovski hamsters. They're the world's smallest hamsters, and they like to sleep in the world's biggest strawberry :)


x

Today has been a grey day so to cheer myself and my boyfriend up I made a tasty lemon drizzle cake. My boyfriend's mum gave me this recipe and it's too delicious not to share - the cake is so light and fluffy and goes crunchy on top when the lemon icing sets. Nom nom nom. 


You will need (sorry the weights are in ounces, I've never bothered to work out the equivalents!):


4oz margarine/butter
6oz sugar
2 eggs
6oz self raising flour
2-5 tablespoons of milk
2 lemons
3oz icing sugar


Preheat your oven at about 160°c (for fan assisted ovens, about 180°c for standard). Cream the margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour and beat in the eggs (I like to put both eggs in a mug first and mix them up so it's easier to add them a bit at a time) and stir until smooth. Grate the lemons and add the rind to the mixture (but don't throw away the lemons themselves as you will need them later) and add 2 to 5 tablespoons of milk to give the mixture 'dropping consistency'. Now I'm no baking expert and have never asked anyone what this means so I have always gone with adding the milk until the mixture drops gently off the wooden spoon and this seems to work fine. Once the mixture is ready get yourself a deep rectangular baking tin and line with baking/greaseproof paper. Spoon the mixture in and pop everything in the over for about 1 hour.


Just before the hour is up, take the lemons and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Add the icing sugar and mix together to give a delicious sugary lemony mixture - I like to give it a whiz with a electric hand whisk to get out any lumps. Once the cake has risen and is golden brown and still a little soft to the touch, grab yourself a knitting needle or kebab stick (or anything long, thin and pointy) and poke the cake evenly all over about 10 times, pushing the needle down to the bottom of the baking tin. Pour the lemon icing sugar all over the cake and allow to cool. It tastes particularly good if you leave it for about an hour and have a slice when the icing sugar is just starting to set and the cake is still warm!


It seems to have a huge amount of sugar in it for a smallish cake, maybe that's why it tastes so good?