All posts tagged: NaBloPoMo

Malt Loaf Recipe

Published by

I miss Malt Loaf.  Dark brown squishy cake loaves which are best eaten sliced with a slap of butter alongside a cup of strong tea at your Grandmas. A British delicacy if you will, malt loaf is the best tea/coffee time treat.  I can’t find it here in the Mid West for love nor money! So I sought out a recipe and found one which involved yeast and kneading and one which was full of dried fruit soaked in hot tea.  I tried the second recipe and it was a hit!  I am so pleased to find a good malt loaf recipe, I am going to get stocked up on raisins and barley malt extract and get baking! Here is the recipe, taken from the BBC Good Food Magazine online. Sticky Malt Loaf Pre heat the oven to 300 degrees F and line a loaf tin (the original recipe recommends making two loaves, but I made one and it was just right for me).  I also read that someone made Malt Loaf muffins which is …

An Afternoon in the Woods taken with Hipstamatic.

Published by

  Do you still use Hipstamatic on your phone to take photos with an instant funky look?  Hipstamatic was one of the first photo apps I got for my phone and I still really like it.  You never quite know what you are going to get, but it usually a fun photo.   I love all the films and lenses to mess about with. I downloaded the new Dalston Hipstapak this weekend and used it to take some photos while we were exploring in the woods today.  We donned our wellies and trudged about in the undergrowth and the creek, we made a dam and picked up some old creek glass and pottery shards which have been worn smooth by the water over many years. We stood and watched a little woodpecker make his way up a tree pecking out bugs as he went. I hope you managed to get outside for a while this weekend.      

‘I like’ Fridays.

Published by

For the month of November and maybe forever after, I am going to do a Friday post with a few things I like.  ‘I like’ Fridays,  see what I did there! What are you liking this fine Friday?  Let me know in the comments. This week I have been liking these things Reading – ‘Us’ by David Nicholls, I am only just starting this book, but I really like it.  I had better hurry up because it is from the library and I only have two weeks to read it which is not my usual speed.  My usual speed is about two months per book! Watching – Project Runway Allstars season 4.  We have no cable (thinking of ditching it altogether) at the minute, so I am catching up online on Fridays.  My little Friday treat.  I have to admit that I don’t like Allstars as much as regular Runway.  Heidi and Tim, I miss you! Listening – Serial podcast.  I am obsessed with it, I can hardly wait from week to week.  If you …

I have new business cards.

Published by

Since I changed my blog over to Girl Fifteen, I have not updated my biz cards with all of my new info, I have now! I also use the cards to tag my jewels when they go off to customers.  They are a matt finish, so I can write little extra notes on if I need to. This is the first time I have used the Instagram square style in a card and I really like them. I got them printed at Moo which is usually where I get my cards made.   I punch holes in them to hang lovely earrings (these are for the school principal, I hope she likes them!).  To be honest, I planned to make them all different photos, but I messed that up!  Having said that, I quite like that they all have the photo of the statue of Saint Louis with some amazing clouds taken at the St Louis Art Museum a couple of months ago. Do you use business cards?  Isn’t it difficult to decide what exactly …

Learning a new language. Still.

Published by

I have lived in the States for 11 years now and I still sometimes forget to translate words into ‘American’. Good job I don’t live in France or Germany! I wouldn’t be communicating so well if I did. When I moved here I knew that some words were different but nothing to confuse, right?  Wrong. Lots to confuse and no, watching every episode of ‘Friends’ and ‘Sex in the City’ does not equip you with enough language ability to manage in the big wide Mid West world. Some differences are pretty well known both sides of the pond and cause no problems like candy/sweets and Mom/Mum although I still don’t use Mom ever, I am a Mum all the way! So let’s look at some more of these words which don’t match.  Clothing always confuses me, should I wear a vest if I want to be warm or cool?  Don’t get your pants mixed up with your trousers!  Always remember to wear your fanny-pack on your bum. I have had some very interesting conversations which …

Weekly Photos 44/52, 2014.

Published by

          1. Soldier helmet, all ready for the Halloween costume. 2. The first frost of the season arrived this week, so I harvested all of the green tomatoes before they got frosty! 3. The last Lavender harvest which is now hanging in the basement.  I have a jam jar full of dried lavender all ready to make into pretty Lavender bags. 4. and 5.  Playing conkers in the back garden. How was your week?  Very good I hope and here’s looking forward to a new week.  

Photo a Day October 2014

Published by

This month’s prompts from Fat Mum Slim were the alphabet up to the 26th and finishing the month with the numbers 1-5. A is for acorn. B is for birds. C is for conkers. D is for dried out sunflower. E is for elephants. F is for fir tree. G is for goldfish. H is for Helmet. I is for inside one of my boxes of supplies. J is for jug. K is for knitting. L is for leaves. M is for magazines. N is for nest necklace.  A special customer order. O is for octagon.   P is for purple pillar and pile of chairs. Q is for quartz.   R is for round (ish). S is for shell.  We found this in the creek, I suspect it is not a native! T is for trees. U is for utensils. V is for violet skates left on a bench.   W is for web, on the hedge for Halloween. X is for eXploding candy! Y is for yellow sign. Z is for zombie finger …

Six Word Saturday

Published by

  I am starting ‘Six Word Saturday’ on my blog again.  Mainly because I miss doing it and also to help me fully participate in National Blog Post Month.  I did NaBloPoMo last year and I really felt like I had achieved something by the end of it. This month will consist of the regular posts I do, like ‘Through The Lens Thursday’ and ‘Weekly Photos’ as well as more ‘What I am Wearing’ and CatsEatDogs jewelry posts.  I wonder what else I will be writing about?  I think I will see how the month takes me and maybe we can have lots of chats in the comments! In case you are wondering, the tentacle is part of a Christmas present for my cousin’s 13 year old son!  Have you started Christmas shopping yet?  I like to get an early start as I have to mail lots abroad and it can take a while to get there. All of the Six Word Saturday posts will go on Instagram too, so come and join in if …

Advent calendar

Published by

I remember when we first moved to the States ten years ago from the UK, we had to get chocolate Advent calendars sent over from home as they didn’t have them here.  They are still not very prolific, but now we usually grab one from Trader Joes and use our home made edition for little chocs and gifts.  That way both boys get a little something every day of December leading up to Christmas. This year I have left it all a little late, the end of November is nigh and I have just put up our ‘fill it yourself’ calendar, but I still don’t have a regular calendar (with chocolate of course). We have a chalk board wall which we draw a Christmassy thing on (snowman this year) and I pin the ‘calendar’ across it. Do you buy an Advent Calendar?  Or do you have one you use every year?  I think I will make a new one next year as this one is looking a little shabby.  All of the boxes are still …