Chocolate Fudge Cake

My pudding of choice is Chocolate Fudge Cake, warm with vanilla ice cream. I may ooh and aah over all of the other choices - but I'll usually go for the old favourite.

Ages ago, about February I think, my friend Lisa blogged about the chocolate fudge cake recipe we used to make when we were at school. I asked her for the recipe, and she blogged it here.

So, on Saturday I finally got around to making it. I also made three little cupcakes, just so we could try it out before cutting into the big cake. (Luu was out, so she didn't get a cupcake)

Verdict? The cake was good.

We ate the second half the next day, warmed up, with strawberries and clotted cream left from Mark's birthday. It was even better warm! But, you know, back in the mid eighties when I last made it, I wouldn't have dreamed of warming cake up to eat it, but now it's quite normal.

The cake will be made again, and the recipe passed on. I think, perhaps, next time I won't cook it for quite so long. Again, these days, Chocolate Fudge Cake should be just a bit squishy!

Sarah x

A Crop and Another Birthday

So, I went to the Bromsgrove Crop last weekend. And had another lovely day. And it's only taken me a week to get around to getting the pictures on here!
Deb had set a challenge to do a layout using:-
1: stitching (real or faux)
2: shaped cardstock
3: something with wings

So, this is my take on the challenge. It's the first time I've used the challenge as a start for a layout, and I'm quite pleased with it. It's also the first time I've stitched on a layout - not that difficult, as I am a newbie, and I like the texture. Also did a bit of paper scrunching, which, as I have just re-discovered the macro button on my camera (doh!) I will show you in glorious close up!

Also did a couple of layouts of the girls...

And...

Ooops, have just noticed I haven't journalled on Smile, but I do also want to add more bits - love the look of those really busy layouts, just not quite sure if i can pull it off - but, practice, practice, practice!

And the cakes, well they were for Mark's birthday earlier in the week. And you can never have enough cake - even if it is just photos!

Sarah x

A Sewing Day

So, after days of glorious sunshine, the weather wasn't so great on Saturday. Helen rang and suggested a sewing day. So, I gathered up my sewing machine, some fabric and ideas. And off Phoebe and I trotted.

I made this door-stop, which has been on my to-do list for yonks.

And Phoebe made some bunting, using up the last bits of the spotted fabric. It's destined for her shed, but it still needs some tweaking - where mommy missed missed the edge of one of her triangles, when sewing on the (boring) tape!!

Sarah x

Easter Hols

A picture heavy post coming up, to catch up what I've been up to lately. This definitely counts as a diary type entry...
Sandcastles on the beach (not ours, but borrowed, this time)

Drinks overlooking beautiful beaches.

Many cups of coffee, in some lovely cafes. This was one of our favourites, at Trevaunance Cove.

A bit of culture - Truro Cathedral.

A trip to our favourite beach.

Then back home to Easter.

Blossom on our trees.

A taste of Cornwall with our bought in Cornwall Clotted Cream ( I know you can get it out of Cornwall these days, but it's always better from there) and a homemade cream tea. The scones were delicious, but not very pretty, we ran short of flour so they looked a bit like rock cakes.

Some tidying of Phoebe's play shed.

And making of curtains for said shed. And also a quick bag (hung on the door) for the carrying of essential items to the shed.

A birthday - that would be mine... With a cake - and candles - made by the girls.

And more cake... They also made about two dozen that I took to work, which went down very well.

Lots of lovely presents, with a definite pink theme noted by me in the wrapping, the cards and the presents themselves... And then I un-wrapped this...

Even more pink!!! For those that know, no explanation needed. But for the rest of the world - it's a Bind-It-All! I can now bind my own little books. So far, I've only made books using scraps from my paper and card box - no pics yet, but great fun!

A day spent scrapping with my sister and all of the girls (oops, no pics) and a birthday meant my work table could not be seen, so some time spent organising, tidying and actually getting rid of some (older) stuff. I was so excited it was clear, I never took a pic before I cluttered it up again, but this time with crafting, not junk.

Hundreds of photos taken of the girls playing, in the hope of catching that elusive shot of Phoebe's head above the top of the trampoline. Pheobe's head above the trampoline is not elusive, the photo of it is. I might try again today, with Luu's better camera - I want the pic for a scrapbook page - I am so into scrapping at the moment.

So, there you have it, if you're still with me. A quick round up of the Easter Hols. Now it's time to get out the summer uniform, and find the P.E. kits.

I'm going to try and refine/define my blog a bit more, and get some more regular posts on here - a birthday resolution of mine, let's see how long that lasts...

Sarah x

This way to the beach...

So, tomorrow we're off to the beach. Woohoo! The bags will be packed, the car will be loaded, and we''l be heading south - to Cornwall. I can't wait. Tomorrow, whatever the weather, I will be on the beach, feet on the sand, gazing at the sea, looking for sea glass and other treasures and dreaming... one day, I could live here.

Meanwhile, back in the real world. I finally finished Phoebe's knitted rabbit.


I say finally, there's quite a tale behind this rabbit. I started his sibling just fourteen years (yes, I did say fourteen YEARS) ago. You can see the date on the magazine.

He was to sit in the top of toddler Louise's Christmas stocking. He was enthusiastically started, then we moved house, so his various parts were placed in a Miss Selfridge bag (wonder if I could sell that on Ebay?) and he languished in the loft. Occasionally thought of, occasionally wondering if he was still actually there? So, last autumn, during a sort out of the loft, I found him! So, he was brought down, and finally completed. He now sits (un-photographed, I'm afraid) on Lou's (teenage) shelves. In a dress. Which I had to also knit. With no pattern. And he's still a he, even in his dress. So, with one rabbit under my belt. I swiftly moved on to knit one for Phoebe. He was completed in mere weeks. Then it took months to get around to sewing him up.


I was waiting for a bright day, you see. Last Sunday was such a day. So rabbit number two was completed, and put into his jumper. But, apparently the jumper is not quite right, according to Miss P. So I have been asked to knit an alternative jumper. Again without a pattern. So, it takes me ages to knit - but I still have to make up my own patterns for these little outfits! I'll show you the results. Shall we make a date, say, next Easter?

Then, yesterday, Helen and I went to another crop, no pics as yet. We had another fabby day, and will definitely be going again.



Sarah x

Playing Catch-up

Crikey, Where does the time go?

Had a lovely day out on Monday with my sister, for her birthday. She's catching me up, for a few weeks. Every year in the few weeks between our birthdays, she's only a year younger than me, then my birthday arrives, and I'm back to being the oldest by two years. We drove out into Worcestershire, to a craft shop near Evesham - nice place, we'll probably go again. Then we had lunch at a cafe near there, nice food and a fab cafe. It was run by two sisters, with help from their mom, and was full of a real mix of thrifted furniture, mis-matched tables and chairs, and the most fabulous wall of contemporary silver-grey wallpaper, with silver framed mirrors and white painted brick pillars.

Birthday card made for Helen

Tuesday was a day out with my mom and dad, we went out to Northamptonshire, to a fabric shop mom wanted to go to. Fabulous fabrics, some bought for my niece's birthday, she is nine today, and has had a sewing machine - and the family have all bought her something sewing-y. Mom also bought me some fabric to make a cushion cover - eek! Not another hobby on the horizon? Think so, still need to do my post about the other things from Hobbycraft earlier in the month...

The rest of the week has mostly been work - so a pic from the car park(again) but with the sun out this time...


The box frame at the top I put together quickly one evening. I've had the frame for about a year, but the Amy Butler background paper is new, as are the Prima flowers. Pretty, I think.

Sarah x

Shoots...

The first shoots from our newly planted seeds...


A shot (ahem) through the windscreen of my car in the car park at work...

I actually took my camera out with me today, but couldn't quite bring myself to take photos when I was supposed to be going to the bank... And I know I missed some good ones, the buildings were beautiful in the spring sunshine. Ah well, I'll try to be braver and take some of the lovely places I get to see when I go on my travels.

Sarah x