Friday 27 January 2012

Goodness me .......................


Goodness me, can it already nearly be the end of January?  It seems that in a blink of an eye we have shot past from Christmas and a whole month has nearly past by :-(  I have also realised that it is 2 years since I started blogging!   oohh I do love this blog world, full of inspirational people - thanks for being here and reading my little blog , it really does warm my heart when I read your comments.   Hhmmm I think I will have to have a little giveaway soon to celebrate :-)

So what have I been up to the last few weeks?  Well ages ago, October in fact, I bought some tulle to make little Sweetpea a tutu for her birthday.  October came and went and on Christmas Eve I decided to create her tutu for her.  It turned out really well and she loves it as you can see :-)

Little Sweetpea mid-jump :-)

I created it with white tulle, sparkly glitter tulle and bright pink tulle.  I then added some apple green ribbon and a bright pink ribbon bow at the back.


She loved modelling this on my bed, leaping all over the place and dropping sparkles everywhere.  I went to work the next day covered in glitter, no one was really surprised though as they are used to me now :-)  She is such a girlie girl which is rather lovely after having an older son and daughter who only wears trousers.  If you want to make one I used this tutorial and bought the tulle from here.


For the Making Winter project this month I thought I would share something I made a little while ago to use up my glut of tomatoes. The recipe came from the River Cottage Handbook no 2 of Preserves - I love this book :-)  I made my tomatoes into roasted tomato passata.   


Basically I roasted the tomatoes with garlic, shallots (so many that I wore goggles when cutting them all up :-)), rosemary, salt, pepper, sugar and oil and then took the skins off the tomatoes (they just peeled off when they were cooked).  I then popped it all in the blender to puree it and jarred it up in sterile jars.


It made the most lovely pasta sauce and was also fantastic as a pizza topper.  I will definitely be making this again next year ! 


Talking of tomatoes, I miss my little veggie patch and can't wait to get out there in the Spring.  I have been letting the chickens roam free in the winter sunshine.  They love pottering around the garden (I just hope my hellebores aren't to their taste !) and I do love going outside and them walking around with me :-)

A week or so ago we had gales here and my garden looked a little worse for wear!  Luckily the fences just missed our little stand alone chicken run - the other chickens were also safe and sound in their shed.


I have also been busy in my little facebook shop.  I now have over 1000 likers which I am really chuffed about - I can't believe so many people like my little creations :-)  The above creation is a hairclip holder custom made for a customer - it is nice when people push you to create new things, it pushes you out of your comfort zone a bit :-)  Do pop over and say hi here, would love to see you there if you are on facebook.

By the way, talking about the joy of blogging, if you used to follow my sons blog, just to let you know, it is no more :-( Blogger took his blog off him as apparently he is too young!?  It was wondeful for him as it was a way of him creating a little diary and helped his literacy and IT skills but for some reason you are not allowed one until the age of 13 - not sure why.  He was so upset poor dot.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit him and comment though. xxx

24 comments:

  1. Wow, a few milestones there, nearly 2 years, and 1000 likers on FB! That's excellent! Congratulations!!

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  2. What a shame about your son's blog, is it the same on all blog sites or just Blogger? Little Sweetpea looks so cute mid jump, clever you making that tutu. I've heard lots of good reviews about the River Cottage preserve book, I'll have to look in to getting one.

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  3. Happy bloggiversary to you and many congrats on soooo many followers on FB!!

    Gorgeous tutu - I should love an outfit EXACTLY like Little Sweetpea's!

    Hx

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  4. That tut is just perfect.

    That tomato recipe looks absolutely delicious. Would you like to add your link to the bloghop?

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  5. Happy 2 year blog anniversary and well done for creating and building up such a wonderful facebook page!My little boy just wandered past the computer and asked if I could make him a tutu like your little sweetpea's...'maybe' was my answer:D
    It is a lovely tutu and the hairclip holder is so pretty,Cassandra :)xx

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  6. well done for keeping it up for 2 years. that tu-tu is lovely.

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  7. What a beautiful tutu and I love your daughters rainbow t-shirt - it reminds me of rainbow bright my
    little sisters used to be so much in to.

    It's such a shame about your sons blog - I know how important these things can be to children.

    Have a lovely weekend

    Nina x

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  8. Happy blog anniversary, Zoe! I love the tutu and your pictures of little sweetpea twirling are so sweet.
    Have a happy weekend.
    Helen x

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  9. Happy bloggerversary Zoe! Your little girl looks so happy in her tutu! I am sure I would have loved one at her age too. The passata sauce looks delicious.x

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  10. Bless her - she is rocking that tutu!
    Clever you.

    Lx

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  11. I like the look of both the tutu and the tomatoes. While my girls would love a tutu the chances of me making one are zero. Sewing never equals easy or simple to me! However I am intrigued by that recipe, I think it might be calling my name.
    xXx Helen

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  12. Tutu is just fab. I think I have to make one for Rudi. The passata does look scrummy too.

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  13. It's great to have you back and on my youngest daughter's second birthday too!

    This post is full of things I like: the tutu is so very pretty and I always crave tomato sauce so thank you for sharing.

    Well done on your facebook shop success!

    Stephanie

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  14. your little one is a picture of beauty- bless her she looks like shes having so much fun x shame they took your sons blogger away, especially if they can see it was full of makes and innocence of a child...?...im feeling hungry for my dinner now after seeing yours nom nom nom xx

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  15. I want to freely jump on a beautiful Cath Kidston bed wearing a sparkly pretty skirt too! Will be asking you for Chicken advice - just about to take the plunge! x

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  16. I LOVE that hairclip holder! What a brilliant idea. And the tomato sauce is making my mouth water, especially since I'm sat here with my tummy rumbling because the gas bottle has run out and my spaghetti bolognase is half-cooked and awaiting DH to come home with the tools to change the bottle! (I'm a cowardly wimp and don't like going out in the dark to do it!!)

    I will certainly do your keyring and will enjoy putting a little bee on it too. I will let you know when it is ready so I can show you a piccy to make sure it's ok.

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  17. Little sweetpea does love her tutu! She is such a darling!
    Your pasta sauce looks so yummy. I think you have inspired me to put some up next year too :)
    hugs from here...

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  18. Love the tutu photos. I can just hear the giggles. Hope the fence is fixed now. My hens would have taken over the neighbours garden. Laying their eggs over there! Sorry about your son's blog. Hope you find a solution.

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  19. Littlist's tutu is gorgeous! I will definately be bookmarking that pattern! Meanwhile, I have to somehow recreate a dress for a barbie-ish rapunzel doll whose dress is in tatters - I can't do dressmaking full size, never mind in miniature! eek!

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  20. Gorgeous tutu!! and I really like the look of those tomatoes. I'm sorry about your son's blog I think that's a real shame, he ought to be allowed a blog under your account!

    Kate x

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  21. Sweet pea looks lovely in her tutu, I love the rainbow t-shirt she is wearing too! I have to look at the other river cottage books, I have everyday and everyday veg, which are fantastic. Lad the chickens weren't affected by the storms, so many trees were blown over here, it caused chaos! :) x

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  22. How lovely is little Sweetpea in her tutu...a true picture of happiness!..Your River Cottage recipe looks wonderful too...
    Happy blog anniversary Zoe...we must have started our blogs at the same time...Time does fly doesn't it?
    Hope you have a wonderful week,
    Susan x

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  23. Congratulatons, what fab achievements!
    I love Sweetpea's tutu it looks fab! That pasata lookg great too, what a yummy way to use up your crops!

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