Don't get in a flap.....make flapjacks

Hello. It's been a dry and sunny day here today, even though it was a bit windy. I ran up a couple of shopping bags after breakfast, this fabric came from the Scrapstore. The colour isn't quite right on the pics, the flowers are more orangey on a brown background. 

I did a quick dash to town this morning, needed to go to the bank and pick up a few items of shopping. The Salvation Army were playing in the outdoor shopping centre. Not many of them but they were giving it their all.

I fancied having a go at making flapjacks, one of my favourite snacks. Some of them can be quite expensive to buy. I used to get them from Holland and Barrett, but changed to B & M when I found some small ones for 19p each. I don't buy them very often, I class them as a treat due to the amount of sugar in them.

So I goooglied 'Flapjacks made in a microwave', and found several sites. They are all more or less the same, basically melt the butter/marg, sugar, and golden syrup in a bowl, for one minute, add oats, and any other nuts, seeds or dried fruit you like. Stir it all together and microwave for 5 minutes. I put a chopped banana in mine. Sorry I can't tell you the quantities, I make it up. A dollop of olive spread, about two teaspoons of white sugar, give or take a few grains, and a glug of runny honey, I don't buy golden syrup.

I used the mini chopper to make the dry mix. Sultanas, cranberries, tropical fruit mix, prunes, almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts, and mixed seeds. I also put the porridge oats in with it so it was finely ground.

Mix the two together in the bowl and put it into an oblong baking pan lined with foil. Press well down with a wooden spoon. Leave it to cool and put it in the fridge. 

And there you go, ten fruity flapjacks. They are quite moist and chewy which I like, and they didn't fall apart when I cut them up. I think I could have probably got away with slightly less sugar due to the high fruit content. Yes, I will definitely be making these again, and experimenting with different ingredients.

I've had the works for dinner tonight. As you can see, plenty of veg and salad. Spinach, potatoes, carrots, radishes, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, and a quarter of a quiche. Yes, I did manage to eat it all, it was marvelous. 

Rocky says thank you all for your good wishes. I gave him a haircut, he was too hot in the sun yesterday. He looks a right cutie, and probably feels more comfortable now his shaggy mop has gone. 

Thanks for popping in. Got some more rambling coming up. I know, I ramble on enough here, no, I mean rambling with the legs, ha ha. Catch you later.
Toodle pip

Chucking the rubbish, recycling the might be useful's.

Hello. A trip to the vet was called for this morning, Rocky is not having a very good time with his arthritis at the moment. An anti inflammatory injection was administered, and a slight increase in dosage of his medication was advised. We'll see how that goes over the next few days. I took him to the park yesterday and took his buggy to push him around. He had a little sniffle about in the grass and picked up a few doggy smells, then enjoyed his ride. He is happy being outside with me when I am working in the garden, though it is too hot for him at the moment so he sits in the shade. 

I've got round to using up the last of the decorated paper I made at the Crafty Club. The piece was just enough for a paperback book cover. This time I have sewn on a lot of sequins, and the top and bottom are sewn together with a running stitch, instead of a blanket stitch on the previous one. I like the finish of this one. 

I wanted to tone the white down at the front of the Bespoke Summerhouse, so I mixed some dark blue emulsion paint with yellow gloss paint which made a nice light shade of green. Much better. Still the floor to do, looking for some paving slabs. I also cleared out the wood and rubbish at the back of the garage, and painted that a pale cream colour. Looks a lot more tidier now. 

Today I took a load of rubbish to the Council tip. I almost threw this paste table in the car as it was, but then thought if I take it apart I can maybe use some of it for other projects. Some useful bits of wood there, and screws. The tops were the only pieces that got chucked.

Everything I took was rubbish, fit for nothing else, but peering in the huge skips I saw lots which could have been re used. I took a fancy to a wooden sewing box, a lick of paint and it could be given another life. Taking things out of their skips is not allowed, there are cameras covering the site. I asked the man if I could have the sewing box, but of course he couldn't give me permission to take it. When I got home I emailed the council to ask about their recycling policy, why couldn't people take things which could be used again. We'll see what their reply is.

While I was there I got chatting to someone who was throwing some household stuff away from an open top trailer. I had a look in it and asked what this was. He said it's like an underlay for laying floorboards, peel the plastic off and it's sticky, fix the boards to it. I thought it might come in useful for something so he said I could have it.

He also let me have this, a distressed plant stand. I might paint it as I don't like the shabby look.

Glen asked how much weight the cat food box table would take. About eight and a half stone actually, ha ha. The boxes are very strong, and it has many layers of papier mache and wallpaper covering it. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip

Pimp my sun visor

Hi de Hi. Phew, it's been a hot 'un today. I've been busy inside and outside. The garage needed sorting out, it was a right mess. Everything came out, rubbish is now in a pile waiting to go to the tip, and everything to keep is back inside nice and tidy. 

Anyone remember this? I made a little table ages ago, one of my reuse and recycle experiments. Guess what it's made out of? I thought I had thrown it out ages ago. 

Here is a picture of the bottom of it. Cat food boxes. They are so strong, if you fasten them together and cover them with papier mache, and paint it, you can make furniture with them.

 I lost my union jack sun visor, left it on the train when I was on holiday. Daft thing to do I know. That's the second one I've lost. I bought another one for 50p but I don't like it very much, so I've dug an old one out that I recovered. The fabric has faded and it looks a bit scruffy, so I think it's time recover it again. Here are the pieces, stitches unpicked, to use as a pattern.

 Here is the original, twas pink, also faded and scruffy.

I looked in my stash for something which would make a nice visor, and found this. 

If you have a dirty old sun visor and want to recover it this is what you do. Sew the two pieces together, right sides facing.

Turn it the right way and pin it over the peak. Hand sew it on, both sides. It doesn't matter if the stitches aren't very neat because they will be covered up by the band.

Put the middle of the band to the middle of the peak, turn a hem under, pin it on, then sew it on with tiny stitches. Then turn a hem under on the inside and stitch that down. Next fold under a hem all the way along to the ends of the band, hand sew it together to make a flat tube. Add velcro for the fastening.

And there you have it, one new sun visor. Keeps the sun out of my eyes, I love it.

In my mini chopper today....cranberries, dried fruit mix, almonds, and peanuts. As a topper with a banana, grapes, and plain yogurt. This was my elevenses. Very nice.

Must go, got to get the cats in. Catch you tomorrow.
Toodle pip

Simple Sistas bimbling around Saltaire

Good morning. Glad you liked the photo's from Haworth, here are a few more, from day 2. Not quite as many because I was busy chatting to my Simple Sista. We met up at the car park in Caroline Street in Saltaire at 10am. She greeted me with a lovely gift, a kind thought. I knew we were going to hit it off as soon as I saw her. Her emails have been friendly and chatty, and that is just the kind of person she is in real life.

The weather was warm and sunny, just right for a stroll along the canal tow path. I had a leaflet of suggested walks so we decided to adapt one of those to suit the time we had. First bonus of the day, a family group out for a bimble, mummy and daddy teaching babies how to forage for food. It was lovely to see them. They didn't seem at all fazed as we stood close watching. 

This is Hurst Lock. Further on is a swing bridge, so after a boat has passed through this they have to walk up the bank and open the swing bridge before they can carry on. On the way back we came across a couple who were navigating their boat through this lock. Me being nosey I asked if they were on holiday. I noticed that the woman had a southern accent. The story was that they had sold their house two years ago and bought their boat, and lived on it ever since. They stop a while to look round a place then move on. Sounds good to me.

The walk took us through Shipley Glen, a pretty wooded area next to Trent Meadows, with a stream running through it.

Hello Sis.

Back onto the canal again at Saltaire, and a stop for ice cream at the boat cafe.

It was becoming a little bit overcast so we decided to take a look around Salts Mill. It's a mixture of art works to view, with arty books and art materials to buy. There is a large cafeteria there, but it was far too noisy for me, so we found a nice little quiet cafe. A couple of paintings which caught my eye.

After lunch we decided to tackle another walk from the leaflet, in another direction. The trouble with using leaflets is that they are missing some vital information and they are not to scale, so it's not easy to determine distance between landmarks. Following these routes needs a bit of guess work. Give me an Ordnance Survey map any day. We walked up Thompson Lane towards Baildon Bank and up through the trees towards Baildon. 

The weather was deteriorating it was jackets on and hoods up. Time was also getting on, so we decided to cut the walk short and turn round at Wrose View, a house high up on the hillside above Baildon. Coming back along the road I snapped this pretty cottage at Baildon Green.

Back at Saltaire, a couple more snaps before we part company and head home. See the heron looking for his tea.

Saltaire Village is a World Heritage site. Titus Salt built the Mill, and all the houses close by for his workers. If you want more information take a look at the web site.

I left the car park at 5pm to go home. No quick and easy route back, head for Leeds and battle through the traffic. I called in at Tesco, as I usually do when almost home. Sadly no yellow stickers to be had. Just as I pulled into my driveway Janet was coming out of the front door, she was there to get the pussies in. All was well. Collect Rocky from his holiday home up the road. He was licking me all over with his tail wagging like crazy. Blimey, I've only been gone a day and a half. It's nice to feel loved.

Hope you have enjoyed my little trip. Catch you soon.
Toodle pip

An enjoyable walk around Haworth

Good morning. Back to the realities of every day life. My two days away break was fab. I delayed the start because the weather wasn't very good, rain and wind, I left the Tesco petrol pumps and got straight onto the motorway at 12 noon. 

First stop was the JTF warehouse at Leeds. They have a new place, just off junction 27 of the M62. It's on the A62 going into Leeds on the right hand side. This shopping outlet is one of several which started out as a wholesaler, selling bulk to the trade. I used to buy stock from them for my fancy goods and giftware business. Things are different now, it's like a shopping club and anyone can join free of charge. Since they lifted their restrictions on who can shop there, they have grown quite considerably. 

After I closed my business I carried on shopping there for my own personal use, they didn't seem to mind if you only spent a few £'s. I had a good look round and the only thing I bought was toilet rolls. As with any shopping you need to know the price of what you normally buy.. I studied their prices, the labels are a bit misleading as the price written in large bold numerals is without VAT. Underneath is a smaller print which is the price you pay with VAT. A lot of their prices are similar to the Discount stores of Home Bargains, B & M, and Poundstretcher, so nothing to tempt me. My toilet rolls cost me £14.38 for two packs of 36 rolls, which makes them almost 20p each, on a par with the cheapest supermarket own brand. I would rather bulk buy them like this, knowing that I don't even have to go down the aisle in the supermarket for the next two or three years. 

Moving swiftly on. I arrived at Haworth mid afternoon, the weather had improved so time for a walk. I left my car at the hostel and set off down the hill towards the town. On the way I passed the railway station and could hear the toot toot of a steam train, oh good I might get some photo's I love stream trains.

Crossing over the line I could see some people waiting. I decided to carry on and get the photo's later. If I stick to a path running close to the line I am bound to see a train at some point.

A lot of other people had the idea of walking down Haworth Main street, it was quite busy. I loved these wooden carvings outside a shop, plenty more inside.

It's nice to see someone has made an effort and decorated the front of their cottage. No front garden here, but just enough room for a display of lush green pot plants.

The flags are still out from the recent cycle race which passed through the steep Main Street. 

Cosy little pub, very tempting but no booze for me today.

The church yard behind the pub looked lovely in the sunlight. This is the best picture of several I took, it was magical. A place of serenity, and spiritually uplifting. This curchyard is better with the grass left long, cutting it would spoil it.

Onward and upward out of the small town. The mist rolling in from the valley over on the left gives the impression that some rain might be coming my way.

Loving the lush green unfurling of the ferns against the dry stone walling. 

This part of the path is the Bronte Way. Here I join a herd of cows making their way to the milking shed. Rather muddy underfoot, yuk.

I crossed over the track and did a loop around Oxenhope village. and back to cross the track again. Oooh, I hear a train coming. Camera at the ready, snap got the front of it. Too soon, can't see much of the train.

Snap again, oh bother, I've cut the front bit off. I'm not very good at taking pictures of moving things.

Much easier to take a picture of a pretty little stone bridge over the stream next to the track. 

Ah, look, an engine stood still. It's back at the shed at Haworth, getting checked over before it goes off duty. Time to put it away for the night.

I arrived back at the hostel at 6.45pm. This is the side view, which I think looks much nicer than the front door. My bed for the night cost me a very cheap £7. I found I was the only one in my dormitory. You can book a private room costing more, but I prefer to take my chance in a dorm. If it's a quiet night such as a Sunday, chances are that no one else will turn up.

The decorated window halfway up the stairs, the sun lights it up beautifully.

I made my own dinner in the members kitchen, which is tucked away down in the basement. It would be a bit squashed if lots of people were preparing their food at the same time. After eating a simple meal of two minute noodles, lettuce, quiche, and raw mushrooms, I went upstairs to relax in the lounge. And relax I did, it was a job to stay awake. Talk about being overcome with heat exhaustion, it was like the hot house at the Eden Project, only not so humid. Too hot for me, I retired to my room where the temperature was more comfortable. Plenty of magazines available to read in bed.

Pop back tomorrow for day two of my little trip. Off to meet Simplesista at Saltaire, and another lovely day out.

Hey, the sun has come out, I'll get on with a few jobs around the house. Catch you tomorrow.
Toodle pip.

A right good laugh

Howdy. I've been away, and now I'm back. Got plenty of pics, now need to sort them out. A walk round Haworth yesterday, and a meet up with Simplesista at Saltaire today. We had a right good laugh, got on like a house on fire, she is great fun, said in a Yorkshire accent. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about it.
Toodle pip