The Great Midlands Bloggy Bunch . . .

I spent a fab afternoon yesterday in the company of a truly lovely bunch* of  fellow Midlands crafty bloggers. 

Jo, Sarah, Mel, Sarah, Deb et moi

 We gathered for lunch and proceeded to natter the day away, like we'd known each other for years.  

 

I love that our shared interests and love of all things crafty, turns strangers in to friends.

It was such fun & I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

A truly great way to spend a chilly autumnal Saturday.

Thanks lovelies**,

Jo from Three Stories High

Sarah from The Faerie Factory

Sarah from Sarah's Pigeonhole

Mel from Mel Makes

&

Deb from A World of Imagination

 

Let's do it again soon . . .

Hope you've had a lovely weekend too,

'til next time

xoxo

* just what IS the collective noun applicable here - any suggestions ?

**That's one talented bunch, let me tell you . . . do hop over and have a wee peek at their lovely blogs too.

 ps. and thanks to the Hubby too, who held the fort, kept the pups away from the

 food (well, almost . .  right up to the point where Jerry-dog helped herself to the leftover loaf on the dining room table ), made the coffee and pretty much cleared everything up afterwards too.  He's a keeper : - )

Still here . . .

A whole week's gone by since my last post - tsk, tsk . . .

I have a good excuse though :-)

The Hubby is away in Japan (lucky him, eh?) so my lovely Mama & the Dad are visiting from Scotland to keep me & the pups company.

at Winterbourne Gardens

Sooo, not a lot of crafting going on, but we are getting out & exploring,  having lots of yummy lunches and scrumptious teas,

Hanbury Hall Parterre Garden

and celebrating an upcoming birthday . . .

Thanks sooo much for all your sweet & lovely comments about my Scrappy Glamping Trip quilt though, and I hope to have it completed in the not-too-distant future.  

And again, a big welcome to those of you who've just joined us - I hope you enjoy following along on my crafty adventures.

Back soon,

xoxo

ps. and here's a wee glimpse of what happens when the Hubby (aka The Dogfather) is away

; - )

the Jerry-dog

Would like to meet . . .

Anyone fancy a wee blogger's get-together ? 

Blogland really is a small world, and I love that on a daily basis we get to chat about & share little snippets into the lives of our fellow bloggy friends.  And it's even more fab, when we get to meet the person behind the blog and make "real life" friends : -)

 SO, having fairly recently discovered that some of the lovely bloggers that I follow live literally just down the road, I thought it'd be a fun idea to make a plan and organize a little get-together.  A chance to meet up, have a natter, inspire one another  . . . and enjoy some yummy eats.

Here on this Great British Island of ours, it's pretty easy to get around, and no place is really that far away from any other - especially here in the middle of the country.

So here's an invitation to all fellow crafty Midlanders and UK bloggers:
fancy a wee trip to the heart of England ?

More tea, anyone ?

Nothing fancy, just a fun, informal get-together of creative bloggy peeps on  

Saturday, 29 June 

 in the pretty county of Worcestershire** ,

 right in the middle of this green & pleasant land. 

If you'd like to come along, or you think you'd love to join us but would like more details about where/what/when/trains/planes & automobiles, then please leave me a comment on this post or drop me a wee email : gillymakes(at)gmail(dot)com to let me know, and we'll chat about the finer details.

Looking forward to getting together  . . .

love Gilly

xoxo

ps. Must love dogs ;-) 

** easily accessible by train and just off the M5 & M42 motorways.

gilly BAKES. . .

Happy Monday - hope you've had a fabulous weekend ?

We had a little informal dinner party on Saturday evening - just four of us, lots of laughs and nattering, yummy food and a wee glass or two of fine wine.  

Now I know that according to the "Law of Entertaining", one really should not try out a new & un-tested dish on unsuspecting dinner guests. But having never been one to be particularly vigilant regarding dinner party etiquette , I decided to try out not one, but three new recipes**.

 ( Remember, I grew up in Africa: We kuier (visit), we cook, we eat, we drink, we share.  Simple. )

So, first up was the Twister Bread . . . 

It took a lot of kneading, and rolling...

... and twisting...

. . . but it was such fun to make and turned out lovely and crusty on the outside and soft in the inside. Just like bread should be. 

A perfect accompaniment to the Potato & Leek vichyssoise - served hot (because in my world, soup should not be cold !)

The main course was my tried-and-trusty Lasagne.  

And the dessert that followed ?

Very yummy Chaussons aux Pommes . . .

Little Bramley apple pies topped with Cornish clotted ice cream and homemade Salted Caramel Toffee sauce.

Mmmm . . .  :-)

Wishing you a delicious week,

xoxo

**All three recipes are from Lorraine Pascale's new book "Fast, Fresh and Easy Food".