Hello! It's been a while! Life really has the habit of taking over and making me busy, sadly leaving very little time for blogging at the mo.
We had a lovely Summer - spent with family, friends, then just us. We had fun in Leicestershire, Gloucestershire and Devon, with the highlight being a week in Dartmouth. Bodie discovered his sea legs, and we discovered the delights of the beach, the fish and chip shops, the boats and steam trains.
The main farmhouse - we were in the barn.
Dartmouth
The view of Dittisham from Greenways - Agatha Christie's holiday home.
Bodie fancied a swim, but eventually used the rope as a pillow for most of the journey.
So, back to reality - schools are back in full force. Ruthie has taken to Secondary school like a duck to water - she's made tons of new friends, kept some old ones, got the service bus every day, and even mastered the homework (sort of!). Gracie has started the term off well with an award for attainment which was presented at Gloucester Cathedral last week, along with her first performance with the senior orchestra. There have been lots of proud mummy moments in the last few weeks.
Aside from that, my plans for becoming business woman of the year have been put on hold slightly by being asked to go back to school for 3 days a week to work in Year 6 until a replacement can be found. It's fun, and I even dressed up in 1940s gear for a trip to the Swindon Steam Museum evacuee experience last week, but it does mean that life is crazy with me trying to fit everything else in that I had planned to do. Hopefully it will be until half term at the latest.
I don't usually post photos of myself, but I was quite proud of the Victory Rolls (which stayed in all day!)
I have found time to update my Folksy shop though, and my Etsy shop has been ticking over very nicely. I'm also selling lots of jewellery in a new and fabulous shop in town called By the Yard. I am very proud to have my bits and bobs alongside some amazingly talented artists and crafters. I'm hoping to expand to other shops soon too, a bit further afield.
I'm still finding the time for cooking and crochet though. Our latest favourite Sunday pud (with leftovers for a Monday!) is a Frangipane Tart. I've been making it with plums, pears, apples, and this week was Pear and Blackberry. It's so easy, but looks like you've slaved (which is always a bonus in my book!)
Pear and Blackberry Frangipane Tart
This is before it went into the oven - it didn't hang around long enough for a post-cooking photo!
Ingredients
Basic shortcrust pastry (I often use Jusrol when short on time.)
1-2 Pears
A handful of blackberries
For the Frangipane:
100g butter
100g caster sugar
1 egg
100g ground almonds
1. Line a tart tin with pastry.
2. Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg then stir in ground almonds.
3. Spread frangipane mixture over pastry.
4. Peel and slice the pears - I get 3 slices out of each quarter if they are large ones. Arrange over the tart in a pretty pattern. Scatter over the blackberries. I usually sprinkle it with demerara sugar before it goes in the oven.
5. Bake in the oven for about 25 mins at 200oC.
6. Serve warm with pouring cream. It is also pretty scrummy the next day cold with a cuppa.
Well, thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon. XX